Christmas Tour of Homes

So, you are probably sick of seeing my Christmas decor, but I LOVE CHRISTMAS, so I just had to join in on the Christmas Tour of Homes!

DINING ROOM
This tree is done in gold, silver, white, clear and new this year...lime green. I call it my "dressy" tree!

LIVING ROOM
I call this our "Santa tree", although there's a lot of different ornaments on this tree! This is my favorite of our 2 big trees. It's fun, festive and interesting! AND this year, we got to add a couple of new ornaments for our new addition (stork and the little snow baby). I can't wait to start her a tote of ornaments for her to take with her when she gets married. My mom did that with my sister and I, and it's a tradition that I'd love to have with Olivia. It was always fun going to shop for your new ornament (or two) every year! And it gave me a great start to a tree of my own without having to purchase every single ornament!

My mantel was really slacking this year. Between being sick and having a 10 1/2 month old baby, I just found myself cutting many corners when decorating this year!

I do love my Santas/Trees. I just wish I had some garland and lights to go with them! Oh well, there is always next year!

Just a few random decorations around the house. Isn't the reindeer super cute? My mother-in-law gave me that and I just LOVE it! It sits on our fireplace.

OLIVIA'S ROOM

We primarily used vintage ornaments on Olivia's tree in her room. We used aqua, pink and green, which are the colors in her room. I loved the way it turned out! She also has a small nativity scene and a Noah's Ark music box (all the animals are dressed in Santa hats, hanging ornaments, etc.). My sister sent it to her, and it's really cute!

KITCHEN
A few years ago, I began collecting these 1950's hand-painted Santa mugs that were made in Japan. My mom and sister collect them as well. I think my mom said she remembers drinking from these when she was young. You can find them in antique stores, and mom sometimes scores at Goodwill! They are typically around $5 each, and they come in 2 different sizes. I am usually much more contemporary, but apparently I like some of the old Christmas decor (Olivia's tree and now these Santas)!

I hope you enjoyed my little tour of our home! Go here to check out more homes!

Mommy/Daughter Weekend

A stomach virus has certaintly taken its toll in our household. I had it last weekend, Olivia had it during the week, and Jason had it this weekend. So, Olivia and I spent the weekend trying to stay away from sick Daddy so we wouldn't get his germs again! SURELY we've developed an immunity to it, but better safe than sorry because it was NO FUN!

So, Liv and I finished up some Christmas shopping this weekend. We're ALMOST completely done. I just have a few gift cards to purchase (I think that's all I have left)! On Sunday, we woke up and went to church (left Daddy at home), then we did a little more shopping and spent a little time at the Botanic Garden together. By the time we made it to the gardens, it was getting close to naptime, so we didn't stay long, which also means we didn't get to explore too much! Maybe next time!

Eating cheese...one of her FAVORITE foods. She's a big fan (so is her Mommy).

Before church this morning. She has been a little ham all weekend. Such a cute personality in that little body!

At the Botanic Garden. It was really busy, as it was in the 70's today! As much as I love the cold weather, it was a nice change to the past week of 30's. I just LOVE her outfit. I bought it a long time ago hoping it would fit! It's a little big, but she's going to wear it until Christmas anyway! A lady asked me if I did the smocking....HA! I wish I knew how to do that! It sure would be cheaper!

Lots of colors in the Japanese Garden

This child is fascinated with leaves.

"Olivia, don't eat the leaves"....how many times did that come out of my mouth today?!

And here's just a couple of cute pics of our sweet baby girl. She's going to be 11 months old in a few days!!! *sigh*

Bah Humbug

We didn't do anything this weekend. I came down with a stomach virus Friday morning and didn't start feeling better until late Sunday afternoon. Luckily Olivia has a very good Daddy and she was well taken care of all weekend! We did at least go Sunday afternoon and get Olivia's picture made with Santa. She was NOT happy about that! She PANICKED the second I sat her in his lap....no noise would even come out of her mouth...just pure fear! It was so sad (and a little funny), but mainly sad! Here's our first ever Santa picture:



This was really poor quality, as I took a picture of the picture, so the coloring and everything is off (we don't have a scanner), but I wanted to share with you anyway!

Show Us Your Life - Christmas Trees!!!!

Kelly's Korner is hosting Show Us Your Life - Christmas Trees......MY FAVORITE PART OF DECORATING! I have always loved Christmas trees. Growing up, we always had real trees. It was so much fun going out to the Christmas tree farm and literally tagging your tree. Then the day after Thanksgiving, we'd go back out there, find the tree we had tagged weeks before and take it home! Unfortunately, this will NOT be a tradition we will get to share with Olivia. Fake trees are SO MUCH EASIER!

We have two 9-foot Christmas trees....I'd have a dozen if I had room for them all!

This tree is our "hodge podge tree"....or our "Santa tree". Many of these ornaments are sentimental. We have ornaments from when I was a child, from when Jason was a child, and now we have Olivia's first ornaments. We have dog ornaments, ornaments from our trip to Europe, ornaments from friends and family, etc. Lots of memories on this tree!!!


