DIY Reverse Applique Stockings

 Ever since scoring this bad boy on Black Friday, I've been flexing my sewing muscles every chance I get.  I made Madison's skirt, a couple more similar skirts for nieces as Christmas gifts(shh, don't tell), and now stockings.

 For the stockings, I wanted to stick with the same color scheme I used for our toddler-proof Chrismas tree.  I also wanted to make them fully personalized.  Until this year, personalized stockings equaled puffy paint applied with terrible handwriting to the cheapest stockings Walmart had to offer, so there was definitely room for improvement.

I started where any originality/creativity challenged DIYer would: Pinterest!  I didn't really find much that struck my fancy until this happened:

Source: tealandlime.com via Kelli on Pinterest

It inspired me not just with the color (grey would/did look great combined with the ultra-bright colors of our tree), but also with the bold style.  Until I came across this pin, I never really considered putting the names on the stockings instead of the cuffs.  I had also never heard of reverse applique.

I decided to go for it, but failed to take many pictures of the during.  If you're looking for a tutorial, Jackie did a great job with hers (just click her picture above).

For font, I loved the way Helvetica looked for Jackie's stockings, but I wanted to use a font that I either already had or could get for free.  I found Lowvetica Extra Bold (sorry, don't remember the font website I used, just whatever came up first on Google) and decided it could work.

I used our old stockings to make a cardboard template, then used the template to trace and cut out six pieces (for three stockings.  Sorry Bella).  Then I traced each of our names(backwards) onto the paper backs of three rectangles of fabric interfacing and ironed them to the wrong sides of our stockings.  I carefully cut the letters out (using my fabric scissors on the paper with gritted teeth), then peeled off the paper backing and ironed colored fleece rectangles over the interfacing. 

I sewed fabric faux cuffs to the fronts of each stocking (pink houndstooth for us girls and green with blue poppies for Pat), then put the right sides of the stocking pieces together and sewed them all the way around.  I added tabs made of the opposite fabric (ie I used the pink for Pat's and the green/blue for ours) and matching fleece on the back. 

Then they sat on our kitchen table until last night when I begged Pat to build just one of the three shelves I want in the kitchen.  And here they are!

The shelf still needs to be painted (it came already primed), and we're going to add two more below it where the tape is.  Well, not exactly where the tape is, they'll all be the same width. 

Anyway, I used books and yarn to hang them.  I just strung one long piece of yarn through the books and the stockings.  Then I added the "NOEL" letters, made of cardboard wrapped with more...yarn.  Yeah, it's a very yarny Christmas for us.  That's also our "ribbon" for presents this year!

Oh, and if you look closely you'll see that the middle part of Madison's "a" is missing.  It fell off, but I've got big plans for getting it stuck for the long haul.

Merry Almost Christmas!
-Kelli

Uh Oh, Christmas Tree

This year our Christmas tree is a few things:  Unique.  Creative.  Weird.  Cool?  DIY.  Pretty.  Cheap!  Easy.

With a few reservations, I do like it.  We originally planned to do the traditional (for us, anyway) real seven foot tree.  I figured we could teach Madison not to touch it, just like we have with the chemicals under the sink, the glass in our buffet, the trash can, the (covered) electrical socket, etc.  But then, when she saw her first Christmas tree of the year (for our Santa pictures at my aunt's house), something awful and kind of cute happened:  she pointed to an ornament on the tree and said, "Bawl."  Madison is pretty good at minding simple rules, but when there's a "bawl" on the line, all the rules go out the door.  She LOVES to touch, "catch", throw, and kick balls.  She loves to put them on her head, in her shirt, in a bag, under the couch, or in her crib.  Other than me, they're pretty much her favorite thing (sorry, Patrick).

So I knew that having any "bawls" in her reach was going to be a nightmare.  I started brainstorming:  what if we put the tree behind the couch with a baby gate?  (Answer:  she'd climb over the couch or over the baby gate.)  What if we just had a tabletop tree this year?  (I would never get into the Christmas spirit.)  What if we didn't use any ball ornaments?  (We would have about three ornaments on the tree.)  What if I just did the regular tree after all?  (Terrible twos would come early.)

Then, feeling defeated, I took Madison to Walmart just to look at the options, hoping for inspiration.  That's when I saw it:  5-6 ft real trees for just $19.  At this point, I wasn't thinking about the Madi problem; I was just seeing dollar signs.  I could make this work!  My first thought (which lasted for about fifteen seconds) was to have a HUGE tree topper.  Then I saw it in my head and realized how silly that would look.  Then I thought, "What if we elevated it from the bottom?  Ooh, if we raised it high enough, Madison couldn't touch it!  AND it would be cheap!!!"  At this point, it was a done deal.  All I had to do was convince Patrick to build me a riser, and I've convinced him in the past to do much worse things with his Saturdays.

