My Christmas Crafts

Happy Advent, everyone!

As you know from my previous post we're moving a mere three days before Christmas. This means that we cannot realistically put up our beloved tree until maybe Christmas Eve. In order to get my warm, fuzzy, "Christmas Spirit" fix in the interim, however, I had three small seasonal projects in mind -- a cylinder glass vase showcasing shiny Christmas bulbs, an advent wreath, and my lovely cream imported vase filled with Christmas greenery. Here is an account of my crafty journey.

I was inspired by Pinterest for this one. Here is the original idea brought to you by currystrumpet.blogspot.com. She used a string of lights to really make the sparkles pop, and it looks perfect in this picture:

Well ... I don't know how she made this one work. You can't quite drill a hole at the bottom of a glass vase (at least not easily!) so how the heck do you hide the chintzy-looking excess string of lights without them heaping over the top? Do they sell vases with holes already drilled in them, because I certainly didn't find any at Michael's? Let's just say I tried to make it work with the lights, but to no avail. 

So, I ditched the lights and went with some gold garland. 

I spray-painted these cones with silver glitter, by-the-way. I really like sparkle!

Now onto project #2:

Traditionally, an advent wreath  has three purple candles and one pink candle with greenery all around. 

Because of my innate gift of planning ahead (sarcasm) my advent wreath isn't exactly ... traditional. Michael's didn't have anything advent-related, and I wasn't about to search all over kingdom-come for exactly what I wanted. Also once I actually went shopping it was the day before Advent (shut up. I'm sanguine.) and I wanted something to show for ASAP. 

Life's about compromise anyways, right? 

Here's what I finally decided to do after about an hour of circling the craft store and all of its tiny, narrow isles whilst pushing my son around in his clunky stroller (Thank God for cheddar bunnies!) -- white votive candles wrapped in purple and pink ribbon all on a bejeweled silver charger!  I added two items I already had in my possession. In the center of the "wreath" I set a pretty white statue of the Holy Family. Encircling the statue is a beautiful pearl rosary. I am very happy how it turned out.

The third and final project was by far the easiest to plan and assemble. I purchased the ribbon and the tall, sprigs of greenery. The glittery gold flowers I already had on-hand. I used this as a centerpiece to liven up my bar.

That's all, folks! Maybe if I'm lucky I'll have the time to blog again before Christmas. Though in case I get swept away during the packing/unpacking process -- I hope you all have a lovely time with family and friends this Christmas, and may the New Year bring many blessings to you and yours!

What's New With The Crew

Let's neglect the fact that I'm terrible at committing myself to blogging. The reason lies in the following sentence. It's hard for me to know what to keep in Facebook Land and what to share here, so I decided just now that maybe the one thing I keep in the blog o-sphere is family-related updates. Without further adieu, I'd like to update everyone on our lives up to this point.

- My pregnancy is going very smoothly! I want to deliver baby #2 the good ol' fashioned way this time, and since I didn't last time because of Julian's hugeness (11 pounds, 3 ounces of child!) the midwives are encouraging me to keep my weight gain to a bare minimum. The risk of having a large baby is most often related to the size of mamma, FYI. Nothing like wanting a VBAC to motivate this lady to get her butt into gear! So, I have been watching my diet (especially the carbs and sugars. No fun.) and walking... A LOT! And I love it! I started walking 30 minutes, bumped it up to 45, and now I'm walking 1 full hour most days of the week. I believe whole-heartedly that I feel so good and haven't gained as much weight as last time because of this. I could go on-and-on about how great it's been and how every expecting mom should try to be as healthy as she can, but I won't. :)

- Speaking of walking, Joey and I have really wanted to get into hiking again. We hiked almost every weekend during the cool months before Julian came along, and also for a bit when Julian was small enough to fit comfortably in the Moby Wrap. We haven't done much recently, and it's because we need a comfortable, safe, and uncomplicated way of bringing Julian along as the Moby Wrap isn't cutting it anymore. It goes without saying that the stroller won't do the job when hiking up and down mountains and across rocky paths. So we made a little investment and found a high-quality backpack carrier ON SALE at R.E.I.!

 Handsome, aren't they?

 It even features cute little stirrups to hold the baby's/toddler's adorable feet. 

The brand is Sherpani. After we made our purchase we noticed the sun protector was missing. The hubby looked online to obtain the part we needed, but we can't find anything related to baby carriers anywhere on the Sherpani website. Wish us luck as our search continues...

