Christmas in Pictures

Anna in her Christmas dress in front of the tree. She is next to of the owl ornament we got for her this year. I picked it out for a couple reasons: 1) she is obsessed with a book called Owl Babies that has three little baby owls in it and 2) I also thought it was cute that there were two big owls with a little owl in the middle, just like our family this Christmas.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Brad's family and started a new tradition this year. The entire family, including all the little ones, acted out the Christmas story. Everyone got into it, especially Micah and Kaila who had the leading roles.

It wouldn't be a Bruce Christmas without all the Bruce men playing their trumpets. Everyone jokes about doing this because it is the only day of the year that any of them play their trumpets. I always think they sound great!

Shanna and Anna crawled up on the piano and started playing it by themselves. Hopefully they will get their dad's musical abilities. :)

Anna playing with the puzzle that Appy and Grandy gave her.

A cute appetizer that I made out of cheese, fresh oregano, and grape tomatoes.

The tree at our house on Christmas morning before the mayhem began.

Three toddlers opening their presents.

My sis and I in matching aprons that our brother gave us. Can you believe this is the first apron I have ever owned!?! I feel so domestic.

Sweet hubby showing off the gift I gave him.

Uncle Michael with a new hat. This boy loves hats, no telling how many he owns.

Gigi acting overly excited about receiving a sun visor for her car. Hey, she asked for one! Don't worry, this is not the only present I gave her.

A never ending game of Risk. I heard that Brad was definitely on his way to winning if only there had been more time. :)

The cousins watching the sweetest Disney Christmas movie - Small One. Notice Lucas' hand on Anna's leg. He left it there throughout most of the movie...precious.

Just wanted to show a picture of the lights on our house this year because I think Brad did such a great job. There are 3 other neighbors surrounding us who put up lots of lights each year so we were inspired to put up more than just a couple strands.

Advent

It has been so much fun to go through the Advent calendar with Anna this year. Ours has little doors that she can open and some type of object is inside that represents our reading for the day. She cannot wait for Brad to get home at night. Almost right when he walks in the door she repeats "Advent calendar" over and over and she reaches for him so he can lift her up to open one of the doors. Of course, she is not as excited about sitting and listening to the reading and usually plays with something as we do that. I realize that at least for now, most of her excitement stems from getting to open and close the little door to see what is inside and not from preparing for the celebration of Christ's birth.

After witnessing this the first couple of days, I began to realize that I had been more focused on doing something neat for Anna's advent experience and had missed the point of it myself. I thought of how delighted God might be if I anticipated getting to read and reflect on the Advent verses and expressed as much joy in opening his Word as Anna did in opening each box. My sweet friend Jean introduced me to The Advent Door and A Holy Experience, blogs that have Advent resources that I have been using this year. Though I haven't done it every day, I look forward to finding some quiet time and seeing what the Lord wants to reveal to me. This year, perhaps because I am pregnant, the interaction between Elizabeth and Mary has really spoken to me.

I love it when I set out to teach that little girl something and God uses her to teach me an even greater lesson.

If I Can Make This...

Anyone can make this Holiday wreath...it is so easy! A few months ago, I saw this tutorial on a blog and made a wreath for fall. When I was buying the burlap (I buy it by the yard and cut it instead of buying the garland like the tutorial says), I noticed it also came in red and green so I decided to make a burlap Christmas wreath too. I really like the natural look and feel of burlap material.

Something I have discovered about crafting is that, depending on the materials, it isn't always cheaper to make something (who can compete with the Chinese!). The cost for all the materials of this wreath was only about $10 and even less if you use the coupons that Hobby Lobby and Michael's always offer.

Anna's Big Announcement

You heard right...Anna is going to be a BIG SISTER! We are all very excited about this news! I'm actually 17 weeks along so we have known for awhile. Here is how we told Brad:

Walking in the door from work...

Starting to realize what the pink and blue balloons mean...

Hugging the big sister...

This is what her shirt said...

Celebrating with a little family worship time...

This pregnancy is going by so much faster than the first one because we are so focused on Anna. I'm already feeling a little guilty that this little one is getting less attention than Anna did when she was in the womb (silly I know, but I'm a middle child so I think about these things). I am really looking forward to having a tiny baby again so I can hold them in my arms and cuddle them as long as I want! We find out in a month whether I will be cuddling a little boy or a little girl!

Uncle Michael

My brother just got done with a golfing stint in South Dakota and made it back to Texas. Our house was his first stop and it was so nice having him visit. He had not seen Anna for about 6 months so she really didn't know him. After the first day, she was asking for him when she woke up in the morning and after naps. He is one of those people that children are drawn to because he really gets on their level and plays with them. It will be nice to see him again in a couple weeks!

We went to see the Fort Worth herd "cattle drive". I felt so sorry for this longhorn with his horns down. I'm surprised the Aggies or Sooners haven't gotten a hold of him.

This was Anna's first time on a carousel and as Michael put it she was "white-knuckling" the pole. It wasn't that bad but she is always so cautious about new things. :)

My two favorite guys with my favorite little girl.

Giving Thanks

Not a day in her life has gone by that we haven't thanked the Lord for this little girl. I don't think I've ever been that consistent with anything! Anna is just one of the many things we have to be thankful for and I have no idea why we have been so blessed. I do know one thing though, we are blessed to be a blessing and cannot forget that.

We did something a little different at the Thanksgiving table this year that was a lot of fun. My sister put several questions about thankfulness in a bowl and we passed the bowl around and each drew a question. Some of the questions lead to really good discussion and people even started thinking of their own questions. Brad had a good one - "What teacher/mentor are you most thankful for and why?". So interesting to hear everyone's answers.

Side note: Anna and I made her shirt with our mom's group and she LOVES wearing it (I think because she helped make it). She constantly asks for her "tukey shirt" but I really don't want her wearing it now that Thanksgiving is over - I know I should get over that one and just let her wear it!

I was proud of her for trying everything and eating most of the food since she is picky these days.

She had so much fun with these two and loved playing with their cars and legos.

Shutterfly Bandwagon!

This is one bandwagon I am not ashamed to jump onto because we are talking free Christmas cards! You have probably already seen several blogs out there promoting Shutterfly's giveaway to bloggers. I'm a little late to the party and if you are too, there are still two more days to sign up here to get your free cards.

I love how so many of the designs are so simple and traditional and look like they are from an expensive stationary store. When I was deciding on this year's Christmas card, I looked at almost every other photo card company and Shutterfly definitely had the best selection. In my opinion Shutterfly also has the best quality, the paper they use is not as flimsy as some other sites. Their website is very user friendly which makes designing your card or photo gift quick and easy. Also, if you are in need of some Christmas gift ideas, Shutterfly has products like the Personal Desktop Calendars which would be great to give family members.

Here are just a couple of my favorite Christmas card designs from Shutterfly this year:

O.K., enough blogging I need to get going on my cards before Christmas is here!

Christmas Flash Mob

If you are not one of the almost 11 million people that have already viewed this youtube video, you must watch it! I just have one thing to say - Hallelujah!