Christmas Home Tour 2009

The Nester is hosting a home tour of Christmas Decorations. Since it's my favorite thing to decorate for, I thought I'd join in!

Can't show my decorations without showing this cutie! I think the likes the tree a little too much though!

This is the tree in my guest room. it's the first year to make an appearance and most of the ornaments came out of a kit to get it started, I'll collect more (on 50% off sales) as the years go by.

I got this wreath last year at Target for 75% off and I just love it. It sparkles like most everything in the house now so how could you not love it?

My favorite Christmas word. I have a set of these plates- each a little different that I put in my "tea bar"

I got the idea for this wreath at The Nesters web site. I made it a few weeks ago and it's my new favorite decoration. I don't know how the entry hall ever went without it. Can I leave it up all year long?

The first set of cone trees at the house flank the fireplace. I love these and I'm always excited to get them out. They are made of silver string and covered in glitter.

The Noel is a sticker from Uppercase Living that I applied to a tile. I love working at a place where I can get tiles for free. It's a really cool tile although you can't tell that from the photo!

I found a kit one year for this JOY but of course, I only used the letters from it, the paper and accessories in the kit just wouldn't do, it needed some jazzing up. I really like how they turned out!

My kitchen centerpiece. I usually have a kitchen tree that's all blue ornaments but with a baby this year I couldn't do another tree. I like this new use for the ornaments.

These trees represent everything that is good in life. Not really but they are fabulous. Totally covered in white and silver sequins. I found them for 50% off at wal mart of all places. It makes me want to go back to wal mart after christmas this year to see what I can find... well, that may be a little extreme, 1 year at walmart is enough.

Random decorations in the kitchen. What you can't really see is the complete disaster that is the bench below these nice decorations. oh well, as long as eye level looks good. The pinecones were supposed to be spraypainted silver but that might be a 2010 project.

A little silver tree to hold all the Christmas cards we get. Yes, I realizes that it looses some festivity when there's piles of junk around it but it's the thought that counts.

More cone trees. Yea! This is how I picture baby Jesus coming into the world. Sparkly cone trees and really cool stars in the sky. Well, maybe not really but this is the reason for the season (baby Jesus, not cone trees & glitter). We are talking a lot about the book of Luke right now in church so if you need a refresher on the Christmas story... the REAL Christmas story, I recommend starting with the book of Luke in the Bible.

I wish this picture had gotten turned properly. But, it's the super cool advent calender I mowed someone down for the day after Christmas last year at Target. My mom filled each day with a paper and a piece from the manger scene I have in Cason's room and we read them together each day. Our stockings are below. Can you tell which one belongs to who? Well, I purchased the white one for Cason but I am secretly jealous he gets the one with the big sequins. Then Mike says guys can't have sequin stockings so i guess I get 2. Maybe he can just put a sock out for Christmas morning.

Here's the den tree.

I got this ornament tree at CB2 after Christmas last year. They said it was an ornament tree but when it came in it was actually a photo tree. I'm going to convert it to that when Christmas is over.

The dining room.

Just a fun accent to the china shelf.

Our Big Weekend!

Just a little photo to make you smile. This was taken during out Christmas Card photoshoot. Not exactly how I envisioned it going but we made it work.

Friday is our 5th wedding anniversary! To celebrate we are dropping the baby off at grandmas for 2 yes TWO whole nights. I haven't been away from him for one night yet so we will see how it goes. To be honest I'm looking forward to sleeping in the most. Mike and I are headed to Great Wolf Lodge for a romantic getaway among thousands of children pushing their way to the front of the line to see santa after having spent all day at the waterpark splashing me as I float through the lazy river. Then, we are spending the second night at NYLO hotel in plano. I'm excited! I'll take lots of pictures and report on the cool hotels when we get back.

Just kidding about Great Wolf. It wouldn't be most peoples idea of a romantic vacation but we went last year and it was a lot of fun. On a Thursday night in December it wasn't crowded at all. On friday at 4:00, all the crazies started showing up. And by crazies I mean people like I will be in a few years and Cason is old enough to enjoy seeing santa and being at a waterpark in the middle of winter.

