Christmas Traditions

A new baby brings new christmas traditions. While a four month old has no idea what is going on, we are beyond excited to have Santa come to our house this year. Today, let's talk about some traditions of the season. 

Stockings. Our first married christmas I made us some stockings. They don't have our names on them and they're really small. Of course H needs a stocking this year so I decided to get us all new ones. I searched everywhere for them. I really wanted the Landsend needlepoint stockings, so we could all have a different thing on them. However, the nutcracker stocking they used to have has been discontinued. C loves nutcrackers and I felt like if I couldn't get him one it wouldn't be the same. I found a few on eBay, but of course they had other people's names on them. I couldn't convince him to change his name to Jeremy. I found these at Kohl's and I really like them! They're classic and simple and no matter what I do for a theme, they'll go. 

Choosing what to put on them was quite a dilemma. Had we got them before we had H, ours would have our names. Putting our names seemed weird now that we're parents. I know most of my friends' stockings say "Mom" and "Dad." My parents' stockings growing up said "Mama" and "Daddy." We don't call them that now, but it's still cute to see. Having a 4 month old, I'm just not ready to be "mom." Makes me think I have a teenager. I know all you mamas out there can relate to the fact I'm not ready for my baby to not be a baby. 

Christmas movies. Like pretty much everyone we love watching Christmas movies! Our favorites are Christmas Vacation, 4 Christmases, Home Alone and Home Alone 2. I love the old movies like White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary's (Bing Crosby plays the same character of Father O'Malley in both. These are great feel-good movies!). Christopher's Favorite is A Christmas Story. I think it's cute and I'll watch it one time but I don't see why it's shown for 24 hours. I mean it's no White Christmas! I love that movie so much I even used it for our "Dress as Your Favorite Christmas Character" bunco night.

Books. Every year I read "Promise Me" by Richard Paul Evans. 

 

It's so good! It's hard to explain what it's about without giving it away. Here's the review from Booklist:

"Popular Evans offers up another magical novel, this one set in the 1980s, in time for the holidays. Beth Cardall’s life seems charmed, until she finds out that her perfect husband Marc has been unfaithful to her, and that their beautiful daughter Charlotte is sick with a mysterious illness that baffles every doctor. Then Marc’s unexpected and swift death from pancreatic cancer leaves Beth in financial straights. So she’s in no mood for romance when she meets an enigmatic, handsome stranger on Christmas day, but the man, who tells her his name is Matthew, is both persistent and charming in his pursuit of her. He tells her he’s a widower still grieving over the loss of his beloved wife, whose identity will shock Beth––and readers––to the core. The unexpected twist propels the novel forward, making the book impossible to put down. Though the ending ties everything up a bit too neatly, Evans’ many fans will enjoy this inventive, heartwarming tale." --Kristine Huntley

I was surpsied when I read the reviews on Amazon.com. Everyone seems to hate it. It looks like however they're all big fans of the author and this book isn't typical of what he normally writes. This is the only thing I've read by him so I have nothing to compare it to. 

Last year for Christmas my mom gave us all a childhood gift. Mine was the book "The Pink Maple House," by Christine Noble Govan.

Here's the description from Amazon:

"Polly wasn't sure she wanted to move to the new house for she suddenly realized that she and her best friend, Jenny, would not be going to the same school. They would no longer share the same seat. They wouldn't be walking home together. How sad life would be! However, Polly found that life in the Pink Maple House was anything but sad. The fun of Jenny's visits more than made up for the daily separation. There were so many new and pleasant experiences to share. "The Pink Maple House" is the story of the childhood of almost any little girl who grows up in the country. The author has caught the feelings, the foolishness, and the anguishes of little girls. Such incidents as the attic adventure, the doll scrapbook, the playing at 'Indians' in the barn, the school experiences, the baking of cookies and wrapping of Christmas presents, etc., are not only amusing and interesting, buy heartwarming, satisfying and comforting. "The Pink Maple House" is somewhat reminiscent of "Little Women" in that it is a family story in which the characters are kindly, natural and sympathetic. The story moves right along for the incidents are believable and the details are those about which little girls especially, enjoy reading." 

I have added it to my annual Christmas readings. I got excited when I went in Amazon, as I saw there are 2 more books and it's a series! I better buy them soon as one of my New Year's resolutions is to read all the books I already own before buying or reading any others. More on that in another post. 

