christmas cheer | our annual traditions.

Two stops during the week leading up to Christmas, three stops on Christmas Eve, four stops on Christmas Day, and three days to recover once all stops were complete. Whew! I love this time of year - the hustle and bustle mixed in with the stillness of those first few moments + last few moments of the day - and I am always so sad to say farewell to the trees and lights and gifts and traditions for another year. Braxton didn't nap for two days during the hustle + bustle part, but aside from being very zombie-like a couple of times, he handled his second Christmas season like a champ. He loved having all eyes on him while we visited with family, and all those brand new toys he got are still getting looooots of attention. It's like Christmas every day when he wakes up and sees that all of them are still here!

We got lots of new stuff for our new house, including a surprise Kitchen Aid mixer that was a total shock and may or may not have made me scream like a little girl, and it has been so fun to tinker and place things throughout the walls and rooms of our new bungalow. I originally thought that I would leave all our Christmas up for a few extra days, but I quickly changed my mind when we brought in all our new décor. So much so that we have been packed up for three days! I can't believe it either, y'all. But seeing our house as it will be for most of the year is absolutely worth this veer in tradition - we are so smitten with how it all looks (don't worry - I will reveal more soon!).

On Christmas Eve we went to Pop + Gigi's house, Nana + Papa's house, and then we had our annual Phillips Christmas at Linda + Dennis' house. On Christmas day, we opened our gifts to each other before the madness began, joined our Capstone family for a beautiful service that focused on the hope, joy, and peace in Christ that we celebrate this season, went to Granny Pat's house, met Grandma (my mama) and the family at our new house to exchange gifts, and then ended our day at Pops + Mimi's house before coming home to crash. And we certainly crashed hard.

Call me crazy, but I love the fullness that this season brings. I really, really do.

Here's to making that fullness last into and throughout the new year, starting with a heart full of gratefulness.

Merry Christmas to you from us!

this Christmas season.

'Tis been a season of fullness! Full bellies, full schedules, and, most importantly, full hearts.

We've had plenty of merry scenes over the past month, many of which took place within the walls of our new home. We have so much to be thankful for, especially the precious people that we have been celebrating with throughout December and the past year.

In this season of so much change and chaos, I have never been more grateful for my camera!

Yep, here's your evidence that I've actually been taking photos over the past few weeks even though there has been limited (basically none at all) sharing of all these sweet treasures.

Only one more sleep until CHRISTMAS, people!

home sweet bargeron | chrismas edition.

This year's Christmas decorating got pushed back a couple of weeks due to our big move and a whole lot of rain. It was thrilling to get our new home ready for my favorite season, but I won't lie...it was slightly (read: very) overwhelming to decorate for every day use AND Christmas. Whew! Those first couple of days of moving everything in and putting it all in its own place were filled with moments where I just stepped back and stared at the mess in front of (and all around) me. My brain felt like a cooked pot of spaghetti, y'all!

But I am so happy that we pushed through the chaos and got our home fully ready to celebrate this blessed holiday. Seriously, so happy! I may or may not leave all of the red and green out through January to make up for the delay. Yep, I'm definitely considering it.

It was certainly strange not decorating our first bungalow this year, but the excitement that came with getting our new bungalow ready provided so much joy and giddiness that we really weren't sad. If you had asked me two months ago if that would have been the case, I would have looked at you like you were crazy and then busted out in tears. It was so hard to leave that first home. So, so hard.

But this new home of ours is proof to us that God never asks you to give something good up unless He has plans to give you something even better. We reflected on His faithfulness and generosity towards us as we strung lights and perfectly placed trinkets, and I truly believe that that same reflecting will be a regular tradition for as long as we are blessed to live in this beautifully orchestrated-just-for-us home.

In honor of Christmas only being two (!!) days away, I am proud to show you a glimpse into what the past few weeks of calling this house our home has looked like. We are so thankful to be spending Christmas here this year, and we look forward to every new Christmas season being even more magical than the one before.

Christ is the reason for this season, indeed. But He is, also, the reason for so, so much more.

Without further ado, we welcome you in for a quick tour of our new home: our very own (and very festive) Bigger Bargeron Bungalow!

Merry Christmas from the three Bargerons!

