Christmas Day

On Christmas day we woke up early, looked in our stockings, and headed to Milwaukie again for a Christmas brunch at Greg's stepsister Jaime's house where we ate an amazing meal and had a gift exchange.

Scratching off our lottery tickets... we were both big losers unfortunately

Our delicious brunch

Alexis hanging out with Daddy, Uncle Eric, and Grandpa

 

Later on Christmas day, some of my Dad's side of the family  came to my parents' house for dinner and a gift exchange.

Bryan and Jessica

Aunt Sherry and Dona

Grandma and Grandpa with their granddaughters

Macie got a baby doll for Christmas and had given it to my dad while he was holding Alexis. I thought it was funny to see him looking so maternal ha ha

Tyler had "the touch" with Alexis the entire time we were there. Whenever she was crying for anyone he would scoop her up and hold her and she was perfectly content. Such a great uncle :)

It was nice to be with family for a few days even though we were incredibly busy for what seemed like every second. Alexis got some good cousin time in which was fun.

They are going to have so much fun together throughout the years!

Macie was loving having her picture taken... Alexis could pretty much care less.

I was sitting in the back seat with the two of them and Macie kept holding Alexis' hand. It was so adorable!

Whenever I am with the two of them together I get a little glimpse into what it would be like to get pregnant in the near future... and then I am terrified! Ha ha, sorry Lex. You will have a sibling one day, just not one that is only a year younger than you are. Good thing you have your wonderful cousin to hang out with until that time comes.

Christmas Eve

Christmas is still such a magical time for me. First off it is celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ who would later go on to die so that we might live, how incredible is that?! Then there are the beautifully decorated trees with sparkly lights that make my home feel so warm and intimate, buying gifts for loved ones, amazing Christmas songs, Christmas movies that make me weep, and desserts that are like Heaven in my mouth. I feel like a little kid still at Christmas, which is probably why I was bummed that Greg had to work Christmas Eve morning. I was so anxious to hit the road and join family up in the Portland area to start celebrating!

Every year we meet at Greg's aunt's house in Milwaukie for a Christmas Eve White Elephant gift exchange. Normally it has been that you have to cook it, bake it, catch it, make it, re-gift it, or only spend $5 on it. This year however, there were complaints and they switched it to a basic gift exchange with a price limit. Greg and I opted out of the exchange (buying gifts for lots of people adds up!) but we enjoyed watching and hanging out with everyone.

Alexis was a hit with everyone and surprisingly slept on Gabby and Tara for a while. It was a nice break for Mommy and Daddy.

Eric and Nikki

Ben and Megan

Brandon had his buddy Tinkerbell with him

Nana enjoying granddaughter time

After our gift exchange at Aunt Patti's, we headed to my parents' house for gifts. Macie welcomed Alexis with a kiss right away. It was so much fun watching Macie at Christmas this year. I am looking forward to next year when Alexis is that age and isn't crying the entire time like she did this year.

We gave Macie some jumbo Legos and she loved them! Mom and Dad got Macie and Alexis matching gifts... Greg wasn't too thrilled with it...

Greg slapping the Duck pillow pet away

That night, Alexis decided she didn't want to go to bed so we were awake until 12:30am on Christmas Eve until she fell asleep. I didn't realize she was old enough to know about Santa and be too excited to sleep! At least we got a cute grin out of her. I think she enjoyed her first Christmas Eve.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

On Monday our church had an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party and Junk Exchange. I found a green turtle neck with candy canes on it at Goodwill and borrowed one of my aunt's "teacher sweaters" for the event. I looked for something for Greg at Goodwill, but couldn't really find anything. I settled on a green and red plaid shirt and he wore a corny holiday tie and a Santa hat with it. Alexis lucked out and had a perfect outfit that was handed down from her cousin Macie!

I had to take some pictures before the party and I'm glad she did because she was in a decent mood to have her photo taken

She had fun hanging out with Daddy at the party

Have you ever seen a more stylish family photo?

This is our Pastor's wife Charissa in her stylish denim jumper!

The morning after the party we welcomed our first snow of the season! I wanted to get Alexis out there first thing because I was sure it would melt away soon. Surprisingly, it snowed on and off until noon and we ended up with a good 2 inches.

My little snow angel

Have a great week everyone! Christmas is right around the corner!

12-12-12

Greg celebrated his 28th birthday this year on 12-12-12. Since his birthday last year we knew we had to organize an actual birthday party for him and go all out. Well, we hadn't realized that his birthday would fall on a Wednesday, but that's alright. On his actual birthday my Aunt and Uncle wanted to treat him to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. A couple hours before his birthday dinner I received a text message from some of our good friends Dusty, Eddy, and Melissa, saying that they were going to drive out from Dallas to see Greg on his birthday. They joined us for dinner, and even though it was a quick visit it was so nice to see them!