Christmas china. One of my favorite things about this time of year is getting put my Christmas china. I have Holiday by Lenox. We eat everything off of it, even pizza! Why have it if you're not going to use it? 

What are some of your family's Christmas traditions?

Nursery Reveal

Not much going on here, except we had a baby 3 weeks ago!!! Hardy Stovall Wilson was welcomed into the world August 6th, at 6:23pm. He weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. We're all doing wonderfully. Sorry, (not really) for not posting any pics. The hubby and I decided we didn't want any pics of him posted on social media or the internet. I will post on that another day. According to Facebook, my hubby isn't even a father yet. He hasn't posted anything about it. So I guess therefore it's not even official. But I digress...

When we found out we were having a boy, the first thing I had to do was rethink all my nursery plans. Let's face it, I thought we were having a girl. I had to throw out my plans of pink walls and floral shabby chic like bedding. Looking back on it now, I can't believe I wanted a girl. I love having a boy and I love that I got to design a boy nursery. I knew that I wanted his room to be traditional and to look like a baby's room. I loathe the idea of a cutesy room with bright colors and chevron stripes (seriously, is the chevron trend over yet?) that looks like a "big boy" room. I feel that with boys you only get so much time to have a baby. He has his whole life to have a grown up room and wear polos and khakis. (Yes, I am southern to the core and think it's perfectly fine for baby boys to wear smocked and monogrammed outfits, not to mention gowns.) So, I decided to go a more old-fashioned route with his nursery. Without further adieu: 

 Not sure why this one is a little blurry.

My mom made the curtains.

The bookshelf is from Target.

My friend Ashley made the banner for my shower.

My mom made the canopy as well. Hard to see, but the fabric is a blue and white stripe ticking.

My in-laws got us the chair from Buy Buy Baby (awesome store, not sure why Memphis doesn't have one they drove to St. Louis to get it)

The crib is from my parents and from Babies R Us.

 

My old changing table refinished. 

Antique cabinet from my grandmother's house. I've used it previously as a pantry, in my closet and to store craft supplies. 

I have always wanted a vintage Winnie the Pooh nursery, but I didn't want it to be overkill. So, I have Pooh accents throughout.

I ordered the print from Etsy, and spray painted a Dollar Store picture frame.

The wooden Pooh was mine growing up and the shelf is from Walmart.com 

Christopher asked if these were mine from when I was a baby. No, I was in 8th grade. Always have loved Pooh! 

Christopher's grandfather, Edward Hardy Green circa 1924, is on the left.

My grandfather, Cleo Cloys Stovall circa 1912 in on the right.  

A close up of the changing table. 

Love this mobile that my sweet friend Sandy gave us. 

Pillow my mom also made.

The bumper is from Restoration Hardware. 

Stuffed animals from when I was little.  

This sweet bunny was given to us by a man Christopher works with. It's Jelly Cats and from Cotton Tails here in Memphis. I found out from one of the girls who works there, he went in and picked it out himself, not his wife. I love that!

This was Christopher's rocking chair.

These pictures were taken by our dear friend, Kayce. 

Given to us by my in-laws, also from Babies R Us.  

 

My friend Jill's husband, Alan drew this for us. Everyone at my shower put their thumbprint on it and signed it. So sweet!

 

And here is what the room looked like before it was a nursery:

I was never crazy about it. I love the furniture, it was my great-grandparents' and mine growing up. However, the wall color didn't turn out right, (it was not supposed to look so putrid) and I never hung any pictures really or put out knick knacks I liked. It wasn't the inviting guestroom I wanted. Of course, my mom and maybe 2 others were the only people who ever stayed in it. I guess there's always the next house, right?



 

Keeping Cool in the Memphis Heat

If I hear one more person tell me "I bet you're miserable in this heat," I might punch them. Gosh don't you hate when people state the obvious? That, and asking dumb questions might be my 2 biggest pet peeves. So, yes it's hot. It's July in Memphis, so that's a given. But let's add insult to injury: 

THE WILSONS HAVE NO AIR CONDITIONING. 

Oh, and in case you didn't know: 

I'M 9 MONTHS PREGNANT.
Yes, you read that right. May I just tell you this is the third summer in a row we've had this problem? 2013: my car's air went out on the way home from St. Louis. Yep, about 30 minutes into our trip. 2014: House AC went out because it was frozen. 2015: Compressor is out, hopefully will be fixed by the end of the week. I know this will be one of those stories we laugh about in years to come "Hey, remember the time I was 9 months pregnant and our air went out?" But right now, it's hard to see the humor.

