Finally - Christmas Pics!

I forced myself to get all my housework done today before I started putting fun stuff on here...I tend to spend a lot of time on pictures once I get going, and I wanted to make sure the 'important' stuff got done 1st. Well, it's all done! So now for some Christmas Memories...


All these are from Christmas with my parents out at their house...



Livia seemed to like the tissue paper more than anything else - we had a hard time keeping it out of her mouth!



I just LOVE this pic of Perry. Even though he was really just being silly, it's just a great snapshot of him. I almost never get this 'real' look from him, but I'm super glad I was lucky enough to here.



Michael wearing his new jersey - he put it on almost immediately after he opened it.



Perry & Livia opening presents together



Livia in front of the Christmas tree - how cute is she holding her little hands?! And she cracks me up with that tongue!



Laura Belle & a new sweater she got for Christmas - it looks so cute on her! She ended up wearing it the next day for her 21st birthday. Yes, her b-day is the day after Christmas!



And finally, a pic of Livia with her very 1st baby doll from my Mom & Dad. It was so cool to see her reaction to it!




And of course Christmas with Perry's family...well, minus his parents. They had to move boxes on that particular day. Since Trilby's a teacher, they only have a couple of weeks that she's off work to move into their 'rent-house.' Perry & I had a BLAST with Matt & Kendra and the kids though!



Here's a pic of the whole fam! Kendra's mom came over & she was sweet enough to take this for us - I just love it!



Matt, KeeKee, Garrett, Maggie, & Nolan all happened to be gathered together so I snapped this pic of them.



Everyone's getting started on opening presents. I got this pic while Matt & Perry were joking around, and their expressions are just great.



Speaking of expressions, I just love Maggie's in this picture! She was so excited about her strawberry shortcake blanket.



Mr. Garrett had an awesome reaction to his ball & bat - as he says, BALL!!!



Nolan opening his light saber sword...I had no clue what that was, but Perry picked it out. He was positive Nolan would love it, and he sure did. If only I knew what in the world it is!



A pic of me & Livie - is this not the cutest little outfit?! My Mom & Dad got it for her, and I've had her in it every chance I get. It's just too cute, and I know she won't fit into it much longer.



And a pic of just Matt & Kendra. She wasn't really expecting this shot, but I love it becuase they both look so natural. They are such a beautiful couple :-)


And finally, one more of my Santa Baby with her '1st Christmas' bib on!

I absolutely LOVE this pic :-)


Anyway, I have SO many more pictures to put up here, but I wanted to at least get a few up. There will be many more to come...some that I've already taken, some yet to be taken! My Aunt Tanya inspired me to take some really close-up shots of 'Christmas details.' All the small things about the season that may be overlooked or forgotten. We work so hard on wrapping presents with perfect tags & bows, and we put up decorations - we make sure everything is just-so, and what do we have to show for it? This year, some pics with a really neat perspective.
Christmas with my Mom's side of the family is tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll get TONS of pics with it! The triplets will be there, and they always make for a fun time and for some fun pics. Plus they LOVE Livie, and she loves them! Ooh, I can't wait!!! Love to all & God Bless!!

Eeeee!!!

I feel like a little kid on Christmas! I don't really have any pics to put up here yet, but I just wanted to exclaim how absolutely excited I am! It's my little daughter's 1st Christmas - and on this Christmas day, through my excitement, joy, and cheer...I must not forget what this day is really about. Please God help me to remember You and Your Son in all that I do today. May I be reminded that it was because of what You did for us that we have the wonderful life we live.


On this joyous Christmas Day
There's just one thing I'd like to say

Today please let us not forget
The prayers & blessings God has met

Merry Christmas peace to thee,
No matter what the 'morrow be

We know not more than just today
But God sees more in every way

For God knew when He sent His Son
That though He'd be His only One

No one else could take His place
Christ alone, our saving grace

Remember He has blessed us right
Each and every day & night

$anta...and the cost of Memories

Unfortunately this will be of many words & no pictures... I went to the mall yesterday to do some last-minute Christmas shopping (no, I'm still not quite done!) I had Livia dressed up in her little Santa outfit, and while I was there at the mall I wanted to take her to see Santa for the 1st time. I thought it'd be such a cute picture!
Yeah, it would've been except that apparently even to take your own pictures of your child & Santa, it will still cost you out the nose! I'm just glad I read the sign that was almost totally hidden: "A visit with Santa is always free & welcome. However to take your own pictures there is a minimum purchase..." Something like that. Well, I finally managed to get the attention of the pierced-faced, smart-mouthed, snooty little 'helper' (very bad title, might I add - this girl WAS THE ABSOLUTE OPPOSITE of heplful.)
Anyway, I finally managed to get her put down her cell phone long enough to ask about the 'minimum purchase.' She said: "Package M."
I said, "What's package M?"
She said, "LOOK at the brochure."
I didn't have a brochure, and there was no way she was going to actually hand me one... so I managed to squeeze through the crowd to get to the brochures. Package 'M' was a 5 x 7 picture - FOR 15 DOLLARS! So in other words, to get my OWN picture of my daughter & Santa, I'd have to pay $15.00!
I chewed on it for just a few minutes while Livia chewed around on the brochure, and I ended up just leaving. I know Washington Square has a Santa there as well...I might try going there today. Oh, yeah! And I put the crinkled, half-eaten brochure right back where I got it, looked at the 'helper' and said, "NO thanks."

