It's a girl... I think

So, in case you didn't know... We're preggers again and we are having a girl (I think).  We are still going to get a couple more ultrasounds to be sure after what happened with Ethan Olivia.  In the meantime, we have been having trouble thinking of baby girl names we both like that are not already taken.  Some of my favorite names are Sophia, Ava, Abigail, Claire, Ann, Lilly and Emily.  I have a very large family and all of those names are already taken in some form by other beautiful girls in my family.  I do have some others in mind.  Ordinarily I wouldn't tell everyone my names because sometimes people are a little, um, blunt with their opinions and I might end up choosing that name anyway then I'll know they hate it.  I really want some input this time though.  So here are some of my ideas in order of preference.  I really just want a name that is a little unique but doesn't sound made up.  Please let me know what you think (even if you hate it) but be nice please.  Also if you can think of any terrible taunting names or rhymes mean little kids might think of for these names, let me know that too (Like Josie grossy)

         My list:                                                         Nic's list

1. Eleanor                                                   1.   Madeline
2. Penelope
3. Eloise
4. Avery

On the 5th (and 6th) day of Christmas...

I am half way through the 12 days of Christmas with the hubs.  He has really enjoyed it.  I mean, who wouldn't like getting gifts everyday, right?  Well, I have enjoyed it too.  It makes me happy to make him happy but it also makes me happy when he does the dishes, gives O a bath or just offers to run errands for me.  Oh yes, he has been doing all those things since I started the 12 days.  Honestly, he helps out so much anyway.  I think this just maybe made him want to do a little more.  I'm sure he feels more appreciated.   

So, on to the gifts...

Day 5 I gave him a $5 gift card to Starbucks.  That should get him a grande (I hope! Starbucks is so expensive~ Geez!)  I thought with the simpler gifts I should present them in a more extravagant way.  This was a pretty simple gift but I packaged it in a nontraditional way. I put it in a can. I saw this idea last year and just sort of filed it away in the back of my mind. I can't take credit for it and there are probably a bajillion tutorials online already so I will not go into detail.  It's pretty simple.  I used a can that has a pull-tab top (usually soup cans do) Instead of opening it from the top I used a can opener and opened it from the bottom.  I emptied the soup (into my belly- love Italian wedding soup Mmmmmmm!)  I cleaned it really well. 

I even used a little bleach bc I felt like it still smelled a little soupy.  after it dried completely I put the gift card inside.  I also added some little candies because I thought it needed something else.  I used one of those fancy pampered chef can openers that don't actually puncture the can.  When I went to put the bottom back on I really didn't even need any glue.  I decided I would use hot glue anyway and it wouldn't work.  With that kind of can opener, there is no space for glue.  I ended up just using 2 little beads of hot glue and just firmly reattaching the bottom.  In the future, I will probably get a cheap can opener for projects like this.  That way I have more room for the glue and it will be totally hidden underneath the can.  After I closed the can I wrapped it in scrapbook paper.  I even cut a circle for the top bc there was a big NFL logo ontop and that didn't really fit my Christmas theme.  Not so bad for the first time, eh?  He had to pull the top open to get his gift.  He thought it was cool.  I guess I put too much candy inside though bc he didn't even notice the gift card.  He was happy with just the candies. 

On day 6, I gave him a 6-pack of reinbeers.  Cheesy? Yes, but I love it!  I got this idea from pinterest.  I thought the Guinness looked super cute but I happen to know that he does not enjoy Guinness from a bottle.  BC I am preggers I have not had beer since July... maybe August but he just found a new brewery out of Colorado that he really likes called Great Divide.  IDK a lot about their beers but they smell really yummy.  This one is called Claymore.  It reminds me of claymore mines (yes I'm a nerd) but the box is green and a little festive so I chose that.  Anyway this was really simple and needs no instruction.  I just thought I would post a pic for you to see.  Enjoy! 

By the way, I'm stumped for days 8 and 9. Any suggestions?

Look what I made!

