merry christmas!

merry christmas from the Mixon's!

we want to wish all of you a joyous and blessed christmas as we celebrate our Saviour's birth this weekend. may we remember his reason for coming and may that transform our lives all year long. God is so good to us and we are so thankful!

i will be taking a blogging break until after the new year as we enjoy our holiday and travel to our families in california.  

we are looking forward to:

- many, MANY hugs and kisses for malachi from grandma's, grandpa's, great grandma's, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, etc. etc.

- in-n-out burger

- relaxing in the hot tub

- archives bookstore

- roscoe's chicken and waffles

- relaxing by the fire

- many good conversations with family

- seeing old college buddies and their families

- the hat pastrami

- watching malachi play with all of his new christmas gifts

and much, much more!

we are so thankful for each and every one of you and will update you on our trip after the new year!

love from the mixon house!

on the 10th day of christmas, my true love gave to me...

so do you guys remember when i commented about this project i was working on for hubby for christmas? well now is the time to tell you more about it! it has been a week since i first said that it was becoming a new favorite christmas tradition and since saying that i have fallen in love with it even more! i will definitely be repeating this next year!
it's called the 12 days of christmas and i got the inspiration from here. and like the original post notes, this is not restrictive just to husbands. anyone could do this for any special person in their life, i just chose to do this for jeff because i love him and i love finding fun ways to show him! ;)
so basically it's like the song, the 12 days of christmas, and you give a gift for 12 days that corresponds to the number of the day. so on day one you give one gift, on day two you give two gifts, etc. etc. and the thing that i love most about this little game is that i can totally be creative with it! i mean, sure, you could go out and spend lots of money and buy real gifts and it would get pricey really fast.  but if you're like me, i would rather think hard and spend very little money and get creative with my gifts.
so here's what i did this year (and this is all kosher since jeff has already gotten all of these gifts, the ones left i will not post) -
every day jeff was given a card and one the front said - "on the __ day of christmas..." and then on the inside of the card it said - "my true love gave to me-" and then whatever that days gift was. now some of you might read these and think, "some of these are really weird gifts!" and they may be to you. but some of them are inside jokes between jeff and i, or some of them are just things i know he likes and appreciates. so thats the beauty of something like this - cater it to who you are giving it to! get creative and really think hard about what that person likes and appreciates - i guarantee they will love it, if nothing else they will love the thought you put into it! :)

day one - the first of the lord of the rings trilogy
day two - a framed project with malachi's two hands for jeff's office
day three - a framed picture of the three of us for jeff's office
day four - four nice, thick boot socks for the winter
day five - five notes of love around the house
day six - six tea bags of christmas tea (to make six cups of tea)
day seven - seven reeses cups
day eight - eight travel packs of tissues
day nine - nine homemade enchiladas for dinner
and here we are at day ten - this is my day 10 gift to you my love, i know you're reading -

10 things i love about you, jeff -

#10 - your love for adventure and exploring. i love that we can go someplace new and just wander together, with no plan or schedule. i love that you love this just as much as i do.
#9 - the way you drag your feet when you walk. it is something completely unique to you and i can always hear you coming!
#8 - the way you "make a joyful noise." i know i give you a hard time about your lack of pitch but you worship the Lord in such a dynamic way, it is hard not to get swept up. i feel blessed to stand beside you in worship.
#7- the look that you give me when you ask me to do things for you, like a little kid peering over his glasses. it's so cute and i love that i am able to serve you.
#6 - the way you preach and the way you read scripture aloud. you are excited, passionate and expressive. and it all comes out once you open your mouth.
#5 - your beat-boxing and every other crazy "sound effect" you make.  it sure makes life interesting to have a sound track!
#4 - your ridiculous sense of humor. i have never met anyone who has as much energy and silliness bottled up inside of them. and when it comes out - watch out!
#3 - the way you love our son and the way you loved him before you even met him. you loved him from the minute i told you about him with such a passion and excitement. i love the way you hold him and are tender toward him but also fun and silly with him. i love the way you "wrestle" with him but also the way you are firm with him in the way that a father must be with his son.
#2 - the way you love me. i love the ways that you lead me and shepherd me and selflessly work with me. you come home from work many days and never stop working, you help me with malachi and help me get things done. i could never imagine a better fit for me and i am so thankful to the Lord for you! i love it when you surprise me and when you study me. i love it when i know you hear me and understand me.
and...
#1 - the way you love Christ more than you love me! you spend hours reading scripture and praying and i know that your love for the Lord is the basis for your love for me. i would never want it any other way!

