a holiday in photos

Wellll. I'm working my way through my backlog of 365 photos (I'm into December!) and I thought I could get away with not blogging until the new year, since my parents are here and all... BUT. It seems there are a few people back east suffering from Bella deprivation (you know who you are!), so here we are, a few photos from our holiday that will hopefully appease the crowds.

Christmas Eve was very quiet and we each opened one gift because we just couldn't wait any longer. Plus, my family tradition was to open gifts from family on the eve and gifts from Santa in the morning. However, since my family wasn't arriving until Christmas afternoon (which turned into Christmas night), we were dying for some celebrations.

Christmas day just dragged on and on and on. We cleaned, made caramel popcorn, cleaned again, made deviled eggs, got news of a 2 hour flight delay, cleaned AGAIN, and then twiddled our thumbs until my parents and brother arrived. And then sighed when we realized we were further delayed by a forgotten piece of luggage.

Finally at 7:30 we were all together, snug as jumping beans in a rug.

We have since had a fair amount of family time, though I worked the weekend, so there are not many photos of anyone but Bella.

These gloves are Bella's new favorite obsession. I don't think she realizes they are too big and that the Edward Scissorhands look is not quite in fashion this year.

Well there you are. And yes, a lot has changed since last year. Who knew so much could fit in one year. More on that later, I suppose!

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Paper Snowflake Tutorial!

I hope you are all having super duper merry Christmases, and/or whatever winter holiday you enjoy the most. My apologies to everyone who has not been able to access my site for the past few days. I hope it has been remedied, but if not, please let me know via twitter, FB, email, ravelry, or whatever form of contact you like best.

Here today (on Christmas Eve, since my family does not arrive til tomorrow night so tonight is pretty ordinary) I bring you a photo tutorial on how to make paper snowflakes! Snowflake making is a must in every household, and I tend to be a stickler for more accurate shapes. Not that I look down upon the everyday square snowflake, but snowflakes are magical because of their amazing symmetry, so why not try to replicate it?

So.

Step one: Locate paper (white paper or colorful wrapping paper), scissors, and lay out a blanket to catch all the confetti you will be making. You'll thank yourself for that last bit when it's time to clean up. (Christmas story optional, but recommended.)

Step two: Sit down with your favorite form of flakey inspiration. Be it a snowflake outside (they are a bit harder to sit and study), our favorite snowflake book, its corresponding snowflake photography website, or your pure imagination, anything will do.

Step three: Cut your paper into a circle. We are fans of the bowl/plate trace method.

Step four: Fold the circle in half lengthwise (heehee get it? oh, nevermind.) and then begin to fold that in half, but only just make a tiny crease in the corner to mark where the center is.

Step five: Fold the half-moon into three even triangles, using your tiny crease to keep the partitions centered. THEN fold that triangle in half. (whew.)

Now you're all set to cut and get creative! Have your inspiration at the ready, but know that any cuts you make will now be (mostly) symmetrical in sixes, and since all snowflakes are unique, you can do no harm.

Try all sorts of different cuts, the more the merrier. Lacey snowflakes are pretty snowflakes, in my opinion. You just have to make sure not to cut all the way through the paper. Cut off tips, cut off edges, cut into sides, here, there, everywhere.

It probably won't look anything like your snowflake as you cut it, but feel free to unfold and re-fold as you go to see if you are getting the right effect.

Or, you can just WAIT and watch magic happen as you unfold to reveal your beautiful snowflake!



That's it! Not so bad, eh? Hang them on strings from the ceiling, or tape them to windows. These make a great project for people suffering from Snow Deprivation Disorder (me.) OR people stuck under a snowdrift who are unable to actually go out and enjoy the snow. Or perhaps they already have, in which case be sure to add hot chocolate to this endeavor.



And, last but not least, be sure to recycle the scraps AS SOON AS YOUR TODDLER'S ATTENTION SPAN IS UP, or you will find they truly do become confetti.

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our holiday portrait

We're now moved in and I'm starting to feel a bit better. I'm really trying to get back into the regular swing of things, which includes writing and sharing photos on a regular basis. I've missed it so much. I'm sure things will go back out the window since my parents and brother will be arriving on Christmas day and I will then have 6,000(,000) photos to fish through after the new year. But for now, I can try to get back into my comfy old life.