The end result:

Here's how we (he) did it:

• He built a box from scrap 2x4's and plywood.  It was going to be wrapped like a present, so we didn't need anything fancy.
•  He screwed our existing tree stand to the top.
•  He put 50 lbs in the box so it wouldn't be top heavy with the tree.  That's why he put plywood on the bottom, too.

•  He cut the bottom off the tree so it could absorb water better?  (I've never understood this part...isn't it already cut?)
• He manhandled it into the tree stand by himself so I could take pictures for posterity.

•  He stood back and pondered how crazy the woman he married is.

•  He realized that the trunk was way thinner than our tree stand was made for.  This threw about an hour's worth of head scratching, sawing, and bolt tightening/loosening into the mix.

•  This is where I took over.  I reworked the box from our tv into a "gift box" to go around the base and stand. 
• I stapled (with our staple gun) the box to the wooden riser.  I left the existing folds at the top of the box to help complete the look, hoping that once the branches fanned out it would look good.

•  I wrapped the whole thing in our wrapping paper for this year...brown craft paper!  The beauty of using it here was that it almost perfectly matched the color of the cardboard underneath, so my less than perfect wrapping job is pretty well disguised.

We did all of this over dinner and an episode of Dora, but at this point it was Madison's bedtime.  So we put her down and (I) got to decorating!

I burned out on the pompom garland making about an hour after Madi went down, so this is what we had the next morning:

And here's the end result!  At least it's the end unless/until I figure out what I want to put on top of the tree.  I also want to make a giant tag or something for the "present", but I want it to match our real presents, so that'll have to wait until I decide which way we're going for labels.

 
I'm SO glad to be "done" with it.  I'm sure I'll be making small changes right up until Christmas, but the work is over!

Oh, and it passes the Madi uh-oh test (meaning I haven't had to say "uh-oh" yet).  She can touch a few of the bottom ornaments with one finger if she stretches up on her tippy-toes, but I don't see her getting a hold of any of them this year (knock on wood).

Have you put your tree up yet?  Have you ever had to do an edited Christmas tree for a toddler?  What was your edit?  Most importantly, how are you labeling your gifts this Christmas?

Merry Tuesday!
-Kelli

 PS:  I linked up over here!

Our Very Merry Christmas

 Our Christmas kicked off on Saturday (Christmas Eve) with the Philpot family party.  To get Madison into the Christmas spirit before we hit the road for Huntsville(about an hour and a half from home), we let her play with some electricity shielded by tiny glass bulbs.  Which she repeatedly tried to put in her mouth.  But we got a really cute picture out of it, so I guess that risk paid off.

 Once everyone arrived at the party, we rounded up all the cousins for a group picture in front of the tree.  That's when we found out that we had produced a little coven of Cullens.  If you don't get the reference, please don't ask.  I would be really embarrassed for you to find out how much I know about Twilight.  Oops.

 By the time Patrick figured out how to turn off the flash, the smiles had gone from adorably sweet to "fine-here are my teeth."  Hopefully one of the other paparazzi my sister-in-laws snagged a better picture.

 We all had a great time at the party.  The only problem we had was that it was SOOO  loud (four older cousins, a dog, and a bunch of adults who were really excited to see each other again) that Madison's naps just didn't happen.   Still, she was a trooper and pulled through the event with a pretty good attitude. 

The next morning (also known as Madison's first Christmas), Patrick and I got up early to finish wrapping gifts.  Madison opened her gifts before we headed off for church. Like any other six month old, she was a lot more impressed with the package than the contents.

 The same, however, was not true at Nana's house a few hours later.  Her big gift from Nana was a walk along/ride on dinosaur, and that seems to be her favorite gift so far.  That kind of surprised me, because she's not able to actually walk behind it yet; she can stand up and hold it, but only if we hold the dinosaur still.  Taking steps is still quite a ways off for her.  Since she gets tired so quickly standing behind it, we have it set to the ride-on setting, and she loves to sit and hit the buttons/stare at Bella.

It was definitely a long weekend, but I think she enjoyed her first Christmas.  And Pat and I, well, we'll recover eventually.  : )

I hope you had a great Christmas, and that you have a happy new year!

