The Halls are Decked!

I just wanted to share some pictures of our home this Christmas season!  After looking at a few posts from yesterday's blog hop hosted by the Nester, I realize my home looks pretty plain jane.  But we love it.  Everything has a story and means so much to us!

Here's our home:

Our tree sits in the corner of our living room.  It's small and slender, which is perfect for our living room.  and it's just perfect for us!

Our tree is full of sentimental oranments.  FULL of them!  I am a firm believer that a Christmas tree should be full of ornaments.  As you can tell!

This is one of my favorite ornaments.  It's from an ornament swap about 5 years ago now.  It's a big ornament, so it sits towards the middle of the tree.

Our Expecting a Miracle ornament is from last year.  My precious friend Amy made it for us!

I just got this ornament at our Sunday School class' Christmas party Sunday evening.  The girls do an ornament swap and the guys do a gag gift swap.  It's always a fun time!

We also have a number of nativity scenes.  Tim and I married in December, so we were given lots of Christmas items as Christmas gifts!  This star nativity scene was one of those gifts from a sweet lady I worked with at the bank:

  

This nativity scene was also a wedding gift from some sweet friends of my mother.  I hope to one day get additional pieces of this collection.

And this nativity scene was one my grandmother gave to us.  I just love St. Nick in it!

We gave Molly a manger scene to commemorate her first Christmas and her dedication.  It's a Little People set and is in her room.  It's so precious!

Also in Molly's room is her own tree.  I just love it!  We got the tree, ornaments, and tree skirt all for a great deal!

And then there are a couple of precious picture frames that are filled with pictures of Molly (imagine that!).  This one my best friend Jodi gave me for my birthday.  I just love it!

And this frame was painted by my sweet friend Robyn:

There are also the Byer's Carolers.  This is a collection my mom had, most of which were given to her by my Daddy.  Christmas just isn't Christmas without the carolers around here!

And that's our home at Christmas!  I didn't even go into the kitchen, where there are more fun Christmas dishes, serving pieces, towels and such than you can imagine.  We have LOADS of fun Christmas stuff for the kitchen!  Love it all!

Molly ~ 6 Months Old

SIX months old?  Are you serious?  I just can't believe it!  Molly is six months old!

This was a big month!  We introduced cereal and some food.  Molly does NOT like veggies.  At. All.  Peas are a fail.  Carrots are a fail.  Green beans are a fail.  But bananas?  Loves 'em.  Apples?  Loves 'em.  Sweet potatoes?  Loves 'em.  So, we're eating lots of fruit and sweet potatoes.  She really is a good eater!. . .  if it's something she likes!?!? 

Molly is also into her feet these days.  She's not yet tried to put them in her mouth, but she is definitely checking them out and grabbing at them a lot!  And her bottle.  We give her a bottle for her last feeding, and she gets so excited when she sees that bottle come out of the warmer!  She kicks and squeals!  And as we bring it to her mouth, her little lips are pursed and ready to EAT!  So precious!

I think I've said this every day for the last six months, but it's always true:  Each day is better than the day before.  And we are having a total blast with Molly Miller!

Molly's Dedication

Yesterday was Molly's dedication at church.  It was a beautiful service where we committed to raising Molly in a Godly home, teaching her about her Heavenly Father, and praying for her as she grows up.

Before we left for church, Tim and I selected Ephesians 3:17 - 19 to pray over Molly before her dedication.

"so that Christ may dwell in Molly's heart through faith.  And we pray that Molly, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that Molly may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

I was really worried that Molly would have a melt-down on stage.  And I was worried I would just sob up there.  I was super emotional Sunday morning before we left the house, so I just didn't know how I'd keep it together on stage.

Insert reality.

The reality that Molly was seriously on the verge of a melt-down.  As we were about to walk out, I was planning my escape from the stage, in case Molly just began screaming her blood curdling scream.

We went out on stage, shook hands with our pastor and sat with the other families. 

