Santa Baby

Sears Studio ads show a portrait similar to these and I wanted to try and recreate it. Santa hat, no clothes, and they had a red bow laid on the baby's back.


I used white towels as my backdrop (getting a white sheet for future back drop needs) and she wore the "Santa Baby" panties from her Christmas Day dress. The silly hat kept slipping over her eyes and I had to adjust it every photo or two.

Looking up at Daddy.

I can't even believe just how many pictures we took this month!!! It was worse than the first month of her life! Oh, well it only happens once. Especially to us, as she will be our only birth child. She'll have more photos and scrapbooks than she knows what to do with someday!

New Toofies!

We have our first toofies! On December 17th, the first one broke through and she is usually such a good baby that I didn't realize what was going on at first! Finally after her continually "running faucet" slobbering, it dawned on me to check her gums. TAH! DAH! We had a tooth.

Then, about a week or so later, I realized that her second one had popped thru, as well.

You have to look closely, but you can see her 2 little front, lower teeth! And the slobbery, drooly chin! (For those of you that don't know, click or double click on the photo and it will enlarge it)

We took these at Aunt Stephanie's house over New Year's. What a big girl we are gettin to be! New teeth. Changed diaper size. Moved on to Phase 2 baby foods. Sitting on her own.

Mommy pulled down her lip, so I and you can see them better. Not so cute, but more visible.

My Grandpas Love Me

I am a big goober and have loaded these photos in backwards! So, I am going to start the story at the bottom, thus you will need to begin reading at the bottom and work your way up! :)

The toybox is almost complete. The dragonflies are just lying there. Only one of them is being added, along with small wooden letters that spell her name. I just got the letters and haven't painted them yet. The other 2 dragonflies are being turned into bookends. If you look closely, she has 2 ladybug bookends on the top shelf of her bookcase. I painted the bugs and Gramps made the ends to attach to them.

Here is the bookcase all set up and in use. Filled with board books, piggy bank and teddy bears. Oh, and my I pod docking station on the top, as we use it for her music/CD player. I pulled out all of the board books from the closet, all of the ones that she can't really hurt when she becomes more mobile in the very near future! We have plenty of room to grow!! (Ruth, see "Natalie" on the bottom shelf?? And Dave & Mary, there is "Ellie" the elephant that you gave to Emma on the top shelf.)

Again, we asked him to sign it for posterity. Dad has such a doctor looking scrawl!

We asked both grandpas to sign their piece. I wanted to make sure that Emma always knew who made it and when. Not a piece to be gotten rid of when she outgrows it, but a piece to be saved for her kids someday!

The bookcase being painted. Dad did a nice job building it. It has routed grooves that run along the top front facing and the lower facing.

I gave Martin choices of colors between white, pale green, pale pink or the dark chocolate stain of her furniture. He chose the pale green. So, we bought paint and went to work painting them to match. Painting that beadboard on the toybox was a pain! And Martin doesn't do detail painting! That was all my job.

Here is Daddy & Emma posing by the bookcase that Papaw built for Emma. I had asked him to make her one, so that she had a piece of furniture from each Grandpa and to build it by the time she turned 1. Well, he did it now and it is perfect! Moveable shelves, so we can arrange to fit our book needs over the years.

At this point the door is just sitting there, unattached. They hadn't quite figured out how they wanted to do the door and it's hinges. Martin thought it might be neat to have the door fold down and be used as a desk surface, but I felt like it would be in the way of reaching for toys. Mommy won that one.

In August, when Grammy & Gramps were here, Martin asked his Dad to make or help make a toybox for Emma. Well, they went to Lowes and came home with the wood and Gramps found a pencil and paper and started sketching. He planned it all out and during the days while Martin was at work, he cut, sanded and built the box. We totally copied the shape from Josiah's new toybox, but much smaller.

Christmas Dinner At Mom's

After our own Christmas and Emma's morning nap, we headed to Hobe Sound for lunch with the family.
Posing in front of Nana's tree again. Emma wearing her Christmas dress from her Grammy.

Posing with Daddy. Her little panties that matched said "Santa Baby" on them!

Gotta get some pictures with Nana! Emma was not so cooperative at this point! She wanted food and a nap!

Here is Mom's Christmas table. She made cranberry jello salad and molded it in a Christmas tree pan! Sitting on the corner of the table.

Grandpa & Grandma D. ready for lunch! My corn casserole is on the lower left side. Yummo!

