Oh Christmas Tree!

Since the last bite of turkey on Thanksgiving evening, I had been begging my husband to take us to go get our very first Christmas tree. He finally obliged about a week later and I quickly searched for a farm where we could go chop one down ourselves since I am set on living my life like a typical American movie. Unfortunately we ran out of time that day to drive upstate to do the our own lumber jacking so we searched the nearby nurseries instead. After almost forking out $80 for a tree at several places we ended up at Home Depot (not quite the movie scene I imagined) and after untying and shaking out about 7 or 8 Balsam firs we had finally adopted the newest member of our household for only $35.

Since this is our first official tree, we had no old, dusty box of family ornaments to bring down from the attic (which was one of my favorite parts of decorating the tree as a child). I went with a red, white and silver color scheme since it is pretty neutral and can be easily adapted and added too over the years. I cannot wait for Zoey to start making her own little Christmas ornaments out of popsicle sticks and macaroni! I picked up some really adorable, yet budget friendly ornaments and lights at Walmart, Target and Michaels; and DIY'ED a couple of special ones too (more on that later).

Please excuse the needles on the ground and no tree skirt, I'm planning to sew a really cute one soon!

I love our tree, especially because it is our very first one. I'm quite grateful that Zoey isn't able to stand up and pull all the ornaments off just yet, but she loves to sit in front of it and stare at the pretty lights.

2 Years

2 years ago, in a simple ceremony in Central Park, New York I married my soulmate.

Each year around December 4th we visit "The Ladies Pavilion" and refect on our year. This has probably been the best year of my life and although we have had our struggles trying to juggle working full time jobs, going back to university and parenthood, we know that we can always count on eachother.

I love you Mike. You are my everything!

It's officially Christmas in New York

There is nothing like a trip to visit to the Rockefeller Christmas Tree to get you in the holiday spirit.

7 Months of Zoey

headband available {here}

Weight: 14lbs 

Height: around 22 or 23 inches

Clothing size: 6 month clothing is fitting well, although she wears size 3 pants

Diaper size: Size 2

Feeding: Still 4oz - 6oz bottles every 3 hours. 2 tbsp cereal & 1/2 jar of fruit in the morning and 1/2 jar of veggies in the evening.

Sleep: She/We are still not sleeping through the night :( She takes 3 naps a day (50mins in the morning and afternoon and about 2hrs midday)

Milestones: She said "DADA!" which is fitting since she is Daddy's little princess. She can now sit up nicely on her own and can crawl! (Mostly backwards and army-style) This was a big month for milestones!

Loves: Chewing everything, her jumper & Sesame Street (especially Elmo of course)

Dislikes: Waking up on her belly after she tossed and turned in her sleep.

Adventures: Zoey celebrated her 1st Halloween & Thanksgiving. Thankfully we also survived Hurricane Sandy, Frankenstorm (her first snow!) and no heat or power for 12 long days.

Mommy and Daddy could not get through the month without: Zoey's new snowsuit which she wore for the entire time our house had no heat. Grandpa, who took us in after he regained power and her jumper (again) which helps entertain her since she cant sit still for a second.

BLACK FRIDAY SALE!

Starting at midnight TONIGHT every single item in my Etsy Store will be 25% off.

This is the perfect opportunity to stock up on Chritmas gifts for all those little ones in your life!

Just use code blackfriday25 at checkout!

Christmas onesies are here!

. Christmas Lights Bodysuit . Reindeer Bodysuit. Monogram Bodysuit .

This Fall

Apple picking, pumpkin picking and Halloween are all reasons why I LOVE Fall time in the US... not to mention I may have celebrated a birthday in between it all and got dragged into my upper 20's.

As soon as the air gets crisp and the leaves start to change, all I want to do is drive upstate. We celebrated my birthday by going apple picking (perhaps a sign of old age?) and proceeded to get rained poured on. Needless to say it was not the exact vision of fruit picking perfection I had imagined especially since Zoey spent most of the time wrapped up in her car seat and then proceeded to catch a cold. BUT we did have a lot of fun and came home with a bountiful harvest which I later turned into baby food.

Next up on the Fall to-do list was of course, pumpkin picking. Zoey put on her pumpkin hat made beautifully by my blogger friend Amber (she just opened an Etsy shop) and off we went in search of the perfect pumpkin. This was not only Zoey's first time picking out a pumpkin, but mine too! We ended up spending a good amount of time travelling from patch to patch to find the perfect pumpkin to represent each member of our family while sipping on pumpkin lattes and warm apple cider.

Of course, we then had to carve up our prised pumpkins. We spent an entire night scooping guts, carving flesh and roasting seeds before finally lighting up our beauties and setting them outside our front door.

Before we knew it, it was Halloween weekend. Mike and I enjoyed our first baby-free night out in a very long time and headed over to his work colleague's costume party as Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Werewolf. As a South African who never got to have an authentic "American" Halloween growing up, I get VERY excited this time of year. We realised that this year was the first time we have ever dressed up as a couple or even celebrated Halloween together (last year I was pregnant during a Halloween snowstorm and we can't even remember what we were doing the year before that-fail!)

As for Zoey's first Halloween... sadly it was a little bit of a failure. I had been planning her chicken costume for so long but had barely begun working on it (I was determined to hand make ALL of our costumes this year) before the storm hit. Luckily, I stumbled upon a rouge chicken cap that had lost the rest of it's outfit at the store so I scooped that up as a backup plan. Zoey had also caught a cold, which made her miserable and I decided that taking her to the children's parade on a very windy day (1 day before Hurricane Sandy) would not be the smartest parenting decision. On Halloween day I dressed her up barely long enough for the above pictures to be taken. A tantrum then ensued.

How did you celebrate the Fall?

What did you/your little one wear this Halloween?