Christmas pics of my neice & nephews

I went over to my sis-in-law's a week or 2 ago...don't even remember when now! And we had the specific goal of getting a Christmas picture of all three kids. It was a bit of a challenge...! After much scrutinizing over what I had to work with and some editing magic with photoshop, I actually ended up with 3 pretty darn good pictures. And heeeeeere they are...!


This was definately the easiest to take, and there were several good pics to choose from in that set. I really thought this one was the best. And all we did was tell the kids to "hang up their stockings."


The other 2 "good ones" of all three kiddos I ended with took quite a bit more work...


This one is actually 4 pictures combined! Seriously - Nolan's face is from one pic, maggie's dress is from another, which just happpens to be from the same picture that Garrett's from, and the 'ball' (actually an ornament) he has in his hands is from another shot. How crazy is that?! I just couldn't help but laugh when I realized what I'd actually done...it just started off with 2, but then I kept seeing ways to improve the picture.



And finally this one is just 3 pictures combined...threre's only one little place where I can see that I didn't combine it quite perfectly - see if you can spot the place where I didn't get it perfect :o)
Maybe someday I'll show on here how I can take several pictures & make them into one. Boy, that might take a while! Just to explain it would be quite a bit of typing...plus who really cares how it's done, right? Oh, the magic of photoshop!

Sooo...

I designed my very 1st template & this is what I definately want to put in all the Christmas cards.


I still just can't decide which of the others to include....suggestions? Love to all! Take care & God Bless

Family Christmas Pics

Ooh, do I have TONS to put up here! Over the course of a couple of weeks, I've managed to get some really cute Christmas shots...the only problem is that there are so many cute ones I can't decide which one(s) to mail out. Yes, I realize that Christmas is only 5 days away, but I will get those cards done in time! Actually, I've decided that instead of mailing them all out this year, I'm going to give them away while we're at the family functions. I mean, I'm going to see all these poeple anyways...why pay the postage? Especially if I end up putting in so many pictures that I'm not even sure how many stamps I should use! Anyways, here are some of my fav's:

My lil Santa Baby HAS been such a good little girl! This one is my absolute favorite with her little Santa suit on...








And here are some really good ones of me & Livie...I can't even decide which one I like the best!
















My Mom actually got all the shots of me & Livia - she did a pretty darn good job! My Mom also took all the family shots you'll see here in just a bit. She's always doing really sweet things for us, like buying diapers for me (well, actually Livia! No, I don't need them yet!!) I just hope that someday I'll be as good as a mother as she is :o)

Anyway, a week or two later Perry came out to church with me & Livia, then we went out to my parents. And I got another good one of Livia...


On the same day that we got some FAMILY shots! All of these were ones that didn't make the final cut...
This one's great... except that Perry's so far back that he's not even in focus. It was a really cute idea to be where we were for the picture, but it was incredibly uncomfortable in the positions we were in. We did try to get some more with me & Perry more side-by-side, but none of those really turned out either.



And this one really isn't too bad. I didn't have Livie's cute little shoes on her though...and the picture could use a good cropping.




These are just too funny! I look like a goofball in the 1st one, and Perry looks very unhappy in the 2nd... We just couldn't get it all together!



FINALLY we got one that I deemed usable:

Even though Livia isn't all smiles, not bad :o)

And of coarse some of Baby-Boo that didn't make the final 'fav' cut:

Finally...some fun stuff!

I've been so random and busy lately that I decided to post things just as random as I feel...!



1st up on the interesting-but-pointless list: a really cool pic of the sky...taken in a car's side-view mirror



My neighbor's tree at the height of it's fall beauty



A pic of my street on a misty night



And finally a pic from Livie's 1st time to the zoo - he reminded me of Shrek!




Anyway, I'll put something of more substance later on today...probably some Christmas pics! Stay tuned :o)

M.I.A

I feel like I haven't put anything fun on here in forever! Well, I have tons of excuses...just not very many good ones! My little Livia has been a bit under the weather since last week. Just a little baby cold, nothing too serious, but we did go to the Dr. last Wednesday & got some medicine (and some relief for mommy...am I a worry-wart or what?!) So, back to getting some cute & fun stuff up here!

My Heart Cries for you Baby-Boo!

As a mother, I hate to see a child cry - especially when it's my own! I wish my sweet little Livia would never have to shed a tear. But as we all know, as sweet as babies are, they are bound to cry once in a while. I guess my thought process is that even though I may not care a whole lot for the sweet little baby-sobs, someday I might actually miss them! And she was so darned cute even crying...well, I just had to snap a few. Someday I have a feeling that I'll be glad to have these pictures.
On this particular night she was really only upset because she needed sleep. Please don't think I'm a bad mother for taking pictures of my crying baby instead of soothing her!

Here, she's just starting to get a little frustrated...


Then that lower lip curled up, and I knew it was starting to get serious!


When I saw her starting to get tears in her eyes, that was about all I could take!


And not even a minute later - would you look at that. Happy as a clam! (Maybe because she got ahold of Mommy's camera strap?)


Ooh..! The remote! She loves anything electronic, as most babies do. Breakable big-kid toys are always much more fun than those the ones made for babies, right?


I can almost see it on her face - "What, Mom?"


And I can also see how sleepy she was getting...


After rubbing her eyes for a few minutes, Mommy changed her diaper (and her sleeper) worked her magic and...


In no-time flat I had a sweet sleepin baby in my arms. So, off to bed!


And just one more shot of this sweet child of mine.

As I lay her down to sleep
I pray the Lord her soul to keep.
Even when I'm not right there
I pray You keep her in Your care.
May Your arms please hold her tight
Each and every day and night.
And if someday I'm not around
Please, Lord keep her safe and sound.
Amen