merry christmas my love!!!

and to anyone who now has the impression my husband is almost perfect, let me just tell you this...

he is! (and he's mine!) ;)

favorite baby items.... 3-6 mos.

continued on from yesterday...

3-6 months
At about 3 1/2-4 months we transitioned Malachi to his own room and his own bed at night. and around 5 months we started baby food with him. there are big changes during this time! so these are some of my "essentials" for the 3-6 month stage.

1. a sound machine
this is probably not an "essential" but we have found it to be soooooo helpful for malachi to sleep well.  as he has gotten older and more aware he is much more alert to sounds during the day and at night.  this has helped with his naps and now we even use it at night and have found it helpful for him to sleep more soundly at night. we were gifted this one by Homedics and we really love it because it will stay on all of the time if you want it to (which we do for nighttime use).

2. footed pajamas
malachi wears these every night and i love them because i know he is warm and snuggly, even though i don't put him in a sleep sack anymore. and really, is anything cuter than a baby in footed pajamas?!?!

3. robeez shoes
these are my absolute FAVORITE shoes for a baby. when malachi was a newborn it was summer and he never wore shoes or socks. but once it started getting cooler i knew he needed to have something on his feet. but he moves his legs so much that socks never stay on his feet without some kind of shoe.  so these are my favorites because they are soft and flexible and have a stretchy heel.  so it makes it super easy to put them on a squirmy baby who can't "help" you get his feet in. the ones i have are discontinued, as i bought them both from consignment stores, but these are on my wishlist for christmas and for the next 6 months!

4. bumbo seat
when we started malachi on solids, this seat was a lifesaver! we don't have a traditional highchair (and don't really want one) but this seat with the tray was the perfect size! i bought it at a consignment store and paid a good price and it has been worth every penny. and its great because its really supportive for smaller babies and kept malachi upright when we first started babyfood. i'm not sure a big highchair would have been the right size, as he was still pretty small at 5 months.

5. lots and lots of bibs
once we started malachi on baby food i realized why families with babies have so many bibs stashed around! haha... and now that he eats twice a day we go through two bibs a day - i think we're going to have to get more soon! this one is jeff's favorite! haha...

6. a swing
honestly, we have had our swing since before malachi was born but only did it get a lot of use when he turned about 3 months old. he slept in it for about the first week of his life but then after all of our company and after we moved he just didn't seem to like it anymore. i guess he just didn't like being put down or whatever.  so after several weeks of working with him on the whole "i don't want to be put down" thing, we tried the swing again. he still didn't really like it and would only sit in it for about 10 mins. but once he was about 3 or 4 months old he started to like it again. and i tell you what, that thing has been a lifesaver on more than one occasion.  it sits in our kitchen currently and he sits in it and watches me cook or do whatever in the kitchen on a daily basis. i'm so thankful that he likes it now, as it allows me to get stuff done while he's content. ours is not this one specifically but very similar - small, portable and can fold up for transporting it or storage.

7. good diapers
i think this is especially important if you cloth diaper like i do, but good diapers will save you lots of headache when babies get to this stage. they wet more heavily and soil more in consistency. so a diaper you trust is a must! i want to eventually do a cloth diapering "essentials" list, but i feel like i am still learning so much, so maybe i need to wait for that a little bit.  but since we started cloth diapering regularly at 3 months, the Kawaii baby diapers have been my instant faves! they are absorbent, fit malachi well, and are not too bulky (even when double stuffed at night!). good diapers will make your life so much easier in the 3-6 month stage.

