MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS

i cannot believe that christmas has come and gone, we still have our decorations and christmas tree up which we'll hold onto at least till the weekend. every year since vy and i were engaged we have traveled to orlando to celebrate christmas eve with his side then travel back to atlanta on christmas day to celebrate with my parents. which the additions we have gained over the years it is becoming a little tricky but we absolutely love being able to celebrate with both of our families so for now this is our tradition. 

on christmas eve all the family gathered together to eat dinner, play a few games and open presents.

madelyn had so much fun playing with all her cousins. vy and i talked a lot about how much m has grown since last year, how exciting it was to watch her interact with her cousins and for all the years to come. 

christmas day we celebrate with my parents & brother, it very low key as it was just us. 

vy and i had planned to do our little family christmas on friday morning. santa brought madelyn this vintage white kitchen, it is completely and utterly adorable. vy insisted that he would build it when we returned thursday night versus building it prior to us leaving for orlando. to be fair i did warn him that it would take him a while but boys will be boys and he had it his way...which also meant that on thursday night it took him a little over four hours to build this play kitchen for his baby girl. 

madelyn's little face when she saw this friday morning was pure sweetness and daddy said it was all worth it, of course. she absolutely loves it and has been cooking up some crazy awesome meals since. her imagination is something and i have no idea where they learn this from but it is so fun to play with her. 

she also got this melissa & doug shopping cart & vintage baby high chair. madelyn received a lot of amazing presents from her friends and family and she has loved every single one. 

hope you all had a wonderful christmas and happy new years eve eve! xo

HOLIDAY FAMILY PHOTOS

a few weekends ago, we spent the morning taking some family photos with my amazingly talented friend, brooke behind brooke whitney photography. i cannot thank her enough for snapping these beautiful pictures and even getting our little miss madelyn to smile even though she was being a tough cookie ;) i am so excited to share some of my favorites...

we absolutely love these! thank you auntie brooke, you are truly the best!! xo

THE MAN IN RED

last year we drove to the middle of nowhere for a woodland type santa with a local photographer, those pictures were great for the price but not worth the forty-five minute drive for a not even five minute photo op. this year i registered early (in july, crazy) for the santa at phipps, i started to panic a little when i realized that other families were already getting their confirmation emails in september for him and i had not heard any thing. afraid that we would be miss him like last year, i remembered that baby braithwaite does a santa with the alice park photography team. luckily i looked when i did because the very next week b. braithwaite were taking appointments. 

saturday morning we braved the rain for our very special visit with the big man in red, santa. the entire ride there, vy and i kept asking madelyn if she was ready to see santa...she would say "yes" with such excitement.

oh this santa, he was the sweetest. he sits in his big red sledge with beautiful frosted christmas trees in the background.

'pound it santa'

then as soon as mommy and daddy peaced out...

i mean, it's only appropriate for her to have a "you two are terrible horrible parents for leaving me on the lap of an old man in red.'

maybe next year, santa...maybe next year...

this is our santa, we will be visiting him every single year.

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

(I realize I am a little behind in posting about this but I couldn't miss writing about M's first Christmas)

 Since Christmas fell right in the middle of the week this year I took the whole week off to celebrate. Trust me, I didn't complain one bit as I was beyond excited to spend all that time with family celebrating little M's first Christmas. When I got off of work on Friday we were on our way to Orlando. The ride down really threw M off her usually schedule which resulted in an hour and half melt down. It was the first time she was stuck in her car seat for six and half hours but we made it with a semi happy baby at 1:30 in the morning. We always try and made it to the Christmas service and this time Madelyn was on the program to received her dedication. 

On Saturday before heading to church we had to stop by and see Vy's grandpa. He was the pastor of the church and a gentle kind hearted man. Before he passed, he was waiting for Vy and I to have a baby as she is the first great grandchild to carry the family name. It is apparent that Madelyn shares a few of the same features with him so we know that he is living within her.

When we arrived at church, it was the first time M was meeting the majority of the family. She was quite popular. Madelyn received her dedication from Vy's oldest uncle.

Vy and I say often that we are very lucky to have such a happy and sweet baby. She was so well behaved during service that you wouldn't even know there was a baby there.

A little family photo after service.

{What Madelyn Wore: Headband - Made by Me, Floral Cord Top, Tights - Old Baby Gap & Bow Back Flats }

  Then we have a very tired sleeping baby girl. This girl can really sleep anywhere. We are definitely enjoying it while it last.

For being such a sweet girl, M's auntie gave her an early Christmas present. 

 This year we were in Orlando a little longer than years past so we got to hang out with cousin and family a little longer. We were able to leave M with her grandparents a few nights to have a little grow up fun, we went a Magic basketball game and went to see Anchorman II. We have not been to the movies since I was about 38 weeks preggo when we saw the Great Gatsby, it's been that long. Vy's family celebrates on Christmas Eve where we all go over to his uncle's house to eat dinner, play white elephant game (wish I had photos as my hubs gifted a giant photo of his head) and open presents.

M stayed up way passed her bedtime and was not into any photos at this moment. Everyone was so sweet and generous to little M. 

  {What Madelyn Wore: Green Polka Dot Dress - Old Jack and Janie}

M wasn't too sure on what was going on.

On Christmas day we left early to head back to Atlanta to spend Christmas with my parents. The drive back home was 100 times better than on the way down and M was such a happy baby when we arrived at my parents, she is such a little trooper. It is a lot of traveling but we are able to spend time with both sides and full our hearts with all the joy and love of the holidays.

(After being in a car for six and a half hours I was looking pretty rough and the pictures that were taken I am not a fan so I'll spare you those.)

TO YOU AND YOURS