Merry Christmas everyone!!!
If you follow our blog (thank you!) then you know that Team Oakley has tried to make the most of this Christmas season as we could. We tried to spread our joy and the joy of Emery to as many people as we possibly could. We sung songs with him in a Santa suit at a nursing home, we dressed him like an elf to walk around the mall and say hi to people, and we took him to all our holiday parties in either a Santa hat, or reindeer antlers. The smiles he prompted are too many to count, and we feel like that is the true meaning of Christmas; showing as much love as you can!
Here are some of the photo highlights of this most special season ( I know there are a lot of pictures, but can you blame us? Our Emery is so cute!)
As far as the actual day of Christmas goes, it was a wonderful time with family. We stayed the night at Nana’ and Pappy’s on Christmas Eve after our service at church (to which Emery wore a plaid button down, slacks, a sweater vest, and a blazer. He was stylin). We got to open one present on Christmas eve, and it was matching Pajamas! Nana even made some little man pants for Emery so that he could match the big guys!
Then we all went to bed to sleep and make the magic day come faster! The joy of Christmas morning was renewed in Michael and Beka because of sweet Emery this year. This is their 5th Christmas together. At the end of each one, after all the presents were open and all the happy was had, Michael and Beka would look at each other with tinge of sadness in their hearts and say “maybe next year we will have a little one on Christmas..” and year after year that little sadness got a little bigger. It never ruined Christmas, but it honestly felt like a little piece of them was missing, and the joy that was Christmas was never at it’s full potential.
So this day was especially special for Team Oakley. We have a little bug on Christmas!!!! We were so excited when he woke up, smiley as always, and we brought him downstairs to eat his morning bottle and look at all the presents and lights! His toothless grin was ear to ear. He is our most precious gift!!!
Each year before this it was a quick dash to open gifts, and we were all done early. But this year it was so much more about experiencing the day, and soaking in all the moments. There was eating, presents, coffee, presents, a nap for Emery, presents, lunch, presents, and many sporadic diaper changes. We took our time and made sure we fully enjoyed the memories together as one big family, and even more, as Team Oakley being our own little family (finally!).
Team Oakley (minus Emery, he was not here yet) started a tradition years ago to make gifts for our friends and family rather than buying them. It spurred out of a war against the mainstream thought of commercialism on Christmas combined with our finances being really tight early on in our marriage. There are still elements of that which are true in our lives, but we have had so much fun making all our gifts for the last five years, that we will not go back (we encourage all of you to try it one year! The money that you save can either go to paying off some debt that you have, or donate it to a worthy cause! Our favorites are endometriosis.org, charitywater.org, and the red cross).
This year we continued to make our gifts, and we were so happy with how they came out!
For Nana we made an ABC scrapbook where she can add in photos, recipes, or story’s of her family history so that she can teach sweet emery where his Nana comes from. We know how important family is to her, and we knew how much she and Emery were going to enjoy learning together.
For Pappy we made a photo collage of Emery with cows! I know this must seem silly, but Pappy loves cows! We also found an ice cream bowl (pappy loves ice cream too), a mug, and salt and pepper shakers with a cow print and udders! It was udderly adorable (yes, there were udder jokes non-stop….don’t judge us J)!
For Cassidy we made some mustache mugs. When he drinks out of them he becomes instantly more fancy. See, fancy Cassidy!
For Rosanna we made a tote bag, sticky notes, and a note pad and pen that say “I heart Emery.” She was promoted to a corporate position this year (we are so proud of her!!!) and we thought these things could help her on her journey up that corporate ladder (with style).
For Michael, Beka got him the book “Entreleadership” by Dave Ramsey (if you don’t know Dave Ramsey, you need to! Team Oakley are HUGE Dave fans!!!) and a certificate for her to read it out loud to him. He is in the middle of starting a CYT (www.cyt.org) out here in Nashville, and she thought this book could equip him on his journey.
For Beka, Michael made her a childern’s book. It is called “Then There Were Three” about the journey of Team Oakley having Emery come into our lives! He wrote it, and drew all the pictures! It was so precious.
For Emery, Beka and Michael made a love screen. We got a digital picture frame, and put in Emery’s grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles on the screen so that he could now how many people all over the country love him so much!
We also made some art pieces. We made one for Cassidy and Rosanna, and one for Nana and Pappy. They had Emery’s initials, his feet prints, and a little Emery butt print.
And, of course, we were all showered with gifts from others! Emery got an awesome bouncer, which he is a little too little for, but enjoyed it anyways!
Michael and Uncle Cassidy got the first taste of putting toys together on Christmas. They knew there was many more to come.
He also got clothes and toys and teethers aplenty. Beka and Michael also were super spoiled. Books and shoes and games and electronics galore! It was so fun to turn into little kids again and rip open all that paper and get so surprised and excited at every gift!
Oh what a fun day it was. There were no low moments. It was only happy times and smiles. Such the way a Christmas should be.
After Nana and Pappy’s house, we went to see Emery’s Godmomma K and Pep Pep (his godparents) to say Merry Christmas and give them their gifts. When we went over, we were still all in our jammies, and so were they! It is a happy day when you can go to your best friends house at 4pm in your pajamas, and they are still in their’s too!
They got to feed Emery his bottle while he game them their gifts. They had some framed Emery photos, and an art piece from Emery. They gave him a gift too! It was a sweet vest to rock while he was in San Diego. It was a short visit, but it was special to see them on his first Christmas.
After all the visiting and gifts, Team Oakley was exhausted! We went home and put the bug to bed right away. He does not usually fight going to sleep, but this night he was especially corporative! The was tuckered out from the day and went right to sleep. We were leaving for San Diego to visit the other half of our family the next morning at 4am, so we were thankful for his sleepiness!
While the snuggle bug slept, Michael and Beka went to work packing and making sure the house was set for us to be gone for two weeks. We packed and listened to Christmas Carols (we set our Pandora playlist to ‘she and him holiday’ all season, and loved it! We knew it would be our last night to enjoy it, so we did!) and drank candy cane tea till the wee hours of the morning. The next day we woke up WAY too early, and made our way to the airport to start yet another adventure!
Stay tuned my friends! We love you all and appreciate you reading! Merry Christmas!
Love,
Team Oakley
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