Ready for a break...

Both Ryan & I are very much looking forward to a little time off around Christmas and New Years. We've been super busy wrapping up projects and presentations at work. As you can see here, we both have been working late. This was Ryan working on his computer and me working on a presentation and taping up notes on the blinds. Ha!
We are so close to Christmas and seeing family I can almost taste it. :) Hope you all are enjoying reason for the season.

Welcome Baby Jesse!

You all remember my friend Bethany? She was so cute playing Rock Band while almost 9 months pregnant.
Well, she had her baby boy on December 14, at 8:04 am. Jesse David Blakemore III weighed 8 lbs, 9 oz and was 21 inches long. Both mom and baby are very happy and healthy.

My friend Katie, her husband Jon, Ryan & I all went over on Sunday to visit and bring the lasagna that Katie made for them. Here's the beautiful, glowing momma with her GORGEOUS baby.

Proud daddy, Scott, and notice the family dog, Barry, checking things out.

We were all so excited to hold baby Jesse. He was such a good baby, so content! Katie is a natural.

Jon practically stole Jesse from Katie arms.

I could have held Jesse all night!

They are one beautiful family!

Christmas Treats

This Christmas I decided to make some homemade ornaments as fun little gifts. I got the idea from Kelly's Korner. She always comes up with the cutest ideas. So I decided to try it out. I got all the supplies at Hobby Lobby and they were so easy to make!! They turned out great and everyone has loved them.

If you know me, then you know I am always making cupcakes and Christmas is no exception. I bought the Christmas cupcake mix at our local grocery store and just plain vanilla frosting. Then I separated out the frosting to add red and green food coloring. These little beauties went to a work Christmas party and were a hit.

I LOVED these cupcake liners that I got from Hobby Lobby. I'm planing to make another batch today.

Hope everyone enjoying their weekend and getting ready for the big week coming up.

Dallas Trip

Last weekend Ryan & I traveled the four hours to Dallas specifically to love on my God mother, Pat. A few days earlier Pat had her left knee replaced (last year she had her right one done) and we wanted to be there to support her. My mom also traveled from Kansas City to be her personal nurse. Even though Pat was in a lot of pain, I think having family around her really helped distract from the pain. Both my mom and I brought lots of goodies to help cheer her up. I just couldn't imagine having to go through something that painful. Pat is one strong woman!



Her son Brad and fiance, Susan, came to visit as well. Notice the leopard print snuggie Pat is sporting. She is so with it! :)

Everyone surrounding Pat with their love.

Me, Brad, Rocky, Susan, Mary (my mom), Pat in the middle, and Ryan taking the picture.

Even before Pat's surgery she had outdone her self with putting up this gorgeous rotating tree, plus many other Christmas decorations AND food! I felt bad that she went to all that trouble before her surgery because she knew we were coming.

About 99% of her ornaments are all hand made by various family members. My mom has many of them too and I remember playing with them as a kid. I would specifically place certain ones in the best places on the tree.

One of the treats I brought Pat were some special cut out sugar cookies. My friend, Katie, had given me these cookie cutters from williams-sonoma as my Christmas gift. I put them to good use.

They were surprisingly easy to make and cut out! I've always had a rough time making cut outs in the past. I followed the recipe to a "T" that was included in the box and it was perfect. Just remember to flour the cookie cutters and they easily cut out and imprint. (Yes, I realize that on the "Seasons Greetings" cookies the "Greetings is upside down. Oh well!)

I didn't decorate them all that well. It was pretty late in the night by this point. :)

I even personalized some specially for Pat.

Katie liked them so much that she went out and bought herself the cookie cutters too!

Christmas Cards

I thought it would be really fun to share my Christmas cards with you this year (since I already mailed them). This will be Ryan & I's fourth Christmas being married and fourth Christmas card together. I was VERY ambitious the first year. :) I made all my cards from scratch, and they were all a little different from each other. It took me days to finish. I even stamped the envelop front and back! That will not be happening again... Ryan even wrote a sweet Christmas letter about our first year together to include with our card.

2006

When I ran out of paper and still had people I needed to give Christmas cards to, I went to Wal-mart and made these. They were mainly for our coworkers.

2006 - Second Card

The next year I decided to go a simple as possible! I think I was still burned out from the first year. Ha! This year our big trip was to New York City as Ryan's surprise birthday gift. I couldn't decide between two pictures from the trip so I did a few of both. These cards were either made at Wal-mart or Target. This was the last year that Ryan wrote a Christmas letter for our family and friends. He went on strike after that. :)

2007

2007 - Second Card

The next year I found a design I really loved from Stationery Style. It opens up and inside was printed, "May the joys and blessings of Christmas be yours throughout the year!". I absolutely loved it. Ryan & I had just moved back to Houston and bought our second house. So I thought it would be perfect to put picture of us in front of our new home.

