Garden-Bed Christmas Tree, Number 3

It's ok if you laugh . . . I don't know of any other suburban family who habitually cut their Christmas tree from their garden bed!  We also have no idea how two fast-growing pines were growing in this garden bed to begin with, but they have been very convenient!  Here's John cutting our first Christmas tree in 2009.  In 2010 we didn't put up a tree because Gemma had just been born and then we left town for New York.  Last year, we cut the second tree, and I thought that it would be our last free tree . . . but branches from the 2009 tree grew back quite splendidly, and so the tradition continues!

Sizing it up . . . 

Hmm, this little piece?

Daddy's little helper . . . 

The tree, and its conqueror!  

(and I think there's a smudge on our camera lens!)

(Yes, definitely a smudge . . . )

As it turns out, it's our tallest tree yet!  It works wonderfully with our very high ceilings in the living room!

Thanks to our families, we have many pretty and special ornaments now.  

Six of our nest wedding favors made it home with us, so I stuck them in the tree.  They need candy or something . . . hmm.

With family coming to us this year, it does feel a bit more like Christmas and less like we're just pretending.  :)

The Party

On Gemma's actual birthday, we had some friends over for lunch and a playdate.  Four little girls 2 and under, with peanut-butter-and-honey sandwiches shaped like snowflakes and Christmas trees, and carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting . . . yes, it was fun!  That night, we also let her open her gifts from Mommy and Daddy and the Grandmas and Grandpas.  But this past Friday we put up the balloons, family and more friends came, and we had the actual party!

Gemma opened a new baby, a bathtime book and an ABC puzzle, and loves them all!  We took a picture of the decorations the next morning when the lighting was better.

Aren't they lovely?  I made the garland back in April for a bridal shower outside, and it just happened to be the perfect length for the wall and four windows in the dining room!  My inspiration came from the path less traveled . . . once again . . . and, anyway, you can buy similar ones from her etsy shop!  

It was such a fun time that I could hardly sleep at night!  (Usually I'm a very hard sleeper, too!)  Thanks so much to our family and friends for coming to celebrate with us!

It was an evening of mixed emotions, too, as we had just heard the sad news of the shooting in Connecticut that day.  Yet another shooting.  This time at an elementary school.  We are especially thankful to have had our darling Gemma Grace for two years, and grieve with all the families up north.  I've found comfort in the words of Psalm 27:13-14.

"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I wouldsee the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait for the LORD ; Be strong and let your heart take courage ; Yes, wait for the LORD."

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

supper this week

Maybe this will be my last week of meal plans for a while?  That would be nice!  I think . . .

We finally had a birthday dinner for Gemma on Friday night, and hopefully I'll be able to share some photos soon!  We had ham, so now we have leftover ham for sandwiches, for frying up with breakfast, etc.  Hence Monday and Tuesday's themes . . .

Monday:  Chicken Cordon Bleu with brown rice
Tuesday:  Lentil Soup (with the ham bone)
Wednesday:  {Thai}
Thursday:  pizza (hmm, maybe I should pick up some pineapple and make Hawaiian pizza!)
Friday:  Roast chicken breast, baked potatoes
Saturday:  Black bean quesadillas
Sunday:  TBD
Monday (Christmas eve!):  Shrimp Scampi over rice

Dolly's Diaper Bag

It's finished, and ready for Christmas!

Most of the ideas came from this blog post, found via pinterest (of course!).  I loved the little aqua doll diaper bag, and then discovered upon further reading that it wasn't homemade at all, but a purchased scrap book caddy!  So, I rushed out to Michael's and found the exact same one, for about $4.  I also bought the little "magic" bottles for $2 (is it tacky to talk about money so much?).  

For the dolly diapers, I only had to buy velcro!  The pattern and directions are from this blog.  I just changed  the directions slightly to add a strip of the loop end all the way across the fronts, to make them more adjustable.  I cut up an old t-shirt for all the white, and used fabric scraps for the three colorful diapers!

It also has a changing pad and wipes case!  Yay for scraps, once again!  I begged the fleece scraps off my mother, after eyeing $7 fleece remnants at Joann Fabrics.  I already had scrap terry cloth for the changing pad, which I also just made up as I went along, adding a the heart and ribbon loop to make it more detailed.

