Looking Back on a Simple December

Back in November, when I was being good about posting, I talked about having a simple December. Things did not go quite as planned.

Things started later than usual, and we didn't get a tree right away. On top of that, we went on a not-so-nice day, so there wasn't much carefree frolicking. Once again, our elf decorated, and the boys explored in the morning. Peanut was a huge fan of the photo ornaments, and Munchkin just acted wise in his "old age".

We did go to visit Santa, and the excitement when Peanut saw him was infectious. Munchkin, at that age, was not really a fan, and was a little upset in the picture. Peanut couldn't wait to get to him and was trying so hard to say Santa (even if it sounded more like Dada).

We did spend one night driving around looking at lights, although he didn't find as many decorated houses as in years past.

As for the rest of the list, it didn't really happen. Cookie baking and fondue got canceled due to a fever. I never got around to getting the gingerbread house, and Christmas Eve was just a night like any other. We did have fun trying to get pictures for our Christmas cards, which we sent out just in time.

Overall, while December wasn't exactly what I planned, it worked out perfectly. Christmas was a happy and not-too-crazy day that the boys loved, and the time leading up to it was exactly what we all needed.

In Search of the Card

When I talked about my simple goals, I talked about practicing my photography to get a picture for our Christmas card. I set up the boys many times throughout the season, outside, on the couch, in front of the tree, by themselves, with us. Nothing seemed perfect. Until a picture of the two of them the first morning the tree was decorated. I still have a lot more practicing to go (as we are heading into the new year), but I love the photos that I was able to get.

The Elf Strikes Again

In 2013, we had our elf decorate our tree as a surprise for the boys. As Christmas approached this past year, Munchkin kept talking about how the elf was going to decorate our new house. He did not disappoint.

We did try to keep it simple, using most of the decorations in the one part of the house. And when the boys woke up in the morning, we allowed them to explore the tree. While most of our ornaments come from a set that we got at Costco a few years ago, Munchkin loved finding the few that Hubby and I had on our first tree together. Peanut's favorite ornaments were the photo ones, especially the one of the two of them together from the year before.

It was a simple goal with some of the best results.

Getting Ready for December

The end of the month is upon us. The turkey is carved and Santa arrived during the parade. It is time to start looking towards Christmas, and how to celebrate the lead up. I already talked about Advent, and I don't want to go crazy since I still want a relatively simple holiday, but there are some traditions that I am looking forward to doing.

Get a Christmas Tree - Ever since Munchkin could walk, he loved to run around the tree lot as we picked out a tree. There is something about being surrounded by all those trees and picking out the perfect one which is a great way to start the anticipation of the holidays.

Decorating - Last year, our elf decorated one night and the boys loved it. I'm thinking that while they are little, I will let the elf take care of the decorations.

Visiting Santa - There is a mall not too far from us which has a great Santa. We've gone every year and I'm looking forward to continuing that tradition.

Decorating a Gingerbread House - So far only Munchkin has done this, but maybe Peanut can help this year.

Baking Christmas Cookies - We started this tradition last year, taking advantage of my in-laws new and open kitchen. And while this year, our kitchen is big enough for this, we'll probably go to my in-laws once again. Also, I anticipate another helper, or maybe two.

Look at Christmas Lights - There are a couple of neighborhoods not that far from us which have some amazingly decorated houses. We skipped this last year since the weather never worked out for us, but I'm hoping that we'll have better luck this year.

Holiday Fondue Party - This is also something that we've been doing for a while, and it is only getting more fun as our friends have babies.

Christmas Eve - I'm not sure yet exactly what, but I want to start a new tradition this year. My family was never big on Christmas Eve, we celebrated more on Christmas and Boxing Day, so when Hubby and I started dating, we always spent Christmas Eve with his family. That tradition continued until very recently when my in-laws decided not to make the trip down. Since Christmas is such a busy day for us, we really can't get up to them and expect to get home at a reasonable time, so the past few years we've been on our own. This year, I want to figure out something to make the night for us, like a special dinner or maybe having hot chocolate by the tree. I have a little time to figure it out.

Along with maybe a few art projects, I think that this sounds like a perfect December for us. How do you plan on spending December?

Sweet Thanks

Thanksgiving is my mother's holiday. As Munchkin said the other day, it isn't dinner, it's a feast. She makes two full dinners, a turkey dinner and a ham dinner, with all the sides that you expect from both and then some more. For the past few years, I've assisted with dessert. Before Munchkin was mobile, I would make multiple pies from scratch. With two very active children, I have not been able to do that. This year, I had a helper.

I still did not make the number of pies that I used to, we stuck to one pumpkin pie and two corn breads. But Munchkin was thrilled to be helping, he's been talking about making the pie for weeks. In fact, he got very upset last week when we bought a pie to have for dessert, because he was going to make one.

The corn bread is new this year, not something that my mother has ever served before. We'll see if it is something that we'll make again. Although I do like the idea of starting this as a new tradition for us.

And as fall is quickly coming to an end (as evidenced by the snow we had), I was glad to do two more items from our fall list as well as one of my simple goals.

