Join me won’t you?
Or for tea perhaps? I’m really enjoying playing around with different teas lately. Two current favorites are organic Earl Grey and the Green Tea Tropical. But this morning I might just stick with coffee because…. sleep. I’m missing it. Ready for a whole load of dramatics?
I’ve really thrown off my sweet baby K. At first we had a wonderful schedule. Then it got off a little bit because we were always on the go. And now? Pure anarchy. (Dramatics, remember?) She’s almost 6 months (in TWO days), and I’d like for her to have a little structure back for both of our sakes.
At least getting up at 4:15 yesterday was helpful. I was up and ready to leave the house early to make it down to WCCB Rising where I hung out with Kristine and Derek and confessed my love for chia seeds.
You can watch it HERE if you’d like to see my inability to control my hands while speaking.
Another fun Kaitlyn factoid…she started solids!
I’m editing pictures and videos and trying to put together a good intro to my love for Baby Led Weaning. Much more about this to come, I promise.
However, I’ll share the first rule of baby led weaning now: Don’t put the baby in a white shirt.
Ok, what else is going on? (slurps coffee)
Christmas shopping. I’m having a lot of fun with it this year! I think Hailey is pretty much set, but I’m struggling to find something for Kaitlyn. I wouldn’t buy her anything while she is so young, but Hailey will certainly wonder why Santa left out Kaitlyn, so I’m on the hunt for some small things. Any suggestions?
David and I haven’t exchanged Christmas presents in years, but to shake things up we decided on a set amount to each spend on gifts for each other. I love the idea of having a few things to unwrap under the tree and joining in on the fun, so we are going to focus on small things we each would really like. Is it subtle if I list them out on here? No? Ok.
…I wouldn’t hate a tea kettle though.
Ok, I guess that isn’t really a small thing, but Bed Bath & Beyond always has coupons. Just saying.
On that note, I’m also on a hunt for a child or two to buy presents for. I’d love to take Hailey shopping to buy for a child who otherwise would not have Christmas gifts and I’d prefer to find someone local. Does anyone know how to go about getting connected with a program that does this?
This is getting long and rambly, isn’t it?
So why stop now!
I worked out once this week. Once. I clearly haven’t nailed down the whole exercise schedule with two kids, but I’m surprisingly feeling pretty good with staying active in general, 15 minute yoga sessions and stroller walks. I do look forward to getting back in better shape, but I know it will come with time. Until then, outdoor strolls for the win!
We totally splurged on lunch yesterday. And by lunch I mean at 10:30 am, which is lunch time when you wake up at 4. We went to Whole Foods with intentions of sushi for me and fruit for Hailey, but she begged for her own sushi. I finally gave in, fully intending to take hers home to eat later, but don’t you know, the kid ate the entire tray using chopsticks (still connected).
She never ceases to surprise me, but we need to nip these champagne tastes in the bud.
I don’t think there is much else going on in my mush-of-a-brain right now, but I leave you with this:
Yes, it’s blurry and terrible, but I couldn’t stop laughing. Last night Hailey was dragging Kaitlyn around the kitchen with a piece of yarn and both girls were hysterical with giggles. Next time I’ll attach a mop to Kaitlyn’s underside, but seriously, watching these two just makes everything right in the world. I’m so grateful.
HAPPY FRIDAY!
Who do you buy Christmas/holiday gifts for?
Immediate family, nieces and nephews, friends?
What is on your Christmas list this year?
Tiff @ Love, Sweat, & Beers says
I just started my Christmas shopping. All I can think of are things or Ethan and I. The rest of the family gets nothing. haha. I picked him up a Tickle Me Elmo yesterday, but frankly it’s more for me. I love those things!
Joanna @Makingmine says
I’m hoping we can do BLW with our next little one. My 1st daughter had lots of dietary issues that led to us being really scared to let her truly explore. BLW looks like so much fun though 🙂
Hope sleep is in your future this weekend 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
Oh man, hugs to you! I have friends that children have allergies or worse and it must be incredibly scary to have to monitor. <3 And congrats on baby #2! Love your shadow picture on your 16 week bump update 🙂
Karen @ Running on Tea says
My family tends to do gifts all round, just because we’re quite a small family and I have an aunt who is single and lives alone so if we didn’t include her in ours she wouldn’t get any, and we know she’d get upset if one of us was left out when she wasn’t! Among the uncle/aunt/niece/nephew crowd, we tend to only buy for the children and maybe a box of chocolates or something for the adults.
