I will eventually catch up to our current life.  If it wasn't so important to me to document everything, this would not be a problem.  But I am determined to continue printing our blog into book form for our children to look back on one day.

So we pick up where we left off...

Christmas Eve is always a late night for our family.  Like if we finish before midnight we are doing great!  Last year, Millie Janalee missed the book reading because she needed her sleep and her daddy was pretty adamant about it.  Ha!  This year, she made it!  Smith did too, but he slept through it of course.  We left milk and cookies out for jolly old St. Nick!

And HE CAME!

Santa found us in Mississippi!

Smith's first Christmas

Poor Kristin, Lee, and Hughes had to wait on the rest of the family...including all my late sleepers to take Hughes downstairs for his first Christmas.  I think he was close to his morning nap before we all woke up.  Haha!

Hughes's first Christmas

While Susu fed Smith his morning bottle, we got to experience Millie Janalee's first "real" Santa experience.  This was the first year she was old enough to kinda know what was going on.  Santa even left her a letter next to his cookie crumbs.  And we knew he also stopped by St. Louis because he left us a book about his travels there!  So exciting that he knew we weren't there, and he found us at Susu and PawPaw's house!

Reading Santa's letter

Checking out all her princess things

We learned that Millie Janalee does Santa just like her mama!  It's early in the morning and everyone is looking at you.  We have to think about things and take our time.  No pressuring from the peanut gallery, please.  I love her!

This spyglass and sword are used in her daily marches around our home singing the Jake and the Neverland Pirates theme song!

She loves paint!  Now she has her very own easel!

Now she can skate on actual skates and not on books like she had been doing!

After Smith took his bottle, he was ready to see what Santa brought him.  Millie Janalee helped us see what was in his little stocking.

Smith's first Bully!

The Giving Tree - the book I gave his birthmother in the hospital.

And, finally, the grown-ups got to make our way into the den to see what Santa brought us!  Ummm, YES we still believe!  You know, when you stop believing...Santa stops coming.  And that's the truth. As for me and my house...we believe!

Russ looking through his goodies.

Dustin's redneck plunger

Even Pawpaw had a stocking!

And the babies even had a little extra something from Santa in the grown up room!

Sweet babies on Christmas morning

Dustin likes toys too.

We spent the rest of the day in our pajamas.  We relaxed, napped, played, and watched Millie Janalee play with her toys.

Coloring with Mama

Showing Daddy how to draw circles.

Button art

Thanks to this from Susu and her little laptop, Millie Janalee knows all her letters and sounds!  Smarty pants!

Oh, and Russ played with Pawpaw's new toy too!  This rower is now on Russ's list for next year.  Ha!  Good thing we will no longer be in our little townhouse by then!

It was a Merry Christmas indeed!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is by far my favorite day of Christmas!  So many memories surrounding this day.  One of my most precious Christmas memories is that of the Christmas Eve service at our hometown church I grew up in.  Such a special time for families to gather with our church family and stop.  Stop the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  We sing carols and listen to a reading of the Christmas story.  The advent wreath is lit by different families from the church throughout the service.  We end the service with an acapella version of Silent Night by candlelight.  It is beautiful.  

This year was even more special as I cradled our newborn Smith on his very first Christmas.  He slept through most of the service, and he woke to eat at the perfect time.  Such an angel.  Literally.  An angel baby sent from above.  And as I cradled his sweet tiny body, I thought about his birthparents as they struggled through their first Christmas without him in their arms.  I was holding him for all of us.

When Russ saw him, he asked "Is he wearing a dress?!" No!  It's a GOWN!

After our Christmas Eve service, my side of the family gathers at my parents' house for dinner prepared by my mama.  While she put the finishing touches on some things and had help getting everything set, the kids (big and little) ran wild as they anticipated opening the gifts under the tree!

Uncie Buck and Millie Janalee

Me and Smith on his very first Christmas Eve

Smith and She She

Uncie Buck and She She

Russ arrived just in time for dinner!  Someone was especially happy to see him after a long week away...

Kristin and Lee stop by his family's Christmas dinner after church, so they arrived a little late.  Millie Janalee insisted being in their family picture.  Ha!

Kay Kay, Hughes, Millie Janalee, and Lee

We enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner at a beautiful table filled with conversation and laughter.  As always.  Because I've waited so long to blog, I can't even remember what we had.  But I promise it was FABULOUS!

After dinner, some change to be more comfortable before the passing out of the gifts commences.  As our family grows...our seating becomes more limited once the gifts are passed out.  We are still kinda new to "Christmas with kids", so we may need to make some accommodations.  Including A LIMIT! Haha!  My family has always done Christmas big. We love to give!  It's so much fun for us.

Passing out the gifts

Millie Janalee found her pile

Smith found his!

Waiting patiently.

She She and Buck are always lots of fun!

Once we all got settled in, we decided to start with the kids.  That way when the sleepy fusses started, we could whisk them off to bed.  Kristin and Lee spent the night with us all this year...so that was fun too.  Hughes was celebrating his first Christmas too!  Such a fun night!

Hughes opening the first gift of the night

Millie Janalee LOVES to check our heartbeats!

Her current obsession!  The cowboy hat and guitar.  She's pretty much got it mastered now.

This was right before Hughes projectile spit up on the floor from all the rocking. Hahahaha!

Elsa and Olaf!  What could be better?!

The adults did eventually get to open our own gifts.  I can't believe I don't even have a single picture of any of us opening. Ha!  My, how things have changed!  I'm pretty sure I was policing Millie Janalee's fits of overwhelming excitement and frustration as we took one toy away to open another...or rocking Smith to sleep.  Either way, we were all very blessed this year and every year.  Lots of fun and laughs around our family Christmas Eve!

After the gifts are put away, our final Christmas Eve tradition begins.  The reading of The Christmas Story and Twas the Night Before Christmas.  My dad has done this for us since we were little bitty.  Our bodies may grow...but we just move to bigger furniture.  Hughes couldn't make it, but thankfully the other two did.  Smith didn't know if he made it or not...he just slept right through it!  Ha!

Of all the things we do and gifts we receive at Christmas...the only thing we always remember are the memories.  The traditions.  And the reason for the season.  The feeling you get when you come "home for the holidays."  I am thankful we grew up with these memories.  Because that's what keeps us coming home.

It was a Merry Christmas Eve for all!

First Haircut

Our Christmas holiday was full of firsts!  I had been dreading the day I had to do it.  The day Millie Janalee got her first haircut.  Those sweet baby curls and first little twigs of sweet fluff on her head.  It just broke my heart to think about it.  But.  It really needed to be done.  One side of her hair grew slower...or something because it was a much shorter length than the other side.  So I made up my mind.  She would get a little trim to make her hair closer to the same length.

She was such a big girl in that little booster seat.  Unsure at first, once she had a pack of Teddy Grahams we were golden!  Special thanks to Marley at Foxy Locks for taking care of us and squeezing us in.  It literally took less than five minutes.  The lady getting her hair done when we got there just moved to the couch to watch for a few minutes.  And of course we got it on video too thanks to Susu!

Such a sweet haircut for a sweet girl!

We bagged up her little first baby curls and I managed to leave without the tears that were welling up falling on my face.  I don't know what it is about those sweet curls laying on the counter...but it sure was sweet!