Christmas – 2017
We held true to our traditions this year, with a few new ones in light of Ember’s first Christmas.
Cutting down our own tree, making an ornament of Ember’s hand and footprint, cooking Christmas beer-chocolate soup, Christmas Eve church, reading the Christmas story to Ember, putting on our annual new pair of pj’s and watching the Lego movie, taking our polaroid and turning it into an ornament, and writing down what we did on Christmas day in our Christmas journal!
Cutting down our tree on Christmas Mountain
We decided to both get Ember something for Christmas but not tell/show each other. It was a fun surprise for each of us to open what the other person picked out for our little girl. Jer got Ember The Christmas Story book to read to her and our future children each Christmas, and he also bought her the cutest New Years Eve outfit! I got her sherpa lined overalls.
Diffusing Christmas Spirit in my Aria all day
Here’s the polaroid photo of our 4th Christmas – Ember’s first! Each year we take a selfie polaroid photo in front of our tree, write the date and location of that Christmas on it, and turn it into an ornament to be hung up! As our family grows we might need to invent some kind of selfie stick for our polaroid camera so we can fit everyone;)
Why is there a mitten on one of Ember’s hand you ask?
socks // baby lounger // onesie // bow
Well I started the morning off with a champion mom moment… I cut Ember’s nail to short and it bleed for a solid hour… I laid in bed with her all morning, refusing to get up and make us Christmas brunch, and wallowing in mom guilt. Ember cried for all of 10 seconds, but of course it left my eyes watery and my heart throbbing for the next few hours. Lord, why did you have to make babies nails grow so fast?!
It wasn’t how I wanted Christmas morning to start off… I wanted it to be a perfect, cuddly, picturesque, breakfast-in-bed kinda morning. But it wasn’t. Does anyone else set too strict or too high of expectations for holidays, birthdays and anniversaries?! I can’t be the only one… but I am learning to let go of this, and not let one wrong turn have such a rock skipping effect. Come on Auj, buck up and move on. Maybe I’m just a wee more emotional because it was her first Christmas and maybe mom guilt really does make you a little crazy.
Ember’s first Christmas brought out the child in us both again. I cannot wait to celebrate the holidays with Ember and our future children in the years to come, it makes everything so much more fun!
PJ’s are linked at the bottom of this post
Behind the scenes of our Christmas card photos…. always trying to convince Jeremy to leave his gorgeous hair down!
I searched high and low for a red velvet dress for Ember’s first Christmas and FINALLY found one from Aggie + Francois. She makes vintage inspired heirloom pieces. I hope that this little red dress can be passed down through the generations. It’s just gorgeous, especially on her;)
If you’re on my mailing list you should have received my e-mail with our Christmas card and 2017 recap… but these are a few of the photos from our Christmas card this year! We received 300+ Christmas cards from ya’ll – since inviting our Beating50Percent community to send us their cards. We physically mailed back our Christmas cards to 65 of those families, maybe you were one of the chosen 65?! I wish I could fit all 300 some Christmas cards that we received on our refrigerator, but I don’t even think I could fit them if I hung them on all the blank wall space in our living room! However, Jeremy and I did personally open each of them and it was such an joy to put some faces to our followers!
Now I just need to figure out what I should do to archive them all! Got any creative ideas?
Christmas Eve service was a little loud… so we whipped out our stylin headphones😉
We made our rounds on Christmas day, attempting to visit Jer’s parents, siblings, and my family, while also trying to maintain our own Christmas traditions… It was tough with one child, I can’t imagine trying to do multiple Christmas’s with multiple children. Moral of the story is that we’ll probably invite people to come to us next year… eek.
Ember had her first laugh a couple days before Christmas – our favorite gift this year. It is by far my new favorite sound. Jeremy and I both got a little teary eyed when it happened. I caught it on video by the grace of God!
Naked babies are seriously THE BEST
Repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat repeat the sounding joy
photos by Dawn Photography and Jeremy Roloff
PJ’s // Ember’s Red Dress // black dress // slippers // daybed cushion // comforter // sheets // throw pillow // couch //
Keep following our journey
A very Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your beautiful family Amber is beautiful God Bless ????❤️
Audrey – some friends of mine get a large binder ring and cut out just the picture (or just the signature if bob picture) on the card then they flip through and pray for one each week. You could do one each day and the other 66 days you could add in family or missionaries. A great tradition to even teach kids about praying for others.
