The Christmas decorations are beginning to come down today, which is always a little bittersweet. I don't like to say goodbye to this most wonderful time of year, but it always feels pretty nice to have a seemingly clutter-free and clean house just by virtue of removing the Christmas stuff. I think I'll keep the nativity sets and the Christ child statue out for a bit, though...maybe until Candlemas (February 2nd) this year!
Oh - one piece of advice I wanted to share for those of you who might also be packing away decorations now. Last year, I packed everything into three big bins. One of them was labeled "Advent" and the other two were more for "Christmas." It made it so much easier for me this December when I wanted to pull out certain things at certain times! The Advent bins contained those items I would need access to earlier, and the Christmas bins had those things which I hoped to save for right before the big day.
Stuff in my Advent bin: Nativity sets, large manger and pile of "hay", Advent wreath/candles/prayers, leftover materials for Christmas cards and list (of who had sent them to us the year before), children's Christmas books, caroling lyrics, pine-scented candles (which make everything in the box smell amazing), outdoor lights, Jesse Tree stuff.
Stuff in my Christmas bins: all tree decor, indoor lights, garlands, Christmas linens/table runners/dishes, wall decorations, stockings and stocking holders.
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I finished my quilt a week or so ago! I'm pleased with how it turned out. Stella loves her new quilt, and despite it being pretty huge for her, she's been sleeping with it folded in half over her each night.
Quilting isn't difficult, it just takes a lot of time...and there are a number of pieces of special equipment you need (about half of which I now own myself), and several specialized bits of knowledge that you need to have shown or explained to you. I think I'm proficient enough now to begin another one on my own, though. Which I'd like to do soon.
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My pregnancy is going well. I'm finally in the third trimester now. It's good, because it means I'm in the home stretch, but I can already feel the exhaustion creeping back in. It has been hard to get out of bed each morning.
The midwives tell me I'm somewhat anemic. I'm not surprised, as I'm always "on the edge", and usually dip into the "anemic zone" whenever I'm pregnant. They prescribed some iron pills, which I've yet to pick up from the pharmacy (it's below 0° today - I'm definitely staying home!), but in my experience, they always make me throw up. Sooo...just eat more red meat?
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It's a little early yet, but in preparation for the new baby, Tom and I re-arranged the kids' room. They'll all be sharing one room, assuming we're still in this house by the time baby arrives (which is looking likely at this point. Though if the right house actually came on the market, I think I would be crazy enough to attempt a move right around my due date). Sly and Stella will each have a toddler bed, with the new baby in the crib (after an initial month or so of sleeping in our room). Stella's only 16 months old, so probably still too young to move into her big girl bed. I think we're going to give her a try in it tonight and see what happens, though. Just for fun :-)
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| using a spoon! |
It's been hitting me so much recently that Stella is really *not* a baby anymore. She's so big now! I can't bring myself to call her a "toddler" yet, but I know as soon as the new baby comes, it will be fully obvious.
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We're finally getting back into the groove of a Family Rosary each night. Tom has been working with Sly to help him learn the prayers and participate. Right now, he has to say two decades (verrry slowly) with us. It makes me so proud to see how well he pays attention, and to hear him reciting all the prayers with us. He wouldn't be able to say them by himself, but he does know all the words when we pray together! God Bless my husband and his patience in helping this to happen.
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Did anyone else watch Downton Abbey on Sunday? The double-episode didn't have too many thrilling moments or shockers, but I'm happy to see that the quality of the show is still up to its high standards. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.
Saving DA for my recovery time so thanks for the non-spoiler ;0)
ReplyDeleteDo you have a gate on the kids' room or a gate on the stairs or do they just know how to come up and down or what? I guess I'm talking mainly about Stella. G is fixin for a toddler bed but I won't let him out of "prison" just yet because I still need a way to restrain him.
Sly is "trained" to stay in bed at night and for naps. I expect there will be a period of time where Stella will need to be taught not to just randomly wander downstairs too...She'll probably be terrible at staying in bed right now. I just want to test it out and see how she reacts. If she refuses to stay in, we'll put her back in the crib for a month or so and try again!
DeleteThat quilt is so lovely!
ReplyDeleteI've been taking iron pills, and was feeling really nauseous all the time, which I attributed to the pills. After several weeks of that, I decided to try some probiotics. I was a bit sceptical, as some people claim that they can basically cure anything, but I did start feeling better a few days later, and have even been able to increase the dosage of iron (I was only taking a half dose originally) with no ill effects. And I only got the cheapest probiotics I could find ;) So, I can't promise it would help you, but just wanted to share my experience!
The quilt is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWith regards to DA, I won't spoil anything for you, but I think you're going to find that the entire season is pretty ho-hum for the most part. I watched it this fall when it came out in the UK thanks to the lovely people who post these shows online for those of us too impatient to wait for the show to hit the US. I thought for sure the Christmas special would be something, well, special, but it wasn't. Here's hoping the next season will be better.
Okay, the brilliant Elizabeth Foss shared via Instagram that she's wrapping their Christmas books NOW so that they're ready to be opened one-a-day when Advent starts this year. Amazing. Brilliant. Totally doing it (even though our stash is going to have to be supplemented with library books again, but having a wrapped book a day makes it so much more special than just bringing a book up from the bin in the basement!).
ReplyDeleteWow! That is really thinking ahead! We've never done the book-a-day thing (mostly because there was no way I could remember and get motivated enough to wrap them all on time), but I bet we have enough books to do it! Alas, my husband just carried all the bins down for me and put them away, and unless I want to risk marital strife, I'd better just leave them alone ;-)
DeleteUgh, I'm the same way with Iron pills. I was supposed to be taking them during my last pregnancy but i stopped because the anemia symptoms were much less troublesome than the alternative. Glad things are going well! Definitely going to try your Christmas organization system:)
ReplyDeleteLeafy greens, broccoli, and chick peas are great sources of iron. If you like hummus, you can have that (though subbing peanut butter for tahini is a lot cheaper) and feel a little decadent at the same time. :) I was put on iron with my oldest and I looked for a way around taking it, too.
ReplyDeleteThe quilt is beautiful!
Your quilt turned out awesome! I don't think quilt is that easy - you just have a knack for it! I'm not patient enough (or enough of a perfectionist) for it to be the craft for me, but I'm still planning to make baby quilts for all our kids because I just love the finished product, even if it's kinda crooked and won't lay flat, ha ha!
ReplyDeleteThe quilt turned out really nice. Did you do all the quilting by hand? At the rate I go I think it would take me several years to finish a quilt for a queen sized bed. I just can't even imagine. I like doing baby quilts because being able to complete a project is just so satifying. I'm sure it would take me less time to finish a dozen baby quilts then it would a single queen size. But if you go for it be sure to document it here so that I can be encouraged that someday, maybe I too, can accomplish such a feat.
ReplyDeleteI definitely didn't quilt it by hand! I can't even imagine how long that would have taken. I did everything on the machine, except for finishing up the binding.
DeleteChristine, when I needed to take iron after I had Max, I went to Whole Foods and bought food based pills that were gentle on my system and easy to digest.It might be worth considering.
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