What's Hap-pinning Wednesday.

Here it is, Wednesday before Christmas. It's my official last day at work before being off for a week (although we are technically open tomorrow). I have one big deadline to meet, but honestly I just need time off, away, brain shut down. This has been an exhausting year and now a little sore throat is trying to creep in so lathered in Theives and trying to just make it through today (I may have stopped and bought donuts for the office just so I could have 3 1). But alas, I am sharing our Christmas traditions.

Christmas Eve - We head to V&D's to open gifts with them and D's grandkids. It's a tad hectic with 4 impatient people trying to wait on the grownups, but oh well.  We open stocking first and always have the Christmas crackers (those things that pop and have a crown and small toys).

this is about 8 years old but you get the point

Then we take turns opening presents by age order (or at least as best we can with the littles).  We engage the younger ones by letting them becomes elves and pass out gifts.  We sip on wine and cheese and enjoy taking photos.  We always receive cozy socks and pjs from the animals, and my favorite are gifts that everyone has to open at the same time (because they are the same). We oh and ah and just enjoy the time.

After gifts we have our traditional tamale dinner complete with cheese enchiladas, rice, beans and Mexican chocolate mousse.

I used to open present Christmas day with V&D, but now that we travel to see J's family, we just do Christmas Eve.

Then, Christmas Day we are up early to catch a plane.  The last two years its been for Ohio, but this year, Florida. J's parents retired and moved and his brother and SIL also live there, so despite my " I have a baby come to  me" edict, we are flying Christmas day. Pray for me and my sanity.

We will most likely open present with my mom and brother early Christmas morning so they can see E have her first Christmas as well.

As for Christmas Day.... well its all new now with traveling to FL and the addition of E.  J's family has done away with gifts between each other and opted to only do gifts for E. (debate still out on how I feel about this). And well she is going to be spoiled.

This is a photo J's mom sent me... these are ALL for E. This does not count what his brother and SIL got her... We will need a sleigh to get these home.

Christmas is also my MIL's birthday so we always have birthday cake as dessert for dinner, which I think is a wonderful tradition.  It's a nice way to give her her own moment!

So, that is Christmas in a nutshell for us.

So, Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Little Bits of Cheer & Countdown

It's the eve of the eve of Christmas Eve! Yeah I know totally lame. And this post is late and well I don't care. It's a post and its here.

Today's little bits of cheer and Christmas Countdown is an ode to my husband. Bless his heart he's been sick for over a week and finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a sinus infection and bronchitis.  He's all hopped up on meds now and on the road to recovery. But today, I share with you husbandisms. These things he says and does melt my heart.

• Hair rubber band = hair tie, as in the tiny thing I put in E's hair for a ponytail which leads me to
• Pony's Tail - yes, he totally thought I was saying I need to put her hair in a Pony's Tail not a ponytail
• Leggings - his universal term for anything that looks like a legging, i.e. yoga pants, tights, pantyhose
• When I come home from a hair appointment and I say do you like the color and he says I thought you said you were getting a hair cut (he does not realize hair appt. = color and cut)
• snack - bagel, cream cheese, beef jerky, coffee and 2-3 Christmas cookies
• watching a move - watching football or a show about football
• getting dressed up = long sleeve shirt, instead of short sleeve

I'm sure I could think of a million more, but he's pretty amazing.  He is my bit of cheer. Coming home to a loving husband and father is a huge blessing.

Tis the Season

Go ahead and google images for "tis the season." It will make your day... but here are a few of my favs...

We had a short, sweet and fun weekend.  We went to a Christmas party Friday night and were home and in bed by 10pm we are so cool these days.

Saturday was my firm's party and we went to Main Event for all you bowl, video games, Mexican buffet and I tell ya, it was pretty fun. 

And we got this sweet gem from Evie's school. Happy Christmas week all!

The Grinch

I have written in the past about my Grinchy Christmas ways. I have shared my rather obvious disdain for the holidays. But, I have tried to turn that corner. I vowed that with J I would be different. I would enjoy the family time, bake, decorate and embrace all that is Christmas (other than the obvious birth of our savior).  I was doing so well ya'll. House decorated, tree decorated, Santa visited, cards out, baking supplies ready... and then it hit. I came down with a case of the scrooges.

Little back story. This has been a whirlwind of a year for us.  We got married, had a baby, I changed jobs, we endured disaster with the rent house, we bought a house and currently have two houses sitting on the market, and the state of the aerospace job industry is well in the pits around here.

