Designing a Holiday

A couple of weeks ago, I had my very talented friend, Cristal, take some pictures of my family and I.  Love. My intent was to get something presentable for a holiday card.  I'd never done Christmas card pictures before, so of course I was over prepared, complete with potential outfit changes.  They weren't needed because Cristal is a complete professional.  In addition, she's crazy busy between taking and editing photos and wrangling her kids, who are four and one (and stunningly beautiful and sweet). 

(I have a point, I promise).

So, instead of making more work for Cristal, I went in search of someone else to make my holiday cards sing.  Through google reader and links, I came across freshly squeezed designs.  Jill happily accomodated my request for a card with one of her delicious designs and she was so patient with me while I made miniscule changes to an otherwise darling card.  A few hours and several drafts later, I had the finished product in my inbox.  Though, if I didn't live in the boonies, she would've uploaded them to Costco so all I had to do was go pick them up- how convenient!  I quickly ordered my cards for printing and am now stalking the UPS man (like his truck isn't on auto-pilot straight to my house, anyway).  I can't begin to tell you how much I love the internet on a normal day, but especially when it makes my life easier. Below is one of my favorite designs, which I would've chosen for our cards but my husband is a fuddy dud.

Thanks, Jill!

World's Cutest

Tell me I'm wrong. I dare you.

Easy Like Sunday Morning - 11.15.09

Sharing

I read this and loved it and wanted to remember it. What better way to remember than to share? I hope Ryan doesn't mind.

...Sometimes, the leaps are what count. Not the take off, not the landing, but that moment when you are suspended in the air, grinning like a fucking idiot at the one you love and praying that you're doing the right thing.

View from a deer stand, opening day

Even if I didn't see one dang deer, at least I saw a beautiful sunset.

Wishful Dreaming

I wish I'd taken more pictures of myself when I was pregnant. I loved being pregnant. I loved being rotund and awkward and out of breath. Maybe because I had an excuse to not be skinny or maybe because the belly absorbed anything extra around my middle (also promptly left it in it's wake). I loved it even in the very last moments. Carter was breech, so I was accustomed to rubbing his head or back in my belly. I loved trying to figure out what body parts I felt. I loved feeling him move, even when he woke me up in the middle of the night. The pain in my hips and back is a distant memory, because I remember the love I had for the belly.

This is the last picture before he hatched. 12/25/2008 - 37 weeks

I wonder if it will be the same the second time around. (I'm not, yet.) I wonder if chasing a baby will make me loathe a belly. I wonder if I'll have morning sickness or high blood pressure, next time.


I'm getting ready, y'all. I ain't getting any younger, you know.

Shiny Gem

I'm praying for Stellan. Are you?

As I sit here, angry that Carter has yet another snotty nose and that he's still speckled from his newly diagnosed penicillin allergy, I'm following MckMama's updates on Stellan. They have brought me to tears. They have brought my breath to my throat. They have brought the Lord's name to my lips. And prayer... oh the constant lingering, whispering prayer.

As a new mom, I want everything to be the best for my baby. I buy snacks with no added sugars. I prefer organic baby food. I'm buying him wooden, handmade toys for Christmas. I hate giving him medicine and delayed giving him benedryl simply because I didn't want his sleep induced by drugs. I want to keep him untainted, as it were.


Can you imagine? Poor Stellan, fighting for his very life.

We are so blessed. Speckled and spotted and snotty and coughing- we are blessed. Carter's heart is strong. His smile is beautiful. His eyes are bright. He is blessed. We are blessed. So, so blessed.

Christmas Treats

I know, it's not even Halloween yet and here I'm posting about Christmas. That's because I'm already buying for Christmas. And while I'm at it, I thought I'd share just in case it filled a void in your list.

Labels. The idea first started with my little niece. I thought she's like to have some waterproof labels with her name on them so she could stick them everywhere. I remember being her age and getting some address labels on a roll from that insert in the Sunday paper, you know the one? Anyway, I stuck them everywhere. And to this day, my alarm clock still has my name and address on it. Yes, it's old. Several websites have really cute designs, but I went with Cherry Hill Designs. They did Carter's bottle labels and they've held up very well, plus I love that it's a mom-run business. She's very quick too! In addition, I ordered a set of monogram return address labels for my mom, sister, sister in-law and mother in-law. Who doesn't like a good monogram?

