Sick Day Essentials

I know a thing or two about being sick lately. Here are the things that have recently helped me fight a pretty nasty cold.

1. Vitamin C, be it in pill or clementine form.
2. Lemon tea with honey. Water. Anything to stay hydrated.
3. Cough drops.
4. "The Help."
5. A few good books on Kindle. ("Darkfever" and "Super Sad True Love Story")
6. A slew of tissue within arm's reach.
7. Sleep.
8. More sleep.
9. Even more sleep.
10. Did I mention sleep?

Anything I should add to my list?

Oh, and Happy New Year. As you're reading this we're back home visiting family and friends. I have a week's worth of fun posts set up for the first week of January. They're all devoted to my favorite band: The Beatles. Come check them out daily; they're going to be a blast!

Photoshoot: Christmas 2011

Bits and pieces from our Christmas celebration ...

Cat guards the food at Shawn and Sara's on Christmas Eve.


Golden child.


Pretty packages.


Book for baby.


"Here, let me get this started for you."


Yule log in HD. It really does makes you feel warm. Ah, the power of suggestion.


Christmas morning. Mini doughnuts for breakfast.


Mama and her angel.


Sorry, H, wearing your Lakers shirt didn't help them win that game.


"Even more for me?!"

Photoshoot: 11 Months Old

Baby girl turned 11 months old on Dec. 28. Each month on the 28th I plan to take a photoshoot with Miss Alexa and her owl to mark her growth because, as everyone likes to remind me, "they're only little for a short while."

Alexa's transitioning out of 9-month clothing and into 12-month threads. She's completely out of the 6-month stuff; I found out the hard way the other day when I tried to put her in a onesie that refused to stay snapped. Her little squishy legs are shaping up into little girl's legs. Where is my baby going?

Baby girl has been having some troubles sleeping. I mostly attribute them to catching a slew of colds this month. We've been elevating her crib on one side, but she wakes up often when she can't breathe through her nose. Other times it's because she wants her binkie. And on some nights it's because her body's so active she simply can't sleep. I've caught her sleep crawling or sitting a few times.

She is still toothless! At this point I think I might cry when she breaks that first tooth. I'll miss her gummy smile.

She hates the sippy cup. I put milk in it once so she'd know she could drink something besides water from it, and she would rather starve than drink from the thing. So we still have bottles. We're going to attempt a straw cup this month to see if that suits her better.

This month she celebrated her first Christmas, and she was spoiled rotten. She had a blast playing with all of her toys, but mostly she just enjoyed crawling around on top of the wrapping paper and playing with the boxes and ribbons.

On Christmas Day she broke out of her self-imposed 5-foot radius and started crawling EVERYWHERE. Now she can crawl from her bedroom to the kitchen in 20 seconds flat. H caught her chasing the cat the other day. Anything knee-high is game for helping her stand. She will crawl to it, pull herself up and stand there. If something interests her on the ground, she will hold on with one hand and bend over to reach it with the other. She looks like a little ballerina doing a plie.

She knows where her toys live, and she will crawl to them immediately and start rummaging through the basket until she finds what she's looking for. Usually the guitar or piano. She's musical, this one.

Alexa is wearing some regular play clothes in these photos. I think the dress is thrifted Hanna Andersson. We were all set to leave for the day when I realized it was the 28th (already). I'm glad we only have one of these little lying-down photoshoots left because this is what she's doing every few shots:


(It's a miracle I got the top shot at all.)

1 month  •  2 months  •  3 months  •  4 months
  •  5 months  •  6 months  •  7 months  •  8 months
9 months •  10 months

Steppin' Out

What I'm wearing:

Dress: Old Navy clearance, March

What H is wearing:

Lacoste button-down: Thrifted

Red belt: Gifted

Watch: Christmas gift from years past

What Alexa's wearing:

Gold dress, headband, shoes: Janie + Jack, gift from Sara

Black tights: Target

This is what we wore over to our Christmas Eve get-together with friends. It was a beautiful afternoon and evening in Los Angeles. The sun was out, the air was warm. I brought pumpkin soup and grasshopper brownies. Sara made turkey, stuffing and fruit salsa. Our friends spoiled us rotten with gifts and love.

