Christmas Cards from Shutterfly

I had already been working on our Christmas cards this year using Shutterfly when I saw another blogger post about this great opportunity to earn 50 free cards. I'm so glad I saw her post! I couldn't pass it up.

I had decided to use Shutterfly this year after receiving some cute cards from friends and family who used them last year. My sweet friend Heather designed our cards last year - she is so talented! But she just had her fourth child, so her hands are just a little full these days.

Since we always include a letter with our cards, I am hoping to take advantage of their cards that fold - you can include pictures on the cover and the letter inside. As you can see here, they have a ton of options for Christmas photo cards. They have so many other cute ideas, like these photo calendars or these Christmas invitations.

How cute is this one??
Follow this link if you are interested in learning more about their blog promotion and getting 50 free cards. Good luck getting your cards done! :)

Thanksgiving, Advent, and Catching Up

I haven't blogged in awhile because I was waiting until I had the time to write a "good" post. It seems like all of my posts lately have been a laundry list of what's keeping me busy or pictures of what Tommy ate that day. ;) I guess in a way that's my life these days - and praise the Lord, I am so glad it is! I have been hoping for some inspiration to write a deeper more thoughtful post, but I just don't have it right now, and that's ok.

So yes, I've been busy. The seven-week catechist course that I was teaching at my school is finished and I'm really glad to have that behind me. It took a lot of time to prepare for each class and unfortunately it really messed up Tommy's nap and bedtime routine (which has been a big deal lately.) I will teach another one in the spring, but hopefully it works better for Tommy's schedule.

We hosted our dear friends on Thanksgiving and it was such a wonderful day! I tried my best to plan ahead so that it wouldn't be too stressful and I'm really pleased with how everything turned out. Our friends have a 9 month old, so we were all in the same boat with the babies' schedules and needs. They helped with the cooking/baking and I think everything was delicious! Even though it can be a lot of work, I love having a reason to use our china, dress up the house and have guests over.

Tommy in his Thanksgiving outfit


The two families

Our friend Dave and their precious little Luke

The feast

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of three

We spent the rest of our long weekend relaxing, watching football and pulling out all of the Christmas decorations. I did a little shopping on Black Friday and was happy to get some good deals! Although we are sad to be far from our families on this special holiday, it was nice to stay home and have a restful long weekend together.

Shopping and gift-giving can be stressful during this time of year, especially since I try to find gifts that are meaningful without breaking the bank. Any advice on how to simplify? Does your family have any fun gift-giving traditions?

I am so glad that Advent is here. Not only because I'm a nerd and I love all the liturgical seasons, but I'm always in need of a fresh start and a kick-in-the-pants to get myself motivated with my prayer life. The Church is always providing us with opportunities to get back on track and re-focus. And I love that we are keeping up the tradition of Advent prayer buddies! Thank you so much to the ladies who spend so much time and effort organizing this. I know that I could really use the prayers (thank you!) and I'm happy to pray for the intentions of my buddy.

And even though Tommy is too young this year to really understand what is going on, it's important to me to make this time meaningful for him - both now and in the future. I have been inspired by many of the bloggers' posts on Advent and how they celebrate with their families. I am hoping to purchase a nice Advent calendar, a cloth/felt Advent wreath, and a toy Nativity set that Tommy can play with during the Advent and Christmas seasons. I will probably wait until after Christmas and hopefully find some good sale prices. Any advice on where to look for these items? What Advent traditions to you have with your families?

We put up the Christmas decorations in our house and Tommy has been in awe of the lights on the tree. It's so much fun to watch him learn and grow. He is so much more aware of things now. I think he could look out the window all day long! I continue to be overwhelmed with gratitude that he is in our lives. I am so blessed to be his mother and I treasure all of our little moments together during our day.

We took a few pictures this weekend for our Christmas card. He just loves looking at the tree!

Pears

What do you think... does Tommy like pears??