Sabrina says
your girls are the cutest.
Please share what you got for H for Christmas!
Brynn says
Congrats on the chia segment! For Christmas my family dress names and we all buy for the nieces and nephews. My husband and I also do an exchange but with a set limit. We also adopt a family through my husband’s work.
Lindsey @ Simply Lindsey says
I got that tea kettle a couple years ago at TJ Maxx (crazy find) and LOVE IT! But let’s be serious, who wouldn’t love anything by Le Creuset? 🙂 Christmas shopping will be interesting this year because it’s our first married Christmas and we both come from divorced families- lots of tough calls about who to buy/not buy presents for!
Brittany Dixon says
Ohhh great idea to check out TJMaxx and such! Good luck on the present front- it’s difficult, but yay for first married Christmas! That will be special 🙂
Laura says
The last picture made me smile!!! Sooo sweet. I can’t wait for your BLW posts! We started a few weeks ago but I’m already in a rut of bananas, sweet potato, chunky applesauce and scrambled eggs.
Brittany Dixon says
Try broccoli (built in handle!) or butternut squash (just like sweet potatoes)! And at least that’s a pretty healthy rut to be in 🙂
Brittany @ Delights and Delectables says
your girls are too much!! I do wanna hear about baby led weaning. I need to learn from you!
John J. Stathas says
Like the idea of the mop on the underbelly. Wish we had thought about that when you were young!
Also, liked your tv gig – and the arms added to your usual fine dramatic flair!
Helen says
I am so looking forward to your posts on baby-led weaning. I just can’t wrap my head around how to do it easily while feeding the rest of the family. On a side note, I’m super jealous that you still get beautiful fall days as winter has arrived with full force in Illinois.
Brittany Dixon says
It’s actually easier while feeding the rest of the family! In fact, I was initially drawn to it for it’s easy (ready, lazy) approach 😉 I’ll chat more about it soon!
Stay warm!!
Jenni says
That pic of the girls is the cutest!
For Christmas, we are taking a trip so presents are going to be low key! I usually put together a photo calendar for all the grandparents and get something small for my niece and nephew. My husband and I never buy gifts for each other either! Maybe I’ll see if he wants to switch things up this year!
Brittany Dixon says
Oh how I love photo calendars! Great reminder 🙂
Sherry says
That is so funny with Hailey pulling Kaitlyn around! We use to put socks on you and Kris and you would “skate” all around the kitchen. This did a fairly decent job of cleaning the floor:) Buying for kids is fun but it is nice for the adults to have a gift to open too.
Our ladies league adopts a school and we each get an under privileged child to buy for. We get their age, sizes, etc. We wrap the gifts with the child’s number on them. They are given to the parents to give to their children. There is a price limit so that one child doesn’t feel like another one got more. I’ve loved doing this.
Kathleen says
That last picture is adorable!! They’re so sweet together. A lot of churches in my area (Massachusetts) do “giving trees” for families in need, maybe you could ask the churches in your area and see if they do anything similar?
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
My grandma is bugging me for a “list”! I have no idea though! I don’t NEED anything…..It is always so hard to come up with things once the time comes even though I see stuff I “want” during the year!
Marnie @ SuperSmartMama says
That was alot of fun meeting up for coffee. We should do it again… because heavens knows I won’t be this alert in another 4-6 weeks. I will be completely sleep deprived.
I love that Hailey ate her entire tray of sushi. My three year old isn’t nearly as ambitious.
Tea pots? I used to own a glass one which I loved for its aesthetics (http://www.amazon.com/Adagio-Teas-Glass-Water-Kettle/dp/B001A5LQBQ/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1415974522&sr=8-11&keywords=glass+tea+pot). I finally broke it – accidently, of course – three months ago. Since then I’ve been debating whether to get another glass tea pot or a traditional metal one.
Christmas presents only for immediate family, and sometimes then, not even that, if we agree in a given year that nobody really needs anything except a hug and a smile.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
I am so impressed with Hailey eating her sushi with chopsticks! I love these TV segments too…you do so great on camera. I did not know about either of those sweeteners. I am totally going to make your rice crispy treats. Those look so good.
