ETHICALLY MADE LEGGINGS

In non-COVID news, these are my current favorite legging. Wicking, high performance fabric, super high waist, compression, and on sale right now for $43 here, search “perform legging.” The whole site is 25% off, something I’ve never seen, not even on Black Friday! Scoop em up while you can. Many sizes are on back order but it will be worth the wait I promise.

Not sponsored. Link is affiliate.

ONE SECOND VIDEO 2019

It’s here! This project takes daily thought and a few hours at the end of the year to pull it all together but man, it is so worth it. It’s true that life is lived in seconds, and there are a million of these that make up our days and lives. These are a few of ours.

When I watch this year’s movie I think, wow, that was a hard year. Unexpected, medically complex, some big plans altered. AND ALSO. It was beautiful and wonderful. I made it through a horrific pregnancy with the remaining third on bed rest and I held my breath for months. Each day we checked off was like climbing an impossible mountain. I did it and I am honestly surprised I made it out in mostly one piece. We had another round of a few months of worry with Blaire in the fall for sickness, including a few middle of the night ER trips which was also traumatic. It was a year of high highs and low lows.

In the midst of the chaos, there were so many sweet moments too, and this really captures that. Of course we tend to remember the big moments like welcoming Blaire, the first day of preschool, and the vacations, but mostly I want to remember all the giggles, the dance parties, catching baseballs in the backyard, growing our first garden, the trampoline, Daniel singing “isn’t it ironic” on the way to our 40 week appointment, all our dear friends, mainly the little moments that often go unnoticed but that make up a life.

Posting 2018 here so I can have it in the same place. I am so glad I have this year of Trey documented because this is the age (18m-36m) that his language really took off like crazy, and as a speech therapist, I geek out on his advanced MLU and clear consonant production from such a young age. This is the kind of stuff I can’t capture in photo alone and I am so glad to have.

Notes to myself (or you!) so I can remember how to pull it all together next year: in the 1se app mash it into the year, then pull that into iMovie, then put one of their stock songs (change “effects” to “theme music” to find seven choices), then copy/paste the song to fit the length of the movie, then take the volume way down (this is 3%), then export the file to my computer and then finally to YouTube and embed the link here. Sounds complex, but anyone can do it. You can also do it without music too. Just document! This is really special to have.

CHRISTMAS CARDS 2019

Here is my Christmas card secret: I send them every year, without actually sending them myself.

The year I had six-month-old Trey (three Christmases ago), I discovered that some holiday card companies offer a “send it for you” option, and will mail them out directly to your recipients instead of mailing you the box of cards. Yes, please. Most years, and especially the years that I have an infant, I go this route, because creating the Christmas card is time consuming enough without having to stuff all those envelopes, stamp and seal them. I just click a button at checkout, upload my address book, and pop champagne. Christmas cards, mailed and done.

There are only a few companies I know of that have this option. Of them, only one I know of is socially responsible, planting a tree with every order and printing all cards and envelopes on recycled paper (paper culture). That’s who we went with this year, and I really like them.

I wrote a little something about our year on the back. I didn’t do birth announcements for Blaire so this also kind of served that purpose. We usually skip the professional photoshoot in favor of a self-timer run for it session, so yep, I took the photo on the front, and am also in the photo on the front. It was taken in five minutes on the side of our house. It’s always kind of a shuffle trying to get the photo, but I’m budget-minded and am a control freak when it comes to family photos. The photos on the back Daniel and I traded taking with each kiddo. Usually (and miraculously), we get something we can use, although it is getting harder now with one more kid to work with.

I love Christmas cards! I love seeing how our friends’ kids are growing up together each year, and the changes that seem to happen overnight. This is one of my favorite holidays traditions I look forward to every year. Fun fact: Daniel and I got each other’s family Christmas card growing up. I love thinking about that when we send ours out. You just never know. :)

Happy holidays to all of you, and thanks for being here. Hope you have a wonderful and joy-filled Christmas season.

Shared in partnership with Paper Culture.