Six Months

Our little bug will be six months old tomorrow! It's hard to believe how quickly the time has flown. And yet, I can't remember our lives without him.

Tommy is the light in our lives and we love him so much. It is truly a privilege to be his mommy and spend my days with him. Even during the recent sleepless nights and teething, there is nothing else I would rather do that take care of him. I can't believe that the Lord has blessed us with such an incredible miracle.

He has such a sweet disposition and smiles all day long. I love watching him grow and develop. Every day he is learning new tricks. He is SO curious about everything and I can't wait to teach him about the world.

Six months is an exciting milestone for many reasons - including the fact that we can file our paperwork for finalization! We had our third and final visit from the social worker this morning. Hopefully we will hear back from the courts within a few weeks with our court date and then everything will be official!

Thank you Lord for this most precious gift!

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I know that babies are constantly growing and changing, but Tommy has really been changing the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately this includes teething, which I hope is the cause for his recent sleep troubles. Hopefully a couple of cute little teeth will pop out soon and he'll feel much better!

Today I peeked in on him while he was napping and found that he had rolled over (from back to belly) and was sleeping on his tummy. He's never done that before!

He has been really hungry so we decided he was ready to try solid foods. Even though people disagree if solid foods have any affect on sleep, I am also hoping it will help him wake up less during the night. He loved the rice cereal and I'm excited to introduce him to new foods!

Quick Takes - advice needed

(1) We had a rough week last week because a nasty stomach bug worked its way through our little family of three. :( Last Sunday I thought I had food poisoning, but clearly it was something else. Thankfully it didn't hit Tommy as hard as us - he didn't throw-up or get a fever like we did. My hubby took Monday off to watch Tommy because I felt so horrible that day. Hopefully it's gone for good!

(2) It's hard to believe Tommy will be 6 months in just two weeks. Not only are we are excited that our little guy is getting older, but we can finally send in our adoption finalization paperwork! We have our third and final social worker visit this Friday. After that, everything is taken care of. Our agency will file the paperwork with the court and hopefully we will hear back from them in a couple of weeks with a court date. Apparently they have adoption finalization hearings every other Friday. Hopefully it will be official before the year is over!

(3) We will be here for Thanksgiving and we decided to host some friends at our house. I'm really looking forward to it! I always like to have a reason to cook/bake. I'm not super fancy, but I do try to make everything nice. Any recipe suggestions? What are your Thanksgiving favorites?

(4) I continue to strive for balance in my life these days. Things can get pretty hectic around here trying to juggle school, youth group, singing, taking care of the house and being a full-time Mommy. One area that has been stressing me out lately is my social life. It seems to be so hard to make plans with friends these days - even with my other stay-at-home mom friends. Everyone is busy and it can be hard to find the right time for everyone's schedule.

Also, I have been trying to get together with two lovely blogger ladies (you know who you are!) I promise it will happen sometime soon. I'm really looking forward to catching up with both of you.

(5) Speaking of balance, I really need to get my prayer life on track. It's harder to get to daily Mass now than it was when Tommy was first born. I need to get into a good prayer routine in the morning before the day gets away from me.

(6) Sleep has been a big topic in our household. In just the past couple of weeks Tommy's sleeping habits have really changed. Rocking him to sleep doesn't work anymore and he doesn't fall asleep as quickly or easily when we are out running errands. I know that babies are always changing, but it's hard for me now because our old "tricks" don't work anymore. Did anyone else notice a change during this age - 5-6 months?

The worst is around 5:00-6:00pm. He used to take one final evening cat-nap before bedtime (which is usually between 7:00 - 8:00pm.) For the past week he has screamed when we put him down for that final nap and nothing seems to console him. The funny thing is, once that ordeal is over he will sometimes go to bed for the night without a peep. I don't really get it. Any advice?

I am trying to put him down for naps and bedtime during that just-about-to-be-tired zone so that there is less crying, but that's not always easy. How often and what times did your kids nap at 6 months?