The ornaments for this tree began in college. This tree is done in lime green, silver, gold, white and clear glass. This tree began with primarily boxed ornaments, as that's all my roommates and I could afford in college....and truth be told, we probably couldn't really afford those! Over the years, I continued adding to it with more "original" ornaments. While not as many as the red tree, there are still quite a few sentimental ornaments on this one!

I previously showed Olivia's tree, but here it is again. It's a 4-foot tree, and I just love it! We used mainly vintage ornaments in the colors of her room.

Hope you enjoyed our trees. I can't wait to take the tour and see everyone else's trees!

O's Christmas Room Decor

Well, if you know me, then you know I LOVE Christmas time and Christmas decorations. Of course, I had to have a tree in Olivia's room, and everyone seems to be giving her things as well, so I thought I'd show them to you!

Here's a little glass nativity scene.

Olivia's little 4-foot Christmas tree. I just love it!

I'm not sure why I thought of this, but I decided to do Olivia's Christmas tree in old, vintage ornaments in the same colors as her room. So, mom and I have been gathering ever since. We have a lot of solid turquoise and solid pink, but there are also quite a few with patterns and stripes. I can't wait to find new ones to add every year (which may be slightly difficult just because I typically don't have a great love for the antique stores)!

Here's a little manger scene that mom brought to Olivia this weekend. It's so tiny!

This is a Noah's Ark that my sister sent to Olivia. The animals are all dressed up for Christmas, and they are putting onaments on a tree. Isn't it cute?!

I put both the nativity set and the Noah's Ark on the same dresser....one is teeny tiny and the other is pretty large....but I think they're both really cute!

Olivia Kate's Dedication Weekend

We had Olivia's dedication this weekend at church. Mom and Walter were able to come in for it, so all of her grandparents were there to witness it, which made it extra special. Nicole and Hudson came too, but we failed to get one single picture of them together! I didn't even take my camera to church or lunch, so I failed to get any pictures of Elizabeth and Mike too! We took a few before church at the house, and then Nicole took some during the service....thanks Nicole!!!

Olivia, Nana and Papaw - I just realized that I don't really know how to spell Papaw!

Olivia liked the Bible they gave her. The preacher said it was "a good sign"!

Elizabeth (Gram E) gave Olivia this pendant. Chip (Jason's dad) had given it to her, and now she is passing it on to Olivia. It's really sweet, and I can't wait until she is big enough to get to wear it!

O's first Thanksgiving

Olivia's first Thanksgiving was pretty low key. We woke up and went to my in-laws for breakfast, came home and napped, and then we went back over there for Thanksgiving dinner.

Olivia with Aunt Emily

Playing with her grandpa

Everyone minus me, Jason and Olivia

Eating her first Thanksgiving meal

She had turkey, baked potato casserole (yum), squash casserole, rolls, and Puffs (always!). She tried green bean bundles but wasn't a fan. Her favorites seemed to be the turkey and the cheese off the top of the baked potato casserole (a girl after my own heart)!

It's a Ladybug Party!

We went to Maggie's 2nd birthday party this weekend. The theme was ladybugs, and they really did it up! They had ladybug necklaces, ladybug masks and ladybug aprons for all of the kids. The big kids got to decorate their own cupcakes and also participate in the ladybug bean bag toss. Everyone also got to make a reindeer using their feet/hands, which was super cute! It was a great party! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE! We love you!

Olivia played hard at the party. She loves going places that have "new" toys for her to play with!

Clancy did a great job on the cake...very cute.

The ladybug cupcakes.



Olivia had fun playing in the ladybug tent (notice her tongue..HA!)

Olivia with Maggie

The birthday girl. She was constantly on the move. This was the best pic I could catch of her! I bet her mommy got some better ones.

Hudson and Olivia

10 Months Old!

It seems like I JUST posted the 9 month post...time is FLYING!!! I've started planning Olivia's first birthday, which is a lot of fun!

At 10 months, Olivia is doing the following:

• She is still wearing 6-12 month, 9 month, and some 12 month clothing.

• She is still wearing a size 3 diaper

• She says Mamma and Dada a lot. When she hears the back door open in the evenings, she starts saying Dada before she's even seen him. So sweet and so smart too! Maybe I'm partial, but I think she's a genious! HAHA!

• She has started saying "uh oh" when she drops things.

• She claps, waves and blows kisses

• She loves to interact with us. It seems like she's always studying us and takes everything in.

• She is generous and likes to share....the other night, I sat next to her highchair and asked her if I could have some of her cheese, and she fed me a couple of pieces. She thought it was so funny. And people say that only children are spoiled and don't share! :)

• She has started to pull up a lot. Sometimes she gets a little dare devilish and lets go, but she crashes! I do not foresee walking anytime soon, but I guess you never know.

• She generally sleeps from 7pm to 7am. Sometimes she stays up until 7:30pm, but not very often anymore. They must keep her really busy at school every day!

• She seems to FINALLY be getting a less picky pallete and is enjoying a few more foods.

• She was weaned at 9 1/2 months and is now on formula full time. She's done great! It was a very difficult decision for me to make and I was pretty nervous about it. It ended up being such an easy transition for us, and I was so thankful for that!
  

I left her in her room for a few minutes alone.
Once I came in and she had this little suitcase and some stuffed animals out from under her changing table.

The other time I came in, she had books everywhere. I hope she loves books!