Henry's Christmas Wish List

Our little family is so excited that Christmas is right around the corner! We pretty much finished shopping for Henry last weekend. He's at a tricky age- nine month old babies are interested in bigger toys but may not be physically able to play with all of them, but almost bored with their "baby" toys at the same time.  So we picked up a few things that will hopefully last him a while. I'm sure he'll love them, we didn't go crazy- he has grandparents for that:)

As he gets older and begins to understand, we will go the four gifts route: "Something you want, Something you need, Something to wear, Something to Read"! I really think this will help to keep the stress and craziness that we can put on ourselves to a minimum.
We want to raise children that love Jesus and know why we celebrate Christmas!  

Source: jonesdesigncompany.com via Kate on Pinterest

Here is a little help if you're shopping for a baby and need some ideas- We bought a few of these and know that a couple others will be coming:)

Shape Sorting Cube 
A classic and great for developing those fine motor skills
Anywhere Chair
His own chair- I'm sure he'll be climbing all over this in no time! Love that the cover is removable.
Elephant Popper
Kids love this thing!
Drum/Instrument Set
We may have already opened this and let him play with it. He may love it. His cousins may be getting the same set from Auntie Kate:)
Activity Cube
His friend has this and he loved it- played with it for minutes upon minutes:)
Storybook Bible
His first bible. Can't wait to snuggle up and read this together! I've skimmed through and it seems to be really well written. Awesome reviews.
Jammies
We open one present Christmas Eve- that present always turns out to be new jammies, weird!
Wagon
Henry told  PaPa he neeeeeded this! Mama can't wait!! Perfect for walks to the pool, park.... anywhere we want to walk:)
Puppy     
He's already played with this guy too, he makes the sweetest faces trying to figure out the new puppy. Precious. And the sounds aren't too annoying.

Goodbye Dining Room, Hello Playroom

Last weekend Shawn and I were discussing where we would put all of Henry's new toys after Christmas time. Spoiled baby.  My living room floor looks like a day care. 
He has a decent sized room with a huge closet but we don't seem to play in there as often as we do in other areas of the house. We have a cozy little house with plenty of room for us right now, but I'd kill for an extra playroom. We have an extra bedroom but I think it would be best to leave it as our office/guestroom for now so it's free for baby #2- hopefully it will be needed sooner than later;)   So that leaves our formal dining room!  We use it maybe 2x a year so why waste that glorious extra square footage!?

The room is right off the entry and has a large arched entry. I'd love to be able to put up some kind of door- to keep the kids (and noise) contained. A couple of doors on a barn door track may do the trick.
It would have to be mounted on the inside of the room but I think it could totally work!

Source: babyrabies.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: countryliving.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Kate on Pinterest

And here are some pretty pics of playroom inspiration I've found. I would like to keep it neutral - not too kiddy-light, bright, and relaxing! No primary colored walls or clowns:)

Source: signedbytina.blogspot.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: justinetaylor.tumblr.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: paloma81.blogspot.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: styleingwithchildren.blogspot.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: smg.photobucket.com via Sadie on Pinterest

Source: designdazzle.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Then of course we'll  need some awesome storage, a chalkboard wall, and a tent or teepee with twinkle lights so we can all snuggle with some books and Jude Law, The Holiday style;) 

Weekend Happenings

We had a great weekend around these parts! 

Friday night was a family burger date:) Our town just had a Mooyah open -We had been to one in Arkansas and liked it then, so we had to give ours a visit. Pretty tasty!

Saturday we just stayed home while Henry practiced his crawling! Yep, we finally have a crawler on our hands!!! It's barely a crawl and he still prefers to roll, but it's a start:) It's so precious, gosh I like that boy, have I mentioned that?

Saturday evening, after a few changes to our plans, we ended up going to look at lights. We went to Rhema, a local church with a massive light display. I hadn't been in a few years and was so impressed, they've added so much! Henry loved looking at all the lights and people. I was so mad at myself though- I brought my DSLR and forgot the stinkin' memory card. So all we have are cell phone pics- not ideal for night time christmas light photos. Oh well, just an excuse to go back!

On Sunday we headed to the mall to see Santa! Henry did okay and just stared at him. We didn't get any good shots of him looking at the camera so we bought the sweetest pic of Henry looking at Santa. Totally worth the $20 :)

We then headed for some Mexican food and Christmas present shopping. It felt a little wrong buying Henry's presents while he was in the cart...  but we may as well take advantage while we can.
And we may or may not have already opened one of his presents so he could play with it last night. You better belive I'll be wrapping it back up for Christmas morning:)

I hope you all had a great weekend. Happy Monday!

Friday Randoms

Happy Friday, party people! We're excited for another weekend!!
I am loving our weekends a little extra these days because there are so many fun Christmas things to do right now! This Saturday Henry (and Shawn!) will be attending their first Christmas parade! I can't wait- I have been planning these fun Holiday activities since before Henry was even born:)

Oh Henry, my little chunkey monkey. He had his 9-month checkup on Tuesday. He's a healthy little thing:) 22.9lbs and 29 inches= 83rd and 75th percentiles!

This little peanut also finally figured out how to pull up in his crib. I'm loving the fact that he's not very mobile yet, so this makes me a little sad:(   Time to lower the mattress!

