Lets train

Does it seem like my blog has become one big giveaway lately? Well I have one more up my sleeve and then I will attempt to do an actual update on life and it will likely be extra ramble-y. Just for you, dear readers.

Yes, I know we are supposed to 'respect the turkey' and Thanksgiving hasn't happened yet. But Christmas is going to be here before we know it and it's time to get those cards ordered! This year I achieved my personal dream of our entire family in matching Christmas pajamas from Hanna Andersson. Yep, even Nate. He didn't put up much of a fight, resigning himself to the fact that he married me and therefore matching pajamas were kind of in our vows at the alter. Seriously, I've wanted to do this for years and now that our family is complete it was time to make it happen! And Nate knew this would make me happy, plus I ordered them while he was gone on a four night work trip to San Diego. He really had no choice in the matter while I was caring for his children and he was in sunny California, sleeping through the night and enjoying peaceful silence in the evenings. So there, Nate. Striped leggings are a payback!

Instead of having professional family pictures taken this year, I just set up the tripod and snapped a few shots one Saturday morning. I knew a true photo shoot in a studio or outside would NOT be happening with Nate's skin-tight striped leggings, so a make shift home shoot would do just fine. I was sweating, I really need to get a remote for my camera, and it was fairly painful like most family photo shoots tend to be with three small children. I figured that even if I only got one half-way decent shot, the pajamas would be cute enough to make it Christmas card worthy. And I did get a few acceptable images that morning;)

Three kids at Christmas time!


Love them so.


A winner, right here:


#PorterTheElf


Strategic baby placement throughout these images--we knew we would not get any standing up shots of our family! ;)


LOL at Truman and Cecelia. What in the heck is going on? Why is mom running back and forth and yelling about the camera timer process?


Best we could do. Porter would not smile and I'm glistening in sweat but whatever!


I wanted one with the kids and at this point, everyone was obviously over it.


Then for the cards, I went with Pear Tree Greetings yet again. They have been awesome to work with in the past for Christmas cards, Valentines cards, Cecelia's first birthday, and Porter's birth announcement, so when they contacted me about Christmas cards it was a no-brainer. Their quality is always top notch and I love how our cards turned out this year. I chose a much simpler Christmas card this year compared to the folded card I chose last year, but I really just wanted a flat card with two images and a text box. The Moveable Cheer Vertical card was my winner this year. A picture of the kids is plastered on the front, our family picture is slightly smaller on the back (and Nate's leggings are barely visible), and I wanted to do a little update on our year, similar to how my mom would always send out Christmas letters growing up. If you are dying to know, this is what my mini-letter says:

"Merry Christmas! 2014 was a big year for the (Goolia) family. Truman turned four, Cecelia turned two, we celebrated seven years of marriage, and then Porter was born on 7.11.14. After an awesome maternity leave, Julia returned to work part-time as a PT, Nate switched clinics as a full-time PT, and Truman started Junior Kindergarten. Our first Christmas as a family of five (plus Henry dog!) will surely be memorable and full of incredible, happy noise. We hope this year has been kind to you, too. Cheers!"


The colors on our card really pop, the gold glitter polka dots make me happy, and I love the little foil logo at the bottom, too. Success!

(Spoiler alert for friends and family who will be getting these in their mailboxes shortly!)








Pear Tree Greetings is going to give one lucky reader a $50 off coupon code to use on your favorite card. Take a look around their many options for Holiday photo cards (or no photo, if that is your thing) and enter the Rafflecopter below. I will draw a winner on Saturday, November 29th and will post it on my Facebook page and in the Rafflecopter box below. Best of luck and have fun card shopping!


a Rafflecopter giveaway