Alexa woke up feeling pretty down from a cold. Amazingly she was fine with me primping her and putting shoes on her feet (the horror!). The majority of the day she was pretty low-key and clingy. Every time I left the room for a minute she started to cry. And her Daddy was there, saying, "What am I, chopped liver?" It's not that I like her being sick, but the cuddles. Oh boy, it's nice to be able to cuddle this active baby. She fell asleep in my arms as we talked about movies and current events. Finally I was able to smuggle her into the other room so she could sleep in her pack and play while the adults watched "The Descendants."

We always miss our extended family at Christmastime, but Sara and Shawn -- these are friends who have become family, and that's pretty darn awesome if you ask me.

Photo of the Day: 12.18.11

When we lived in Myrtle Beach, H and I would go for drives up and down the coast in the middle of the night. We've always been cruisers, checking out the landscape, talking about nothing and listening to music. Sometimes we would stop and take a walk on the beach or run into a gas station for a Coke. When I think about the things I miss the most about my pre-baby days, this is the thing that tops the list.

The midnight drive. RIP.

And no, this photo was not taken at midnight. It was dusk, which, as you know, is 4 p.m. nowadays.

Photo of the Day: 12.17.11

I finally decided to get my bangs trimmed. I had been growing out my hair for at least five months, hoping to give myself a new look, the whole time just longing for my old look. The swept-aside bangs look is not for me. The no-bangs look is not for me. I need the fringe to look like me, know what I mean?

If you need an "after," you can check out last week's Steppin' Out post.

Photo of the Day: 12.16.11

This was the day H's car had been in the shop for nearly a week. Alexa and I woke up at our normal time, but instead of saying bye to Daddy we took him to work and set out to run errands. Apparently the post office isn't open at 7 a.m. anymore. When did that happen? Also, when did the price of stamps get so high? These things just keep sneaking up on me, especially when it seems like a first-class stamp was 25 cents for most of my formative years. (In other words, for-like-ever.)

My maternal grandmother, Nanny, was a postmaster. It was routine for me to get a collector's book of stamps for Christmas every year. I don't think I took care of these books as well as I should have. Now that I'm older I'm starting to get nostalgic for these things. Who knows where my collector's books are now. It occurred to me that I don't know where my stocking is! My great-grandmother made me an embroidered stocking when I was a baby, complete with my name stitched in cursive. Where did it go? I've asked my dad because I'm getting kinda frantic about it.

He doesn't have it. Does my brother have it? Does my uncle have it?

I wonder if in my efforts to not be a hoarder I've ended up losing the things that have real value to me. Well, at the very least I have the memories.

Photo of the Day: 12.15.11

Rearranging her library while humming. I've been catching this little girl reading to herself lately. It's the cutest thing ever.

Merry Christmas!

Link Love

Some of the fun things my sponsors have been up to lately:

• Learn seven ways to destroy annoying toys over at Growing Up Geeky.
• Imprintalish explains how to make the cutest kraft-paper rosettes.
• I'm a sucker for a good pyrite necklace. EO Jewelry has one.
• Deanna has been telling some CRAZY stories over at Delirious Rhapsody.
• Deer get glitterized over at Run With Scissors. {photo above}
• Someone should pluck up the midcentury science books from the Ravenna Girls. Awesome.
• Make eggless peppermint sugar cookies at Sweets and Shutterclicks.

If you'd like to sponsor LGP in January, reserve your spot today.

Photo of the Day: 12.14.11

This photo is really starting to be out of context, being nearly 10 days old and all.

I can't remember what the hell happened the day this photo was taken (not that I always write about specific days, but just so you know it's getting bad; "it" being my memory and my tardiness).

I'm officially pooped today (Dec. 23). This morning Alexa decided we were going to start our day at 5:15 a.m. She also decided that napping was not a good thing. She always decides these things when we have a ton of errands to run and when Mommy is solo. So here it is, 6:26 p.m., baby is finally asleep and I have food to cook and sweets to bake and presents to wrap. But what am I doing? Logging into Blogger to complain about how tired I am to all of you.

OK. Time to log off for the weekend. There are posts scheduled to go up in my absence if you get bored or if your husband decides to watch a Lakers game on Christmas Day (oh wait, that's my husband).

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

(And if you don't celebrate Christmas, you can celebrate the fact that it is the weekend. Hurray!)

10 Dollar Bill

You've got a $10 bill in your pocket. Why don't you ...

Buy yourself some glitter stud earrings from Twig Creative? For $5 a pair, you can have gold AND silver. Y'know, in case you're indecisive.

