Handmade Goodies

I love getting handmade gifts. Especially from crafty friends. One day last week, I headed up to Janna's house with our friend Erin for lunch and a time to hang out and let the kids play. You may remember Janna and Erin visiting me in NYC for Janna's 30th bday last March. Check 'em out.

Well the most exciting thing is that we are all pregnant! Erin is due one week before me with her first, and Janna is due mid-June with her third. Pregnancy is so much more fun when you can share it with other pregos.

Janna surprised me with some Christmas presents that she made. Look at these adorable coasters she made and hand stitched for me!! I am super impressed with her embroidery skills. The Statue of Liberty cannot be the easiest thing.



And if you are a photographer and don't have a Shootsac, go get one. Then contact Janna for a custom shootsac cover. This fabric is what I used for Ava's bedskirt in her room, and I just love it!!

Thanks friend for all the wonderful gifts.

Happy New Year etc...

So Happy New Year everyone!

Is it really 2010? This is the year I will have our third baby and we will celebrate our 10th anniversary. Not to mention a new job for Wade, and a new place to live. Quite the way to begin this decade, don't you think?

So it's been a few days, understandably, since I've even thought of the blog. We have now officially been in Colorado just over a week, and I can't believe all that has happened in these last 7 days.

To begin, we flew back on New Year's Eve, while NYC was getting blanketed by snow. It was gorgeous to see (Wade blames me because I told him I would love to see the City in snow one more time), but it made travelling a little hairy. Ava was sick. Literally. To the point we had to buy her new clothes at LaGuardia. Ya, that kind of sick. And then that kind of sick on the plane.

The plane ride was one of the worst experiences I've had flying. To begin, we didn't have assigned seats. Who knows why. We went to check in the night before and there were no seats available. After our flight was delayed a bit, they finally got us seats...2 in the exit row, and 2 a few rows behind.

"Your children will have to sit by themselves as they are not allowed in the exit row."

Excuse me??

Oh, and by the way, did you not notice I am REALLY pregnant? I don't think pregos are allowed in the exit row either.

So after 5 minutes of some creative seat switching, I was able to sit with the kids and Wade was in the exit row. Only problem is the kids were not allowed to "visit" him in the exit row, and I was not allowed to trade seats with him so we could tag team taking care of the kids...one of whom was ill. Like being in a tiny squished seat at 6 months pregnant isn't bad enough! Oh, and I couldn't convince any passengers around me to switch seats with Wade....why wouldn't you trade someone for an exit row??!!! Hello???!!!!!!

But we made it. 4 1/2 hours later, we made it. I could have kissed the ground at DIA.

So this last week, the illness has spread to Tyson, myself, Wade, both my parents, and even Wade's parents. So stay away unless you want us to spread "the love"!!!

We are slowly recovering, settling into my parent's house (God bless 'em), and getting used to the idea that we actually moved back.

Oh, and did I mention we bought a house a couple days ago? What could have been a lllooooonnnngggggg house hunt (mostly because I am fairly particular), we found one we could agree on that only had one negative thing going for it. It's in Highlands Ranch. A place we thought we would never live. It is the ULTIMATE in suburban living, but we're giving it a whirl. Love the house, the layout, the space, and the schools. I honestly would have loved to buy an older home and done some really cool renovations, but at this stage in our life, I just don't think that is best for us.

My new goal in life is to make a 3 year old suburban home look like it has "character". I will be adding crown moulding, some hardwoods (a little bit down the road), and some bead board. I am kind of excited to marry the modern conveniences with my antique/flea market/modern style. Maybe my new blog should be called, "Our Suburban Life". What do you think?

We close at the end of January, which is a big blessing, so we should be in our new digs by the first week of February.

So to wrap up my ramblings, I just went through some pictures from the last couple weeks, and I have a few more posts on this blog before I bid it farewell. I WILL have another blog that will be linked to my photography website, but I do not know what it will be called or exactly when I will start it.

But for now, I wanted to share my favorite photo from Christmas morning. My favorite thing on Christmas morning is to get up before ANYONE and just sit by the tree and soak in the atmosphere. I could just sit and stare at a decorated tree while the rest of the world sleeps....