Wordless Wednesday: Thanksgiving Prep

Getting Ready for Advent

It's getting to be that time of the year again, Thanksgiving is approaching much faster than I am comfortable with, and the Christmas season right behind it. Like last year, while I don't officially start the "holiday season" until Thanksgiving is over, I do need to start preparing now.

The boys are still very young, although Munchkin is old enough to know and remember Christmas and has already started talking about it. I am once again going with a simple holiday season, focusing more on our time together and happy memories. I don't want us to be so busy that we don't enjoy ourselves.

For advent calenders, I plan on finding the chocolate calendar again as that was a huge hit last year, as well as the Santa beard calendar. While I would love to do a huge activity based calendar, I think that the boys are really too young to get much out of it.

Last year, I talked about wanting to do a book based calendar, and I still love the idea. I am hoping to get books from the library and having a new story every night as part of our bedtime routine.

I want to make (or get) an advent wreath, which is something that Munchkin and I did at church last year and loved. I am also going to use the Truth in the Tinsel again, although probably on a modified schedule.

As December gets closer, I will talk more about our holiday traditions, both old and new.

Making More Than Cookies

As I was going through my life list, I came across a few that I can already cross off. One was making cookies for Santa.

I love baking and was really looking forward to when Munchkin (and eventually Peanut) was old enough to bake cookies for Santa with me. While last year he possibly would have been able to assist, I was too sick to do anything. This year, the two of us made cookies.

We started a new tradition, and headed up to my in-laws' much nicer kitchen. We didn't make everything that I had originally planned, I decided to keep it simple and not push him beyond what he found to be fun. And he did have fun, he loved dumping in the ingredients, mixing with both a spoon and the hand mixer and getting to roll the dough into balls. After they were done cooking, he loved sharing the cookies with the entire family, and we had to hold some back so that there would be some for Santa.

I cannot wait to do this again next year, with another helper.

A Simple Christmas

I had big grand dreams about how I would celebrate the holidays this year. I was trying to figure out the best way to display an activity Advent calendar, what activities to do and so many other plans. First, I decided that I was going to have Munchkin make a mailbox which I was planning on buying at Michael's. Then I couldn't find a mailbox, so I just got supplies to make the cards anyway to deal with our space issue.

Then I read Lora Lynn Fanning's letter to mamas of littles and I dropped almost all my plans. I still am doing activities with the boys, but it is much more informal. Neither boy can read yet, so the elaborate activity calendar was really just for me, and I don't need it. Munchkin is going to remember that he decorated a gingerbread house, not that he found out because I read him a perfectly coordinated card.

So I have a chocolate calendar for Munchkin (which he has been enjoying so far), the Santa's beard calendar and some crafts, stickers and coloring sheets to keep Munchkin occupied for the month. I got the Truth in the Tinsel with the printable ornaments to bring a bit of the religious aspect into the season, which I learned about from The Art of Simple's Advent plan (with a discount code).

But the most important thing to me this year is just being here with the boys. I don't want to be so busy that none of us enjoy this time of year, which really is amazing. And so I want to let them enjoy the season, and I want to enjoy them.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Our tree is up, and our "elf" decorated it last night. Peanut woke up first this morning, which was perfect for me, as I got to spend a few minutes letting him take in the tree before his brother got up. He was so happy and so excited. The pure joy on his face as he saw the lights and the ornaments for the first time. I wish that I was able to capture them on camera, but as I was holding him I wasn't able to. I hope that it is a look that I never forget, and a look that comes back each year. All he wanted to do was grab everything, which is why we have a small tabletop tree this year.

Munchkin was so excited to see what Jingle McJingles' Christmas magic had done. Our tree had been up for a week, bare as we waited for it to open. This morning Munchkin's face showed such amazement as he explored the tree, looking at all the different ornaments, many that he has seen before but none that he seemed to remember.

Mornings like these are one of the things that I absolutely love about Christmas, the innocence of childhood, the pure belief in magic and miracles. It was smiles and hugs, happiness and joy. It was perfect in its simplicity, and everything that I could wish for.

Holiday Prep

The holidays are coming up so very quickly, and while I do respect the turkey and not actually decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, I need to start getting ready now. Thanksgiving this year is on the 28th, which means that December starts that Sunday and Advent with it. While I have to figure out a way to bring in the religious aspect of the holiday, there are a few calendars that I am interested in.

Growing up, we always had a chocolate calendar, and that is the first one that I've gotten this year. I'm not sure how well that one will go over as Munchkin seems to have gone off of chocolate since the chocolate bunny vomiting incident of Easter 2013, but we'll see how it goes.

Another calendar that I used last year is this Santa's beard printable. I only got as far at the 16th before pregnancy and a bad cold caused me to slack on just about everything I was doing, but for the first part of the month Munchkin really seemed to enjoy it.

My big Advent project last year was an activity calender that I threw together at the last minute. Recently, Rookie Mom Heather talked about her plan to create an activity based Advent calendar and it reminded me that I need to get started now so that I'm not just leaving daily notes like I did last year. I do not really have the space to use the same kind of wooden calendar as she does, so I need to figure out another way to make it work for us. I also need to finalize my list of activities. While there are quite a few printables and lists out there, I haven't found one that is perfect for us.

