Christmas on the Brain

I keep a list of all my family members on my computer and throughout the year when I think of something that would be great for a Christmas gift I jump on my computer and add to my list. I've never really put anything in stockings before. Now that we have Ava, I feel the need to fill her little stocking with small goodies she will love. She's at the age where she loves to draw, write, and color...on everything! Thank goodness so far that has only applied to paper goods. All my lists, magazines, coupons, etc. now have Ava's "signature" on them. It's really quite cute but I do get some odd looks from people at Target when my coupons are scribbled on. Anyway, I have been looking for something to throw in my purse or diaper bag that will keep her busy when we are out at restaurants, doctors appts, and anywhere else she might have to sit for bit. That's when I stumbled across these gals at Pink Gasoline. I love the design of this crayon roll. I have seen others similar to this but in order to close them you have to tie a ribbon. This has a button closure that when Ava gets a little bigger she will be able to do herself. I already bought her a little Sesame Street coloring book for her stocking that fits perfectly in my mini diaper bag so now my little lady will be ready to create her masterpieces!

Sweetopia

Seriously...how adorable are these? I love all things baking, and cookie decorating seems right up my alley. I've never tried it before but it combines two of my loves, baking and creating. Marian, of Sweetopia, has an amazing site that is dedicated to helping others learn how to decorate cookies the way she does. She also talks about all other things sweet such as cupcakes, cakes, gingerbread, etc. It's a well organized site that is easy to navigate and find her wonderful tutorials for decorating. I spent quite a bit of time just drooling over her amazing cookie designs. This site will definitely serve as inspiration for me over the holidays. What a talented lady!!

Fall Traditions

When the leaves start turning and the weather turns chilly, we always head over to Illinois to Eckert's to pick our own apples. The tradition started with my niece, Lexi, who is now 7. Every year we would take her to pick apples. Now that we have our own little one the tradition continues with her too. Last year Ava went with us but she was only 2 months old. I actually had to nurse her in the orchard last year. Not the ideal situation! I had to trek over several row of apples to find some privacy. Looking back I can't believe that I took her there so young! I must have felt really brave that day. This year was a lot more fun for me because Ava could walk around and pick up apples herself. She really enjoyed eating the apples. I taught her one sign as a baby and that was the sign for *more*. I didn't want her grunting or whining or yelling for more of something so instead she does the sign. In the orchard, whenever someone eating an apple was out of site she would do the more sign so that someone would give her more apple. Of course everyone was more that happy to give her more apple. She even weaseled some funnel cake out of us. It really was quite cute. I can only imagine that each year we go will be more and more fun for Ava (and us too)!

Show Me Your Teeth

I've been working with Ava on brushing her teeth and smiling. She's little miss serious every time a camera comes out and most of the pictures we have of her she looks like a sourpuss. She really is quite the opposite. She loves to laugh and giggle and often times cracks herself up. We also brush her teeth every night, which she loves, but I want her to "show me her teeth" to make the job a little easier. When I ask her to show me her teeth, this is the face I get. Needless to say, it's not helping with the teeth brushing or the smiling. She was rolling around on the couch when this was taken and thought it was soooo funny when I wanted to see her teeth. She's such a little ham bone.

We had plans to go apple picking tomorrow but it's been raining here for the past 29 hours, so I'm thinking those plans are thwarted again!! We tried to go a couple weekends ago but it rained then too. Apple picking might not be in the cards this year, and I'm more than a little bummed about that. We do have plans to hang out with some friends tonight though, so that should be a good start to this dreary weekend.

A Little Dippy

That's my daughter covered up to her eyeballs in yogurt. She's obsessed with dipping her food into anything she can find. It started with syrup. I know...I'm a bad mommy but she likes eating whole wheat waffles and one day I gave her about a quarter size of syrup and she loved it. I actually think she was more interested in the act of dipping than the syrup itself. She was so enthusiastic about the dipping that I thought she would like to try other things as well. She likes to dip chicken in BBQ sauce and her fave is yogurt. She gets so excited about dipping her fruit in yogurt that she shoves her entire fist in her mouth! She's not a picky kid at all. In fact, the only thing I have found she will not eat are eggs. She loves avocado, black olives, even fish. I only give her things to dip every so often so she doesn't think she has to dip her food. Right now it's just a hoot to watch her turn herself into a mess and love eating her food while she's doing it. Her latest phrase is "all done." Picture her saying this quite loudly and then nodding her head when she says done. Here's my best Ava impression. It goes something like this, "AAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL DONE!" And to top it all off she thinks she's funny too. This kid is definitely more than a little dippy, and I love every bit of it!!

Happily Ever After

Steve and I attended a wedding this past weekend and had an amazing time. The couple that were married, Adam and Lindsey, might be the most perfectly matched couple I have ever met. They both have the funniest sense of humor and are so much fun to be around. Lindsey looked amazing and of course Adam was just as handsome. They had a traditional Catholic service and then a reception later in the evening. The venue was perfect for them. The Kemp Auto Museum in Chesterfield Valley is a place that houses restored old and new cars. I'm not one to get excited about cars but they were pretty neat to look at and made for a unique background at the reception. Outstanding food, band, DJ, and company made for a really fun and memorable night. Right now the lovely couple is honeymooning in Italy for 2 weeks and I'm just a little jealous. Congratulations guys!!

Yarn Love

Check her out

Drool over her yarns here

Yummy yarn here too

I have a problem with buying way more yarn than I can use. The sad thing is I only know how to knit scarves and the plain old boring kind at that!! I have made a new rule for myself that I can't buy any more yarn, as tempting as it may be, until I have made something out of the current yarn that I have. It's just so darn hard when there are so many beautiful yarns out there calling my name. Oh well...I can still look. The last pic is of my current yarn that is waiting to be turned into something warm and cozy. I'd love to make a hat out of it but that would require teaching myself how to knit a hat, and I just don't think I have the patience for that now. Too many other fun fall things to be doing outside.