A Year in Review: 2013

Are we really at the end of yet another year? 

I think this year has by far gone by so much faster than any other year and I am just in awe that its over. 

What a year it has been! 2013 holds some of my greatest memories. We welcomed our sweet Paisley Grace into the world at the beginning of last year, and what a joy she has been. We've survived our first year as new parents woohoo! Im sure we could safely say that the reason time has flown by so fast is because of Paisley. She's added so much joy, happiness and color to our lives. Its been a fun year just watching her grow up and blossom into a little personality. Im not sure what we ever did without her except get a full nights sleep ;) 

In October we bought our first house! The process was grueling and sometimes the perks of being a homeowner are somewhat overwhelming but I am in love with our new home. We have truly been able to make it completely ours and its been such an experience to see its transformation. We have lots of work left to do, but its come along so beautifully!

With the hubs being a teacher, we were able to spend part of our time in CO this summer with my family and having them meet Paisley and what a trip! We also were able to welcome my niece, Bentlee into the world with my family and what a joy she and Kylar are! I wish that we lived closer so that Paisley could grow up with all her cousins ;) Soon we will be welcoming Kohen Samuel into the world and Im sure he will steal our hearts just as Kylar and Bentlee have.

Other than the big purchase of our house, Aaron and I were able to finally buy an upscale keyboard! We've been looking for the last year and a half and finally found a deal too good to pass up! Now this baby sits in our office and will be a great thing for this next year when I begin teaching vocal lessons out of our house! So much in store all because of one instrument!

Aaron and I have had the privilege of leading the worship for our college and career group and its been such a fun experience! We might be small in numbers but we've had some awesome times! I cant wait to see what will take place in 2014 in this ministry!

There are still so many great memories, and some tougher times that we've experienced and other than the birth of Paisley, Christmas with Paisley has been the highlight of the year. She has been too much fun, and its like I am getting to live life all over again through her eyes and see everything for the first time! Her favorites have been the Christmas tree and all the lights. She marvels in the sight of each shining light and gets so giddy over them that your heart cant help but melt :)

I hope you all have had an amazing year and you have a very...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Mommy & Me: Winter Wonderland Edition

Did yall have a great Christmas? We sure did. We are still recovering from all the sugar, hype and joy of the past week. I apologize for the brief leave of absence. Its been a hectic time for us trying to get our house ready for our Christmas party, Christmas, and all the family that is coming in this weekend! 

Once Paisley's birthday party wraps up, the hubs goes back to school and our family leaves, blogging will resume back to normal :) I am so excited for the New Year and for all that will be in store. Are yall ready for a New Year and a new start? I sure am. I cant wait to share with y'all some exciting news {there is no baby in the forecast} for this coming year!

I am way behind on getting our Christmas recap up on the blog, but for now, this weeks Mommy & Me is from Christmas. We had this last minute idea to do a little shoot with Paisley Grace, and what a hoot she was! She loves her little tree, and Im pretty sure she will be just a tad upset when its no longer adorning her shelf. It made for a great shoot and a good distraction to say the least. This girl is growing so fast its unreal! See if you can spot her one little top tooth :)

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

The Foltz Family would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Praying many blessings over this New Year and that 2014 is the best year yet!

This is also our Christmas card for this year! The hubs designed our card this year and I am so impressed with how it turned out! 

And of course this blog wouldn't be complete without a Merry Christmas from...

Five on Friday

Y'all I love the Holiday season, but after going non stop for the past few days with a baby in tow everywhere we go, I am certainly feeling the exhaustion and we havent even reached Christmas yet!! Im hoping that despite all the craziness we have this weekend in preparation for our Christmas Eve party that we get a little bit of down time in there somewhere! 

I cant believe this is our last Friday before Christmas! It feels so unreal. Time is passing much quicker this year since we had Paisley and come the beginning of January I am going to be beside myself that Paisley Grace will almost be a year!! Oh.goodness.where.does.it.all.go??

...One...

Wednesday we were able to pick up our Christmas gift that all the parents helped chip in for and Aaron and I could not be any more excited than to have a Yamaha MM8 in our home!! We have searched for over a year for a good deal on a keyboard and havent found one that was really in our budget until I happened to see one pop up on Craigslist through a pawn store and immediately we put it on layaway, and well, the rest is history! I love our new keyboard and I know its going to help us tremendously!!

...Two...

Paisley was able to open an early Christmas gift from Aaron's Mom and Step-dad and we have had so much fun playing with the Fisher Price Little People Nativity! Paisley loves the people and the animals!

...Three...

Tuesday for my birthday we took Paisley to the Wild Wonderland at the Tampa Zoo and to say we had a blast was an understatement. She squealed, screamed and pointed at the thousands of lights and at the animals! This girl is a hoot! We are taking her to the Zoo for her actual birthday and I cant wait to see the excitement when she can really see all the animals!! Best birthday ever!! 

...Four...

My hubby surprised me with this beautiful necklace for my birthday! I am so proud of the choice he made :) He gets major points for this one!

...Five...

I know as the beginning of the year approaches, I am in desperate need to get back to getting healthy and getting into shape. My MIL just got this book on a Black Friday special and now I am really wanting this as well! Alot of the recipes can be used for simple, quick and healthy lunches. Lunch time is something I fail at miserably with having a baby at home because sometimes as a mom you just dont get a break and lunch time generally is the one that suffers the most. Lots of salad ideas and simple wraps and other yummy recipes! Hoping this book finds its way into my home before January 1st :)

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Merry Christmas you all!! 

I am off to finish stocking stuffer shopping!

