To my baby, on your birthday

I am sure there are so many things that you can't possibly imagine ever forgetting but as time goes on those memories are replaced with new ones. In an effort to combat our inherent memory loss here are a few special things from your first year that I always want to remember about you, my baby!

The making of a christmas card

Normally I would do our weekend in photos wrap up, but this weekend was so busy filled with birthday parties, errands and prepping for SOS's 1st birthday party that I kind of forgot to take pictures of everything. So instead I thought I would humor you all with the making of our 2012 Christmas card, in photos. So here is a completely unedited version of how you make a Christmas card, Sill style. Enjoy!

To my friends

I've recently come to realize it's not about quantity when it comes to friends/friendships -- it's definitely about quality. This year has been eye opening to the truly amazing people that are in my and more importantly SOSs life. When we surround ourselves with positive and uplifting people we are better for it. True friendships are not commodities, they are luxuries and should be appreciated as such. We are very fortunate to have some truly amazing friendships. These people have become part of our family and I'm not sure I've ever taken the time to thank them. So this post is to my friends, old and new - you know who you are - thank you!

Homemade

It was another jam packed weekend filled with lots of cuddles, baking, sewing SOS a new infinity baby scarf (which was really fun since I haven't cranked up the sewing machine in quite a few weeks), family photos with Leigh Skaggs Photography, Christmas parties, Hanukkah, and some more baking --tis' the season, right?!  Oh, and some 1st birthday party planning sprinkled throughout and SOS's first taste of peanut butter, which has definitely sky rocketed to her top 5 fav food list. Here's our weekend rundown in photos:

Please excuse the really bad dirty Sunday hair and no make-up. We had a busy weekend! lol

Braciole = bra- jole

In case you're like most people (ahem, my hubs) I thought you might appreciate a little phonetic breakdown of how to say Braciole. It's a yummy Italian rolled beef dish that we had for our big Sunday family dinner this past week. Surprisingly, super easy to make as well and tastes delicious. You could probably use your crock pot if you don't have a dutch oven... but we'll keep that a secret from all of our Italian grandmothers. lol There are probably a hundred renditions of this recipe out there. Here is one I used, after combining a few of the ones I read:

I wish I had taken a few more photos, I'll remember that for next time!

A lot of a good thing

Sometimes the weekend is so amazing you need another day to process how much fun you crammed into 2 days. This weekend was one of those. From QT time with my loves, painting Christmas ornaments, dinner with best friends, holiday lights, trips to Whole Foods, big Sunday dinners, decorating homemade sugar cookies and glow stick bubble baths... my cup runeth over with joy and LOVE! Here is a little weekend wrap up in photos:

 

A lesson in dyeing

Onesies that is. I've been in search of some fun colored onesies for SOS and came up pretty empty handed. Of course you can always find the standard pinks + purples. But if you know me, you know I am anything but pinks and purples. SOS's room is a testament to that. So it's time to bust out the canning pot and some RIT dye. For this round I went with their Teal and was pretty impressed with the quality of the color. It's pretty simple to do and probably took just over an hour (not including washing + drying). You really just need a few simple items (dye of your choice, salt, laundry detergent):

 I went for one dark colored one (approx 25 minutes), one light colored one (approx 2 minutes) and one ombre one (total of 20 minutes in varying increments). The ombre one wasn't my best work, but not bad for a first timer. The colors are definitely more vibrant in person.

A tip for my friends: Wear gloves. I may or may not have teal fingers.

Thankful

There are so many things I have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, a wonderful family - both blood and extended (we are lucky to have some of the best friends in the world living minutes from us), a healthy little love who is growing faster than I could have ever imagined, an amazing hubs who against his own desires pounded through my "setting up for x-mas list" this weekend, and sooo much more. We had a super busy weekend filled with good food, fabulous friends, and most importantly, lots of love. Here is our weekend in review, photo style:

Our very first fried turkey

Turkey Day eats

Daddy and SOS decorating tree #1

A new play corner for SOS

New Minnetonka's (Black Friday score)

Trip to Home Depot

Picking out paint samples

A Christmas tree for the Sills

Picking out a tree

Baking x-mas ornaments

Gingerbread houses