So, how have we been keeping cool? We have lots of fans. I've been trying to drink as much water as possible. One of my friends gave me a key to her house so I could come over and hang out any time (Bless her!), cold showers are awesome and I keep freezing a wet cloth and putting it in my shirt. (TMI?) Even though I'm pregnant and know I can't get overheated, I worry more about the dogs, Last night we took them to my in-laws. We were offered to stay there as well, but decided to stand the heat instead of the inconvenience of packing up all our stuff. The first night I slept on the couch and C upstairs. Last night, we switched. While it's a bit warmer upstairs, my poor back couldn't take the couch again. I might be sleeping at a friend's tonight. 

The dogs trying to keep cool:

Very happy to be in the car:

Thank goodness for this stuff: 

This has been my lifesaver! It is too hot for me most days in an air-conditioned house to want to use my blow dryer/flat iron/curling iron, but definitely too hot in a house with no A/C!  

And I've resorted to putting my makeup on in the car:

No, I'm not so vain that I think I have to get ready every day. I've spent the past two days sans makeup, but I've got places to be. And let's face it, being huge and pregnant you just want to do something to feel "fixed up."

Other ways I've been keeping busy waiting for our little man to arrive?

This show is great! Minus having to hear the f-word more times than I breathe, we really enjoyed it. The first season is out on Netflix and we watched the entire thing between July 3rd and 4th. 

Then I started this one:

I know I'm a few years behind on this, but I'm almost done with the first season. So far, I'm loving it. I wanna move to an east coast beach!

Oh, and the frosted lemonade from Chick Fil A is a tasty, refreshing treat in this heat! It tastes like lemon ice box pie! Sadly, the closest one to our house is closing on Friday for renovations. 

Au Revoir Facebook

Awhile ago I posted on Facebook that I would be deleting my account. I'm just over it. So without further adieu, here are some reasons why I personally want to get rid of Facebook:
- It's a waste of time.
I find myself on my phone scrolling through my feed way too much. Even at a stoplight, or the drive thru line at Starbucks. Because heaven forbid I have to just wait patiently for 2 minutes. While I have deleted the app of my phone, I have too many other reasons not to keep it, to keep it.
- There's nothing really that beneficial from it.
Is my day going to be any better knowing that you had a good day of running errands, grocery shopping and eating dinner with your mom? No. And I think, if I don't care what people did with their day, what makes me think they care about mine?
- The above reason leads me to this: Facebook has created a society full of narcissistic people who think the world revolves around them.
I don't want to be that person. I realize that the world doesn't revolve around me and I don't ever want to think that it does.
- I want to cultivate deeper relationships with my friends and family and not just connect with them through a website.
I want to take the time to call people and see how they're doing. I want to be wished a happy birthday because we're good enough friends that you KNOW it's my birthday. And vice versa.
To even further prove my point, when I posted on Facebook that I was leaving I had comments on my page such as, "How will we keep up with you?" "I'll miss seeing what you're up to." "How will we see pictures of your baby?" HELLO! That's my point! You want to keep up with me? Send me a text, an email, call me on the phone. I'll do the same thing! Also, those comments make me think people are living through me. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'm that important. I'm not famous. I'm not Kate Middleton. I surely hope that my life doesn't seem so exciting to you that you will feel like you're missing out because you can't see my life on a website.
- Lastly, I want to be present. I want to live my life instead of constantly posting about it. I can post a hundred pictures of my kid and what he's doing or I can snap a few for myself and then sit and relish in the moment. From what everyone has told me, it's going to go by fast. Also, after both being gone all day, I want to enjoy live conversation with my husband, not sit next to him as we both scroll through our phones.







I would like to end the first part of my 2 post series with this: I realize I could just stop posting things as much and not look at it as much. My husband does this beautifully. Maybe I just have an addictive personality because I just can't do that as easily. Also, I'm a bit of a rebel. I like knowing I'm going against the grain and will be part of the slim part of the population that doesn't use Facebook. My dad will be so proud.

Stay tuned for my next post on this, where I will list all the annoying things people post on Facebook!

