Carroll Christmas Party!

Our friends, Jerrod & Julie, hosted their 2nd annual Christmas party on the Sunday before Christmas. We were just told to wear our 'festive' clothes, and clearly, Rob and I have different views on that ;) Kidding, he rocked that 90s cowboy shirt!

yo y mi vaquero

It was a fun night spent with great, and well-dressed friends! 

Baby's 1st Christmas!

Wow, am I ever behind! I took some time off from blogging to enjoy being with my family over the holidays, but now I've got a lot of catching up to do! We've spent Rob's time off from school at 'home' with our families. It's been a blast, and we've definitely packed in lots of quality time with each other, our families, and our hometown friends. I'll get caught up with all of that soon, but first, let's talk about Jaqsy's 1st Christmas!

We took baby girl to see Santa the 1st day we were there. She didn't really care one way or the other, and only sat still for long enough for me to snap a picture ;)

not too impressed with the big man
There was also a Nativity scene set up, so of course I had to sit her down there for a picture with baby Jesus and company! Sweetness.

Jaqs was lucky enough to get to open a couple presents from friends early.

Don't you love her baby ring? Haha, I think it's both comical and adorable!

We always do Christmas Eve lunch with Rob's mom and brother, but J was napping, so she had to miss out. I guess that explains why I have no pictures of that ;)

That evening, my grandparents came over, and we all went to Christmas Eve service together. They came back to my parents' house for dinner and games afterwards! We love game nights in this family!

Jaqs with Nana & Papa

We woke up on Christmas morning to find that Santa had visited my parents' house! What fun!

I'm so sad that I don't have a single picture of G-Pop & Grammie-Claus from Christmas day! We were all busy being little elves, enjoying the moment, and okay, corralling the babe ;)

Christmas morning excitement!

pure love

Jaqs, of course, is too young to really enjoy Christmas to the fullest, BUT I think she still had a lot of fun with all her peeps! What's not to love about being the center of attention in a house full of people? She definitely paid attention to her new pacis some of her new toys!

I haven't even mentioned yet that I'm GOING TO BE AN AUNT!! Woohoo!!! My brother and his wife are expecting a baby in May. We know what 'it' is, but we're sworn to secrecy for now, so you'll have to keep hanging in suspense on that one! All I can say is that Jaqsy girl is going to have lots of fun with her cousin next year!

After we were all spoiled rotten by GP & Grammie, and Uncle KB & Aunt Cole, we got ready for our next stop! Family pics were a must before we left.

1st family of 3 Christmas!

We went to Rob's grandparents' house for lunch and more fun with lots of family! Once again, J was the star of the show. She's the only baby (or kid for that matter) in both of our immediate families at the moment, so the girl gets all kinds of loving! Nanny & Popo got Jaqs her first pony! It's a little big for her right now, but she loves it!

l: with nanny & her new pony!
tr: with grandma galusha
br: rob with his twin and their mama

After Nanny & Popo's, we came back home for naps, then headed out to my grandparents' house for dinner and EVEN MORE fun! My cousin's baby girl, Kenlee, and Jaqs are only about 6 weeks apart in age, so they had fun playing together! They were adorable, and I'm excited for them to grow up being little buddies.

Jaqsy Girl's first Christmas was incredibly special for us, and we are very grateful for the blessing that she is to our family. Having a baby on Christmas gives you the smallest inkling of the sacrifice God made for us! Indescribable LOVE.

Christmas Tour!

I love the way my home feels at Christmastime--so warm and cozy! The first thing I do when I get up is turn the tree lights on, and they stay on all day if we're home...I adore it!

I wanted to share some of our decor, so I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner for her Christmas Tour of Homes. Can't wait to check out everyone else's beautiful decor and to gather ideas for the future! If you clicked over from there, thanks for visiting!

I decided to do something a little different with our cards this year; I taped ribbon around the door of our coat closet in the entry way and have been pinning our cards there with mini-clothespins. I love to be able to see them all on display when you walk in!

Living room:

I made the little felt ball garland to add some whimsy to our burlap board.

remembering the reason for the season...nativities are my fav!

on the coffee table. how about all that baby swag?! and the photo bomb! priceless.

love my eleven-one-creative pillow made by meredith

hard to decorate a mantle when there's a big, fat TV over it...hope to get it back someday!

Ahh, my favorite part! The tree! Ours is bright and colorful, and I just love it.

decided to wrap the canvas up, too!

some of my favorite ornaments..
so happy to have "baby's first christmas"  this year.
Thanks Beth Ann :)
God is SO GOOD and FAITHFUL!

the night view.

Dining Room:

anthropologie-inspired snow globes

I love these little Christmas plates my mom gifted me with a few years ago!

I have other decor in the kitchen, but if I'm being honest, the sink was piled high with dishes during picture time, so I left that part out. Ha!

