A Holiday Cookie Exchange

This weekend, Miss L and I hosted a holiday cookie exchange for some of the neighborhood ladies. I must admit...party prep now takes twice as long with Miss L. And I also must admit that parties at our home could never be made possible without the help of my partner-in-crime, Jeremy.

We sent out an evite 3 weeks in advance and planned for the lil' soiree on a Saturday morning in December.
Everyone brought 4 dozen cookies or sweet treats to share. With about 15 ladies bringing delicious baked goods, I knew this was going to be good! So, I provided foil lasagna pans for everyone to fill as they circled the table - starting with taking 3 treats on round 1, followed by 2 treats on round 2...and so on, until we had a platter of assorted cookies. See photo below...

A couple of party-planning notes, I am thankful I remembered to turn down the thermostat a couple of hours prior to the party. When you have a group of people together, the body heat warms the house...just fine! (Plus, I wanted to have the fireplace on!) Also, be sure to have index cards available for guests to write their recipe on, if they forgot recipe cards to share; as well as some sort of place card/marker to identify who and what the treat is!

A cookie exchanges or swap is a great way to enjoy a variety of cookies in your home during the holidays...but it is an even better way to share in the spirit of the season with friends - new and old! I highly suggest hosting one in your neighborhood.

Things my Grandma should have told me

Each month, we receive a newsletter from our MN realtor, Tom. This newsletter is usually filled with tidbits of information - such as what consumer products are on sale that month, seasonal recipes, gardening tips, etc.

One particular section I find most intresting, is the article titled, "Things my Grandma should have told me." Some of the mentioned advice has been told to me from one of my (many) grandmothers, other parts is brand new to me.

Here are a few of my favorites from the November and December issues:

• A bag of sand or kitty litter should stay in your trunk during the winter; sprinkle it on each side of each wheel to gain traction in a pinch
• You can often loosen a rusted bolt by applying a cloth soaked in any carbonated beverage
• Use a melon baller to scoop olves from a jar or can (drains the juice w/o damaging olives)
• Cloves on pantry shelves will exterminate ants
• Periodically run ice cubes through your garbage disposal; it helps shake up and loosen any built-up grease
• Wrap bananas individually in foil and refridgerate to retain color and flavor
• Preserve freshness of cut flowers by dipping stems in hot water so they expand and absorb more moisture; add a few drops of oil of cloves to the water; or add one tablespoon of sugar to the water
• Acid vinegar makes a good preventative wash for areas where mildew might form
• Remove grass stains from clothing by first rubbing corn syrup lightly into the stains, then wash garment as usual

Learn something new? Me too! As my dad always says, you learn something new everyday!

One new cleaning solution I have been doing lately is sprinkling baking soda into toilet bowls, let sit then brush away for a quick, inexpensive way to sparkling fresh toilets. 

What tricks do you have up your sleeve?

That's a {Baby} Wrap

Baby carriers have been around since the beginning of time...or so it seems. Mother Nature has this amazing way of making moms and babies strongly desire to be together. And way back when...moms were savvy and creative and used a piece of fabric to secure baby to themselves in order to be a caretaker to other children and handle household duties.

Fast-forward to the modern world, now we have specific fabric contraptions sold in baby stores everywhere for this purpose in mind...as well as manufactured creations attempting to streamline the baby-carrying process.

Through our registry and gift giving - we have the Baby Bjorn (classic manufactured contraption), Moby Wrap (long piece of fabric), Baby Ka'Tan (another fabric-type with specific fabric pieces)...as well as a baby sling (which kind of lets mom do the hip-hugging hold while being hands-free). Through trial and error, we have discovered our likes and dislikes for each of the aforementioned products. Our favorite are the Baby Bjorn and the Moby Wrap.

The Baby Bjorn is an awesome, universal baby carrier. In fact, I keep this in my car for a random need - ie. Target run or Tigers baseball game. This is hands-down the easiest, quickest tool.

The Moby Wrap is intimidating at first. Unlike the Bjorn, the Moby offers a real closeness from user to baby, with fabric wrapped carefully to hold baby close. After carefully reading the instruction manual, I'm confident most moms are more confused. Which usually prompts a search on YouTube and finding another mommy offering her hands-on instructions via video. There is one way to wrap the fabric, but multiple positions. We have gone through times of enjoying it; and then a period of so-so, and now to absolutely loving it. Our most recent new favorite is the position allowing Miss L to face outwards seeing everything that I see. She has always been extremely alert and observant and this position feeds her need to see! Plus, I try to talk to her frequently explaining every little move we are making. We count as we go up and down the stairs, I describe the green, avocados we are placing in the fridge, etc. I truly enjoy this close opportunity to develop her language, and of course her knowledge for her surroundings.

