Ornaments: 2012 Edition

Here's a peek at the DIY ornaments that I made this year.

These four were the first that I made this year. Known as "Scrappy Ornaments" on Pinterest, The were super easy to make and turned out great! I sent these four to a friend and made two more for our tree.

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These rolled paper ornaments were up next and, BY FAR, my favorite ornaments I've ever made, especially the star. I would link to a tutorial, but I used bits and pieces of different tutorials to get what I was looking for.

If anyone is interested in a tutorial, let me know and I'll piece one together from the ones I used.

They were time consuming for sure, but the outcome was worth it! I'm just sad I couldn't keep these for myself, but the recipient was happy with them I think :)

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This next group was an experimentation of sorts. I wandered through Joann's and grabbed whatever I thought I could fill an ornament with. Here are just a few that I came up with!

The bottom one is my favorite I think, so sparkley!

 

That's all I've got for "DIY Ornaments 2012"! 

I have a little something something in the works for 2013, more to come soon on that! 

Hope everyone had a great Holiday season!

Book Review: "Never Smile At Strangers"

"Never Smile At Strangers" by Jennifer Minar-Jaynes

SUMMARY from Goodreads
WHEN TEENAGE GIRLS VANISH in what was once considered a safe, Louisiana bayou town, the lives of four desperate young locals take unexpected turns, begging the crucial question: Do you every truly know those closest to you?

When nineteen-year-old Tiffany Perron vanishes from rural Grand Trespass, Louisiana, best friend HALEY LANDRY's relationship with her boyfriend becomes increasingly strained. To make matters worse, her impressionable younger sister BECKY has begun idolizing an impetuous, seductive 15 year old who's encouraging her to do dangerous things.

Meanwhile, ERICA DUVALL, a reclusive 19-year-old aspiring writer, befriends Haley. Ten years earlier, Erica’s mother abandoned her, leaving her with the womanizing used car salesman father she loathes. She’s decided to write a novel based on Tiffany’s disappearance; a novel that she hopes will lead to a reunion with her estranged novelist mother.

RACHEL ANDERSON, a 36-year-old mother of two, is having trouble coming to terms with her husband, TOM’s, affair with the missing girl—a relationship that supposedly ended shortly before Tiffany’s disappearance. What’s more, she comes to the blood curdling realization that someone is watching her through the large back windows of her house.

A DISTURBED MAN also lives in the area. Ever since his mother’s murder four years earlier, he’s been raising his insolent teenage sister, ALLIE, who sleeps with truck drivers for money. He considers women to be dangerous—and his world revolves around his fear and hatred for them. He’s terrified of his sister, knowing she’s intent on pushing him over the edge.

MY RATING

MY THOUGHTS
This is the first book I've had the chance to finish in quite a while! It was also my first read on my brand new Kindle Fire!

I pretty much loved this book. I won't lie, I chose it because it was a free download on Amazon at the time, so I honestly didn't have very high hopes. However, it ended up being pretty darn good.

The story jumps characters (as you can tell from the Summary), but it's still surprisingly easy to follow the story line. The chapters are short, but still manage to leave you with cliffhangers when jumping to the next character. The author does a great job of making you WANT to keep reading to see what happens.

I'm usually pretty good at guessing the outcome before I get to the "big reveal", but this one kind of blew my mind. I did not see it coming at all. Towards the end, little details come out and they kind of make you guess, but yet you still feel like you're wrong. Really keeps the wheels turning!

Would I recommend this book? If you're looking for a read to keep you on your toes and suck you in, then absolutely yes! 

Outtake

If you've ever tried to take a decent photo of a baby or toddler, you know what a work out it can be!

You know those cute photos I've been posting each month?
Well, the first few months were no big deal. I mean, he just stayed where I put him, I snapped the picture and went about our day!

Once he started crawling though.... LOOK OUT!! There were sometimes when I swear I'd break a sweat just trying to get one or two usable photos.. haha It's always fun getting smiles and giggles out of him though :)

Here's a little peek "behind the scenes" from his 12 month photos:


Outtake from Michelle N on Vimeo.

Happy Monday everyone!

One.

This is that emotional sappy post I hinted at yesterday. You've been warned.

How did this year go so fast? 2012 was one of the quickest yet.

It's hard to believe we've gone from this...

...to this...

..all in only twelve months.

It's been a whirlwind, that's for sure. Being a mother ranks up there amongst the most challenging things I've ever done. And I'm sure the years to come will only come with more challenges. But you know what? I think if I can handle the life-altering thing that we call parenthood, I'll be ready for pretty much anything.

I don't think I ever could have imagined how much one little person could so greatly change my life. You don't really realize how many things are going to change until you really experience it. I mean, yes, you KNOW life will change when you have a baby... but even little things.. like going grocery shopping or running to the bank. Everything is impacted by baby!

Instead of life revolving around "youyouyou"... it turns into "babybabybaby". It's an eye-opener, that's for sure.

But you know what?
I wouldn't change one thing about this past year. Not one.

You know why?
Because while there were plenty of challenges that made me want to rip my hair out some days, the rewards of parenting were well worth it.