Of course Jaqsy girl's room needed some Christmas cheer this year! I made these little trees this week, so I'll be sure to post how I did them soon! They were very simple, and I think they go perfectly in her girly-girl room!

Thanks for taking a look into our home! Merry, merry CHRISTmas!

Anthropologie-Inspired Snow Globes

I've had my eye on these little mason jar snow globes for awhile now; I just think they're so whimsical and fun! I knew I wanted to make them from the first time I saw this pin!

I gathered my supplies from Hobby Lobby, (all on sale, of course) and 6 of these little pretties ended up costing about $5 total. Hard to beat!

You'll need: Mason jars, Village trees, fake snow, and some hot glue.

This has to be one of the easiest Christmas crafts of all time: just hot glue the trees to the inside of the lid, pour a little bit of snow in the jar, and seal 'er up. Give it a shake to help the "snow" settle, and voila! Done! Looks pretty similar to the Anthro version, no?

I'm linking up with Katie & Stephanie for Saw It. Pinned It. Did It.!

stuff it!

Stockings are one of my favorite things about Christmas morning! My mom has always done them up right, and I sure hope to follow in her footsteps because they are such a fun tradition for us! If you're looking for ideas, hopefully this can provide you with a little inspiration. Rob even helped me pick out the items for the guys!

{click set for details}
phone case pretty
essie "beyond cozy" polish--perfect for the holidays
how great would an initial for each kiddo be for a mama?
washi tape--endless crafting ideas
starbucks via for coffee lovers
gold dot thank you notes--LOVE these
isotoner gloves
bow stud earrings
EOS lip balm--a personal fave
portable phone charger with cute design to boot

{click set for details}
jcrew brown leather belt
gillette razors--always a necessity for the men in my life
orbit/reese's--gotta include the favorite treats
fossil wallet with money clip--rob's loves these
iPhone charger case
brain teaser game
starbucks via
masculine travel coffee mug
titleist proV1s--my dad's fav

What are you hoping to find in your stocking on Christmas morning??

Christmas 2011

Better late than never with the Christmas post, right??

Rob and I had 2 glorious weeks off from work together, and we spent most of that time in Abilene with our families and friends. It was WONDERFUL. It was so nice to do whatever we pleased and to just relax and enjoy the holidays with the ones we love.

My pictures are kind of a hodge-podge, so here it goes...

preggo christmas humor

Christmas Eve was spent at the Galusha's before Rob's brother & his fiance left town. We had dinner and hung out with them for awhile before going to Christmas Eve service. The candle-light service at church was amazing! Spending that time with other believers in the presence of our Lord was awesome and such a great reminder of why we celebrate.

We also spent Christmas Day with Rob's family at his grandparent's house. He has a HUGE family, but we had a relatively small crowd this year. It's always fun to catch up and see everyone! His grandmother is practically the only woman in the family, so together we got lunch cooked, served, and cleaned up. Successful day!

Rob's sweet Popo...ready for his presents!

checking out Rob's new knife

he likes to pretend he can play this thing ;)

nanny & popo...love them so! we're blessed by them.

presents! Popo is like a kid with presents!

Christmas tradition: puzzle building

My brother and sister-in-law pulled into town Christmas afternoon, so that evening we went to my grandparent's house to hang out and do gifts with them. My cousin Aryne's little boy, Brayden, is at a fun Christmas age, so we got to play with him, too! 

the big boys enjoyed Brayden's new work bench, too...ha!

my cousin Jessica & her hubby, Leroy...they're expecting in June!

Monday morning was 'Christmas' for the Boyce family! We all got new Christmas jammies, so we had to take a family picture in them :) Turned out pretty cute, I'd say!

Boyce Christmas 2011

Santa & Mrs. Claus

stockings hung by the chimney with care

stockings!

KB & Nicole

Jaqs' first stocking!

daddy was hoping to win big on the scratch-offs for Jaqsy's college fund!

from my hubby...love it!!

from my parents...a mom camera! YAY!

the after-math

prepping Christmas lunch

baby girl's gifts

This is where I failed at taking pictures the rest of the week.

One night we had dinner at Perini's with Rob's family because his cousin, Kathy, was in town from Jersey with her man. It was so much fun! Love seeing them.

We had game night with my Nana & Papa another night...GIRLS WON! Obviously ;)

Another night we hung out with our other extended 'family', the Miller's. Both the Miller & Boyce families had off the week between Christmas & New Year's, so we got to spend lots of time together!

Connie, Austin, Elizabeth, Aaron

My Natalie girl. She's getting so big and grown up! She has a lot of love for Jaqs and wanted to give her hugs constantly...so sweet! She even says she'll babysit for me ;)

love you, nattie-boo!

I hope your holiday season was filled with joy and blessings as well! This one was made extra special for us knowing that next year we'll have a little on-the-move baby girl.

We are so thankful for our wonderful families and for the love they show.

Thank you mom & dad for letting us camp out at your house for 2 weeks! :) It was fun!!