Hey friends!
I'm sure some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting as regularly as I was before, and I apologize for that. With birthdays, holidays, keeping up with my house, and my LipSense business, I haven’t had too much time to write. After the New Year, I plan on picking up the pace again, so thank you, my loyal readers, for being patient with me!
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I just wanted to do a little recap for you guys on my life over the last month or so:
As I (finally) flipped my calendar from October to November, I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. I’ve dreaded October 6th for the last 3 years, and it always seems like the longest day, and month, out of the year to get through. It’s awful to even admit that you dread your own child’s birthday, but when he’s not even here with me to celebrate, the lingering and dullness of October seems to hang in the air forever. When November comes, I feel like I can finally be allowed to get excited for Seth’s birthday and start planning his party with no sadness attached. This year, I started planning it all the way back in July (well, actually, maybe even June … ), and had purchased all of the party supplies three weeks in advance (I just like to have a plan and execute it, okay?!).
Here is a small snapshot into what Seth’s 2nd birthday party looked like this year! His theme was Elmo and Sesame Street, as he loves the show, but definitely favors Elmo.
On Seth’s actual birthday, I made his favorite breakfast, banana pancakes, and put rainbow sprinkles on them! He also enjoyed chicken nuggies for lunch, and cereal for dinner! I’m just now realizing that his birthday revolved around food, as any good birthday should. Ha! If memory serves me correctly, it was unusually warm for a late November day, so we enjoyed playing outside together and throwing rocks.
Thanksgiving this year was the day after Seth’s birthday, so he got to enjoy two back-to-back days of celebrating and eating! This year, I decided to take on my Great-Grandma’s recipe of Southern Chicken & Cornbread Dressing (Stuffing). You can find the recipes in the brand new link at the top of the page that says “Recipes”! I also made some homemade cranberry sauce that was divine, if I do say so myself, and was so easy to make that you may never buy it from the store again.
This year, as Seth is much more understanding and aware of the world around him, I’ve decided to start a new Christmas tradition. I found this idea of a Christmas Eve Box on Pinterest and immediately fell in love with it. Some of my favorite memories of Christmas came from traditions that we would do every year, and I’d like to start that now with Seth. For his Christmas Eve box, I brought Seth to Michael's with me and let him pick out his own box (It's actually a photo box, and was just the size that I had in mind to use). I’m planning on filling it with a few things that will always be in there every year, such as: a new pair of Christmas jammies, hot cocoa, cookies, a book that we read every Christmas Eve night before bed, and maybe even a movie to watch, and some things that will be rotated yearly as Seth grows older: maybe a little stuffed animal, an ornament, etc. I am still looking for more ideas, though, so please let me know if you have any suggestions that I could include :)
Another tradition that I’ve done the last couple of years is Christmas stockings. I never really grew up with the tradition of stockings. My parents felt the money spent on the little doo-dad gifts could be put towards bigger gifts (which I understand and am totally for), but I still like the idea of putting a couple of useful items in our stockings. This is also a tradition that Aaron can be included in, making it even more special to me.
As for some new additions to this blog: I’ve recently taken a liking to cooking, and have decided to add Recipes, as well as a section for my LipSense business, onto my blog! (You can find the links in the Navigation Bar on the top-left side of any page). I will be updating my Recipes section somewhat frequently, especially when I start a completely new diet change at the beginning of 2018. Stay tuned for updates!