As requested on Shutter Sisters today, our family portrait (which I'm sure won't go out in time for New Year's, even. Oh well.):

We took it in front of the fire place because the rest of the house was covered in boxes and there was no tree. I propped the camera up on the couch since I can't find my tripod foot, and every time I sat down to focus the camera, when I stood back up, the cushions shifted. I also don't have a remote trigger, so I set it on Time Elapse for like 3 shots every 5 seconds. Bella thought the clicking was waaaay more interesting than the rest of us and did not want to stay put.

And thus, the following is my favorite of the whole series. Don't even ask how we'll manage two kids in one photo next year. I suppose we'll do a collage.

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nineteen - might as well just call it 20.

Dear Bella,

This month's letter comes to you with a special apology. Not particularly because it's very late, but most particularly because you are extremely deserving of one from me. Mommies don't really know everything, even though we often have to act like we do. This fall I came up with the craziest idea that I thought it would be so much fun to give you a little sibling. I enjoyed the last few months of being pregnant with you so much that I guess I must have forgotten exactly how horrible the first seven were. I thought I would have all these months to adjust while dedicating time to you, all you, spending our alone time together and loving every moment of it. Alas, that is not exactly how it is going, at all. Another little person has completely taken over my body, and is already vying for my full attention.

I'm sorry that nursing isn't fun anymore, that I turn you down a hundred times a day and say, No baby, we nursed two(three/four) hours ago, mama's not ready just yet. How I miss enjoying our quiet nursing moments together. I can't stop, as you are losing enough weight already and I can't possibly imagine taking your favorite pastime away from you, but I resent it now, and resent myself for that.

I can't stand being touched when I'm ill, so I've kicked you out of my bed. Oh, I miss snuggling you all night. You're handling it really well. You've taken to sleeping in a frog position on your belly for the first time in your life. Of course, that's probably only because it assists you in sleep-creeping across the bed searching me out in the night.

I miss making us food we like. Between the two of us, I'm trying to find something to eat every hour on the hour, and it's exhausting. Something relatively nutritious that won't make me yak as I watch you eat. Oatmeal, PB+J, cheese and crackers. Gotta keep that energy up.

Baby, you are kinder and more understanding than any mama could dream. I haven't had a lot of me time, since we're now sharing your nap, and that has led to quite a short temper. We don't go out much since I spend so much of the day packing or queasing about, but when I can't do anything but curl up on the floor, you come to me and give me kisses and pats on the back. You are such a gentle soul.

Mostly this month, we've just gotten to know each other even better, bit by bit. You picked up a shrill scream, a side effect, me thinks, of not getting your way. It's a bit embarassing at the library, to say the least. You're making leaps and bounds in words. You're finally realizing that not every word begins with a D, and thus have moved on from doggie (when anything barks) and dight dight daddy (you do love your consonants) to kittie, bubble and tea (I drink lots of that!), and my new favorite thing is the way you sign bath, which looks like a dance from the 50's. Oh, and did I mention that you finally say MAMA?? Except you say maman, the french prononciation. I can dig it.

Oh! You also figured out that when people nod and shake their heads they actually mean something. I don't know why I was so dumbfounded to realize you know this. One day I asked if you were done nursing and you shook your head (since your mouth was obviously full...) and the next day you nodded at Daddy. We took you out for coffee and you sat staring at the table next to us where one woman was nodding at the conversation of her friend, so you joined in, nodding vigorously because you finally understood this new secret language. Ah, the possibilities of body language. Don't get me started on the way you drop your shoulders, roll your eyes and look away (don't forget the exasperated sigh!) when I tell you something will have to wait. Oh my goodness, I need to get that one on camera.

Darling, this is quite the long letter (and no photos, damn the computer virus, I'm in photo deprivation!). But you deserved the apology. We're in our house now, and I hope things only get better from here on out. We've had three sunny days in a row and I promised I'd introduce you to the yard this time. This is supposed to be my favorite time of the year, so I will try my best to make it awesome for you, too. It's the least I can do.

I love you so so much.

mama

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