So, last night as my normally happy baby was fussing and whining for no reason, refusing to eat and throwing herself on the floor and I looked around at all the small projects that my husband said he was going to do this weekend (4 weekends ago) I lost it.  I threw present still in their shipping packages under the tree, I yelled at my poor baby girl, I sat on the floor and cried and declared that I hate Christmas. I whined about having to fly on Christmas day with a fussy infant who refuses to want to do anything these days and spend time away from my own bed.  I was frustrated at my husband for moping around for weeks. And to top it all off, I burned the crud out of my finger on the straightener this morning. I just want it to be January already.

So, as I drove E to school this morning, I felt the guilt. I feel guilty that I have not home with her all day. I feel awful that I only get an hour with her at night and that whole hour she is fussy and whiny. I am upset that J is so stressed and frustrated. I am bored at work... not much going on the week before Christmas. I want to get on place to a beach by myself for a week. I want Christmas to just be over with. Pity party, party of 1!

But, alas I do not have time to mope or have a party for one, why? Because I am the mama and I have to hold it altogether, right?

Happy Friday all. if you need me this weekend, I'll be trying to bake, wrap present and force myself into a holiday mood.

The Secret Life of Santa Haters

It's true. I know some of these people.  They live next door to you, attend church with you, heck they could be related to you. They seem normal from the outside and I bet they even have a finely decorated tree, the best ugly Christmas sweater, and will inevitably give the best gifts. But, they Santa hate.

I was totally unaware of this phenomenon until I read this post. And then I found more.... and more and more.

I get it. I do. Its your choice and you have your reasons. But I guess I was just so taken aback by the sentiment that people don't "do" Santa.  I think I was especially upset by the post on the New Orleans Mom Blog.  It just seemed harsh.  But, as a parent I respect each person's decisions when it comes to celebrating the season and making the best choices for their family.

So.... do you "do" Santa? How do you do it? Does Santa wrap his presents? Does he only bring small things so as not to make others feel unloved? Do you leave his cookies and milk?  Because this is our first Christmas with a baby, J and I are feeling out the whole Christmas with kids thing.  Are you a Santa hater? Santa lover? Or Santa indifferent?

What's Hap-"pinning" Wednesday

It's that time again to link up with Jenn and Jessi and tell us what's happening.

First of all, let's talk about what happened last night. I was rocking E while she had her night bottle and she was not having it.  She kept pushing it away and then crying because she wanted it.  Finally, I just gave up and rocked her and then it came.  She vomited the contents of dinner and her bottle, exorcist style all over me and her, the chair, the pillow, and pretty sure sophie who was laying below us.  So that completes the baby trifecta for me: pooped on, peed one, vomited on. Yay me!

But in other news... I have been into decorating our downstairs living room as of late.  I have done a total 180 on the style and have opted for a mid-century modern/eclectic look.  I knew we would be using this very traditional Persian rug I have, so that was my color pallet.

It's filled with red, blues, golds and some mauve.  I then found a steal of a couch on a local buy/sell page.

It's from Crate & Barrel and retails for $1700. I bought it for $300. It's a charcoal grey, with a touch of blueish tone, so it works perfectly. 

Then I was doing a little cyber Monday shopping and found this coffee table at Target.



Via

 I only paid $79! Not the $189 its currently at.  It was super easy to put together and totally says mid-century modern.

Now I have my sights set on an accent table to go between two slipper chairs I have.

Thinking something like this....

Via

These have that metal I love and I think will add to the eclectic nature of the room thus far.

I am also thinking of some geometric pattern accent pillow for the couch and then I'll need some drapes. Yes I said drapes people.  I have HUGE windows across the back of the couch, and I am thinking of just some sheer panels mainly to break up the wall.  We have 16 ft. ceilings so that wall needs something.

Promise to get some actual room shots once the tree is gone and I have a better view.  I am having problems deciding what to so on the wall where the tree is currently.  I have toyed with the idea of a loveseat or settee... and have my eye on this one from West Elm.

My problem is the layout of the room. We have a corner fireplace and it opens into the kitchen so just odd to design around.

Don't forget to link up with Jenn and Jessi.

Tiny Germ Carrier

Hello everyone. Sorry I missed you all yesterday, but we were all sick. Yes all of us right down to the dogs.

