countdown to christmas part IV

This year the UTC crowd went to Nolan's house for their first annual Christmas Party. The first year marked high standards with not only a cookie swap, but also an ornament exchange. Good luck to whoever host next year and has to follow that entertainment :) and seriously ya'll this decorating... Kristi has the decorating wisdom of a fifty-five year old. I am so serious! Look at how she tied, place and maneuvered the ribbon on her mantle. Gorgeous!

And this Christmas Tree...

and then all this silliness stepped in and took over all of Kristi's beautiful decor.

The whole clan minus Brent and Becca (missed you both).

All of the little bambinos: Emma (5 months), Ada (10 months), Nolan (4 months) and Owen (3 months).

I think Nolan is apalled that Emma jumped out of this shot.

Thank you Strait family for having all of us take over your house for an evening. The homemade manacotti was scruptious and all of the cookies from the swap did not even make it a week.

I love my grinch ornament. McKennas, I aplogize for the ghetto glowing snowman :)

My sister, Jennifer, normally hostesses a Happy Birthday Jesus party for our family, but she ended up having hers a little early with her own family so I was so thankful to Christy for inviting us to hers. Along with Ada and I came my mom, sister Suzi, nephew Roman and niece Peyton Carli.

We were also able to see Jennifer and Tucker! Yay!

Ada was not acting herself AT all! I kept thinking it was bc we were in the middle of her nap, but we skip her first nap fairly frequently and she usually is fine. We later found out what the deal-yo was.

I love the two Happy Birthday Jesus cakes that were made out of cupcakes.

It definitely made it easier when it came to dividing up the cake.

Tucker kept staring at my sister Suzi while she was holding him. He was thinking, "You look kinda like my mom, but you certainly don't sound like her." Suzi and Jennifer (ironically the same name as my other sister) remind me so much of each other. They have extremely similar personalities. That is why I love them both so much!

Jennifer and Tucker

Roman (3 years old) with a dab of icing

Peyton Cali (8 in Jan) about to dig in

Ada not being her sweet self, but still being pretty sweet.

Speaking of sweet. Jenna was there.

Seriously, almost to Christmas. Just a couple of days away...It is almost Jesus' real birthday. On the blog that is.

countdown to christmas part III

For Becca's birthday we were able to celebrate with her for a whole almost 24 hours. We met her at Opry Mills. It was chaotic to say the least. Mid-holiday season and we are in the heart of one of the largest shopping facilities in Tennessee. What were we thinking? We had a late lunch with Becca solely (Brent was still at work for a bit longer) and then did some mild shopping. We really only hit up four stores then we all had gotten over the whole shopping thing :)

Foodcourt shot amongst a beautiful backdrop of not one, but TWO wate disposal containers. We are so good and a little smelly... The girls went into the Old Navy outlet and upon our return found the hubs doing a little bit of this...

Banana Republic and Brooks Brothers had some good light so here are some pics of Becca and hubs with the little love.

After a stressful exit from the mall (30+ minutes to leave the parking lot alone :), Ada went down for an extremely late afternoon nap to be rested up to hit up Maggiano's. A delectable family style Italian dining experience was a wonderful choice for Becca's birthday dinner and for our taste buds. However, the cave like intimate/romantic lighting definitely did not give way to the best pictures :)



Oh and there was that beautiful nutcracker that Ada nearly knocked down on the hard stone floor that would have smashed the elegant creature to a million pieces, after I so brilliantly showed her the delicate handle that does the nut cracking or simply allows the little friend to talk.

Happy Birthday Boo! So glad we got to spend a mini weekend with you!

Upon our return home I went to a ladies only Christmas party thrown by our good friend Jennifer who is the perfect party planner. She has done several weddings and a coutless amount of parties. This years party was held at the Southside Gallery Cafe and was the perfect setting for the girls only affair. There was dinner, dessert and a dirty Santa gift exchange. Many pictures taken, but even more deleted and unrecoverable. Only a few were salvaged. I will share what I have though some of my favorites will have to stay tucked away in my mind forever. Do NOT make the same mistake I did. Back up your photos. I learned the hard way. Thankfully one of the group shots managed to be recovered though if I remember correctly there were some better ones but I am just thankful for what I have :) The ladies...and the most important, the dessert buffet. This is a small sample of the goodies Jennifer provided.

Thank you Jennifer for organizing such a delightful evening. I know we all love our families, but it was a bit refreshing to be out solo and not worry about packing diaper bags and dressing the hubs and see I can actually be on time (early actually) when I don't have the rest of the fam, ha.

