Good morning and happy Friday!
This is our last weekend at home until New Years (yikes!), so we’re planning to soak up lots of relaxing family time and do a few of our favorite holiday things around town.
It’s been a little bit of a rough week as I got my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday, which went fine, but is obviously not fun. We also had a week of cold and rainy weather, but it was all worth it when we got SNOW last night!
You guys, it was 85 degrees here on Monday and snow is quite unusual here in Austin, especially in early December, so this was a pretty magical surprise. I noticed it was snowing right as we were putting James to bed, so of course we brought him out in his jammies to see it. He wasn’t too impressed. We tried again this morning, but he really doesn’t have the proper shoes / mittens to enjoy it without getting too cold. Still, I am loving sitting here drinking coffee and watching the snow fall off the trees this morning.
Here are a few other snapshots of our life lately!
Eating / Drinking
Unsweetened Cranberry Juice – my brother-in-law was drinking this when I was in Wisconsin and I gave it a try. It is super tart (duh) and I love it. I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but I really like tart things, and I think this is delicious over ice. I haven’t tried this yet, but I think it would be great mixed with club soda too.
Lemon Poppyseed Scones – These tiny scones are so cute and they freeze so well! I tried freezing them both before and after baking and both worked well, but I think they’re a little better frozen before baking. It’s fun to have them in the freezer and be able to just pop a couple in the oven for a morning treat.
Trader Joe’s Freeze Dried Fruit – You guys, this is my new obsession. First because it is delicious, but also because it makes the best toddler snack! I don’t mind buying puffs for trips and things like that, but they’re not my first choice for an every day snack. These are crunchy and delicious and the only ingredient is fruit. I’ve only tried the raspberries, but am going to get a bunch more kinds when I go back to Trader Joe’s.
Reading
A ‘3 Gift Christmas’ can be Magical – We are not doing this this year, and I’m not sure we ever would, but I do sort of love the idea of a more minimalist Christmas.
Car Seat Guide – We had to switch James to a convertible car seat pretty early because he is super tall, but I wish I had had these guides when we were choosing! A reader sent them to me recently and I think they would be super helpful for anyone looking for a new car seat – I find this type of safety-related decision so overwhelming.
If you’re looking for more weekend reading, check out my latest two articles on Motherly 🙂
Thinking
About reframing. I’ve mentioned my favorite podcast many times, but one thing Gretchen and Elizabeth talk about a lot is “reframing” – changing the way you think about something, even when you can’t change the situation. I’ve been trying to do this with my wisdom teeth this week. While getting them removed was painful and no fun, I feel so grateful that we have good dental insurance and I could do it without it being a big deal.
I’ve also been reframing how I feel about this very busy month. While yes, it’s been a little bit stressful at times, it’s all because of a family wedding I’m super excited about, a family vacation, and Christmas, my absolute favorite holiday.
I find this reframing strategy so helpful!
Loving
This baby / toddler stage. James is so, so much fun lately. He has been super happy and independent and my new favorite thing he does is dance. It is the absolute cutest thing 🙂
Looking forward to
My sister’s wedding! And Disney World! And Christmas! Basically, all the things 🙂
What have you been up to lately? Please share!
10 Comments
It sounds like you have a busy month ahead! I hope you and your family have a wonderful time! We usually get snow here in NC in late January and February, only a few days before it melts. My son was 19 months last year and he loved playing out in it. We had one of those full zip up fleece things with the hood from Carters and it worked great over his clothes, plus a hand knit hat from grandma, little Keen boots, and I actually put socks on his hands. I don’t know if they make mittens for 1 year olds, but the socks worked great if you need a quick solution to cold hands! We love the Chicco Nextfit Zip Convertible seat, my son was super chubby at 1 and the bucket seat fit him well 🙂
Ahhh I should have thought of socks, such a good idea! I need to get him some rain boots too, since snow boots definitely wouldn’t be worth it here. At least he has a warm jacket my husband’s mom gave him in Wisconsin!
I love unsweetened cranberry juice and so does Liam! I thought he had a uti a few months ago, so I bought it. Everytime he drank it, we’d make this silly squinty face and say, “it’s tarty tart tart.” It was so fun and a great way to get him to actually drink it! I also love freeze dried fruit and Trader Joe’s has tons of options! Also, I can’t believe it is snowing in Austin, insane!! Finally, we only give Liam three gifts at birthday and Christmas (started last year) and it’s been great! He gets so many gifts from family that he isn’t deprived in the least. It’s easier for us to manage the amount of toys we have, as our family grows. The kids end up with so much stuff that three new gifts at Christmas is plenty! You’ll see! We store 90% of his toys away anyway, and rotate. He always has something “new” to play with! Thanks for sharing the link to your motherly articles! I already read them from Motherly links on Facebook. 😊
Haha, I love the “tarty tart tart,” that is too cute!! James really wanted to try mine so I let him, but he spit it out in disgust haha. I may try watering it down for him a little. The snow lasted about 18 hours and then was all melted, but I enjoyed it while it was here! I think we’re only giving James two presents + little things in his stocking, but I know he’s getting a lot from his grandparents. I totally agree, especially with his birthday only three monhts before Christmas, he just doesn’t need a lot more toys. We also store most of them and rotate them, I love doing that!
Those freeze dried raspberries from TJs are a favorite of my kids too! They are so good! Im glad you are recovering well from your wisdom teeth, having them taken out is no fun.
Thank you!! I also got the freeze dried bananas and strawberries to take on our trip, so hopefully he’ll like those too!
I love those freeze dried fruits from TJ’s for myself too! haha! So cool you guys got some snow. I hate it but it’s because I live in PA. I need to go somewhere where its fun and rare and the next day is above freezing. Austin sounds pretty good to me! 😉 Disney?! So fun!!
I hear you, I sort of hate the cold, but if it’s cold, I want it to be snowing! I would definitely not want to deal with shoveling and all of that though – all of ours just melted the next day haha. I am equally excited and nervous about Disney! I just hope the little guy sleeps while we’re there 🙂
Hi, Christina.
First of all, I want to greet you a Merry Christmas! Ohhh look how cute James is getting! That Trader Joe’s Freeze Dried Fruit is a great healthy alternative for kids and adults’aa snack. Great suggestion!
Thank you! We tried a bunch more kinds of the freeze dried fruit for travel snacks over the past few weeks and they have all been a hit. Thanks for reading!