wishlist : Christmas 2014 mommy edition

This has been an interesting year.  I feel like I accomplished a lot of things around the house and in the yard.  In some areas I have been pickier than in others.  Some places just need a few finishing touches and others need the main event.  Since I have been trying to go with "less" purposefully in the wardrobe department, I have been able to put more resources towards things around the home.  There are a few things that I would love for function and fun that I haven't gotten around to and may not... since most of this would really only be used by me!

1 : for the walls You probably remember the print I framed for Kyle's birthday from Leslie Hill's Fifty Two Verses project.  I have thought for a while that I would love to have maybe 3 of them along the long wall of our hallway as daily encouragement.  I just kept waiting for the project to be a little more finished so that I could decide which I really want.  I have so far narrowed it down to prints 3, 4, 12, 24, 26, 38, and 40.  I think any of them would look great in "mini" with a simple white frame.

2 : for the neck  I have absolutely loved my necklace from The Jones Market.  Support small business when you can.  I would love another necklace (or 2!) from her.  She is selling out quickly and has a big sale coming up, so act fast because she is going to close up shop Nov 30th to spend time with family!  From what I saw available this weekend, I love her metallic adjustable necklaces right now, or really any of the vanilla or blueberry beads!

3 : for the cabinet  I have unfortunately broken 2 of my 4 sort of larger wine glasses in the past year.  No worries, I was sort of wanting some new ones anyway.  I like this longer shape.  I'm not set on any certain kind, though I do know that the Riedel Vivant red wine glasses at Target are about the right size.

4 : for the snuggles Have you seen the commercials?  TOMS is at Target.  What I didn't realize until I checked the website, was that it is much more than the shoes.  I have now seen this blanket in the store and think it would be a wonderful snuggle blanket for the couch.  Kyle can tell you that I NEVER sit on the couch without being covered up.  Its just comfy.

5 : for the outfit check  I always intended to have a long mirror whenever we moved.  I have never been able to see all of an outfit at once before I leave the house.  I do have one free wall to hang one on in the bedroom and I think I really ought to not keep putting it off.

What is on your wishlist this year?  I love to hear what other people are dreaming of this time of year.  Don't worry family, I plan to get a little man version completed before Black Friday ;-)

photo shoot : a family of 4

I met Amanda last year.  She is another resident's wife/stay at home mom.  I completely value her friendship and have been so excited to watch her family go from 3 to 4 this year.  It makes finding time with her a little bit harder, but she is pretty good about getting back to me with texts.   I was beyond excited when she asked me to take some photos of them now that Baby Charlotte (aka Charlie) is here.  Here are a few of my favorites:

myles oliver : a birthday party

I had been a bit of a fuddy duddy earlier about whether or not to have a party for Myles since his birthday falls in the middle of Kyle's away rotation.  Since we didn't find out Kyle's schedule until he was already in Charleston, we capitalized on what we did know and planned Myles' birthday party 2 weeks early.  Kyle had to leave on the 2nd, so we celebrated on the 1st!  Issue:  this was the beginning of when everyone started getting sick so through a series of unfortunate events, 2 of the 4 families we invited weren't able to make it.  No worries.  We didn't let it slow us down!

I kept things as simple as I could without feeling like I was sacrificing on the cute first birthday for our first kid factor.  I had planned for quite some time to bake a blueberry pie for Myles since blueberries are his favorite, it is eggless, and well, you will understand once you see the pictures.  To all those haters that thought pie was the worst thing you could do to a kid on their birthday (how dare I not give my kid cake!) get over it.  Pie was a major hit!  I also grabbed an apple pie from Trader Joes in case people weren't blueberry fans.  Food wise, I just grabbed some roasted red pepper hummus with pita from TJ's and made some sausage balls right before the guests arrived.

We went with a light dinosaur theme.  I snagged that cute reusable chalkboard banner and used my dinosaur cookie cutters as stencils for the images, and dinosaur plates and napkins from Target.  A few colorful streamers and some little plastic dinosaurs from the Target dollar spot finished us off.  I also printed the monthbymonth photos from here on the blog and displayed them with a few other gems.

Adults and kids alike tore into that blueberry pie after Myles took care of the first slice.  It really was phenomenal and Pillsbury made the crust much easier to deal with.

The kids all took turns on Myles' present from us, his little red rocking moose from Ikea.  

The party was just what we needed.  A few friends to celebrate our kiddo.  Some good food and conversation.   Just enough to say we actually did it and had fun in the process.  I know Myles had a blast.