Mid-Winter Nap

Mabel and I are tired.

It's time for a little winter rest.

If I could steal Mabel's sun baked napping spot I would.

But I wouldn't fit.

So we're going to take some naps.

Watch some movies.

Move really, really slow.

Basically, we're pretending we're sloths.

Sloths with really warm house shoes.

Or in Mabel's case, her own personal fluffy blanket.

Christmas Morning Waffles

Merry Christmas blog friends. I'm so thankful for all of you.

May your day be full of all the best things.

Happy families.

Good feelings.

Smiling faces.

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve

Since we're not really exchanging a lot of presents this year (I got blinds, Matt got cash), we decided to treat ourselves to some really good food last night. Like more heirloom tomatoes.

And awesome beef tenderloin with mushroom tarragon sauce.

Mabel did her best to stick her nose on the tenderloin.

We had steamed baby-brussel sprouts. Yum.

And then I realized I haven't wrapped my sister's present. Or even put it in a bag with tissue paper. What can I say? I'm a serious slacker this year. A well fed slacker, but a slacker nonetheless.

Florist Vase Project #2: Stickers and Spray Paint

OK. For project #2 I used another old florist vase. All you need is a packet of shaped stickers and a can of spray paint.

I chose snowflake stickers to go with the Christmas theme, but you could really do this any way you wanted. Polk-a-dot stickers would be really cute too. Or stripes made with painters tape.

Place the stickers on the outside of the vase, turn the vase over and spray paint it (I turned it over to keep any spray paint from misting into the inside of the vase).

After the paint dries for a few hours, peel the stickers off.

That's it. Easiest project I've ever done.

*As with all candle related projects please use good judgement and safety. Never allow wax or flames to stick to or heat directly on glass. Never leave a lit candle when you're not in the room. My uncle is a retired fireman and my entire family is paranoid about candles and live Christmas trees, so I come by it naturally.

Florist Vase Project #1: Paper Doilies

Thank you for all your well wishes today! For anyone that wasn't watching, I showed three holiday project ideas all made out of those clear florist vases. Because don't we all have a thousand of those that pile up in the cabinet year after year?

This was ridiculously easy. Plus, I've been looking for an excuse to buy a bunch of those paper doilies anyway. All you need is a cylinder vase, small and medium paper doilies and spray glue.

Spray the back of the paper doilies, and then position them on the OUTSIDE of the glass. Work your way around, arranging and overlapping.

Let it set and dry for a day, and then light some tea lights in the bottom.

Come back tomorrow for project #2!

*As with all candle related projects please use good judgement and safety. Never allow wax or flames to stick to or heat directly on glass. Never leave a lit candle when you're not in the room. My uncle is a retired fireman and my entire family is paranoid about candles and live Christmas trees, so I come by it naturally.

Stay Tuned, Fatness

Tomorrow I'll be on the KARK Channel 4 noon show with Tracy Douglas. I'll be showing a few Christmas craft ideas. If you don't live in Arkansas you probably won't be able to see it, but here's a sneak peak. The projects will appear here on the blog (along with directions) in the next couple of days. Not that it's rocket science or anything. It's my philosophy that any project this time of year should be inexpensive and easy as pie.

Speaking of pie, I went to the doctor for a checkup. We (Miss Jane, her luggage and me) stepped on the scale to discover we've gained 20 pounds so far.

My doctor said, "Well, at 24 weeks 20 pounds of weight gain isn't medically unacceptable."

What I heard him say: "Excuse me nurse? Could you bring me Mrs. Owen's chart? I need to scratch out her name and write "Fatty Fatty Two by Four" in its place."

I sat on the table, legs swinging dejectedly, blinking rapidly, trying not to cry.

He noticed the scent of rapidly changing hormonal ozone and began drumming his clipboard nervously.

What he said: "My advice is just don't overdo it during the holidays. You should be fine."

What I heard him say: "NO PIE FOR YOU!"

"OK," I sniveled.

What he said: "Really, it's fine. You're having a very healthy pregnancy."

What I heard him say: "Never mind, just kidding. EAT PIE."

Aren't hormones fun?

But I do so love pie.

Tarts, TV, and De-Caving

Life officially slowed down today. Two weeks of no work float merrily on the horizon. Not that I'll get a lot of rest. There's book edits and a tiny TV appearance. I'll be demonstrating Christmas crafts. Please say a prayer that I don't hot glue my fingers together, fall down, fart or accidentally say a curse word on air. These are the things that keep me up at night, even though I know none of them will happen. I'm not using hot glue and I don't curse unless I really, really hurt myself. Except the falling down thing could happen. I trip over my own feet these days.