-Kelli

Wow...I feel like it's been a lifetime since I've posted here.  I'll chalk it up to being sick last Thursday, busy for Christmas, and Madison not sleeping through the night even one time since.  I woke up with her seven times last night!  SEVEN.  Some call that the number of perfection or completion.  I think it's more like Satan's number plus one for good measure.  Ask me again tomorrow and I might feel differently.  Or I might not.

Now for a list of things I had planned to post about this week had I not been too busy throwing a pity party for myself over the lack of sleep:

• Christmas recap
• Six months
• (Finally) painting the thrift store lamps
• Making Madison's hand-print ornament
• 2012 Resolutions

Hopefully the catching up begins tomorrow.  Or maybe even later today...we'll see how it goes.  In the meantime, I think I'll go daydream about really dreaming.

-Kelli

Happy Thursday!

Ahh, Christmas.

I hate to see you go, but I must confess I'm glad to see a few "nothing special" days come, so I can finally relax and recover.  Madison, as expected, made out like a bandit this year.  Which means that Pat and I did, as well.  Keeping her entertained with new toys is even easier than it was with her "old" ones.

We decided that even though it seems really hard, we're going to try to give Madison only three presents each Christmas.  This should help keep us from going completely consumer-crazy, but mostly it will remind us to point Madison back to the real gift of Christmas, who is Jesus.  I've got to confess: this year we really only gave her two presents(a Jenny Jump-Up and a bathmat so she can take "big girl" baths in the tub).  The third gift "from mommy and daddy" is really from Nana.  She has some of those foam puzzle piece play mat thingies in her garage, and we'll be putting them in the office.  The only reason we're claiming them as "our" gift is that we'll be cleaning and maybe even painting/sealing them.  I've got to stop looking at Pinterest. 

Oh, yeah. I haven't told you guys why we need to rest and recover!  The reason I didn't blog Thursday was that I was busy.  Very, very, busy.  It takes a lot of energy to spend all day trying to keep your water/gatorade/two bites nibbles of cracker(bad idea) down.  Pat and Madi were similarly afflicted.  And that last post about how grateful we are for Nanas?  Yeah, that should probably be updated to include endangering her own health to care for a sick baby so her sick parents could lay in bed.

Wow, I'm all over the place today.  Which may or may not be because I've had a squirming baby on my lap for the last two paragraphs.  I think I'll go ahead and publish without proofreading so we can open another Christmas toy.  We can make a game of it...whoever finds the most typos gets a prize.  Just kidding-I'd really rather not know.  : )

-Kelli (and Madison)

Merry Christmas!

I've got too much to do and too little time, so today I'll just wish you a merry Christmas!  I hope you have a safe and fun weekend with friends and family.

-Kelli

A Three-Hole Punch

I'm white.  Really, really, white.  Regardless of my mom's best efforts (I spent more than half of my childhood even a shade or two whiter than normal because I had so many layers of sunscreen coating my skin), I've had several major sunburns.  Once, during a kayaking excursion with my parents on a cruise to Mexico, my feet were burned really badly.  It turns out that it's a bad idea to apply your sunscreen before removing your socks and shoes.  Anyway, when we got back on the ship, we all took a nap.  I woke up in a panic, sure that I was being attacked by fire ants.  I threw the covers off, then stared at my feet in horror.  I spent the groggy next few minutes trying to figure out why I had such a terrible rash on my feet before I finally realized what had happened.  The next port of call was Jamaica, and I couldn't walk to get out of our state room, much less off the ship.  I've still never been to Jamaica, but from what I've heard, I didn't miss much. 

Before you read any further, I should tell you that the rest of the post is about my visit to the dermatologist.  And it grossed me out.  I give you a free pass to hit the "back" button on your browser, just be sure to come back over tomorrow!

Still reading?  Well, don't say I didn't warn you!

I've been dreading this visit to the dermatologist since I decided to set it up last week.  I figured if anyone was going to have skin cancer at 24, it would be me.  Thankfully, all is well.  So far, anyway.  My dermatologist did remove three spots, only two of which really concerned him.  There was a mole (it looked like a freckle to me, but I guess if the derm. calls it a mole, it probably is) on my shoulder blade, and another (freckle) mole on my leg.  Since both were oddly shaped and one of them had two colors, he wanted to take those off.  The other one was (ewww) an angioma on my calf.  That was the one I was most concerned about going in, both cosmetically and medically.  It turns out that they are almost always benign, but it was still a shaving hazard.  Eww, ewww, ewwwwww.

