1.) I have been dying to make Jayce an Advent Calendar and have been pinning ideas for one since October. I started it a few weeks ago and finally finished it on November 30, nothing like the last minute, right? I sewed little goodies or activities inside, and each day he opens one and we talk about it a little bit. Ever since I finished it I've seen a million other ideas that I would have liked to have done instead. I think we might have a house full of Advent Calendars next year.
2.) Jayce had his adenoids removed yesterday. It was sad, but he is okay, and we all are at the moment. More on that later.
I wanted to do something special the day before his surgery, so I rigged his Advent Calendar so that he opened the "make ornaments" activity that day. He loves to help me make sugar cookies, and this was a good way to get in all of the stuff he likes to do (ingredient adding, mixing, dough rolling, cookie cutter cutting,) on a MUCH smaller scale. We used this recipe, but instead of using 2 bottles of cinnamon we used 1, and I filled it back up with flour to sprinkle on the "dough" and keep it from sticking to everything. They smell amazing. There are only 10, still sitting in the kitchen, but the whole house smells lightly like cinnamon.
3.) I love the little sewn stars on Jayce's Advent Calendar, but a part of me is sad every time that Jayce rips one open, even though that is the point. So I made something similar for myself that wouldn't be completely destroyed by December 25th. And I made some for a friend. And I made some more and put them in my Etsy shop. Sewing pretty little stars is becoming an addiction.
4.) Hannah got this insanely adorable hat last week, courtesy of the super talented Amanda at OED&Me. (I've bragged on Amanda's goodies before, she is the one who made me all of those beautiful baby photo props that I showed off here when Hannah was born.)
The hat was so amazing that it almost, ALMOST prompted her to do that thing I am just dying for her to do because it is so darn cute, pull her feet back and put them in her mouth. Am I crazy for thinking that this is equal parts hilarious and adorable? I couldn't believe my luck, having my camera out at just the right time, and her wearing that insanely cute hat. But in the end it was all just a tease.
5.) Last week I went to a Wildtree freezer bag workshop. If you ever have the chance to do something like this, you have to do it!
Basically you bring 10 bags full of prepped meat and some chopped veggies, pay a lump sum for the Wildtree product, and when you arrived the host leads you through recipes which include the ingredients that you have just bought. Then you zip your bag shut, shake everything up until it is well-mixed and stick it in your cooler. We were given labels for each bag with the name of the dish and cooking instructions. On Sunday I pulled 3 bags out of the freezer and have been gradually working through them this week. As someone who hates to cook, and HATES food prep, I have to say that it is amazing. I feel very domestic with a fridge and freezer full of marinating meat, and it is nice to smell something cooking in our home that isn't 1 of the 5 things we make and eat every single week.
That said, the 2 hours I spent cutting chicken on Friday night was my own form of hell. Endless food prep, no cooking, no eating, just me and chicken, with me freaking out about touching it and freaking out even more about chicken juice getting all over the kitchen. But totally worth it in the end.
6.) Remember how I was trying to play catch up with the old blog? I caught up a little bit this week. In October when we were hitting up the pumpkin patch I started reminiscing about the previous year's pumpkin patch trip, when I was newly pregnant and seriously sick.
I started writing up my "beginning of pregnancy" stories, you know, the "this is how we found out and this is how we told people" stuff that often gets lost by the time that you are officially announcing, and I published them this week. If you're curious, you can read my early pregnancy stories for Jayce, Hannah, and the baby we lost at these links.
7.) I'm linking up with Elizabeth over at E Tells Tales, who's starting a new link party today. Elizabeth is a blog friend (sounds lame, I know), whose little guy was due just days before my little lady, so we kept up with each other a bit since we were basically at the same stage pregnancy-wise, and our babies are doing similarly ornery baby things. She's an amazing sewer, (check out her cute new baby Etsy shop), and sent me the prettiest burp cloth when Hannah was born. Seriously too pretty to use, although I do use it. She just guest posted at Lemon Tree yesterday too. Stop by and tell her hi!
Linking also to the always enjoyable Miscellaneous Monday, and Life Made Lovely parties. Stop by if you can!
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