crossrhodes

Before the baby, I went all out on holiday dinners! I planned and prepped complete gourmet dinners weeks in advance, from scratch, and all by myself. My table setting could compete with any department store display and was set the night before. My sister remembers my house being “shiny” when they arrived.

Thanksgiving BEFORE Baby

This year, I bought the turkey last minute and assigned all other dishes to my siblings. I made my Tita Aida’s annual wild mushroom soup a month ago and threw it in the freezer. The appetizers came out of a box from Costco. I baked dessert from pre-mixed cans and boxes.

A couple of hours before Thanksgiving dinner, Layla threw up and threw me off my game plan. I forgot to turn the fire down on the warming soup before I hit the shower. While I was in the shower, Layla was fussing and the boys were trying to communicate to me with the door locked and water running. The only thing clean was a laundry basket of pajamas and t-shirts so I went totally casual to my own turkey dinner.

Thanksgiving AFTER Baby

By the time the rest of my family arrived, I was too tired and distracted to set the table. I resorted to (are you ready for this?) DISPOSABLE plates, cups, and utensils. *gasp*  I don’t even know where my linen napkins are.  And I only bothered to throw on a tablecloth after my SIL diplomatically insisted that I needed to “protect the table’s surface.” (Good one, Nette!)  Even Don drew the line on serving wine in plastic cups so I brought out my stemware =)

But the moral of the story is… it did not matter what we ate or what we ate it on (or that my grammar is incorrect and I don’t feel like backspacing to correct it), it still felt like other holiday dinners and any other meal we’ve shared as a family, for that matter.  We still had the same abundance of food and laughter, same conversations, same sarcastic comments, and same rambunctious kids running around.  On top of that, we are eternally blessed and thankful this year for the addition of my nephew Landon and my Layla-bayla to the family.

When Layla needs less of my attention and is old enough to appreciate time with mommy in the kitchen, I can go back to being Martha Stewart.

I’d been dying to do this when I had a baby! (Yey, Layla!)  I’ve seen nice advent calendars in stores but I’m short on table tops and mantles.  A wall-mounted design is perfect!  Instead of candy or chocolate, each box will have a piece of paper printed with an activity to do that day.  i.e. Read a Christmas book, light the tree, call a loved one, etc.  I’ve reserved boxes 5, 10, 15, and 20 for scripture verses narrating the birth of Jesus in Matthew and Luke.

I started with paper mache boxes.  They were a dollar each at Joann’s and Micheal’s but I found them at AC Moore for under $3 per pack of 6.

Painted with 2 coats of red, green, and gold acrylic paint.  Adhered the numbers and sealed with Mod Podge.

Mounted them on the wall with removable, re-usable art putty.

Giving credit where credit is due: This project was inspired by Martha Stewart’s Advent in a Box but I first saw it on Ali Edwards’ December 2007 blog.

I turned 36 years old this week.  When my parents were my age, they uprooted their family of 3 children to come to the United States, leaving behind family, friends, successful careers, a beautiful home, privileged lifestyle…  (Ummm, tell me again why we left the Philippines???)

Anyway, back to my point.  I did have one.  Thinking… thinking… brain fog… thinking…

So, here I am at 36 and I don’t even like living an hour away from my parents and siblings, much less relocating halfway around the world.  I suppose I would if I had to, but I’m pretty settled right now.

I love being a stay at home mom to Layla and a 30 minute drive to James in college.  My husband has a thriving career that seems to be recession proof (so far).  A bigger house would be nice (I really want a family room for the kids) but being mortgage-free in a couple of years is even nicer.

My parents thought I would never get married and have kids.  My dad told Layla when she was born, “I waited a long time for you!”  Now here I am across the late 30’s line, settled down and thankful for God’s blessings.  My best birthday gift of all is my daughter.  Layla planted my feet on the ground.

P.S. Thanks for the picture (and birthday lasagna), Jezz!  It’s nice to be in front of the camera once in a while.

I hate winter!!! Waaahhh!!!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  I made these paper ornaments for each day of Layla’s first 12 Days of Christmas.  It’s hanging on our chandelier in the dining room.

I’m going to take a picture of her or something she did that day and attach it to the back side.  Next year, it will probably become a mini-album hanging on the Christmas tree.

I used the Martha Stewart Create 12×12 Elegant paper pad from Walmart.  The color scheme is probably made for wedding scrapbooks rather than Christmas projects, but it matches the color scheme in my home.  The idea was inspired by Jamie Waters’ hanging Advent Calendar.  (I’m making one of those, too, but differently.  I’ll post pictures when it’s done.)