8. don't forget mama!
i know i included this in yesterdays post but in this stage it is just as important! at this point malachi was eating and sleeping more regularly which meant one thing for me - freedom! :) i was able to plan outings and not have to worry about feeding while i was out, it was awesome! so here are my essentials for mama during the 3-6 month stage -
- regular date nights: these are so much easier at this stage because i can be away from malachi for more than jsut a few hours at a time. it doesn't happen every week, but when we do go out it is so nice! :)
- babysitters you trust: so important, especially if you're like us and don't have family close. but when you have some babysitters you trust your times away are so much less stressful!
- regular times to just get out: staying home with a baby can be a lonely time for some people. planning times just to get out and do something outside of your house can be so refreshing! even going to the store can be a pick-me-up somedays :)

so take it or leave it, but these are some of my favorite things for baby (and mama!) during the 3-6 month stage.  hope you got some great ideas for yourself or someone else!

what are some of your favorite 3-6 month baby items?!?!

favorite baby items... 0-3 mos.

since christmas is coming so soon, i thought some people might have a need to buy a baby gift. so i decided to put together my list of favorite baby items. i always like recommendations and maybe some of you out there might too!

i feel like the last 6 months have been quite a blur.  i wouldn't say that they have flown by (i know a lot of people think that when they have a new baby, that just hasn't really been my experience) but they have kinda all run together.  so my goal is to document as many things as i can so that i can remember them.  i think i realized too late that the early days are a blur, but this is my goal going forward!

i think it is starting to sink in that malachi is half way to a year! crazy! so i wanted to share what some of my favorite newborn "baby items." my 0-3 month essential list if you will. and then my favorite things for the 3-6 month stage. the point is so that i can remember but also so that it might help anyone trying to wade through the endless amounts of baby products out there. the essentials are not so numerous after all!

i think you'll realize the things you "need" to have is really not as much as you think you "need" to have. it's so easy to get caught up and think you need all of these new things for your baby but the reality is that if they have love and food they really will be just fine.  all of the other stuff is sometimes nice but really not necessary.  and honestly some of the stuff is just plain unnecessary and will just clutter up your house.  so take these as suggestions of what worked for us.  sure, we have more stuff than this but when all is said and done these are the most important things.

0-3 months
1. a good place for baby to sleep near you at night
this makes feedings in the night 10x easier.  jeff and i opted not to get a bassinet and got a pack and play with a bassinet feature.  it kind of acts as a two-in-one for us because even now we will continue to use the playpen even though he has outgrown the bassinet part. here is the one we have -

and another great feature of this pack and play was the changing table part, though not really essential.  this was so nice for us because we don't have a changing table and this worked perfectly for the first few months when we changed diaper after diaper. which brings me to number two...

2. lots and lots of diapers
i was so blessed to be given a TON of diapers.  especially newborn and sized one diapers.  i wanted to cloth diaper eventually with malachi (and do now!) but i could not have handled cloth diapers right away.  there are so many things to adjust to with a new baby, diapers should not be one of them.  i never would have thought i would have used all of the diapers i was given but surprisingly enough i did use almost all of them.  so buy more than you think you will ever need! (or hope for generous friends and family that will gift you diapers!) newborn size and size one will get you through a few months, so these are the two sizes i see as most important to have a lot of.  by the time you get out of those sizes you will have a better view of how many diapers your baby will go through in a day and how quickly they will move to the next size. then you can decide how much you want to stock up on the bigger sizes.

3. newborn sized clothes
call me stupid or naive or whatever but for some reason while i was pregnant i was convinced that we were going to have a big baby, like an 8 or 9 pound baby.  and so i did not buy one peice of clothing in newborn size.  everything i bought was 0-3 month size, thinking this would be what we needed with such a big baby.  well, malachi came and he was a healthy size but definetly not that big.  so all of those clothes were just swimming on him.  thankfully we had wonderful friends and family that gave us some newborn sized clothes that he wore for several weeks.  next time i will know to have some newborn size on hand! :)

4.  sheets, waterproof pads and blankets
malachi was not a spitter-upper and i am soooo thankful for that.  he only really threw up a couple of times in the first month, but when he did - oh my, watch out! i found it super helpful to have several waterproof pads on hand to put under him when he slept and then be able to change if i needed to in the middle of the night.  there was one night i remember when he went through three sheets and three water proof pads and had to be changed three times.  it was a rough night! but it just goes to show that you might need more than two sheets ;) i loved the play yard sheets from target - i think they fit better than the graco ones, and way cheaper!
also, for the first several weeks we swaddled malachi in receiving blankets, which also needed to be changed often.  so having several of those on hand will be helpful.  plus, flannel receiving blankets are so useful for so many things! we still use them daily for one thing or another. and so cute, aren't they?!?!

