9 Months!

Christmas 2013

The Christmas Season came and went way too quickly.  It felt like we picked out our tree(which we did the Saturday after Thanksgiving), we did fun things like visit Santa, look at Christmas Lights, and make yummy goodies to give to neighbors and friends.......

and then all of the sudden it was Christmas Eve!  We went out on a family date for Chinese Food(pretty much all that was open, besides fast food.) Then we came back to the house and had some fun!  I love making gingerbread houses but it's not something Joe is too fond of.  He did sit down for a few minutes, just to humor me.  When his train wouldn't stick together though, he just got frustrated and squirted the frosting all over it.  It was short lived to say the least!=)  Brooklynn helped me for a few minutes, but then she got bored, and the candies were a choking hazard.... so I spent a few minutes working on my house all alone, just to feel some joy!=)  My sister is definitely the best one to do gingerbread houses with, because she actually enjoys doing it too!

After that, we opened our one present(which is always new jammies)

Brooklynn even helped unwrap hers!

Before Brooklynn went to bed we made sure to leave out some cookies for Santa and Carrots for the Reindeer.  I made this plate for Brooklynn this year.  Gotta love my Silhouette Machine!=)  

Sadly, Santa got some pre-baked cookies from the freezer(although they are fabulous cookies).  It ended up being nice though because Brooklynn decided that the cookies looked too good not to try one!  Luckily it was frozen, so she didn't end up getting much of a bite!  I seriously could not stop laughing at her.  She had a death grip on that cookie!

Funny that she never once tried to go after the carrots!=)  

Before bed, I put her by the tree for one last time before Christmas was over.  I really did not want it to end this year! She just loves looking at it, touching it, and playing with the ornaments.  

Our First Christmas with Brooklynn was a lot of fun!  I'm sure when she's a little bit older and can actually understand it, it will be even more exciting!  I remember as a child, we always had to wait Christmas Morning to go downstairs until my dad had the video camera rolling.  We started that tradition this year with Brooklynn.  I'm sure we will cherish those moments for years to come.  

This year she did more than I thought she would, and would actually rip the wrapping paper off of presents once we got it started. There was a lot of sucking on tags and ribbon too.

Joe had an A&M Christmas!  He got a hoodie, a hat, and a jersey.  The guy couldn't have been happier.  Santa also brought him a Food Saver!  Seriously not something I would ever ask for for Christmas, but he has wanted one for a while now.  He makes his own jerky every now and then and wants to seal it in those bags.  He also loved sealing up some meat for me before we froze it!  Whatever floats your boat!=)  

Every year we buy a family gift.  Something that benefits us all.  This year I really wanted to get a nice camera so that we could capture Brooklynn's childhood.  The photos from my iphone just weren't cutting it.  Especially when I tried printing them!

So Joe was sweet and bought a Nikon Camera!  Totally stoked about it!  Now I just have to learn how to use it.  I'm wishing I would have taken some photography classes, so I would know how to actually take good pics!  Definitely something I need to learn!

My sweet parents gave us a Bissell Green Machine!  I was really excited about that gift too!  I can't tell you how many messes my mom cleaned up using that thing when we were growing up!  With a baby, it was something I have been wanting.  Gotta love it when parents read your mind!=)  Funny thing is we used it the next day when Brooklynn peed on the rug while I was changing her diaper!  So glad we had it!=)

Brooklynn loved playing on the box!

Later that day we actually got out of our pjs and got ready to have some friends and family over for dinner!

On the years we are here in Texas for Christmas, we love having any family and friends over that are sticking around and don't have anywhere else to go.  I'm sure it's the way I was raised, but I love being surrounded by loved ones on the holidays.  It's a good excuse to get together and relax, enjoy one another's company, and eat yummy food!  It's become a tradition to just line up 3 tables in our living/dining area and squeeze as many people in as we can!  Of course I always get wrapped up in getting the food served and making sure everyone is happy, that EVERY year I forget to take pictures of everyone at the table together. So sad!!  Maybe next year I'll actually remember!

These were the tables all lined up, and ready for the party to begin!

I found a cute and inexpensive center piece idea on Pintrest last year, and finally got to make it come to life this year.

This was last Christmas, 23 weeks pregnant!  Crazy how much has changed since then!  My life is so much different now, but it's also so much better!  I had no idea then, how much that sweet baby girl growing inside me would change my life!

We sure are crazy about this sweet little girl!  We could have never dreamed how much we would love her!

Hope everyone had a great 2013 Christmas Season.  Happy 2014!!!