Thursday, December 27, 2012

In the Glow of Christmas

It's been busy here lately, hence the pathetic lack of posts. Christmas preparations were frantic, but Christmas Day - and the days since - have been calm and lovely and filled with fun and visits.

Dinos from Santa

Happy with her stocking contents

Celebratory breakfast - coconut flour waffles and bacon

Three happy kids in their Christmas Eve jammies

Three less-than-happy kids, way past bedtime on Christmas Day!

Princess Light for Baby Belle

A brave knight for Music Man

A fierce, fire-breathing dragon for the whole gang

Mermaid Princess Honour for Princess

The whole home-made gang that kept me VERY busy recently!
The little quiet toys I gave the kids are made of acrylic felt. I'd love to be able to make another set down the road out of wool felt - once I can afford it! Also, I didn't include it in the photo, but the mermaid princess transforms into a girl - her tail comes off, and she has a little pink skirt. My Princess loves her princess!

(You might also notice that Music Man's knight is of a much fairer complexion than his sister princesses. My middle child has inherited my complexion, while my daughters bear much more resemblance to their father.)

Our Christmas Day was simple, and just right. The kids opened their stockings from Santa, then we had our big waffle breakfast, then the kids opened their gifts from us. They each got one "big" gift from us, their little felt friend, and a big pile of art and craft supplies to share. We really try to down-play the gift part of Christmas, and so far it's working. We realize this will get harder as the kids get older and compare gift lists in January with their classmates. Until then, I'll enjoy how excited Princess gets over a brand new pair of child-safe scissors.

Tonight my parents arrive, and Christmas will happen all over again tomorrow. They're bringing some gifts for the kids, and I'll cook a turkey dinner which my in-laws will join us for. Then two days later I'm throwing a (large-ish) birthday party for my sweet, loving, hard-working husband. I tell you all this to explain in advance why you're not likely to see many posts in the next week, but I assure you that "More blogging!!" is on my list of New Year's resolutions.

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Time for a Quickie

I just spent a crazy 48 hours in my hometown, celebrating my mother's 60th birthday. While I was there, one of my nephews ended up being hospitalized for blood poisoning. It killed me to not get to visit with him and my sister more while I was there, but I have a minor hospital phobia which is multiplied a hundred fold while pregnant. (Every time I have to go to the hospital when I'm pregnant - for my GTT and WinRho - I end up getting crazy sick within 24-48 hours. Every. single. time.) Happily, my sweet little nephew is now at home recovering with his family, who I'm sure are as relieved as he is that the IV is a thing of the past!

I have a cold. I woke up with almost no voice this morning, and I've been coughing quite a bit. Since I'm sick anyway, I should have just gone to the hospital. *sigh*

I'm 10 weeks pregnant as of today. 29 weeks (or less) to go!

We're taking Princess, Music Man and Baby Belle to meet Santa at the mall once Francis gets home from work. That, in itself, would be crazy enough, but to add to the excitement we'll be meeting up with my in-laws, Francis' two siblings, their spouses, three nephews and one niece. Fingers crossed we can actually get a picture with all seven children!

It's way harder to stay Paleo in the midst of morning sickness, cravings and aversions than I ever thought it would be. I had a nice, healthy bowl of coconut curry cabbage (a long-time favourite) for lunch, then immediately fell face-first into some chocolate ice cream... which was swirled with peanut butter... and studded with teeny little peanut butter cups... *sigh* I'm seriously considering tackling a Whole30 once I hit my second trimester, and (hopefully) am feeling a little better. (No, I'm not hoping to lose weight while pregnant. I have no intention of limiting my carbs, and actually intend to eat quite a bit of fruit, sweet potato and butternut squash to make sure I'm getting everything I need for a happy, healthy baby!)

I'm still nowhere close to being ready for Christmas, and I'm starting to freak out. I have zero energy for anything once the kids are in bed. Honestly, they're tucked in between 7 and 7:30pm, and I'm usually under my own covers by about 8pm. I'm an old lady.

I won a blogger give-away! I'm so excited! Check out the beautiful headband/ear warmer I won! While you're at Rebekah's blog, be sure to click the link to her Etsy shop. It might be too late to order Christmas gifts, but it's always a good idea to treat yourself to a little post-Christmas pat-on-the-back-for-getting-it-all-done gift. :)

I opted not to enter Carly's give-away, just on the off chance I'd win - I didn't think it would be fair of me to win two great prizes in a week. However, YOU should go over to her blog and enter to win one of three different toys from Sears.

That's about all I've got for now. I have to go convince Music Man to get out of his pajamas in time to go pick up Princess from school. It's been that kind of day!