Christmas Traditions

Growing up we had certain traditions that we did every year during the Christmas season that I always looked forward to, and now having a child of my own, I have wanted to carry over some traditions with her and make some new ones! Since this is Paisley's first Christmas and she is still pretty little, some of the things will have to wait, but here are something that we have done and some traditions we still have yet to do.

1. Take Paisley to see Santa....We have seen Santa twice this year and both times, Paisley was not a big fan, but I am convinced that the more she cries and the look of horror on her face makes for a better picture. One day I hope she isnt afraid of the jolly ole fella!

2. Christmas Cards... Since Aaron and I got married, I have always wanted to do Christmas Cards but because I somehow always run out of time and forget about it, this is the first year we have done cards! This has been a priority for us this year and I am so excited for everyone to get them in the mail! The hubby made our Christmas cards using photoshop and I am so pleased with how they turned out! And taking pictures were a blast! And with all the photos we have of Paisley from this past year, how could we not do cards??

3. Winter Wonderland at the Zoo... The Tampa Zoo does a really awesome deal where they have part of the zoo open and then most of the zoo is completely covered in lights! They have thousands of lights and its super gorgeous! We went a few years ago, and this year, tomorrow, we are taking Paisley! She loves lights and I cant wait to see the excitement on her little face!

4. Read Christmas Stories...I wait all year for the cute Christmas books, and while we have a few, Paisley has loved reading them. We have the Biscuit touch and feel Christmas book, and Paisley gets excited each time we open it! I will be adding more to her collection when they go on sale after Christmas ;)

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5. Watch Christmas Movies...I am a sucker for Christmas movies. Thanksgiving night we normally watch the old Miracle on 34th Street and then go out shopping. We have watched tons of Christmas movies with Paisley so far and its been fun! She gets excited when we turn on the tv and watch with her.

6. Make Christmas Cookies...When we were growing up, we would make the most amazing sugar cookie recipe and decorate cookies for teachers, friends and neighbors. We made cookies the other night and they were so good! I love holiday baking like none other! 

7. Sing Christmas Songs...Christmas songs really are some of the best songs! The hubs and I have had several opportunities to sing a few of them for Church and then on occasion the hubs will pull out the guitar and he will sing or we both will. Paisley claps along :)

8. Look at Christmas Lights...I wait all year for this!! One night is never enough so we generally drive around several times during the season with hot cocoa or Starbucks beverage. This year brings so much joy because Paisley squeals and gets beyond excited about all the lights, especially the ones that play music. Best part of the season!

9. Make a Gingerbread House...The hubby and I started this tradition when we were dating and have done it every year since. We put on a Christmas movie, have popcorn and decorate away! We have yet to get to this one this year, but I am thinking this weekend will be a great time! 

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10. Nativity Scene...Paisley got her own Little People Nativity set for a Christmas present that she gets to open tonight and I hope she is excited as I am. I have been wanting my own set for years, since we had one growing up and I am thinking that I will be buying one after they go on sale next week! One tradition I am looking at starting to going to check out the live Nativity set that they do in our area. 

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11. Make an Ornament...We use to make fabric ornaments with my mom when we were little and this is one tradition that I want to carry on with Paisley. My favorites this season have been the cinnamon ornaments. 

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12. Reading the Birth of Jesus...The first thing we did when we woke up was read the birth of Jesus. Those who could read would take turns reading. We would then pray and we could do presents. My parents wanted us to understand what Christmas was really about, and this is something that we will carry on with Paisley. Its important for us and for her to understand the true meaning of what Christmas is all about. 

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13. Attend Candlelight Service...This is something that I have never missed in my life. This year is no exception. Paisley will go and it will be something we do every year! 

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14. Christmas Eve Party/White Elephant...Every year since I can remember, my dads side of the family would attend a Christmas Eve service and then we would all meet over at my Uncle Ernies house and eat, and do a white elephant. Our family has grown up and grown in size and its chaotic but its so fun! With my husbands family, we are planning on carrying out this tradition in our new house and I am so excited to be hosting this little part of "me."

15. Sleep Out by the Tree...I get so giddy over this one, because a lit tree, Christmas movies, and sleepover in the living room makes for one special night! Try it!

16. Christmas Breakfast...Growing up we usually had Biscuits and Gravy or Breakfast Burritos. Last year, the hubs and I made French Toast all from scratch. We made the bread from scratch, the fruit syrup from scratch and had one delicious breakfast. This year with Paisley we will either make French Toast again or will try our hand at Cinnamon Rolls. I know the hubs use to have Sticky Rolls for breakfast every year.

17. Christmas Dinner...All of our family would do their separate Christmas deal in the morning and then for Christmas dinner which was usually at 2 we would eat at my grandmas house all together and then do presents as one huge family. This is something we still do every year, and this year will be more exciting with Paisley as she will have tons of gifts to open and play with :)

18. Christmas Evening...I am not sure how well this one will play out this year, but in years past, because we lived in a small town and everything was closed except the movie theater, we would go to whatever was playing and watch a movie. Most of the time it was all the cousins and since Paisley is a little young for a movie we may have to wait, but I love this tradition.

19. Go Ice-Skating...In CO we would just pick a frozen over pond and go ice skate. Here in FL we have to find a rink, but its still a fun tradition to carry on!

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20. Elf on the Shelf or Flora...My mom made an Angel that sat at the top of our tree and when we would leave we would come back to a house that was a mess. My parents always blamed it on Flora. That she would get down from the tree and have a little fun. With Paisley, because she is too young to understand I am waiting till next year to do this. I am thinking Elf on the Shelf, but I think it will be one fun tradition that we will begin with Paisley and all our future children :)

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What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?