I forgot to bring along the camera on our first expedition, but I managed to take a pretty cute picture with my phone. 

Julian now asks about riding on daddy's back while he is gone at work. He loves it, and so do we! 

-- We're moving again December 22nd! We're currently in a 1-bedroom apartment which clearly won't cut it when the Little Mister comes along. Our new apartment is a 2-bedroom apartment with... Drum-role please... a washer and dryer in the unit! I am so very, very, very excited about this! Joey will have a longer commute to work, but it is worth the quieter life than what we are living now. It is a slower pace farther north on the interstate, which is what we are going for these days.

-- Thanksgiving break is upon us, so Joey and I are going to start reading Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way together to prepare ourselves for The Big Day. It is meant to help prepare a couple for a husband-coached birth. I've read it, but it was just before Julian came and Joey didn't get a chance to crack it open. Clearly we weren't that serious about it as the point is for both to read this book! We are very serious about it now. We are praying that, if it is God's will, this baby will enter the world as naturally as possible. I'm looking forward to this preparation very much. I think Joey will be a most excellent coach.

-- Julian is a talking machine! He's learning how to say new words seemingly every minute. I love to engage him. I am always happily surprised at his new abilities. Here is a 3-minute video of the Motor Mouth himself titled Lost Puzzle Piece!

There may be more news than this, but it's midnight now. Time to lay down my weary head. Good night!

The Pictures Highlighting Summer 2012

This is the start of Julian's obsession with all things vehicular -- sitting in a Mack Truck with Daddy at a cattle ranch we visited in Minnesota.

   

Here is Julian pointing to lambs and saying, "BAH BAH!" This picture cracks me up every time! That boy loves those woolly creatures. 

 Ah! Here is the picture that captures the origin of the word, "Boo boo." Auntie Ann Said, "Vroom, Vroom!" to indicate the noise tractors make. This prompted the little boy to call anything that has an engine and wheels "Boo boo" from that moment on. All he seems to care about is playing with, reading about, and watching "Boo boo" from dusk 'til dawn!  

 This picture wins the most adorable toddler award in my book, but I'm not biased or anything.

 It was great to see Julian attach himself to his Grandpa so lovingly. He wanted to talk to him and play with him all the time during our visit. They would sometimes sit with each other and chat for a long time, which toddlers aren't too keen on doing for any extended period. 

 In the background of this picture is Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge. It's one of those distinctive Duluthian landmarks which every tourist admires while visiting here. My sister Ann captured this picture, which I must say is my favorite of the three of us.

 Watching a big boat come into the Duluth Harbor with Daddy.

Julian's first boat ride on the St. Louis River.

Fishing like a pro.

 

That's all for Summer Highlights. Fall Highlights are soon to come.

Yes, I'm One of "Those" Bloggers!

So... I haven't posted anything since (yup!) April 15th. I'm not good at sticking with things, so I blame it on my flighty, sanguine self. Or I could be totally honest and say I've been lazy. At least I have a bit of an excuse. We are --

EXPECTING! If you are a friend reading this you've been in-the-know for about a month now. But, it's always fun to announce it! We're due February 8th, which means this baby will probably end up sharing his/her (we're finding out the gender September 21st, but no name reveal until the baby arrives) birthday with a great number of relatives. On the top of the list is his/her daddy. Joey's birthday is February 3rd. That would be pretty neat, wouldn't it?

Other happenings... My best friend got married in Michigan, so we went to the wedding on our way to Minnesota. I had the pleasure of being her matron-of-honor. The wedding was so beautiful from the moment she walked up the isle to the last song at the reception. Needless to say she was absolutely glowing. Here is a picture of her lovely self and all her ladies.

In Minnesota Julian had some incredible experiences. First off we visited our family friends' farm. He saw cattle, sheep, pigs, a horse, donkeys, chickens, and rabbits. The highlight for Julian, however, was all the "boo-boo" he saw ("boo-boo" is his term for any and all vehicles). The bigger the more fantastic, of course. He sat with daddy inside a mac truck which sent him over the edge of delight. I'll have pictures up as soon as I organize them all. There are lots & lots!

This post must be a "to be continued" piece as I want to put something up now and if I take my time with it I will be delaying it even longer. So I will touch on the rest of our vacation and plenty of pictures in the very near future. Until then, here's a picture to keep you in suspense.

Smelling Toes = Fun?

According to my son, it does! Where on earth did he learn that one? Oh, yeah. His parents.

