the holidays...

It starts with Thanksgiving and ends with New Years.....we all know it as "the holidays". This year ours began by jumping in the tahoe with Michael's mom and dad and making the treck to Gatlinburg, TN. His mom's family, from Columbus, has made a very fun tradition of getting together every 2 years for Thanksgiving. We drive up from Alabama and they drive down from Ohio. We had SUCH fun this year, and we were especially excited about seeing everyone because they hadn't met Iris yet.Michael's cousin Jason and his wife, Pepper, have a 15th month old boy Kellar. So we all spent much of our time watching them interact, which was really funny at times! When we told Kellar to give Iris a hug or kiss, he would lean his head in, and they would gently head but-so sweet! Another way he tried to show affection was by sitting in her lap! Pretty funny! She thought he was so entertaining, and watched him wherever he went. Here are a few shots from the trip!
The matching outfits are little t-shirts I appliqued for them so they could take pictures together ;)

Kellar sitting in Iris' lap :)

sweet lovin'

We really had a great time- and are sad we don't get to see all of Michael's extended family more often. We are looking forward to his brother Jarrod's wedding in March so that we can see them all again.
Update on Iris:
Her 7th month has been really good so far. Still no teeth- so I am expecting teething any day now. She has started to eat 3 meals (of baby food) a day starting this week. She has been eating 2 for about a month now. I think she will be crawling very soon. Here is a picture of her up on her hands and knees.

She will rock back and forth and move her legs forward, but hasn't quite figured out what to do with her hands. She is close! and mom is NOT ready!!! : ) But it's so fun to watch her figure things out and progress. At her 6th month appointment she was almost 18 lbs, so I am sure she is beyond that now. She is a "thick" child... and getting heavier every day. She has really good sleeping habits right now and I am counting my blessings, as I know every week it's something new. She sleeps from about 7:30-8:30 to 6:30-7:00 and takes 3 naps a day still.

She can now play on her own with her toys and sometimes just likes to be left alone- which is strange but nice that I can get some things done while she is awake now. She ate her first finger food today- Gerber graduates banana puffs and LOVED them. She thought she was so grown up ;) We are still working on the sippy cup- but overall she is getting alot better. She actually gets water out of it like...maybe 20% of the time ;)


So back to the holidays...I just love December for so many reasons. One small reason is that every day when I go to the mailbox I get excited to see what Christmas cards we have got in the mail. I have always loved getting cards, and now I love it even more because so many of my friends have children and I put the pictures up on the fridge for the next year. Speaking of cards- I finally got all of ours addressed and will have them in the mail tomorrow!! Our first family Christmas cards with Iris! So fun! I used pictures from our family photoshoot that Amy Pate took. Check her out online- she did a wonderful job! www.amypphotography.com.Here one from the shoot, but ALL were so good! I have them all on my facebook page. facebook.com/bngibsonWe are looking forward to going home for Christmas. We will be in Mobile for about 5 days, then are coming home for a day to repack and fly to San Antonio to be with my Grandmother for New Year's. It will be Iris' first flight- pray for us!! I am a little nervous, but hope that it will be much better than I expect!

On a different note- I really enjoyed reading this article the other day on what to tell your kids about Santa. Pastor Mark Driscoll does a good job of articulating what he does with his own children regarding Santa/St. Nick. It is worth a read, especially if you are struggling with what traditions you will start with your own family.
http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/mark_driscoll/2010/12/what_we_tell_our_kids_about_santa.html

Hope to write more after the "holidays" are over! I know I will have much to share!

I hope that during this season the Lord will bring you the TRUE joy of the season- the joy of His salvation. I pray He will remind you that you are bought with a price and your sin, if you believe on Him, is washed whiter than snow. Jesus was born to die. We may celebrate his birth this time of the year, but let's not forget that He came to earth for one purpose, to die for the sins of the unrighteous. You and Me. May His presence dwell in your heart this Christmas.

I will leave you with one of my favorite scripture's about the birth of our Savior.

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21