Christmas Cookies

Ashton and I always make and decorate Christmas cookies as part of our holiday tradition. This year, being in West Virginia and close to our family, my sister in law Barb, decided to make it a big family cookie decorating party. We had so much fun. We used my mother in laws sugar cookie recipe and it was soooo good! We also celebrated our family's December birthdays. It is wonderful being close to family again. We also paid a visit to PawPaw's grave to decorate it for Christmas. It is so sad not to have him here to join in on the fun. He loved having all the family together.

Recap

The last few weeks have been really hard.  The fiasco with the Nancy Ann dolls has basically blown up into such a disaster that I am walking away from ebay for a while until I can regroup. It is crazy how some of these women act over a doll. =*(

Despite the baby doll drama, I had a really good time in North Carolina. Raini and I thrift shopped our hearts out and we had a great time and found a lot of cool things. 

I love going to antique stores during the holiday season, so many shiny brites and santa's!

Last Christmas

Last Christmas Eve, as I took this picture, I had no idea I was pregnant. I thought I was tired and weepy because it was my first Christmas without Papa Bud and because I was so homesick.

I'm sure that played a lot into it, but my pregnancy had became very difficult before I even knew I was pregnant.

I am so thankful to God that I am here to celebrate Christmas with my family. Shortly after I gave birth to Karsen, things began to go terribly wrong. I began swelling up. My hands and feet were huge. My back hurt. I felt like I had been hit by a car I was so sore. It wasn't until two days after being discharged from giving birth to Karsen that I reluctantly went back to the doctor to see why I felt so bad.

My blood pressure was 173/110 and the Dr. heard a heart murmur. Fluid was beginning to fill my lungs. I was hospitalized in the ICU department for three days while the Dr's figured out what had happened and got me on a medication that would help me heal.

It was scary. Thank God I had listened to my body.

Its amazing to feel better. The heart medication still makes me tired but I can do so much more now than the entire time I was pregnant. It feels so good to clean & decorate the house for Christmas, wrap presents, run errands and to be able to make cookies with the kids. Last year was a blur. All I remember is being so tired, and so sad. It was hard to celebrate the way I had in years past.

Now we have Karsen, who is my hearts delight. It is amazing how much can change in a year. Thank you God for the blessings of a new life, and of bringing health back to my life.

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas Decor That Makes Me SMILE

Christmas Memories

So, this is my 2nd Christmas without Papa Bud. And our first Christmas without my husbands father, PawPaw.

I honestly don't know how we made it through the holidays last year. I felt so numb.

This year is brighter because of Karsen but it is still very sad because it is our first Christmas without PawPaw.

PawPaw loved Christmas. He loved decorating. He loved tinsel, he really loved tinsel!

While we were in Wva for Thanksgiving, John's mom gave us some of PawPaw's Christmas houses from his village.

PawPaw loved his Christmas village. The houses were from various stores (mainly Big Lots because PawPaw was also very frugal!) Every year he would line up tables in their home and create winter scenes.

MawMaw gave each child (they had 5 kids) several houses each. It makes me smile seeing them lit up. And even though I was never into Christmas houses/villages, I am now.