Happy {Half} Birthday, Noelle

Three and a half.

I'll take any opportunity to celebrate the lives of my precious children. Half birthday celebrations are a chance to do just that. An extra special day to say "I love you and I'm so thankful that you are here."

Mr. G and I woke Noelle up in the morning with a little gift. She would normally give us the evil eye and pull the comforter over her head if we woke her up any other day but she saw the present and perked right up.

For most of the day we hung out with my nephew at my sister's house, watching Christmas movies, baking cupcakes, and playing dress up. On the way home we stopped by Noelle's favorite park. 

As a few sprinkles occasionally wet our noses Noelle ran around, taking advantage of the deserted park and yelling "Momma watch this!" Noah and I followed behind and Oohh'd and Ahhh'd all of her big girl accomplishments.

I'm so proud of my sweet angel. She's smart, beautiful and has a kind heart.

But I often forget that she's only three and a half. I expect so much from her. She grew up fast when baby brother arrived and until recently I didn't realize how independent I've expected her to be. Brush your teeth, comb your hair, get dressed, wash your hands. We ran into another three year old at the park near our house yesterday and it really opened my eyes to how mature Noelle is for her age. She writes her name, speaks well, loves books, knows the alphabet, counts to 30, and can pretty much do everything on her own. But she's only three and a half. She's been on this earth for three and a half years and lately I've expected her to behave like she has been here far longer.
I'm making an effort to remember that she's just a little girl who still needs her momma's help. One day soon she's going to be tying her shoes and zipping up her jacket without my help and I'm going to wish she still needed me.

I put 3.5 candles on her cake and she exclaimed, "that's the most candles I've ever seen!" After a "Happy Birthday" remix she took a breath and blew out all 9 candles. 

My little girl. I'm so proud to be her mom.
Happy Half Birthday, sweetie.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot {Oh Snap Linky}

I've mentioned several times that my brother-in-law, Sean, is a talented photographer. Having a photographer in the family is a huge blessing. And he does amazing work so it's an extra bonus.

I wanted to get our Christmas cards out early to redeem myself from the Christmas card fiasco of last year. I ordered cards from Tiny Prints and they came about a week later with NO envelopes! I called their customer service and apparently this is a regular occurrence. They informed me that the envelopes would be shipped out asap. They lied. I got them two days before Christmas. 

So this year I got our outfits together and we took the pictures in November. The day of the photo shoot my best friend Megan and I were driving down a back road on our way to get some lunch and I spotted this little 6-row orchard in front of someone's house. We planned on taking pictures downtown but once I saw those golden leaves, I had to take pictures there. 

It was a quick 40 minute shoot and the pictures turned out wonderful. 

This one is going on the mantel.

Merry Christmas, friends.

(I made the Merry Christmas bunting with burlap, twine, purple paint and a 98 cent stencil from Walmart)

 Photos by 559 Photography

may all your Christmases be white (and silver)

Here in central California we don't get snow, but we always have a white Christmas - in the form of fog. It really isn't Christmas without it. Fog is terrifying to drive in, but I love opening the blinds in the morning and seeing - well nothing. Not even the tree in the front yard. 

Last year after Christmas I snatched up several boxes of colorful Christmas ornaments for 75% off at Target and I've been excited to change up my Christmas color scheme for the past 11 months. That is until I busted open the bins labeled "Christmas" and immediately felt like color wasn't going to work for me this year. A white Christmas was in order. So all of the color stayed in and only white and silver decorations were dusted off and displayed. 

{Luke 2:11 sign available for purchase on my Etsy shop, Amanda G Designs}

Mr. G and I got our presents for each other yesterday, new iPhone 4S's. I decided to try out the camera by taking pictures of the Gardner Christmas decorations to share with you.

I designed this wood sign which is made out of rustic pine. I stained them and wrote Luke 2:11 with a white Sharpie paint pen. I went with a light stain 1. because of the dark chocolate wall and 2. because this stain has a silver, distressed look which goes with the rest of the silver/white decorations. 

Read more about how to make your own wood sign here.

I love how the crystal garland illuminates the sign. 

A simple trick for decorating during the holidays is adding a pick (flower, pine cone, bird, spray) like I did here with the candle. The silver ornament pick brings some volume and fun to the trio of candles. Take it away and the candles are a little boring.

Our artificial Christmas tree has been a bit of a pain this year. Once we got it up and fluffed the branches we noticed that it was leaning. We attempted to correct the tilt a million times but nothing worked. We gave up and decided to be content with a slightly leaning tree this year. 