P.S. My Christmas present from Wade is priceless. He downloaded my entire blog into a .pdf file that we can publish as a book. I looked at it, and just started bawling. Why wouldn't I? This has been one of the most incredible and exciting years in my life. We will wait until my very last post to do final editing and then I will have a memento to last a lifetime. I love it Wade. And I love you.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sledding at the beach

Merry Christmas Eve!

We decided to go sledding at the beach today with all the leftover snow from last weekend's storm. Never thought I would be able to say that I went sledding at the beach! Perfect weather, lots of sun, and a lot of laughs...

Cutting down our christmas tree...

...makes me happy. VERY happy!!

There is nothing like cutting down your own tree and having your house smell of fresh pine. We used to have an artificial tree, but a few years ago we started cutting down our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It gets a little tricky with kids...especially in Colorado when you have to wander the National Forest a while to find your PERFECT tree, but we've found a great place here that works great for our family.

Jones Family Farm.

I have vivid memories of cutting down our tree in the mountains of Colorado growing up, and I remember one particular year Dad leading us into the forest with snow thigh deep and I believe our little Jeep got stuck more than once. Very Griswold-esque. Ever had one of those experiences??!!!

The nice thing about Jones is that you don't have to wander very far to find a tree, since it is a tree farm, and for a pregnant lady with two young kids?? Heaven!

Mom and Emma flew in yesterday from Phoenix for their NYC Gran/Grandaughter week, so we had two more helping hands. I'm sorry, but Christmas in Phoenix just doesn't sound appealing! Luckily my sister and her family will be in Colorado for Christmas.

The property had candy canes scattered all around, and Tyson just had to have his picture at every one. "Nother picture, Gran?" Just look at this cousin love Emma is giving him!


I just love Mom's face in this one. Pure delight. Tyson was a big boy this year and helped Daddy cut it down. Meanwhile, Ava stood back with me and took pictures with her camera. Like Mother like daughter!






The farm binds your tree for you, then we all enjoyed lunch in the van while Wade mounted our White Pine beauty to the roof.



Then off to the barn for some play time...








...and a letter to Santa. Ava's letter said, "Santa, Barbie please. Ava."


Yummy homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies at the Christmas canteen...


...and checking out the fresh garland and cones for sale.





We got the tree home no problem, and we picked out such a PERFECT tree that it needed NO trimming!! It was the perfect height, and I LOVE white pine. The needles are so soft it's like touching velvet! Mom and the kids made construction paper chains while we listened to Christmas music and decorated the whole house.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

A Few (OK, A LOT) of Our Favorite Things

WARNING: This post has a lot of pictures and is a bit long, so no offense taken if you just skim through......

I don't know if we'll ever recover from Christmas, and we're still in awe of our family and how blessed we felt on Christmas Day. We haven't had a Christmas without family in all eight years of our marriage, so this one felt a lot different. But thanks to Skype, we felt as close as we could.

So this post is a really a BIG thank you, we LOVE you, and we MISS you to our family. We were (and are) still playing with and admiring all our Christmas goodies, so we thought we'd take some pictures of some of our favorite things. I know I haven't taken pictures of everything, as this post will be long enough.

So family, thank you SO MUCH for all the greetings and gifts and love. The kids LOVE everything and so do we. We love you!

So this first gift is a combo from my Mom and sister. We all love old cards (greeting, flash etc.) and now I have all our names to display in my kitchen. I love it!

This was actually a birthday present from my sister, but it justgot hung in the kitchen in it's permanent spot. Another set of vintage cards....love love love. It says "the city has apartment houses" "the country has farm houses".

This is from my fabulous friend Janna (http://www.mustardseeds.typepad.com/). She has a new matte cutter, and she did a fabulous job! These are pages from vintage golden books (another thing I collect). It's titled "A Year in the City" if you can't read it. It looks great in my kitchen.

Some tea towels from Joanne in my FAVORITE colors....red and blue.

These were from my Mom when they visited, but the kids make sure they each sit on their own while they play with new toys at their play table, so it's kind of like a Christmas present. Ava got the kitty to remind her of the kitty she fell in love with at Uncle Chuck's farm in South Dakota. Since I won't let her have a real one, this one will have to do!

This is my favorite toy organizer (aka shoe organizer) that hangs on the back of the closet door in the play room. All of these things were from various family members, and they have all been used and loved. Princess puzzles, play-doh, dolls, cars, spiderman, baseball mitt and bat, walkie talkies, microphone.....