One thing my doctor said that really scared me was this:  with our fair skin and living where we do, Madison and I will get skin cancer at some point.  He said we just need to try to make sure we get it at 95 instead of at 30, and that we get basal cell carcinoma and not melanoma.  Of course, we have to try our best to protect ourselves.  Wear hats, long sleeves when possible, and always wear sunscreen.  I asked him to recommend a sunscreen for her, and he wouldn't.  He said his kids use Aveeno, but that's just based on a scent preference. 

His statement (we will get cancer) got me pretty worked up.  I've decided I'll just have to show him how wrong he is!  Which is probably exactly what he wanted me to do. 

Madison, I'm sorry you're going to have to deal with me lathering sunscreen on you before you leave the house.  And I'm sorry I'm going to make you come out of the pool/lake/river/ocean every thirty minutes to dry off and reapply.  And I'm sorry you'll never be allowed to use a tanning bed.  But I will not ever be in a position to apologize to you for not doing everything I could to protect you from the sun.

In other news, we're at T-minus four days to the beginning of our Christmas festivities.  Exhale, Kelli.  No, exhale all the way. 

Have you checked your skin recently?  What was your worst sunburn?  Are you ready for...<gulp> Are you all set for...<hyperventilating>  CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!  Heaven help me.

-Kelli

Half Bad.

Looking over my to do list from yesterday, I realized something.  I completed exactly half of what I was supposed to do.

Here's yesterday's list:

• Clean the house (I only managed the kitchen, living, and bathroom)

• Decorate the tree (I strung the lights, added a bow topper and the first "level" of ornaments (more on that later), and started constructing a tree skirt)

• Make an appointment with the dermatologist (I need to get a few spots checked out) after checking with our insurance company to see whether I need a referral for it to be covered.

• Walk 5 miles.

• Go to Old Navy

So now I know I'm setting myself up for failure, because Madison took the best nap ever yesterday, meaning I got as much done as humanly possible, and still didn't finish.  Nonetheless, this is my list for today:

• Clean the (rest of) the house

• Decorate the (rest of) the tree

• Check with our insurance company to see if I need a referral to see a specialist, if so get one today.

• Walk five miles

• Go to Old Navy for that dress and some running shorts for Pat

• Spray paint our lamps

• Listen to our church's Christmas pageant CD and work on timing the readings correctly.  (Pat and I are gonna be narrating Sunday morning, and we have to hit certain cues in the music.)

 Hmm.  I think I might be in trouble.  Speaking of trouble, I hear something cute and fuzzy (fuzzy headed, anyway) stirring in the next room.  I'd better go check it out.

Am I the only one that does this to herself every day?  I think I need to get my head checked.  I'd better add it to the list.

-Kelli

Ornamentally Speaking

Thirteen.  That's how many ornaments we have.  Up until this year, we've always used a "six foot" very cheap fake tree.  I used quotation marks because I think the tree manufacturer's concept of a foot was relative.  Maybe they measured by their own feet.  If so, their feet were probably a size or two smaller than mine.  If that tree was "six feet tall", then I'm a "size two".  Just saying.  The point is, we never felt like we had a shortage of ornaments before.  The tree was saturated with ornaments.  Not so this year.

That's what spurred my cheap-is-good-but-free-is-better ornament-pinning bender.  I haven't actually completed any of these yet, but I will say that Patrick drew some dirty looks at the Lowes paint counter Tuesday night.  I'm okay with that; I think we've paid our dues over the years with the eight GALLONS of different colors sitting in the bottom of our hall closet, which does not include the four or five gallons that we've emptied since moving in.

Without further ado, I'd like to introduce to you my Christmas board, courtesy of Pinterest.

Source: younghouselove.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Source: dearlillieblog.blogspot.com via Kelli on Pinterest

This next one is actually not a DIY, it's for sale at West Elm.  But I think popping a feather in a cheap glass ball ornament would be almost as pretty!

Source: westelm.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Source: younghouselove.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Source: christmas.tipjunkie.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Source: wholefoodsmarket.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Source: freshpoppydesign.blogspot.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Can you believe these next ones are made with tissue paper?  I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to duplicate this, but I do plan to try!

Source: bystephanielynn.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Source: eliseblaha.typepad.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Source: homemade-gifts-made-easy.com via Kelli on Pinterest

Now that I've got my inspiration, I've just got to get started.  Now if only I had some motivation.  What?  It's December 15th already?  Okay, consider me motivated.  I'll be sharing my tree with you soon!

Oh by the way, you probably noticed I've changed the look of things here.  It's still very much a work in progress, so don't get too used to it!

