Christmas at our house:

While most of the day was a blur of cooking, nap-times, diaper changes, hugs, family, and toys, we truly enjoyed the day.  It was made more special by having family here, and my favorite part of it was having N by my side throughout it all: cooking, unwrapping, preparing, cleaning, visiting, and making this special for H's first Christmas (which he won't remember...).
Santa was good to all of us this year.  Some of my favorite gifts:  gift cards for clothes, shoes, two books - One Yard Wonders and The Big A** Book of Crafts. 

But I know that you really want to see pictures of H, not hear me go on about my thoughts....

He really liked the feel of a lemon from my parents back-yard!

Sweet.

The real present under the tree.

My favorite of H's gifts - a train set from this etsy shop.  So cute, and very well made!

He is loving rolling them back and forth.  

Reading the note from AK -

she made him a great re-purposed cigar box for treasures.

 

Daddy playing with H and his new tool set from this etsy shop.

I am loving the natural toys!

GrandMissy playing with H.  Uncle Duane and Aunt Rebekah on the couch.

H is his Daddy's son!  I always am watching and expecting him to get overwhelmed and overstimulated when there are a lot of people around and a lot going on.  But, like N, that is when he turns on and shines!  He just loves to make people smile, and happily goes from person to person and toy to toy!

Leonard got a gift too!

Some cat-nip filled fish made by SweetHart, and a necktie from GrandMissy.

Another fun thing we did today was open H's gift from SweetHart and PopHart while talking to them on the webcam.  Technology is wonderful!  It was great for them to be able to see them open his Little People Farm set while being many miles away!

We finished the day by heading to Nanny's house.

He loved seeing even more family, and my cousin Challie who H is smitten with!  Every time he sees her, he gets very coy and flirty!

Playing with the cutest gator named "Cordy Roy."  

I really want it for myself, but N says I can't keep it....

It is soooo cute though!

The gator also goes perfectly with the book Uncle Bryan and Aunt Sheri gave H:  The Cajun Night Before Christmas.  I highly recommend it if you live in the south or are interested in Cajun culture, or if you just want a fun spin on a well known story!

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas, and a wonderful first Christmas for H!  All of us were pooped by the end of the day, but it was worth it!

"'Twas the night before Christmas

An' all t'ru de house

Dey don't a t'ing pass

Not even a mouse.

De chirren been nezzle

good snug on de flo'

an' Mama pass de pepper

t'ru de crack on de do'."

....

Merry Christmas to all

'Til I saw you some mo'!"

How we've been preparing for Christmas

We have been hiding from Santa...

 ....just in case he thinks we've been naughty....

Is learning to make faces naughty?

 If it makes your mama laugh?

 

Is reading books naughty?

 

While sitting in the book basket?

Is playing the piano naughty?

 

If you make pretty music?

There is no way this little one could be naughty!!!

 

 Merry Christmas!

Here is the nativity that I made this year.  I haven't been able to find a nativity that I liked - either too gaudy, or too expensive.  I saw one like this in an Etsy shop, and decided to give it a try.  It is made out of wool using the needle felting process.  It was a pleasure to make, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out!  Now they sit on our mantel on a needle felted leaf, and I think that they will stay well past the holiday season!

The whole group:

 

Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus

The wise men 

 

Two shepherds and an angel

 

May you be reminded of the precious moments that this scene depicts this Christmas...

Wordless Wednesday:

Naughty or nice?

Santa says:

Have you been naughty?

Nice?

A little bit of both?

A few of our favorite things...

I have definitely been a little behind in posting lately!  With a Christmas Market behind, a little boy who crawls faster every day, I sent off my last Etsy order yesterday, trying to get Christmas together for our little family, I haven't had much time to do things like blog posts, or if I do have the time, I just want to sit still for a few minutes!  Last week was a crazy one too!  I realized that within one week, N and I had 6 performances, 4 rehearsals, 6 church services, and I'm sure a few other things - which is very normal for us at holiday time, but this is the first time we have gone through all of that with a baby!

So, here are some of our favorite things:

Chewing on celery with Daddy

Discovering ornaments for the first time!

This is one of Mama's favorites:

That little sliver of light that comes through in the mornings.

Mama's favorite 'green' cleaner:

Hehe!  I couldn't resist!  This is a recipe for my favorite all purpose cleaner...