One of the only photos of Mom & Dad together this Christmas! We have separate ones, but somehow they did not pose together. Plus, Mom had to work on Christmas Sunday and so they didn't get to take dressy pictures then either!

Eating her green beans. She LOVES them! Can't get her to eat fruit, but she loves veggies! Mom said, "Next year you'll be eating Nana's mashed tatos". I thought about it for a sec. and decided why couldn't she try them this year? They weren't too salty or buttery. So, she had a few bites of her first mashed potatoes. She wasn't so impressed.

Mom & I started right in clearing up and washing dishes, as soon as dessert was over, as Mom had to be in bed for a nap by 2-she had to work that evening. Here is what Martin did as soon as dessert was over!! We stayed at Mom & Dad's until Emma woke up and then headed home.

Here she is wearing her Christmas jammies one more time and enjoying that new ball. She has such fun with it!

Ah! At last! Here is the photo of our other cat, Jazmine. She is more of a loner and doesn't get near as many pictures taken of her. She is a sleek pretty silver gray with white paws.

Christmas Morning at the Lovejoy's

Here we are on our bed ready for stockings. Emma has been changed and fed and we are ready!

This has been our family tradition as far back as I can remember, opening stockings on Mom & Dad's bed. So, Martin & I have continued it. He also had a similar one, but "Father Christmas" left their sock by their bed. Now,we will continue it with Emma.

Emma had plastic bowls w/ lids, wipeable bibs, a sippy cup, bubbles... She mostly liked biting on the lids!

We blew a few bubbles right then and did more later and she loved watching them. She couldn't quite figure out what was happening when she reached for a ball looking thing and it popped each time.

Yes, I know, my eyes are closed yet again! The only one that shows my stocking stash. Chai Latte tea, SD card reader, seam ripper, tape measure, thread, lipsticks, chocolates...

Martin and his stocking goodies: super glue, coffee, shower gel, car air fresheners, car magnet, Raisinets, and this years Craftsman ornament (a level). He has collected a new one each year we have been together.

Stockings are over with and we have moved out to the living room. Daddy read Luke chapter 2 before we opened gifts. We read it out of the NKJ this year, so I had to actually listen, rather than say it along with him. I didn't realize that I still knew it until one Sunday this month when Pastor Wolfe read it and I could say it all along with him!

We did Emma's gifts first, as she wasn't going to last too much longer. She is usually awake for about 1 1/2 hours and we were almost over that at this time! These fur lined boots are from her Grammy, to add to her extensive shoe collection! :)

Mommy got her these pop beads. The picture shows them as a necklace, but there is not quite enough in the box to actually do that!! We gotta get another set of them, as she does like playing with them now when she can only look, lick and chew. She will like them more as she gets older.

Here she is opening up her new ball. I found a ball that has rubber ring thingys around it and this makes it easier for her to grasp. It has sounds, lights and music. She LOVES it!

Her main gift was a Johnny Jump Up. She has been doing the whole bouncy/ jumping thing for about 2 weeks when you hold her in an upright position. She will love this-at least we hope she does!!

A pose with Daddy just before naptime. Gotta get some rest before heading off to Nana's for lunch!

Notice the pile of paper and stuff behind us! We need a maid service.

Martin's friend Dave sent him this cookbook. It is a Marmite cookbook. Marmite, you ask? What is that? UGH!! It is THE most disgusting stuff ever created! It is made from yeast extract and is used for a variety of things. He eats it spread on bread, like we would peanut butter. Definitely an English thing!

Here is my main gift. A Cricut Jukebox. I have a Cricut and the Cricut Design Software and now I can add the Jukebox to that selection of scrapbooking tools! Can't wait to actually set it up and use it!

Miss Jessika loves the tree. She sleeps under it almost everyday. Somewhere there is also a picture of Jazmine, the other cat, under the tree.

Our Christmas breakfast: Monkey Bread ( I cheated this year and just bought it at Wal-Mart rather than making it), tropical fruit salad w/ yogurt and OJ. Notice the mugs and plates. Fancy gold script on them says love on one and joy on the other. Love and Joy= Lovejoy. Get it? :) Oh, and it was too warm for Martin to enjoy coffee, so we had OJ in the coffee mugs!

Christmas Jammies

Here are a few pictures of the kiddies in their Christmas jammies:

Emma has a matching Santa cap with hers and she just looked adorable! Halie had cute plaid flannel ones that made her Mommy happy, but Halie wasn't so impressed I guess.

Emma looks like such a big girl sitting in that rocking chair at Nana's house. She is such an entertainer! And kept everyone amused!