Finally, I love the idea of a book based Advent calendar which I recently read about on Delightful Children's Books. I'm not sure that I would be able to do a full month of books in addition to the rest of the stuff I hope to do, but maybe I can incorporate it into our activity calendar.

How do you prepare for the holiday season?

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Munchkin, Peanut and I are still here! More to come soon as we get a little more settled.

The End of the Holidays

January 6th. The twelfth day of Christmas. The day my family would take down the Christmas decorations, as it really was over at that point. The day that my house goes from this:

to this:

I know it's a mess. I need to clean. Please don't judge.

But while it is the end of the season, it's also the beginning of a new year. While January 1st is technically the start of the new year, it is surrounded by the holiday fog. So I am getting a late start on my resolutions.

I have a very busy January, and probably won't be around too much, but that will change in February.

My plan is to have the redesign completed by the end of this month. Starting in February, I'm going to be starting anew. I want to do more and explore with the Baby, and I want to figure out the balance between being "Mommy" and being "Me". I plan on coming here for my release.

See you all on the other side.

To Deck the Halls

It's that time of year where I start decorating for Christmas. The decorating tends to fall on my shoulders, since my husband isn't quite as Christmas obsessed as I am.

Last year, we did basically the same thing that we have done in the past.

Christmas 2009

This year, everything is different. First of all, we have the Baby. Second, we no longer live in the same apartment, or even have a lot of the same furniture anymore.

We still have the couches, but we no longer have the tables. Also, since we've moved, we no longer have that window sill perfect for placing Christmas cards.

Because of the Baby, we want to have a tree big enough to put presents under, which means that we'll have a larger tree that is on the floor, not a table. We've already gotten new (shatterproof) ornaments. We are also concerned with the Baby's extreme curiosity, and how that will work with a tree in his reach.

Also, coming from a very decorated house growing up, I'm concerned that the one tree just isn't enough decoration. But we don't have a lot of places to display lots of decorations, or store them when the season is over.

Tonight is the moment of truth. The Husband will be picking up the tree on his way home from work. As much as I wanted to go as well, we decided that it would be too difficult to deal with the Baby and a tree in our car.

How did your decorating style change when you had a baby?

Merry SITSmas!

Now that the holiday season is here..

Head on over to The SITS Girls to see more SITSmas cards.

You Capture: I Ate This

I'm still on the very strict no dairy/no soy diet, so it's been a while since I've been able to enjoy dessert. I wasn't going to miss out on Thanksgiving, so I made a dairy and soy free apple pie. And I honestly ate most of it.

I thought it was delicious.

Holiday Picture FAIL

Since The Baby has been born, I have take about eight thousand pictures.

Yes, eight thousand. With my camera, not counting my flip or phone. I might have a picture taking problem.

This year, since it is The Baby's first, we are going to do picture holiday cards. You would think that somewhere in those pictures, I would have one that I loved enough to put on our holiday cards. But nothing was perfect. So inspired by pictures of my nephew I recently saw and the beautiful weather yesterday, I took The Baby out to get some new pictures.

I just didn't anticipate what would happen the first time that The Baby was on grass, not a blanket.

I couldn't get him to look at me! No amount of calling out his name, or squeaking toys could get his attention from the grass and leaves. He was so fascinated, that it even took him about fifteen minutes before he started to eat them.

I did not get a great picture that day.

We also tried over the weekend to get a cute family picture. That didn't work out so well.

Here's to hoping that I have better luck at Thanksgiving.

The Holiday Issue

It's hard to believe that it is almost Thanksgiving, which means that the holiday season is upon us. That is bringing a whole bunch of issues this year, since it is the first with The Baby.

The biggest issue being where do we go?

We are lucky enough that both families live within two miles of each other. So in the past, we've always split the major holidays. For Thanksgiving, we would have dinner with the husband's family and dessert with mine. That meant that we usually spent less time with my family.

So this year, my mother asked if we would do Thanksgiving dinner with them. Since Thanksgiving is the one day of the year that we get together with my cousins (who live quite a bit further than two miles away), I agreed.

This is not going over well with the husband's family. They want the see The Baby.

It doesn't seem to matter that every Christmas for the past ten years (with the exception of the one year I was out of the country), I've spent both Christmas and Christmas Eve dinners with his family. I would only see my family for a little while before church on Christmas morning. And this year isn't going to be different.

It also doesn't seem to matter that we are going to be visiting with them before heading over to my parents' for dinner. So they will get to see The Baby. They just won't get to spend all day/night with him.

And I feel bad for my parents. They are getting the better part of Thanksgiving, but they are getting seriously shafted on Christmas. I know that this bugs them. One time my mom made a comment about it and since she feels that she should never complain, I know it must have really been bothering her.

Sometimes it feels like we are spreading ourselves too thin trying to spend time with everyone. This doesn't even take into account spending some holiday time with just us, but that is an issue for another post.

How do you handle seeing family at the holidays?