followthestepps

for our second day of Christmas, i wanted to share a video that has never been seen by anyone outside of our family. it is actually a video that i created for a competition two years ago. while i produce videos professionally, i rarely enter into film contests. in fact, this is the only one that i have ever attempted.

the premise was to create a video centered around the theme of “a day through your lens”. contestants could create anything relative to that idea as long as it was exactly 2:20 in length. being that jackson was only 18 months old, and kelly was pregnant with emerson, i naturally figured that a day through my lens would somehow involve them. and so the brainstorming began.

it was such a last minute decision to even enter the contest, and i literally wrote, shot, and edited in the same night. on top of that, it also happened to be the night of the deadline for all entries. as i scurried to upload the final video by midnight, the servers went down, and my video was not received. while the contest officials told me that they would make an exception, i still don’t think my video was ever actually judged.

but hey, we now have a great video that we enjoy watching around Christmas every year. in fact, this is one of the few videos that we have of kelly during her pregnancy with emerson. and while this seems like forever ago, it is always fun to watch this video and revisit that time in our lives.

welcome to the newly designed followthestepps website. those of you that are long-time readers may have thought you were at the wrong place. after using the same layout for over three years, we thought it was time for a refresh. everything has been rebuilt from the ground up, and this little overhaul was long overdue.

we have restructured this site in a manner that should make it much easier for us to manage. you can see that we still have links to our family photos and videos at the top of the page. both of these links now take you to dedicated albums that are updated pretty frequently. i take a ton of photos with my iphone, and this family album is where a lot of them live. now, all of our media is just a click away.

several people have asked if we would be doing our annual countdown to Christmas this year. as you can see, the answer is yes. absolutely yes. it has become a long-standing tradition for our family. if you noticed the banner at the top of the page, you can see that we went with a retro theme this year, which will also be reflected in our Christmas cards (just wait).

so, our 12 days of Christmas countdown officially starts today. throughout the course of the next 12 days leading up to Christmas, we will be posting updates daily, including photos, videos, and a ton of stories. we would love to have you stick around and enjoy this holiday tradition with us.

and just to kick things off, i have a brand new Christmas music mix available for free. all you have to do is click on the image below, and it will automatically start downloading. once the folder is completely downloaded, just import it into itunes, and bam, glorious Christmas music will fill your ears. i hope you enjoy, and once again, thanks for being a part of our family countdown.

throughout this entire holiday season, it feels like we have been running behind.  this feeling has carried over into our latest adventure, the 12 days of Christmas.  so, we apologize for the delay with the final picture.  but as you can see, we had to wait for santa to come.  if you saw the sneak peak pics that we posted yesterday, then you may have guessed that jackson got a fire truck for Christmas.  while he loves riding around in this thing, i think his favorite part is the silver bell on the front.  yes, it really works.  yes, it is very loud.  merry Christmas to mommy and daddy.

aside from the belated 12th day picture, we were also a little behind on our Christmas cards.  we just sent them out a few days before Christmas.  but even worse, our son was born in june, and we are just now sending out birth announcements.  wow.  so, in an effort to be efficient, we decided to send out Christmas cards and birth announcements together in the same envelope.  both were designed by us right here in the office, and you can check them out by clicking on the pictures above.

so again, we apologize for our lateness.  and for all of you that have regularly followed the 12 days of Christmas, we thank you.  it means so much to us that you would save a little part of your day to look at our photos.  as always, we certainly hope you’ve been entertained.

well, it is finally here.  between last night and this morning, there is so much to tell.  let’s just say that jackson had a wonderful first Christmas.  and santa dropped off a few surprises for mommy and daddy as well.  there will be much more to come, including the final photo for the 12 days of Christmas.  as for now, click on the picture above for a little sneak peak of jackson’s big surprise.  merry Christmas.

of all the things we love at the holidays, traditions rank at the top.  even from our childhoods, deep holiday traditions have been instilled in us.  it’s visiting family members that you only see once or twice a year.  eating your grandmother’s special candy that she makes just for you.  being with your closest loved ones on Christmas Eve.  or waking up to see what santa has brought on Christmas morning.  it’s what you look forward to each year, and for us, these traditions just keep getting sweeter.  so, we thought we would share some of our recent favorites.