Another New Recipe

Last night, I tried a new recipe and I have to say it was a hit. You can find the recipe here at www.tastesbetterfromscratch.com She adapted her recipe from Paula Deen. Nothing says Southern like Paula!
The recipe calls for peeled, sliced tomatoes (recipe said Roma were best, so that's what I used). I blanched mine to make it easier. I cut a small, shallow "x" in the bottom and boiled them for 30 seconds. That's about how long it takes for the skin to start to come off. I then took a slotted spoon to get them out and put them in an ice bath for 5 minutes. The skin just slides off in your fingers. Then I sliced them and let them drain and sopped up any excess juice with a paper towel.

Not as pretty as the original recipe's picture, but they're peeled!

You can use red or green onion. I chose red, since I already had it on hand.

Mayo and cheese mixture with some salt and pepper sprinkled on top.

Voila! Finished product.

Delish!

New Recipes

Seriously, what did we ever do before Pinterest? It makes it so easy to try new recipes. I love my cookbooks and try to use them frequently but Pinterest has made me lazy. This week I've made 2 new recipes thanks to Pinterest.
First up, Salsa Verde Chicken Bake found here. It was super easy and delicious! I served it over white rice. They do tell you that you can buy tomatillos and make your own salsa verde ( translation: green salsa), but I used jarred. I used the Herdez brand.

This recipe turned out so good. I was a little surprised, I thought it was too easy to end up being that good. But I see this ending up in our usual rotation of favorites. 

Of course, we ate on our yellow and blue plates to bring good luck to the Grizz but sadly it didn't work this time. Hopefully it will tonight!

The second recipe was what I made tonight and I'll admit I'm cheating a but because I have made this one once before but it was a looooooong time ago. Creamy and tomato spinach pasta and it's so good! Reminds me of penne rosa from Noodles and Co (are we ever going to get one in Memphis?). Pretty simple to put together, paired with a salad it would make a great "company" dinner. 

My friend Angela introduced me to the Egg White Delight McMuffin. Pregnancy has made me crave them every single morning. That and my daily Starbucks, can add up quickly. I decided to make my own, and it turned out almost the exact same. I think I like them so much because I'm not big on egg yolks and there is something about that white cheddar that is so darn yummy! 

I just use Thomas' English muffins, one slice Kroger Canadian bacon, 2 egg whites (I spray a little Pam in a little flat dish I have, whisk the egg with a bit of water and nuke for about 45 seconds) and a slice of Cracker. Barrel sharp white cheddar. I plan on having one every morning until I get sick of it. 

My Happy Place

Spring has sprung! Springtime in Memphis is my favorite. All the flowers are in bloom, and for about one to two weeks we have perfect, gorgeous, you-only-read-about-in-books weather. Someone actually wrote about this perfect week here. My favorite thing about spring is getting to clean out my dead from winter flower beds. I love having beautiful flowers and plants in the beds on my patio. We have a townhome, so no big yard to speak of. I love the the manual labor it takes to get the patio looking this way. Weird, I know. For some reason I love it! I think it's because I love sitting back and knowing I accomplished it. It's such a great feeling of satisfaction. It's the same satisfaction I get sitting in my house after I've cleaned it on Thursday. (Thursday is cleaning day, I think its because I like to wake up on Friday knowing I'm starting the weekend with a clean house. Funnily enough, my parents do the same thing.) This all started when I bought the place and my mom came to town and helped me plant everything. She dug up all the monkey grass (hate the stuff!) and we even laid the brick for the glider to sit on. The patio is my happy place. I love starting my morning sitting out there, sipping my venti vanilla no water chair from Starbucks while reading my daily Bible devotional to start my day. I love coming home from work and sitting on the patio while sipping a glass of wine water and chatting with my husband about the day. It's the little things in life, right? So here is the patio transformation as it happens every year.

This is after I cleaned out all the beds, got out all the dead leaves, old mulch and dead flowers. I think I had already taken a few bags to the dumpster.

It's hard to tell, but there are a few hostas and caladiums sitting there.

Got this fire pit as a gift, and since we aren't allowed to have open flames I started using it as a planter a few years ago.

I love geraniums and I love this wall hanger. I always put geraniums in it because it reminds me of the window boxes we saw in Venice:

The hosta in the turquoise pot as done better than any of them. And don't you just love hanging fuchsia plants?

My mom got me this glider when I first bought the place. I love it because it looks like those retro lawn chairs from the 60's.

My patio as I post this. Had to enjoy the view from inside today. Thanks to God for watering my flowers!

Here's some pics of the patio this past fall. I did more than I usually do and loved it. I have a feeling this fall I might be too busy/exhausted to get it to look like this again.