the haul

Some of you were asking what Amelia scored for Christmas this year. 

If you can remember, she received the most gifts last Christmas, which is before we even knew about her :)

Blabla friends

Rainbow Cushion

Peek-a-boo Panda (We call her Panda)

Wooden Instagram Camera

Earrings that she has already lost one of

Glitter bows now that her hair is long enough for them :)

Thief and Bandit leggings

a Bobo Choses sweater

Misha Lulu overalls

lots of toys for the bathtub since it's her favorite (including the bath crayons pictured above)

and books.

We got all of the clothing items off of Instagram.  It's like the only place I shop now for Amelia's clothes :)

She definitely made out like a bandit again this year.

She's worth it!

xo

janel

I seriously love

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012 came and went so quickly it seems.  Life with a baby is a blur.

I can also say that, for me, Christmas is so much more amazing with a child.

The present buying is definitely WAY more fun.

Starting new traditions is more fun.

Taking a million photos and home videos is way more fun as well.

I also love that on Christmas Eve I was able to snuggle Amelia and really picture and feel a little bit of what Mary felt as she was "treasuring all of these things in her heart."

Amelia was spoiled this Christmas by our entire family.  We received a ton of amazing gifts for her to grow with and learn from.  

We spent Christmas Eve Eve with our family, at my sister, where we had two first Christmas' to celebrate.

We had two very special deliveries from our Massachusetts family.  

Christmas morning was spent, at home, with all of my favorite people (Adam, Amelia and Cat).  Here are a few photos from that.

We opened present to "She & Him's" Christmas album and ate pancakes and turkey bacon.  It was heavenly.  Adam spoiled me a bit as well.  We have been so good at saving money this past year for the adoption that he wanted to treat Amelia and I to a couple of exciting things :)

*  a new wedding band!!  I lost my wedding ring last February and absolutely hate not having one to wear everyday.  I wanted something dainty and simple and meaningful and he gifted me one of these:

I have the initial "a" on mine for Amelia.  She is a perfect symbol of our love and of love in and of itself so it was just the most perfect gift.

I also got a gift card for my Nikes and a promise to order the Seafoam PL kit, as soon as it comes in :) Plus a few other little fun things.

I'll be back, later this week with a post on Amelia's gifts.  Like I said, she was definitely the most fun to shop for.

To say the least, we were so blessed this Christmas. I hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday season as well.

I'm off to fill in my new planner now!! Yay!!!

Good Night friends.

xo

janel

Project Life-Week 49

Week 49

We are finally catching up with postings!! This week was the first week of December which brought about our Advent calendar and lots of fun Christmas themed activities and more.

I filled a 4x6 card with a few life mantras that I have loved lately.  I did it in simple black and white because I love the contrast with all of the other colorful photos.

Amelia has started pulling up on everything.

I am in love with these amazing sparkle oxfords that we scored Amelia at Old Navy.

I made a little DIY Christmas gift with glitter :)

I am teaching my fifth grade students how to use a pottery wheel, which was hilarious since, at first, I was no good at it.

Amelia and I made cinnamon ornaments to tie onto our gifts this year and to make our house smell wonderful.
We had a nice dinner and game night at my aunt's house.
Amelia's hair is getting long enough to start using some product in it to define and condition her little baby curls.  LOVE!
Amelia had her 9 month check up with the pediatrician.
We had a snowflake making night as a family to turn our house into a little winter wonderland.
I also added a little transparent overlay into the last pocket and added a little woodcut piece to this side of it (after I took the photo of course).  I like how you can see through to the next spread with this little detail :)
Fun Fun!

xo
janel

Would you like to know more about Project Life? You can read all about it here. You can also check out more of my Project Life pages right here!

cinnamon ornaments

And boy does our house smell heavenly!!

I have always wanted to make these but never knew how simple it was.

This project was another one of our Advent activities.

We followed this awesome tutorial and it worked out swimmingly.

We didn't have quite enough cinnamon so our edges were a little rough (which was totally fine with me). Plus, after they were completely dry, the rough edges rubbed right off :)

For now they are hanging all over our tree and smelling lovely.  I will eventually tie them to everyone's Christmas gifts as I wrap them.

I love creating all of these new Christmas traditions with Amelia!!

xo

janel

a little bit of snow

Last night, Adam and I made paper snowflakes together as one of our Advent activities.  Adam's snowflakes, that he makes, are my favorite.  He's so cute when he makes them.

We made about 20 different snowflakes and hung them all of over our sliding glass doors. 

With this 70 degree weather we have been having here in St. Louis, these paper snowflakes were the perfect things to make our home feel a little bit more like the Christmas spirit.

Even Amelia wanted to get in on the snowflake making! I can't wait until next Christmas when she will actually be able to help us :)

xo

janel

advent

Oh yes, it's time for our Advent Calendar tradition.  Each year Adam and I take turns creating an Advent calendar for each other.  We have done scavenger hunts, online Advents, traditional advents and more.  We love Advent and our traditions.

This year, Adam and I are doing Advent together for Amelia.  We are so excited to start all of these old and new traditions with her!  The holiday season is so much more fun for us with a little one here.

  I completely fell in love with this adorable advent calendar! 

I love this sweet little village and the color scheme is so perfect for Amelia's room. 

 I LOVE IT!

I defintiely should have used card stock as the directions said but all I had was regular printer paper on hand. It still works :)

What are some of your favorite Advent Calendar traditions?  Any fun activities to do with babies?  I would love to hear your suggestions!

xo

janel

Christmas Jammies

So, it took me about three weeks to find the PERFECT Christmas jammies for Amelia.  I wanted something classic, character-less, and something that reminded me of my childhood.  I wanted them to be cozy and sweet and Christmas-y.  After many google searches, etsy searches, and phone calls to malls, I found the  perfect little set.  It's by Laura Dare, and Im pretty sure if I could go back in time and see my sister and I's matching sets, they would be by Laura Dare too because they are just like I remember.

My amazingly talented friend, Jodie, at Fresh Art Photography, also knows the importance of the Christmas Jammies and designed a mini-session catered exactly for it!  Adam and I save our allowance for a couple of months because we knew we wanted her to document Amelia in her first pair of Christmas jammies :)

We also hoped for a perfect photo for our Christmas card this year too.

Mission Accomplished.

Here are some of the photos from our little mini-session...

and the Christmas Card shot...

This girl gets cuter and cuter every single day.  There are seriously times where I am just looking at her and I can't even comprehend how blessed I am to be her mom.

She is a joy beyond joys.

A huge thank you to Jodie, for again, capturing the Amelia in the perfect way.

xo

janel

Amelia's Christmas List

This little one wants for nothing.  We have been blessed with an abundance of toys, clothes, and books, and all of the necessities a little girl could need.  This is just a small little list I have put together of things Amelia would like for Christmas (she told me).  Her daddy wanted a wish list of things to purchase from, and here it is :)

1 Wooden Instagram Camera Toy

 2 This adorable rainbow cushion for her crib so she has something to lean against when she is playing

 3 Customizable Pen Pal kit for Amelia so she can send cute packages to her cousins

 4  I love this shirt so much.  It reminds of me of "Blackbird" and everything that that song stands for

 5  And these little onesies are just amazing and essential :)

What are some things you like for a Baby's first Christmas?

xo

janel