My Grown Up Christmas List

I'm pretty sure most of you are not interested in what I want for Christmas. BUT because this is my blog and I get to post whatever I want, I'm going to post what I want for Christmas. This way, Mike can pick one (or many) things from the list and I'll be surprised. I'm not posting this to try and get gifts from anyone who wasn't originally going to buy me a gift but, I mean, if you want to buy me a gift, I'm not going to stop you.... Gifts are my love language so it would be wrong to stop you.

In no particular order:



This is a devotional book. I read another of the same series and I loved it. It challenged my faith and strengthened my faith in a way no other book has before. I highly recommend anything from this group. This is one of the books on my very lengthy Amazon wish list. If you are ever super bored you can read through my entire list. It's mostly composed of architecture books and cookbooks and a few wii games. Very Exciting.

These are Sketchers Shape-Ups. I've read some really good reviews about them but they don't come cheap. I think Reebok has something similar with a highly inappropriate commercial with a girl and her butt. Anyways, this is another version and it's supposed to improve posture, strengthen legs and butt just by walking. Well, I could use the extra help so these sound good.



Totally random. I need a gravy boat. It's hard to host thanksgiving without one. We had to use a plastic container and just spoon the gravy on this year. Everyone should have a gravy boat just in case you have to host Thanksgiving.

This is my favorite brand of tea. Pretty much anything on their web site would make me super happy. If you like tea and haven't tried their tea, try it. You can even order little sample sizes. I like the loose tea but if you don't want to mess with it they have the bags too.

I love lip gloss. On any given day there are no less than four in my purse... that's a low day. I am on a personal lifetime mission to find the glossiest lip gloss. I think that if my huge lips are super shiny it will detract from the rest of my face. This is one of the best. As an added bonus it smells like mint so it freshens breath. AND on top of all that, it tingles on your lips and I like that too. You get this at Bath and Body works and right now it's buy 2 get one free.

This is the most important one. I want a bra fitting at Nordstrom. As crazy as it sounds, they are supposed to be the best place to buy a bra. They will measure you and find the perfect one for you. Anyone who has had a baby and breastfed knows exactly how important this is. If you haven't, just trust me. It's not good. I have a hard time paying more for a bra than I do for jeans but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Hopefully they still make the water bra, that's all I have to say.

Does anyone else use Bobbi Brown? If not, you should. I could go on and on about how much I love this makeup. If you want me to, let me know, then I'll take you to go get a makeover from them. It's so much fun. If you have seen me lately and I haven't looked completely exhausted and like I have been drug behind a truck, it's due to the bobbi brown concealer. If I do look exhausted, it's because I didn't put concealer on that morning in hopes that someone would feel sorry for me and my exhausted self and come over and do my laundry.

Back to the subject. I want one bobbi brown creamy eye shadow. It looks so good on but I have never purchased it because I always spend my money on other items I need more. I figure Christmas is a time for asking for things that you don't buy yourself. I think the color here is soft gold.

These are slippers from the target web site. I also like the ones that look like a sweater. I have a wierd thing about being barefoot so I'm almost always wearing shoes of some sort, even to go to the bathroom at night. So, some great house shoes would be awesome.

I'm sure I could think of more but I'll stop there. These are all things I really want but won't buy myself and probably won't buy if I don't get them for Christmas... You might see them on the list next year. Hope everyone has fun shopping for the holidays. Post your wish list on your blog... I'd love to see what everyone else wants!

Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the fam. Good times and great food. That's all you need!
I added a new chalkboard to the kitchen. I just got a frame at Aaron Brothers and painted the back with chalkboard paint and removed the glass. Super easy. Soon it will have a weekly memory verse but it can also carry seasonal messages!

My brother, Chris proudly displays his cookie placecard as a nametag.

Sister Caylin entertains cason.

Cason enjoys his first thanksgiving. He even tasted a little turkey!

I was in charge of the cranberry sauce (thank you Pioneer Woman) and I made Brussels Sprouts. Mainly because I wanted to see if people actually liked them. I roasted them with pears and shallots and they were delish. I think my mom and I were the only ones who actually ate them!

