a week's worth of christmas.

when your families are spread out across two or three states, christmas doesn't just last a day. more like a week.

austin and i had our christmas gift exchanging early in the week. here's our {arguably} beautiful little pink tree, packed with presents underneath.

austin got new pajama pants, a shovel, a 2012 calendar, a nerf gun, and a new cordless power tool set {and, of course, juliet helped open all our presents}.

and i got a dvd i wanted, a slap chop {because i shouldn't be allowed to use sharp knives}, a gift certificate to a painting class, and a new coat!

and then there were the critters. juliet got treats and a new favorite toy.

it's a blue spotted lizard. or something. she loves it though, whatever it is.

and after the kitties put on their festive outfits, they got a new cat toy!

{my cats aren't very photogenic...}

on thursday, we headed up to austin's parent's house for another early christmas dinner and gift exchange. here's their tree with a whole lotta presents underneath.

austin got a new robe, a tool chest and accessories, new jeans, socks and we got new bedsheets. and i got a purse and some jewelry, new shoes, a tripod for my camera!

then we packed up the car and drove the six hours to virginia to see all of my side of the family. we started by going over to tim's sister's for christmas eve lunch. we had a biiiig meal and then gathered around to watch my cousin morgan open her presents. this was one of those times i was a loser and didn't get any pictures for whatever stupid reason...

later on christmas eve, we drove to over to see dad's side of the family. and we had some awkward family photo fun.

and then. this happened. seth picked me up. chris picked seth up. i was trying to not crack my skull open on walls.

there's a picture of the events that happened after this. but i promised i wouldn't post. because things got weird. and hilarious. all in the name of safety, though. and fortunately my skull is not shattered in to a zillion pieces. but it could have been.

and then, finally, it was christmas morning! and here's mom and tim's adorable little {puppy proof} tree, with alphie underneath.

family picture.

everyone up at grandma and granddad's for christmas day lunch.

oh, and meet tucker. mom and tim's new boxer boy.

can you imagine how difficult it is to get six people and four dogs to pose for a picture together?

i think we got a pretty good one though. here's me, juliet and austin, obviously. and chris and jenna in the middle with their puppies mylee and laila. and tim and mom and tucker on the right.

and just for cuteness sake, laila and tucker cuddled up in the dog bed together. they quickly became bffs.

so. to sum it up. days and days of presents + waaay to much food {still not enough pecan rolls} + a little awkward family-ness + lots of puppy playing + some nintendo wii action + lots of driving + the best family a girl could ask for = one very awesome christmas. hope you all had a great christmas and hope santa was good to you, too!

season's greetings.

merry christmas, everyone!

real quick this morning i wanted to send a little holiday cheer your way and share our family holiday card with you all.

so remember last year when shutterfly gave bloggers the awesome opportunity to get free holiday cards and they ended up beautiful like this?

well, wouldn't it be awesome if they offered free cards again?

yes, it would.

but they didn't.

waaamp waaamp.

anyway. so i planned on ordering from shutterfly again, since the cards turned out great before and i've even ordered two photo books from them recently {which i plan to share soon}, but, alas, i am a slacker and by the time i got some pictures of us all it was too late to order them from online to get them to everyone in time... oops.

so i ended up ordering some photo cards from walmart and they turned out great! and, of course, the star of our card this year is none other than the real star of our family...

juliet. duh.

so i'm hoping by this point you've all received your cards in the mail, so i'm not spoiling anything by sharing this. but here she is, the heard family christmas card, 2011 edition.

i find it to be really funny. and i hope you do, too. and if not, bah humbug to you, too.

it should be noted that this was our second attempt at a card this year. our first attempt {for sooo many reasons which were too frustrating to deal with} did not work out. but i can share it with you here. a special web exclusive, one might say.

or... one might say that i am dumb for thinking anyone cares about a web exclusive of our unused holiday card.

but i'm sharing it either way.

so enjoy.

and feel free to laugh at our hideous sweaters.

so there you go, two holiday cards for the price of one. feel like you just got a good deal? no? sorry.

anyway. i hope everyone has the perfect christmas this year, filled with food, fun, faith and, most importantly, family. personally, i'm probably up to my ears in pecan rolls by now. so don't be surprised when i'm 50 pounds heavier by the end of this holiday season.

merry christmas to all and to all a good night.

turning one!

so remember the itty bitty baby who came to visit us way back in january?

and then i was his nanny for quite a while and he was getting bigger.

well, look who is all grown up now. and by all grown up, i meaning just turned one year old.

look how big he is!

it's kind of crazy. i mean, when he was itty bitty, he was adorable, but he was a little baby. and now it's like he's not a baby anymore, but a tiny little human {not that he was of a different species before, but you get what i mean}.

anyway. so austin and i packed up some baby-sized gifts and headed to knoxville this weekend to celebrate the big day.

and for anyone who thinks a one-year-old might not understand the idea of a birthday/opening presents, you would be wrong. he totally got it. and he totally knew to look at the clothes and toss them aside in order to get to the toys faster. true story.

i was kind of hoping he would reach so far into a bag he would fall in to it {but not get hurt!!} because it would have been super cute. but he didn't. which is probably a good thing.

he would get really excited about toys {this was an especially good one}.

and then, as you moved one gift out of the way to open another, he got upset. every time. but then he would realized there was another gift and was ok with it. it was cute.

and then there was this awesomely cute gift.

although it was clothing, so paxton wasn't super interested, everyone else at the party was. because it's adorable. a tiny leather jacket {faux-mind you}.

you might be wondering what uncle austin and nanny rikki got him. and you might not be wondering. but i'm sharing either way.

austin picked out the little pajama sets and i loved this little hoodie and skinny jeans. how cute?!

and we also got him this super awesome {at least we think so} workshop. and no, these are not children i know. just kids from the little tikes website {from where i borrowed this image}.

i think austin was jealous and wants his own workshop...

while the grown-ups at the party chowed down on some carnitas that joe's dad made {and of which austin definitely took a to-go plate} the little man devoured some tortillas.

and then, of course, it was time for cake. cue ridiculously-cute-birthday-boy-cupcake-eating collage.

and go.

it was a mess. but it was adorable.

austin and i had a great time visiting with friends and playing with paxton. thanks to joe and erin for inviting us {and to joe's dad for cooking awesome food!}. little paxton got a ton of awesome gifts, great toys and super cute clothes and i'm happy we were able to be a part of it. that child is loved.