Christmas Card Musings

My beloved Grandma Birky hand-writes all of her Christmas cards with personal messages to her recipients every year. I know several others who take the time to connect with friends and family in this same special way—I admire you all! While I (sadly) do not write personal notes to all of our friends and family this time of year, I still love Christmas cards. I love receiving them in the mail and I love sending them. I love pinning them up in our kitchen, having an excuse to catch up with friends and family far and near and seeing a daily, tangible reminder to pray for our loved ones. I love long Christmas letters, although we'll see if we send one this year!

I also LOVE a good deal—hence this shameless blog post which will enable me to snag 50 (50!) free Christmas cards from Shutterfly. I LOVE SHUTTERFLY. And not just because of this deal or because of this post, although you may not believe me. Last year, we used Shutterfly for our Christmas card and Lewis' birth announcement (see here). We loved being able to use three pictures, personalize the information and keep the design classic at the same time. Alas, Christmas cards get expensive...so I'm jumping at the chance to cut down our costs this year by blogging! If you want to join in the fun, follow this link...


My favorite Christmas cards are simple and classy, where nothing detracts from the picture. I love captions of "Merry Christmas," or "Joy," and black and white photos with red detailing. I also love cards that can be left up longer than the Christmas season. I'll often cut out pictures from Christmas cards and keep them pinned up on our french board in the kitchen for months after the holidays are over. Jack loved to look at the pictures of people last year! Christmas cards spark conversations, prompt phone calls, and inspire.

The above pictures are three of my favorites—it's hard to choose just three! Sometimes the picture decides which card is chosen, sometimes the card dictates the picture! Notice a theme? Let me just say that Shutterfly (in my personal opinion) has the best selection from which to choose. The challenge on Shutterfly for a sometimes indecisive gal like me is figuring out which one I like best!

Two favorite Christmas gifts are a Shutterfly calendar or mug. I've participated in calendars from Shutterfly in Christmases past and have been pleased with the results. Since I'm a coffee lover (and sometimes addict), I adore the mug idea, too.

Ok, friends. Hopefully you'll receive a Christmas card from us this year. Send us yours and will post it and pray for you! :)

Peace and joy this season...

Only 8 months later...

Jack's first voicemail, sent to daddy! A little trip down memory lane...

Our Little Inchworm

Yes, Jack has achieved the great milestone of crawling. Officially, he's been inching along for about two weeks now (it looked like he was doing the worm).

At first, the going was tough, since most of the time he ended up stuck somewhere.

But soon he got the hang of it and is quite proud of his skills. Now, he's highly mobile and continues to gain speed. It's amazing how rapidly a little person's world expands as they discover shelves, cupboards and all sorts of new areas to explore (Jack crawled over and happily emptied the bottom bookshelf in the living room today). No longer is Jack dependent on where mommy and daddy strategically place him...he can get places all by himself! That is, if he wants to do so...

Jack is also efficient. He does not crawl unless there is a good reason (e.g., a specific toy, household object, wants mommy) and prefers to move only until he reaches his goal—then he often sits up. For example, he stops crawling when he can touch me with the very edges of his fingertips, then looks at me as if to say, "Mom, come on! I made it this far—now pick me up! Hey...stop moving backwards!!" :)

He makes some pretty cute faces when he crawls.

Soooo tired! Crawling is such hard work...

Mom? Can I please be done?

I WILL crawl!

In other news, Matt and I decided to build a bookshelf in our nook during the few days he had off from school (ok, Matt did most of the work, but I helped!). Jack loved to "help" us and was most intrigued by the power sander and the vacuum cleaner. And a random hanger. Who needs baby toys?

I have to say, I'm always amazed by my husband's abilities and hidden talents!

It's been hot this summer, so on several occasions, I put the bathtub outside for some impromptu swimming...I know, I know, a little redneck, but it worked! We had a blast and stayed cool. I promise that next summer we'll get him a real baby pool! :)

Loving the zoo and his stroller.

Helping with laundry...(notice his red shirt flying through the air!).

Chillin' in the boppy.

Jack's favorite book for a long time has been The Life of a Car. (He LOVES cars.) Well, as of today, the car book got replaced by the fire engine book. We usually read 20-30 minutes of stories several times a day, repeating the stacks of books in the living room, nursery, and our bedroom. Today, after every book, Jack would pick up the fire engine book and hand it to me to read to him. I lost count of the number of times we read the fire engine book. I have it memorized after only one day! At one point during the day he also crawled over to the fire engine book and entertained himself for a long time...

Oh, yes, this is how it goes...

Reading ME the story...he had it memorized too...

So, there you have it. A not-so-short update. :)

Jack and Mommy Reading

Jack and Mommy Reading
Uploaded by illinimdg. - Videos of family and friends from around the world.

Promised Pictures

Dedicated to Aunt Rachel and 'Aunt' Hollie (among others!). :)

Jack's 8 months old and weighs 18 lbs. 3 oz. and is 27.25 inches long. He has two teeth on the bottom and is constantly working on more! He sleeps better than he used to...well, most days. :) He LOVES to walk, be outside, and tolerates tummy time. He can swivel his torso around almost in an army crawl, but definitely prefers walking as his mode of operation. Jack eats rice cereal and veggies plus a few fruits, and started drinking water from a sippy cup this week. He loves to 'talk' to us, giggle with us, read books with us, play with his blocks and farm set, loves to interact with people, see new places, watch his shadow and loves the pool! He's become our little snuggler, and gives his mommy and daddy lots of sloppy kisses (especially if we are putting him down for a nap or at night, or right after we get him up after he sleeps!).  He loves lawn mowers, cars, motorcycles, trucks, classical music (piano is his favorite), singing with mommy and 'wrestling' with daddy. He's pure delight. :)