Pumpkin brown butter cupcakes. Super Yummy!

The dessert table. Most important table at Thanksgiving!

Here's how I did the table. The placemats are a piece of scrapbook paper and the placecards are pumpkin cookies that i wrote everyone's name on. I used my china (for the first time) and re-arranged my fall table arrangement. Pumpkins are donated by my friend Dina since I needed to fill a few holes.

See how cute those pumpkins are! I didn't make the cookie- it's from this great place in Fort Worth called J-Raes. They sell cookies and cupcakes and cheesecakes. I could live there.

Featured on Shutterfly

I made a photobook of Cason for a Christmas present on Shutterfly. I "shared" it yesterday and today, I got an email from one of the shutterfly people that said my book was being featured. How cool is that? I know it was from a real person because she made some specific comments about some of the pictures. They probably feature everyone but for just a few moments, I feel special. Like a little photobook celebrity (is this enough to get me on Dancing with the Stars?). So, go to the Shutterfly web site and check it out. It's only up for 3 days and we have already missed the first one so go NOW.



Seriously.... GO! :-)

A new kind of punishment

As I update my facebook and blog and think about getting a twitter account (well I have a twitter account but I think often about actually updating it), I wonder if there will be a day when my child can get online and see all that I have done. Will he be friends with me on facebook? Stories I tell on my blog will be available for him to read also. Hmmm, is that going to be wierd for us? I could care less but what about what his friends can see? Do you think all the guys at school will check each others moms blogs so they can tease their friends? They probably have better things to do.

This is when I wonder if there will be a new way to keep your kids in line. Is just the threat of injuring their social status enough to get them to clean their room?

Unload the dishwasher or I WILL post baby bathtub pictures of you on facebook... AND tag you.

For every minute you miss curfew I WILL tweet stories of your childhood to all the girls in your school... With Pictures!

I sure hope that works.

I got some good pictures to use for just that situation.

I think it's precious. It's probably not going to be his facebook profile pic though.

I hope this hairstyle doesn't come back in style. Was it ever in style? Don't know the answer to that.

I can't threaten with this pic though. Wouldn't do me any good. He would just say:

"Uh Mom, people would kill to have those eyes and eyelashes. That's not embarrassing."

Then I would say:

"Oh yeah, I'll bet I can find something that is! Don't push me boy!"

Photos in the Park

A few weeks ago I went to the park for a Baylor get-together and they had a photographer there who was taking pictures. for $15 she would send you a CD of the shots. We got some cute ones of Cason. Some not-so-cute ones of me but just focus on the cute baby.

All he wanted to do was eat the leaves so he wasn't as happy as usual cause I told him he couldn't eat them.

The making of a Jelly Roll

Not the kind I have around my waist, the kind pictured in the bottom left corner of this magazine.

I want to be a domestic diva, I really do. I wanted to make this jelly roll because I wanted to see if I could. Not because we needed it for thanksgiving or because someone had requested it. No, because I needed a challenge, because if Martha can do it I want to also, because making a total mess in the kitchen if fun to me.

You have to excuse the excessive amount of pictures in this post. I got a new camera and was trying it out. I also don't want the difficulty of this dish to go unnoticed.

I don't think you're ready for this jelly.


First, spray a rimmed cooking sheet, put parchment paper down, then spray and flour. I can handle that.

To make the cake batter you have to chop almonds very fine. What better to accomplish that than a babyfood maker? Seriously though, who requires a recipe where you have to food process your almonds, can't you just throw some almond extract in there? I don't think I chopped my almonds fine enough but this was AFTER Cason went to bed so I didn't have tons of time here.

3 eggs and 2 egg yolks. Separating eggs is always messy in my kitchen.

Then you have to whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl while holding it over a pot of simmering water. Why I couldn't just mix them together I have no idea. If that wasn't enough then I had to mix them with a hand mixer until they were white and fluffy. 7 minutes. That sounds quick but when you are holding a hand mixer it feels like forever.

For the cranberry jelly you have to cook down fresh cranberries with sugar then puree the cranberries. Thank you baby food maker... again!

