DECEMBER IN RHODE ISLAND.

we spent almost the whole month of december down at touisset point, RI at my grandparent's house. it was just wonderful to spend this christmas season with two year old rorie and six month old jake. and SO much has happened! i'll start with jakey...

when we first arrived we helped my grandma put up the christmas tree and decorated it. rorie decorated the bottom and jacob wasn't so sure about the texture (see photo above). 

we saw a lot of changes with mr jake since thanksgiving...

he has learned how to sit, crawl, pull himself to standing, and walk around things. all within less than a month's time. it's really incredible to watch him navigate the world around him and watch his face explode with the cutest grin when he knows he's mastered a new feat. 

he is also starting to comprehend and listen to what we are saying. i think the first thing he started to really "get" was the word kisses. and boy, if you say that word, you better be ready for an open-mouthed slobber fest complete with the sound effect "muah". because he's not shy about laying a big fat one on your cheek... or nose... or forehead... really anywhere. seriously. beware of casually throwing around that word. 

he's also got "jump" down pact which can end very cute or very bad depending on the location of the boy when said word is uttered. jumpy-exersaucer=good. holding onto a coffee table=bad. not fully comprehended yet. eh, you'll get there dude.

and lastly, he totally says "hi" and "mama". not quite on cue yet, but it's still cute. i've found him giving a breathy "hiiiiiiii" to elle. which is adorable. and then just last night he yelped "mama!" when he was stuck under a chair... so that happened. he's seriously developing at lighting speed. make it stop!

rorie and i did A LOT of christmas crafts this month. and i love, love, loved it. we did watercolors of the newborn baby jesus in the manger, mistletoes for a present, painted birdhouses, and made bead necklaces. and she loves to tell you that "J" is for jesus. i don't think she quite gets it yet, but we've got a year to keep trying. 

(p.s. last night she asked if she could do christmas again... sweet girl... you have a few more days to wait.)

rorie and i were a busy pair this year in the kitchen. here's what we've done: made cinnamon ornaments, created a gingerbread house, made and decorated sugar cookies, made spritz cookies, and homemade green playdough. her attention span wasn't really long enough for the whole baking process, but she is a great mixer, cookie-cutter, and a fantabulous eater of fresh, warm christmas cookies. oh... and she loves rolling pins. her grandma d got her a baking set from ikea which included a rolling pin. here's the conversation between her and aaron when she saw it:

r:  "is that a rolling pin?"

a: "yep."

r: (elated face) "I LOVE ROLLING PINS! rolling pins, rolling pins!"

i did not make that up.

oh my gosh! was that a picture of my FATHER?! yes! you don't need to make an optometrist appointment. my father was indeed in the flesh on u.s. soil. and it was perfect. i was sure i wasn't going to see him until the summer, but his presence was requested in d.c. and he made a quick four day stop in new england before heading to chicago and then back home to bangkok.  

christmas eve was a success for our family. both children were wonderful during the service. rorie loved holding her candle while i whisper-sang silent night into her ear. i could tell she was soaking everything up in that moment. i felt very close to the christmas story this year and purposefully made a point to invest all my energy on being in the moment and thanking god for every small detail. because he is the one who created the small details. and i am forever thankful for that.

our family party after the service was a blast as well as one of the most tiring nights. rorie's nose had turned into a snot faucet and could not be tamed. i think more germs were passed around this year than yankee swap gifts. jacob was up WAY past his bedtime and was also coming down with the faucet-nose. he cried a lot and didn't sleep long. rorie wowed the world with her cuteness and changed the yankee swap for good. you can no longer decide which present to pick- little-elf-rorie will pick one for you. it was really funny and slightly gross (considering the snot and all).

the highlight of the night was when santa claus came to visit. i can't even put it into words, so here's a video of exactly what happened:

i mean... this is just two minutes of our life with her *happiness for life*

umm... best photobomb ever? good job grandpa! and grandpa... if you don't know what photobombing is check this or this out :) and if you do...still check them out.

we got home around 11pm on christmas eve and our kids both had a screamfest and passed out in the car. we left some cookies and milk for santa and headed to bed. both kids fell asleep the moment their heads hit the bed. a moment i will forever cherish and think of often... like every night. 

and when i came down to make a bottle for jacob... i saw that santa had come!!! 

and christmas morning was so wonderful. two is a marvelous age to celebrate christmas. my favorite so far. rorie loved her sled and was totally smitten that "santa left one cookie for me!" among other cute things said that morning.

it's been a fantastic december. and a fantastic year. thanks for joining the ride.

A SECRET SANTA QUILT.

merry christmas! i'm your secret santa!

i hope you like your quilt! i am not really great at sewing. i don't cut fabric in straight lines and i don't sew straight either. i've named your quilt a "hodge podge" quilt. i don't know if you saw online or not, but i've started an etsy shop. i wanted to keep myself busy with crafting- well, anything really. i've realized that it's something i need to do to stay content. i need to make. so i've made christmas cards and a print.

for december, i decided that i would make this quilt my monthly project. it is the "season of giving", so i'm not listing anything (this quilt) in my shop. now that you know a little bit about the background, i'll let you in on the story of the quilt.

when rorie was just 5 months old in the winter of 2012 i drove to the lincoln square area and picked up two garbage bags full of fabric scraps. i used freecycle and thought i could make something for rorie. well, i didn't. but i held onto the fabric and moved it with us to NH.

