twenty-eight.

[First of all, thank you so much for all of the sweet comments and emails about my post yesterday! I feel so encouraged, and I will try every one of your ideas until we find something that works, and I'll definitely keep you all posted on our progress.]

Yesterday was my 28th birthday. We began the celebration Friday evening with some friends at Loca Luna. Gary even brought my favorite cupcakes for everyone! Yesterday was a pretty ordinary day: doctor's appointment with E, workout with the trainer, grocery shopping, etc., but it was a good day. The best part was ending the day with a family birthday dinner cooked by my Momma. She cooked all of my favorites, and my brother, Liz, and their new puppy even came up from Arkadelphia to join us.

28 is not so bad... I'm just thankful for another year with my wonderful friends, family, husband, and of course, my sweet Elliott! So, I'm going to enjoy this age and relish in the last two years of my twenties.

Elliott's DINOmite first birthday party!

We celebrated Elliott's first birthday on Saturday (his actual birthday) with a houseful of our family and friends. It was so much fun! I loved planning and preparing for this day. I decided when E was born that I would always be sure to make a big deal out of his birthday since it is only 10 days after Christmas. I never want his special day to get lost or lumped in with Christmas, and I think I was successful. You could tell he knew this day was ALL about him! :)

Of course Pinterest helped a little with my party planning (can you tell?!). Most of the decor was handmade by yours truly, including the paper chains, treat jars, wreath, party hats, bunting, poufs, cupcake toppers and label cards. I felt like quite the little Martha Stewart.

The cookies and cupcakes were made by my friends Megan and Jonda and they were a HUGE hit! If you live in the central AR area, you should check them out. Our guests also enjoyed "dinosaur toenails" (Bugles) and "Elliott-o-sauras Mix" (Goldfish, Cheerios, and Cheetos Puffs). For the "sweetivores" we served M&Ms, rock candy, Twislers, and gummy bears.

Funny behind the scenes story.... all of those cute little jars with the paper straws were Starbucks frappuccions chugged mostly by Gary and myself in the days leading up to the party. I think I gained 5 pounds.

The birthday boy loved his Funfetti cupcake with chocolate icing. His Poppy even served him Hawaiian Punch to wash it down. He was in heaven.

After he finished his cake, we moved on to tackling the mound of gift he got. He got everything from books, clothes, puzzles and trucks to his own remote control and first tricycle! Our playroom is full now and Elliott has been enjoying playing with all of his new gifts over the past few days. You don't think we're spoiling him, do you?

A good time was had by all, especially our birthday boy. I've said it before, but his life has been such a blessing to us and I'm so thankful we got to celebrate the day that blessing started with the ones we love the most.

Baby's first Christmas.

Christmas was so much fun this year! It's always fun, but having a baby around makes it a hundred times better. Elliott wasn't too into opening gifts, or even playing with them, but having him there with us for all of the festivities added so much joy. We got up early, in true Elliott fashion, and took him to see what Santa had left for him. After he had dumped out his stocking and turned the living room upside down, we opened gifts from each other as a family, before heading to my parent's house to open gifts with them and my siblings.

It started raining early Christmas morning, and it turned to snow by dinner time. This is the first snow in Little Rock on Christmas day in 80 years, so you can imagine how excited we were, until... the electricity went out. We lost power around 4:00, right as we were getting ready for Christmas dinner at my grandparent's. We quickly grabbed as much as we could before we lost daylight and headed to my parent's, who thankfully had power, to get ready.  We enjoyed a very quick dinner with my Dad's side of the family before heading back to Mom and Dad's in about 5 inches of snow! When we arrived they were without power too, but we lit the fireplace and put E to bed, and enjoyed a glass of wine by candle light before the power came back on around 10:30.

Our neighborhood wasn't so lucky, our house was without power for 48 hours, spoiling everything in our refrigerator and freezer. So, we spent 2 days at Mom and Dad's, and were forced to miss Christmas in Arkadelphia with Gary's family due to icy roads. But that didn't stop Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Gina and Uncle Zach from seeing Elliott. They loaded up and headed to Little Rock, booking a room at the Peabody since we were still without power. Right about the time they made it here, our power came back on and we were able to spend 2 days with them before they headed home to Texas.

It's been a whirlwind week, but it's one we'll never forget... baby's first Christmas and first snow in one day! I had to wait 27 years for a white Christmas and he gets one on his first year! What a lucky little boy. Stay tuned for some super cute pictures of our little snow bunny.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

As a little girl we spent Christmas eve at my grandparent's house eating dinner and opening gifts, but a few years ago, my grandparents retired Christmas eve and my Mom took over. She cooks dinner and we watch family videos from Christmases past. This year, we needed no entertainment, as Elliott provides it. It's fun to watch 8 adults sitting around staring at one baby, like it's the first one they have ever seen. What did we do before he came along? 

After dinner we came home and got E in his Christmas PJs and Gary read him the Christmas story before bed. This is another tradition from my childhood. Every Christmas eve, my Dad would read us the Christmas story and my Mom would film. It's been so fun the last few years to go back through and watch them. I look forward to watching Elliott, and our family, grow in the videos over the coming years.

Long after Elliott and Gary went to bed, a certain little "elf" was up sewing stockings in the workshop, but finally, around 3am, "the stockings were hung by the 'chimney' with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."

My [top sales]man!

Friday afternoon I took off work early to attend a Christmas party for our family's business. Gary has been a salesman there for the past six years, starting as the Oklahoma rep in 2006. Since then, he has moved in house, and you may recall that he was top three in sales the past two years, coming in third both years. But, this year he increased his sales by 23%, earning him the title of top salesperson at Jenkins Enterprises in 2012.

I had an idea that he might be number one this year, so I invited his parents to surprise him at the Christmas party where they would recognize the winner. It was so fun to see the look on his face when I pulled up to his office with my in-laws in the car with me.

Elliott wanted to drink out of Dad's new cup :)

I'm so proud of you, Gary! You have worked very hard this year to keep your current customers happy and build your business. You are a talented salesman, an amazing father, and the husband I always hoped I'd find. I truly am the luckiest girl in the world.