This is not nearly as messy as it got but I had some time while the cranberries cooked down.

Here's the cake inverted on a towel.

Here's where I get nervous.


I had to roll up the cake into the towel. I had visions of it crumbling. It only did in the center a little, but otherwise okay.

When it's cooled you unroll and spread with cranberry jelly and then with a cream cheese and sugar mixture.

Getting nervous again...
Then I have to roll it up. It rolled. Didn't look as pretty as Martha's but still not bad.

That's when I read the final instruction. Cover in fridge for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. That's not exactly what I was hoping to see. We were not going to be eating this until after thanksgiving dinner so what exactly would happen if I left it in the fridge for more than 3 hours?
Well, we were going to have to find out because I'd spent too long working on it to toss it out now. I was sure it would be dry and gross by the time dinner rolled around. Too bad, they were eating it anyways.

It wasn't. It was actually really good and not dry. that's the picture of it ready to be served. Looks much better with the ends trimmed off.

And that's my big cooking adventure.

Eight Crazy Months

Can you believe he's 8 months old? I can't. It really doesn't seem like it's been that long. Christmas is about to smack me in the head and I still think it's summer. Maybe that's because my lantana is still 5' tall and blooming and my tomatoes have started making tomatoes again due to the warm weather. Someone should tell them it's actually fall and it's time to die.

It's been an amazing & overwhelming 8 months filled with laughter & tears, newfound confidence & incredible insecurity. Who knew such a small little person could bring all that?

What's he up to now?

- For some reason he has started to wrinkle his nose when he smiles (as seen in photos above). It's really funny but I hope he doesn't do it forever, it's kind of a scary smile instead of a happy one.

- Lots of smiles!! He loves smiling at people. Just today I was holding him at a restaurant and I see him smiling out of the corner of my eye. I look back and he's flirting with a group of waitresses behind me. He's already girl crazy! I know I will be completely gray by the time he's out of his teenage years.

- I haven't given him a food he doesn't like. As you know I've made everything and he can't get enough. Zucchini, peaches, apples, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, plums, cherries, green beans, peas, asparagus... there's more I can't think of. We have also tried puffs and he LOVES those. He's getting good at picking them up with his fingers and it's so fun to watch. It's also a great way to keep him occupied when you need to get something done.

- He can sit up without assistance and rarely falls over anymore. He can also stand holding on to something and only falls when he gets a little overconfident in his ability and starts moving too much. No crawling yet but lots of scooting backwards and rolling. I think his motto is "if I can get there rolling why learn to crawl?" I don't have an answer for him.

- Bathtime is his favorite time of day. He sits up in the tub now and loves splashing and playing with rubber ducky. He could spend all day grabbing my hands and pulling to a stand though. We do that over and over in the tub and he's so proud of himself.

- We have 2 bottom teeth and finally- a top tooth and a dot of a second one. Man, I thought those things would never come in!

- He likes playing with his toys but would prefer to play with ours. Remotes, cell phones and magazines are a few favorites. Many of my magazines now have chew marks on the corners... not from the dogs, from the baby.

He's amazing and I feel so blessed. Every day I'm in awe of how God could create these tiny wonderful people and how much I love him.

Vacation Photos- Finally!!!

Yes, I realize that we went on Vacation 2 months ago and these photos have been sitting on my computer since then but there's just been no time to post.

Here's a quick recap- we went to Gulf Shores AL for a week and rented a beach house. We drove and Cason cried the whole way there. Luckily, it was a pretty place and we were able to recover quickly from the drive.

These are totally out of order because on blogger you have to load your pictures backwards for them to be forwards (ever notice that?) and I didn't feel like messing with it.

Here's the TV room. It was on one side of the kitchen and the main living room was on the other. The kitchen had openings to see in both sides. This is pretty much where the guys stayed when they were not on the beach or golf course.

Cason wanted to make sure his stomach got tan. We got a little tent for him to hang out in on the beach. He loved it.

Lil C and Aunty Cay Cay. He thinks she is just great. I can't believe how much he's grown in 2 months!

He loved chewing on my sunglasses. My sunglasses were not too fond of being chewed on.