What's your favorite DIY Christmas ornament?  Or just your favorite ornament, period?

-Kelli

Oh, Christmas Tree.

Dear Christmas tree,

I'm sorry you're still naked over a week after we brought you home.  And that I forgot to water you for three days.  And that you'll be thrown away in less than a month. 

Thank you for still being so vibrantly green.  And thanks for your lovely aroma.  It makes me smile every morning. 

But please.  Please, please, please, stop dropping your needles on my floor.  Don't get me wrong, I probably understand hair loss better than any non-Rogaine testamonial giver.  Still, it's a little excessive.

Sincerely,
Your neglectful and borderline abusive(especially when you consider what I'm gonna do come January 1st) mother,
-Kelli

What's on My Mind Monday

Linking up over here with Carissa!

I.  I left Madison in the nursery during Sunday School yesterday.  Except for a scheduled feeding (I didn't bring a bottle for her), she was fine the whole time!  I did okay, too.  And it was nice to sit through Sunday School.  It's been about five months since I've done that!

II.  We also left Madison with my mom last night so we could attend Patrick's company Christmas party.  We were gone for four and a half hours, and I didn't cry one time!  I thought that was pretty impressive, considering that she was taking a nap when we left (meaning no goodbye), and I expected her to be down for the night once we got back.  Thankfully, she woke up pretty much exactly when we got home(but went back to sleep with no problem), so we were able to tell her good night.

III.  Christmas is in thirteen days.  Which is hard for me to wrap my mind around, since I'm pretty sure it's still August.

IV.  The Texans are amazing.  I could not have been more excited about the last two minutes of yesterday's game (v. Bengals) if it was the Super Bowl.  Now it's time to stop getting injuries and rest up the big players (the ones we have left, anyway) for...PLAYOFFS!

V.  Tres Leches.  Ohmygoodness, that was some good stuff.  How do they get that much liquidy goodness to stay in the cake?

VI.  Madison can say Mama.  More accurately, she can say "ammmmmmmmm ummmmmmm mmmmmmmamamama".  Still no "d"'s.  And yes, I'm perfectly aware that she is not really attaching any particular meaning to her mummmummmm's, but a girl can dream, right?

Happy Monday!
-Kelli 

What's Better Than Saving Money?

Saving gifted money, of course!

You may remember that I mentioned we got an Old Navy gift card for $75 from our health insurance company.  Well, Patrick's company Christmas party is Sunday night, and like the typical woman, I had "nothing" to wear.  Except in my case, I literally had nothing to wear.  Unless they go for the whole torn jeans and tee shirt look. 

On Wednesday, Madison and I headed out on our first mother/daughter shopping excursion.  I was kind of dreading the experience, to be completely honest.  But Madison was an angel the whole time.  She seemed enthralled by the new sights and sounds.  The only difficult part of the trip was navigating the narrow aisles with her stroller.  Old Navy, if you can hear me, I'm pretty sure your Humble store is not handicap accessible.  You might want to look into that.

My goal for the day was to find a dress that would work for the party.  I picked out probably five options (basically every dress in the store), and fell in love with two of them.  I chose the more festive of the two, but only after promising the other one that I would come back.  Navy blue boat neck size small (no one was more surprised than me on that one) jersey three quarter sleeve belted at the hip dress, I haven't forgotten about you.  I'll come back for you soon, you pretty thing, you.

The only reason I didn't get both dresses on Wednesday was that I was dangerously close to the $75 mark once I added in the accessories, and spending "real money" was just not part of the game plan.

Speaking of accessories, have you been to Old Navy lately?  They actually have a huge selection now!  And most of it's really pretty! 

<coughpatrick,anyjewelryfromoldnavywouldmakeareallygoodstockingstufferespeciallythecocktailringsinlargeormediumbecauseihavehugefingersandmadisonripsearringsoutandsucksonnecklacesendcough>

Excuse me!  Darn allergies.  : )

Anyway, after the bittersweet farewells to my sparkly friends, I headed for the checkout.  As the clerk was scanning my items, I was watching the credit card screen, like I always do, to make sure things are priced correctly.  I hate it when things are more at the register than they were marked as.  Imagine my surprise when my marked-as-$39.94 dress rang up as $13.49!

I was sorely tempted to turn that stroller around and march back for "my" dress, but I figured I had pushed Madison far enough, and that she shouldn't be penalized for good behavior.  But mark my words: that dress will be mine by Sunday. 

