Christmas 2011

This year was Micah's first Christmas!!!  We were so excited to celebrate with family and have our little boy here with us!  We had so much fun.  Of course, Micah wasn't really sure what was going on or how to open a present but I think he liked his toys.  He wanted to chew on each one of them so I take that as a good sign. He also really enjoyed eating the bows though, not sure about that one.  He was being so cute and we got some great pictures to document our memories.  Here are a few for you to enjoy!!

Cute Christmas Boy!

Micah's First Ornament

 

My First Christmas Morning!

Opening Presents

Me and Dad

 Eating a Bow

Me and Mom

Opening Presents

 Presents Taste Yummy!

Thank you to all our friends and family who blessed Micah this Christmas.  It was truly a great time.  Of course, we are MOST thankful for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  That is of course our main reason for celebrating!!!

We hope you had a great holiday was well.

Xoxo,
Stef

Five on Friday - Pinterest

Hey friends!  I can't believe Christmas is like a week away.  How has this year gone by so fast?!  Oh I know!  I've spent half of it caring for a new baby.  Time flies when you experience major life changes.  :)  Just for the record, the last half of the year has been the bomb dot com!

So, what have I been up too?  Well a little bit of everything and yet nothing at all.  I've had a lot of family and friends time lately, which has been awesome, but it feels like I haven't been able to get much done around the house, but I think I'm managing ok. 

Speaking of not getting much done around the house - I have discovered Pinterest.  I have been hearing about Pinterest for awhile now and didn't understand it.  It also sounded like a huge time hog (which it is, but it's awesome).  My friend invited me to join and at first I didn't get what was so great about it.  Then I spent some time searching and finding friends and OH my goodness, there are some amazing things on there!  People are just so clever. 

For those who don't know, members can 'pin' pictures, recipes, ideas, etc. onto their page and then other people can re-pin them.  You can create categories on your page so, for example, if you're planning a birthday party you can search and collect ideas for it.  It's a really cool way to share creative ideas.  So, I'll share with you.  Here are 5 of my favorite pins.

1) Style.  I have no idea what polyvore.com is but people have been pinning these 'styles' from that site and I'm really loving them.  My favorite combo is this:

2) Crafts.  I've also found some really cool craft ideas on Pinterest.  One of my favorite is mixing food coloring or dye into bubbles and painting with them like this. . . .

3) Baby.  I have pinned a few baby related ideas.  For Micah or for the future, someday baby #2. How CUTE is this idea?!

4) Recipes.  OH my goodness, the recipes.  I have found some delicious looking recipes on Pinterest.  I've tried one of them but there are SO many others I want to try.  Like this one!

Broccoli and cheese soup is one of my all time favorite meals.  The recipe for this one can be found here - http://www.food.com/recipe/broccoli-cheese-soup-for-the-crock-pot-348190

5) Home Decor.  There are tons of awesome ideas for home decor.  This one is genius!  Buy a rubber doormat, spray paint it and hang it on the wall.  How simple and affordable is this!

So, in conclusion, Pinterest does take up time, but it is a fun way to relax and get inspiration where you may be lacking.  You can also pin ideas you have.  I've pinned my wreaths.  You need an invitation to join so if you'd like to join, just email me at stefstallings [at] gmail [dot] com with your email address and I'll send you an invite.

Happy Friday and I hope you enjoy you're weekend!

xoxo,
Stef

P.S.  Complimentary Pic of the Post
OMG This boy!  There are no words!

On Sale!

So, I've sold a few of my wreaths but I have a few more that are still for sale.  Please check them out or pass along the info to someone who may be in the market for a new wreath.  I love the ones I have posted so if they don't sell soon I may claim one as my own.  :)

Shop the Sale Now!

I think my favorite is the ice blue one!  I bought a few specialty ornaments for this one and I added bells so it jingles.  :)

Santa!! I Know Him!

Last week I took Micah to see Santa.  We went to Bass Pro Shop because the picture was free and since we went during the day, there was no line.  I kinda wish that the backdrop didn't look like we lived in a hunting lodge but at least there is no camo.  Micah did great of course because he really didn't know what was going on.  My usually very smiley boy wouldn't smile for his picture but immediately smiled at everyone after I picked him up.  Lol.

 Micah's First Christmas!

Ten on Tuesday - Holidays

This weeks questions were provided by Sarah at Simply Sarah and hosted by Chelsea. (I can't find Sarah's site or I'd list it)

1. What are 3 things that are on your Christmas wishlist?
Um. . . Be Delicious by DKNY, most anything James Avery, and a spa package

2. What’s your favorite Christmas song?
Baby It's Cold Outside or I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

3. Do you have a favorite band or singer that sings it especially awesome?
Probably whomever sang them originally.  I'm not so much for the versions sung by today's flavor of pop star. 

