I'm scared to say hello. It's been a hot minute since I've posted...but I pinky swear promise I haven't forgotten about you. For some reason I always lose my blogging mojo after the holidays. This year was no different, and was actually worse with everything we have going on in our lives. We had our normal number of Christmas get-togethers, hosted a NYE party, helped to plan a surprise 30th birthday party for a good friend, celebrated the life of one of Main Man's uncles after he lost the his battle with cancer, and have been preparing to embark on our honeymoon...finally! The first thing that tends to go is the blogging when I get overloaded so I hope you can understand. Oh yes, and just so we're on the same page...I'm not back for good yet. We fly out to sunny Florida to hop on a 7 day cruise for a week of fun in the sun, and I don't remember the last time I was so excited (well, I was pretty pumped for our wedding day, but this is a different kind of excited)!
2012 was a phenomenal year for us, as well as a lot of our loved ones! Our group of girlfriends was lucky enough to welcome four new little ones to the family (Greyson John, Ashlyn Michelle, Ava Marie, and Aiden Gregory), and it's been such an amazing ride watching each of them grow into their personalities and become little people right before our eyes. When one of my ladies has a baby, I always drop off a couple of freezer meals (no mama wants to spend all night in the kitchen after all that labor jazz) and a trinket or two for the new arrival as a keepsake.
In the past, I've made mini photo books of their mommies throughout their pregnancies so they can see how loved they were before they even got here, when they're old enough to understand all that. I've also ordered handmade gifts from etsy.com, one being a onesie with a facebook status announcing the name, birthdate, time, weight, and length of the new arrival, and another being a block in the nursery colors with the baby's stats on it. This year we had two little ones arrive right before Christmas so I wanted to do a "baby's first ornament" for them. This was a Pinterest idea...but you know things don't always turn out like they picture them on Pinterest. MOH and I had a heckuva time getting the little ones to uncurl their feet or stop moving their hands when we were trying to get their perfect little prints on these ornaments. Aiden's (pictured below) only had feet because he wasn't cooperating with his hands...the other two we did had a hand on one side and a foot on the other. I think they all turned out well though...and hopefully they enjoy these later in life as much as we enjoy watching them become the people they are meant to be.
On the first couple of these that we did, I tried to use marker for the names and year but the stickers worked so much better and looked cleaner too. I love the font on the black stickers I found in my scrapbooking nook, and the white block letters worked well to make the year stand out better. These are just cheapo clear glass ornaments from Hobby Lobby, which I believe were $4.99 for a box of four. I got washable red paint and had the stickers on hand already so this was a very cheap project.
I would make sure you do this in a warm room with newborns (or when they have pants on instead of a onesie you have to take down all the way), as we learned that when they get chilly, they don't cooperate as well as they do when they're toasty and sleeping. No babies were harmed in the making of these ornaments though :)
It will take two people, there's no way I could have done it without MOH...one to hold the baby and make sure the paint isn't spread everywhere when it's on their hand/foot, and one to place the ornament on the painted hand/foot to discourage smearing. The prints aren't perfect, but as long as you can tell it's a hand or a foot, I think you win. We put paint on a paper plate and dipped the foot into it, wiping off excess with a paper towel. It took us a few times to get one we liked (you can rinse the wet paint off the ornament and start over however many times are needed). After letting them dry, apply your stickers and you're good to go!
I really liked this idea and will hopefully continue this tradition for Winter babies in the future. I'm kinda a Christmas freak anyway, and love getting out my old childhood ornaments when decorating the tree each year, so I hope these kids will do the same as they grow into adults.
Anyway...I have now made my first post of 2013, and have realized that I miss my little corner of the interwebs, so don't worry, when I get back I have a lineup of amazing holiday food to share with you all! Also some skinny kid recipes I've been experimenting with since the start of the new year. I hope you all had as amazing a 2012 as I did, and can only hope to imagine the great things that 2013 will bring to you and your loved ones!
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