Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…

You all are invited to join Nina from According to Nina, Meredith from The Tichenor Family, Molly from Duchess of Fork, AP from I Love You More Than Carrots and me for a week of holiday-themed blog link-ups!

On Monday, Nina will be posting about “Oh What Fun It Is To Entertain” and she’ll be sharing holiday entertaining ideas and tips with you. We wanted to encourage you to share your own ideas on your blog and link back up with the blog host for that day. Hopefully we can all get some great ideas and showcase what we’ve done this holiday season.

Each day, the hostess for the day will provide you a little link up button if you choose to put it on your blog.

We hope you’ll link up and share your Christmas ideas!

1. There are still times when I cannot feel the skin around my c-section scar. I’m so sorry if that’s TMI, but it’s the truth.

2. Despite the confession in #1, I am still oh-so-grateful that Hayes was born via c-section.

3. I still need to lose about 20 pounds. It’s a combination of Hayes pregnancy and Hudson pregnancy weight. Please do not say in the comments “you don’t need to lose weight” just to make me feel better. Yes, I do. It would make me feel so much better to finally get that weight off. I have chosen not to post the most unflattering pictures of myself because it’s my blog and why would I post unflattering pictures of myself?  Anyway, the weight needs to take a hike.

4. Who decides to lose 20 pounds right before Christmas? Shouldn’t I wait until after Christmas? You’d think. But, no, I’m ready.

5. The last four confessions aren’t really helping me to focus on what I’m grateful for right now. Sorry, Ann Voskamp. I’m working on it, I really am.

6. Today, I am grateful for a husband who is willing to drive to Louisiana late at night so the boys can sleep most of the way!

7. My Erin Condren iPhone case arrived yesterday and I love it. It was a gift from the wonderful Nina and I am so excited to have it!

8. I am a book swap failure. I have all of the addresses and I even purchased the books for the kids I’m sending books to. I just haven’t mailed the letters or the book. It will get done eventually!

9. TC has been out of town for the past three days. It is so hard when he’s not here! My patience is about gone and I took time every night to pray that I would be kind and patient no matter how much I had been pushed to my limit. It’s as if Hudson was pushing me just because TC was gone. Anyway, I did it and I can’t wait for him to get home tonight!

10. I just read #4… please understand that I do not plan to lose 20 pounds by Christmas. Just wanted to make that clear.

11. I am straight up obsessed with my new Keurig. They make it way too easy to make a cup of coffee. And it’s a good cup of coffee. I love the new Starbucks K-cups in Breakfast Blend.

12. My oldest friend in the world is getting married this weekend. This officially makes us grown-ups.

13. Which takes more effort? “Being the bigger person” or holding a grudge? Neither are easy.

14. I am running the air conditioner in my house today. Hello, South Carolina? It’s December. Get it together.

15. I only want one thing for Christmas. I’m not very easy to buy for this year.

16. Instead of watching Christmas movies this week, all I wanted to watch was the old 90210 episode that was a spoof on It’s A Wonderful Life. This makes me weird.

We’re in the giving season. It’s Christmas. So much of Christmas has become about the giving and receiving of gifts. And gifts are my love language. I love gifts.

I love selecting gifts and carefully wrapping them. I love selecting the wrapping paper and ribbon. I love making bows. I love placing the gifts under the tree and handing them to the recipients.

But this season is also very busy. We get weighted down by responsibility and to-do lists. I know I do. I have a full calendar throughout the rest of the month. Parties, gift exchanges, performances, volunteer work. Everything is important and nothing seems to be able to be removed from the list. And then, before we know it, it’s Christmas. Family is in town and we’re rushing around making food to feed an army rather than just hanging out and enjoying our time together.

But, for the obvious reasons, I love all of that, too. Though I may stay up late to get everything done and complain that I didn’t get enough sleep, I still love everything on the to-do list. But I don’t want the real Spirit of this season to be lost.

While I was out shopping recently, I picked up a copy of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I’ve only just begun to read this book, but I know that it is something I need to read.

I need to make a conscious effort, like Ann Voskamp did, to notice all the good around me. I want to keep my eyes open and take note of every single thing that I’m grateful for.

Life and its commitments are inevitable. And most of our commitments are things we can’t just walk away from. They make life challenging, sure. But the things I’m committed to, big and small, are mine.

My concern has been that I’ll be so busy with commitments that I stop noticing all the beauty around me. And I’m not talking about the obvious things. I will never stop noticing the people I love. I’m talking about the less obvious things. To be thankful for the rain and to truly appreciate the fact that I have a roof over my head.

I need to stop looking to the future and spend more time focusing on right now.

I picked up this book as a gift for a handful of friends because I love what it’s about. I know that I’m going to learn so much from it.

I have to start keeping my eyes open. I have to stop rushing around. I am so thankful for my husband, my family, my children, my friends and employment. I’m thankful for the first amendment and that I’m able to have this blog where I can journal.

But this is when I need to look around me and see all the things I have been missing because I’ve been moving too quickly.

I’m thankful for the smell of Cheer detergent and the way my heart flutters when I hug my husband when he’s wearing a just-dried shirt.

I’m thankful for the tantrum my toddler just threw because I know that he is spirited and passionate and I never want to crush that spirit.

What are you thankful today? Are you like me? Are you moving so quickly this month that the good stuff is passing you by?

“And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20