6 Christmases

This is such an overwhelming post. I want to capture the sweet moments of our Christmas together. This will be how Hudson remembers his 2nd Christmas. I never take enough pictures, and my words fall short.


It is with tremendous joy that we attempt to comprehend God becoming flesh for us. While we stay busy enjoying family, we make time each year to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

We started out the holiday festivities with my parents. Hudson got the hang of opening gifts rather quickly.



He had to show Granny every one of them.



Of course, he got into a few shenanigans.






The whole next day was just the three of us. We played with Hudson's new gifts, read the Christmas story, and had our "Happy Birthday, Jesus" party. Hudson is a fan of blowing out candles.





This year we made ice cream in a bag... thank you pinterest! All you need is a gallon sized zip lock bag, a pint sized zip lock bag, vanilla extract, ice, half and half, and sugar. It was so easy and tasty!




Afterwards, we attended our church's candlelight service. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend. Then, we headed to Will's parents for our annual Christmas dinner.

Hudson even had a place card.



Of course, I didn't get any pictures of him in his cute little Christmas Eve outfit. You can kinda see how cute he looks in the one picture I snapped of the evening:



Then, it was Christmas morning! We spent the first couple of hours just us again. This is when we finally get to light the white candle of our Advent wreath! We spent time reading our Advent book and opening our Christmas presents from each other. Of course, Huds was an expert by then.



My hubby wrapped my gift in the Harbor Freight catalog.




Then, it was back to Will's parents for breakfast and gifts.












Afterwards, we went home for nap time. Will and I ordered Chinese. This may be a tradition in the making! After naps, we piled in the car and headed to my family's big Christmas.







Hudson was rather interested in his cousin's disco ball.



The next morning we did a small little Christmas with my sister and her kiddos. I didn't take any pictures. :) Then, we headed home. It took us a few days to recover, and since then, we have been enjoying time with Will before soccer season starts.

Zoo Light Safari

Hudson is obsessed with lights and candles. So, we figured Zoo Light Safari would make his day. As it turned out, he seemed more interested in the spotlights and sidewalk lights rather than the sparkling colors that filled the trees. I had to literally pry him away from a sidewalk light, and all the while, there are red and green dancing snowmen in front of him!












He did discover a deep love for hot chocolate.






Hudson has been making phrases lately. I love that he is learning to communicate with me. This weekend he said, "Milk all gone."

Every night, he pretends like he is reading from his books. He just sits and jabbers. We let him do this for 10 minutes at bed time, and I really think this is his favorite time of the day! He always reads his potty book and afterwards, he goes to look at the potty! So stinking cute!

He has been waking up and singing the ABC songs until we come get him! It is his new favorite.

Looking Forward to Christmas

I have been reading Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotional on and off for the past few months. I didn't start the devotional on the day I was supposed to start it, so I am off by X amount of days. It currently has me reading through the days leading up to Easter. It has been a real blessing to read about the last days of Jesus life here on earth while at the same time reading the Advent devotional with my family.

It has quite a different pull on my heart and it has further helped me to understand that Jesus, my sweet Jesus, was born, as John the Baptist says, "to take away the sins of the world. Our "Agnus Dei," our spotless lamb who now intercedes for me.

In the Advent Season we are looking forward to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Savior. Moreover, we are further looking towards to the City of the Most High, "for soon, when thy time has come, thou shalt rise up where thy Jesus sits, and reign at his right hand; and all this because the divine Lord 'was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him'" (Spurgeon).

I am thankful for this. I am thankful for my family; my sweet wife who fights so hard to be holy. You cannot put a wage or salary for what she does day-in and day-out. I am thankful for her commitment to the Lord, myself, and Hudson. She is of great value to me and she is far more precious than jewels.

Love You H,

Hubs

Advent

I love the Advent season! If you have read my blog long enough, you know that I love traditions. The Advent season is a wonderful time to start traditions in your family. The things you do now could continue for generations to come! How exciting.

Most of our Christmas traditions are intertwined with our dinner meal.



We light our advent candle at night and read from this devotional.



I must say that reading at dinner is hard. It is hard with just one baby. I don't really soak in what we read most nights. As our children grow, our conversations will deepen. It has to smart small. The most important thing is that we are making it a priority. Hudson sees us reading and praying and that is important! We are learning.

Our Jesse Tree is beside the advent candle. There are tons of devotionals to do with this tree, and we may start that as our children grow. For now, it is simply something we talk about during dinner. It is more for children, but we wanted to do it now simply because we know if we don't start it we never will, ya know?

In the mornings, Hudson and I usually open a door from our Advent calendar. We purchased this one at Target, and I hope it lasts for years. Hudson loves opening the doors.