Lolli (AKA grandmother) and Lil C had a great time on the beach.

This is the view of the dining and the kitchen. This was on the third floor so we had great views of the golf and beach.

We loved these chair hammocks. Wanted to stay in there all day. It helped Cason get to sleep too.

Dining room and kitchen.

Caylin and Mike celebrating Lil C's 6 month birthday.

We had a cooking contest every night and Caylin and I were paired together and we won (of course). These are the salted caramel cupcakes. They took a few tries to get right but they were totally yummy. Caylin is the cupcake expert.

Happy half birthday C!

We took a ferry on the way home to save some time and get C an opportunity to get out of the car for awhile. So cool being able to drive on to a boat.

Caylin and dad worked this really hard puzzle and finished it. I think i contributed 2 pieces in the right spot. I loved the colorful fireplace.

Mike and C enjoying the water. Well, I guess Mike is enjoying playing in the water and C is enjoying looking at the water.




I usually wear C but he gets heavy so I told Mike he had to for this beach trip. I think they look great.
This is our house. If you ever want to go to the beach, you should stay here!
More fun times.

Looking down the boardwalk to the beach.

Lolli found this cool highchair at Target before we left. it folds up in a tiny pouch. We took it to restaurants and he sat in it at the house too.



A toast to a great time at the beach.

Thanks for doing the dishes dad!

Baby Crocs. Totally cute. Hope they still fit when he starts walking!

Get out of my Sun, Chris.

Nap time on the beach.

Starbucks is out, Yogurt is in!

Have you noticed all the frozen yogurt places popping up everywhere? If you haven't yet, you will soon. I think it was started over in California (where all the cool and not so cool stuff starts) with Pinkberry. I haven't been to Pinkberry but I'm dying to go. If Jennifer Love Hewitt says it's good, I'm all about it. They just opened one in Dallas too. Anyways, Mike and I started going to a new Yogurt place in NRH near Hometown. They have about 15 flavors of yogurt and a ton of toppings. You serve yourself and pay by the weight. It's a lot of fun and also very yummy. Since I love lots of toppings it's the perfect place for me.

Last week I decided to look up the nutritional information on my Starbucks addictions to see how I was doing. I was shocked at what I found out. The sandwich i had been getting, the small, flat, egg cheese and sausage sandwich that i had been getting a few times a week was more calories and fat than two big macs (I have not verified this information but since the numbers were so large i am quite certain it's true.) Holy cow. I can't believe I had been eating these things... AND had become addicted to them. After I finished crying, I decided it would be best to give them up if I ever wanted to get back in my old pants. I was able to adjust my drink to get it down to 2 WW points (thank you starbucks app for iphone). It doesn't taste as good but I pretend like it does and maybe someday it will.

Anyways, after this discovery we became much more frequent visitors to the yogurt patch. Their "tart and tangy" yogurt is only 70 calories for 4 ounces with no sugar or fat. Combine that with a few sugar free choc chips and a few yogurt chips and you have yourself a little low fat low cal bit of goodness. It's a family owned business and the owners are super nice so that helps too. Sorry Starbucks. I love you, I really do but you have let me down here. There should be a warning on those sandwiches. "highly addictive. consult doctor before consuming. you are quickly headed for a heart attack".

Rookie Mistake

Saturday Cason and I had a little girls birthday party to go to in Southlake. I throw him in the car and the present and his diaper bag and head out. About 1/3 of the way there I notice his little hand reach over and grab the bag. How stupid am I? I put a wrapped present next to a child. I'm asking for it to get opened. I start praying that he won't discover the tissue paper. As if he's not going to see the mound of beautiful hot pink crinkly tissue inches from his hand. No such luck, hand grabs tissue paper. Is there any possibility he will just enjoy the crunchiness and not put it in his mouth and completely destroy it so my scant wrapping job becomes really scant? Nope, in the mouth it goes. Now I'm in a quandary. Do I pull over and remove the tissue? Since my brain left when C got here I had taken the wrong way to Southlake and was now on a 2 lane no shoulder road passing rich peoples houses with only their driveways to pull in to. Driveways that are monitored by a security system that would make your local bank look like an easy target. Didn't think that would be a good place to pull in to. So, I opted to just say in a kind voice "don't put that in your mouth sweet baby". I'm pretty sure he just grinned. If the carseat had been in the middle I could have reached him but it is behind the passenger seat right now and I have short arms. When I attempted to reach him the car started swerving. Then I began to wonder how long I could use the excuse:
"Sir, I just had a baby." when the officer pulled me over.
"Oh, how old is he?"
"8 months."
"Um, I wouldn't consider that JUST having a baby"
"Well, it FEELS like just yesterday and I haven't fully recovered yet."
Don't think that's going to work. I got nothin.

