on the fourth day of Christmas...

on Christmas eve, we celebrated with james' side of the family at his mom, lynda and clint's house. we were especially thankful that lynda was well. she had an emergency appendectomy on december 23 and was released from the hospital that night. taylor and gary came in early to help get everything ready and everyone pitched in with the cooking and wrapping of presents. it was a very special christmas and we were thankful to have everyone together.

christopher with his pile of presents!
(some of them are baby brother brandon's...he figured that out later!)

avery got some cute pj's and said "ooohhh, nice!"

baby brandon was checking out his new fish bowl.

avery and christopher being silly.

avery loves to play with her papa.

Christmas III

on sunday, the 21st we had Christmas with jenny and jeremy before they went to cleveland. it was over at my parent's house and chris and karon were there with annabelle.

annabelle knows how to party!

jenny and jer got some cute things for baby remington. 3 more months :)

that's right! jeremy got 2 hats...jealous???

avery says "i love me some me" as she passed out the avery 2009 calendar.

annabelle was good with the unicorn puppet. james, not so sure about it.

the one and only picture with santa...have you seen the line at the mall!?!


the christmas fun does not stop there...

christmas part 2

on december 20th, we celebrated Christmas with some good friends and all the kids. we are all connected through daycare and teaching. and i am so glad we have stayed in touch. the kids just love each other and get so excited to see one another.

we were at julianna's house (jennifer and greg) and everyone brought something to eat. there were more desserts than anything else so it was a good night!


emari is the youngest of the kiddos. she was almost a month old for our little party. avery was very interested in "aimee-baby."

julianna was giving hugs to avery and her baby sister sophia.

riley, kurtis, jake and avery...she is used to being one of the boys!


the kids had so much fun playing and running around, up and down the stairs while the dads watched the cowboy game. we had a great time! the kids drew names for presents and they were so sweet with thank-yous and hugs.


sophia, kurtis, jake, emari, wyatt, julianna, riley and avery...(we missed keesja and kiley...they were already out of town for Christmas)

Christmas celebrations

we have had an exciting Christmas season! avery has celebrated in many ways with different friends and family. we are so thankful for all the people in our lives that help us remember this joyous season.

on december 13, we celebrated Christmas with my cousins. it was at chris and katrena's house and we had fajitas and tamales. the little cousins exchanged presents and ran around and played. avery loves playing with annabelle and her big cousins madi, carson, tyler and bo. after we left avery was still saying "where bo go?" it was kind of catchy.

she got some super cute clothes and pink sparkly shoes. she loves them!

annabelle hanging out on the couch

katrena, tyler and carson watch as bo opens a star wars action figure

madi and avery are good buddies


MERRY CHRISTMAS... This is just the beginning :)

pray for baby kaiya

i heard about kaiya from my friend katie's blog and have been following her story ever since. she was diagnosed on thursday with bacterial meningitis. i do not know this family personally, but i am praying for them and the safe healing of their precious daughter.

there are updates on her condition at dekorne.blogspot.com

please join me in praying for baby kaiya...

From Ephesians 3:

" And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. "

still giving thanks

we had a great thanksgiving! i want to post some pictures before Christmas. i am not sure where the time has gone.

on thanksgiving morning, james, avery, taylor, gary, jim and i ran the fort worth turkey trot 5k. there were so many people! avery made it about 32 minutes in the stroller before she had enough. i finished the rest of the run with her in the sling.

james, taylor, avery and garyjim and jamesavery and mejames and jim, the last time i saw them before the finish line.

there were 19 people for dinner so it was quite a crowd.
family was good, food was good. here are some more pictures of turkey day!

bo was playing games

grandpa jim got some good avery time

it was nice outside so tyler was playing uno with his grandma and grandpa

chris and karon on the couch
...and yes, that is the kitchen behind them. my parents did a huge remodel on the kitchen and living room, knocked out a wall, it looks great!

annabelle and avery with grandma and grandpa

we give thanks for our many blessings :)

blog giveaway

zen bebe is featured in the etsyBABY blog giveaway for thursday december 4. click on the image above for your chance to win a sock monkey onesie! just click on the link above and look for the sock monkey onesie. leave a comment about my shop or something in my shop. a winner will be chosen at random. there are a lot of cute things in the giveaway so leave comments on more than one! good luck!

a sneak peek:
i am working on a new line of baby leg warmers. they are too cute! i hope to have them ready to post by monday. i already have orders so be on the look out... here is an idea...

also, i am in the midst of christmas orders, but it is not too late! let me know if you want something for your little zen bebe.

thanks for all the support :)

namaste

quigglys

my favorite place to get/make christmas gifts this year is quiggly's clay house. it is a pottery shop in richardson, tx and it is fabulous. they have everything you need (or never thought you needed) to make a unique, handmade, but still very professional gift. the shop owners, kristi and kirby carmichael and the entire staff go out of their way every time. they are willing to help you pick out a paint color, offer design suggestions, and the best is that they can get perfect hand and foot prints from a squirmy toddler. you can tell that they love what they do and i think that makes all the difference.

i have been there at least 6 times in the last few years and i am impressed every time. whether it has been for ladies night (awesome), a bridal shower, or i have invited 15 of my closest mom-friends and their adorable, yet hyper kiddos to take over the shop for the afternoon, they are always welcoming. no matter who i go with, everyone has always been amazed at what they could do, even when they claim no artistic ability.

on tuesday, i went with a group of moms, dads and kids to quigglys. it was so much fun! most people made gifts and ornaments for christmas. we got little hand and foot prints on pretty much everything!







if you are looking for something to do with your kids, or a very unique christmas gift, you have to go to quigglys. there is still plenty of time between now and christmas. they have everything glazed and fired usually about a week after you paint it. i hope you enjoy it as much as i always do!

girls fitness club

this year, i am co-coaching a running club for 4th and 5th grade girls at my school. we have been training for a 5k and ran Dorothy's Run last week. the girls did a great job. they all finished and for their age group, our girls took 3rd-10th place. i am very proud of their dedication.

on the starting line

jamie and lucy, the first to finish from our group

after the race

the coaches - me, debralynn and cassie

all the girls!

i wonder...

i wonder if i will have a girl cousin or a boy cousin...click to find out

austin

we went to austin last weekend and stayed with taylor and gary. we also got to see jenny and jeremy. avery had a lot of fun. it was a great weekend!


cheese!

lounging with taylor

aj and uncle jer

on the playground with aunt tay-tay and aj

out to lunch with ethan