The children were nestled all stinky in their pajamas

So christmas with a new baby was a blast! A tiring, whirlwind, circus of a blast! I always love gathering with my family on Christmas Eve. It has always been a special part of the Christmas celebration. We always gathered at Nana's house on Christmas Eve and exchanged gifts. I can remember that anxious excitement when the announcement would come...."better get ready to go home- Santa is getting close"!

These days we gather at mom and memaw's house. What fun we had with two little ones this year! Memaw got matching pajamas for Jack and Grace. Of course we immediately changed them for pictures of babes nestled under the christmas tree. Oh if it were only as easy said as done! No sooner than we had them sitting JUST right, did Grace announce, Ooooh- he stinks! (Bless his poor little heart...the antibiaotics he was taking for bronchilitis and double ear infection made even his wet diapers smelly!) Once the offensive diaper was replaced with a fresh one, we repositioned the the two Christmas pajama clad babes just so! Then Grace had to go potty. My first reaction, was "no- just hold it", which I was scolded for( and rightfully so). We finally got a couple of cute ones. I think my favorite is the "he stinks" announcement. Only because I know what she was saying and it was such a funny moment! Memories with family are always nice. Stinky or not!

"I like this one"- Mall Santa Picture 1st Christmas EVER!

Who knew that Santa could cause someone to look confused, surprised, like a deer in the headlights?

Whatever you might call this look, the photographer at the mall "liked this one". Oh, he will smile, I say, as the wonderful Santa ( isn't hea great Santa?) is actually talking and playing with Jack, about to coax him into peels of laughter. The photographer looks at the photo again....yeah, I like this one he says. FINE. We only waited in line for 30 minutes. It could have been worse! At least he didn' t cry!

It is after all a picture of Jack. You can never go wrong with that ; )

The Marsh Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Card Picture- TAKE TWENTY TWO!

The first christmas card that we will send out with a picture of our beloved baby boy! The first of many, for sure, but still the first! THE PRESSURE! Being in a thrifty mood lately, I decided to forgo the opportunity to use the FABULOUS professional pics we had made (yes, some even had the little man in a santa hat) and take some pics myself and put them together at "the dub-ya". (That is "marsh speak" for Walmart, stolen from our dear friend Nikki, but that is another story). It is hard to take pictures of a 5 month old that is just starting to smile on que. It is the sweetest smile I have ever seen so of course I wanted to share it with the world! Well, our little world of lucky peeps who will be receiving said card. So anyway, we started out very ambitious thinking we could get a smile, the tree, AND two dogs all in one snap. Then we realaxed a little a snapped a shot with only one dog, then we started with some of just Blu. I think it got worse before it got better. I actually proceeded to take a few shots after each nap the following day, since that is usually when he is the "smiliest". It finally worked! You will get the final choice soon on your christmas card!

Please enjoy some of the runner's up ( and not so runner's up)!

Giving Thanks

Ahh...Thanksgiving. So much to do, so little time! Dan and I travel to North Alabama each year to visit our families. It used to be so simple...we only had ourselves and the dogs to worry about ( and we actually thought that was a lot)! Little did we know, Jack has to travel with his own bath tub, baby bed, baby bedding, baby bouncy seat, baby food, baby plates, baby bowls, baby spoons, baby bottles, baby formula, bibs, burp cloths, baby towels, baby blankets, and oh yeah, baby clothes and baby pajamas! We were very fortunate that Dan had the "travel day" free so that he could get the car loaded.

As we had so carefully planned, we took off for Alabama as soon as I got home from work. Well, right after we gave Jack a bottle, fed him his supper, changed his diaper and clothes and let the dogs out one last time. So actually, about 2 hours after I got home from work...we were off! Over the river and through the woods so to speak. Did I mention that we are learning flexibility?

After 4 hours in the car with a teething 5 month old...we had arrived. It was finally time to rest! Four whole days lay before us for pure rest and relaxation!

Where does the time go? I "slept in" until 6:20 on Thanksgiving Day because it was my turn! A day full of family, turkey, and rushing around and next thing I know, it is 3:30 am, and time to get up for shopping! That morphed from a few hours into a full day!

The next day was the Iron Bowl...that is all I have to say about that : (

The rest is a blur....

Luckily, I have such a wonderful family to spend the holidays with, that it is easy to overlook all the "behind the scenes" work it takes to get there! I keep saying that one of these days, I am going to spend the time off like so many others. Reading, going to the movies, decorating for Christmas, just realxing around the house...

That picture while it sounds sublime, does not include being with my family. Until I can figure out how to fit in the best of both worlds...it is Sweet Home Alabama for us and I am thankful for it!