"You stay classy, San Diego!"

A New Video on my New Youtube Channel!

Rockin' in the Dance Hall

Just a typical day here with the Dancing Prince. Give him a beat and watch him go! I hope you all enjoy my bopping baby boy.

Trip to the Zoo!

On Saturday we went on a family outing to the National Zoo in DC. We had clear, sunny weather but it was also very, very cold.

Note how cold I look.

We had a blast despite the temperature. It was fun to see all the exhibits, and I'm amazed that having spent three hours there we only saw about half of what they have to offer. JR was an exceptional trouper. He barely fussed, and that was only just right before conking out. Our camera died halfway through our excursion, so the last three were captured by my not-so-fancy cell phone. I hope you enjoy another one of my pictorial blog posts! 

 Red panda. I liked these critters a lot. Very playful, and look like raccoons.

 I never saw a giant panda up close before. This was really cool.

 The elephants were the first animals at the zoo JR took a liking to. Him pointing at the fascinating world around him never gets old. 

 A close-up shot of one of the elephants. I had to carefully crop this picture due to the excessive doo-doo. :)

 I love this age!

 An indoor shot of the giant panda. They sure like bamboo!

 An indoor shot of the red panda.

 Lunch was...

 ...chilly.

The small mammals exhibit was great.

 A lemur's crazy stare.

 Primates have such striking features.

The monkey is grooming Glen the Sloth. This was pretty funny to watch. Not all sloths are as laid back. The female sloth (whom I could not spot) wants nothing to do with these little monkeys.

I shall call these two primates John and Ted.

 The gorillas exhibit was really neat . Here is a baby and a male. The male was pretty cranky. He flipped out when the baby approached him.

 So the lady gorillas don't feel left out, here is one of about five females.

JR admiring the gorillas.

Dad being goofy.

This tortoise was brought to the zoo as an adult in 1956. They can live up to 150 years. Like whoa...

This is a picture of JR's favorite creatures at the zoo: long-necked sea turtles. He lit up so much when we put him close to the aquarium glass. What was crazy was when he started waving and playing they swarmed around where he was. It was so neat. That was a memory both Joey and I will take with us for a long time. 

 We tired him out, ladies and gentlemen. He slept from the zoo, through the walk to the metro station, the ride on the metro, and the stroll to the car. Good job, JR. Thank you for being such a great lil' guy.

Cuteness Abounds: A Reason to Love Toddlerhood

Ever since JR started eating solids, my husband and I keep the little guy undressed at the dining table. We do this for the sake of maintaining our low laundry budget (we live in an apartment building with a coin operated laundry facility). Plus, who can resist a half-naked tubby baby?

I rest my case.

Usually what happens after mealtime is we get JR all cleaned up, take him down from his booster, and out of pure, lazy habit leave the little guy arrayed in only his diaper. If it is breakfast or lunch we'll eventually redress him, but when it is dinnertime we usually skip it until we put him in his pajamas for bed.

For the past few days, however, my son has been doing the cutest thing imaginable to counteract our laziness. After the meal is done and the instant I sit down after cleaning up he brings his clothes over to me and asks me in his cute toddler way ("Da?") to put his clothes back on. It is beyond words adorable. 

The most precious moments are indeed the ones you least expect.

Playgrounds Are a Serious Matter

JR is an incredibly observant child. Whether he is playing with kids his age or going to the grocery store he sits back and absorbs all that he sees. There are exceptions to this, however. When he is with his Dad and me or with his older cousins we see him interacting, laughing and smiling all the time. Other than this he is usually serious, passive, and introverted. This boy didn't crack a smile once during our excursion to the playground. 

In this picture he is pointing to the playground in the distance.

 Here is where the staring starts. This stare didn't stop for nothing.

 Not even smooches.

 These stools were great for him to keep his balance while he stared.

 His shoes were too heavy for him. You can see him tripping in this picture.

 Going from stool-to-stool.

 Mulch is such funny stuff to this guy.

See how hard he's laughing at it?

 The culprits to JR's missteps.

 He had the courage to walk on his own for about a minute...

 ..just enough time for me to take three pictures.

 Will he smile after going on the slide?

 No.

 Still staring.

 Riding on the dog was the closest I got him to showing outward happiness.

 Whenever I stopped rocking him he let me know he wanted me to continue by moving back and forth. It was very cute.

 Bye-bye park!

We'll stare play again here real soon!