Okay, I have been busy. I have been playing Christmas Elf. Maybe I’m not so little, if we’re being really honest.
I really have no will power when it comes to sugar and all things fattening, and the pregnancy hormones are telling me to stuff my face constantly, and all the people around me swear “But you’re pregnant! You have an excuse!” Yeah, I have an excuse to be a beached whale. For now. But then, when the baby pops out and I’m still fat for the next year, I’m going to have to pay for it big time. Well, for now, I’ve had my evening bowl of peppermint-stick ice cream and I’m NOT going to go back in the kitchen and indulge in another scoop. Only because I want there to be some left for tomorrow night.
Let’s get back to the busy Christmas Elf part. That’s where the fun really lies. Friday Julie and I made gingerbread cookies. Fun was had by all. 
I had fun cutting out the cookies and baking them, she had fun standing at the counter with her own lump of dough and some cutters pretending to do the same and semi-sneakily eating the dough. The good thing about having to make allergen-free cookies is that they contain no raw egg, so it’s safe for her to eat it raw. They turned out mighty tasty for cookies containing none of the normal cookie ingredients. As good as I’ve been about keeping Julie off the sugar, the poor kid has inherited my craving for it. She was begging for cookies the rest of the day. I’ve been limiting her to 2-4 per day (they’re really small, I swear). We still need to decorate them and then bake the sugar cookie dough that’s sitting in the fridge. Maybe we’ll get to one of those steps tomorrow.
Last night I made Joe drag up the fake Christmas tree and all the ornaments. While Julie slept, we put the tree up and added more lights to the pre-lit ones that come on it. This morning Julie helped us decorate the Christmas tree for the first time. Actually, Julie and I did it ourselves while Joe put some finishing touches on the kitchen trim. Fun was had by all…and I didn’t even have to nag Julie all that much to keep her paws off the blown-glass ornaments. Luckily, I have a selection of non-breakable ones that she got to put up and play with. Our tree is not one of those designer-themed things that so many people I know tend to put up. It is an eclectic mix of lights including white ones that come on the tree, big bright round bulbs, and a single string of Hello Kitties. We are a Hello Kitty loving family, after all. The decorations are ones that I’ve collected over the years, including some incredibly cheesy plastic canvas needlepoint ones that I love even more this year because they are safe for Julie. The pretty blown glass ones that I’ve collected (minus two of my favorites that died during the move) all go on upper branches where hopefully Julie will keep her mits off ‘em. I always buy a box of candy canes, and every year they are thrown away some time mid-February when I realize that nobody in our house *likes* peppermint candy sticks. So this year, I humored Joe and bought a box of Spree-flavored ones. They are not the pretty red-and-white ones I’m used to, but they fill in some holes and anything to make my husband enjoy family holiday stuff works for me. Oh, and we put up the paper chain that Julie and I made last week together. It looks to me just as a real homey Christmas tree should.
I spent this evening getting started on one of Julie’s presents…a pink tutu skirt for dress-up play clothes. She loves the dress-up clothes at ECFE, and so I got it in my head that making some would be a good idea. Even though I really don’t enjoy sewing and would much rather be knitting. I also bought fabric to make a velvety cape for her. There’s still 24 nights left before Christmas. I think I can get this done! I figure by making this stuff this year, she’ll have plenty of time to get use out of it before she outgrows it, and the new baby can enjoy them in a couple years if they haven’t been shredded by then.
Last night I spent a bit putting together a picture-web-page for my uncle, who likes to send out Christmas e-mails instead of cards. To each their own, I guess. At least I got that done within 24 hours of him sending me the photos this time, versus the several weeks it usually takes me to get around to it. My teenage cousins have apparently decided it’s fun to have shaggy hair, and I feel like an old fart laughing about it. Wanna see the page? It’s pretty basic but it’s what he wanted. The captions were specified exactly by him and everything.
Oh! and I finished writing out the Christmas cards. They’re not in the mail yet, but hopefully will be some time this week. Damn things were more trouble than they’re worth. Next year we’re going back to ordering them online.
Not Christmas related, but I finished that little sweater for the baby. It is pretty. Unfortunately, I think it’s slightly larger than newborn size. Remember how I was plotting my next project? Well, yesterday I bought yarn for another little sweater. This one will be quite plain and should knit up quickly. The yarn is like cotton candy it is so soft and fluffy. Bwuahahaha I love knitting oh-so-much more than sewing.
Now it is again way past my bed time, and I really must get to bed before I cave in to the siren call of the potato chips Joe keeps in the cabinet.