Below is a photo of us in the mirror a couple of weeks ago - she just loves hanging out with mommy in this fashion.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It is hard to believe December is upon us. It truly is a favorite month for our household. It's also time for the annual Christmas display - me enjoying decorating the all-mighty Christmas tree and Jeremy enjoying the great outdoors with his extreme lighting of our landscaped trees. Decorating this year presented more of a challenge than previous years. We had to work our set-up schedule around a little girl; but also, with a new home, we had to find new places for all of our different decorative pieces.

For example, our main nativity set is on our new media console in our living room. Meanwhile, our Willow Tree nativity found a home in our family room on an end table. Outdoors - we have five sconces to decorate with wreaths and Jeremy had to strategically decide which trees he was going to light up and what color exactly.

Turns out- his lighted trees are a big hit, attracting quite a bit more traffic to our cul-de-sac! After the hours he spent outside in the cold, decorating those 3 trees; I'm glad others are able to enjoy his hard work. I am also thankful I have a husband who enjoys the spirit of the season along with me! Merry Christmas! 

Only in Minnesota...

Ski Hill & Golf Greens...on our Thanksgiving Day walk

Only in Minnesota...can you golf the course during the day - and ski the slopes in the evening. This is the sight Miss L and I viewed on our walk on Thanksgiving Day. It was a "record-high" temperature of...(you'll probably laugh outloud)...55 degrees! That was exciting news to the locals. When I heard the news reporter tease about record-high temperature for Thanksgiving, my eyes lit up - I'm thinking, "Oh great!" Well, 55 was not what I was expecting...more like 65 or so. But...for November 24 in Minnesota- I will gladly take 55 and sunny (and no snow!)

The Big 3-0

Jeremy exited his 20's on Sunday...all the while, "taking it like a man..." he didn't shed one tear over closing the chapter of youth. LOL I can say that now, because I have 2 more years to cross this bridge myself!

Jeremy has accomplished so much in the short 30 years on this earth; I can't wait to see what the next 30 have in-store for him and our family. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of the fun the past 15 years and basically grow up together. Enough with the sappy stuff.

It just so happened, he had a nice 5-day vacay to enjoy with the holiday. And with the exception of the first day, I got the pleasure of spending every day and night with him. Some couples would go stir-crazy spending so much time together...not us. We both miss each other (and now Miss L), sooo much on Mondays. This lil' staycation made it that more difficult to leave one another.

For his bday celebration, we went downtown Minnie for dinner at Fogo de Chao. This was my first time at Fogo de Chao, but I am not a newcomber to the Brazillian steakhouse concept. It's basically an all-you-can-eat meat feast - with servers briskly walking the restaurant floor with skewers of various meats, ready to shave a tender, juicy slice of beef, pork, lamb or chicken onto our plate.

Jeremy loved the meats, and certainly I think they had the best filet mignon that I have ever had. It literally melted in my mouth. But my favorite part of the experience was the signature Brazillian cocktails. Is anyone really surprised by this? :) Nearly everyone in the bar was enjoying a lime-infused beverage. After a quick view of the drink menu, I gathered that this is a Caipirinha - a refreshing blend of limes, sugar and Brazillian spirits. Since I'm more of a vodka-girl than a rum-lover...I ordered the cousin drink called the Caiprissco (sp?). After one (strong) sip, I pronounced this a new favorite and that I must buy limes on my next grocery trip to try to replicate this drink at home. The ice was finely crushed, the limes were muddled and the entire beverage shaken (like a polaroid picture!) to perfection. See photos below...

Here is a photo of the molten chocolate lava cake in celebration of Jeremy's big day!

Happy Birthday Jeremy!!

A Modern Closet {Light}

Here's to another progressive technology item that my husband has spoiled me with...automatic light switches. For example, when I walk into our walk-in pantry or my walk-in closet in our bedroom...the light automatically comes on, thanks to a fancy little sensor on this lightswitch (see photo below).

The light comes on as soon as I walk-in...which is especially helpful with a load of clothes or pantry items. It automatically powers off after 5 minutes or so without activity.

Now that I am conditioned to just walking in the room and the lights turn on...I often forget to turn the light on when I walk in other rooms...like the utility room - which always happens when I have my hands full. Maybe I should put a utility room auto light switch on my Christmas list...hmmmm.

If you have a room in your home that you could benefit from this modern technology - send the hubby to Lowe's and call an electrician - like my dad! Or perhaps your own dear husband can tackle it himself, like mine. Highly suggest it for the modern home!



