Advent Picture Challenge

Hey friends!  Welcome to December!  Welcome to the Advent Season!  I've gotta go make a leftover-pot-pie, but before I do, I wanted to tell you about the little advent picture challenge I'll be joining!

Feel free to grab this "badge" and blog about it!
Jump in any time!

So here's the thing.  I love Christmas, all of it.  I love the cold and the snow and the goodwill to all men.  I love the trees and the music and the baked goods and the movies.  I love rudolph and creches, traditions and giving gifts.  However, too often of late, I've found myself holding all things equal.  And they're not.  Even if a reindeer really did take flight and use his glowing red nose to lead Santa, that would be a small miracle compared to the fact that almighty God sent His son to earth.

All holiday things are not equal, my friends.

In order to remind myself of that, I'm going to be taking an advent picture every day.  I was inspired by Lisa's list, and I wanted to make my own.  I've broken it into weeks, following the Catholic church's suggested advent scriptures.  Not because I'm catholic, but because, well... I love their traditions, and I love the bible verses they suggest.  I've also suggested words beside each week, but feel free to use your own word.

The main point is to remember to read the scripture.  To think about it.  To try & figure out a way to "see" the verses.  Have fun with it.  Allow this to be a jumping off point for your own picture list.  If you want to be linked up to this challenge, just be sure to use #adventpicturechallenge when tagging your pictures, whether on instagram, pinterest, twitter, or facebook.  I'll try and keep up with all of the tags, and combine them on a single pinterest page.  If you want to follow along with my pictures, click on the links provided!

Here's the lineup:

I'm probably not going to blog about it every day, but I will do a weekly wrap-up.  Are you in?

<3 M.

Instalately :: Ridiculous Baby Cuteness

You guys.  

Now don't get too excited, but I took some pictures this last week, and I LOVE THEM.

Ahem. Sorry/notsorry for shouting.

You might not love them, but then again you might.  They're of mi princessa, the benevolent RileyGirl, and I'm definitely getting at least a few of them printed.  If you don't like cute pictures of babies, you should go now.  But really, reading the title of this post, you should have never clicked over.  But you did.  Which means you have some part of your heart that is in need of baby cuteness.  Don't stifle it.  Revel in it.

It should also be noted the magnitude of effort I put into instagramming these.  Because I have a not-so-awesome phone (working on my gratefulness...) I take pictures with my more-than-awesome camera, then upload them to dropbox, then edit them in picmonkey, then re-save them in dropbox, then instagram them from my phone. 

But y'all.  She's so cute.  Its totes worth it.

Riley has learned that her bathwater is potable.
In the loosest sense of the word, of course.
#doIhavetostillgiveherasippycupnow

This girl cracks me up, daily.
I don't know what she's doing here, but I know she was having fun!
#shemightbethrowinggangsymbols

We're a bit jealous of the time Daddy has had to spend on the ambulance lately...
#passiveagressivebaby

I couldn't resist
#youarewelcomeforthesongnowstuckinyourhead

I just... I can't.
I love her too much.
She has to stop growing up
#canIputherinthefreezerandpreservethis
#DoNOTputbabiesinthefreezer

Her back rolls.
Her smooches.
#theycompleteme

In truth, it has been a long couple of weeks, full of baby snot and viruses.  Compounded not in a small way by multi-day-stretches of single parenting, due to some unfortunate shift swaps.  But. You guys.  My handsome husband?  The one I love who melts my heart and makes me pancakes?  He's home tomorrow!  And Saturday (for some of it, anyhow).  AND most of Sunday's awake hours.  We've also got guests coming into town.  The best kind of guests, guests who really ought to just move in and never leave because you love them so much.  So although this has been a hard couple of weeks, we've got some cute pictures to show for it, and a big ole' rest in the future.  Now I've got to go clean the fan blades, so that nothing detracts from the leisure of this weekend, which in this hizzouse, is starting tomorrow.

Duces.

<3 M.