 5.  pacifiers that the baby likes
not all babies like pacis or will take one but malachi loves his! we realized early on that its a comfort thing for him when he's going to sleep and reduces the crying a lot.  the MAM brand are our favorites. the key is to find one your baby likes.  pacis come in lots of different shapes and babies will not like all of them but when they like one they usually love it.

6. a good carseat
this is a really important essential because you can't leave the hospital without it!  we wanted a carseat that wasn't too big or bulky or heavy because you're going to be carrying it a lot over the first several months.  we are so pleased with the one we got.  we weren't really looking for a "travel system" at first but my family gifted this to us and we couldn't be happier. 

and the stroller is a huge bonus! we love that it's all-terrain and it has gotten a ton of use over these last few months! we can't wait till it gets warm again and can use it more!

7. don't forget about mama!
what i mean by that is, don't forget about your mama stuff and to have that ready before the baby comes too!
 - some good quality nursing bras or tanks if you're planning to nurse (i love the glamourmom brand!)
 - good sleeping bras! these were invaluable to me for the first two weeks and honestly i didn't know i needed them until malachi came. they are also great for when you're just around the house.  i wish i would have had them in the hospital quite frankly. my favorite is Medela's Comfort bra.
 - plans to rest and not do too much for atleast a week - have meals lined up and get as much rest as you can.  not only is this important for your recovery but it is also essential to build up your milk supply and to establish good breastfeeding.

these are some of my favorite items for the newborn stage and tomorrow i will post about my favorite items for the next stage - 3-6 mos.

what are some of your favorite 0-3 month items?!?!

working at home....

these last two days have been one of those times where i have been going going going and haven't even left my house! so i thought i would give you a little peak into our house this season and see how busy it can be to stay at home! ha! :)

lots of pumpkin bread making (i think total i am making about 30 mini loafs - its been busy!) 

lots of pumpkin bread wrapping....

present wrapping....

laundry that has been folded and still needs to be put away....

diapers washed, stuffed and put away - ready to be dirtied again by a sweet little boy....

and this project i have been working on for hubby... i can't wait to share more about it later this week, but it is quickly becoming a favorite tradition!

i know there are days when my hubby comes home and asked me how my day went and what i have been up to and i have a hard time thinking of what i did all day. you know those days, when you never expected whatever you did to take the entire day but yet it does and you feel like you have nothing to show for it.  thats another post all in itself.  i've been there... but the last few days have NOT been one of those days. and the rest of the week will not be one of those days either, it's a busy season friends.

BUT, let's not get so wrapped up in all of our doing that we forget the purpose for this advent season - we await with eager expectation the baby born on Christmas, who was born to die. to die for the sins of all who put their trust and hope in him. that we may live for him all the days of our life and one day live with him in perfect peace.

i have a notecard hanging above malachi's changing table with Isaiah 26:3-4 written on it and i have been meditating on it the last several weeks.  "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock."  may we have peace this christmas season because of the work done for us on the cross. and may that peace permeate our homes in a very real way this december.

how is YOUR mind stayed on Christ this december?

love from the Mixon house! 

staying home...

i was so encouraged by one of my favorite bloggers this afternoon! i can completely resonate with her thoughts on staying home and delighting in that time.
i get asked time and time again by people who know we live in a small town and know i stay home with malachi - "what do you DO all day?" and my usual answer is - "i find it so much easier to be at home here than i would have in louisville." and i think this is why - my heart is so easily distracted and restless. i would have found too many "things" to take me out of the house and not have valued the time that i have to be at home. i would not have recognized the GIFT it is to be home with my baby and taking care of our home.
now granted, she and i are in different places. i do not have 3 children. she does not have the same demands of ministry and the activities at church that take me away from home. i have a husband who requires my help outside of the home some days. she has a choice to sit certain activities out, etc. etc.
but the heart is the same - finding joy and delight in the opportunity to be home, not the drudgery of being home. be encouraged dear sisters! our job is not a burden! it is a joy and a treasure!
do YOU need to enjoy staying at home sometimes?

