Think it's been long enough?! :: Free-holiday-tag-download

Life has been pretty crazy and I cannot seem to keep up with more than one blog at a time. But here I am trying again! And by more than one blog, I mean 3! I have not yet set up a roll out date of my newest blog baby - but it will be exciting and thoughtful. This BabyMama space is just for me - with no pressure and no deadlines and very few watching. More are welcome, but it is nice to have a space that I can relax and not worry about anything else. I will post about some of the things I am making as Christmas gifts, well after they've been received :) 

In the meantime we are all enjoying the craziness that life has brought us and that craziness entails living in a house without a kitchen (NO KITCHEN!) for a month! But we think the results will be worth the wait - I just hope it doesn't bring around any weight! 

DIY Print-at-home gift tag by Three Umbrellas

Happy Holidays to all of you and enjoy the image of the Christmas tag I made that will be a free download on my other blog! :)

Holiday Cheer

In the rush that is Christmas preparations I took some time to bake. Yes many would not call this a break, but I do, especially when my life has been hectic and busy while knitting for gifts, making mistakes on knitted gifts, reknitting gifts, making ornaments, making deliveries and keeping the house clean for guests of all kinds. Add in to this equation some nice driveway shoveling and salting and basically freezing to the bone and you've got about the stress level I've been experiencing lately.

A bright spot in my last few weeks was when I stepped on the scale at my weekly WW meeting and I had lost 2 lbs! That was nice and completely due to the 5 points per day that I dropped because of how much solid food Little is eating, therefor decreasing my nursing calorie expenditure. I am only 3 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight and that is just the best feeling.

I am now getting ready for the final rush to wrap all the gifts that I have purchased and finish all the lofty projects I have started. And I just got the best present of all - My sister who lives upstairs just got a snowblower! No more shoveling for me! It has been a good workout, but my back muscles will thank me later.

And after this holiday rush I will take the time to put together a yearly greeting and send it out, whether it be via email or the snail variety. I say yearly greeting because I hesitate to say holiday because it may not be around the holidays that it arrives. But I look forward to making this card and adding some nice photos to my collection of family pictures.

12 Days of Christmas Baby Mama Style

The Husband and I decided to {splurge} and provide the 12 days of christmas for a family in our area. The prospect of doorbell ditching someone (the same someone) for 12 days in a row did not seem so daunting, that was until we realized there were young boys in the house that sprint faster than we do {especially in the SNOW}.

So far the goods delivered to our 12 Days house have been pretty easily pulled together but as the number escalates so does the difficulty of finding a coordinating {insert anything here}. And we have run into the problem of me wanting to make double of everthing so I can have one for myself. The process of deciding who we were going to bestow our deliveries upon was quite a trial, we love to give and we couldn't decide until {the night before} who it was going to be. We finally decided and made our first terrifyingly exciting jaunt into the cold night air.

I wrapped Little up tight and we waited in the car while the Husband {ran} through the snow after depositing the gift on the stoop and doorbell ditching. We didn't expect to feel like such teenagers with the rush that we felt after committing such a {crime}. And we almost got caught! We should have ordered up floor plans for the intended house or something because those kids made it to the door faster than Husband could reach the end of their walkway. Luckily Husband had on his nifty disguise of {a grey hoodie and his winter hat} to keep them from knowing who it really was.

The gifts for these 12 days have been very fun to come up with. We decided that for our first day we would give a {special ornament} featuring a swaddled baby Jesus. The second day was a 2 liter of Pomegranate 7up (delicious and fresh tasting). The third day we delivered 3 special ornaments featuring a clay polymer ornament I made, a cross-stitched pillow ornament I made, and a gold bell.

On the fourth day we delivered {Chocolate covered candy canes}. On day number five we delivered my childhood favorite Chocolate Waffle Cookies now affectionately deemed {Wookies} by the Husband. On Day number 6 we delivered a box of Swiss Miss with a cute little elf/gnome made by my sister-in-law. Our house guests (the Husbands cousin and adorable wife and little boy) were so kind as to help us in our deliveries and it made it all the more fun for day six and seven.

On day number seven we delivered 7 pairs of knit gloves, the ones I used to wear as a child and accidentally leave in the {snow}. On day number 8 we left my favorite fruit (competeing with pomegranates), mini {clementine oranges}. On Day number nine we delivered 9 glass ornaments perfect for embellishing a tree just right. And seeing as today is day number 10 I will have to fill you in later on what we are leaving tonight.

Our chosen family left us a note that brought me to tears. It was simple and humble and grateful and brought to my heart the true {spirit of Christ} and giving. I hope that we can do this every year to show our children how wonderful it is to give to others. We have a very awesome day 12 planned so you will have to {come back} and check it out.

I will post the waffle cookie recipe later if someone leaves a comment that they want it. I also have a stuffed pasta shell recipe that is low point and will be appearing here later. It was {DELISH}!

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway at Design Mom

One of my oh-so-favorite blogs is hosting a 12 days of Christmas giveaway. She has the most splendid giveaways(and posts) EVER! Click the link below to check out Design Mom's giveaway coming up this weekend!

The graphic above will take you to her site when you click on it!

Just click away and find out why all the rest of us are so addicted to Design Mom's blog!