for the past few years now, we have made it a point to visit the grovepark inn during the holidays.  they have the most beautiful display of gingerbread houses that you will ever see.  it continues to amaze us year after year.  this, of course, was jackson’s first time ever seeing these marvelous creations.  as we walked through the grovepark, it was so sweet to see his eyes light up with excitement.  the smell of gingerbread.  the sparkle of lights.  the roar of fireplaces.  it truly made the perfect holiday night.  and much to our surprise, jackson didn’t even try to eat any of the gingerbread houses.  crazy, huh?

aside from the grovepark inn, we also like to slow down and eat a big saturday morning breakfast at cracker barrel.  but this is not just any breakfast.  each year, we choose one saturday in december to meet our dearest friends, joey and rebecca, for this traditional meal.  we eat.  we laugh.  we exchange gifts.  while we typically see them every week, we still look forward to this one meal every year.  and this year, as you might have guessed, “uncle” joey and “aunt” rebecca got jackson some pretty sweet gifts.  i’m telling you, this little guy has no idea how much he is loved.

and what would Christmas be without family gatherings?  i am definitely that guy that enjoys seeing our families.  i can’t tell you how much i look forward to the big meals, the great stories, and the quality time.  we just had our Christmas party with kelly’s side of the family, and as usual, it was a blast.  some of our best Christmas memories have been with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  it’s something that is so special to us.  and with jackson now in the picture, it makes it that much better.  and gifts?  you better believe it.  we may have to add a new wing to our house just for all of his Christmas presents.

and just as you’re savoring these moments with family, you realize, we haven’t even made it to Christmas Eve or Christmas Day yet.  there is still so much to come.  ah the holidays.  oh how i love you.

as you can see, our little guy loves movies.  especially holiday movies.  in fact, he pretty much digs any kind of holiday media.  this time of year, there are so many great things to see, and even better things to hear.  if you haven’t been listening to Christmas music this season, then you are definitely missing out.  or maybe you have gotten tired of the same old Christmas songs being played over and over.  fear not faithful friend.  we have listed our favorite Christmas albums on our music page, and i am sure that you can find something to put you back in the spirit.  only a few more days until Christmas, so what are you waiting for?

well, the 12 days of Christmas have already proven to be more fun than we ever imagined.  we absolutely love hearing from all of you and reading your comments.  as you can imagine, it’s been crazy busy at our house lately, but we still want to keep you up to date on all of the holiday goodness.

therefore, we are going to continue writing as usual about some of the stuff that is going on outside of our crazy picture-taking.  we’ve been so caught up with these 12 photos, that we lost track of some other things that you might enjoy.

for instance, take our annual Christmas party with my grandmother and all of my mom’s side of the family.  it was this past weekend, and boy was it nice to see everyone.  jackson, as usual, was the center of attention.  i know it may come as a surprise, but this child loves the spotlight.  and gifts?  well, let’s just say that we couldn’t even fit everything into our vehicle that night.  and while he may not have the concept of gift-giving figured out, jackson sure does know what wrapping paper tastes like.  we are still trying to teach him that gifts are to be opened, not eaten.  wish us luck.  as usual, you can see all of the fun by clicking on the image above.

so only two days into our Christmas photos, and we have already received a ton of feedback.  while all of the comments have been positive, there is one overwhelming request.  it seems that most of you want to be able to view the photos even after they have ran their one day course.  although the initial goal was to show these pictures for a limited time, we have now decided to include them on our photo page.

the 12 days of Christmas will continue as planned, only now you have the option of viewing photos that you may have missed.  these holiday pictures will have their own dedicated album, which you can access right now on our photo page.

as always, thank you for all the comments and feedback.  it is so nice to hear from all of you.  we just hope this little photo adventure will prove to be as fun for you as it has been for us.

oh you know how the song goes…

on the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

1 broken ornament precious picture of my sweet little one

and a partridge in a pear tree.

as i’m sure you’ve noticed, our website is now sporting a new look.  we have been planning a little holiday treat for quite a while now.  and its just for you, our faithful readers.  we are calling it the 12 days of Christmas, and here is how it works.

beginning this sunday, you will be able to see a new Christmas photo of jackson every day until Christmas.  these holiday photos will only be at the top of our website, and they will change daily.  that’s 12 unique photos that you can only see for a limited time right here.

so what does that mean for you?  well, if you want to see all 12 photos, then you will have to visit our site every day between december 14 and december 25.  please keep in mind that these photos will only run for a limited time, and believe me, you will not want to miss a single one.  so be sure to mark your calendars and spread the word.  we are looking forward to your visit.