blessed beyond...

What a wonderful year 2010 has been for our family! We started out the year having no clue that a beautiful baby girl would consume our lives this year, but we were blessed with Maggie Claire in October and I couldn't imagine life without her. Tonight when I was feeding her I was just looking at her sweet little face,fingers & toes, thanking God for such a sweet blessing. To those of you who have children, you know exactly what I mean- it really is the most wonderful feeling in the world to have a child. She is beautiful & perfectly healthy, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect child! It comes down to it, we are living out Ephesians 3:20, blessed beyond all we could have asked or imagined!!!!!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Ephesians 3:20-21

christmas overview 2010

Our Christmas was wonderful! All I could think about this Christmas is how blessed we are! We spent our Christmas with our families, and we had fun. It really was a whirlwind, and I feel like I didn't get as many good pictures as I would have liked to have taken. but I guess I can dress mags up in her Christmas outfits and take some more pics of her! hehe :)

Here she is in one of my favorite outfits that my mom got for her, with her christmas tutu and all! It's mudpie, and if you haven't seen their stuff, it's some of the cutest stuff ever & my mom loves it all, so I have a feeling MC will be wearing a lot of these cute outfits! :) and well, I can't complain because it sure is adorable!

When you work in ministry at a church, you all know the joys of Christmas Eve services. Well, at the campus that Mike & I work at, we had a christmas eve eve service, and then 4 christmas eve services. Needless to say, we were at church a lot around Christmas, and then we had church the day after christmas too, so we were worn out & ready to just be home! It felt good to have nothing to do when Monday came rolling around. Plus, Mike has off all week, so we are enjoying being home together! Here is a family picture of us at the Christmas Eve Eve service that we attended. MC had a different dress for the Christmas Eve service, which I never even got a picture of her in that dress. {she had a blowout in the church nursery, so when we left she had pjs on}But, I will put her back in the dress and take a picture because it was so cute on her!

Us all together with Mike's family. So sad they are moving away in less than 2 weeks! :(

We enjoyed being with them a lot this holiday season! Also, for Christmas, they gave us a paid vacation to fly to California anytime next year to visit them! {super excited about going to Cali for vacation}

Christmas day we went to mama Nell's house{my dad's mom}, and then later that night we went to Brad & Beth's and did Christmas with them, my dad & family! I managed to not take any pictures, but we did have a fun time.

On Sunday we did Christmas at my mom's house after church. We stayed all day long, the kids napped{MC not so much}, and it was fun hanging out with my brothers for that long period of time! I did manage to get a few pictures of my nephew, Jack decorating a gingerbread coookie with my mom. Oh, he had the best time! He kept wanting to eat it though! He had sprinkles everywhere- it was so cute. :) My mom loves doing stuff like this, I know she can't wait to have MC and Tate doing these kinds of things with her too. She's such a good Oma to Maggie Claire. I wish we would have gotten a family picture with my mom, I feel like I don't have any pictures with my mom & MC! We need to get one soon! :)

Ok, last but not least, here is everything Maggie Claire got for her first Christmas{well, some of her toys were actually already being put to use in other places so they didn't make it into the picture}. She got so much stuff that me & her dad didn't have to buy anything! {we are enjoying this while we can!} She got a lot of books, dresses, pjs, baby dolls, & toys! My mom got her a little pink back pack with her name on it! {it's to the very left in the picture} I can just see her wearing it to church w/her diapers in it when she starts to walk carrying her sippy cup, oh, I can't wait for the little cute things like that! :) MC is very much loved by her grandmas, aunts, uncles, & cousins! :)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas as much as we did! If you have a Christmas post, add your link in a comment & I would love to read all about your Christmas w/ your family & friends! It's hard to believe that the new year is just a few days away! Bring it on 2011! :)

a few more days...

...until Christmas! Today we have family coming into town from St. Louis. Mike's grandparents haven't met Maggie Claire yet, and she can't wait to meet them either! They will be here this afternoon. The rest of our week is jammed packed with spending time with all of our families, doing Christmas Eve services at the church, and celebrating our Savior's birth! What a wonderful time of year it is, and such a special event to celebrate. I always look forward to going to Christmas Eve service as a family! We are actually attending the Christmas Eve Eve service {on Thursday night}, but we'll be at all the other ones. I'm working the nursery and Mike will be doing candle lighting and whatever else is needed- probably helping with the overflow rooms.

I wanted to show everyone some of my decorations around the house... this first picture is my favorite of our three stockings hanging. Isn't Maggie Claire's stocking adorable??? I designed it, and my friend Emily sewed & monogrammed it for me! Of course, she had to have ruffles on her stocking!

Our beautiful Christmas tree! I love our tree, it is very big! It's definitely too big for our little apartment, but it was free {it's a hand-me-down tree from my grandma} I love how full it is, I get lots of compliments on it. This might be the last year we have it though... I think we might be a smaller one on sale after Christmas. This one is just really old, a pain to put together, and the needles are falling of everywhere! But don't you love the white star tree topper? I scored that last year at Target after Christmas for %75 off. :)

The reason for the season...

Our front door wreath

Of course, Maggie Claire has a tree. It's pink, sparkly and has cupcake ornaments on it. Fits her perfectly! :)

I hope everyone is enjoying this week of Christmas with all the festivities going on!

