Merry Christmas!

From my little family to yours!

We have been so blessed this year. So very very blessed. I feel like the luckiest mama alive that I get to spend the holidays this year with my perfect little family.

I hope that this Christmas brings you more happiness than you can your heart can hold.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6

All photos courtesy of the wonderful, beautiful, extremely talented Amy of Amy E Photography. Thanks Amy!!!

A Very Bloggy Christmas!

I have a confession for yall.. I LOVE Christmas. LOVE IT. SO when my very dear friend Laura over at Between the Lines announced she would be hosting a Christmas blog swap with one of her friends I signed up right away. I love Christmas. I get a thrill out of picking the perfect gift for someone.

I really like getting presents, too.

And lucky me, I was paired up with the Lil' Woman from Little Woman, Little Home, who happened to be the swap co-host! I had never "met" her before, but she turned out to be so super sweet. And even with a little fiasco, my gift arrived today - just in time to show off my goodies for the link-up!

I've got mail!

All my goodies! Sitting right on top of the box was the softest blanket I have ever felt - I told her I was a fan of cozy things and she totally hit that nail on the head. Also included was a super cute stationary/recipe card/cookie cutter set that I can't wait to use, and an ornament that looks like a slice of pie that is adorable hanging on our tree! (Ahem, the tree that we decorated two weeks ago that I still need to take pictures of. Oops.)

The card that accompanied my gifts was so sweet - don't you think she and her Big Man make the cutest couple? It's their first married Christmas! I remember my first Christmas with Chris, we were still freshly squeezed newlyweds and it was such a special time. I'm so glad I got to be a tiny part of theirs!

Thank you so very much for my gifts, Lil' Woman. I love them so much!

I'm linking up with Lil Woman here and Laura here for all the Bloggy Christmas reveals. Go check them out and see all the fun gifts that were exchanged!

You Can Google It

Oh, my Blog Friends. I am so sorry you have been neglected.

You see, after the babies came home we had a couple weeks of a kind of bumpy adjustment period, but then we fell into this lovely routine. My babies are were fantastic sleepers. They always had been. Naps on schedule, sleeping through the night early - we were extremely lucky.

And then. THEN.

The four-month sleep regression happened. Ugh, the four-month sleep regression.

It's very common. You can Google it.

(Name that movie!)

(Actually, don't name that movie. I'm kind of embarrassed that I just quoted it on my mommy blog.)

Anywho, yeah. Sleep regression. It actually is very common. I'd heard horror stories about it. It stems from a pretty big brain growth spurt that happens around then - their little synapses are firing and making all kinds of new, fun connections and the poor little babies just can't turn their brains off. And yeah, technically my babies are way past four months BUT their adjusted age is right there so of course we got in on the fun too! Fortunately, their night time sleep wasn't too terribly affected, but their naps. Naps were blown OUT. OF. THE. WATER. We went days - long, cranky, screamy days - without a nap. I tried everything. I rocked. I walked. I threw them in the car and drove around. Sometimes it worked, most times it didn't. So I gave up on napping and I tried to keep them as busy as possible.

So, dear Blog Friends, I'm sorry you have been neglected. But take comfort in the fact that you were not the only ones neglected - my hairdryer, oven, and washing machine count themselves among your ranks as well.

I am happy to report that about three weeks after the naps disappeared, they managed to find their way home again. Which is why I'm able to be making this blog post now :)