Audrey, I cut my baby Dylan’s nail too short one day too and it also bled and I was horrified and so upset at myself…but don’t feel guilty! Our pediatrician said it happens ALL the time, and baby won’t remember, and would totally forgive you! You are doing GREAT and sometimes these little things happen, but it is totally ok! Even the best moms are not perfect! We do what we can to love, nurture, and care for our little ones and that’s all we can do by the grace of God! It’s ok to feel a little guilty and crazy–I am still mad at myself because Dylan scratched her cheek when her mitten came off during the night and there’s a tiny hint of a scar–but these things happen. Babies heal, what’s important is their health and happiness and that we are doing our best!
Hang in there, mama! You’re doing fantastic! We were so excited to receive your Christmas card. Hope you enjoyed ours! (It was of Dylan dressed up as a bear in the snow sitting against a tree stump, and the three of us sitting on our bed with our two doggies on the back. We just got back to AZ from spending 2 weeks with our family in NC and MD–baby’s first plane ride, first Christmas, first time meeting her cousins–and it was scary to deal with everyone being sick, a clogged duct that nearly turned into mastitis, worried about not having enough milk, and all that traveling…but we made it and we are now home again ready for the new year! Praise the Lord.
Happy New Year to you and your precious family!
Happy New Year
I love your traditions for Christmas!
Happy new year to your beautiful family! And don’t worry “Mom guilt” totally normal & believe me it’s worse on some occasions. And it stays, mine are now 15 & 12 & I still have it on some things but you learn to live with it & like u said move on. Cause as they get older there’s gonna be a lot that you put your foot down about & then go cry in the next room because u worry about if u handled it right or were u to mean lol! Right now enjoy these moments, I’ve come to realize they go way to fast & if u think u worry about them now cause they can’t talk or let u know, this is the easiest time besides the lack of sleep but as they grow the worry only turns to some of the same but also a lot different worries. The worst part is when you have to step back & let them handle it or go through it themselves so they can learn & u have to learn u can’t alway takw their pain away. Ugh but I’ve also learned no parent is perfect as long as you give your kids love, and from watching jer since he was little, & watching you become part of the family & following your blogs, etc y’all will/are wonderful parents & will continue to be. The love you see in your family is amazingly beautiful & u can see it. Future is bright for your family! Y’all have such an awesome future coming your way!!
Beautiful pictures and memories to keep in your heart forever. Thank you for sharing, Ember is an angel.
So happy the two of you and Ember had such a wonderful Christmas. I love you blog and that you use essential oils. I still have my set of three deep rub, valor, and tranquility – if I remember – and I love them. May you all have a blessed and happy new year!
Aw, sweet Audrey, it has been almost 22 years, but I remember when I had my first baby and I also accidentally cut his little finger while clipping his fingernails… and yes, he too cried for about 10 seconds and I had to put a band-aid on it and I also cried for probably an hour. (Course, now that I think about it I think I did the same thing when I accidentally cut our poodle’s nails a few years ago doing the same exact thing. HA!) Anyway, I so relate to your little story and I’m sorry it had to happen on Christmas morning, but there are plenty of moms out there who identify with that achy feeling that we “hurt” our little ones albeit very accidentally. Hope you and Jeremy and Ember enjoy a wonderful 2018 filled with many blessings from our Heavenly Father. Keep on keepin’ on sweet girl. Xo
What Christmas Journal do you use?
Merry Christmas! Looks like you had a wonderful one.
Where is that awesome gold bracelet you always wear from? I’m dying to get one 🙂
The first time I cut my daughter’s nails with a clipper and cut one so short it bled was the very last time I used clippers on her. I was so devastated at what I had done that I ended up finding scissors with rounded tip and have used them ever since.
Your family is utterly beautiful and such a joy to read about. May all of God’s grace, goodness, love, peace and joy shine upon you and surround your family always!
Love love love!!!! Beautiful post, family and Baby Ember! Love her little Christmas dress! Thank you for sharing your Christmas 🙂
May the New Year bring you good health and joy. In Jesus name love to you all
Hola chicos, feliz año nuevo para ustedes y feliz primer año nuevo para la pequeña… Soy de Jujuy – Argentina . Y me encanta verlos crecer juntos y felices…hermosa bebé… Y sobre la uña de la pequeña, siempre pasa y a nosotros nos duele más verlos llorar y sangrar… Saludos
I love all the picture Christmas cards we get every year! I just hole punch one corner, feed them onto a binder clip (the kind that separates) and add a few pieces of ribbon tied to the binder clip. I’ll tag you in my Instagram post.
After the first time i did that to my son i felt awful!After that my grandmother told me to bite his nails?! I was confused bc i dont bite my own nails. It worked so well no more crying..on my end bc if mom guilt….Your baby is beautiful and her name fits so well with you and your family.