Christmas is coming early in our house. My husband is getting a new car stereo and I am FINALLY getting a BlendTec blender (!!!!!!!!). *happy dance* I just ordered it yesterday, and I am beyond excited!!! It should be here early next week. I got the extra twister jar too to make nut butter. I have no idea what I am getting little man yet, but probably something to do with Elmo or Cookie Monster, his current obsessions. 🙂
Miki says
I live in Charlotte and we always do the Salvation Army Angel Tree. We get our “angels” from a tree at my husband’s office but I’m posting the link because there are many places to get them. http://www.salvationarmycarolinas.org/charlotte/programs/christmas-assistance/christmas-assistance-give-help We don’t have kids so its so much fun to go shopping for the angels. Have a great weekend.
Brittany Dixon says
Thank you for the link neighbor! 🙂
Mary says
If you’d like to email me, I have a friend who works at Levine Children’s hospital and they have a program for buying Christmas gifts for patients and their siblings.
Brittany Dixon says
Emailed. Love this idea! Thanks!
Parita @ myinnershakti says
We don’t usually do the presents thing unless we’re going home for the holidays. But we’re changing things up (even though it’s just me and Vishnu) and doing what you and David are doing. We each get a set amount of money to buy presents for the other person. While gifts aren’t that important to me, it’s nice to actually open something up every now and then. And Vishnu gives the best gifts
Mike @ Gentleman Homestead says
You might want to contact some large(ish) churches in your area. I bet most host some type of gift sponsorship program.
Danica @ It's Progression says
I would say to contact your local Salvation Army – most have Christmas programs that could connect you to a family in need to shop for!
My husband and I definitely exchange gifts for Christmas, and we even fill up each other’s stockings on Christmas Eve. For our main gifts though we do the same as you mentioned – set a dollar amount limit.
Have a great weekend!
Lauren Brennan says
We are wanting to do the same thing for children for Christmas this year. I heard through my church about Operation Christmas Child. You just fill up a shoebox full of age appropriate gifts for a child, and drop it off. I’d love to have Jackson fill up a box on his own! I think that’s the way were going to go.
Kelly says
Your local churches or YMCA will most likely have an “angel tree” where you pick a child’s wish list off the tree and buy Christmas gifts for him/her.
Monica says
You did great on your segment! 🙂
My Christmas list is out of control! I have 8 nieces and nephews (two of which I have to buy extra for, because they are at two parties), two sisters, a sister, and brother in law, my parents-in-law, my own family (husband and daughter), an extended family women’s gift, and secret Santa child gift, plus a few friends and daycare workers… And I feel like I’m missing something… Fun bonus, I haven’t even started yet!!! AAAAAAH!
A teapot is also on my list… I have one, but it doesn’t “whistle” when the tea is ready, so I want one that does. I also would love a remote car starter (MI native)… my old car had one, but my new car doesn’t and I miss it like crazy!
Monica says
BTW: Baby Belly Mop
http://everymomneeds.com/baby-mop/
Jerrica says
I want an orange tea kettle for Christmas. It is my only desire that I have been talking about for months! We used to buy gifts for all children under 16 in our family. Then we moved across the country and it has recently come to my attention that some people feel our kids should be disqualified? from family gift giving this year since we won’t be traveling back. Dysfuntional families and holidays make me want to scream. And that is what I would vent about if we were having coffee this morning!
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul says
I love that last picture! It reminds me of something my sister and I would do growing up.
Tiffany says
Sushi! What!!! So funny. I am having the same issue with buying for our younger daughter (almost 8 months). I wouldn’t buy her anything since she has plenty of toys that are hand-me-downs except that her sister would notice that santa didn’t get her anything! For buying for underprivileged children, we do this and started it last year to help teach our daughter (3 yrs old) that not everyone is as lucky as we are. She helped us pick things out for a little boy around her age. We are doing it again this year, but for 2 kids (Angels through Salvation Army – check it out!) so each of my girls will have someone to pick out things for each year to hopefully teach them this lesson. We again tried to do same ages so we have a 4 yr old girl and a 1 yr old girl to buy for.
Christy @TheMuddyApron says
I can’t wait to learn more about BLW. I didn’t do it with my first but I hope to with this one. Great job on the morning show!
Erin says
Please feel free to post as much about baby led weaning as you want! I’m trying to get as much information as I can in anticipation of starting it with my baby girl in a few months. 🙂
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
Oh my goodness! H eating Sushi is one of the cutest things I’ve seen!
I’m so thankful my family doesn’t exchange Christmas gifts anymore. Does that make me a scrooge? I love the getting together with family part, but the gifts are just such a financial burden to so many family members. My brother loves giving gifts so he usually ends up getting something for all of us. It’s sweet but he doesn’t expect anything in return. I imagine I might as well enjoy the “no christmas shopping” for as long as I can until we start having kids in a couple years.
