Spontaneous Christmas Shoot

Right before we needed to head out the door, or actually as we needed to be heading out the door for Christmas dinner, the hubs had an idea to get out our fancy new camera and shoot a few shots of Paisley in all white before we put on her Christmas tutu and here is the result of our fun shoot with little Missy...

I love this little peanut :)

Christmas Recap 2013: Better Late Than Never

Ok so this like a week and a half late and let me tell y'all, I really planned on doing this sooner, but we have been nonstop full force since my hubs started Christmas break. And now we have family coming into town tomorrow for Paisley's first birthday and we have been busy bees trying to finish our house for guests!! 

Now that you needed to know all that info, let me tell ya about our first Christmas with Paisley Grace. 

Having a child really brings out the magic in Christmas. Other than my first married Christmas with the hubs, this one has by far been one of my most favorites. We didnt get to do all that we wanted to do with having to work on our house and all, but what we did get to do was an insane amount of fun!

Since Aaron and I have four different sets of parents, we had a lot of celebrating and opening {on Paisley's end} to do. Whatever came in the mail we allowed Paisley to open so that she didnt feel super overwhelmed by everything, which ended up happening. 

My mom sent all of her stuff and we got her big box Sunday before Christmas and let Paisley open eveything mostly because I couldnt wait for Paisley to see the doll she was getting :) Paisley made out with a play purse, umizoomi DVD, Chasing Cheeky game, dolly clothes and her doll :) We spent the rest of the day giving the baby kisses, chasing after cheeky and putting things in and out of her new purse :)

Monday, we did Christmas with Aaron's mom and stepdad which was a complete with dinner and looking at lights :) Paisley got a rocking horse that makes all kinds of noises, which she thinks is the best thing in the whole entire world! She got books, jammies and a Little People nativity set. Her favorite toy I would say has been the nativity set. Its the one thing that she drags out all day long :)

Christmas Eve by we celebrated by making cookies and attending our Churches Candle light service and then hosted our first annual Christmas Eve party with white elephant game! Paisley was done for by 9:00pm and for us adults the fun was just getting started! 

Christmas day we spent at home as a family of three for the morning and then joined Aaron's dad and stepmom for Christmas dinner, gifts and looking at more lights. My sweet hubby stayed up till 3:30 am putting together Paisley's kitchen, that took 4 hours to assemble. Paisley had us up and awake by 8:00 am where we opened gifts and did breakfast which consisted of biscuits and gravy. After the first two presents, Paisley was starting to loose her attention span to open anymore since she had a TON of stuff to play with. Slowly, but surely all gifts were open and she was ready to rock :) We gave Paisley her very first kitchen and all its accessories {pots, pans, utensils, fruit basket, apron, plate, cup, bowl}, crayons, toothbrush, popsicle molds, books, dino poppity pop game, blocks, touch and feel learning cards and puzzles. Its been so fun to play kitchen with Paisley and to read new books together!

Christmas afternoon we went to my in-laws and had beef wellington and duck for Christmas dinner. Talk about an amazing meal! We spent almost two hours exchanging gifts and opening gifts. Paisley of course had the biggest pile to open. Papa and Grammy got Paisley the Zany Zoo activity cube, Radio Flyer 4-N-1 trike, pizza oven, Elefun game, lots of clothes, pacifiers, suction foods, pacifier clips, and a few other gadgets and gizmos :)

All in all I would say that we had an amazing Christmas and I cant wait to see what Christmas will be like next year when Paisley is a little bit older and can understand a few more things :)

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

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!!