A New Year's Photo Sesh

THANK YOU to Allison Vasquez at August Grace Photography for the great pictures!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR YA'LL!

Christmas-y stuff

We had a great Christmas. It was hard not having hubs here, but life goes on and he will be home very soon! Here's some of the good times...

Jax is always being cute :)

New *kid-friendly* Nativity scene

"Shoes"

Hugs for his new baby

Taking a little break from the festivities... could he stand any closer?!

His new piano that he LOVES!

A TRIKE!!!

He only kinda liked it! ;)

I hope each of you had a blessed Christmas... Happy New Year!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

Sights of Christmas

Our gingerbread choo-choo

The advent calendar that I had when I was little... I obviously took this picture last week :)

Our big, REAL tree! Before I wrapped a million presents to put underneath

And of course, this little stinker. Always being silly!

I can't believe Christmas is 4 days away! We are heading up to my dad's parent's house for Christmas Eve, then we'll be home for Christmas Day, then heading to the coast to see my mom's side of the family on the 26th. It will be busy, but definitely fun-filled! I can't wait!

A Soldier's Christmas

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,

HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF

PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY

WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

AND TO SEE JUST WHO

IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,

A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,

NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,

JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES

OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,

AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER THOUGHT

CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,

IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,

ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,

SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR

IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,

THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,

NOT HOW I PICTURED

A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO

OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,

THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES

THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS

WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,

THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,

AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE

A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM

EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,

BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,

LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER

HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE

IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT

BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,

I DROPPED TO MY KNEES

AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED

AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,

"SANTA DON'T CRY,

THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,

I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

MY LIFE IS MY GOD,

MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER

AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,

I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,

I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,

SO SILENT AND STILL

AND WE BOTH SHIVERED

FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE

ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,

THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR

SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,

WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,

WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,

IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,

AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

Toddler-ish

Jax is 18-months-old and I am loving this age. Yes, he has a major attitude at times and he is needing to be disciplined more and more. BUT... he also does the cutest/funniest things and he is constantly making me laugh. He is such a goofy boy.


He makes funny faces and runs in circles around the couch. He will grab my hand, take me to the edge of the couch, pull me down on the floor then run away screaming and laughing. He loves being chased! He also loves climbing and he is so daring, it's scary! He has no problem getting up and down the kitchen chairs and the office (rolling :-/ ) chair. He tries to climb the bar stools, the frame of the bed and the fireplace. He is such a daredevil... so much like his daddy!



He loves to say "no", even if he doesn't really mean it. He says a new word almost everyday and I'm amazed when he says something clearly that I didn't even know he could say in the first place. Like "apple"... clear as day... and I didn't even know he could say that! He loves to babble and talk to himself. He will be in the living room by himself, playing with his toys and he will just be talking away. Who knows what he is saying?!

As hard as "terrible two's" can be, this is such a fun age and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

Prayers

Please pray for THIS family. They had twin 20-month-old daughters and one of them died in her sleep last week. I can't even imagine losing my sweet boy, and I know they are going to need some serious love/support/prayer over the next few months. Thanks.

What We'll Be Doing Today...

HOOAH!!!

Jax and Elijah

A few months ago, my MIL and I bought matching outfits for Jax and Elijah to wear. We figured that we would take pictures of them before the holidays, then use them for gift-giving to grandparents, etc. A few days ago we finally got around to actually taking those pictures. Or at least attempting them. Needless to say, it's rather hard to get pictures of a squishy 2-month-old and a squirmy 18-month-old TOGETHER. It was no problem to get pictures of them individually, ha! Looks like we will be doing round 2 of pictures sometime in the next week. Take a look at what we got...

(Don't fall, Elijah)

(Squishy hugs)

This is probably the best (cutest) one, but you can't see Jax's face so it's not really frame-worthy

Here's a couple individual shots... just for good measure. Can you guess which kid was more willing to smile for the camera? Ha!

Hopefully better luck next time!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Well, we are now 3 days into December (Happy 18-months-old, Jax!) and I am so stinkin' excited that Christmas is just 3 weeks away! I have a few small gift cards to buy, but other than that, my shopping is DONE! I think this year has been my most effective/early Christmas shopping year. I suppose having no husband around, plus extra income makes it a little easier than other years. As much as I don't care for deployments, you really can't complain about separation pay! I took advantage of Black Friday deals online, plus I've just been keeping my eye out for other good deals. Most everything I've purchased has been through Amazon... you can't beat great sales+free shipping+not dealing with holiday crowds! I'm very proud of my money-savviness and I think everyone will be pleased with their gifts :)

Last Sunday we took holiday (Christmas card) pictures. I was unsure whether or not to do it this year since it is just Jax and I. But I decided that having those pictures, especially of Jax, was important enough. I hired a girl from our church who has done some other photo sessions with people I know. I got Jax and I all dressed up and we headed to the park. Well, of course it was a day that Jax decided he wanted nothing to do with it. He was all kinds of clingy and moody. Poor kid... I think the cold weather didn't help. We ended up giving up and deciding to do another session inside at a later time. But I am SO thankful that we still managed to get some adorable pictures. I know I'm a little biased, but I sure do have one cute kid!!