Jase’s First Christmas

Christmas has always been my favorite, and it is true that children truly make the holidays even more magical! We had such a blast with Jase’s first Christmas and know it will be even more fun as he gets older. We are so thankful for the precious gift of being his parents this year!

I LOVE to give gifts & tend to go wayyyy overboard! It’s one of my love languages (how I SHOW love, anyway…), but being on a budget means that I really have to demonstrate some serious self control. Jonathan & I have stopped doing gifts for one another for birthdays and anniversaries, and instead DO something fun together & make a memory. I know there will be a time (when we are DEBT FREE) that we will be able to give as freely as we want, but for now, we are on a mission & that’s something we have both agreed on and feel strongly about. We do give gifts for Christmas because we are so frugal throughout the year, but still try to keep it in check and mostly buy things we need. (shampoo, new razors, tennis shoes, boxers, workout clothes- that kind of thing)

We also really wanted to set the pace for gift giving when it comes to Mr. Jase. It is seriously tough not to want to buy him EVERYTHING! But, I want to “start as we mean to go on” & that meant being reasonable with his gifts. I also knew his grandparents would spoil him with gifts, so we took it easy.

Meeting Santa was very….”uneventful.” He was sleepy & missing a nap for his doctor’s appointment to follow, so he just kinda stared. The beard didn’t scare him off at all…

He also left the Christmas tree alone for the most part (except one ornament he liked to take off the tree to chew on) and there weren’t any presents till two days before Christmas. Yea, we were a little behind this year.

Jase had a GREAT first Christmas!! We are truly so blessed!!

Chelsi and Chad came to visit on Christmas Eve, and I LOVED seeing them!! Chels has been my longest running friendship (going strong since 6th grade), and I am SO beyond proud of the woman she has become. I mean SO proud! She is incredibly smart, successful, and a true friend. I love hearing her talk about cooking and healthy eating- she always inspires me to be healthier. I appreciate her friendship even more as we get older and am thankful she has put up with me for so long! We got to do some catching up and they got to spend some time with Jase now that he is bigger. (Big Jon didn’t get to see them because he was finishing our Christmas shopping- procrastinate much?) She baked us some delicious homemade treats from scratch that I look forward to every year, and she gave Jase two of the sweetest books! I was THRILLED and would love for anyone getting him gifts to give us books. We are all about some reading, and even though I’m not big on toys, somehow we have already acquired a ton…so that was the perfect gift. That was the very first gifts he opened, and I honestly didn’t think he would care much- but he had a blast tearing the paper and looking at the books with Aunt Chels! You can tell he loves her like his Mama does.

Seriously, is this not the sweetest??

We went to eat with Jonathan’s immediate family for Christmas Eve dinner, and they came back to our house to exchange gifts afterwards. I was so thankful for how his parents and sister handled his first Christmas. They are all crazy about him and he is the first baby on Jon’s side. I didn’t tell them any preferences or ask for anything, but they totally hit a home run! They got him the cutest little wooden tool set with his name on it- it is so precious and he LOVES it! Maybe he’ll be a carpenter like his Daddy? The hammer is his fave. They also got him a little mechanical tractor, and his “big gift” was money for us to put into a savings account for him. What an AWESOME idea! I was pumped and really want to work hard to teach him good money management skills from an early age. Plus, eventually we will give the toys away or donate or sell them in a yard sale…so it seems way smarter to put the money into something that will benefit him in the future.

We enjoyed exchanging gifts with his family- & we really like Jade’s boyfriend Dustin too. Great Christmas Eve with the Butler’s!

Well that’s one way to get the presents open! (Started drooling like CRAZY on Christmas Eve- totally teething again!)

Just hangin’ out like a big boy!!

Jonathan’s sister is gorgeous. Good looks run in the Butler fam!

LOVES his Grandma & Grandpa!

Christmas morning we spent some time snuggling in the bed together before taking Jase to open his presents in the living room. I know one day he will be waking us up in the wee hours of the morning, so we enjoyed the sweet cuddle time. He loved opening his presents! (Well, tearing the paper anyway.) We decided to go with the whole “a need, a read, a want, and a wear” concept for Jase. Simple, thoughtful, and not excessive. We also sponsored a few families & plan to make him a bigger part of that in the future so he understands more about giving and grasps that it truly is more “blessed to give than to receive.” For his read we got him 3 new books…the touch and feel is his favorite. The need was a box of diapers (Costco is the best place for diapers) and one of those booster seats that attaches to a table for when you eat out. We wanted to get him a car seat because it won’t be long until he goes to the next size, but we hadn’t done our research yet so decided to hold off. The wear was some sweet Christmas jammies and a sweater vest. And since he’s too young to have a “want” and we knew he’d be getting toys from family, we skipped that one.

Book worm like his Mama!!

LOVE this lil cutie booty!!!

After we ate breakfast, we headed to my parents for our family Christmas. Mom always does the BEST job making each holiday gathering a special & unique one full of memories. We had a delicious pancake/french toast bar, played White Elephant, and enjoyed some “Minute to Win It” games.We had a blast! Mom & Dad bought us a shredder & Baby Jase got a “mini piano.” He loves music! I tried my best to get him to nap while we were there- had the whole set up! But he refused (he’s teething) and finally slept in my mom’s arms for about an hour. He loves that Grammy!

He finally slept for about an hour in the car as we drove to Dahlonega that evening to do our Butler family Christmas with his extended family at Jonathan’s parents. We brought his bumbo & tray and he ate with us everywhere we went. Turkey, oranges, peppers, green beans, etc. I am so thankful we stuck with the BLW because it means that we all get to enjoy dinner together, and he loves being a part of the meals!!  The food was DELISH, and after dinner & dessert (the red velvet cakes was Jon’s fave and I LOVE their sweet potato soufflé and the chocolate chip cookies!) we exchanged gifts and he got some more fun gifts from family. So thankful for so many people loving on our little man! He slept more on the way home and nursed and went straight to sleep when we got home. Christmas wiped him out! (I totally forgot to get my camera out of the car….boo!)

We definitely want to focus on the true Reason for the season and teach Jase all about that as he gets bigger. We read him the story of Jesus’ birth from the Bible and told him all about it!

So, so thankful and so blessed! Already counting down and looking forward to next Christmas!

Baby Jase- The holidays are even MORE special with you in our lives!! We love you so, so very much & are thankful for the JOY you bring to everyone!