Photo of the Day: 12.13.11

When H and I decide to have movie nights, we always end up on Netflix, H leisurely scrolling through the movies. Half an hour later I ask if we're ever going to watch something. Or if we're just going to scroll indefinitely.

He fully admits to having a browsing problem. He also keeps browsing for cars even though he just traded in both our cars for newer models. I was laughing at him till I realized I have the same problem, only with blogs.

I could jump from blog to blog to blog. I get caught down this blog wormhole at least twice a week, and before I realize it, the three hours of downtime I get per evening are completely spent on jumping from this recipe on Pinterest to that blogger's sponsor to this blogger's latest entry. It's a vicious cycle. I wonder if this browsing addiction needs professional intervention or if I could wean myself slowly off this path.

Dear Santa, Part 4

Just because we're adults doesn't mean we have to grow up, right? What about the toys?! I thought about writing my own little letter to Santa this year detailing the presents I really want (iPhone, new computer with more than 2 gigs of space, a Canon Rebel, a trip to Mykonos).

What would you request from Jolly Old St. Nick? A few of my blogger friends have written letters of their own. Fingers crossed we all get what we want.



Dear Santa,

I know exactly what I want for Christmas this year. I was wondering if you could take my little Harry Potter closet under the stairs and make it a little more like Hermione's bag. I'd like to be able to step into a bright, comfy room that's full of color and light. Perfect for sewing, crafting, painting, designing, reading and anything I deem worthy of my time.

I hope that's not asking too much. I've been a really good girl this year! Promise. *fingers crossed*

Your Favorite Redhead,
Meghann
p.s. Oh yeah, and world peace.

Meghann is a southern fried, sweet tea drinking, picture taking, hairstylist turned design student geek. Not to mention mama to the cutest little curly headed monster in the southeast. At Fuzzy Little Wishballs she shares her perspective on life, hair tips, and motherhood. Meghann invites you to pull up a chair for have a glass of sweet tea and some good conversation.


Dear Santa,

This Christmas I want something for the entire family, a juicer! I know, I know. A juicer? Yeah, I want to be able to sneak veggies into my boys' juice. I also want it to get more healthy in the New Year. I promise I, for the most part, have been good this year. Oh and if they come in pink, I want that one!

Sincerely,
Summer

Summer blogs over at the Crosbie Crew, where she chronicles her life as a WAHM to Hudson and Parker. She sells handmade goodies and vintage finds at her shop, Hellow Lovelies. You can also find Summer on Pinterest and Twitter.

The It List

Five things I'm lovin' right now ...

1. Alternative building blocks. A is for Afro? Suh-weet.
2. Floor-to-ceiling windows. [via]
3. Tiny Polaroid magnets by Jennifer of Ambrosia Creative.
4. White Christmas trees with colorful ornaments. Maybe next year. [photo by]
5. This Midnight Sunstone necklace by Friedasophie.

Follow me on Pinterest to see more things I'm lovin'.

Dear Santa, Part 3

Just because we're adults doesn't mean we have to grow up, right? What about the toys?! I thought about writing my own little letter to Santa this year detailing the presents I really want (iPhone, new computer with more than 2 gigs of space, a Canon Rebel, a trip to Mykonos).

What would you request from Jolly Old St. Nick? A few of my blogger friends have written letters of their own. Fingers crossed we all get what we want. 



Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is a mommy day. It may sound silly to you, but honestly all I want to do for an entire day is lay in bed and stare at the ceiling without a care in the world. No poopy diapers to change, no picky eating, no constant "no's" and tantrums. No Dora the Explorer. Ah, bliss. If you bless me with this day Santa, I promise to spend it on me and only me and to not give in and do any laundry or chores of any sort. I promise!

Thank you Santa!

Sincerely,
One Tired Mama


Chelsea writes about motherhood, her adorable Alea Lou, being a SAHM and being a nursing student at Sunny with a Chance of Sprinkles. You'll even catch the occasional recipe and DIY from time to time. Do stop by and say "Hello!" You can also find Chelsea on Facebook and Twitter.



Dear Santa,

I really really want an iPad for Christmas. I really feel like I deserve it, too. All day long I wipe butts and clean crumbs off of counters. It'd be so awesome if I could please have that. I promise I would really take care of it, too.

Love,
Jess

Jess of IROCKSOWHAT writes about her adventures with her son, Wyatt, as well as photography, weight loss and design (she made the banner for Little Gray Pixel AND this Dear Santa art wouldn't be possible without her free blog bling). You can also find her over on Twitter and Pinterest.