That Mom

This post is for all my mama friends out there! I am taking a break from the holidays to share some thoughts that have been heavy on my heart. Lately, I have heard so many of my friends say, "I am becoming that mom" or "I never thought I would be that mom" They say this as if they are ashamed or embarrassed......My question is- what is so wrong with being THAT MOM?!?!?

Quite frankly, you are a MOM; not THAT mom! And really, what qualifies as that mom?!?! You look at the world A LOT differently since your little one was born. I am 100% guilty of having child ignorance before Evan Lilly arrived.

I want us to embrace ALL moms! We are all different and like to do different things. I absolutely love to craft so I enjoy making the fun activities on Pinterest. Other moms like to bake or cook (this is NOT me). Some are super fit (I run so I can eat and drink). Others are killing it with their full time job (outside of being a mom!) I always joke that I would hate someone if they were just like me! But, I don't want to be shunned because I do the silly crafts, teacher gifts, over the top parties, etc. These are my interests and what I LIKE to do. I love that we all have our strengths and weaknesses. One is not better than the other. We all love our children and are doing the best we can.

I have gathered that some feel posting pictures of your kids is being "that mom." Well, I LOVE posting pictures of Evan for my family to see on social media. I love that we have Facebook, Instagram, blogging, etc available to us to document our little ones accomplishments and experiences. I feel it is assumed that you should know that everyone puts their BEST self  on social media. I don't think mamas are intentionally posting to make other mamas feel bad. Instead, they are doing it to brag. And what in the world is so wrong with that? Being a mom has been my greatest accomplishment so far and I love to brag about E (as if you didn't know)

However, I will be the first one to say that I need breaks, not every second or stage of being a mom is easy, and I love having other mom friends to vent to. BUT, I will not stop being that mom or can we just say a mom. Don't get discouraged when you see another mama who looks so put together. I promise she has her struggles, and we know this, because we are MOMS!

I hope you have a beautiful weekend and post pictures of your little ones because some people may get annoyed with kid pics but I LOVE them!!! ;-)

Holiday Home Tour & Christmas Card 2014

The time has finally come for my last Christmas post. It's only mid January...... it's okay to still post about Christmas, right?!?!

A friend thought this would be a great idea for a post and I really wanted to do it, so I can remember how we decorated for 2014. It is so easy to forget! Especially when you have over 20 boxes of Christmas decorations. I like to switch it up each year and this was my favorite yet!!

Here is our Christmas card for 2014!

Now for our holiday home tour! It's not anything amazing you would see in a magazine but I LOVE decorating for the holidays and thought it would be fun to share. I took pictures of our home right before our Sunday School Christmas party, because it was clean! Hence the reason the furniture is a little out of place. Most of the time there are toys and let's just say stuff everywhere. I tried really hard to keep it clean during the holidays so we could enjoy the decorations but it was not easy.

First we will start with Evan Lilly's room..........

I always keep a burlap hanger on her door and I thought this one was so cute! I got it for 40% off at Hobby Lobby. I never buy anything full price there :)

I also got her tree, decorations for the tree, and the Merry Christmas banner at Hobby Lobby. This was the first year I decorated her room, and she absolutely loved it!

Next, is our kitchen where I always put up our University of Memphis tree. Go Tigers!

Also in the kitchen is where I displayed our advent calendar and a few other decorations, which I just realized I never took a picture of. I laid garland on the table with two burlap bows on each end, fresh flowers, and a really cute wooden Christmas tree that matches the colors in the calendar and my kitchen (Dang, I am so sad I didn't get this picture. It was one of my favorites this year)

Our hallway table! The only thing new I added this year was the gold candles. Everything else we already had. The Santas are from my grandmother and I look forward to bringing them out every year. I love how they are not traditional colors and mix things up. 

On to the dining room! 

I discovered free printables this year! Yes, I know....where have I been?!?! The frame says Glory to the newborn King and I loved how it turned out. I wish I would have gotten a close up picture. (I am already making notes for next year)

This picture reminds me- I still need to find something to hang over the wine cabinet!

And,YES! That's another printable....

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry!!!!!

Dining room chairs are out for extra seating for our party but you get the idea :)

Chris got me the flowers for our 10th wedding anniversary. They were the perfect centerpiece for our holiday festivities!

Our fireplace is in our dining room. One year I put a tree next to the fire place. I switched it up this year! (Pardon the vacuum cleaner! We were finishing up some last minute touches before our guests arrived!!)

We live in a bungalow so basically our house is one small circle! Our dining room looks into our formal living room, so we will go there next.

The 'formal' living room! But let's face it....really this room on a normal day is our 'dog room' :) It's where they hang out and like to look out the window, bark at the mailman, and always have an open eye for the cat that terrorizes them.

But for now, let's say formal living room :)

Photo bomber!!!!

Looking back into the dining room.

Now on to our family room.

This could actually be used as a bedroom. However, we are currently using it as a cozy family room. Do you spot the photo bomber in these pictures? ;-)

Our white tree is our family tacky tree! You know, all of those fun ornaments you made as a kid, or the random Harley Davidson or Betty Boop ornament you won at the Sunday School dirty Santa game, or the ornaments you have collected over 8 years of teaching!!!! I feel like this picture doesn't do this tree justice. We actually get those most compliments on our tacky tree than anything else in the house. 

Now, looking back into the formal living room where I hung our Christmas cards on red sparkle garland with clothes pins.

Last but not least I added a little sparkle to our master bedroom, which is still up now! I figured it could pass for winter too! Next year, I want a fun festive pillow to add to the bed. I saw so many this year but never sucked it up and bought one.

And at the end of my picture taking, I caught this!! Evan Lilly LOVES her brothers!! Sorry for the boxer booty shot! 

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed seeing our Christmas decor. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve & Day 2014 {And a few pics I forgot, whoops!}

I came across some really fun Christmas pictures that I really wanted to post so real quick.....

Lindsay and I celebrating "our Christmas!"

We were honored to host our Sunday School Christmas party at our house. Probably not the best idea since our home is tiny and our class is huge! Hopefully, everyone wasn't too crammed and had a nice time!

More pictures from pajamas and pancakes with Santa!

OK! Now for Christmas EVE & DAY!!!!

Since we moved back to Memphis, we have always celebrated Christmas Eve at our home. This was a tradition my parents started when I was young and I hope we can continue. We started the evening with trying to get pictures of Evan Lilly by the Christmas tree. Of course, she had other plans! 

Chris's family came over to visit and we let Evan open up her Christmas Eve present while they were there. I love how she gets just excited over clothes as she does for toys! Hmmmmmm I wonder who she gets that from------

Every Christmas Eve she opens up a pair of Christmas jammies (a tradition sent down from my parents)

We decided to start our own family tradition! On Christmas Eve after opening our jammies, Evan opened another present. This gift was centered around the real reason for the season- JESUS! It was a Little People Nativity Set. After opening the gift, we set up the nativity scene and talked about how baby Jesus was born on Christmas and it is His birthday!

After putting on her Christmas pj's and playing with the nativity set, we snapped a few more pictures.

How cute are these pj's!??! I got them from Target and had them monogrammed on the front and back by Just 4 You Gifts. She always does awesome work for me.

Then E's brothers got to open their gifts!

The children!

Santa came!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a last minute Santa decision that Mrs. Claus worked hard on. I am very happy with how it turned out. I had left over fabric from her bedding and made a ribbon banner. I plan to keep this attached....until Evan takes it off one day. Haha

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! My last and final Christmas post will be this week including our Christmas Card and our home tour! Hopefully, I'll get to the New Year before spring ;-)