I, of course, did not feel too bad about an all girls Christmas bash when later that week we attended an all inclusive Christmas party. The theme, the very trendy Tacky Sweater Christmas Party. This was definitely the year for it. So we got tacky. Well, the adults did that is. The kiddos stayed as sweet as pie. {sidenote: I used some funky editing on this one to spice it up for the tackiness of the night}

Thank you Santa for coming by to see all of us. We were so thankful to have a personal visit from you. You were great.

Tucker, Ada and Santa {sidenote: Ada's red outfit came from Pottery Barn. On clearance for under $10!!!}

Santa and Silas

Adding in Addie and Gabe. Oops, I just realized you can't see Gabe very well. He is semi hiding behind Santa's right calve holding Tucker.

Silas decided he was very comfy in the arms of Santa so he stayed while Foy and his Mommy got their pic made with Santa. Foy was a bit freaked out by the bearded man. I love a freaked out kid face with Santa, don't you? Priceless. Right in line with Ada freaking out over the Christmas tree.

Not a complete group shot, but a group shot of all of the tackiness that showed up. Check out the sleeve length on Jimmy's sweater.
Merry "almost" Christmas. Yes, in the real world the holiday has come and gone, but on my blog it is just almost here.

christmas card photo session

Early one very cold Saturday morning we left to meet up with new friends Josh and Amber Ulmer of Ulmer Studios. I love how they captured our family. It was fun being in front of the camera usually being behind it :) This was the first family session we have had together since the birth of Moncrief Photography. As we interacted during our photo session my mind scrolled through snapshots of clients. Seeing interactions that they were brave enough to share with me and anyone else who would eventually see their pictures. The ones that many times happen so often only in the comfort of ones home. Sweet hugs and kisses. Those sweet interactions that you want your children to remember later on in life and while they will know it, it is also fun for them to see it. Thank you Josh and Amber for braving the cold with us and taking such "magical" pictures of our family. You two are the greatest!!! I want to share many many many more soon, but for now here is our Christmas card and head on over to the Ulmer's site to check out some more :) Oh, and I updated my profile pic to reflect an Ulmer creation as well!!!

I am sorry if you have not received your card. I just got one back in the mail today and have heard of a couple of others who never received them. Cheers to the gloriously reliable United States Postal Service. Just kidding USPS, well kinda....

Here is the sequence we used...

And we did not take many pictures that day, but we snagged a couple...

We of course had to do a self portrait...

It was too cold for me to take off Ada's sweater the day of the photo shoot. The chick was already sporting some blue lips:) She had the cutest Ivey Handcrafted onesie by the forever talented Tobi underneath that was just waiting to be shown off. So one random warm day that we had in December we stripped off the sweater and Ada showed off her little personality....

...and during those moments the back of our Christmas Card was born :)

Thank you Ulmer's and thank you Tobi for personalizing our Christmas cards and making them so special. You each are very talented and are truly inspiring!

P.S. Our CCs were printed by Paper Locket. Wendy the owner is super nice and talented. The next time you need something printed then be sure to check them out and actually if you mention me and you will get some free cards...I told you Wendy is sweet. I referred many to her over the holidays so she started offering the free gift as a thank you.

countdown to christmas part II

This quite possibly could be a very boring post for many to read. This was done for documentation sake so those who care nothing about the week my family was sick and/or detest country music (okay, I am not a HUGH fan of it myself, but who can resist a little C-A-R-R-I-E) be sure to stay at bay :) Oh and we actually took many pictures this week, but being the doe doe that I am I deleted them. UGH! That was a stressful moment since sickness was not the only think deleted. So, no pictures for this post.