Anyway.

I'm celebrating the beginning of Christmas vacation with a fruit tart.

And a fire. Did I tell you the man-room is no longer technically the man-room? No more cave. Matt decided it should be the "den" now, since baby Jane will likely take over every room in the house. So we've been de-caving. We bought a lamp. And a rug. Matt even approved of the mantle decorations. But don't worry. He still has his movie posters, dvd's and giant tv.

It's not totally de-caved. Just enough to make his girls welcome.

A Christmas Post for Becca

This post is for my world traveling sister Rebecca. She's in China.

Hi Becca.

Here is a picture of the bump/your niece.

Jane moves a lot. She's very busy in there. Lots of things to do apparently.

Mabel says hi too.

And since I can't kiss your cheek, here's a cyber smooch.

I watched The Grinch the other day. When he said "Humphf, that's it. I'm not going" I thought of you. And then I cried. And then I thought about Rachel's wedding that you won't be here for. I cried again. But don't feel too guilty. I also cried yesterday because a movie I was watching was terrible, and instead of turning it off I just sat in the chair and cried.

Hormones stink.

Anyway. Come home soon.

Merry Christmas.

Life is just not the same without you.

Bye Bye Belly Button

When I woke up yesterday morning my belly button was gone. Totally stretched flat. Evaporated. I felt a little abandoned. It was almost as if she'd said, "Sorry Liz. I'll only go with you so far, but this is too much. Call me when you're done being pregnant. Until then I'll be vacationing in Jamaica."

And to go with my no-belly-button-stomach-situation, I realized I had an overwhelming urge to eat tomatoes. Lots of them. Regular tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes. Fresh mozzarella. Balsamic vinegar.

So sweet Matt made the trip to Whole Foods and brought these babies home.

Hello awesome tomatoes. Bye belly button. See you next April.

Santa Brought My Present Early

*source

As much as I wanted a clock like this for Christmas, I had to weigh the options. Cuckoo clocks are fabulous. But blinds for the living room and kitchen were better.

So Santa brought me blinds instead. And you know what? I don't even miss that dream cuckoo clock. Just knowing that when I'm pacing back and forth with Jane at 2 a.m. I won't be doing it in front of a window with no privacy is present enough.

Plus, when Santa is this cute, and spends an entire Saturday measuring, buying and installing the blinds for me, it doesn't get much sweeter.

Fluffy Icing Filler Inspiration Day 4

Like pretty baby nurseries? Or pictures of rooms that are spic and span and devoid of a pile of laundry the size of Mt. Vesuvius? Oh wait. That's what Jane's future-nursery looks like right now. Stop by Lauren's blog With Two Cats to check this out. And happy Friday folks! We made it!

Fluffy Icing Filler Inspiration Day 3

Click here for Soule Mama's "Carrot Tomato Soup" recipe. Because if the floors in your house are as cold as mine are right now... this will sound DELICIOUS.

*photo source

Fluffy Icing Filler Inspiration Day 2

*source

Have you ever stopped by the blog Sweet Paul?

*source

It's fabulous. And even better? He also has a free online magazine full of yummy pictures (like the one above) and seasonal inspiration. You can check out the magazine here.

Filler. But Really Good Filler. Like Fluffy Icing.

Here's the deal.

I'm swamped. Swamped with writing, swamped with work, swamped with life. I hear you. You're like, "So what Liz? Join the club." But that's how it is this time of year isn't it? Just when life is supposed to slow down and be a little sweeter, the RPM's rev up and we're flying through December like bats out of, well, you get the idea.

Daily blog posts are a bit of a stretch this week. So instead of disappearing entirely, I thought I'd show up every day and direct you to a special site/blog/website. And then before you know it, I'll be back with bells on. Or I'll be back with my butt dragging the ground. Either way I'll be back.


Fluffy Icing Filler Inspiration Day 1:




Have you ever stopped by the blog Meadowbrook Farm? If not, go today.

And I just LOVE Caroline's super crafty take on Pottery Barn's advent calendar. Head over the Feminist Housewife to check it out.

