Merry Christmas!

May the wonders of the season be yours!

*I know you've all been on the edge of your seat wondering what picture did make the cut for the holiday card. This is it! Isn't my kid just the cutest thing!

Holiday Card Reject

Neil told me this was too esoteric (I'm editorializing here, his exact comment was something along the lines of "why's it out of focus?") so it has been abandoned for a less artsy image. I love the new one, but I love this one too and I just couldn't let it languish in my discard pile without sharing it.

Jingle Bells

Last year, I was pretty much on the ball with our holiday cards. They weren't mailed yet, but they were at least in the late design stages. However. I couldn't get my stuff together when it came to decorating. I just couldn't find the spirit to bedeck our halls. So our tree didn't go up until the week before Christmas.

This year, I couldn't wait to get our tree set up. Starting around Thanksgiving, I badgered Neil to climb up in the top of the garage and get it down so I could set it up and decorate. I won't lie and tell you that it's construction was without it's speedbumps. Every year, I pull out all of the parts and kick myself for not having a better system to remember which pieces go where.* And there was some crankiness while I scratched my hands up as I placed, re-placed and then fluffed the branches. And neither the cats nor the kid were especially cooperative when it came to ornament placement. But I had lovely carols playing on the stereo and a pepperminty candle burning on the mantle.

And when I plugged in the lights. Ahhh. It. Was. Breathtaking. Sophie, standing a half dozen feet from it, spread her arms and WOWed. That moment was enough to make any pain and suffering worth it. A thousand times over. So our tree went up the first week of December and now we'll have nearly a month to enjoy it's twinkling beauty. God, I love Christmastime.

Now, I just need to figure out what the hell I'm going to do about our cards.

*THIS year, I'm instituting a color-coding system. Remind me round about December 26th, will ya?

Complications

So after all of my hard work. Selecting and editing the photos. Creating multiple versions of each potential card. Agonizing over which one to use. Fine tuning tiny elements that will go completely unnoticed by 99.9% of the people who receive them. Vacillating on the old Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas debate. After all this, now, NOW, there is a major setback.

My goldfrapping printer isn't working. Every time I try to print one on the fancy schmancy photo greeting card paper, she jams up.

I am muy frustrado.*

I have decided in the interest of my sanity, not ruining a bunch of expensive paper and the distinct possibility that I will throw the printer out in the yard, I will hold off on attacking the problem until tomorrow when I have had what I hope will be a good night's sleep. Something that hasn't happened in several days thanks to a sickly toddler who refused to sleep anywhere but in my bed. Which anyone who has ever slept with a toddler knows that means she was the only one getting any sleep. But after more than a little consternation on her part, we got her to sleep in her bed.

Tomorrow. That printer better work.

*Sometimes I am amazed by how much Spanish I know. One drunken night, I spoke nothing but Spanish all night. Apparently having a full conversation with a lovely Mexican woman. Normally, I don't speak it all that well. In fact, I would say that I don't speak it at all. But then I pull out words like this. Where from, she says?

Sunday Afternoon

Husband and daughter are asleep together in the recliner. Scenes like that touch me in a way that a hundred posed situations never could.

Meanwhile, I'm laboring to finish our holiday cards. I am the ultimate last minute Lucy, nothing gets my creative juices flowing like an impossibly close deadline. I've been trying to come up with our card for weeks. For reasons I can't explain, I just can't order one of the perfectly adorable cards a la Tiny Prints, I need to create a unique and personal Christmas card.

It's not a foundation in graphics or the arts. I was an economics major, people. Which isn't to say I don't have my creative tendencies, but I have always gravitated towards the sciences and math.

So here I am, racing to get this thing done and mailed in time to arrive before Christmas. While just a few days ago, I sat in front of the computer, staring at a blank screen, now the ideas are pouring out. The burden now is to select the one that best represents our little family.

Decisions, decisions.

Neil picked his favorite. Went right to it from the dozen or so choices and proclaimed it the absolute best. Do I agree? Not 100% sure yet. They're all my babies and I love each one for different reasons.

I'll print out a tester and sleep on it.

Speaking of, I think I'll go join my family for a snooze in front of a football game we care nothing about.

PS - We got our tree up and mostly decorated today. I think I'm FINALLY getting some of that Christmas spirit I've been hearing so much about.

Merry Christmas!

Without further ado, the much anticipated Land of Bean holiday card! After many, many photos, we finally landed on one that was acceptable. Miraculously, we managed to get one with her in the Santa hat. (Strangely, as much as she likes putting things on her head, hats are a no-go.) Some tinkering in Photoshop to give this gem a little pizazz and wa-la, we have a masterpiece suitable for framing:













Alright, maybe not framing, but certainly worthy of a magnet on the fridge. Yes? Yes! I mean, really, the cuteness is almost unbearable.

It was a bi-fold card. Note the little snowman from the stocking. I'm all about attention to detail. Oh yes. Here's the inside:














From our family to yours, a very Merry Christmas!

Candied Pecans are NOT for Amateurs

I had a lovely time at the moms get together yesterday. The host produced an amazing buffet of food including a honey glazed ham that was absolutely to. die. for. Sophie even ate some, which is saying A LOT. I brought a yummy green salad with pears, avocado and gorgonzola tossed in an olive oil/red wine vinegar dressing. It was supposed to have candied pecans on top, but I discovered too late that I have no knack for candying pecans. Two ruined batches and one burnt finger later, I decided that the salad would be just fine without them, thankyouverymuch.

The gift exchange was quite low key. In fact, the gifts were opened one at a time, spaced out over the course of the afternoon as the moms filtered in and out following their little one's nap schedule. I didn't open mine until just before I left. I got a delightful blanket (that's it on the right) that Sophie is just crazy about. She kept pulling it over her head. She has this thing lately with putting cloth items on her head and walking or running with it completely blocking her view. (Do all kids do this?) The other day, as Neil and I watched her in her crib on the monitor, she pulled her little lovey blanket over her head, stood up and charged full speed towards the other end of her crib. You wouldn't think she could get up much speed in such a short distance, but the impact that followed sounded exactly like she had managed to bust her way out of her crib. We both went running in expecting to find the crib in splinters and our daughter a mangled mess. She was completely fine, if somewhat dazed, and has continued with her blitzkrieg in other areas of the house.

In other news, I finally got the dag blasted card done. In the end, I was never able to get a usable picture of her with the lights, but a bajillion pictures later, I did get one that will work in a very different way. Note to self: one way to make sure the baby will stay away from the Christmas tree is to keep trying to force her to do something cute under/next to/with it. I'll post the finished product at a later date. I don't want to ruin the surprise for all of my real life peeps who will be receiving theirs in the mail soon. For my bloggy friends, if you want to receive your own original copy of this masterpiece*, email me (carawb at gmail dot com) your address and your copy will be in the mail tout de suite.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

*It is most certainly NOT a masterpiece, please drastically lower your expectations before you receive said card so you will be suitably impressed.