Our pantry





My walk-in



The light switch



A {very} Happy Thanksgiving

We have so many blessings to be thankful for this year. As we reflected at our dinner table of 2, er, 3...we enjoyed thinking about how much our world has changed since last Thanksgiving. The day we learned of our growing family. We are thankful for:

• Jeremy's new job that has taken us on quite the adventure
• Our new home that we love and enjoy
• Our health
• Jeremy's award trip to Hawaii in March
• The birth of Miss L
• The constant, loving support from our families

Our Thanksgiving day was spent exactly how we had hoped - woke up to the aroma of cinnamon bread baking in the bread machine, watched the parade with Miss L STARING at the TV in delight and amusement, Mommy & Miss L went for a walk/jog outside, watched lots of football, enjoyed appetizers then a traditional feast, followed by dessert from The Cheesecake Factory.

Our appetizer spread included a Cheese Tray with some aged white cheddar, gorgonzola and parm-reggiono (sp?), bacon-wrapped potato bites, crab-stuffed mushrooms and blue cheese filled baby reds.

Our dinner feast was complete with these beautiful, hand-made place cards from our sitter and Alexis. I just love how crafty and creative people can be! See below for some photos...

I love  some gorgonzola and honey on a cracker!

Blue cheese stuffed baby reds

Crab-stuffed Mushrooms - surprisingly, Jeremy's favorite app of the day!

Our Feast

Placecards

Our biggest blessing - Miss L

 P.S. - we are super thankful for the record-breaking high temperatures on Thanksgiving, and the fact that the 3" of snow received on Saturday melted already! Yay!

Baby it's cold outside

What a difference one week makes. Last Saturday, we were taking fall photos outside of our home. This Saturday, it was freezing cold and snowing 2-3". Yep, the green grass we sat in last week, it won't be visible for the next...say...5 months!

I'm thankful we were able to soak it up from the comfort of our warm home; having no where to go until the evening. On a short walk to visit a neighbor, it was fun to see Lexi's reaction to the big, puffy snow flakes landing on her cheek. "They" say how much fun it is to see things through your children's eyes and I can't wait to for many more firsts to come.

For now she enjoys staring out our windows at all of the white stuff. This momma is happy, as long as the sun is shining.

Below is a snapshot of our Saturday:

Snow, Oh no!

Mommy & Daddy had a asnowball fight

Our date night with our bff Miss C!

3 month milestones

We celebrated the 3-month mark last week, which is hard to believe, because I feel like we were just bringing her home from the hospital last week!

Long-distance family and friends comment on "how big she is getting" in photos. In all reality, we think her face has matured, but her body is still "peanut" status. I have no idea what she weighs currently, as I have no idea what I weigh currently and to find out weight of baby, it would require that mommy gets on the scale with and without baby to determine such weight. And that algebra equation is not happening yet! Daddy will have to take care of this sometime.

When we are around other baby friends around her age (mostly 1-2 weeks older), or other babies at the library events, etc...it is unanimous we hear comments about her alertness, neck strength and personality. Oh, and how tiny she is...which usually leads to comments about how she looks like a porcelain doll.

Here are some of our recent milestones:

• Giggled for the first time on Sunday, and then again today
• Roll over from our belly to our back
• Last week, we found our toes and love playing with them
• Babbles up a storm, which is super cute...until it turns into whine, and then cries
• Loves Baby Einstein dvd about world music
• Sleeps through the night (most nights) until 5/6/7am. 

And most importantly, smiles like crazy!

Below are some photos of from our recent 3-month photo session, held at our home last weekend...

Happy Birthday Brother!

My little brother celebrates his birthday today. We haven't celebrated his birthday in-person together probably since his 21st (which was a good one!)...but there is no question that I wish we lived closer so I could see him, give him a hug and share in happy hour somewhere today.

JJ, aka "Brother," is not only one of my best friends, but one of Jeremy's best friends. Since JJ was 10 and Jeremy was 14 when we met, we grew up together and Jeremy quickly became the "brother he never had."

Jeremy and I have watched him grow as a person into this wise, well-spoken, confident, and educated person. It has been a joy to observe him love his girlfriend with all of his heart, demonstrate his nurturing side with his adorable pets, his maturity with his perserverance in pursuit to complete his college degree and now his caring interest and love for his beautiful niece.

I'm so proud of my brother and wish him a wonderful year ahead filled with more excitement, joy, laughter and fun times!

Hanging out on our balcony in Chicago! 

Good Times at The Signature Lounge, 95th floor, Hancock Bldg