It all started with Evie throwing up at daycare Thursday. We thought nothing of it as she seemed fine, no fever and went on about her day.  Saturday she did it again and then the runs began.  She had three blowouts Saturday.  She also seemed uninterested in eating and well was fussy as all get out.  Sunday she had two blowouts and I decided a trip to urgent care was needed.  Turns out she had a double ear infection. Hate those things. So off to the pharmacy to pick up her meds.  I arrive to the drive thru window with my very fussy baby in the backseat only to wait for 15 minutes behind another car.  The drive thru is not for waiting people... not with a fussy infant.  I finally get up to the window and they tell me her meds will be $475.  WHAT???!!  You have got to be kidding me. And this was with insurance.  And the substitute med was $350.  Thank you obamacare.  I called the pedi back and she gave me a coupon code.  So an hour later and still $110 we had meds for the baby and were headed home.

The rest of Sunday went ok.  We went to our neighborhood Christmas dinner and arrived back home, put the baby to bed and then it hit.  My tummy began to hurt.  I wanted to hurl people.  And J, well he had the runs and wanted to hurl as well.  At first I blamed the food we had just eaten.. until my mom and brother later confirmed they had the same thing and we knew it... Evie the tiny germ carrier hit.  Yesterday was a mess. I sent E to school so J and I could rest. I finally upchucked everything and hit the Pepto.  I got up and started to work around 10:30 a.m. J on the other hand was down and out for the count.  Flu like all day.  Achy body, ya'll he looked green.  I worked off and on for about 5 hours napping in between when my stomach felt upset.  I finally got J out of the house for some fresh air around 3pm and got him a smoothie. It was the first thing we ate all day.  I then headed to the grocery store and picked up E from school.  I could tell she was feeling better and man we needed a day to rest.  Hmm all it took for a day alone was being sick in bed.

So, last night I rubbed everyone down with Thieves, went to town with the bleach on the house and crawled into bed around 10 p.m.  This morning, everyone seemed a lot better. I am at work, J too the struggle bus to work and well E was happy as a little clam. 

In other news, my brother graduated with his bachelors degree Friday.  To say I was proud is an understatement.  This has been a work for him for over 10 years.

We also went to the Nutcracker Friday night as part of my anniversary gift and Evie well, despite feeling awful is still utterly cute.

Now, I just need to get some last minute gifts and get some things wrapped up and oh hey Christmas is 10 days away!

And big things are happening around this ole blog come January 1! Stay tuned.

Evie Update

Evelyn Ray, you are 8 months old! (Where did the last 8 months of my life go?)

 

I am not sure how much you weight, but I know its over the 20 pound mark and you are about 29 inches tall (daddy measures with his trusty measuring tape).  You continue to be the joy of our life.  This month you started army crawling (albeit only when bribed), eating table food (you love peaches, mandarin oranges, toast and avocado), celebrated Thanksgiving and met the man in the big red suit.

You are also much more, well, umm, let's say opinionated. You let us know when you are not happy or have not gotten what you want.  You have moved up to the Infant 2 room and well you have been nonstop ever since.  You refuse to really nap at school because you have to see and do everything (pretty sure you got that from mommy).  But, you sleep like a champ at home at night so I won't complain.

You still have no interest in actually for legit hands ands and knees crawling, but man you want to, in fact you will throw an all out baby fit because you won't crawl.  You also have no desire to pull up, stand up or well be mobile other than rolling.  In the walker you just tend to push yourself or try to bounce.

But when you are content with your toys you are content.  You to bang things together, "pet" the puppies (we are trying to teach you to be gentle), but man Sophie is so tolerant of you and you squeal with delight when you see her.  You are trying to cut you top teeth, so I blame the fussiness on that.  We can see its white edge but it just will not poke through.

You also want to do everything on your own.  You want to feed yourself, hold your own cup and bottle, get your toys out of the box and well I bet you would change yourself if I would let you.  Miss Independent (again you get if from your mama).

This month will be big as you will celebrate your first Christmas and go on your first plane ride! (pray for me).

You have also developed quite the nicknames: Evie, Ev, Peanut, E-Frog, cutie patootie (that's from Uncle Bubby), and toot butt (your daddy).

We love you to the moon and back sweet girl!

The 5 People You Work With

We all have those people. You know the people I am talking about... you talk about them to your friends, gchat the thing they just did to your BOFF, or share stories with your spouse. These are the people I have experienced while at work.

1. The Yeller. They yell, constantly. To you, to your boss, your co-workers, the guy who delivers the soda. And I don't mean in an angry way, he is just LOUD.  I swear through the concrete walls and the two offices in between I can still hear him on a conference call. Heck, I can hear him in the bathroom. And don't try to call him out. Nope, no way because then for the rest of your career, he will point out any loudness on your part. Period.

