Merry and Bright-Christmas 2012

Happy New Year's Eve friends! I had planned to post pictures from Christmas a lot earlier, but I've been in bed with the flu for the past few days. That was not the way I planned to spend my Christmas break. It was not fun, but thankfully I am feeling much better now. I hope you all had a great Christmas. Ours was wonderful and so fun. Sorry for the picture overload, but one of my presents was a new camera lens, so I wanted to test it out.

How awesome is Eliza's t-shirt?! It was a present from my sister's boyfriend. He is a gift giving master! He always gives the best gifts.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

In case you're looking for a photographer, our pictures were taken by the lovey and talented Jessica Clanton. She is based in New York, but has family in South Carolina, so she travels down here some as well. Check out her out here. Jessica, thank you for taking such beautiful pictures of our family!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! We have been with my family in Columbia since Friday, and we've had the best time. Tonight we are heading to church for the children's program and then going home for dinner. We will of course be watching twenty four hours of A Christmas Story before bedtime. "You'll shoot your eye out kid!" Hope Santa is good to y'all tonight!

Gifts for the Guys

It's Friday, Friday, Friday! I am out of school for two whole weeks! Whoohoo! Here are a few ideas for the man in your life.

(1) Leather Breifcase 2) The Dark Night Rises (3) Gloves (4) Thermos (5) Pocket Knife (6) Barbour Jacket (7) Socks (8) Ipad Case (9) Watch (10) Drill 

Toddler Christmas List

Before I get to my gift guide for today, let me clarify a few things. I should have written this in my last post, but I hit publish before I thought it through. I do not think that presents and things are the most important part of Christmas. I know that the birth of Jesus and the fact that God sent His only son is the true meaning of this season. I know that being able to spend Christmas with my family is a blessing that many people do not have. The presents part of it is just fun for me, and I really like seeing this type of thing on other blogs, so I thought I'd give it a try. Sorry for the rant, but I felt the need to clarify. :)

(1) Mini Boden dress (2) Pound a Peg (3) Land of Nod Teepee (4) Vtech Rhyme and Discover Book (5) Tiny Toms (6) Easel (7) Crayola Washable Markers (8) Hatley Pajamas (9) Skip Hop Owl Backpack (10) Land of Nod Spell Ya' Later Letters 

Christmas Gift Guide

Every year I tell myself that I'm going to get my Christmas shopping done before Halloween and every year I end up waiting until the last minute. I've done a little better this year, but I certainly didn't get all my gifts before Halloween, and I still have a few more to buy. I've been working on some gift ideas for y'all that I'm to post over the next few days. This is actually my own personal list of things that I've been dreaming of seeing under my tree.

(1) Sonicare toothbrush (2) Herschel tote bag (3) Rewined candle (4) Christmas decorations-since I lost all of ours when we moved (5) Clarisonic brush (6) Workout gear (7) Loreal shampoo and conditioner (8) New camera lense

HoHoHo Oh No!

Last night we took Eliza to the mall to see Santa Claus. It was quite a traumatic experience. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

It was so sad, but so funny. I felt really bad laughing at her when she was screaming and looking to us for help, but the whole thing was hysterical. I felt a little better after watching the parents of the next three children in line behind us do the same thing.

I know what you're thinking, parent of the year, right? Well, to make up for the Santa Scare of 2012 we promptly got Eliza a cookie and took her to see the lights at Roper Mountain. She had a much more pleasant experience at the light show. It turns out there was a Santa at Roper Mountain too, but when we asked Eliza if she wanted to see him again, she said no. I can't imagine why.

Oh Christmas Tree

Hi friends! Can you believe it's December 8th already?! Christmas is in full swing around our house. This time of year is so busy, but so fun. Last weekend we went to Mystic Farm to get our tree, decorated our house, and went to the Christmas parade downtown. It was unseasonably warm the day we got our tree, and although it didn't feel very "Christmasy," it was a beautiful day. Eliza was a little fussy because she has six teeth coming in, but other than that, we had a great time.

 Eliza would not let go of the dang Puffs at the Christmas tree farm.

So we hid them in a tree. 

Problem solved! 

Time to decorate! 

...and on to the parade.