Hodge Podge of Stuff...

Have ya'll seen this on facebook:

Pay it Forward 2011: I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment here. They must in turn post this and send something they make to the first 5 people who comment on their status. *The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011.

well - i LOVE this concept... in fact, even though i already posted it on my FB wall, I'm going to post it again here since I commented on Lindsay's blog too! So - leave a comment... it doesn't have to be anything important... and I will send you something "handmade".  And yes, baked goods, dinner, etc. count {in my opinion}!!! {if you've commented on FB, you don't count on here!!}

I'm hoping people post pictures of what they make {and receive} as their handmade gifts... I love getting new ideas from people! I've really been reflecting on my Thirty Things Before Thirty and one of them is to be more 'crafty'. i think i've done well at the sewing - but perhaps not the crafting. so my handmade stuff will be 'crafting' for some & 'sewing' for others. :)

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i'm making chili. texas chili. {that means NO BEANS for those of you who don't know}. in fact, it's really plain jane. i'll put the recipe up soon... because it's SO good. it's a little different each time, but i think i'm getting there on the mixture of spiciness and saltiness! love.

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jeff told me that i need to post more about charlotte. i can't believe she'll be EIGHT weeks tomorrow. i just don't feel like much has changed about her since we brought her home from the hospital. she's starting to fill out more. {that means 'chunk up' for all of you baby lovers}. she's just starting to smile, and today she smiled REAL big for me - but only for a second or two. we pretty much rotate between being held, bouncy seat, swing and tummy time right now.

she doesn't really 'do' much.

she's definitely getting heavier, if that counts. she's slept through the night a few times since we changed things up last week. {three times, to be exact}. we were waking her up between 10-11 to eat and then trying to let her sleep/cry it out, etc. but she would wake up every 2 hours one night and then every 4 the next. no consistency. {even though our days - especially being home bound in the potty area, have been UBER-consistent!}

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on another note, i took a bunch of pictures around the house at christmas... hoping to get them up before the season was over. but it didn't happen. SURPRISE! ha. here they are. i decorated the whole month. i kept bringing stuff out until that last few days. the good news {for jeff, at least} was that i only used what we had except for one craft and some new ribbon! yaya!

enjoy the pics. it makes me miss christmas.