Happy New Year!

The Bury Family Top Ten of 2010

10. Kate’s Christening

9. Watching Zack swim in the backyard pool

8. Spending time with Maddy and Kate’s Great-Grandparents and Great-Great Aunt

7. Going to the Kennedy Center with Maddy and Granddaddy to see Mary Poppins

6. Moving to Georgia

5. David's swearing in as a Georgia lawyer

4. Maddy's Preschool Christmas Program “The Littlest Christmas Tree”

3. Visiting UGA for the first time with both of our daughters

2. Surviving Snowmageddon 2010 in Washington DC

1. Meeting and loving Henry Alexander Johnson



Elizabeth Kate's First Year

For the past two days I've been sitting here trying to figure out what to say about Kate's first year. I've decided that there aren't any words that I can use to describe Kate. The video below is a slide show of my favorite pictures from her first year. The song in the background is Beautiful for Me, by Nichole Nordeman. The pictures and song together say everything and more about Kate and what a blessing she is to her family. So I'll let the video do the talking....hope you enjoy it.  Happy Birthday Kate!

Elizabeth Kate is One

Yesterday, December 28th, Elizabeth Kate turned 1. Since David was off on Monday we decided to throw her birthday party Monday night. She had an amazing "Pink Snowman" party complete with a candy bar, an igloo made by Uncle Charlie, and her own Snowman birthday cake. I know it was over the top for a 1 year old birthday party but that's how I like it, we did the same thing for Maddy. I look at it as a chance to reflect on how much babies change in that first year. They go from a completely helpless little bundle in your arms to cute, mischievous, mobile toddlers in just a few short months. It's truly amazing when you stop and think about it. Plus who doesn't like to watch a baby smear cake icing all over their face? It's pretty cute to see that little face covered with pink and white icing... :-)

There are a lot more pictures from Kate's party on our web album, click below to see the full lineup of pictures.

Link to web album

Merry Christmas

 

Our first picture on Christmas morning using my new tripod and self timer.

Merry Christmas!  I know it's been a week since I've posted anything but I took a break to enjoy Christmas, so we've got a little catching up to do. We had a wonderful Christmas! It was the first Christmas that David and I didn't have to pack up and drive 8 hours or have anyone stay with us because they drove 8 hours. We woke up Christmas morning just the 5 of us (including Zack)1 in our own house. It was nice but also strange. I am hoping next Christmas some grandparents from up north will be here (hint hint Nana and Grandaddy).

We are so blessed to have so many friends and family in the area. We all started celebrating Thursday night with a party thrown by Mimi and Poppi on their 38th wedding anniversary. There was lots of food, friends, and fun. On Christmas Eve we enjoyed a nice family dinner and Christmas Eve service at church, followed by presents from Mimi and Poppi.  In fact I am writing this blog from our new office chair courtesy of Mimi and Poppi. :-) We truly were spoiled by our parents again this Christmas.

Maddy could hardly wait to get home Christmas Eve and set her cookies out for Santa. She was ready for bed and even told us that we needed to go to sleep soon so Santa could come. Once she was asleep Santa came. He had a hard time putting together a certain gift, who knew that high density plastic cars would be so difficult to put together. We're just glad Santa didn't bring two cars which he thought about doing. In the end he thought Maddy might be too old for the car and would much rather have a video game system. Well Santa was wrong....which brings us to Christmas morning.

Santa Came!

At 7:30am Christmas morning I finally ask David if we can get the girls up because I am tired of waiting for them to wake up. I was too excited to sleep anymore. We got them up, came downstairs, and let Maddy go into the living room first. All we could hear was "He come, he come, he come!" Then both Maddy and Kate made a bee line for the pink cozy coupe car. Maddy didn't even see the big pile of presents with her name on it. After explaining that the car was for Kate but that they could share it, Maddy finally started opening her gifts. I think she was just so overwhelmed with all that was there she didn't know where to start. So there's something to be said for "less is more." Remind me of that next year.

Woo hoo, my first barbie!

When everything was opened Maddy was a very happy little girl. She said it was the best day ever. Kate didn't know what was going on. Like a typical toddler she was just happy with paper and boxes. Once all the paper was up and her toys were taken out of the ridiculous packaging (is it really necessary to restrain a GloWorm with 10 twisty ties and tape?) she was excited to play. She even found a moment while Maddy was distracted to enjoy her car.

