January

January is always a slow month after the holidays.  So, here are a few random things I want to remember.

Two of my sweet running friends gave Cora her first pair of running shoes. :)

After sucking her fingers, Cora officially started sucking her thumb and continued to have zero interest in a pacifier.

These two have my heart. Cora lights up not only when she sees Nate, but also when she hears his voice.

I don't even know what to say about our sweet cat.  I won't go into all of the details, but after being trapped in a coyote trap (on a neighbor's property) we made the expensive decision to have his leg amputated.  Two weeks later he was killed by a coyote.  He was such a sweet cat.  :( 

Morning snuggle time with Cora.

After months of sleeping in the the rock-n-play, Cora was finally comfortable in her crib.  The transition wasn't as hard as we thought it would be, thankfully.  Her favorite way to sleep was on her side with one foot keeping her from rolling to her tummy.  Sweetness.

A rare picture of me and Cora before small group.

Cora ate baby food for the first time. :)  

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

This year we attended a Christmas Eve candlelight service.  It was a beautiful service and great reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

After the service, we celebrated Christmas with my family.

Nate was having a little trouble reading the Christmas story.

Ashlyn looked great in the headband we gave her.

Nate was all into superheros and loved this Captain America action figure.

Ashlyn was making sure Nate didn't peek while Nan and Pops brought out his present.

It was a bike and I have no picture of it. They weren't sure how he was going to react since the last time he rode his bike (Thanksgiving Day) he had a bad wreck.  Thankfully, he was excited. :)

After presents, we all played Headbands.  We always have a great time with my loud, crazy family. :)

For the first time, Nate got up really early Christmas morning.  We started our morning with our final Advent devotion.  Then, Nate picked out a mosquito net to purchase from the Compassion catalog.  He was so cute, he pronounced it mo-squat-o net. :)

Darren gave Cora a bracelet for Christmas.  He picked it out on his own and didn't even tell me about it.  It was a sweet surprise.  I know it will always be special to Cora. :) 

I love these three so much!

This was one of Nate's favorites. :)  His very favorite gift was a couple of Minecraft tutorial books.  I decided to buy those at the last minute and put in his stocking.  They were definitely a hit and started a major Minecraft obsession that is still going...

We always spend Christmas evening with Darren's family and I am always terrible about getting pictures with them.  They don't take many pictures either.  I think we are all tired by that point in the day.  Darren's step-sister gave Cora this cute headband.  It was one of our favorites. 

It was another wonderful Christmas.  Of course this year was extra special since it was our first Christmas with sweet Cora.

Airwalk

One of Nate's favorite Christmas break activities was spending time with his friend, Gabe. We love Gabe's family and are so thankful for their friendship.

Christmas Lego Creations

Christmas Lights

We started our tour of lights at Oak Mountain.  It was smaller than we expected, but fun.  Nate really enjoyed it. 

We also visited a couple of homes that are well-known for great light displays.

We loved the countdown to Christmas.

It was so much fun, I took my mom, Jill, and Ashlyn to see the lights too.  We were actually supposed to see Christmas Vacation at the Alabama Theatre, but there were tornado warnings/watches in the area so we decided to stay closer to home.

I am so thankful for our community running group.  We have so many kind, encouraging people in our group.  This year someone decided to plan a Christmas light run.  It was so much fun - beautiful lights and good company. :) 

Christmas Shopping & Co-op Christmas Party

Nate and I had a fun day, just the two of us, doing some Christmas shopping for Cora and Darren and attending his co-op Christmas party.  Cora stayed with my parents.  This was the first time since her birth that Nate and I had several hours together alone.  It was nice, but also strange at the same time.  I kept having to remind myself that Cora wasn't with us.  

We started with some shopping for Darren at the Galleria.  Nate still wanted to ride the carousel, but I know it won't be long until he says "carousels are for babies."  We also enjoyed a cookie from Cookie Company.

We left the Galleria to do some toy shopping for Cora.  Nate picked out a sweet, soft baby doll for her.  He said he wanted to give her her first baby doll since girls liked them so  much. :)  He also picked out a cute lion teether.

Finally, it was time for the party.  Nate got to build a gingerbread house and play with his friends.  It was such a fun day together.  I am so thankful for kid.  :)

St. Nicholas Day

We love talking about the real St. Nicholas during Christmastime.  If you aren't familiar, you can read about him here.  Last year we celebrated St. Nicholas Day, December 6th, for the first time.  The tradition is to leave small treats inside shoes.  

Since St. Nicholas is known for giving gifts in secret, we also gave a couple of friends gifts and signed the card "From Secret St. Nicholas." We left the gifts on their front porch when they weren't home.  Nate absolutely LOVED sneaking around to leave the gifts. 

I hope this will be a tradition we continue each year. :)