Merry Christmas To All!!

Getting My Wrap On....

Last night, amidst the whirr of the fans and much water drinking and sweating (I do live in Georgia now and it has NOT got the memo that it's December), I sat my pregnant butt on the the floor and got to wrapping gifts.

I had two funky balls of yarn, stamps and some packing paper that was left over from our move, and I got to work.

Now, I had a vision....

and a husband (who finally came home from work) who I wrangled into helping with the stamping...

but sadly, this husband of mine did not share said vision and many gifts ended up looking like he was involved in some sort of stamping dare to make them all random...

don't get me wrong, I love them, and the fact that he helped...

but I would suggest never letting a man loose with a set of stamps.

He might get a little too creative--behold....

dare you to read it and figure out what it says ;)

Now, last night I didn't think it was so funny (it was hot AND 11pm... and maybe I'm a little bit pregnant) but this morning I woke up and grinned from ear to ear at the beauty of his randomness. I know I'll cherish these pictures forever! 

Sometimes it's better if we just let the reigns go....

Speaking of letting go...

Ahhhh the dead tree, what a beauty :)

So many lights, so much deadness.... such a fire hazard.

Love these wedding bells! We got them in England the year we got married and I love them! Coming up on 8 years of marriage this Tuesday... crazy!

I got this angel in Grenada, LOVE this one!

and these vintage ones, got them at an estate sale back in NJ... Oh NJ garage sales, how I miss you...

Last but not least, my lovely felt garland. 

The tree may be dead, but I still love it :) 

I'm Ron Bur-gundy??

*the title has nothing to do with this post... it's just stuck in my head.

*apparently I took a little blog-cation....oops :)

*we had friends come in on Sunday (for Christmas) and I was in full on clean-the-house/finish-sewing-presents mode.

*I'm tired.

*our Christmas tree is totally dead already.

*this happens every. year.

*it may or may not have to do with the fact that we usually buy it around Zach's birthday... on the 24th of November.... 

*the fact that it's covered in approximately 700 mini-lights may also have something to do with it....

*I can't believe that just last year we spent Christmas Eve in NYC.

*It was everything we had dreamed it would be! (but somehow less crowded than we anticipated, weird) 

*I miss it like crazy.

*this baby in my belly is constantly beating me up, seriously it won't. sit. still.

*my ribs hurt

*all the Christmas presents I sent made it to their destinations in time!!

 *it feels really wrong to have 70 degree weather around the holidays

*I shouldn't be sweating like this in December. This preggo body needs some winter weather.

*this was what our place in NJ looked like last Christmas....I have yet to take pictures of our place here this Christmas. Before I do, I just have to vacuum the tree ;)

*Aubrey is sick today :( I just hope the poor thing feels better soon.

Just Call Me Jack Handy....

*Am I the only one who can't follow anyone else's blogs? As in, I hit "follow" to an awesome blog and then a few days later wonder why they haven't updated said awesome blog, I go there look, and I'm not following it and my Dashboard has no signs that I am either?!? 

*This is making my blood boil.

*silly things are stressing me out... aka blog following... 

*I need a vacation

*The only time I get a lot of crafting/sewing done is when I'm in a time crunch...why is that?!?

*I seem to be a sew-well-past-midnight-the-night-before-I-have-to-send-something kinda gal.

*I feel like I'm currently sewing in a sweatshop.

*Zach didn't get home from work until 10:30pm last night.... he left for work at 5:30AM.... 

*yesterday was supposed to be one of his earlier-ish-esque days.... so much for that.

*He's expecting to come home late tonight...I'm scared for what that even means....

*I went grocery shopping last night at Walmart....sounds fine enough right? Well, we only have one car, so I went at 11PM....and let's just say that just because it's open 24hrs, doesn't mean one should go there during the random hours...it's scary...I prayed *A LOT* in the parking lot. 

*I think it was national If You're A Hoodlum Come Hang Out In The Walmart Parking Lot @ 11PM night. And yes, I have the vocab of a 90 year old.... hoodlum just sums them up so perfectly. Perhaps I could say 'ne'er do wells', is that hip enough for you kids?? ;) 

*I'm pretty sure that had Zach been "with it" he would have put a stop to me going there. Turns out that you're pretty tired after a 17 hour day...with no breaks and no food(true story people, he said he found a random brownie somewhere and shoved it in his face as he was walking by. Not exactly covering all the food groups, or calories needed in a day)

*I have a child that is in a state of regression. ie. peeing her pants... A LOT. What do I do?!?

*On the bright side it's not #2....

*I've never before felt the need for a second car... but I think I'm at that point. These walls are closing in...

*if you think of it, I'd appreciate some prayer on finding a car we can afford...as in, for $10.... It's possible right??