4. Have you heard about the website goodreads?
No I have not. . . maybe I'll google it.

5. What are 3 books you want to read?
I've heard good things about The Hunger Games but I'm not sure I want to read it. . . I'm debating.  Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by the Pioneer Woman.  I actually have this in print (versus my Kindle) but haven't picked it up yet.  I'm not sure about the third one, any recommendations?

6. Do you hunt deer?
No, but various members of my family do.  Speaking of, does anyone have a good recipe for cooking deer back strap?  I've never had it before and I'm scared. I don't know what to do with it. Help

7. Have you started Christmas shopping? Are you completely finished?
I have started but I'm not finished.  We have a narrowed list to buy for this year.  Both of our families decided to draw names so the list of people got shorter. 

8. Did you shop on Black Friday? What was the best deal you got?
I'm a big fan of Black Friday.  I'm not opposed to getting up in the middle of the night if I really need the deal that whatever store is having.  However, the last few years I have not felt the need to do that.  I've actually found great deals online starting Thursday through Monday.  This year I saved about $500 on two rugs from Kohl's.  Tip - ALWAYS and I mean always Google "(insert stores name) coupon code".  I have saved many a dollar by finding discount codes online.  I hardly every checkout without one!

9. What’s one holiday tradition your family has?
Well Curtis and I are trying to establish our own holiday traditions but one of my favorite growing up was we'd all decorate the tree together. Everyone had to be there and we'd listen to Christmas music and drink hot chocolate and decorate.  It was so fun.

10. How many blogs do you read? Do you subscribe/unsubscribe often or do you purge every once in a while?
I  probably read about 20 or so blogs.  I don't subscribe, just bookmark.  I read them for awhile and every once in awhile I go through and delete the ones I no longer want to read.  If anyone recommends a blog I pretty much follow it for awhile just to see what it's about.

Complimentary Pic of the Post

Micah says "Hey-oooo"

Micah is 5 Months Old

Man oh man - I can't believe this.  Sometimes I feel like Micah is so big and other times he still seems so small, which is good.  I'm not ready for him to be all grown up yet.  ;)  Again, I'm a little late with this post, but not by that much so I'm still in the good mom category.  ;)

Fair warning - this post has a million pictures.  I couldn't narrow them down so I added them all.  Enjoy!

 5 Months!!

This time of year is so busy for us (and everyone I'm sure) so we've had so much going on.  We went out of town several times, had 3 Thanksgivings, visited a new church, hung out with friends, got a will, voted, had company over, worked on a secret present and so much more.

Our first Thanksgiving!

Micah has started rice cereal this month.  It didn't take long for him to catch on to it.  He even ate two bowls the other day. The instructions say to start him off with it very water but that was pretty hard for him to eat so I made it just a little bit thicker and it worked much better for him.

Such a big boy!

We taught Micah to spit this month - on accident of course.  We were making the 'whatever you call it' noise where we stick out our tongue and blow to make your tongue vibrate and he started sort of spitting to copy us.  He's not doing what we're doing but is it still super cute.

I'd really rather be watching that crazy boy running around behind you mom!

Micah started sitting up this month too!!!! He can't sit unassisted of course, but he can sit up by himself for a few seconds and he's getting much better at sitting against something and not falling over.  I've even got him to play on his tummy a little bit before rolling over.  He used to immediately roll over.

See - I can lean/sit

Micah is still sleeping through the night.  He's started sleeping even longer.  He often sleeps 10 - 12 hours a night.  And he's gotten much better at napping during the day.  So, he's sleeping more than he was a month or so ago but I think it's because I'm trying to be better about getting him to nap at the same times.

This is how he practices sitting up

He's getting so much more vocal.  Not only is he making more noises, he's making them louder. It's one of my favorite things to hear him 'talk'.  I love it!  He'll also laugh pretty hard but you have to work for it.  He just doesn't give up those belly laughs for nothing.  He'll give you a smile all day long but a laugh is harder to come by.  :)

Me, Micah and his great grandma

And the most exciting news of all, is he cut two teeth this week. (a few days after his 5 month birthday but I'm still counting it in the 5 month category)  I'm amazed!  I thought I felt something the other day but Curtis couldn't tell.  Then a few days later I notice the tips of two bottom teeth!!!!!  They're not out enough to take a picture, but you can see them if you can manage to get his tongue and lips out of the way.  LOL.

Micah and his 3rd cousin

I thank God every day for our healthy happy boy and am so thankful that he is doing well.  We go back to the doctor around his 6 month birthday so we'll see how much he's grown then.  I hope he's sitting up really well by Christmas!

My sort of Zoolander look

I hope all is well with you guys and I hope it's not forever before I post again.  Love ya - Stef