When I was in my teens I was always annoyed when my mom pulled out a shoe box filled with crusty old ornaments my sister and I made in elementary school. Why on earth would she keep those ugly things? Now I know. Everything Noelle makes is a memory. A precious gem that I never want to lose or forget. The ornaments she has made which are sprinkled around the tree bring me more joy than I could have ever dreamed. 

Everyone who comes over asks how I keep a busy 9 month old from tearing down the decorations. Noah isn't too interested in them. He was at first but "don't touch, Noah" and redirection did the trick and now he doesn't bother with the tree or any of the decorations.



I added a couple of flowers, sprays and pine cones to this simple lighted garland on the TV stand.

Where do you put all of your Christmas cards? I hang ours on a garland strung over the sink in the kitchen. I love looking at the faces of our friends and family every day. What a wonderful reminder of how abundantly we are blessed.

Since we have an artificial tree I buy a 22" fresh wreath every year for the kitchen. 100% for the scent only - added bonus - it creates more room to hang Christmas cards. 

I started keeping one of our Christmas cards since Noelle was born. It's going to be fun (hopefully) watching us change over the years.

 Our 2011 Christmas card.
Pictures from our photo shoot HERE.

Noelle stole my new phone to capture a few of her own pictures of the decorations - this one is my favorite. I think I have a little photographer in the making!

During the after Christmas sale last year we also picked up 3 sets of lighted branches. I stuck one of the sets into a tin container (Michael's for one penny!) with some greenery, picks, and branches. 

My mother-in-law DIYed this little red present for us! 

There's nothing I love more during the year than the days of December. And now with two babies I love it twice as much. It's about the kids, after all. Teaching them about our Savior and his birth, giving, the importance of family, baking goodies for us and others, Christmas movies, anticipation, creating new traditions, joy and laughter. Could it get any better?

*You are welcome to use my designs for personal use only*

Check out our 2012 Christmas Decorations

See the 2014 Christmas Decorations!

Comments for this post will no longer be published due to the high volume of spam. If you have any questions, you can contact me at growingupgardner@yahoo.com. 

-Amanda

Gathering

It starts with a tradition. A family tradition spanning several decades. Thanksgiving morning always begins with the Gardner breakfast casserole. It's as important as snuggling up on the couch in PJ's watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

It's delicious. Mr. G prepares the breakfast casserole the evening of Thanksgiving Eve. Bacon, sausage, cheese, eggs, a loaf of bread. There's not an exact recipe - he wings it every time and gets it perfectly crisp and fluffy each time.  I've never asked for him to write down how he puts it together, although I'm sure one of you will beg ask for the recipe so I probably should. I mean, there is bacon.

A new Gardner tradition started two years ago. Smoked Turkey. We literally cook our turkey in a barrel - but call it a trash can and you're in trouble. It's a smoker. A steel drum converted to a BBQ. There's nothing like it. The juiciest turkey you will ever eat.

It makes me happy. But not as happy as seeing the two men in my life spending uninterrupted time together. I'm crazy about these guys.

And my little princess who adores her grandpa. It's so fun watching my daddy play with his grandkids. Love bursts from his smile. See it?

My mom and sister are always on their feet. Big celebration or not. These two are amazing. Whipping up food like there's no tomorrow and cleaning up so fast you would never know a feast took place just moments before. They are both nurses, nurturing is in their blood.  

The secret to a holiday with kids is gifts. In this case, coloring books and stickers. It kept them busy long enough for grandpa to watch some football in peace.

Along with smoked turkey, we fry a turkey and bake a turkey. Three turkeys, three ways. We don't mess around.

And it wouldn't be complete without green bean casserole, mac & cheese, two types of stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, ham, my brother-in-law's mother's sweet potato casserole and the rest of the fixin's.

Then we gather around the table (picture sans my sister and I). We talk about how much food we've prepared and compliment each dish. We thank God for each other, our children, our health and we pray for our troops, those home and those keeping watch at that very moment.

It was Noah's first Thanksgiving. One that he won't remember, but mommy always will. 

I'll remember how he tried to keep up with his cousins, how his eyes lit up every time grandma walked in the room, how he cuddled with his daddy, how he was ran over by Evan and was given the nickname "speed bump," and how he fell asleep in his car seat in the living room during our loud laughter and chatter. 

And how he loved his Thanksgiving dinner. Scarfing down the turkey and corn, and delicately pinching the mashed potatoes until finally grabbing a hand full and shoving it in his mouth. 

After our feast we relax and stay several hours past our intended departure time. The turkey is mostly to blame. That darn tryptophan.



At the end of the night we say our goodbyes, although we know we'll all be together at the end of December to celebrate our Savior's birth. And we can't wait.