*I love that Zach is absolutely willing to drive a beat up whatever, if we find it for cheap enough, just to get him to and from work. 

*He'll still be cool right? He'll just have to shield his eyes from the cars in the staff parking lot....I've been in there and lets just say that Mercedes, BMW, Lexus etc have made a killing of some of those doctors.

*We'll take a Datsun thankyouverymuch.

Take 2....{A Handmade Doll Carrier}

So I've made a doll carrier before, 

and it sure looked cute, but it never was easy for Aubrey to use and it was ridiculously floppy. 

I knew that I had to try again, but to be honest... I just was NOT in the mood to try and come up with another pattern.

That was all the way back in April.... Then comes December and I'm trying to think of Christmas presents for some of the little girls we know. 

After a few failed attempts at making something else, I knew I had to give the doll carrier another go.

And this time it worked! 

I'm SO happy with how this one turned out. 

The last one was way too flimsy and had snaps that were hard for Aubrey to use.

The doll always looked like it was going fall out at any second, and that was assuming Aubrey was even using the carrier...which was pretty much never. Awesome. 

This one, I used a super stiff Wonder Under and it did the trick.

Look at that baby all securely fastened ;)

I made the straps way stiffer, used velcro instead of snaps and it's way easier to use. 

It's just a sturdier carrier all around and that's what was lacking the last time.

My model was looking pretty classy in her we're-staying-home-clothes, but there was no way I was going to convince this grumpuss to change, let alone go outside and pose for pictures. So indoors, with fabulous clothes, it was... not to mention many promises of candy canes....

See, baby doesn't fall out! I win! 

Of course now Aubrey wants one too...let's see if I get the energy to make her one....

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year....

I can't even explain how much I love this girl! Seriously!

In the span of five seconds she can make me feel like pulling out my hair and like I could squish and cuddle her forever. The joys of motherhood :)

Last night Aubrey was in her first Christmas concert at our church and it was just the most precious thing ever! She was THAT kid; dancing up a storm (mainly the random moves that her and Zach made up while listening and practicing her songs at home... needless to say, these moves were "special"), over enunciating her words and over doing the actions to her songs....

I loved it!

It was just the 3-6 year olds... Zach and I got a glimpse of just how big our church really is!

The above picture is the exact moment she spotted Zach videoing her! Love the frantic waving by all the kids!

And this is the moment where Aubrey couldn't focus on singing because the kid next to her kept stepping on the bells from the "Come on Ring Those Bells" song. She was not please he was doing that!

So precious....pretty sure I was tearing up like crazy by this point!

And now, singing "Away In A Manger" ....

the Queen of Actions doing her thing....

Couldn't you just EAT this kid???

And for the record, she was NOT the kid who lifted her dress so the whole church could see their tights....

The girl beside her was that kid :)

It was such an amazing service and night in general. Zach and I kept saying that we couldn't believe we were parents of one of the kids IN the program! When did we get that old?!? 

I'm going to remember this for as long as I live. 

Pretty sure our hearts were bursting with love last night...and every moment with Aubrey for that matter.

A Little Of This And That....

I am currently alone in my house... ALONE people! This does not happen....well, ever!

Zach came home from the hospital and announced he was taking Aubrey to the park, and who am I to stop them?!?

He's still on call until 6pm.... so let's all say a quick prayer he doesn't get a call while there with her! Pretty sure that would crush me... I mean, crush Aubrey ;)

Can we just stop for a second and take a little looksie at my blog header?!? Fabulous right?! 

Seriously! I'm benefiting from Amy's dabbling with web design...or digital scrap booking....or blog design... What the heck is it called??

Who cares, it looks AMAZING and she did it for me for the total cost of $ my-love-and-admiration.

That's the best deal around ;)

Thanks Amy you rock and now so does my blog thanks to you!

The party yesterday went awesome! I met some great people and I love who Zach works with. 

Seriously a great group of people and it was just SO nice to get dressed up and get out of the house.

Who knew there was a woman under all that daily pregnant frump??

That woman also almost walked into the party with the price tag still dangling from the back of her shirt... in what I can only assume to be divine intervention, I randomly reached back and felt it on the back of my neck as we were walking up the steps of the house we were about to go into.

Amazing.

Seriously, and I happened to take my coat off before we went into the house because I knew that I'd take it off as soon as we walked in anyway, and my pregnant body was having a heat stroke in the car already. ALL divine I tell you! There are SO many different ways that could have played out and all of them would have me looking lame to more people than just my husband, who I told right when it happened, doing that crazy I-almost-embarrassed-the-heck-out-of-us-both laugh.

Ah, good times.

