Monday, December 30, 2013

Christmas 2013

This year, we packed up the car and traveled to west TN for Christmas. I haven’t spent a Christmas in Jackson since before I was married. It’s hard enough to split holidays between your family and your spouse’s family. But, try having divorced parents who live 6 hours away from each other. There is no way to see everyone at one break.


We stopped in Rockwood for the night on our way to Jackson to visit my sister and grandparents. It was a very strange feeling to be celebrating without mom there with us. I’m certain it will be less strange as the years move forward but this one was a tough holiday. AR did get some quality play time with my grandparents which I believe helped to ease the pain.

On Sunday, we were off to Jackson. We all survived the long car ride and were happy to be there. I got to visit with some of my family that I had not seen in many years. Because I grew up in Jackson, all of my childhood Christmases were with these people. I loved having Clint and Anna Ruth peek into my past.

Christmas morning was a fun time with Anna Ruth seeing what Santa brought her. Keep in mind that she is only 16 months old. The picture where she is sitting in front of a tea set and 2 baby dolls is all that Santa brought. We had a few gifts wrapped for her to open, but for the most part it was a very modest Christmas. Clint and I only felt a twinge of guilty (and I mean for like, 2 seconds) when we would see pictures of other kids Christmas morning “spreads.” But, we quickly snapped out of it. Y’all, she isn’t even 2. She has no idea what presents are all about and could care less how many she gets. Heck, she doesn’t even get into opening gifts. We made a conscious decision not go all out and buy gifts that she wouldn’t care about or play with often. She already has a room full of toys and our house is not big by any means. Storage becomes a huge issue when you start accumulating children’s toys. So, we asked our family to give to her college fund. When she is 18, she is going to be way more grateful for that college fund than she will be about a Tickle Me Elmo bought in 2013. Plus, why would we want to out shadow the real reason we celebrate?

I pray that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas being with those you love and remembering that if it were not for our Savior, we would all be lost!

AR with my Nanaw

Last hour of the trip we resorted to the DVD player--never say never, especially when you are taking a 7.5 road trip!
Helping Daddy pick up sticks in Coe's yard
Childhood friends with kids of our own
Annie and Anna Ruth
Checking out her new toys
Daddy helping
Christmas lunch
Picking pecans
Coe and Anna Ruth
Watching the cows with Pop
Hanging out with Aunt Brooke and Uncle Ben
Pappy helping AR
Cousin love
Opening gifts at Nana and Pappy's house--all this girl cared about was "cookies" (aka graham crackers)

Friday, December 13, 2013

A Christmas Miracle


I think our Santa practice paid off. We took Anna Ruth to the mall yesterday to meet the "real" SC. Don't let this picture fool you. There were tears before this shot but I have honestly never seen her stop crying so quickly before now. The flash started going off and she pull herself together. Of course, Mommy and Daddy looked like the biggest idiots behind the camera jumping up and down, waving our hands and saying silly things, but that's normal for us now, ha!

Santa Picture, Year 2= Success!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

10 Month Difference

It is really hard for this momma to believe that it has been 10 months since AR first used a spoon to eat and now she is feeding herself with one. My big girl!

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Santa Anxiety

Last weekend we stopped by a local Christmas tree lot to get a wreath. We saw they had a Santa taking pictures with kids. I told Clint we should see how Anna Ruth does this year with Santa before we pay to get a picture with the Santa at the mall. Last year she did really well (granted she was only 4 months old). I think these pictures speak for themselves!
Not a fan this year!
This is as close as Santa could be without her crying.