Isaiah 9:6

"For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

my two favs

This week has been crazy busy, and I feel like this entire month is just flying by!!!! I thought that being a stay at home mom, I would have hours and hours of extra time to blog more. Well, I was totally wrong! It's been a week since I've blogged, my house is a mess, there is laundry & dishes to be put away, Christmas presents to be wrapped, and a few paint, bake, & create orders that I'm trying to finish! Where has December gone?? Christmas is next week! I can't believe it! I do love this time of year though. It has been REALLY cold for Charleston weather. We are use to 60s & 70s not this crazy 30 degree weather! We have been going to Christmas parties, baking goodies, & mailing Christmas cards! {and receiving them too!} I absolutely love getting Christmas cards in the mail. It's probably in my top 5 things I love about Christmas.

I snapped this picture the other day when Maggie Claire was hanging on the couch with Mike. I thought it was really cute because they matched with their gray hoodies & jeans. I love that jacket on MC, it has ruffles on it & it's sparkly. Oh, they are so cute. Love them- they are my two favs!

I'm so thankful for our little family this Christmas season. We are just enjoying Maggie Claire's first Christmas as a family! It's also Mike's parents last Christmas in Charleston. Yup, that's right, MC's grandparents are moving all the way across the country to Orange County, California the 1st week of January. We are so sad that they are leaving, but we are excited for them in their new area of ministry at Saddleback Church! We are soaking in every day we get to spend with them before they move. Looks like we will be traveling to California for our vacations now for visits!

2 months old

Maggie Claire you are two months old!

You are absolutely beautiful, and oh so very happy! You smile all the time and we love that about you! We pray that you will always be filled with joy & love from your Savior.

We had your well baby 2 month check up today and you were a star! You got your 1st shots and it was sad for you because you cried, but you calmed down right away when mommy got to hold you! {I think it was harder for me & your daddy than you!} Your 2 month stats:

11 pounds 13 ounces {70%}

23.5 inches long {85%}

We are so proud of you for growing and we love you so much!

You still love to take a bath, but you don't like getting out, last time I gave you a bath, I put your pjs in the dryer for them to warm up so they would be nice and warm when you got our of the bath! You liked that :) You love playing under your playmat with all of the toys hanging down and you love your swing. We are still working on tummy time, you only like it for a few minutes, but you are doing so much better holding your head up!

For your sleeping habits, You still like to sleep in your crib, bassinet, & swing.

A few days ago, you slept through the night completely from 11:30 until 7:15 am! That was super exciting! You usually wake up between 4:30-5:30, so when you did sleep until 7:15, we were very surprised! You can continue to do that for now on, ok? :)

I kinda like it that you are a momma's girl. Probably because we're together pretty much all day long, and I'm the only one that can feed you. I have been able to pump bottles for you when your dad and I go on a date night, but lately, you haven't been interested in a bottle. We're still working on that too, because we need our date nights & for you to take a bottle! :)

This past week I started working back at the church nursery on the weekends. Of course, you are there with me, but not always in the same room that I'm in, so I also need you to take a bottle at church too! It was a little crazy this weekend because we weren't home all day Saturday or all day Sunday, so I was WORN out by the time Monday came around, and I didn't want to do anything!!!! But, we're all about flexibility in this house! :)

It is such a joy being a mommy to Maggie Claire. When I do leave her, I miss her so much, and I think about her all the time. I seriously could just kiss her sweet chubby cheeks all day long. Oh wait, I do. I love this little girl & I feel so privileged to raise her up to honor God. Such a blessing to have her this Christmas. Last Christmas I didn't even have "having a baby" on my radar. Now, it's hard to remember life without her. :)

a visit with the jolly man.

Maggie Claire went to go see santa claus for the first time. She didn't cry or even fuss! She just sat there and held on to his fingers! She was dressed in one of her cutest Christmas outfits, it has adorable ornaments on it!! Oh, she is just so precious!!!

This guy is a nurse at my mom's work and he dresses up every year as santa. They have a "cookies with santa" event where you can bring your family to see santa for free and they print you out a picture!

{All of these pictures were taken with my camera, I haven't scanned in the one that they printed out for us}

Here is all three of the cousin babes. They are just adorable!

Jack{2 1/2} , Maggie Claire{2 months}, Tate {6 months}

Tate couldn't resist MC and wanted to get her. I'm sure it was all of her pretty bows & ruffles!

Jack wasn't so sure of Santa. This was his third year of visiting this santa claus at my mom's work, and he's still not convinced that he's a good guy. hehe. Notice Jack's bull douser on Santa's knee, that is how santa reeled him in! oh, it was so cute!

Notice this santa suit is not your typical santa suit, I think it's an old English santa suit. My mom and I were talking when we left and we decided that we like the regular santa suit better. You know, the pretty Coca-Cola santa suit!

My mother in law said that it looked like Santa came to take pictures in his silky nightgown. haha. that just made me laugh!

Speaking of santa... you have got to watch this video on youtube. It's pretty funny, {warning: it has a few curse words} but it's called grandpa ruins christmas for kids This crazy grandpa goes off about how santa isn't real!

I remember going to see santa when I was little and it's so fun now that I have a child to do fun things like this during Christmas! To us, Santa is just another event or decoration, I don't ever really remember believing in santa. Do you take your kids to go see santa?

pretty & perfect

Yes, I have an ornament on my tree this year dedicated to my blog. I might have squealed a little too much when I saw this in a gift shoppe the other day when we were with our friends. I had to have it, there was no question about it & I absolutely love it. It's pretty & perfect! Plus, it has sparkles all over it which makes it even more perfect.

What has made you extra excited this Christmas season??