Our {New} Christmas Traditions

I had intended to post pictures along with this post, but I'm suffering from serious laziness today (recovering from yesterdays highs) and drained from dealing with a random power outage this afternoon/evening at our apartment.  Power has been restored, but energy has been drained.
Our first Christmas together {just the 3 of us} was so memorable.  We are usually home in Seattle with my family, but despite being bummed to stay home, I knew that this year would be special.  Jerry and I had been discussing traditions that we would start in our family going forward.  I'm pretty happy at how it has all turned out.
In our family, the gifts we receive come from the true source of all we have, our heavenly father….not Santa.   Santa is just another character like Frosty and the Grinch, and he does not deliver to our home.
We only open one gift each on Christmas Eve…and it is the same gift every year…a new pajama set for each of us to wear that night and lounge in Christmas day.
We will sometimes attend a Christmas eve service with our spiritual family.  {This year, we decided it was too cold, too far and a little too late in the evening for our little lady.}
Bedtime on Christmas eve will include the story of Christ's birth from the Bible, as well as readings from our special Nativity book and singing carols for lullabies.  
Christmas morning starts with fresh brewed coffee and cocoa, and the emptying of our stockings.
Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast is Chicken & Waffles with Maple Syrup.
After breakfast, we open the rest of our gifts to one another.
We spend time together as a family, playing games, watching movies, listening to Christmas music, enjoying the gifts we've been blessed with.
We have a nice family dinner together.
We celebrate Jesus' birthday by baking him a yummy cake and singing "Happy Birthday" to him.



REMEMBER!!:






 

19 Months + VLog + January Ad Space Giveaway!

I have been meaning to do this for a while now… I apologize for the quality, I've not spent much time venturing into iPhone-cinematography.  This is part 1 of a very adorable two part video of Zion speaking out of her current vocabulary.


And now for a 19 Month Update!

Little lady…you are barely a babe anymore.  I watched as you carried on with your daddy today, I couldn't believe how you actually participated in placing the little candy eyes and buttons with care.  How did you get so smart and so advanced so quickly!?  
Things you love right now:  "Super Why!", Oatmeal, iPad/iPhone, Dancing, Singing (especially songs with hand motions), Turning Lights Off/On, Pretending with Elmo, String Cheese, Counting to 10, The ABC's, and any trips outside to watch people.
Your first memorable holiday experiences have you charmed for: the Christmas Tree, Presents, Christmas Carols, Hot Cocoa, Egg Nog, Apple Cider and fun holiday treats.
As I sit here writing this, you and your daddy have headed out for a movie date to see "The Muppets."  We have no idea if you will like it, be able to sit still with it, or even enjoy it, but we thought we'd test it out, since your daddy and I love going to see movies.
Happy 19 Months little lady,Love Mama Mommy
I enjoyed my little milestone raffle so much last month, that I thought I'd do it again.  So enter below for your chance to win the featured ad space on the upper right corner along with an exclusive post!!  Two runners up will get large ads and be included in my shared intro post!
a Rafflecopter giveaway






 

Wordless{ish} Wednesday ~ Oh Christmas Tree!

You may remember this post here, where I was hoping to have a turquoise, gold and purple Christmas! I'm happy to say I got just that!  The biggest win was the price…we were starting from scratch this year, and I spent $75 total!!  ($25 Tree, $30 Ornaments, $20 Lights)  I have extra ornaments to make a garland for the windows in our front room, plus icicle lights.

Her reaction made all of our hard work (and sacrificed sleep) the night before worth it! :)

I'll be scheduling some posts in advance this week, and not around a lot, but look forward to catching up with you all after Christmas!!  
Much love,

 

Weekly Wrap Up

Before I share the highlights of our holiday, I wanted to take a minute to announce the winners of the Half-Birthday Giveaway!

Extra Large Feature Space w/Post (December) - Carly from TexasLoveBirds

Large Feature Space w/Shared Post - Kristina from From City Corporate to Suburb Mama

Large Feature Space w/Shared Post - Amanda from Pretty Little Life

Congrats ladies! You've all been contacted via email.  :)

And now…the weekly wrap up!

Ready for the big day!

 First Turkey ever cooked…NAILED it! Mmmmm!

 Cornbread & Sausage Dressing

 Garlic Mashed Potatoes

 Spinach Cheese Puff

 Butternut Squash Gratin with Bleu Cheese & Sage

 My Plate

 His Plate

 How Zion does Thanksgiving…NOM!

Dessert: Left- Pumpkin Chocolate Tiramisu, Right - Choco-PB Pie

 After dinner we took a walk…the sunset gave us all a golden glow!

 This might be one of my favorite pictures ever!

I have come to really love and appreciate our neighborhood!

Even though we weren't with extended family this year (for the first time), we managed to have a very special, enjoyable time together!  :) 

iPhone is possibly R.I.P. so no linking this week.  BOO!

Let's Connect!

       

Weekly Wrap Up

I just finished this scarf for her! :)  She loves it!

Last week's awkward Steppin' Out picture.

Squirrely Face!

Grilled cheese!

Look at the determination on that face!

Don't forget to enter my HALF-BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY, ends 11/25!!

And come link up tomorrow for "PINNING!" Wk. 2!!

Linking up with these ladies:
     

Let's Connect!