Christmas Card

Holly Frame Christmas 5x7 folded card

Create modern Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

An Old Tradition with a New Twist

I love all the traditions of the Christmas season. It is very important to me to have just the right tree that we cut ourselves with all the lights and ornaments in the perfect spots. Of course, now that I have children my traditions have started to change. Like, placing all the breakable ornaments at the top of the tree.

I also love to send out Christmas cards. I have always gone to the store and read through several cards until I have picked out just the right card to send from my husband and me. Again, now that I have children my Christmas card will change. I have been looking forward to sending a photo card with a picture of my children on the front to all my family and friends.

I have always loved receiving photo cards from my family and friends to see how big their children have grown throughout the year. This will be my first year sending a photo card out as a Christmas card. I dressed my children up in their Christmas outfits and my husband and I had a photo shoot in the living room with them.

I was even more excited about sending a photo card when I looked through the cards that Shutterfly has to offer. There cards are on nice card stock paper and you can add up to 6 photos on the front and more photos inside. You can also make room for a Christmas letter on the inside. Here are some cards I am considering sending:

Check out all the other Christmas cards they have: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

If you are planning on having a holiday party this year, you can use Shutterfly to make your invitations: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations. I really like this one:

Need some gift ideas, check out these coffee mugs: http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs.

*I am even more excited because for doing this special blog post about my favorite Christmas cards, Shutterfly is giving me 50 free photo cards. Yay!

Monday we went with our friends from church to the Cincinnati Zoo. It has been fun to take Dima to the zoo this year because he actually pays attention to the animals now. He started making his oh-so-cute-it-is-a-kitty-or-stuffed-animal-that-I-want-to-pet noise when he saw the bears. He probably would have tried to get to them if I was not holding him up so he could see.

They have a really nice children's area that has recently been redone. A great playground where the kids could run while we stopped to rest and eat. Next to the playground are farm animals including a petting area where the kids can go inside the fence and pet small goats and sheep. Dima loved this!!! He kept running from one animal to the next petting them and hugging them and trying to kiss them. (Mommy of course stopped him from kissing!) They even had sinks for the kids to wash their hands that looked like water troughs. So cute!

Last night, we joined our friends for the last concert in the park in Blue Ash. It was all Big Band music. It was great music and fun to watch the older people dancing. I kept trying to imagine what they looked like when they were young and dating or newly married. Dima and Anna liked the music too! Dima was mesmerized by the instruments.

Today I made homemade blue playdoh. I want to try to introduce Dima to different crafts and art stuff. He of course spent the first part of this experience trying to eat it until he finally figured out that it was fun to squish and poke. He hasn't quite got the molding part down but I had fun making different things with it.

Blue is the only color that Dima will say. Sometimes if you ask him to bring his blue car he will bring the right one. I am not sure if he really knows what blue is or if he just has the right car memorized.

Anna had a little milestone yesterday. She has learned how to get herself into a sitting position from a laying position all on her own. She does it all the time now. Sometimes of course even when she is supposed to be going to sleep. It is fun though to watch her roll around and then push herself up all on her own.

Update about the munchkins

Thought it was time for a change and to update this thing. LOL I guess life is pretty busy with two little ones in the house. I was thinking recently about how much my life has changed in the last few years. Three years ago I was working full-time, going to college part-time and after 6 years of marriage thought I was never going to have children. Now I am a stay-at-home mom of TWO children! I still can't believe it!

My munchkins are getting so big! Dima is fast becoming a two year old. He is so sweet and loving so much of the time. Giving his sister kisses and hugs as well as friends at church and his Papa and me. But then his "terrible twos" part of him comes out and he can't help biting and pushing. He is also becoming so independent, he recently learned how to climb up in his booster seat by himself and tries so hard to put his shoes on without help. He is full of energy and at times will just run around the living room in circles. He has also increased his vocabulary to include cars, cup, ball, cracker, diaper, baba (baby), Papa, Mama, more, and repeats so many more words after us. It is such a joy to watch him become a little boy!

Anya does not stop moving either! You can see she cannot wait to follow her brother around everywhere he goes. She is so close to crawling that I can see her taking off any day. She can be very tiring to hold (especially in church) because she does not stop wiggling in your arms. She is also a voracious eater. She can clear out two to three jars of baby food like any food eating contest pro. The only thing she turns up her nose at are peas!

This picture is of us at the pond by my Mom's apartment. We visited my family this past July.