read and be encouraged! Enjoying the Simplicity of Staying Home

our christmas tree!

jeff and i have always loved getting real trees for christmas.  the smell, the feel, the "realness" of it - we love it all.  so this year i started asking around for the best place to get a tree.  in louisville, we had this little nursery right down the road from our apartment that we always went to get a tree. we never did the whole "cut down your own" because the only place we knew about that you could do that was like an hour away. but it was sort of our own tradition to go to this little nursery and pick out a tree and drive the short way home.
this year we heard about a tree farm really close to where we live and so we decided to do it! we went this past saturday and cut our own christmas tree for the first time. so fun!

malachi was such a trooper!

jeff got really into it and had to find the "perfect" tree

malachi and i entertained ourselves while jeff hunted ;)

we did end up finding a tree - a very BIG tree! the biggest we've ever gotten! i guess we'll have to remember next year that the tree looks much bigger in your house than it does in the field.  ha!

when we got home we got the tree in the stand and then guess what showed up in the mail?? malachi's first christmas ornament! all the way from wales, uk. what perfect timing! it went on the tree before anything else!

we finally were able to decorate it last night and i think it looks great - big but great!

we were trying to get a family pic in front of the tree but it didn't work so well. oh well! it's a cute picture anyway!

and just for fun... ;)

i hope your christmas season is starting wonderfully!

love from the mixon house!

holiday traditions...

so i don't know about you, but i LOVE holiday traditions! my family growing up has a few and they are so comforting and fun to look forward to year after year.  like every christmas eve we eat spagetti, there is a story behind it, don't worry, but i won't got into it here. ha! and as far back as my siblings were all old enough to buy each other gifts we have drawn names and did a secret santa type gift exchange.  my sister wears a santa hat every christmas morning.  we never open presents until everyone is up and we have eaten breakfast.  the list could go on but i think thats a good enough sample.

so when jeff and i got married we talked about the different traditions we wanted to carry on from our own families growing up and what new traditions we wanted to start for our new family.  one of those new traditions is buying a new christmas ornament each year that represents something significant from that year. and we also want to do that for our kids each year too, or atleast get them each a new ornament every year so that when they move out they already have a little ornament collection for their first christmas tree.

it's fun to get creative and think through the things that have happened and how to find an ornament to represent that. we've had some fun ones over the last few years.

our love birds from 2008 - our first christmas together and the year we got engaged, i got these at starburcks that year, where i was working at the time

our first christmas married in 2009, i got this one at Hadley Pottery which is a very "Louisville" thing - where we met, got married, had our first baby, lived together for 3 years, etc.

christmas 2010 - the year we were pregnant with baby mix

2011- malachi's first christmas and his first ornament

2011 - the year we moved to Ohio and became a Buckeye

anyway, i love this little tradition we started and it is always so fun to pull out the ornaments each year and remember when, where and why we got them. it is so good each year to remember the things God has brought us through and blessed us with.  i look forward to many more years of ornaments with meanings!

do you have any fun holiday traditions? leave a comment and let me know! 

November in our Home & Malachi - 6th Month

ok, in an effort to simplify i am going to combine our monthly update with malachi's updates. he turns the next month on the 9th, so really it's one in the same.

so November has been a big month for the Mixon's! we have had lots of fun and i feel like malachi has just grown in leaps and bounds! hard to believe he will be 6 months old in just a week!

 - his schedule has stayed the same since last month. he still nurses only 4 times a day and i am loving it! i feel like i have so much more freedom in it and it is so much easier to work it around the things we do so i don't have to nurse when we're out very much anymore.  it's so nice :)
 - he sat up all by himself for the first time last night! i sat him on the floor and normally if i don't have atleast a hand on him he just topples over but last night he stayed! so fun! i mean, he didn't stay that way for long but still, it's progress.  he would even lift his chest up and stick his arms out to really sit up without any support and he could hold that for several seconds. but not long enough for me to get a picture.  so maybe soon!