This is the scene I found when we arrived. You can't see it but there's pink tissue in his mouth. I fished out what I could, the rest I guess we will discover later.

Oh well, I just spread out the 1 tissue that was left to cover the present and took it to the party. There's no excuse for me.

Here are some pics of our post-party shopping. I think he likes Southlake!

Funny Sleeper

Cason and his dad sometimes chill in the afternoons and doze off. Lately we've had a laugh at his sleeping positions. Yes, he's asleep. Mike said he was looking back up at him and just fell asleep. Doesn't look like it would be comfortable!

Don't try and turn your head around, the picture is rotated correctly. Don't know how he got in this position.
I know you have to be wondering "who is taking the pictures if it's naptime in the Harvey house?" Let's just say not everyone gets a nap at the Harvey house. :-)

Tea Time

I love America but there's one thing I think they got wrong... the tradition of afternoon tea. I wish the Brits had brought that over with them. Luckily a few places have caught on and serve it. I started a tradition at my office of "tea time" and we make a cup of tea at 3:00 and enjoy our 15 minute breaks. The tea I had to day was much better than a 15 minute break at the office.

My aunt had a birthday recently and to celebrate we went to high tea at the Adolphus hotel in Dallas. It was by far the best tea experience I have had in Texas. One of the best things was the tea captain. She was very knowledgeable and very interesting. She helped us select the three teas we would be served through the 4 course meal.

First course, savories. About 5 different tea sandwiches. All of them were very good and served with a red tea. Next up, scone and cream with an orange jasmine tea.


Next up a selection of tiny sweet pastries. We picked a pear caramel tea to go with that. Lastly we had some truffles.

There's my Aunt Pam and her husband Mike.

Birthday girl aunt Marsha and her husband John. For the sweets course they put a candle on her plate and the piano player played happy birthday. It was so elegant and we were treated like queens (and kings). I highly recommend this experience and of course, I'm happy to join you!
The food here is wonderful but while we are on the topic (and because I'm KNOW you must be curious) here are some of my favorites. The best scone is at Montgomery tea room in Fort Worth. Totally random because their actual tea service isn't that great. I mean, it's fun and girly but it's not fancy. Their scones are fantastic though. As for food, the Savannah Tea Room has some of the best. I remember leaving there completely stuffed and the food is delicious. My favorite tea is from there too. It's called Emperors Bride. A friend recently brought some back for me on a trip and it's everything I remember. As for best experience- I have to say The Claridges hotel in London wins. Check out the web site so you can imagine you are there! That's what I do when I need a fix!

I'll never eat a meal in peace again.

That's the title of my new book.
No, just kidding. But it's kind of how I feel. I try to feed Cason his solids when we are eating as well, you know, get in the habit of eating together and get him in the habit of sitting in his highchair while we eat. Well, it sounds simple enough but it's typically a little more hectic.
First of all, Cason wants to hold his own spoon so he grabs it with much force and is delighted when he gets it all to himself. I am not so delighted with the mess. Our typical meals involve a plate of food for me and a bowl of food for Cason. I am shoveling food in his mouth trying to avoid him taking over the spoon, shoveling food in my mouth when possible. If I wait too long C is fussing to go to another activity. It's a similar experience at restaurants. Don't tell me, I already know... It's going to get worse before it gets better. Every day is interesting that's for sure.
It's really funny when he does get the spoon from me. He pulls it close and smiles this evil/happy grin. I laugh every time which is probably encouraging him to spread the sweet potatoes all over.