Christmas Card Tree

This is my new favorite decoration at Christmastime...

I learned about the concept of a card tree last year on someone's blog and liked the idea, so I decided to give it a whirl this year since we had an extra artificial tree. (We purchased a new one last year the day after Christmas, which we used as our main Christmas tree. We used our older tree for our card tree and put it up in the kitchen.) We proudly displayed each of the Christmas cards we received this year on our tree in the place of ornaments, and I love-love-love looking at the tree each day while I'm in the kitchen and seeing the people I love. It makes my heart happy! The presents under the tree are now gone, but I am not anywhere ready to take this tree down! I will definitely be having a card tree again next year! :)

Wordless Wednesday: The Best Sound in the World

Happy Wednesday! :)

{I had told Shelby not to do something...and now I can't even really remember what it was I told her not to do..but I would guess it probably had something to do with not sticking her slobbery hand in my face, which she does all.the.time. But when I told her "don't do it," she started smiling and giggling up a storm. This may not be such a good sign for later in life...I tell my daughter not to do something, and she laughs at me! ;) But for now, I cannot think of a better sound in the whole world.}

Christmas in Biloxi

We celebrated Shelby's first Christmas here in Biloxi. Derek was on wards for the month of December (which means he's on call every fourth night), so he couldn't take leave. But we will be able to head back to GA after the New Year to spend a little time at home. We were sad to miss Georgia's first white Christmas in over 100 years though! But we weren't sad for too long b/c we remembered that we had more than our fair share of snow (remember the Blizzard of 2009 and SNO.M.G. in February of 2010) last year in DC..actually I think we had enough snow to last us a lifetime!

This is the first time in my life (at least that I can remember!) that I haven't spent Christmas at home in GA or up in St. Louis (where my mom and dad's side of the family is), so we were thrilled that my parents and sister offered to come join us in Biloxi! It certainly made it feel a little more like home...and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed getting some baby time!
Due to work schedules, it had to be a short visit. They were scheduled to leave Christmas afternoon. So my mom made a yummy Christmas Eve dinner, and then we opened presents that night.

Then on Christmas morning, we opened our stockings. (My parents made an impromptu stocking out of a gift bag for my sister, so she could open her stocking stuffers with us.)

After opening stockings we ate a big breakfast cooked on Derek's new griddle, then my family had to hit the road back to GA. We cleaned up the mess from Christmas and caught up on laundry while Shelby napped. When she woke up, we bundled her up and hit the road as well..but we we were on the road to look at Christmas lights! :)
But the best light display of all was right in our very own neighborhood! Down the street from us, there is a house that has lights synchronized to music for a 30 minute show! It was quite impressive!
All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas! But we can't wait to go home and celebrate more with our families in a few days! We hope you and your family are enjoying this special time of year together as well!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Smiths!

Merry Christmas from our little family to yours! Wishing you and yours a very special day together!

‎"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government with be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" Isaiah 9:6-7

What a difference a year makes...

This time last year (links to our snow pictures from last year!), we were buried under feet of snow in Virginia waiting with anticipation to see if my district would close schools so we could head home to GA to celebrate Christmas....

Now, I'm sitting here in 77 degree weather with a baby in my arms waiting on my family to come join us in Biloxi for Christmas! What a difference a year makes!

Lovin' on Shelby

Shelby got a visit from her BooBoo and PopPop (Derek's mom & step-dad) this weekend.

There is nothing sweeter than seeing the love of grandparents!

We had a short but sweet visit with them. Unfortunately, Derek was on call and missed out on the fun. But who are we kidding, they didn't come for Derek...they came to love on their grandbaby! :)

We also had the privilege of having two of our dearest friends stop by for a a visit last night as they were making the trek from Texas to Georgia for Christmas. We were thrilled to get to introduce them to Shelby for the first time. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Derek & me with Bret & Jenny...but we did get some good shots of Bret lovin' on Miss Shelby!

Do you think this guy is gonna make a good Daddy one day, or what?!

After Shelby went to bed, we had the best time visiting just the four of us. The past three months with Shelby have been wonderful, but it was nice to feel like our old selves for just a couple of hours with old friends. Last night was good for our souls. There is just nothing like laughing and spending quality time with people who really know you and love you. We really enjoy the military life and all that it entails--moving around and getting the opportunity to explore new places and meet new people, but nothing can hold a candle to the comforts of home, family, and old friends.

3 Months Old!

Happy 3 Month Birthday, Baby Girl!

We can hardly believe you are already 3 months old! You're still so little, but when I was looking back through your other monthly birthday photos it made you seem so big! It seems as though your little chunky rolls are just multiplying by the month! :) Here's what Shelby is up to these days...