Aubrey had the BEST time with her new friend! Both girls were in their glory, mainly because they were able to stay up super late! When we got back to Almost Friend's house, the girls were both in Audrey's bed (yup, you read right, the girl's name is AuDrey!) giggling like crazy and clutching the 2 dolls that AuBrey brought for them to play with. It just does my heart SO good to see Aubrey playing with friends. It doesn't hurt that Almost Friend's friend, who was watching them, went on and on about how good Aubrey was and how stinkin' polite she is with her "pardon me's", "please's" and "thank you's"! As a mom that's about the best thing someone could tell you about your child!

Tomorrow night Aubrey is in her first Church performance! 

I am beyond excited to see her with all the other preschoolers singing their Christmas songs they've learned for just this occasion :) They got a CD with their 3 songs on it and Aubrey plays that sucker on a loop for as long as we'll let her and I'm happy to report she's not as tone-deaf as we originally thought!

You should see Zach and I watching her sing her songs and doing her actions, we're in tears here at home.... I'm planning on bringing my camera and a WAD of Kleenex tomorrow. It's gonna get messy people.

I think I might be obsessed with Christmas lights.... our tree has at least 700 on it, I might have lost count when I went back and added the extra 200 because it looked "dull" to me...

In my mind, less is NOT more when it comes to lights. More is more people, remember that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All these pictures were random finds in my iPhoto that I've some how missed in blogging. That's just not right and I had to set it straight pronto. The top picture Zach actually took while on Mackinac Island in Michigan. The others were in Boston (the first time we went) and randomly in New Jersey. 

Ah, I love me some photo memory lane :)

And Now, Deep Thoughts....

*I'm still relieved that there is only one baby in my belly.

*only now I'm really realizing how big this sucker is.

*It's raining and cold here! About time!

*I've painted my toenails a pale pink...sounds nice, right? 

*I look down and see toes that belong on a 70 year old.

*The upside is that I can still see my toes...take that Ginormous Belly!

*Funny how plucking your eyebrows can change the whole look of your face

*I have heartburn ALL the time now... never had it before, only once when pregnant with Aubrey. 

*heartburn sucks.

*I have Zach's Christmas work dinner tonight...hence the plucking and painting.

*I know exactly one person that will be at said dinner (aside from Zach). 

*cue panic and anxiety.

*at least this one person is a super sweet girl and I will cling to her like a leech (She's one of my almost friends....pray I don't scare her off tonight...)

*I wish that I could still curl up in that cute ball like Aubrey does when she's sleeping. It looks SO comfy.

*Said ginormous belly is preventing such things.

*Aubrey is going to Almost Friend's house to play with her daughter while we all go to the work party tonight! 

*Praise the Lord for working out child care so I can go!

*My sciatic nerve is acting up ALL the time.

*I walk like a 90 year old...

*At least my old lady toes match my walk.

*I had Restless Legs the other night. It's a for-reals thing, RLS--Restless Leg Syndrome.

*if you have never been cursed with this infliction, thank the Good Lord. It's AWFUL! 

*As soon as I felt my legs take a turn for the feel-like-blood-is-rushing-into-them-SO-fast-that-they-are-going-to-burst-if-you-don't-constantly-move-them, I knew I had to text my sister-in-law Linda and make sure that it's what was happening. Poor woman has been having RLS since as long as I can remember and I now officially can feel for her! Seriously, you want to chop off your legs, it's THAT bad.

A Handmade Baby Gift....

Some friends of ours, back in Canada, had a little baby girl recently and I was so excited to make her a little something.

Our friends, Amanda in particular, are really into NFL football. I wanted to do something to do with that, but without the whole blatant team name on it.... thus this onesie was born.....

I figured that should they have more kids in the future it was unisex and they'd be able to use it again... my thrifty Mennonite brain at work ;)

I used felt and minky (note to self, ironing minky takes away that pop-up-bubbly look--FAIL) for the football and this is pretty much when my love affair with hand stitching/embroidery began...

So I kept that hand stitched train going and remembered my love for shabby ruffles and this onesie was created-- I used a tutorial for a ruffle bum onesie I found somewhere....not sure where, it was a while ago... oops.

And I added a little heart for the front...

LOVE that ruffly bum!

I also made a little bib to match...

Loving the stitched birdie!

And then, because I have to pay homage to the South, a nice big headband... OK, it's not that big. To be honest, I'm not really into the offensively large Southern-satellite-dish-bow/flowers people put in their kid's hair... sorry. Can't help it.

 I'm not going to be offended if you don't use it Amanda ;) I just saw a tutorial on See Kate Sew for the headband and had to make it. I thought it might be cute as a photo prop or something! 

Moving right along....

It's just so fun to make stuff instead of buy it (confession, I did buy the white onesies) and I love how you can add personal touches and make everything matchy-matchy! 

It was so fun to make this gift and I loved being able to use my new Anna Maria Horner, Innocent Crush fabric.... 

I'm seeing many handmade baby gifts in my future.

Linking up here....