We got our new advent calendar this week (just a few days late). It's huge!  It's a little more kid-ish looking than I usually go for, but it's adorable. Next year, when Henry can understand a bit more, I'm going to fill each pocket with all kinds of treats and Christmas time to-do's : Look at lights, read
Luke 2, watch a Christmas movie, etc...   I love the idea of a bunch of fun family dates! My Friend Natasha has an awesome list of Advent activities on her blog.

This is so stinkin' cute. Who doesn't love Jimmy Fallon and vintage Mariah Carey's music?



My tree is all decorated, I may do some kind of big bow as a topper because we don't have one, and I can't find any I like. Also, the stockings are up but I still need to decorate the mantle!
I love Christmas decorating, but this is only our third Christmas in this house- I feel like we need some more decorations. I plan on stealing my childhood nativity scene from my mom's house this weekend:)
*Stealing a nativity set sounds so wrong- I promise I have her permission:)

I took myself on a coffee date last night. Henry was fussy all day and Mama needed a break.
Coffee, magazines and some baked goodness did the trick!

 

I'm embarrassed that I care so much, but I'm SO excited about a new royal baby! Kate Middleton is just so lovely and I can't wait to see her pregnant and hear the baby name!

I'm hoping we make it to see Santa this weekend- I can't wait for Henry's first picture with the big guy. I plan to frame them and put them out each Christmas.

Well that's all for now, it's been a pretty good week. Hoping for a great weekend. We're kicking it off with a family burger date tonight! 

Christmas Card Time!

One of my favorite things about the Holidays is checking the mail every day for Christmas cards!
I love getting new pictures of friends and family, and hanging them around the house.

 I've always had a thing for good stationary. And let me tell you, there are some awesome designers and fabulous cards out there! I seriously wish I could order five different sets.

So here are some of my favorites if you're needing a little inspiration! It's not too late to get yours ordered- I've finished ours,  just need to get them printed:)

Minted

West Willow

Polka Dot Design

Add caption

Minted

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

Pear Tree Greetings

My New Engineer Print!

 
So we built our home two and a half years ago and there are still blank walls in our humble abode. I'm just indecisive... and cheap! 

Well we recently had a family photo session by the lovely Amanda Lassiter, and I was dying to get my sweet little man's face up on the walls. Then I remembered pinning this, and decided why not!?
A huge print of my sweet family for super cheap??? Heck yes!

So while the sweet Hubs stayed with a napping Henry, I headed to staples. A nice older gentleman greeted me and I asked if they did Engineer Prints. His reply: "Let me guess, Pinterest?" I was cracking up:)
I asked for the biggest size, which was 3' x 4'. He said it would just take a sec, but I insisted he take his time so I could run next door to Starbucks:) My print was ready and waiting when I got back,
and less than $8!!!
Next I needed something to mount that sucker to. I love this idea, but I don't own a jigsaw (Santa??). I decided to go the foam board route and headed to Lowes.
I easily found it near the insulation supplies. Be prepared, people. That thing is huge, ten feet maybe? And less than ten dollars, BTW!
You should have seen me trying to get it in the back of my car. Some couple was watching me try to shove the board in my car for several minutes and offered to help. I must have looked like an idiot. Finally, I decided to bend it in half- yes, I'm clearly a genius.  Just bend it gently and it turns out totally fine.
So I got the board home and carefully laid out the print- it's basically a piece of paper so be gentle! Using random books that were within reach, I lined the print up on the board and marked it so I could cut off the excess board. 

bad pic, but this shows how big the board it! the print is 3x4 feet and over half of the board is left!

Then I used a fine grit sandpaper to smooth out the rough edges. 
Do this outside, not in your living room like I did- It's a mess.
I knew I wanted the edges painted because they'll be easily seen where I planned on hanging, so I grabbed some pretty gold paint. No specific reason, I just like gold:)

 

After a few coast and when the edges were dry, Shawn and I positioned the print where we wanted it on the board. We held it in place in the middle and flipped over a half at a time. Just spray some adhesive all over the board and smooth down the print. Flip over the other side and repeat. Easy peasy!

We used command strips to hang it and they worked out great! The print looks so so good. It's HUGE and I love it:)  

I'm also totally impressed with the quality. There are some random faint lines and some extra shadows but I think it looks awesome.
Here's a closeup of the quality. Not bad, right?

And if I find a new picture I like in six months, I won't feel bad about switching things up because it's so inexpensive.
Pinterest win!

*Linking up with Sarah!

Christmas Tree Farm

On Saturday we decided to take a trip to a nearby tree farm! It was the first time for all of us and this Mama couldn't wait to get some pictures:)
The weather was beautiful, the place smelled like Heaven, and Henry got to go on his first hay ride out to the fields! Plus he was able to chew on some random sticks when we sat him on the ground- he's such a boy...
Unfortunately, we didn't realize it was best to come out a month before and tag your tree- so all the good trees were gone. But that didn't stop us from taking a million pictures, Shawn loved it;)

We stopped by Lowes on our way home and left with a huge, beautiful tree. She's almost finished being decorated- I can't wait to post some pics!
Can you tell I'm just a little excited for Henry's first Christmas??!!

iphone pic from the hayride. he LOVED the huge tractor wheels.