Working Girl

Today is the day. I'm going back to work. I've been dreading this day for months. My 12 week maternity leave has come to an end and I am so sad. Today is also Hudson's first day at day care.

Lord help me.

I'm going to miss my little man more than words can describe. Some days I think I could never be a stay at home mom...it is SO hard. And then other days  are pure joy and I can't imagine going back to work.

So today is hard. Please send good thoughts my way and pray that Hudson does well at day care. And pray that he takes a bottle!

The Meanest Christmas Tree

Now that we have a baby, I have decided it's time to set some family holiday traditions: saying what we are thankful for at Thanksgiving, cutting down our own Christmas tree, visiting Santa, new Christmas jammas....the list goes on and on. 

So after all the Thanksgiving festivities we decided to hunt down a Christmas tree. The husband and I looked online to find a place that was close to us but you know what? Turns out Christmas tree farmers aren't really in to website design! So when we finally decided on a farm we weren't really sure what to expect. Needless to say I don't think we'll go back next year. In my perfect world a Christmas tree farm should have either Santa, live reindeer, or at least some hot chocolate or hot cider, right? 

We made the best of things and hunted around until we found what we thought was the perfect tree!

What this placed lacked in charm it made up for it with an abundance of trees to pick from!

I like to say that Hudson picked this tree out....but once he started to head towards a melt-down, we knew it was time to stop looking around and just pick one already!

Me, getting ready to cut down our tree. Or pretending to cut it. You decide. 

The husband was the real lumber jack that day.

Our little moose was all smiles while watching daddy cut down the tree. 

So you may be wondering why this Christmas tree is the meanest? Well, in our rush to avoid a Hudson melt-down we didn't realize that the one we picked was the spikiest tree in the world. Seriously it hurts to touch it! I had to wear gloves to decorate it and still had red scratches all over my arms!

She may be mean, but she sure is pretty!

There's No Such Thing as Too Much Turkey

Oh man. I'm officially declaring this Thanksgiving as the best one ever.  So much to be thankful for. And so much amazing food!

 Hudson's first Thanksgiving was a success! No turkey for him this year....but I'm sure he'll love it next year!

 Little doggie booty.

 We celebrated this year at my mom's lake house. Everything was perfect.

 Hudson took a little pre-Thanksgiving nap on Grandma R. She has the magic touch.

 

All the yummy food! My mom really outdid herself. Everything was so good.

 So thankful for our little turkey! He lasted maybe 5 minutes in his car seat before demanding to be held during dinner. I can't blame him....I wouldn't want to miss out on any Thanksgiving action either!

 Lots of geese in the lake.

And a blurry photo of a deer in my mom's back yard. About 5 of them casually strolled by and I was frantic to get the camera out without Wrigley noticing and going crazy!

Instead of shopping on black Friday we just ate more food...and relaxed. It was perfect. Hudson was refusing to nap....but I finally got him to sleep in his car seat.....

....and apparently took a little snooze myself. On the floor. With the dog. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with lots of turkey and lots of love!

Thankful....

I have so much to be thankful for this year....

A healthy baby who has brought so much joy in to our lives

A warm and cozy place to call home

Good jobs
Crazy pets that keep us entertained
Family close by....and family far away
Amazing friends that feel like family
The joy of watching my husband become a daddy
Photo sessions I will cherish forever
Cute baby clothes and shoes
Bath time
Bedtime
Chubby baby legs

Making memories together for the first time as a family of three.

Remembering to count our blessings during Thanksgiving and every day in between.

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours!

Learning to Speak Wookie

My husband had a little fun with the video camera this weekend! I think we just got our costume idea for Halloween 2013.

Saw it, Pinned it, Did it: Burlap Wreath

Happy Thursday! I don't know about you , but I am loving the Saw it, Pinned it, Did it link up that Katie and Stephanie are hosting each week...it is just the motivation I need to get some of these Pinterest projects made!

Source: downtoearthstyle.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

This week I challenged myself to make this beautiful burlap wreath.

Here's what you'll need: a straw wreath (about $3 at Joann's), glue gun, fabric scissors, and two different colors of burlap. You'll need about 3/4 of a yard of each. 

 First, cut a strip of burlap and wrap it around your wreath. 

 I tried skipping this step but quickly realized it's necessary not only to make the wreath look good but also it's easier to glue the burlap squares to the wreath if it's wrapped. So learn from my mistake!

Next, cut your burlap in to 3 and 1/2 inch squares. 

Next, grab a square and wrap it around the bottom of a pen.

This will create a point. Place a glob of hot glue on the point and then stick it to your wreath. 

Then repeat....like a gazillion times. Make sure you place the squares close together so it's super fluffy. 

Halfway through this project Hudson woke up from his nap so I moved everything up to my ironing board so I could stand with him in the moby wrap and keep working. Sophie took it upon herself to "help" out too.

And here is the finished product! It took me about 2 hours to complete the wreath. 

I glued some ribbon on the back to act as a hook.

It looks really cute on the mirror in our living room. 

I'm so happy with how it turned out!

 

Don't forget to link up and check out all the other fun projects!

Good Things on a Monday

 Frozen yogurt dates with the husband.

 A sleepy baby. And a daddy who is off of work on Veteran's day to snuggle with.

 The little boy section at Target.

 These cookies. OMG. The box is almost gone.

The West Wing on DVD. Best show ever.

 Putting away my maternity clothes. Good, but kind of sad.

 A sweet kitty on a cold morning.

Enjoy your Monday!

Saw it, Pinned it, Did it: Burlap Banner

Did you know that doing Pinterest projects is super hard once you have a baby? I totally thought I would have time during my maternity leave to make all these pretty things. SO wrong. However, I did manage to do one this week! And I did it while Holding Hudson the entire time. There should be some kind of award for that! Anyway, today I'm linking up with my girls Katie and Stephanie for Saw it, Pinned it, Did it. 

Source: uncommondesignsonline.com via Julie on Pinterest

  

 

Here's my pin....burlap give thanks banner....perfect for dressing up my house for Thanksgiving!

Here's what you'll need: Some burlap, a whole punch, a black sharpie marker, twine, and a flag template. My template was 8.5 in x 7.5 in x 7.5 in. Oh, and you'll need fabric scissors too.

I just taped my template on the burlap and started cutting. Each flag is a little different and far from perfect....but I think that makes it better and more rustic. Next I hand printed the letters on each flag with a black sharpie marker. Cheap and easy! Then I used the hole punch to punch a hole in each upper corner and used some red baker's twine to string the flags.

And here it is! 

This was super easy and the best part is that it cost me $0 since I had all the supplies on hand.

Don't forget to link up and check out the other Pinterest projects! You can find me on Pinterest HERE.