The Most Perfect Apron Ever & Procrastination

I usually have huge plans for weekends. They appear in the form of long lists (always with flowers and stars drawn in the margins). This weekend I wrote this to myself:

1. Clean whole house. Even the gross baseboards.
2. Speaking of gross baseboards, get spare paint out of shed and repaint them.
3. And speaking of gross, explain to Mabel in clear and certain terms why she is to NEVER eat cat poop from the yard again.
4. Work on book edits. WORK I TELL YOU! WORK!
5. Walk. Or your maternity pants won't fit next week.
6. Brainstorm nursery ideas.
7. Make homemade apple sauce.
8. Take Mabel for a walk. Remember the seams of your pants.
9. Work on edits! WORK I TELL YOU.
10. Nap. Preferably with drool.

I'll be honest with you. Most of that list did not get done. Instead of cleaning baseboards I read. I wrote a little bit and then stared into the distance and daydreamed about winning the lottery and buying Matt a new car that doesn't leak coolant all over the driveway. I'm pretty sure Mabel nosed around in Coy's poop again.

It was two days defined by one word: procrastination.

But the best part of the weekend? This apron. Thank you to the loveliest editor in the world, Mary! It's so cute I want to put it on and skip around the house. But I weigh too much these days to actually skip. Plates and cups would rattle right off the shelves and into the floor. So I'll skip the reenactment of a apron-wearing, pregnant, skipping, female King Kong and just take pictures of instead.

The bad news? Because I'm such a big procrastinator, and because I really do have to put my nose to the writing grindstone, I may fall a bit short of my daily posting schedule. But I know you understand. I'm not the only procrastinating, working gal in the world who somehow falls victim to a Fringe marathon on Saturdays as opposed to doing the important things. Like washing underwear.

Too much info? My bad.

Matt Scared Me. Bad.

On the marriage scale of "who scares the other more" I'm the winner. I'm the one who jumps out from dark corners and yells boo. I'm the one who once told Matt that after the doctor cuts the umbilical chord, the mother keeps her end and it just hangs out like a permanent tail. I let him believe that for approximately 6 hours before revealing the truth. He got a dozen gray hairs and wouldn't speak to me for the rest of the night.

But this time Matt scared me. Bad.



He participated in "No Shave November." He didn't shave for the whole month and grew a full beard. But then December came and it was time for the facial hair to go. He left the room and came back a while later. He sat next to me on the couch. I didn't look at him and then he cleared his throat. I turned to face him. I screamed. Mostly because I didn't recognize him momentarily.

"Just wait, if you think THIS is good..." he stated and ran from the room.

And then he came back looking like this.

"Please just shave," I asked.

"What? You don't like it?" he teased.

"Well, I could always stop waxing and grow one too."

Matt laughed for a second and then did a double take to see if I was serious. Which I was.

"I'll go shave right now."

I win.

Hetty Dumpty

I'm doing my best to chill out, mostly because I know life is about to take on a manic speed once the holiday slide past. So Mabel and I are spending time in pajamas. Actually, her fur coat is way snazzier than my pink cotton pj's.

Also, my back is killing me, so chilling is a mandatory. No one tells you when you get pregnant, "Hey, that whole "Humpty Dumpty" story? Yeah, they lied. He was really a she. Her name was Hetty Dumpty. And she was pregnant, so her entire center of gravity shifted in a 24 hour period. But she didn't fall off a wall. Her back was hurting and then she tripped walking flat footed across the living room floor."

I also unpacked these guys. I bought them on sale last year in January. It was like a regift to myself.

Storms have been moving in and out of the state.

This one took the last of our fall leaves.

I was sorry to see them go.

The yellow morning glow in our bedroom was wonderful.

I've been thinking about the nursery. And all that baby stuff we're going to need. It's pretty darn exciting. But I'll wait a little longer before the real nursery work begins. If anyone needs me, I'll be sitting on a yoga ball in the den.

Three Babies, Three Months

These are my sisters-in-law (and niece Elizabeth).

We're all pregnant.

That's right.

Three babies in three months.

Elizabeth is pretty stoked about the whole situation.

She's also taking her role very seriously.

I told her, "You'll have to watch over your little sister and cousins."

She responded, "Yes, and tell if they're bad."

I feel much better knowing she's on the job.

Needless to say, my mother-in-law, Saint Linda, is beyond ecstatic.

Three grand-babies in three months.
But I solemnly vow that their hair will be more combed this baby doll.

Unless Jane takes after her Aunt Rebecca.