May your days be merry, bright, and full of Christmas cheer.

braxton michael | twenty-three months.

In exactly one month, our once-baby will be two years old. TWO. YEARS. OLD.

Can someone tell me how that's possible?

He is twenty-three months old today, barely hanging on to being a one year-old, and he's been on a wild ride since we celebrated the twelfth day of the previous month. Mommy has still been snapping pictures at every turn, but I've been a little less, how to do you say, "on top of it" when it comes to posting all the precious still shots I capture. We haven't been on a trail hike all month (can you believe it?!?!), but we've taken a couple walks around the neighborhood (our new neighborhood - eeek!) when being cooped up inside was too much to bear. He has been so sweet, especially over the past week, as I've tried to get our house in order, and he's also transitioned to so many big changes recently like a champ.

He gets wilder and crazier with every new breath he breathes in, and he somehow manages to get cuter just as fast, too. He already talks our ears off with a voice that reminds of perfect innocence and purity, and his words are constantly getting clearer and clearer. He prefers running over walking, loves to eat, never goes too long without pausing for a hug or a kiss from his daddy or mommy, is amazed at all the Christmas decorations everywhere, and sprints out of his room to greet the snowman on our mantle every morning before he does anything else.

He officially has a new room in our new home, and he loves everything about it...especially taking every single book off of his bookshelf multiple times a day (and BOY, does he have a lot of books). In only a week's time, Teesh and I have probably reorganized them a combined total of thirty times. We don't mind though, because we love that he loves to read already! Well, let's just say we don't mind yet.

We walked to the Fountain Inn Christmas Parade as citizens of our adorable, new-to-us town last week, and we also chose and strung the lights on our very first Christmas tree at our new home. I wish I would have filmed Braxton's response to waking up to all the lights and reds and greens on that first morning that I rose early just to turn them on. Oh, I hope he loves Christmas as much as I do!

I will be the mommy of a two year-old blondie next month, which means that the next thirty days will be filled with birthday party planning (yay for Elmo!), a hundred smooches per day, reminiscing over how blessed we've been up to this point in our lives, countless prayers of thanksgiving lifted, and trying to be the best wife to Teesh and mama to Braxton that I can be. His second Christmas is nearing fast, and we've got lots and lots to celebrate and be grateful for!

The months just get sweeter and sweeter, but my goodness, do they fly by.

closing day | the bargerons are comin' to town.

On Thursday, we pulled into the driveway of a house we've been praying for over the past few months. Earlier that day, we woke up slowly, daydreamed about what the rest of the day would look like, signed a big stack of papers, and somehow managed to not break the speed limit on the way home.

Ahh, home.

It was on this day that the driveway I just mentioned went from being a hope to a reality. A maybe to a definitely. A couple of months prior, we walked out of our first home with no idea of what would come next, and now we were walking through the doors of one of the greatest gifts we'd ever known. It wasn't our timing or our plan, and yet somehow it was perfect. Funny, huh?

We opened the door, breathed in the fresh paint smell, ran our fingers along the new countertops, dug our toes into the gorgeous hardwoods as we walked from room to room, and squeezed each other under the chandelier in our new dining room before we began unloading the truck. We would have been foolish to not pause to be thankful  to God and rejoice that we are starting this new chapter together, so we did just that: we paused.

The rest of the day was full of unloading, brainstorming, organizing and reorganizing, blaring Christmas music, and occasionally just stopping to smile at each other and say "I love you" before moving onto the next thing on our lengthy to-do list. Braxton ran through the house, stomping his tiny feet and shouting out in joy, and we grinned as we watched him get used to this new place that would soon be his haven.

That was what closing day looked like, but today is when the real fun begins. After spending the last few days getting our new house ready for its new family, today is the big day... MOVING DAY! There are still things to be done (and I suppose there always will be), but we've got it as close to "move in ready" as it needs to be before we spend our first night (and many more after that) in our new home.

Y'all say it with me now...EEEEEEEEK!

We will still be hustling to get things done today, including getting a Christmas tree to decorate and tuck our wrapped presents under (double eeeeeek!). This time of year is always the most exciting, and our big move only adds to the magic.

Fountain Inn, it's good to be home.