some of the fabric i used was from my old kitchen curtains in chicago.

some are scraps from jacobs crib sheets (stars) and my current kitchen curtains (newspaper).

there's a red sweatshirt material from a "camp squanto" sweatshirt whose original owner was my dad (it was falling apart).

other fabric is leftover from the pillowcases i sewed while pregnant with jake. i was nesting (little red flowers & green).

and lastly, there's fabric from the scraps of a dress my mom sewed for rorie when we were waiting for jacob to make his arrival.

the back of the quilt is an old fleece blanket i impulse bought at old navy when i was in high school in VA. both of my kids have spit-up on it (don't worry, i washed it!).

so there you have it...the story behind this epic "hodge podge" quilt that i made specifically for you,

my "secret santa 2014: out-of-towners-edition" (town=chicago-birth place of the burgh babes)

so merry christmas, again!

i love + miss you!

chelsea

p.s. i had my friend britta... if you were wondering who this was sent to.

NOVEMBER RECAP IN PHOTOS & TEXT.

i'm going to let you in on what went down this month. first... i got another great photo of my two babies. these are tough to achieve, but boy am i ever thankful when i get a winning shot! plus- i've never seen such an enthusiastic little boy! kid loves picture taking.

this little dude turned 5 months. i can't even believe how much he's accomplished in one month... since he'll be 6 months in three days. during this photo shoot, with one fell swoop of his hand, he managed to swipe all the letters off the couch. these are getting more and more difficult as he gets bigger.

we've had our last nice warm snow-free days here in NH. we went all lots of walks to the library and around the neighborhood. we have a killer hill next to our house and i try to power up that beast at least once a day. we've also been doing squat challenges the past two months. as well as babysitting two one year olds and a three year old. 

the drool is spot-on. a straight shot to the quilt below. this will probably gross a lot of people out, but i made his mohawk with his drool. yep, i sure did. and look how happy he is!

this month rorie and i made cookies! isn't baking with your kids the most amazing thing ever? i mean... who cares about the possibility of salmonella when there's sweet, creamy, dough to lick off of a batter creating an ultimately way-more fantastic childhood than before that first sugary lick!

we had our first snow!!! it may have been a light wet early morning dusting that melted by 10am, but we got rorie all bundled up and threw snowballs right at that cute little target we call our daughter.

this kid watches. he watches his sister and i think it's safe to say he adores her. in this photo his grin is just enormous because his sister is sitting on that chair being a goof. his smile is already dreamy, but when he's smiling at her- i'm a puddle.

 

for thanksgiving this year we went to touisset. i think i can count on one hand the number of thanksgivings i've had with extended family, so this was a treat for me. we stayed a few days before thanksgiving too and are headed back there for most of december. when we are in RI, breakfast with grandma is a must.

this boy went from being up on all fours to crawling to pulling himself up to standing- all in one week. since he was born he showed this innate motivation to figure out how to move his body. he works so hard "training" his muscles and figuring out how to balance. it's really cool to watch. and he's so proud of himself. with all the progress he's made he's also had a few rough spills, but he seems to bounce back quickly.

in case there was any doubt if these were his children... here's aaron and his two carbon copies.

p.s. disney junior at grandma's is the bomb!

of all the photos i've taken of these two rascals there's always one or two reeeeally funny ones. #1 rorie's face is so weird! #2 jacob looks like i'm taking the photo with a chicken hat on. he's so shocked he has to hold onto his sister and the pillow for dear life.

officially getting into everything now.

mr. ladies man with all my little cousins! they all loved holding him. he's such a flirt.

you'd think rorie was 6 when you see how she keeps up with this crew. they had a blast playing outside with the pool noodles. they have all made movies on the ipad together starting on rorie's 1st birthday. the one they filmed this visit was called "the thanksgiving games". a spoof on the hunger games. 

i am extremely lucky to have such strong women as role models and aunties in my life. i have silently learned a lot about being a mother, friend, sister, daughter, and wife from them. 

"the thanksgiving games" featured this little turkey. and she was nothing but pumped about it.

 

back in NH we had gotten some snow, so of course roro had to play in it. this is obviously "olaf". today his head fell off. how do you explain that to a sensitive two year old?!

this kid. drooling. needy. but smiley. pretty sure he's getting some teeth. he's been very lethargic. slight rise in his core temperature. and sleeping WAY more than normal...which i wish was just normal... maybe these teeth will make their appearance just in time for christmas. "all i want for christmas is my two bottom teeth"...sing it jakey. christmas is a go. we decorated with one single strand of twinkle lights. i can't bring myself to do anything else because we will be in RI... so the santa pants and burgh babes made drooly bandanna will have to do.

and that's a look at our november. so excited for the christmas season!

OVERDUE VISIT POST.

spent last night going through my draft posts. couldn't believe i forgot to click "publish" on these. i remember this visit well. grandma d and auntie hannah came to visit. i think jake was two weeks old? was cloudy and rained most of their trip, but it was nice to show them our new home. i also remember this is when thrush reared it's ugly head. i remember i wasn't very good at capturing moments during their visit. stupid thrush. oh well... i got a few. i think we're due for another visit.

sweet boy looks so tiny... and he's SO different now. he has a personality! which really makes all the difference. we are finally getting out of the "haze" of the newborn stage. and boy... it. feels. good.