Here are the little ones, Emma in the rocker, Halie and Josiah on the bench. Josiah is my cousin Cyndi's little guy. He is about 14 months old and Halie is 16 months-look who is bigger. (And Emma isn't too far behind!)

Their Mommy's say that ONLY on Christmas eve would they give them a cookie at bedtime! :) We were trying for cute jammie pictures with all of them and the cookies were a way of controlling the "I wanna run aways". We put them to bed in pack & plays in various rooms after this and went to play games.

We got a picture of Mommy & Emma with her "Natalie" bear. I have my eyes closed, which is quite typical for me! But, it is the only one with her & the bear! The battery had died on our big camera and we had switched to the little one in the diaper bag. It says it has red eye reduction which usually helps me to not blink, but it doesn't work like most others and I still usually have my eyes closed. Makes me grumpy when it is time to scrapbook though!

Extended Family Party

After our own family exchange was over, the rest of our extended family arrived. Delamarter's and McNay's both sides of Mom & Dad's family. We had our usual Christmas Eve buffet. Everyone brings appetizers and desserts and we eat too much! Meatballs, Shrimp & cocktail sauce, Cheeseball, Fried Rice balls, Texas Caviar, Baked Crab Dip, Pizza, Pigs in a blanket, Sausage bundles, Nachos, Deviled Eggs...

On the buffet you will see cookies, a brownie shaped like a Christmas tree, Martin's Golden Fruitcake Bars, German Chocolate Thumbprint cookies, Buckeyes, etc...

Above this is my cousin Cyndi, and her hubby and son. We did a White Elephant gift exchange this year, where you re-gift something that you already own. Old. New. Used. Dusty. Doesn't matter. Martin's gift that he brought was a 1958 Car Repair Manuel. Cyndi got it but her husband, Grayden loved it! Martin printed out clip art of a '57 Chevy that he changed the color of to Bronze/copper, and taped them all over the gift box in hopes that Dad would choose it! But, he did not.

Robert received a Hunting game, where you plug the rifle with into the TV. Kinda perfect for him! I read off Christmas trivia questions and the person who got the answer right got to choose the next gift. They could pick a new, un-opened one or to take one from someone else. Most everyone was nice about it, until we got to Dad. He took a nifty cutting tool from Martin. So, when it was finally my turn I took Dad's nifty cutting tool and he got the final unopened gift...

Stephanie got the gift that I brought. It was 4 Christmas mugs and 4 different packs of hot cocoa. Pretty nice White Elephant gift, if I may say so!

Dad's final gift was a gold cherub filled with bath salts!!!! We were all cracking up! What in the world would he ever do with that??!! HEE HEE!

We also gave the Cantrell family a kite. A huge cow kite! Martin loves his kites and has flown some of them with Robert. They now live on a ranch and Halie loves cows, so they got a cow kite! Look at their faces! Cracking up!

Aunt Ruth got both little girls a gift of a stuffed animal. Halie got a horse and Emma got a teddy bear. But, her bear was special. "Natalie" was ordered and delivered from Harrod's, in England! She has a pink Harrod's ribbon around her neck. Someday we hope to take Emma to see Father Christmas at Harrod's. THE Harrod's, per martin, as it is THE only one in the world. By the time we got to open the stuffed animals, Emma was asleep. So, Mommy opened it.

Nana gave both girls a pink piggy bank, as well. They have a digital counter in the lid that counts each coin based on its size. Keeps a running total. Emma now has 5 banks. Where are the coins to fill them???

After the gifts were opened and the mess cleared away, we cleared off the table and got down to business! We love to play games when we are all together! We started off the evening with Blurt! A reader reads off a description and you BLURT out the answers until someone gets the correct one.

Then we moved on to Uno Attack. There were 7 of us playing, including Dad. We did 1 round normal play and then made up some new rules and turned it into Dirty Uno Attack! Mom came in later and joined in for one round. We ended the evening with a fast paced game of Dutch Blitz. I won that one!! YAY! Mom played with us and Martin sat that one out. He was our score keeper and picture taker. Moves way too fast and has too many things to watch at one time for him! Women can play this game better and we have decided that it is because men really do have a one track mind. This is true for my hubby anyway!

We cleared up just before midnight! I helped Mom clean up and then swept all of the floors before we headed home. We drove home, emptied the car, put Emma to bed, cleaned up my own house, got ready for bed and looked at the clock and it as 1:15 AM. UGH! Not enough sleep for me! But maybe I'll hear Santa by going to bed this late... :)