Christmas Memories

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday filled with family and fun and the making of lots of Christmas memories. I think what made this Christmas so special was not only having my husband off work to enjoy it, but having so much of our family here on Christmas morning. Here are some pictures of our Christmas...


Starting with Christmas Eve..


This year the five of us stayed home and enjoyed this yummy spread of fingerfoods....

We gave the girls these cute matching flannel pajamas as their Christmas eve present. Aren't they the cutest??:)

Michael and Bella on Christmas Eve:)

Here is how the livingroom looked after Santa visited on Christmas Eve. Since we have three girls, Santa is thoughtful enough to wrap each girl's gifts in a certain wrapping paper so they know which gifts are their's in the morning.

Aunt Crystal and Uncle Chris stayed over on Christmas Eve and we had a great time watching the girl's and each other open gifts.

And then the fun began!....

Then Grandma and Aunt Abby came and it was like Santa visited again!

Aunt Abby and Mary Kathryn

Aunt Abby and Hailey

Grandma and Bella

Just take a look at this livingroom!!!

Afterwards we went to Grandma Lynn's house for the best food ever and took these pictures...

Grandma Lynn and Hailey, Mary Kathryn and Bella

The Lynn Sisters and the girls

The girls and I

We are truly blessed to have a happy, healthy family on Christmas and all year long!!

Merry Christmas Eve from the Trevathan girls!

From our home to yours....

Merry Christmas!!


We hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve filled with family, friends and most importantly the celebration of the birth of Jesus!!

Love,

The Trevathan Family

The paci issue

So around here we have a very good friend that is missed dearly if left behind on trips short or long. A quick run to the grocery store turns into a total debacle if we forget to pack the all important paci. Bella loves her paci fiercely and must have it with her at all times, even if it is just sitting in the room while she plays. She can be completely entertained playing and then freeze, as if it just occured to her that it is missing, and start calling out "paci, pacieeee". She'll then stop what she's doing to go retrieve it.

Now don't get me wrong. Having a pacifier has allowed us to have many fairly relaxing trips to Charlotte, Baltimore, Myrtle Beach, and other places since she has been born. To be honest, she is a more content baby when she has her paci with her.

But recently, it has occurred to me that eventually we are going to have to break Bella of this pacifier dependance. The problem is that paci is not only just Bella's pacifier, but her cuddly friend. Even on the sandy beach this summer, Bella had her trusty paci right there with her.

 Being as that this is the only child out of three that has ever taken to having a pacifier, I have absolutely no idea how to gently break her from this love of her paci. It's been right there with her like another appendage since birth. So my question to other moms who have been through this is:

#1 At what age did you start the transition away from the pacifier?
#2 How did you break your child of this habit? Was it gradual or sudden?

I'm pretty sure that we're not quite ready to make a clean break just yet. She is only 16 months old and I feel that I have a little time. But I do want to develop a game plan and perhaps start some small steps toward the ultimate goal. I am thinking that more of a gradual transition would work best for us, but I am open to any ideas from moms more experienced in this area! Thank you so much for your help!!:)

First competition of the season!!:)

This past Saturday Hailey had her first competition of the cheer season in Greensboro, NC. This was a state competition with a rather large crowd and I was very proud of how well they did. They placed 3rd at this event. Last year her team placed 5th at this competition and then went on to win Nationals in Myrtle Beach two competitions later. It's amazing how they improve with each performance. The coaches usually increase the level of difficulty with each competition as well, so I'm excited to see the progression as the season goes on. Here are some pictures from the competition as well as a very short video of one of Hailey's stunts. I'm not sure if I can post the whole routine right now but I will after their last competition in March.

Hailey is the flyer on the front far right.



This next picture is missing the other 3 flyers but pictures a lot of the team as well as the coaches.

Waiting for warm up..

Bella provides a little entertainment during the wait:)

Hailey and her best friend on the team.

With her coaches Paige and Matt, who have an abundance of patience to keep these girls focused and safe while learning all of these difficult stunts and tumbling...

Sisterly love...

And my sweet girl doing what she loves to do...

Made an important decision....Finally:)

"Now all glory to God, who is able,
through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish
infinitely more than we might ask or think."

Ephesians 3:20





Thank you SO much for the comments and emails on my prayer request. I recieved the most encouraging words and am forever grateful for those that took the time to say a prayer for me or just offer words of advice. I am so very thankful:)

The most amazing thing about most of the response I recieved from this post, is that almost everyone advised me to follow my heart, go with my gut, have faith in God. Sometimes it is hard to push the "what ifs" aside and have faith that all will work out. I am an overanalyzer for sure, but I am putting my faith and trust in God's plan for my family. Once I made the decision to go back prn, I felt as if a weight was lifted from me and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was making the right decision.

I know deep down that being home as much as possible, even if some sacrifices have to be made, is what is best for our family. So my decision, giving up a "secure" position for a more "riskier" but flexible one, was ultimately easy in the end. Now I am praying that the transition from my full time position to the prn position is a smooth one with no "kinks" to get in the way. It's funny though, now that I have decided to follow my heart, the sense of worry I felt when trying to make this decision has disappeared and has been replaced with a sense of peace that I am headed down the right path and that everything will fall into place:)

Thank you for praying me through:)

Tis the season to be Jolly:)

Around here we have been doing all kinds of Christmassy things. Like.....

Putting up the Christmas tree

Reading Christmas stories

Participating in a Christmas parade

Watching a Christmas parade

And getting REALLY excited for Christmas!!

And its only December 3rd!! Lots more Holiday excitement to come....:)