--TAKING NAPS!! For those of you who may not know, Shelby has fought naps tooth and nail since we brought her home from the hospital. Usually she would only nap for 5 minutes here and there throughout the day or sleep in my arms making for a very exhausted Mommy. She is now taking 3 naps a day that are usually 1.5-2 hours long. HALLELUJAH!
--sleeping much better at night! She usually sleeps for a solid 8 hour stretch at first at night. We put her down around 8pm and she only wakes up once to nurse (and I'll say it again...HALLELUJAH!) around 4am. I put her back down a little before 5, and she'll be in a light sleep until about 7 or 8am.
--still taking Prevacid for her acid reflux, and it's finally starting to really help. She's still a little fussy after eating...but it's so much better than it was before! The only real complaint we have is spitting up. She spits up all.the.time. I must admit it gets a little frustrating to have to change her clothes and my clothes so frequently, but it doesn't seem to affect her temperament at all so for that I am thankful!
--loves to make eye contact with us and will follow us around the room if we walk away.
--smiling and talking more and more...especially when she should be nursing. She'd rather talk than eat...although you'd never know it based on how quickly she puts on the weight!
--one of her favorite things to do is to try to stand up. We'll hold her up in our lap, and she'll stand on her feet and stare into our faces. It's so cute!
--we can still fit into a handful of her 3 month jammies, but other than that we're wearing all 6 month clothes now! I've gone ahead and starting buying 9 month pants though...they're a little too long for her still, but her little belly needs the extra room! (According to her daddy, we're trying to avoid the "muffin top.")

Thanks for checking in with us! Wishing you a very happy weekend! Can you believe it's the last weekend before Christmas?! Where does the time go????

Wordless Wednesday

Just wanted to let you know why I've been MIA this past week....

Grammy's been here! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Wishing you a joyful Wednesday! :)

Feeling Appreciated

One of the hardest parts about leaving VA to move to Biloxi was leaving behind all of my former students. One of my favorite parts about being a Kindergarten teacher is getting to watch the kids grow up throughout elementary school...and when they come back to visit or pass me in the halls and let me love on them a bit. I always loved when they would say: "I wish I was still in Kindergarten!" :)

But even though I can't see my kiddos anymore, I've gotten lots of letters and cards in the mail from them since moving here. Then this past week, I got a sweet note from a former student...and her mom included a $50 Visa gift card for me!! I was totally shocked...how thoughtful and generous! Definitely made me feel loved and appreciated..and made me miss my job this morning just a bit more than usual. But then I remembered how hectic Monday mornings always were setting up new centers for the week, getting lessons prepared, answering emails...and I can't even imagine trying to do that right now and be a good mommy to this precious little girl.

I heart Biloxi!

We had been planning to take Shelby to the mall here in Biloxi to have her picture taken with Santa. Derek wanted to be there for the big event, but his only day off was Saturday. We were pretty nervous about taking her to the mall on a Saturday in December b/c we assumed there would be crowds and long lines...not a good combination for a 10 week old. But there was no traffic, no crowds, and a total of two people in front of us in line to meet Santa...gotta love Biloxi! :) Well, without further ado, here's Shelby & Mr. Claus!
Shelby did great with Santa! Since she's still so young, she's happy as long as someone is holding her...even if it is a strange man in a red suit! And she even looked at the camera..yay! :)

Shelby's First Babysitter

Eek..it doesn't feel like all that long ago that I was the one doing the babysitting! It felt so strange to be asking our neighbor's teenage daughter to come babysit for us. I was beyond to nervous to leave Shelby for the first time (we've left her before...but only with my mom or dad in her care, which isn't really like leaving her at all)...I was talking a mile a minute trying to give the babysitter more information than she would ever need to know. I was so busy frantically relaying information that I realized a few miles down the road that I didn't even kiss my baby goodbye! Aahh! I wanted to turn around and go back, but Derek promptly looked at me like I was crazy. :)
We were so worried about leaving Shelby, but we timed it perfectly. I nursed Shelby right before the babysitter came over, and Shelby fell asleep in the babysitter's arms before we even got out the door! Shelby was asleep the entire time we were at Derek's hospital Christmas party. It felt so nice to get out and socialize for a few hours, but we sure were happy to see our baby girl when we got home!

Lessons in Motherhood

I came across this video on another blog recently, and it really resonates with this season of my life.

If I could go back in time and tell myself something before Shelby was born, I would say: "cribs are overrated." :) After spending $1,000 on a crib, we realized this past week that Shelby sleeps best in her carseat. We made this realization when Shelby & I made a quick overnight trip up to Jackson to vosit Derek & see what he's been up to for the past month. On the way to Jackson, we left around 7pm (Shelby's bedtime). I figured she would sleep the 3 hours in the car, and once she woke up I planned to change her into her jammies and put her down for the night in her pack n play. Well, she didn't wake up till 4am--9 hours after she fell asleep!!! She slept for 9 hours straight in her carseat!! To help you understand what a big deal this was...prior to that, her longest stretch of sleep was only 7 hours. Naturally, we thought 9 hours was just a fluke. Well, the next night when we drove back to Biloxi she did the same thing--9 hours of sleep in her carseat! I was thrilled...I thought maybe we were turning a corner on sleeping through the night. But don't you worry..the next night when we put her down to sleep in her crib...she was back to the same ole same ole. Lesson learned...cribs aren't all they're cracked up to be! :)

In all seriousness, I will say that Derek & I have learned so much in the short 10 weeks since Shelby entered this world. Although we thought we were ready, we learned you can never really be ready for a baby. We thought the fact that one of us is a doctor and the other has a degree in education and child & family development, surely we could handle a baby..ha! :) We're now appreciating our parents in a whole new way. We have learned something new each and every day since she was born, but I know we still have lots more to learn along the way. I have a feeling that each new stage of her development will bring new challenges...but thankfully, she just gets cuter and sweeter by the day making it worth it all!