Heather says
We tend to have a fairly lengthy list of people to buy Christmas presents for – the whole family joins in and usually it’s just small things, and each year I try to do one thing homemade. Last year I made bottles of vanilla extract for everyone and this year I’m going to do something similar most likely. Otherwise, we’ll buy movies, books, random fun things. We do try and stick to a limit, though with everyone including gifts for our kiddos and for each other. My husband is very generous and if not given a budget would put in debt each year. 😉 This year for the kids (ages 2.5 and 1) we’re going to get them a play kitchen and have suggested that if anyone else wants to buy them something they could get some play food and dishes to go with it. We figure it’s a toy that both will enjoy for a few years and not add to the growing pile of toys we’ll be selling in a garage sale next year. 😉
Rachel says
I’m really hoping that MODG (Martini’s or Diaper Genie’s, if you aren’t familiar,) resurfaces on her blog for her Christmas “We aren’t assholes” campaign. It was so great, people could comment if they had a specific need, and you could troll the comments and decide what you were able to give, and request their contact information to send it over. It was all honor system based and she did it for at least 2 years in a row. I can’t say that I ever felt like anyone took advantage, and it was the sweetest thing ever. Her blog has been very quiet for a while now though 🙁
Beth says
Same thing going on at our house with regards to presents. I think for Jay I’m going to get very practical gifts because Claire will understand if Santa brings nothing, but won’t pay attention to what he brings. Right now on my list are sippy cups, plates/utensils, maybe a lifejacket or swimsuit if I can find either?
Julie says
OMG that pic of Hailey dragging Kaitlyn around the kitchen floor cracked me up! Too cute!
Mrs FF says
Your posts on BLW with Hailey made me do BLW and I’m so glad. It is so much fun and so messy of course but it is good to know your baby is eating wholesome food. We also had to be careful because of allergies but there was stil so much we could have despite the allergies .
I hope you found your answer on the gift giving for someone who wouldn’t be able to afford. We have programs here in SA where you fill a shoebox with basic items – an item of clothing, stationery for school, toothpaste, toothbrush, candy and a toy for a child you choose from a list of many available children in need. This year we chose 2 kids and it was so muh fun and fulfilling.
I also think about it what do you but for kids 1 and below who probably don’t really need much
Roz@weightingfor50 says
Glad I found you again. Awww…..your girls are SUCH cuties!!! Happy Friday Brittany!
Laura @FitMamaLove says
How fun that you started solids! She looks like she enjoyed it–what a cutie! Keeping the chopsticks together is a good idea! My son always wants to use them, but can’t do it and I haven’t been to a place that has the kid ones yet.
Kristin says
We always sponsor one or two children or a family at the Holidays. It has been through the Salvation Army, through my husband’s office, through the local school (ladies in our neighborhood got it set up with the school), through a non-profit we used to be involved with. There are also organizations that send to soldiers, and in our area one organization collects filled boxes specifically for seniors (since we live in Florida). And of course churches can always facilitate presents or food for a family in need. Have a great weekend!
Nicole @ Broken Road Creative says
A place you could contact would be a local domestic violence shelter. Often there are women with kids there who are unlikely to receive Christmas gifts. You don’t even have to buy a toy, per say; often these families are leaving home with just the clothing on their backs, so a simple blanket or lovey would mean so much.
char eats greens says
Gah! I wish Nia came on her due date (Nov 16th) so then our birthdays’ would have been exactly 6 months apart…but, I digress… lol
Ok, your bit about the kettle made me laugh. I need to start dropping subtle hints to my hubby on my blog! And, your segment was so good! You’re just amazing! I also love your giving gifts to others kids idea. I would love to do that in the future with Nia as she gets older. I think it’s so important!
Happy weekend!
Urban Wife says
There are some wonderful suggestions here for gifts to other children who may not get them! We love being a part of Operation Christmas Child every year. It’s fun shopping and filling shoe boxes for those children. 🙂 Either way, I’d love to read what you guys end up doing!
Jenny says
Our local mall has a “giving tree” for local families. My husband and I always pick two, one for a child and one for an adult. We figure everyone, young and old, should have a gift to open on Christmas.
We are going easy on the Christmas gifts this year. I’m due with our first baby on Christmas Eve so we are already getting the best gift.
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