Some Time Away

Christmas was great this year!

The last few weeks have been extremely busy and really fun for our family. Most of our Christmas break has been spent traveling. We are all really glad to be home and in our own space, especially to our bed! It's great visiting people, and we had a really good time with our family and friends, but Dorothy knows what she's talking about - there's no place like home!

Our first stop, after a terrible, long, disgusting car ride (I'll just say it involves vomit and Micah), was my parents' house, for a week. We spent a lot of time relaxing, and did a family Christmas celebration on Christmas day. My mom is so funny - she made my brother this great chef's hat, apron and oven mitt for Christmas. They're perfect for him because he loves to cook, and talks about food all the time! The hat is really great - all the gathering must have been a pain, but she did a great job.

Micah really enjoyed opening (and playing with) his presents - he just sat down  in the pile of wrapping paper and played with his new Legos!

I made my sister a jewelry holder for Christmas (and a purse gone wrong), and I think I'm going to make one for myself too. I used a picture frame, hot glued ribbon and gray felt onto it, and put nails on it to hold necklaces. I also bought a flower necklace from Laura at Along For The Ride, and included it so she'd be able to tell what it was!

Micah also got a haircut while we were in Everson - here's a before picture:

And an after: 

I think he looks so much older!

I also got to go wedding dress shopping with my newly-engaged sister (I won't include those pictures...), visit with my good friends from high school, and see a lot of friends. I didn't see everyone I'd like to though, it just seems like time goes so quickly - especially over the holidays!

Our next stop, after an uneventful car ride, was Eugene for a couple of days. We stayed with our college roommates and did some shopping, played Just Dance 3 on XBox, celebrated a very low-key (but fun!) New Years, and ate a LOT of sugar. It was really exciting that we also got to meet baby Madison for the first time!

We took Micah to a toy store in Eugene on Saturday morning. He was really happy in there, and walked all around the store picking things up, looking at them, and then moving on to the next.

Everyone got a chance to hold Madison - she was very sweet and very cuddly.

Here's a sign that Micah will be a great big brother. We set Madison on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her to cuddle for 15 minutes or so. He was so sweet to her!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years! I'm excited to see what God has planned for 2012, whether or not it's the end of the world... I'm thinking it's not.

Christmas Is Here!

I've unintentionally taken a few week hiatus from this blog, but I'm back!

My last post was about how I wished we could put up Christmas lights, and would you believe it - we put some lights up!? There aren't many, just a string of white lights wrapped around our front porch railing and front door. Of course, I don't have a picture, but just imagine our front porch with lights around the railing.

I usually am pretty excited about Christmas, and this year was no exception! I've come to realize how much I enjoy Christmas music, and I'm not sure I'll be ready to stop listening to it in just a few days. By the way, how is it already December 22nd? Time sure is flying by!

We put up a bunch of our favorite decorations in our house for Christmas. Micah helped us, and I think he had a great time! Micah helped us decorate everything except the Christmas tree, which we put up after he went to bed. It was really fun to surprise him in the morning when he got out of bed - what is a tree doing in our house?

Here are a 'few' pictures of our decorating process, and some of my favorite decorations:

I think this hat and collar are for a cat?? Micah liked wearing them while we decorated, though.

Eating dinner is even better when it's next to the Christmas tree! 

Our nativity set, complete with a 50¢ star ornament from the Dollar Tree. I put most of our fragile glass ball ornaments into that glass jar, which usually holds candy, and I love how pretty they look! 

Little decorations I've picked up in the last few years, and a cute frame from Monica! The picture is from the first Christmas that David and I were dating, way back in 2005 ~ 6 years ago! 

Even my little owl has a new Christmas-y home! 

When I was growing up, we would get a new ornament each year, and now I have a bunch of special ornaments hanging on our tree. This is a tradition I'd like to carry on with Micah, so he got to pick out his own ornament this year - he chose this stuffed reindeer! Isn't it cute? Maverick really liked it too... 

Micah has some new friends under our Christmas tree! That rolling bear was a decoration at the Hilliard family Christmas brunch, and Micah wanted to play with it right away. Thanks for letting him keep it, Aunt Cindi! He loves it. Unfortunately, it looks a lot like a cat, so it's surprised me many times. I keep wondering who let a brown cat into our house.

I'm very thankful for all the ways that we're blessed this holiday season! I've been reminded of that more each year, as I see how we have a warm, beautiful (though small) home and family that we love, both near and far! I know that the greatest blessing of all is in the gift of Jesus, and I'm so thankful for Christ making the sacrifice to live on Earth as a man. That is the true reason for Christmas, and the reason that we're able to celebrate!

Merry Christmas from the Wattenburgers!

Someday... Christmas Lights

I love the Christmas season! I was listening to Christmas music early this year, waiting and waiting for it to get here. I can't wait to experience this joyful time of year with Micah. This isn't his first Christmas, of course, but it IS the first year he's going to be very aware of what's going on. I have a feeling he's going to take all the ornaments off the tree and get into the presents. I can't wait!

David's out of town this weekend for a church retreat, so tonight Micah and I went for a long drive around town looking at Christmas lights. He still sits rear-facing in his car seat, so he couldn't see most of the pretty houses, but when he could he was very excited! I love driving around and hearing him talk to himself in the back seat, laughing and chatting up a storm. I also love looking at Christmas lights. They're so pretty and blinky and they make each house look festive or elegant.

Each of the three years that we've lived in this house, I've wanted to put up Christmas lights. The problem is that the house has a power line that goes to the corner of it, and I'm afraid that we'd touch it and get electrocuted.  I think I'm going to at least decorate our front porch, so we can look a little more festive without dying from the scary power line.

It's been a little while since I've done one of these 'Someday' posts, but they're back! Someday, I hope to have a house without a power line to the corner of it, so we can decorate full-on! Until then, here are a few pictures of Christmas inspiration!

I love the garland with the lights in it, and the white icicle lights on the house.

I'm really into Christmas garlands this year, and I love this front door set up!

We don't have a vineyard, of course, but I love how this looks - I wish I could drive around through these grape vines!

I know this really doesn't have much to do with Christmas, but it's lights! I think these little lighted hedgehogs are adorable, and I think I'm going to use my old pumpkins from Halloween to make a hedgehog in our front yard. I'll put up a picture soon!

You can find all of these pictures on my Pinterest 'Christmas' board.