Have you done any shopping for you lately?  How about a surprise good deal?  Do you ever fall in love with and converse with articles of clothing?
-Kelli

Another Christmas First

Yesterday I posted about our first real Christmas tree.  And no, we didn't decorate it yet.  However, last night we did get the ball rolling on another big Christmas "first": we ordered our Christmas cards!

Forty sure sounded like a lot last night, but this morning as I'm making our list, I'm starting to realize that forty may not be enough after all.  We had this problem with wedding invites, too (although we definitely invited a lot more than forty people). 

I think we'll just make it work.  Forty covers our close family (the ones we see more than twice a year) and friends (the ones whose phone numbers we have and use).  If we start branching out to extended family and Facebook friends, we might end up with five hundred cards to address(not to mention stamping).  And that would not put me in a very jolly mood.

My only fear is that we'll forget someone important.  That's almost enough to make me want to scrap the whole thing.  Two weeks after our wedding, I realized that one of my best childhood friends had not received an invitation.  I realized this when she mailed us a gift.  Worst day EVER.  

I think we'll press on, anyhow.  And I can't close out this post without a little preview, now can I?

Do you send Christmas cards?  How many do you send, and when do you send them? 
-Kelli

There's Nothing Quite Like It.

 The smell of a real, live Christmas tree.  This is Madison's and Patrick's first real tree ever.  Can you believe that?  Well, I mean, obviously the Madison part wasn't a surprise, but Patrick?  He's been around for twenty-seven Christmases before this one, and if he's to be believed, he has never once had a real tree.  I can at least vouch for him for the six Christmases we've been married.  Every year before this, we had a fake tree, but I always knew I wanted to go "real" once we had kids.  Or kid and dog.  Actually, now that we "have a kid", I kind of hate the way that phrase sounds.  Like you have a hammer, or a toaster oven, except it's a kid instead.  But I digress.  This post is supposed to be about our Christmas tree!

Originally, my plan was to go to a Christmas tree farm and chop down the tree of our choosing.  Then I started to dread the long ride to the nearest farm, and the long time spent in the cold picking out/cutting down/dragging back our tree.  At first, I pressed on with the plan, mostly out of some strange sense of duty to Madison to "do it right".  Then I realized that Madison would probably be even more miserable than we would if we "did it right".  So off to good ol' Walmart we went. 

Sadly, we are now a zero truck household.  Man, we miss his Ranger.  Since we didn't have a truck to toss the tree into, we had to go with plan B for getting our prize home.  Enter the Explorer.

Pat spent probably ten minutes making sure the tree wouldn't fly off the top.  His new name for the week is Captain Careful. 

At this point, it was about six o'clock.  That's about fifteen minutes late for Madison's typical dinnertime.  We decided I would feed her (sweet potatoes for the first time, which she loved) while Patrick cut a few inches off the base of the tree.  All we had to cut it with was Pat's circular saw, but he got the job done. 

We put Madison in her saucer so I could "help" Patrick with getting the tree in place.  And by "help", I mean make him come through the back door twice because the camera wasn't ready the first time. 

We obviously haven't put the kitchen back to rights yet.  I'll just pretend we left it this way on purpose so Pat could navigate the room more easily while carrying our tree.  Yeah, that's what we were thinking.  I'm so glad we plan ahead for these things.

I'll admit; once it was in its stand, I couldn't help feeling a little...disappointed.  It was just so small!  But I didn't say anything, because we had just spent more than a dollar (meaning a lot of money in our book) on it, and Pat had worked really hard (in the cold) to get it home.

 But then something magical happened.  When Pat started to pull the twine off the tree, it grew before my very eyes.  I know you'll think I'm being facetious here, but I really was surprised by how full and appropriately sized it looked!  I guess when you go five years with cheap (think <$50) fake trees, a real tree like this is bound to surprise you with its...realness. 

  At first, Madison wasn't too sure about what we had going on.  This is the look she gives me when there's a loud noise.  It's her "Mom, is that okay?" look. 

 I assured her that yes, it's safe, and it's our happy Christmas tree!  Then she felt free to explore.

 Immediately after that picture was taken, she announced rather loudly that it was bedtime.  Since we didn't want to decorate the tree without her, it's still very much bare.  Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with a post on our fully decorated tree!  Until then, I'll just enjoy the sweet smell of Christmas. 

I'd like to know...do you do real or fake trees for Christmas? 
-Kelli

What's on My Mind Monday

Linking up over here!