(all measurements are approximate - I don't measure mine, and it works fine every time!)

1/4 cup vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon borax (optional)

a dash of dish soap

2 cups of hot water

A few drops of tea tree oil (optional)

(this just smells nice, and has disinfectant properties - we had it for the diaper wipe solution that we use for H's cloth wipes)

Put all ingredients in a spray bottle, and happy cleaning! (I just pour everything in a squirt bottle - unmeasured - and fill the rest with hot water)

I love using this as it is - 'green,' I don't have to worry about chemicals if I use it around H, and it does a much better job than other cleaners!  I use this to clean the counter tops, tables, and even mop the floor with it!  There were some spots on our OLD kitchen floor that never would come up, and I put a little of this on it, and the spots came right off!

Because cooking/doing the dishes/etc has become difficult due to a baby who likes to try to get into the dishwasher, pull things out of cabinets, and use drawer nobs as teethers, I wanted something in the kitchen that he could play with.  I eventually want to make a set of alphabet letters for the fridge, but for now, we have a jungle!

My mama (H's SweetHart) drew these little monkeys for H as a little artwork for his room, but I took them and scanned them, printed them on some fabric paper, and sewed them together with a little batting and felt, and voila!  A jungle!  The tree and leaves are made out of felt and two layers of batting, the critters (5 monkeys, two owls, a mama opossum and her babies, and two snails) all have one layer of batting and felt on the backs.  They all have between one and four magnets (depending on their size) sewn into them (no parts to come off and become a choking hazard).

 

H likes to take them off, bring them to Leonard, chew on them, and look at them.  For now, this is enough, but I hope that one day he will actually play with them and create stories.  Mama also sent me some sheep, deer, and a camel that I think will be used in a forest in the future....

Other things Mama loves:

 

squeezable baby cheeks, arms and legs, N, seeing Leonard sleeping on the bed 23 hours of the day, having home-made bread (I'm going to make a sour-dough starter today), egg-nog ice cream with our ice cream maker, Christmas trees, making things, tutorials on the internet, the fact that N will be off work for two whole weeks!!!

How to keep two boys entertained

1.  Purchase a breadmaker for a whopping $15 (by using a 20% off coupon, store credit, and $10 rebate!!!)
2.  Open said breadmaker box and being to measure ingredients.
3.  Give box to baby boy:

4.  Continue to prepare bread.

5.  Turn on bread maker:

6.  Laugh while cat is surprised every time the machine turns on.

7.  Play while aromas of bread fill the home.

Note:

H is no where near potty-training, but we have been going through much more toilet paper lately.....

 

What we have been up to:

H is officially crawling now, and getting a little faster every day!  Therefore he has been getting into a lot more!  Pulling books off of shelves, going for Leonard's litter box (he's never made it there, and the room will soon be blocked off), he shows a particular interest in my sewing box, likes to pull up on the dishwasher, tries to play with the VCR, likes the trash can in the bathroom, pulls up and chews on the rosking chair handle, and the list goes on.  So, my question is this:  How does a mama of a crawler (or a walker) get anything done without losing her sanity and without keeping the baby in their crib all day?

Exhibit A:

H in 'jail' while I do the dishes

Exhibit B:

SNOW!!!!

If you live somewhere that it snows often, don't laugh too hard!  Of course it melted before it touched the ground, but they were real snow flakes!!!  We had snow about like this two years ago, so it was very exciting!

Exhibit C:

 Monroe's Downtown Christmas Market:

What has been taking up a lot of my time for the past few weeks.... I had a booth set up with all of the wares from my Etsy shop:  pacifier clips, portable high chairs, shopping cart covers, stacking rings, pillows, cloth balls, nursing covers, scarves, bibs, burp cloths, onesies, slings, loveys, blankets, and more!  It was fun, and I met some wonderful women who are also mothers and crafters, but I was sooo cold by the end of the day.

N was super daddy again - getting me set up, taking care of H, bringing me lunch and baby, getting H to babysitters, and helping me sort it all out at the end of the day.  I am thankful for him!!!

Exhibit D:

I think that 'butt in the air' sleeping is simply the cutest sleeping of all!  Especially while using a stuffed animal as a pillow and with the blankie scrunched up under!  He looks so serious too!

This is how we all felt after yesterday!  This is how I feel everyday after chasing him around!