Christmas afternoon we had a lovely dinner with Mimi and Poppi and dear friends Peggy and Jim.  Maddy decorated a cake for Jesus and we all sang Happy Birthday. It was a nice time to sit down and reflect on the meaning of Christmas.

The aftermath...Maddy and Kate figured out how to share!

The celebration didn't end that night either. Sunday night we got together with my step sisters and their families for our traditional party food and $10 gift swap mayhem.... It's something that my step dad Jim and my mom started years ago. It's always fun and everyone usually ends up with a fun gift, except for my nephew. He is now the proud owner of Bumpits, the "as seen on TV" hair height extenders, also known as the Snooki look.... :-) Don't feel too bad for him...he also ended up with a nice gift card. It's the first time since Jim passed away in 2009 that we've been together. Part of the family missed the party either by choice, circumstance, or snow but I am hopeful that next Christmas things will be different and we can all be together.

So that's brings us to Monday. Our very own Elizabeth Kate is One today! On Monday night we threw her 1st birthday party. I'll share the pictures and videos from that on a separate post.  All the pictures from our Christmas are linked to Picasa so be sure to click on the picture below to view them. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Link to our Picasa Album

Winston's House

Unexpected

 Aunt Patty made this Nativity set for David when he was a little boy.

This is a different post for me, the focus is not about our girls or what funny thing Maddy said today. This post is a reminder to everyone (mainly myself) what the true meaning of Christmas is. I thought I was doing pretty good at keeping myself in line with the true meaning of Christmas but this week I have failed miserably. I've been wrapped up in finding the perfect gift for David, gotten on my pity pot about whose family and how much or little time we'll spend with them at Christmas, and gone totally overboard in planning a certain 1 year old's birthday party. Not once this week have I stopped to think and ponder the miracle of Christmas. I know, that's terrible.....

God knew my priorities were wrong so he sent me to the mailbox to check the mail for Christmas cards (something usually David usually does). There were no Christmas cards today. Instead there were several church bulletins (we have been "Church shopping" since we moved here). In the bulletin from Mulberry Methodist here in Macon was this poem. I read this poem and it put everything back in perspective...even if it was in an unexpected way.

Un-Expected

Even now we simply do not expect

to find a Deity in a stable.

Somehow the setting is all wrong:

the swaddling clothes too plain,

the manger too common for the likes of a Savior,

the straw inelegant,

the animals reeking and noisy,

the whole scene too ordinary for our taste.

And the cast of characters is no better.

With the possible exception of the kings,

who among them is fit for this night?

the shepherds? certainly too crude,

the carpenter too rough, the girl too young.

And the baby! Whoever expected a baby?

Whoever expected the advent of God in a helpless child?

Had the Messiah arrived in the blazing light of the glory

of a legion of angels wielding golden swords,

the whole world could have been conquered for Christ

right then and there

and we in the church - to say nothing of the world!--

wouldn't have so much trouble today.

Even now we simply do not expect

to face the world armed with love.

-- Ann Weems, "Unexpected," Kneeling in Bethlehem

The Littlest Christmas Tree

Today was such a great day, it was Maddy's last day of school until January and boy was it busy.  Her class had a Christmas party, book exchange, and their Christmas program this morning. Maddy was super excited. I am not sure what she was more excited about, the presents, all the treats, or singing in front of parents and grandparents.

The preschool program was called The Littlest Christmas Tree. It was adorable. All the children wore special shirts they made in class and they all sang really sweet songs.  Now I know why Maddy has been walking around the house singing "Mary had a baby boy." All the children did so well. It was really special that Mimi and Poppi could come watch the program. We recorded the show so I hope to post it here soon. With all the excitement and all the treats I was able to convince Maddy to nap today, she was so tired that she slept for 2 hours! Now I just have to figure out what to do to keep her occupied for 3 weeks..... :-)



The girls sharing stories and snacks

 

Bunnies and Birds in the Christmas Program

Daddy and Maddy

Picture with Santa

Video from Santa

Here it is as promised.... the Bury Family Christmas Tree! So our first real tree is coming along nicely. We haven't burned down the house or stained our hardwood floors, Zack hasn't mistaken the tree for an outside tree, and Kate hasn't pulled it down. I realize it's only December 8th and we've got a long month to go but I'd say we are doing pretty good. Plus I just really wanted a chance to show off the stockings I purchased this year at Kohl's for $2.50 each with my Kohl's cash and $10 off coupon. And to think, I was about to break out the sewing machine and make us stockings and then have them monogrammed.