 - he's still enjoying his new "food" - baby food! he has quite the appetite and some days still wants more after eating 3 cubes of babyfood (which amounts to about 3 ounces).  so i'm still learning how much he will eat so that i fix enough but not too much that its wasted.  so far he's had - butternut squash, avocado, peas, carrots, and pumpkin. next up is green beans, sweet potatoes and maybe some apple sauce.
 - he is getting way more active in his crib during nap times and bed time. pretty much every time i have to go in an check on him it's because he has rolled himself from his belly to back and can't get back.  so i turn him back over and tuck him back in and he's usually fine.  it's quite humorous to me.  especially because i STILL cannot get him to roll over when i am watching him! he won't do it! but he will roll over all the time in his crib when no one is there.  i can't quite figure it out but it makes me laugh.
in this picture he didn't roll himself over but he was turned 90degrees and completely outside of his covers and the look on his face makes me wonder if he's thinking "uh oh... busted!" haha! :)

 - he and jeff are still bff's! they are so funny together and malachi absolutely adores his daddy.  jeff can make him full on belly laugh like no one else and its the funniest thing!
malachi has been laughing a ton more this month and his little personality is coming out a lot more.  i think he's going to be a clown for sure! the other day malachi was babbling a ton and getting really loud while jeff was playing with him and jeff turned to me and said "oh no, i think i have created a monster. maybe i should have whispered around him for the first few months." hahahahahaha.....  it is quite funny though because when other people see jeff and malachi interact they are just amazed at how little malachi is phased by jeffs antics! he will get right up in malachi's face and make funny faces and noises and get loud and malachi will hardly blink.  he's just going to think jeff's behavior is completely normal (atleast until i tell him otherwise! ha!).

November was such a fun month! Fall was in full swing here in Ohio and we really enjoyed the cooler weather and pretty leaves. my bible study i have been in since september finished up this month.  what a blessing it was to me and a sweet time of learning and growing! i can't wait for the next one to start up! we had a service project with the youth group raking leaves around the neighborhood and then touch football in the church yard afterward.  thanksgiving was such a blessing with our visitors from Louisville - one to remember for sure! jeff is finishing up with his semester of seminary classes - yay! a full full month! :)

we are looking forward with anticipation to December and all that the christmas season brings! lots of parties and goodies and fellowship with friends, and eventually visiting with family in california - yay!  but most of all, reflecting on the time when our Saviour came to earth in human flesh to die on a cross and take away the sins of those who trust in Him. what an exciting time!

thanksgiving recap

can i just tell you what a blessing our thanksgiving was this year?!?! our dear friends tommy and kelly and their three boys came to stay with us for about 3 days and we had the best time!  it is so nice when you are with old friends and their is no need to impress or entertain or worry.  we just hung out and visited and played with the boys.  it was so refreshing for the soul :)
on thanksgiving, kelly and i cooked all the sides and desserts and the men were in charge of frying the turkey (that's right, jeff wanted to fry a turkey, no one should be shocked!) it was delicious!

the men doing the "work" outside

our table all ready to go!

on friday we all walked to the candy shop here in west liberty because they do a big holiday open house thing where you get to tour the factory and the kids get to make gingerbread houses.  the 2 big boys had a blast and were so proud of their houses!

 malachi has a fascination with his tongue lately - sticking it out, waving it, etc. jeff wanted to be just like him ;)

so proud of his house!

then when we go back tommy made gumbo and we all took a nap! jeff and i just love their gumbo - really authentic and delicious.  they showed me how to make it, so i'm gonna try it out... we'll see....

saturday we went to columbus to eat at this restaurant jeff loves and then they left to go back home from there.  we were so sad to see them go but were so thankful they were able to come and be with us for a little while.  we are so blessed and can't wait for them to come back!!

what a blessed thanksgiving!

 probably my favorite picture from our little "photo shoot" - right kelly?!?! ha!