Are you on pinterest? Well, about a month or so ago, one of my friends pinned a cute little candy bar wrapped in brown paper to look like a reindeer.  I thought it was cute but didn't really have a use for it.  Last week, my daughter's teacher posted a sign-up list for their holiday party.  The first item on the list was drinks and a light bulb went off.  Hey! I could make drink boxes like those candy bars.  I couldn't remember who pinned it and I couldn't find it again. So, I improvised.  The original just wrapped a brown piece of paper around a Hershey bar,  cut out brown and red circles for noses and black and white circles for eyes then add pipe cleaner antlers.  I decided to use some bronze foil wrapping paper I got from Hobby Lobby.  I also decided to use oval-shaped googly eyes instead of paper.  For the nose I used red glitter paper.  The only problem I had was that nothing really stuck to the foil paper.  I use double-sided photo stickers for just about every project but they were too easy to remove from the paper.  I ended up using hot glue.  No biggie.  The last time I decorated drink boxes I used pop-up stickers to attach the straws back onto the box but I just used hot glue for that too and it was perfect!  Oh just don't forget to punch a hole through your paper where the straw will go.  I thought they were so cute I ended up making extra for a party we were invited to.  Hope you like them!

The 12 days of Christmas



This year has been so hectic for our family.  In January I started an accelerated full-time nursing program.  We are also expecting another precious little girl.  Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind of stress and emotion.  My husband handles it all so well.  In the past I always found little ways to show him how much I appreciate him and not just on special occasions.  This year (when he has helped the most) I feel like I really let that part of our relationship slide.  Well, it's Christmas time and we always exchange gifts but I thought this year I would do something really special for him.  It's the 12 days of Christmas.  I started on the 13th and each day I am giving him a little gift that corresponds to that number.  I also add a little tag that says "On the (whatever day it is??) day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..." with some goofy Christmas clipart.  For day one I give him one thing, day two I give him two things, day twelve I give him twelve things... you get it.  Some are nice gifts and some are really small but it has been a lot of fun so far trying to get these gifts to him without him catching me.

Oklahoma shirt from Unlabeled

  So, for day one I gave him one great T-shirt.  On the second day I gave him a pair of gloves.  Yesterday was the third day so I got him Battlefield 3 for the PS3.  I'm pretty sure I will regret that one but he was excited about it and that's what I was going for.  Apparently, you play this one with a squad so he has to get on when his buddies are online and they fight battles together.  Yeah... whatever.  I don't think it could be any worse than COD but we'll see.  I felt like he was gone for the first few weeks Modern Warfare came out but this last time he wasn't so bad.  I'm really thinking I should have given him a 3-pack of golf balls or something instead.  Oh well.  Anyway, it took him until last night to figure out what I was doing.  He asked, "So do I actually get a gift all 12 days?"  My answer? "If you're good!"  ;) 

Sometimes he works 24 hour shifts and he leaves before 5:30am. Ugghh! So I have to get his gift ready and put it somewhere he will see it in the morning but not the night before.  It has been a challenge. So far, I have just put them in his truck when he isn't paying attention (like when he is playing his stupid PS3.  Today is the fourth day so I gave him a 4-pack of snacks.  I used Starbucks frappaccino bottles, removed the labels, washed them really well and used scrapbook paper to cover the little carrier and add detail to the bottles.  I basically made a template for the box and just cut strips of paper to wrap around the bottles.  I also used a circle punch for the bottle tops.  Mine was 1.5" but I think they look just a little on the small side.  I secured everything with double-sided photo stickers that are used for scrapbooking. 

This is what I ended up with!  I think they're pretty cute.  I would have preferred the mocha frappaccino light bottles because the caps are blue but I don't think Nic would drink those.  I thought about posting a template but I'm really not that computer savvy.  Anyway, you could really fill them with anything but I chose puppy chow, caramel popcorn, trail mix (with cranberries- his fave) and a spicy chex party mix.  Now that I have all these snacks I'm thinking I probably should have filled all the bottles with the same thing. I could always take them to a party (or just eat the puppy chow myself- hmmmm...) What do you think?