2.  The Know-it-all. She does--know.it.all.  And she tells you. She knows who is being hired, fired, promoted. She knows how much you make, how many hours you bill, whether your boss thinks you are a good worker.  She also knows it all about anything related to your line of work.  It's like she thinks she is a walking encyclopedia. Truth. she annoys the crap out of you.  For lawyers, she was the gunner of your 1L class.

3. Mr. Passive Aggressive.  You may work for him or perhaps be him (please don't be him).  He's normally Mr. Nice Guy, happy go lucky and a joy to work for and with. Until you piss him off or catch him on a bad day.  He’ll do anything to avoid conflict and this includes arguing with you. It’s ingrained in his mind that arguing is unacceptable and he simply won’t do it. The passive aggressive man constantly sees himself as the victim in his head. He just can’t seem to win for losing. On top of that, it’s always someone else’s fault when something bad happens to him. He takes no responsibility for his actions.  He looks at you like you are dumb and then walks away. You feel defeated. He wins.

4. Worthless Guy. Yup, that's it. He is worthless.  You have no clue what he does all day besides playing solitaire or pinning things.  She checks instagram 900 times a day and he sends fart jokes.  You cannot figure out who he/she slept with to get there, but alas there they sit. every.single.day.

5. Your work spouse.  That person, of the opposite sex whom you've connected.  Its not romantic and chances are your spouse has met him/her and loves him/her.  She is your go-to for things. he is the person you cry to when your boss (Mr. Passive Aggressive) makes you cry.  You sit next to each other in every meeting, grab each other lunch and vent to.  Yup, the work spouse also takes the brunt your of crap.  They deal with your PMS, your my wife made me convo and every in-law issue known to man.  It's like being married.  He/she is your person--at work.

Better Late Than...

I am so mad at myself. I had a post all lined up today, ya know a good one, all thought out and pics included... and I scheduled it to post and everything.... for 7pm tonight. Le sigh. Le Moan....

And I did not realize it until I was in court this morning and had no comments from my usual suspects. At first I thought no one thought it was comment worthy, I admit I was a tad sad... and then I thought blogger was down.... yeah then I saw it was total user error.

So, check back tomorrow.

Lil Bits of Cheer

Back again this Tuesday to share some bits of cheer this Holiday season with Jess.
I grew up living in apartments. I never lived in a house until I was married. I always dreamed of having a house to decorate and put up lights on. Well, the first round ole marriage did not bring that. So, I was ecstatic that J grew up in a light-filled house.  It may not be much, but these lights bring so much joy to my heart this Holiday season.

It may not be a lot, but I like it!

Fireworks & Cake

And its Monday again. I admit it was hard to get out of bed this morning and get rolling. I just want like 3 days off to sleep, just sleep. But alas, this is real life and so onward and upward. But we did have a great weekend....

Friday, we celebrated our Anniversary. Our anniversary was technically Sunday, but we decided Friday was easier to celebrate.  We just did a simple casual dinner at a local place and ice cream.  We exchanged traditional first anniversary gifts of paper.

I got these gorgeous handmade paper flowers. They have our name and wedding date. I also got tickets to see the Nutcracker next weekend! He did well ladies.

I got him cufflinks that had the lyrics to our first dance song (on paper) inside them.

Evie was more excited about her favorite babysitter coming over than any gift exchanging.

She looks so big in this picture. Where did my little squishy roly poly go!

Saturday I got a much-needed coffee date in with one of my sorority sisters, who is also my Essential Oils guru. I have jumped on the bandwagon and I admit, I am loving them.  I met up with Brittany so we could chat and she could give me the low down on the wonderful uses for my oils.  From congestion relief to cuts, bruises and the pink eye that J somehow caught, they have been wonderful in our home.

Saturday evening we attended the wedding of some good friends of ours (and the guy who introduced me to J). This was on over the top wedding.  Complete with formal attire (yup busted out the long dress), ice sculpture martini bar, fireworks... Yes they had a firework show mid-wedding, and an awesome band.  It was so fun to celebrate these two and well see all the guys all gussied up.

Yall, I stayed up until 11:30 p.m.!

Sunday was lazy but gorgeous outside.  Temps in the high 60's not a cloud in the sky! We did some yard work, I got a mani/pedi and we took E on a long walk. And.... we at our cake topper.