Aren't they sweet?  These two little items were the quickest and most fun to make, I think!  They aren't perfect, though, so don't look too closely!

And, finally, with some leftover organic cotton I knitted up a blankie for Gemma's baby.  The little book is from the $1 section at Michael's, and I added the title to it . . . so she can "write" in her baby's book while I try to work on her sister's baby book!

I am just so excited!  These little sewing projects have been the most fun things to sew ever, I think!  The next project . . . is for a special little boy!

Are you making any Christmas surprises?

38 weeks

38 weeks!

It feels like a race against the calendar, now, to get everything done . . . 

Thankfully, the surprising sudden back stiffness/pain which hit at 35/36 weeks is a bit relieved.  I'm resigned to waddling, but it was worse before.  At that point, I was wondering how I could make it through the holidays without being able to move very well!  Now, I'm just wondering where the time is going.  We're making steady progress on my mental list of to-do's-before-baby, but I'm sure not everything will get done.  That's what sisters are for, right??? Only 12 days until I get to see mine, and I'm so excited!

Now we are 2

Now we are 2, and saying a lot of new words!  "uck" (oink), "mow" (meow), "ow," "toe," "rah" (rock), "Maw," "girl" (with no "r"), "pie," "gok" (gate), "bee," "honey," and, yes, she can finally say "no!"  However, we haven't started telling Mommy and Daddy "no," which makes them happy!  We also like to parrot some other words, like "snow," "fluff," and "rough," but haven't used them in context enough for Mommy to count them yet.  And there are some things we say which no one else understands, like "it's wee wee!"  It must be that ancient Irish blood showing itself . . .

A daily occurrence . . . 

Now we are 2, and thanks to Grandma B, we know how to blow on hot things, particularly candles, just in time for her birthday!  Unfortunately, this did not save us from touching the stove one day . . . we take after Mommy, I'm afraid.

Daddy is a genius . . . a pan of ice water in her high chair was the perfect way to get ice on her poor burns!  (It helps that ice cubes are fun to play with!)

Now we are 2, and we know a lot more letters, too!  B, C, K, U, F, and e for certain, and there may be more . . .

Now we are 2, and we have started liking bananas again!  And we like cheese (different kinds!) for the first time ever!

Now we are 2, and we get to go to Sunday School!

Gemma's first Sunday School paper!

Now we are 2, and still in diapers, but at least we're not afraid of the potty anymore.  In fact, it's quite fun to sit on, and have our bunnies sit on . . .

Now we are 2, and we like to put our blanket over our head . . .

Now we are 2, and loving babies as much as ever, and Great Grandma, too . . .

<3

supper this week

I just pulled a bread pudding out of the oven.  :)  Somehow, that reminded me to share this week's supper plans!

Monday:  Basil/Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken (planning to try this recipe tonight, found via pinterest!)
Tuesday:  Macaroni & Cheese
Wednesday:  {Thai}
Thursday:  Chicken Marsala with Cacio e Pepe
Friday:  Ham, Sweet Potatoes, some chunky applesauce, a green veggie, and maybe some regular potatoes, too . . . because we're having a birthday dinner round 2 for Gemma!
Saturday:  Veggie Burritos
Sunday:  Honey Baked Chicken and Rice

Birthday Surprises in the Making!

Ooh, I am so excited right now!  Gemma Grace turns 2 on Friday!!! And I just finished sewing her main gift:  

A carrier for her baby!

I don't know if she'll really "get" it until baby sister is born and she sees me wearing the new one around, but hopefully that won't be long from now, anyway!  

At first, I thought I would just copy our carrier and maybe consult some Mei-Tai tutorials online, but I ended up purchasing a pdf pattern from etsy and I'm so glad that I did!  It certainly saved me time, and it likely saved me a lot of headaches.  The instructions were very clear and easy to follow and I couldn't be happier with the result!

Source: etsy.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

Since I was using fabrics I had on-hand plus an extra buckle which I clipped off Gemma's changing table (the changing pad has a buckle, too, and we didn't need two!), other than the pattern, all I had to purchase were the little bar slide buckles for the shoulder straps.  I was kind of sad that I couldn't find plastic ones to match the main buckle, but the metal ones work just fine.  Total cost for this project was just about $8!

And I just can't wait to see Gemma trying it on!  Now to finish her Christmas diaper bag . . .