Then, while a solo was sung, the pastor went to each family and prayed with them.  I was so worried I'd just cry, cry, cry all during the solo.  I usually do, and they always sing such sweet songs.  Thankfully I couldn't really understand the words.  And, remember, I was so worried Molly was going to start bawling.

By the time our pastor got to us, Molly was a little fussy, so she cried while we prayed. 

I may have added a P.S. to our prayer:  "Thank you, Lord, for the paci. . . . "

After the service, our family came to our house for lunch.  We had about 20 adults and 5 kids in our home.  And our home isn't big.  At all.  So, we were all cozy!  But it was wonderful to have everyone with us celebrating such a precious time.

Molly was exhausted, but here are a couple of pictures of her in her gown while she was in her Lovie's lap!

It was an incredibly special day full of memories we will cherish for the rest of our lives!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Slocum family to you and yours!

Molly Miller ~ 5 Months Old

So sorry this is belated. . . 

Molly was 5 months old on November 12.  She continues to be the light of our lives and we just cannot get enough of her!

My Days in Pictures

I've seen a few of you do this, and I thought it was so fun!  So, here's a few pictures captured from my camera phone! 

Molly fell asleep in the car holding onto her Freida Frog. . . .

Lookin' so cute in her Hooked On You hat!!

Aunt B & Ellie Cheesin' it

Molly's first walk in her stroller facing forward!

Does this hat make my head look big?

Ellie watching Choo-Choo (also known as Thomas the Train)

Gma with two of her great-grands

Lovin' her teething toy! 

Waiting on her play date!

The Slocum Girls 

Baby it's cold outside! 

Sophie getting brave (this could really be a blog post in itself. . . this cat....) 

Tummy time 

Sophie wishing for outside. . .  

YuMmY! 

The Good Stuff

I keep my niece, Ellie, on the days my sister works.  That typically means two days a week I have her. 

It's so much fun!  Ellie's no stranger to HappyascanB, and she will be two on Thanksgiving Day.  Full of personality, spunk, and love, Ellie has a zest for life that her aunt envies. 

She's also a wee bit mischevious.  Recently she got into my jewelry and came bounding down the hall with bracelets stacked all the way up her arm!  She was holding the necklace in her hand and couldn't wait for me to put it around her neck! 

Once I stopped giggling, I captured a few pictures for memory's sake. 

Oh how I love that precious little girl!  And I'm certainly not the only one who loves our days together.  Molly absolutely lights up when she sees Ellie!  Watching the two of them look at each other and giggle just makes my heart want to explode with love! 

Molly is really digging her exercauser these days.  She looks so big in it to me! 

It's these days, full of hugs, slobbery kisses, dirty diapers, spit ups and snacks that I find myself overwhelmed with pure gratitude that this is the life God's given me.  I often send Tim texts as simple as "thank you for working so hard so I can be home with MM every day!"  It's just better than I ever imagined!  Bless him for working so very hard to provide for our family of three!  I thank God for him always!

This afternoon held one of those precious moments that came out of nowhere but held feelings so special I never want to forget it.  Ellie was napping, and Molly had just woken up from a nap.  While changing Molly's diaper, I accidentally tickled the bottom of her foot.  She giggled a belly giggle that was one of the most precious sounds I've ever heard!  Wondering if it was an accident, I tickled her foot again and got the same precious reaction! 

And then, while on a high from my baby girl's precious little giggles, she proceeded to pass gas in a way that would make anyone in the room blush.  It was unreal! 

As I was laughing about that, she began laughing at me.  My heart absolutely melted, and as I picked her up, I was absolutely overcome with pure joy.  Unreserved gratitude.  Unbelievable love. 

There we stood, my 5-month-old blessing and me, in the middle of her nursery.  For just a moment the world stopped as I held her closely, swayed back and forth and praised my Heavenly Father for giving me the incredible honor of being her mother.  Tears streamed down my face during that amazing moment.  I never want to forget it.  Ever.

And all of this, every single bit of it, is the good stuff.