We are officially in a countdown to Christmas and well, for me, a few days off.  I think J and I both need some down time.

Happy Monday all and have a good week! 18 days to go.

What's Hap-Pinning Wednesday & #HFTHbloghop

 

 

It's Wednesday and you know what that means! It's time for What's Hap-Pinning Wednesday and also still participating in the Home For The Holidays Blog Hop.

 

Today's HFTH topic is traditions!

 

 

Since this is Evie's first Christmas J and I are trying to start traditions for her and our little family.  So, we are combining some of what our families did and adding in some new ones.

 

1. Photos with Santa.  It's a must for any parent with littles. As you know, we took Evie before Thanksgiving and came out sans tears.

 

 

 

2. Fort Worth Parade of Lights. Its the kickoff to Fort Worth's holiday season and is full of floats all covered in lights.  Again, it happened before Thanksgiving this year, but we are making this one a must as well. The streets are lined with people and Sundance Square is abuzz with people, lights, vendors and Santa.

 

3. TCU Tree Lighting.  As you all know I am a tried and true TCU alumna.  Last night we headed up to campus to see the big tree get lit.  The event is family friendly and comes with fireworks, music, hot chocolate, photos,  coloring for the kids and more!

 





These are just a few of the things we will do every year with Evie.  We also have some other traditions that she will get to share in like getting new jammies to open for Christmas Eve, eating tamales as the Christmas Eve dinner, baking cookies and getting a new ornament for the tree each year.

What are you Holiday traditions? Don't forget to link up here and here.

Little Bits of Christmas Countdown Cheer

Today I am linking up with two of my blog besties to share in Holiday cheer. So join P!nky or Jess or both and let us know what brings cheer to your Christmas season.

I know Thanksgiving is over, but it officially kicks off the Holiday season and well brings so much joy to my life. I love coming back to V&D's house after lunch and lounging around while we wait to make a smaller Thanksgiving meal.  Everyone has their duty and well it always ends in giggles and a good time.  This year Haylee got anointed into the cooking.  And well, so did D and when you put the two of them together, you end up with the Doctor letting the 18 year old inject the rum cake with a syringe.

 

I also decided Wednesday night that I would cook for my mom and brother Friday... so off to the store I went at 9pm.

Ya know to get the essentials... turkey, dressing, baby food, beer.....

But you know its officially official when the tree is adorned and the stocking are hung by the chimney with care....

I just need to add some more ribbon and put up the upstairs tree and it will be Christmas in the Winter home!

Happy Holiday season all!

Home For the Holidays (Bloghop)

 

 

Happy Monday friends! Today is day one of the Home For the Holidays Blog Hop! Make sure to link up with us each day and also to tweet, pin, and share on Facebook! The more the merrier

 

 

Today's topic is Gifts! So link up and share your wish list, gift ideas, etc... you get my drift! I am going to share with you great gifts for the friends in your life (best friend, momma friends, your family... everyone!)

 

1. For Him - The Man Crate. I know I have shared this before, but again, they have awesome gifts for any man in your life. From husband, to boyfriend, dad to brother (or brother in law). They have one for any man in your life.

 

 

Personalized Crates



 

Whiskey Appreciation

 

For the Buckeye (or other college man of your choice)

 

2. For the Mama friend - Love Little Arrow. I have this sweatshirt and well I think all Mamas need one or two.... 

 

 

3.  For the non-mama or any other woman in your life... Kendra Scott for the win! I got my BOFF hooked on her bauables last year and well can you blame me! And its 15% today.

 

These pretties are on my list.

4. For those wonderful teachers, caregivers, babysitters.... well they love your child and I know I love them for it! My go-to for these lovely woman... gift cards to the places they love. I know E's teachers love Starbucks and Chick Fil-a. I know I could be way creative and come up with some basket, but give the ladies what they want!

Do not forget to link up with Neely and the other hostesses!

 

 



What's Hap-pinning Wednesday

It's Thanksgiving Eve and I'm linking up with Jenn and Jessi for the Thankful edition of What's Hap-Pinning Wednesday.

I am thankful for....

My wonderful family! Husband who loves me, most loving brother/Uncle Bubby Ever, brother and sister in law who adore E, V & D who continue to love and dote on E... you get my drift.....

Friends... They are my village. I could not do life with out them.

And ya know the other things like my job, house, puppy girls, car, etc... but I am just so thankful for this life I get to live each day and for all of you for being a small part of it.