Some of my favorite Eliza-isms

This girl is unstoppable in the language department lately.  I am soaking up her little phrases, and all the cuteness that comes with them - the broken English, incorrect pronouns and plurals... I love it!  Is it weird of me to say that I'll miss it when she can speak proper English?

Here are some excerpts from the past few days:

"Pick you up, Mama?" (you = me)

"Dark is chasing me! Turn light on make dark go away."

"Sometimes food is healthy in my tummy"

"Make crayons be nudey!" (as she strips the paper wrapper off)

"That's a raw egg mama, I have to cook it.  See raw egg Maxx?  It's too yucky.  I cook it."

"Santa might bring Eliza a tiny candy cane.  Only ONE tiny candy cane.  Santa bring Mama and Dada a BIG candy cane.  Bring Eliza a tiny candy cane, just my size."

"Is too windy, Mama.  Need your hood on" (as she pulls my jacket hood onto my head).  Aww.

"Eliza running like a crazy girl!"


I love that crazy girl.

Wordless Wednesday: The Wednesday Before Christmas

(E & her auntie Kelly at my parents' house)

EASY Candied Pecans

I thought I'd share my candied pecan recipe in case anyone is interested. 

It is super easy and they are delicious!  Little jars or bags of these make great gifts for anyone.  It is a relatively inexpensive gifts to make, too, at about $2 per jar.

Recipe:

1 lb pecan halves

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 egg whites

1 Tablespoon water

1 gallon ziploc bag

In the ziploc bag, mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

Beat the egg whites and the water into a froth. Add the pecans and stir to coat.

Toss the pecans into the ziploc bag and shake it around until they are covered with the sugar mixture.

Pour into shallow baking dish (I used two 9x13" pans) and bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Once cooled, put them into six small mason jars, tie twine or yarn around the lid and attach a little gift tag with the recipe on it.  I used store bought tags that I got after Christmas last year, but you can be more crafty than me and make your own tags!  Or, you could print these from the Pioneer Woman... 

Enjoy!

What we've been up to lately.

Making a gingerbread house

Learning to roll out dough... we'll try again next year :)

Making gingerbread men...

...and women!

Making little jars of candied pecans to give out as gifts.

Aren't they cute?

Making lefse with my mom and my sister-in-law.

(SIL learning how to roll out lefse.  It's not easy!)

Making rosettes for the first time.

So, basically, lots of Christmastime baking, and sharing in the buttery merriment with friends and family.
I'm savoring each and every moment.
It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Do People Think I'm Weird? Probably.

Scene: Buying a new nursing bra today at Mother.hood Maternity. At the checkout counter. 
Cast of characters: Me, Eliza, Cashier

Cashier: "When are you due?"
Me: "Oh I'm not pregnant. Just nursing."
Cashier: "..." She looks at Eliza (who is at this exact moment walking up to me carrying a rather large sign advertising 2 for $20 t-shirts), then back at me, confused.

Oh. Right! Most people do not associate a nursing mother with a toddler.  It just did not compute in her brain.  No biggie, I know it's a little different to most people.

Me: "Um. Yeah, I'm still nursing this one."
Cashier: "Oh..."

It was so awkward!  She really didn't know what to say to me after that - and I totally wasn't offended or anything, in fact she hid her surprise/shock/real reaction quite well and was not rude... but I could tell my answer caught her off guard.

It is definitely starting to feel like people are looking at me like "WTF!!??" when they find out Eliza is still nursing.  *sigh*  It's to the point that I don't really offer up this piece of information when I'm in certain company.  It's just easier that way.

What are they going to think when she's still nursing at THREE??!!  'Cuz this one does not show any signs of slowing down... Eliza and her milky are like *THIS*!

Wordless Wednesday

Creating Memories

We put up the tree today and decorated the house for Christmas.

Even though Eliza was having a day full of some trying little toddler moments... it was so special.

Grandma and Grandpa came over and we trimmed the tree, set up our Dickens houses, shared homemade lefse and a "frosty" (snowman) cookie, and watched as Eliza learned about traditions, the magic of Christmas, and hopefully, about how much her mama and dada love Christmas.

We introduced her to our special ornaments - the one that we had made the year she was born, with my favorite "classic" Eliza picture on it - the one from Nana and PopPop for her baptism, captain kirk and all his ships, the little glass sandal, and the pretty white bird, the stork ornament I got while I was pregnant with her that said "2007", which I used a sharpie to make it say "2009" (hey, it was only $2.50!), the little snowman family my BFF gave us when Eliza was born (I could go on and on!)... it was sweet.

It was the first of many tree trimmings.  I love it, and I love making memories with her - that's what it's about, it's all part of creating memories for Eliza, for me, for our family.  I want to make it magical.  I want to make it special and sweet and something she looks forward to, just like my parents did for me.

And now, I'm sitting in my cozy house with candles glowing (okay they're electric candles.  what?  I have a toddler!), thinking about the fun day we had, and how much I hope it was special for Eliza, too.

To top it off?  It's snowing!