Jewelry. Speaking of monograms, I'm on a major kick. So, at least three people are getting something from sTuckintheCoop, my favorite Etsy store. I recently looked at her shop and my goodness, it is stuffed with beautiful things!!! So many, I can't find recipiants for it all! I do know that Carter's great-grandmother (MeMe) is getting this bracelet, with the initials of all her great-grandchildren (8) and their birthstones.

My other niece (on C's side) is getting a cute necklace with her initial on it, too. One thing is for certain, no one will be forgetting who they are this year.

And just because, look at the adorable Christmas ornament I'm adding to our tree this year. Every year, I add a "family" ornament so in a few more years we'll have a tree that means something. This year's came from Lisa Leonard.

Thursday Things

• Last weekend was my first wedding anniversary. C and I laughed that actually being married opened up a whole new world of cards for each other. It's nice to be able to buy for my "husband".
• Can you believe it's been a year, only a year? I say that because on one hand it's FLOWN and on the other, it feels more like five years. Maybe it's because we squeezed five years worth of stuff into one (house, marriage, baby).
• Since the first anniversary gift is traditionally paper, we both followed that theme (unintentionally). He gave me a Paula Deen cookbook and a recipe journal, both of which are funny since I'm a hand granade in the kitchen.
• Every time I go to the store I ask if he needs anything. He always replies, "A sack full of money..." So, that's exactly what he got from me. I bought $100 in scratch off lottery tickets (just doin' my part, E). Of course, we would have been better off if I would've just put $100 in a sack, but the scratching was fun too. I think we won about $35.
• He also bought me my very first gun. I'm the proud owner of a bright and shiny .243 just in time for hunting season. Now all I have to do is try and hit the broadside of a barn, er- deer.
• Make no mistake, I'm pretty stoked about it.
• Speaking of, today kicked off my week of single motherhood. I'm a hunting widow while C is off to Colorado again. When he went last year, I was heavily pregnant (November) and thoroughly enjoyed going to bed early and eating cereal for dinner every night. Oh the difference a year makes, eh?
• My son has regressed to having newborn dirty diapers. Good Lord they're awful. It's been going on for two days- lets all pray he gets over it soon. I'll take nuggets any day.
• Speaking of my darling son, he is THISCLOSE to crawling, finally. He seems to be about a month behind all the other kids his age in his class at daycare. They've all been crawling and cruising for several weeks now... I blame his giganta noggin'.
• When I have another baby, I will be diligent in doing tummy time for the very very beginning. I really think it helps strengthen all these vital muscles used in sitting, crawling and pulling up. We didn't do as much tummy time as we should have with Carter and I think we're now seeing the results... of his giganta noggin', that is.
• I've committed to taking Amber and James' engagement pictures next month. I'm really excited about it, but really anxious about finding a good location with good light in order to get some good shots. That's all I'm going to obsess publicly about that, but just know my wheels are TURNING.
• I'm hosting a baby shower sprinkle this weekend at my mom's. It's at the same time as my high school's homecoming parade, so traffic should be fun. In my hometown, they shut down the major US highway for the parade which really pisses off the truckers. No one else seems to mind though.
• I planned for it to be at my mom's so she could help with Carter while I'm scurrying around doing hostessey things but, you guessed it, she's going to the damn parade. She claims she'll be back in 20 minutes, but WE WILL SEE.
• Hosting a shower is much more difficult than I originally thought, especially since no one is helping aside from my mom making the cupcakes. Yesterday I decided to also make a diaper cake WHICH I'VE NEVER DONE BEFORE.
• I agree that I'm loco. It comes with the territory.

Grace Period

"Do you have a grace period for blogs before you remove them from your reader? If there is no post for 60 days w/o explanation, I delete."

