December 31, 2011

Babymoon

I always thought that was an odd term, Babymoon. Meaning having a little get-a-way before the baby comes. Odd that you don't have a little get-a-way before the wedding, but after, called a honeymoon. In any case, Justin and I took one this week, a babymoon that is.


{Mission Valley, San Diego, CA}

For Christmas this year I gave Justin a years worth of date nights. 12 dates. Some are fun, some are funny, most were pre-paid or free. I know date night would be ideal at once a week, but with a new baby coming soon I decided once a month was more realistic for us. The best part about the whole gift wasn't that he loved it, it was the conversations I had with the Big Kid in preparing it. We talked about things like why mom and dad need time alone away together. Why we need to do silly things sometimes. Why having fun with someone you know very well is still important and what you have to do to put someone else's needs above your own. I hope the example we set for our kids will inspire them to work at staying in love with their chosen mates in the future. I got several ideas from The Dating Diva's and tweaked them to fit our family situation. What a great place to find ideas and remember how important it is to uplift and show love for your mate.

One of his date nights was a hotel stay from a gift certificate I won in an auction a while back. We had a great babysitter come armed with movies and games and we headed out with dinner to a local hotel. We are glad we didn't have to pay too much for it, because it didn't have a lot going for it, except the pillows. I am a pillow snob and I was in heaven with these soft, fluffy, supportive pillows.

We went swimming after dark, because no one wants to see a 31 week pregnant woman in a swim suit that was not made for maternity wear. The pool was heated and lovely. We watched movies and relaxed and occasionally answered texts from the home front. We talked and laughed and had a great time.


The best parts were that the house was still fairly clean when we got home, the kids were fed and happy and we were able to sleep in late. It was a great way to wrap up 2011 and prepare for 2012. Huge changes are coming our way and we look forward to all of it. We hope it's wonderful for all of you too.


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December 29, 2011

Happy Birthday Kiddo


Adam turned 11 this year. He had a fun birthday, even though it was just family. He requested pumpkin pie over cake this year, which was great. He even helped me make it. We gave him a huge wall map, knowing there was more coming for Christmas. He had fun playing games with his sister, and she was eager to help him open gifts. We also took him out to dinner and to the National Comedy Theater. He laughed so hard I was worried about him breathing for a while.We knew he would enjoy it.  I can't believe how fast time has gone sometimes. He's turning into such a young man with compassion for others and a great sense of integrity. I can't wait to see what the coming years will bring.
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December 28, 2011

My Favorite Christmas things

Here are a few of my favorite Christmas things this year.
 A 12 Days of Christmas anonymous gift of a new Nativity. It's really cute and fairly child friendly. That's the best kind. Big blessings go to the family who gave us this.

Being able to display some of my Nativity's this year without having to worry too much about them being manhandled to death. It brings a nice Christmas focus into our home.

Seeing Meg enjoy her gifts. This Princess bed tent from Aunt Wendy was a big hit. She loves, loves, loves it.

Playing games on Christmas day with all of the new games you got. Adam and Dad are playing Monopoly You Build here. Bug likes different Monopoly games and has a collection of about 6 so far.

Our sad little Christmas tree all lit up and looking kind of pretty. All child friendly ornaments this year, which was good because the cat knocked it over once and once it just leaned a little too far on it's own. It recovers nicely.

Having Sister Pett come over and bake some cookies with the kids was a real highlight this year. They are missing out on Grandma time big time, and I just couldn't be on my feet long enough to help them do the cookies this year. They all had so much fun. It was balm to my soul to hear them all in the kitchen giggling away.

One of the best ever things this year was going out to the garage and finding that the best husband ever had wrapped all of the gifts, complete with bows and ribbons. That is one of my least favorite things to do and he did almost all of them this year. And they were pretty. What an awesome guy. I am so lucky.

I don't have a photo, but participating in the Stake Choir this year was amazing too. I was worried I wasn't going to be able to do it, but there were only 5 practices and it was so well put together, it was easy to do. I am glad I was able to sing this year. It just doesn't seem like Christmas to me without being in at least one choir.

What great blessings we have had. Hope you had a great Christmas  too.

December 27, 2011

Still pregnant


 By this time in my last pregnancy I was on bed rest. Actually I had been for a week in the hospital and was  waiting to go home and be on bed rest. I was very worried about getting to this point in this pregnancy, but things have actually gone pretty well. We've had some minor bumps in the road and I am on "light duty" and really watching the things I do and don't do. I have had some great help along the way and I am so, so grateful for friends who have been able to take my kids at the last minute for hours at a time and sweet missionaries who have come to make cookies with the kids so they wouldn't miss out on one of their favorite Christmas things.

