Shopping Madness!

I have spent some serious money this past week on Christmas. I'm almost afraid to even look at my bank account. Christmas is a very special time of year. Everyone says it's the season of giving, and it is, but it is also when we celebrate the birth of Christ. Above all, I want to teach Jayda that is the TRUE beauty of Christmas.

This year I have gone way out of my way to try and give a lot to others who are less fortunate. I'm not looking to gain anything back but somehow the experience feels so rewarding to me. I have struggled all throughout my life and God has blessed me so much. I feel that if I am in a position to bless others, I should. The feeling is more rewarding than anything I could possible buy for myself.

I have FINALLY finished getting Jayda's Christmas. Why is it that we put off everything until the end of the year to buy? Somehow my list of things Jayda needs gets put on the "Christmas list." haha So, finally I have gotten all the things she truly needs and also all the fun stuff! I cannot wait to see her excitement this year when she opens all her gifts under the tree!!

Fun Family Time

Today has been an awesome family day! We woke up, made breakfast, and then headed out for the parade. I dropped Ray and Jayda off near the float and went to park. Then, I found me a nice spot to watch the parade! Front Row Seat! I was so proud when I saw her on that little float. Even though it wasn't anything special, it was super special to me to see my big girl on the float!! She looked like she loved it! She was waving at everyone.

Then we came home and all napped! We were pretty tired. I wanted to bake some cookies with Jayda for Christmas, as I have mentioned. I decided it would be better to buy some premade, precut ones that way we didn't make a HUGE mess. Baking with a 16 month old could be a disaster! She LOVED it. She was such a big big helper and did so great! I am so proud of her! I will definitely make some cookies again with her soon!

As I have promised, here are some pictures!

What a day we have had!! Below is a video I got of her putting them on the sheet. I really am so pleased with how she acted. It was so nice sharing this together, just us girls! =]

Chri-mah Chri-ma -Chri-mas!

Today is FRIDAY! That day is so special to me. Finally the weekend is here! I often think that I am going to get to sleep in. Then, every weekend, I am sadly disappointed when my sweet little Jayda decides to wake up at 7:00 am. I always think to myself, "Tonight I'll go to bed when she does so that I can get more sleep." And every single night, I can never manage to get in bed by 7:30 pm. Bummer!

Some exciting news, Jayda is going to be in the Auburn Christmas Parade tomorrow! I decided to let Ray ride on the float with her instead of me. Now all you ladies know men take horrible pictures (unless they are a professional.) If i relied on Ray to get some good pictures, I would lose those memories forever (hehe sorry Ray.) It is going to be a chilly morning for a parade! 36 degrees. I am going to have Jayda bundled up! I can't wait and I will post lots of pictures!

I was able to do a little bit of Christmas shopping after work today before I had to pick Jayda up from daycare. So far, this is what we have gotten her for Christmas.I hope that she really likes everything. We plan on getting her some more things like more PJ's, shoes, bows, etc. I'm going to get a lot of that for stocking stuffers. I love giving PJ's every year. It is so fun to get a nice warm winter PJ on Christmas. I cannot wait! =]

Go Check out Shutterfly

I have been debating a lot this year about the Christmas Card that I plan to use. Last year, Jayda was a little baby and she took the CUTEST holiday pictures. I decided to keep it the tradtional green and red. They turned out great. I ordered her Christmas Cards through Shutterfly. I LOVED them. Shutterfly's card's are so unique and beautiful. When you order with Shutterfly, you really get quality. While I was ordering my Christmas Cards, I also thought it would be a great idea to print some Shutterfly Photobooks to use for Christmas Gifts for the family!! They turned out GREAT!! Shutterfly has all the tools you need in order to make a great looking photobook that you can treasure for a long time. My parents loved the one I made of Jayda. I have also used some of their Photo Invitation Cards for some of her invatations. If you haven't ever checked them out before, you MUST check them out now!!

Last year, This was the card that I made with Shutterfly. I really really loved it!! Shutterfly gave me the perfect design to make such a lovely card! My entire family raved about it!!






This year, I plan to use the card that I posted yesterday!! I just LOVE the simplistic design of that one!!

Everyone, go check out shutterfly!

Too many decisions

Today has been a rather hectic day. I was up until a little after 1:00 am last night (or this morning) doing homework. Lately, I have become much more tired than usual. Being a full time mommy, working full time, and going to school full time is so tiring. I held up well for the first semester and half of the second, then I started to become much more tired. I know that I need to finish school in order to provide better for my family but it is hard! One of my favorite quotes, "The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.-Benjamin Mays" I will keep pushing on and trying to do my best. I may never get there, but I will not stop trying.

So, remember I had attempted to take some Christmas card pictures? Well, I posted the only good one out of 100 of them. Even though it was only of her playing around... Anyways, I thought why not just use that for a Christmas Card! Without further ado, here is our Christmas Card 2010. (I think...)

I think I have decided on it. It is just so hard to get good "posey type" pictures with Jayda.


A side note, I heard a song on the radio on the way home and I just ADORE it. The words fit so perfectly in not only my life, but my entire family. I know we have been struggling as a whole to give it all to God. This song just hit home for me, and Ray too. It's a band called Forever Jones. The song is He Wants it All Today. Simply beautiful. Check it out here.

Holiday Traditions

My post earlier got me thinking about Holiday traditions. I really want to share so many memories and stories with Jayda. I want her to grow older and look back on all our traditions and hopefully share that with her children some day.

We ATTEMPTED to try to take some pictures for our Christmas card this year. This did NOT go as planned, but does it ever? I usually take about 100 pictures in one sitting. Most of the time, there is maybe 2 or 3 that I can actually use. I hope that for Christmas, I can get a nice new awesome camera (hint hint) that way I can take really good quality photos. However, I did get one sweet little smile, though it wasn't what we were going for!


I was browsing the web and I ran across SweetSugarBelle and I am SO IMPRESSED! She is so talented. I only wish I could make one cookie that looked half way decent. Everyone needs to go and check out her blog. Here is a photo that makes me want to DIVE into her cookies!! This makes me want to start the tradition of baking cookies for the Holidays for people. I just think it's such a sweet, simple, yet very thoughtful idea.


What are your thoughts on traditions? What ideas do you think would be a good simple way to share things with your family? I am just so thankful that I have a family to share things with!

Christmas!

IT is my absolute FAVORITE time of year!! I love decorating the tree with my family.

I have thought about this a lot. I would like to start something new with my family because my daughter is only 16 months old. It would be a perfect time to start something to carry on over for the years!

A big tradition for me is Christmas photos. I have been working really hard to come up with a unique Christmas holiday photo idea. Last year, I took several pictures of my DD under the tree. Last year. I used Shutterfly for our Christmas cards and they turned out FABULOUS! I highly recommend you all go check out what they have.

This year I am planning on doing a traditional card. I'm still in the works for the photo. Wish me luck!