I read that earlier and thought, "Wonder why she cares? I mean, I only see new posts so if a site I follow doesn't have any updates, I wouldn't know without digging." Then I thought, "I wonder if this applies for friends. That would be kind of harsh. Or would it?"

(I can't explain how my mind works, y'all. Just know that there is no explaining brilliance. ha.)

I don't have many friends these days. (No, this isn't some sort of lame plea - I'm just stating a fact.) I can count on one hand minus several fingers the number of people I can count as a "friend" on any given day. It's the bed I've made and I accept it. I'm fine with it, actually. I don't think I'm a great friend. I don't need people. I don't require attention or contact or face time. Some people do and that's where I fail.

On the flip side of my normal behavior, I recently went out of my way for a "friend" spending way too much money on a requested birthday gift. I couldn't help but remember that the same "friend" did not remember my birthday at all, nor did she give thanks for her gift. And I felt bitter. And anger. And resentment. If not for emails with less sentences than this paragraph, we would have no contact even though she lives only an hour away. I repeatedly go out of my way at an attempt at a relationship with her and get nothing but selfishness in return. Is that a friendship?

Friendships come with a contract, even if only implied. It only works if you are both in understanding. When one or both parties break that contract, the friendship is wounded, broken even. Should a grace period be applied before the tie is severed completely? Should the infraction be forgiven without even a word? Should I accept that others do unto me as I have done unto them? If there is no "friendship" within 60 days, should I delete?

Turkey Tuesday

Spotted this morning... only in east Texas?

Monday Muse

From the Story People.

Things I Want... to Share

I come across a lot of really cute stuff online, some of which I order and some of which I skip. In any case, some of it I think, "I should really blog about that so other people can know, too". So, here are a couple of my recent finds. I'm thinking of "sharing" more often... does anyone care?


Since having a baby, my body isn't exactly something I want to show off. I mean, unless you dig stretch marks and fruit roll up belly. So, when I found swimsuits touting "modesty", I jumped. They're oh so cute and very reasonably priced. I know it's not exactly swimsuit season, but bookmark it for next year. And the cinch skirts are PERFECT for camoflaging.... stuff.

Lime Ricki Swimwear - Currently offering 25% off a select suit each week!



















A friend recently introducted me to KatyDid clothes and I placed my first order last week. "Katy" is an east Texas girl, so what's not to love? I was afraid some of her stuff might be too "blingy" for my speed these days, but I found several things that were right up my alley. If they fit the way I expect, I'm going back for seconds for Christmas presents.

KatyDid Collection

This is getting embarrassing.

I'm sorry, I appear to have fallen off the face of the earth. I'm back- at least with one foot- for a moment.

• My child is almost NINE MONTHS OLD. Seriously! Where is that pause button already? I feel like it wasn't even me living it.

• He's trying desperatly to crawl. So far, all he's managed to do is perfect his rolling skills. Wiggle, wiggle, roll. Next thing you know, he's on the other side of the room.




• C is convinced he's going to crawl or walk or start doing multiplication while he's in Colorado the second week of October. So, he spends an hour or so every evening urging him to crawl NOW. C is very disappointed our child is the last to crawl. He was the last to roll over and sit too- doesn't he see the trend? What? He came two and a half weeks early!




• Carter's a biter. Yesterday, a baby took the toy he was playing with, so he bent down and bit that baby on the toe. Take that, crawling toy stealer.




• Sleep comes at a premium in our house, meaning Carter gets as much as he wants while mom and dad.... don't.




• Remind me to tell you about Shiner.

• Scentsy has been going good. I'm shocked that total strangers have found me and ordered. I'm really not good at selling things, but so far it's worked out swimmingly! Now if only I can stop buying for myself. I'm running a Holiday layaway plan, but you probably got that memo, didn't you?




• My anniversary is next week. This time a year ago I was wishing the wedding would just go away. Now, I'm not six months pregnant and have much more energy. My days are filled with the faces of angels. What a difference a year makes...




• Speaking of, I put out the call on Twitter for anniversary gift ideas.... Anyone else? Bueller?