I.  I'm beyond unprepared for Christmas.  We haven't bought a tree, put up a single decoration, or made/purchased any gifts.  But I have been jamming our local easy listening station all day every day for Christmas tunes, so don't buy me a humbug t-shirt just yet.

II.  At some point this week, I'll get to go shopping!  We got a $75 Old Navy gift card from United Healthcare just for filling out their online health assessment. 

III.  I had a TERRIBLE nightmare last night about Madison.  I haven't had one this bad since she was just a few days old.  I'm not even going to describe it...I'm hoping I will have forgotten the details by tonight.

IV.  She had such a good day in church yesterday that I think I will actually leave her in the nursery next Sunday.  I spent most of the Sunday School hour yesterday in the nursery sitting behind her, and she had a blast.  As I lurked, I observed our nursery workers, and came to this conclusion:  they love babies.  I know she'll be in good hands.

V.  Madison proved me right yesterday.  I've been thinking for a while that she still remembers how to roll over, but just doesn't feel like it.  Well, lying on her back at church, a book she wanted was a little out of her reach.  So she flopped over and grabbed it, like it was no biggie.  Phew!  I can check that irrational worry off my list.

VI.  Texans.

VII.  I'm excited about tomorrow's post.  It starts with a "K" and rhymes with "witchin' floor reveal". 

Happy Monday!
-Kelli

Preview- Our "Christmas" Pictures

Cristina Murphy, the amazingly talented lady behind Snapshotz Photography, was kind enough to deal with me, Patrick, Madison, and Bella on Sunday afternoon.  As it turns out, Bella is not the most photogenic lass(ie) that ever was.  She finished out the photo shoot in the car with the windows cracked.  Of course, by those standards, I should probably have crawled into the shotgun seat with her, but I don't think Pat would have let me off that easily. 

One of the really cool things about Cristina is that she gives you full rights to all your photos.  Meaning you pay (not much) for a session fee, and then you can make as many prints as you want for whatever the going rate is at CVS (or Walgreens, Walmart, or wherever else you may choose to have your pics printed).  So we'll be able to make our Christmas cards for CHEAP!

I fully intended to give a little effort for these photos.  You know, brush my hair, touch up my makeup, look in a mirror, the works.  Unfortunately, Sunday was insane, so that wasn't a possibility.  I was, however, able to put on pants.  You're welcome.  Thankfully, Cristina was kind enough to let me know when there was hair in my face or if Madi's bottles(if you know what I mean) were hanging out. Oh, and Madison was having a hair crisis that day.  Like mother, like daughter!

So, with all my excuses firmly in place, I now grant you full permission to go check out our pictures.  Oh, and make sure to look closely at the one of Patrick kissing me-yeah, we totally missed.  We've only been practicing our technique for 9 1/2 years; maybe in another 9 1/2 we'll actually have lip to lip contact. : ) 

Happy Friday!
-Kelli

Ready for a Good Laugh?

I hope you are, because I decided to share with you guys how I'm doing with my goals.  And it ain't pretty. 

Goals for 6.22.12 (Madison's first birthday)
-Have 15 meals that work for our family- We're at five.  That's two more than we had last month.  Last month we had ten months to add twelve meals.  We added two in a month, so we're ahead of schedule!!  Yay for me.
-Throw a birthday party for Madison at our house without crying the night before because I'm mortified for anyone to see the house as-is and feel proud to show what we have done with it.- In the last month, I've added a side table to Madi's room, finished painting the dining room table, hung some art on Madi's wall, and torn our bathroom and our front door trim (more on that later) apart.  At this rate, I'll never have it done in time.  It's time to get my bottom (I'm trying to make this word part of my vocabulary; I'm not a fan of Madison saying "butt" anytime soon) in gear!
-Get dressed every day(you just think I'm exaggerating)- Moving on...
-Look in the mirror EVERY time I leave the house and/or have company. (I figure if I'm gonna submit everyone else to the view, I ought to at least get a taste myself)- This one made me laugh out loud.  Here's a shot of the only mirror in our house.  It has been here for two weeks.  I could pass myself on the street and never know it.  You know, if I could be in two places at once.

Sad side note: this picture was taken two weeks ago.  Half of that laundry is still on the bed.  The other half only moved off of the bed because we used it!