The following week was a whirlwind. Ada was sick for the first time in her 10 months of life. She has had a little cold of course and several runny noses, but had not been sick enough to phone the on call nurse (or murse-male nurse-in this situation:) at whatever o'clock in the morning it took place. A photo session on that Saturday led to a visit with Uncle Mark, Aunt Jennifer, Preston and Peyton Carli for Ada. Upon retrieving my wee one from her cousins, Jennifer mentioned that Ada was not acting herself. Jennifer was so convinced that something was up that she followed me to Wal-Mart and went inside to get some meds in preparation of an upset. She went inside and left Ada and I nestled in the car and returned with earache relief numbing drops (I suppose it is like Oragel for your ears so Earagel...ha...yeah nevermind) and Ibuprofen. I already had Tylenol at home and Jennifer informed me that while both Tylenol and Ibuprofen are to only be administered ever four hours, with different active ingredients in each, the two can be alternated so the infant can be given fever reducing meds every two hours. My sis is full of kiddie wisdom and I am so very thankful. The first OTC drug was not put into use, but the latter certainly was. Ada continued to not act like herself, but no major ailments prior to going to bed. We still chose to go ahead and stay home from a Christmas party we intended to attend (Ada was going to Mimi's house) and we are so thankful that we did. Asleep at her normal bedtime, Ada awoke around 2am. We allowed her to settle back down, but she awoke again 15 minutes later. Completely unlike her to wake in the middle of the night hubs and I headed upstairs to find our sweet little girl in a sea of peas and carrots in her crib. She was drenched. We took her downstairs for a bath, temp check and cuddling. Squeaky clean she lost her peas and carrots once again. As I have expressed to many, I had no idea the difference between spitting up and throwing up in an infant until that very moment. To see your baby's body convulse as her little tummy empties was devastating. In tears I held her. She had an elevated temp the entire night that peaked at 103. She was on fire. It was the first night that she had been held the entire night through. It was the saddest yet sweetest night. Thankfully there was no more throwing up for our little girl, but then it passed to the hubs. To hear a grown man throw up is a disturbing sound. For 24 hours I only saw the hubs in 3 minute increments to bring him requested items (first a bowl-ugh, water, crackers, etc.) To prohibit the spread of germs he stayed quarantined and would call me on my cell when in need. I knew he was sick when this avid reader did not even do that. He stayed in bed for a solid day straight and did absolutely nothing. SOOOO unlike him. Everyone finally started perking up and I have NOOO idea how I ended up without the crud, but am so thankful that it stayed away from me. I literally drank a whole 2Liter of O.J. (vitamin C) in 36 hours. Overdosing on orange juice, vitamins and prayer must have done the trick.

The day between Ada and the hubs getting sick I was able to escape for just a bit and have some fun girl time. Amy and I went to see Carrie Underwood preform. It was an incredible performance though Ams and I both agreed that it was the first concert we had ever wondered will it ever end verses I hope it never ends. The girl played for forever. It really was delightful. I love her sweet charisma and hope that she continues to remain humble in her successes. So here is a clip from the concert of a sweet little girl named Caroline singing "American Girl" with Carrie. Be warned you may get sick yourself camera shack and unexplained static :)



Wow, you stuck around. See, it was not that painful was it?

countdown to christmas part I

Before turning over to a new year I thought I it would be nice to at least be caught up on December. Let us not forget the entire month of November (minus Thanksgiving). Oh and that trip we took back in October, yikes. Back to December.

We started the month wondering if Ada was even going to like Christmas. We put our tree up the weekend following Thanksgiving. Ada did not like the bare naked tree. She in fact was repulsed by it. As if on a preceding night the bold green Christmas tree had snuck into her room and promised nothing but hatred and hurt. She literally screamed and cried at the big green "monster" that stood tall in our living room. We of course laughed and we videoed. I suppose if I was right under 2.5 feet tall a Christmas Tree could look like a big scary hairy green odd human. Of course upon adorning him with some sparkle Ada learned to accept, love and even torture our fine tall green furry friend.

proof... (please forgive us. I promise we ARE good parents)

I was further assured that Ada would enjoy Christmas (not that I REALLY ever doubted) when a couple of days later a package came in the mail and Ada immediately dove right into the bubble wrap, paper and boxes.

We later turned Ada's feet green...

...along with two friends...

...to make these for their grandparents

The green foot definitely required a late night bath, which was held in our kitchen sink and no this is not the only time in Ada's 10 month of life that we have bathed her in her bathtub in the kitchen sink. Call me crazy or old and feeble, but bending over in the real bath does not feel good on the knees and back.

We then went to Ada's first Christmas party where we did her first ever craft, a reindeer from the tracings of her hand...

...at this sweet little girls house.

Lastly we played on a train on a mountain with three friends.

The conductor and host for the event who was not quite himself, but a sweetheart anyway.

Our three fellow passengers. Wish Ada was had been in this shot too.

Come aboard...

...stay for a while...

make a proposal...

We tried to get a picture of all three. Well, obviously we got a picture, but there were very diverse emotions following through this scene. Reed was ready to get the heck out of there, the girls (A.K. and Ada)were chatting and Jackson wanted to simply check out Ada's shoes.

We have also been having issues with Ada standing in her highchair. I promise you I have the strap so tight I feel like I am going to cut off her circulation and she maneauvers her way out. I am fully aware that taking photos of this misdemeanor only reinforces this bad habit, but I had to take just one :) Oh and we have resorted to Ada sitting in her travel highchair while eating which cost us a fifth of her "real" highchairs cost. Hindsight is always 20/20, but man we should have JUST bought the travel highchair.

Lastly, Ada was caught with her hand in the cheese straw jar. Shame on us for turning our backs with our goodies laid on the couch. Better cheese straws than chocolate dipped pretzels. For her that is :)

This concludes week one of our Christmas festivities.