Tyson is going to love this.....we've had it out once, but we're pacing ourselves!!!

Janna...again. She made these hats for my kids. Wow, I'm so glad there are people in my life that can make things like this for my kids, because I didn't inherit the knitting gene.


We actually bought Tyson the pirate accessories for Mr. Potato Head, and I had to throw this one in because he's just so darn cute. If your kids don't have Mr. Potato Head, I highly recommend it. The kids make some pretty funny creations!

This is a VERY special gift from my Mom. It's Ava's first charm bracelet!! It has her first charm on it with her initials. Our whole family (the girls) have our own charm bracelets, and we add charms every year. I'm glad I get to start this tradition with Ava. Thanks Mom!! It's still too big, so we're keeping it in a safe place until I know it won't be lost.

And now on to books. Golden Books!!!! My fave. So this is one we had as kids, and I've been keeping my eye out for it at flea markets. Mom got it on Amazon, and my kids already love it. It has the greatest illustrations. If you ever run across a copy, pick it up!


We are almost done with Ava's Angelina's collection (because of my collection fettish). We got a copy from the library and then I bought this at our local Rye bookstore.

I picked these up at an antique mall in Denver. You can never have enough Disney.

These were from Joanne. Yeah, more Golden Books!!! I especially love the Cars and Trucks one. There is an amazing illustration of a 50's camper trailer, which is something that is on my wish list. Specifically I would like an Airstream. Maybe next year Santa will bring me one.....

Love it. I know, I'm saying this a lot, but I do!!

Tyson (yes, this is him in Ava's stocking hat....he LOVES to wear it) is loving his train set from Gran and Papa. He sits there and yells "All aboard" and "choo choo"!!



An addition to our Little People collection.

And another one....from cousin's Audrey and Emma. It sounds just like NYC in our house everyday. Yeah us. No, we really do love it.

Gift cards from Starbucks and Kohl's...you can't go wrong!! By the way, the Kohl's card was spent yesterday.

Tyson tries to feed his new Curious George a sandwich. Maybe he should try a banana?? I don't think George likes it.

This is Wade's favorite gift. A baseball hat with built in LED lights....very handy when he's walking upstairs late at night. Thanks Mom and Dad!

A day of shopping at FAO and Barney's?? I think we're going Saturday. Thanks Joanne!

Joanne (yes, she's amazing) made me this tote from super cool NY fabric. I've used it everyday and it's great for holding my camera because it has an over-the-shoulder strap which is awesome when you're trying to push a stroller in the snow or hold a couple little hands.

Brett, I LOVE my boots. I had to bust them out before Christmas because it was raining. These will definitely get lots of use, and you know I love red. You da best.

Amy Jo, did Santa tell you I've been wanting some fingerless gloves?? All the better to take pictures with my dear. I've used these everyday too. Love these too (no surprise there).

Wade got me the Complete Wine Course, and he promised to bring home a different bottle of wine each month. Maybe now I can learn the difference between a good Merlot and cooking wine!!! Long story......

Joanne....again. More zippies, which you cannot have enough of. She sells them, so if you would like one, check out her store at http://thesimplewife.typepad.com/ . Love, love, love!!

Janna....again! This was a birthday present, but I didn't realize it and I opened it Christmas morning. It's a journal that she lined with oilcloth. You guessed it...love, love, love!

Mom and Dad H! How could you find a set of cards that picture two cities that I've been able to live in (or near here in NY)??

This also tops the favorite list. A night of babysitting from our neighbors extraordinaire!!!


Some necklaces from Amy Jo and Joanne! Can never have too much bling.

And some bulky bracelets...

A "snowball" of soap from Anne (Janna's daughter). Check out her blog for the how-to's.

Fisher-Price ornament from Mom. Brings back memories!


Another on top of Wade's list. Narnia in Blu-Ray!!!

Tinker Bell from Gran. I think Ava has already worn it out. I think Tyson has a little crush on Tink too!


And last, but not least....Presta. We didn't get her anything, but at least Grandma and Grandpa didn't forget her!! She's keeps her new rope in her bed usually, and has nearly pulled my arm out a few times. She's in heaven.


So thank you everyone for making our Christmas Day so fun. But mostly we're grateful for having eachother. Even without all these treasures, we would have had a wonderful Christmas just knowing that our family is happy and healthy. Love you all.