Inside, is a little piece of paper with something to read and something to do. I don't stress myself out if we can't do it. I wrote these when Hudson was tiny, and I will change them to fit with the needs of our family.



I also found this wooden manger scene at a thrift store. It lives on our coffee table during December, and it mainly for Hudson to play with and slowly learn from it.



Above all, we simply want Christmas to be about Christ. Yeah, we have some Santa's on our tree, and we will "pretend" Santa is coming. I say "pretend" because Hudson will know that Santa is not real. I know some parents gasp at that, but this is a decision we made. We don't want to deceive him, and in any way hinder him understanding that Jesus is real. That being said, I don't criticize parents that do tell their children Santa is real. I think there is so much criticism that comes with parenting, and it is pointless!

I am always open to new ideas and twists on the traditions we have. I would love to hear some of yours too!

November

I try to do a quick post at the end of every month. In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is easy to forget things. My monthly recap is simply to be reminded of the small things, the big things, and the everyday life of the in between.

November, like every month, seemed to pass quickly. We were thankful for the comfortable weather. Many of our days were passed exploring our yard and enjoying the final days of pleasantness.

We are wrapping up our fall schedule--Bible Study, story times, and playgroups. Our schedule will change in the new year. We are enjoying having Daddy home during the afternoons and nights....this too will soon change. Soccer season is approaching!

It was a month of thankfulness. We are convicted that we don't practice thankfulness each and everyday. We loved naming and talking about what we are thankful for, and in the process, we are learning to be thankful for the messy moments of life too.

Hudson

Hudson had his 18 month check up this month. While we were there, we discovered he had strep. We also discovered that it takes two people to give him his medicine. We wrestled him to the floor for every dose..twice a day for ten days. It wasn't fun. Will got sick in the process. I was the last man standing.

Hudson's vocabulary has really increased. He is even beginning to make phrases. Last night, he told me night night and then said muah (kiss). Then he told me bye bye before going to his room to bed. He will say names of food, people, body parts, and some animals. He will point to objects and name them. He sometimes surprises me by naming things I didn't even know he knew.

We are working on our animal sound. Hudson proudly knows that all animals say "Boo!" We are also naming our letters and numbers. He loves to sing the alphabet song with me. I mean B, D, A, C, E is the way the alphabet song goes, right?

He loves to Hokey Pokey. He knows how to open doors. Really excited about that...ha ha! Of course, it isn't all fun. We aren't dancing around doing the Hokey Pokey all day. We have many meltdowns.





Occasionally there are household disasters:





Books:

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I read "One Thousand Gifts," by Ann Voskamp. It is one of my favorite reads of all times. It gave me perspective I hope I never lose. I am now working on my 1000 gifts.

8. The smell of yummy food in the crockpot.
15. Hudson asking for more. We have an abundance of food.
18. Pulling out Christmas decor from the attic.
27. Everyone around the breakfast table.
100. My Mr. Fix-It.
106. The Target 1 spot.
109. The security of our salvation.

Will and I are reading "50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die," by John Piper. This book has really short chapters, and we are using it as a small devotion at dinner. Afterwards, one of us would add a leaf to our Thankful Tree. Just a few little things that added so much warmth to our nights together..nothing profound. We didn't have deep theological discussions over our mashed potatoes. We are simply trying to pursue God as a family. It is a messy process.

Excited about celebrating the Advent season!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is usually a blur. It is hard to see as many people as possible in just 2 days. We are blessed with huge families.

Our first adventure was to see the George family. We had family from LA, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, and Brent, Alabama.











I squeezed in lunch with high school friends on Friday. I got to hold the sweetest little twins!





Then, it was time for more turkey and family fun. This time with the Taylor side.







Hudson was a tad overwhelmed by all the people. I didn't take a picture of the Taylor side, but we celebrated with close to 30 people. Seeing fifty people in all, many of them new faces, is overwhelming!

It was a good time. We had full bellies and happy hearts. We are blessed and thankful. We pray we would in turn be a blessing to others.

Operation Christmas Child

We really want to cultivate a spirit of giving in our children. One way we are attempting to do this is through Operation Christmas Child. This year, Hudson packed a box for a 2 year old boy. As our family grows, we want each child to pack a box for the same age child as them.

We hit the one spot at target for most of our loot. We found a yo yo, ball, airplane, truck, teddy bear, book, and a tiger. We also sent some of our individually wrapped hard candy left over from Halloween. We probably spent less than 10 bucks.





We included a letter and pictures of Hudson. We told the little boy that we hoped our gift would point him to the greatest gift...the love of Jesus.