 
We have made it to the 30 week mark, and that's pretty remarkable. Every day counts.

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December 26, 2011

Christmas projects

We had some fun Christmas projects this year. I hope the people who received them enjoyed them as much as we enjoyed putting them together.

First up was the Super hero aprons. I first saw these on Pinterest and loved them, but couldn't really afford the price tag. I looked up the Etsy shop and saw that she had patterns for sale that looked incredibly similar to the super hero aprons and thought I could make the necessary changes, so I bought the pattern from Modern Vintage Designs and tweaked away. I love how they turned out. Although time consuming, the details definitely made the aprons.
(Don't you love my apron model? He can be bribed.)

We also made some other little things. I made boo-boo bags out of wheat, flannel and essential oils. Meg helped me fill them up and choose the fabric for them. Meg got an 18 inch doll for Christmas, to replace the porcelain doll with the shattered face. Along with the doll came clothes from Grandma Cozy, a bed made by dad and a quilt, mattress and pillow made by me. If you want to know how to make the mattress, try here. I also made Fort Kits.  I first saw them about this time last year and knew I had to make them for my nieces and nephews. Find the tutorial and printables at Saltwater-Kids. Adam and I worked on the quilt for Grandma Cleo for some time. It was first featured in this blog post. I am glad to be able to say I finished it all the way and did get it sent off in time.

Last of all Justin worked long and hard on a gift for Adam. It started a couple of months ago when he mentioned that what he really wanted for Christmas was bigger maps. He has just about worn is Atlas out. He's into geography lately. Justin found a discarded train table on a walk one morning and magically transformed it into a command central table complete with storage area, white board, removable plastic top and all the maps the kiddo would need for the foreseeable future. It's really very cool.

I do love doing handmade Christmas gifts. I think it adds something to the spirit of Christmas for me. Maybe it's the service oriented part of me, but I love making gifts with love and thinking about those who will receive them. I hope you all had a great Christmas this year. I know we did.
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December 8, 2011

Christmas stuff

Yesterday my table looked like this:

Jealous? I can honestly say that packing up all of that fun stuff is just about the worst part of the entire season. Besides the standing in line at the post office, which I have a strange phobia of. I  have to talk myself into it a few days in advance. That's why my shipping date can't change, it then takes me forever to talk myself back into it. Today is shipping day. 9 packages are boxed, taped, addressed and ready to go. Good thing we don't have a big family, right?
Aren't you just dying to know what's inside all of that perfectly packaged goodness? I can't wait to post about it, after the holidays. I had a good time sewing and being creative this year.
  On another note... it's hubby's birthday and he's sick. Birthday post coming soon. Wishing him health and comfort this year. He's a pretty awesome guy and I am one lucky girl.

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December 4, 2011

Monster Fun



We had a 5 year old birthday party to attend last week for a couple of twin friends. I usually make a black apple doll for the little girl birthday parties we attend, but that go-to gift wasn't going to work out this time. I searched Pinterest and found these adorable bags from a fun blog called Hideous!Dreadful!Stinky! I loved the idea and more importantly, had all of the supplies on hand. (I love the Etsy shop from that blog too. Made me laugh.)
   Meg helped me pick out colors and details and this is what we came up with:

 

I put a couple holiday coloring books inside and made some cute tags to go with them. Notice the girl bag has a bow? Meg was trying hard to get me to use a button, but I wasn't sure how well that would hold up. These kids spend a lot of travel time in the back of Mom's van and I thought this might be something fun to do while traveling that doesn't involve electronic devices. My kids liked them so much they put in requests for monsters with certain features. Bug wants freckles and Meg wants a Princess crown. We will see if all of that works out for them. I need to finish up the Christmas sewing so that I can get things shipped off this week. It's the shipping that gets to me every time.
  By the way, my Pinterest is freaking out. It only updates about 3 of my friends and takes a couple of days at a time to update anymore. Anyone know what's up with that? Do I have a setting wonky or something? It just changed all of the sudden and I don't like it. On the plus side, I am not spending anywhere near the time on there that I was, so maybe I shouldn't complain about it. 
   Good luck with your Christmas stuff. I can't wait to post about all of my projects. Some of them are really fun.