Hi friends!

Tomorrow marks the halfway point in our little man’s sweet Advent of Books from our friends, which we talked about HERE. Since we’re already at the halfway mark, we wanted to touch base and update you with a few photos if you’ve missed our daily posts. (Full disclosure: some of our posts are better than others. You know, the days when we don’t open the gift until we’re all together but by that time it’s dark. Or one of us is gone so trying to be in the moment with babe while also taking photos is a tricky dance.)

But you’ll get the idea: we’ve received some beautiful books that he already loves! We just didn’t want anyone to think less photos = less love. Less photos = too much going on over here.

Let’s just get to the photos so you can catch up on what lovely books we’ve been delving into this week over here.

It’s been humbling and amazing to see the gathering of people who made this possible and we’ve loved seeing which books each person has gifted! Once upon a time I was “up” on children’s books, but we’ve been gifted some beautiful books I’d never heard of before! That’s an extra cherry on top of this entire experience for me.

And we’re only halfway there! We’ve been doing daily posts on Instagram in our main feed or the stories: @jonolaynie or @blakeandbeckner

Hope you’re all enjoying life as we march through the holidays!

xo.

I’m all about the traditions - small things to look forward to and make all the moments a little extra special. Some people in my life make fun of me for this, but I own it all the same. We’re extra excited to celebrate Christmas with our little this year - including him in some of our old traditions (like going to chop doing a tree!) and creating some new ones too. Basically - no pressure, kid - but we’re expecting this Christmas to be more full of joy and laughs than ever before.

And the party is starting early because this year we’ve received THE MOST AMAZING GIFT (after our son himself, of course). Some of our friends collaborated to compile an “Advent of Books” for Bèbè. What?! Yes, you read that correctly, they coordinated, conspired, and compiled a collection of books so he can open one every day from now, December 1, through Christmas Eve.

We are BLOWN AWAY at this incredible and thoughtful experience for him.

This sweet gift will literally double his collection of stories and since we read him books all day long, we will all treasure this offering for years to come.

Today was our Book Advent Day #1 and it set the bar high. I texted my friend after we read it (twice) and asked her if it’s normal for this book to make one cry.