2008

Again, I ran out of the ones I had ordered from Stationery Style. So I just popped over to Wal-mart to have some additional cards made. I think they turned out cute.

2008 - Second Card

Finally, we are to this years! I broke the tradition of having two cards. :) However, you are probably going to choke when you read this... I ordered 150 cards!! I didn't want to run out again but I may have a few left over now. Does anyone want me to send them one? If so just let me know and give me your address. :) This year our big trip was to Italy with our family so I had to incorporate a picture from there. I couldn't find a picture I liked of Ryan & I. So I resorted back to an engagement picture. Ha! After I approved the design I remembered the pictures from my first Texans game! Oh well. This year A Piece of Pope made my cards, and she was so easy to work with and fast. Her designs are fabulous too!

2009

I also thought I would share with you where we keep all our photo Christmas cards we get every year. Luckily, I had kept all the cards we had received since we got married but I had no where to put them. My good friend, Lindsey, gave me this idea to just put them in a scrap book type album. Super easy! Now, every year I can pull this out and flip through every one's cards. It's such a sweet reminder of years past. Even guests like to look at it!
The inside is nothing fancy, but you could make if fancy if you want. I just used picture tape to attach mine to the paper. You all should really do this. You won't regret it. :)

I want to see all of your Christmas cards so let me know if you post them!

)

Christmas Tour of Homes

This Christmas I decided to link up with the Christmas Tour of Homes over at The Nester. Though this is my first time linking up, I've enjoyed peeking in on other people's Christmas decor every year. There are some amazing ideas out there! You need to hop over there and check out everybody.

Welcome to our home! This year we decided not to put up a tree. :( We will be out of town much of December and decided it probably wasn't a good idea since we always get live trees. There is always next year. Ok, so I will start off this tour with what the season really is all about. The birth of Jesus Christ. Every year I will just star at our nativity scene and think about what it must have been like the day that He was born. I really just can't imagine.

(We try and add to our nativity set that was made by Willow Tree every year.)

Our roomie, Katie, really helped me out with the mantel this year. I bought some new garland and added some twinkling white lights (my fav). I tried to spice it up with a few ornaments since I wasn't putting them on a tree. I added glass bulbs to the apothecary jar and bought new sparkly candles. I am STILL trying to decide what to hang on the wall above our fireplace!! Any thoughts?
Closer look at the mantel. We bought these stocking a few year ago from Pottery Barn.
I didn't do too much to our entertainment center this year, but I have big plans for next year!

This is definitely my favorite part! I got this at the Houston Nut Cracker Market and LOVE it. I plan to go back next year and get the bigger version in red.

I have other Christmas decor spread throughout the house and took a few pictures of some of it. Beanpod candles are my absolute favorite candles ever! They smell so good and are made out of soybeans. They don't burn that hot so there's a far less chance that the glass will break. The best part is you can stick your fingers in the wax and it's like an oil treatment for your cuticles!

I got these little guys when we lived in Bartlesville, OK. They are perfect for my kitchen table.

I h-e-a-r-t this little guy. My cousin, Sherry from Springfield, MO, gave me this before I was married. I always try to find a special spot for him.

Two of my new favorite little additions this year are from my mom. She got me this little gem that I think is absolutely adorable. I think I am going to start collecting this designer's line of figurines.

My mom also got my this sign that can go on a table or in the front yard. There is a stick that came with it to make it a yard sign. It's from DaySpring and this picture is off their site.

That about wraps it up here. I figured you didn't want me to take pictures of every little piece of decor. That would have made for a long post! I can't wait to see every body's homes.

Tacky Sweater Christmas Party

My friend, Shannon, from work hosted a fabulous Tacky Sweater Christmas Party last weekend. Believe it or not, I didn't seem to have one of those laying around. I thought for sure I would find one at Wal-mart but when I didn't, I was too lazy to go anywhere else. So I compromised with a somewhat tacky sleep shirt. I wore leggings underneath and these long red & green Christmas stockings but you can't see them in these pictures. I also wore ornaments for earrings and a bow on my head band. Good enough, right? Ryan refused to let me find him a tacky sweater because he told me he already had one. He called it his snow flake sweater.

You tell me. Do you think Ryan's sweater is tacky??

We did group pictures in front of Shannon's gorgeous tree. Not sure what is going on in this picture.

The girls represented.

This was really the only shot that you could kind of see my sleeper in. :) I have to admit I was pretty comfortable.

Tacky sweater parties are so much fun! If I go to one next year I will be more prepared with a true sweater and not an over sized t-shirt. We had a blast even though Ryan & I didn't really know anyone besides the host. Shannon also hosted a Secret Santa and we made out of there with a DVD and a gift card to Nordstrom. The hot item of the night was a snuggie. I think I might have to get one!