Seeing that first smile. Hearing that first precious giggle. Crawling. First steps. Watching him learn new things and become an independent little man... all that made me forget the hard, challenging stuff. Being one of the people to help him grow into a well-rounded, smart little boy is the biggest reward of all. Knowing that I have a hand in what he could become, that's fulfilling stuff right there.

**
We successfully made it to one whole year of breastfeeding.

Back in that first month? There's no way in hell I EVER would have imagined making it this far. I wanted to quit on a daily basis. But anyone who knows me, knows that I'm FAR to stubborn to give up.

I stuck it out though. Not even once having to use to formula (not that it's horrible, there's nothing wrong with formula!). It took months of nursing around the clock. Months of using that awful shield. Months of weight gain worries. Months of having the slowest nurser on the planet. But I stuck it out. I know I'm incredibly blessed to have made it this far.

About a month ago my husband told me "I'm proud of you". At the time I said something about my stubborness to make a joke.. but honestly? I'm really glad that he said that.

To know that he is proud of me makes me that much more happy about my decision to stick with it and not give up. Knowing that I had his support through everything is wonderful. I'm grateful to have such a great support system.

We've started the weaning process now. Every time I nurse him, I take advantage of that "us" time. Now that we're nearing the end, it's actually a little emotional to think that each time is one step closer to the last time.

I know we had a great run, and for that, I'm incredibly happy.

**
So yeah. One year. How my life has changed.

At least it changed for the better.

I'm so blessed to have Charlie in my life and I feel lucky that I get to be his Mommy.

Lots of love to my little man. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us!

Twelve Months

Twelve Month Stats:

Weight: 18lbs 14oz (14%) *I was apparently way off on my guess*

Height:  31" (76%)

Clothing: Pretty much all 12 month. He has an 18 month snow suit that fits!

Diapers: Cloth at home, Size 3 Disposables

Eating:
He's pretty much all on finger foods now, he's such a big boy! He will pretty much eat (or at least try) anything you put in front of him, so that's good. I dread the day when the toddler pickiness kicks in!

We've slowly started the weaning process. I'm so incredibly happy that we were able to make it to a year with breastfeeding. In the beginning, this point seemed SO far off that I was sure there was no way we'd make it. But we did, and I couldn't be happier with the decision to stick it out! ( More on that in a different post!)

So anyways, weaning. It so happened that nearly all of his bottles/nursing sessions coincide with either a snack or a meal, so dropping sessions has been fairly easy so far. I decided to drop the snack sessions first, so now he gets whole milk with a snack twice a day. My goal is to have him all on whole milk during the day at daycare by the end of next week. We're taking things a day at a time and I'm trying not to rush things right now. We'll get there.

Sleep:
Same old, same old here.

Napping on Mommy :)

Although *knock on wood*, his naps have been getting better. We're still not getting those glorious 3 hour naps that I've only heard about (myth? I think so), but we're usually around an hour twice a day, sometimes more. I'll take it! 

Playing:
Charlie continues to blow my mind daily. He's always learning new things and acquiring new skills. It's so neat to watch the gears turn.

Jungle-jim Daddy!

He can turn pretty much anything into a toy. He particularly loves my pots, pans and strainers - those usually keep him occupied while I'm making dinner.
 

Being nosy around the Christmas tree!

He loves to throw things, turn things, bang on things and make anything and everything into a walker!

Other Things:
Charlie has become a pointing and clapping machine! He will point at something and say "wassat" (what's that?) over and over again, it's adorable.

We're SO CLOSE to walking! He takes quite a few steps at a time, but he's still pretty wobbley and prefers crawling as his go to form of transportation. I think we'll have a full-blown walker by New Years! Exciting stuff!

He popped out two more teeth in the last few days! Apparently, he didn't feel like waiting until Christmas for his two front teeth... see what I did there? Yep :)

His big thing is giving kisses. Big sloppy, wet kisses. It's so stinkin' cute! Sometimes he'll give them when you ask, or even better yet, he sometimes will just randomly grab your face and lay one on you. I love it!

Kisses!!

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I have a few more posts planned in the next few days. I'll save my emotionally sappy "my baby is one" post for tomorrow. Also, a Charlie Party post. Then I'd like to share a few of my holiday crafts and maybe even a book review!

And I leave you with a little Charlie Cake Smash Action:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!!

Party Planning

In just 7 short days, my baby will be one. ONE. I can't believe how fast this year has gone.

However, in only 4 days, we will be having a first birthday PARTY!

There will be food to enjoy, yummy cake, gifts to rip open, and most importantly, a celebration.

It won't be super extravagant or overboard, but it will be a party none the less. Just a gathering of family and friends to celebrate one year of Charlie.

*Excuse me while I go get all emotional over my little guy being not so little anymore*

Since Charlie doesn't have much of an opinion on things yet (I'm sure next year that will change!), I went ahead and chose a 'Very Hungry Caterpillar' (VHC) theme. I use the word "theme" loosely, because really the only things VHC themed are the invites, cake and the colors. Nothing overboard, just enough to placate my OCD tendencies :)

Here's a little preview/idea board:

After the party, I'll share some photos of everything in more detail!