I also wanted a reason to share this Maddy anecdote. Last night at the dinner table she informed us that Santa's real name is Nicholas and that Santa is just his nickname. In fact she said his full name is Saint Nicholas and that her teacher, Ms. Jennifer, had told her that. This afternoon I asked Maddy what's your nickname?  She replied "Maddy. My full name is Madalyn Ruth (pronounced "Roof") Bury."

Maddy got really excited this afternoon when Santa, I mean St. Nicholas, sent her a video from the North Pole. You should have seen her eyes they were huge and the smile on her face was even bigger.

Click on this link to watch Santa's video to Maddy:

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/OhUetjxREkfwACT5HmqiCw

You think they might be sisters?

I was going through pictures of Maddy the other day and came across this one of her at Christmas in 2007. I love this picture, despite the dog hair on her mouth... Flash forward 3 years and the bottom picture is of Kate a few nights ago while we were decorating the tree.  Same PJ's, same big eyes, less hair. :-)  But I think they still look a lot alike. So blessed to have two beautiful girls.

Bury Cute Band

On Friday night Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Charlie came over for dinner and a little Rock Band competition. We might not be going on tour anytime soon but we sure had fun, who knew Aunt Kimmy could play the drums... :-)  Even though I am not pictured once Kate went to bed I took over on vocals. That's probably the reason I've had Eye of the Tiger in my head all day.... :-)

The Bury Family Christmas Tree

Bury Family Christmas Tree - 2010

Most people are familiar with the movie Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. You know it's the classic movie where Chevy Chase tries to have the perfect stereotypical family Christmas including the perfect "Griswold Family Christmas Tree." Well this Christmas I am determined to have the perfect "Bury Family Christmas" tree and today we found it.

 We went to Double C Tree Farm in Forsyth with the girls and Mimi. This will be mine and David's 12th Christmas together and this is the first year we have gotten a real tree and we had no idea what we were doing.... They had several different varieties of Christmas trees; cypress, fir, blue smoke, and on and on. All we knew was that we wanted a sturdy green tree. Mimi found what we thought was the perfect tree until a very nice worker started to cut it down and showed us that the trunk was crooked. So we continued to look and finally found the "Bury Family Christmas Tree" as it was starting to sprinkle rain. Within 5 minutes the man cut down, wrapped up, and tied the tree to our car and we were off.

What happened once we got home can't be described with words...it is best described with a clip from Christmas Vacation. So enjoy the clip and be sure to click on the picture below the video for pictures from today. We'll post pictures of the final "Bury Family Christmas Tree" once we finish removing tree sap from our hands. :-)



2010 - Bury Family Tree




Winston the Elf

This morning we found Winston in our pantry.

This is Winston, the Bury family elf.  Winston came to us last Christmas. When we found Winston he was in a box, nameless, and looking for a home. David and I debated for a few days on what his name should be. We asked Maddy and she replied "elf". Well that was too plain. We looked in books and on the Internet for the perfect name. After all this elf would be part of our family for a long time. Then we decided on "Winston" because both of our girls were born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Last year Maddy was too young to understand the concept of Elf on the Shelf. I'll admit I am not sure I totally agree with the premise of Elf on the Shelf. I love traditions and I love the innocence of "Christmas Magic" and believing in Santa Claus but I am not sure about "bribing" children to behave for 24 days so Santa will come visit. What happens on December 25th when Winston leaves and Santa has come and gone?

Well this year is different. Maddy is totally into Christmas and believing. It's wonderful to see Christmas through her eyes. She is even beginning to understand the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ (more about that in a minute). Winston came back to us this week, he appeared at our side door on Tuesday morning. I am still struggling with whole "bribe" concept. Don't get me wrong, both David and I have already said "be careful Maddy, Winston is watching." We're not perfect but it does work! :-) So for now Winston is more about the anticipation of Christmas than a behavior modifier.

Switching gears here...earlier yesterday we put Maddy's Nativity set in the playroom and talked about the meaning of Christmas. Later in the day the girls and I went to K-Mart to look for Christmas tree lights. While we were in the Christmas department we walked past a display of big plastic Nativity sets for the yard. Maddy stopped me, pointed, and said "Mommy we have to get this." "If we put this in our yard everyone will drive by and say David, Jessica, Maddy, and Kate like Jesus and then they'll know that Jesus was born on Christmas." I didn't buy it but I have a feeling a big plastic Nativity set for the yard is in our future.