I didn't realize how much I missed these three crazy guys when they're together

Best picture I could get of Dusty, Eddy, and Greg

With Melis

Alexis pretty much cried the entire time we were at the restaurant, but once we made her sit down with us for a picture she completely lost it!

On Saturday, December 15th we truly celebrated Greg's birthday. We started out with dinner at North Dallas Bar and Grill where he used to work a few years ago.

Blowing out his candles on the German Chocolate cake my mom baked for him

Our friends Jeremy, Kira, and their daughter Pearl came to dinner

Our friends Matt and Alaina and Greg's brother Brandon also made it

My mother in law Mona and her husband Doug

Greg's younger brother Eric and our sister in law Nikki

My Uncle Dennis and Aunt Linda were driving through on their way home to Springfield so they stopped by for a bit as well

My father in law Kevin and his wife Tina got their grandparent time in

And my adorable parents drove all the way down to celebrate with us too

Once we got home after dinner people literally partied ALL night long. I put on Christmas movies in the living room and enjoyed hot chocolate with the ladies at the party while the guys hung out in the garage playing beer pong. Alexis and I finally headed upstairs at 2:30am. I was nervous that it would throw her off sleeping downstairs in people's arms for half the night before going to bed, but she did just fine.... she slept in our bed still, but she did fine. Greg said some people went home around 4am, he went to bed at 5am, and a couple others finally crashed at 6am. I am glad Greg had fun and enjoyed himself, but I don't know that I have many nights like that left in me! Especially when I have to care for a 2 month old. I'm sure his response to that would be, "Well, good thing Alexis will be over a year old for my birthday party next year!"

Church Family

I have been so incredibly blessed by my church family lately - specifically our Pastor's wife and their family. Greg and I attended Faith Evangelical Free Church in Dallas while we lived in Independence and we were very sad to leave our Sunday School group and my Small Group when we moved. After a year of trying churches in Springfield and Eugene we were told that the youth pastor and his family from Faith were planting a church in Eugene. We were ecstatic! Not only were we relieved to have a church family and a pastor we already knew and loved, but we were looking forward to being involved with a church from the beginning stages. We have been meeting in their home in Eugene and there are about 20-30 of us on any given Sunday morning. The name of our church is Emmaus Life and our mission statement is "reaching real people in real life through Jesus." We are so excited to see how the church grows and the impact we can have on the community.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about having church in such a small setting. We have had to step out of our comfort zones which has been challenging and rewarding at the same time. I have already learned a lot from my church family in the short time we have been meeting. Even though church looks much different for me than it ever has, one thing remains the same, the intimate time of worship through song to the Lord.

Our pastor's wife Charissa has been such a blessing to me. Since I had Alexis, she has checked in on me and been a listening ear. Their two children Ellie and Ethan are sweethearts and have enjoyed spending time with Alexis when we visit them during the week. Charissa is expecting a baby girl and Alexis has been great preparation for the two kiddos!

Charissa got me involved with the local MOPS group in Springfield and these adorable reindeer shirts were the craft a couple of weeks ago. I am so thankful for more relationships in Springfield, especially relationships with moms and sisters in Christ.

Our Pastor Scott and Charissa blessed Greg and I with a night of free babysitting last night. We went to dinner and then finished up our Christmas shopping. It was nice to be out and about just the two of us, but I felt like something was missing... I can't believe that after only 2 months with Alexis I don't feel whole without her!

Hope you all are having a great week. We are gearing up for Greg's big 12-12-12 birthday bash tomorrow! Blog on the birthday sometime next week.

2 Months Old

Alexis at 2 months: Alexis has been battling colic for the past month, but this last week has been SO much better! Her coos and smiles warm my heart. She has stopped sleeping in her bassinet, which is frustrating for Mommy and Daddy since the only place she does like to sleep is in our bed, but I know one day I will miss that. Alexis has tried out her crib a few times for naps and once for bedtime, but doesn't seem to like it yet. She does love her swing though and takes many naps in it. She enjoys laying on her play mat and looking at the toys hanging from above. She even rolled over from her tummy to back while on her play mat Thanksgiving morning. Her fist, hand, and sometimes thumb have become very soothing to her... future thumb sucker possibly? It's hard to believe Alexis has been a part of our lives for two months already. What an amazing blessing she has been so far :)