 -Bake Madison's birthday (cup)cake(s)- No progress.  I should probably at least learn how to turn on the oven soon...
-DIY something fun to give friends & fam for Christmas...Being cheap shouldn't equal being a scrooge!- We actually are kind of excited about this one, but since friends & family (are the only ones who) read this mamma-jamma, I can't share anything with you until after the fact.  Sorry!
-Find a way to serve God while being a good wife and mother.  Whoa, I don't know if I've ever called myself a "mother" before.  Crazy! - My plan of attack on this one was to work on the "while being a good wife and mother" before adding in the serving God part.  Lately I've been thinking I should rethink my strategy; I'll probably fail at being a good wife and mother anytime I put that ahead of God's will for me.  Hmmm.
-Be a good friend.  Answer the phone.  Maybe even initiate conversations, sometimes!  Listen.  Help.- Ouch.  Some of you know how badly I'm doing with this one.  You know who you are.  Thank you for putting up with me! 
-To live by Philippians 4:8-"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."- I think I've done pretty well on this, only because Madison is #1 on my mind most of the time.  And she is pure, lovely, and excellent, if I do say so myself.  She also most definitely makes me think about how worthy of praise our God is.

Tell me what you think!  Are you working on any goals right now?  Have you ever gone two weeks without looking at yourself in a mirror (other than the one on the car visor)?  Do you feel like giving me some baking lessons?  For free?  Does your folded laundry ever hang out for weeks just because you hate that final step of putting it where it belongs?  What words (other than the ones that require asterisks to spell) are off limits for your kids?

-Kelli

Don't Get SMART With Me...

Actually, maybe do.  And if you don't know what I mean by SMART, check out this link.

Seeing as how I'm fairly new at this whole homemaker thing, I'm okay with admitting that I'm not very good at it yet.  I'm not okay with staying that way.  I want to become the kind of woman that I want Madison to want to become.  Phew!  Did I get that out right?  Anyway, there are a million or so things I don't know how to do at all, and about that many more that I'd like to do way better than I can now.

For instance, I'm a TERRIBLE cook.  Really.  We have about three dinners that we cycle through.  A typical night in our house sounds something like this:
 Kelli-"I'm hungry, what are you in the mood for?"
 Madison-"wa-ah"
 Pat-"I don't know, we had chicken nuggets and macaroni last night, do you want lasagna or baked sandwiches?"
So I'd kind of like to improve upon that.  What?  Oh, yeah, SMART.  Okay, I'd like to have fifteen dinners that I'm good at making for our family by Madison's first birthday.

Completing and decorating our house is probably at the top of my "wanna do" list.  Of course, that kind of depends on how much $ we're able to allocate to materials and how much time we're willing to give for projects.  With that in mind, I'm gonna make this goal a little more ART than SMART.  I'd like to have the house in a condition that doesn't embarrass me in time for Madison's first birthday party.  Shooting for the stars, I know. :)

It's also really important to me to show Madison that it's important to present herself well.  For anyone who knows me, it's pretty obvious why this would generate a goal.  For others, I guess a pic is gonna have to clue you in:

Happy side note: I just realized the blog is almost the same color as our living room/kitchen/dining.  Yay!

See the cute girl on the right?  Yeah, that's totally not me.  I'm the slob on the left with dirty stretched ankle socks and a top that majorly clashes with those almost could have been cute camo capris.    Yes, I'm quite pregnant in the picture, ergo some might be tempted to cut me a little slack.  But here's the thing.  I'm not pregnant anymore, but I do have an infant, so isn't that a good excuse?  And next I'll have a toddler.  And then, who knows-I might even be pregnant while caring for a toddler.  Do you see where I'm going yet?  (And I don't mean onto a show for TLC about me and my 37 children.)  No, what I'm trying, ever so eloquently, to say is this: I will could always have an excuse for my appearance.  But I don't want to!


Alright, already.  I can see that this is getting a bit lengthy, so I'll cut it short and just give you guys the breakdown.

Goals for 6.22.12 (Madison's first birthday)
-Have 15 meals that work for our family
-Throw a birthday party for Madison at our house without crying the night before because I'm mortified for anyone to see the house as-is and feel proud to show what we have done with it.
-Get dressed every day(you just think I'm exaggerating)
-Look in the mirror EVERY time I leave the house and/or have company. (I figure if I'm gonna submit everyone else to the view, I ought to at least get a taste myself)
-Bake Madison's birthday (cup)cake(s)
-DIY something fun to give friends & fam for Christmas...Being cheap shouldn't equal being a scrooge!
-Find a way to serve God while being a good wife and mother.  Whoa, I don't know if I've ever called myself a "mother" before.  Crazy!
-Be a good friend.  Answer the phone.  Maybe even initiate conversations, sometimes!  Listen.  Help.
-To live by Philippians 4:8-"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

Thanks for reading!
-Kelli