Farewell 2012

Happy New Year's Eve, friends!!

Do you all have big plans?

Our little nuggets are already tucked in bed and Brent and I are joining some friends for dinner just around the corner.

My how NYE has changed!

Now? It's perfect. 

It will always be perfect because we welcome a new year with the ones we love.

Next year? We are even planning a slumber party with our friends who have kids. How fun will that be?

Don't get me wrong, occasionally I do like to put on sparkly things, and although I'll probably only be gone for one hour tonight, I'm sporting sparkles.

New Year's Resolutions? Nah, not really.

I mean, sure, there are things I want to improve and better, but not perfect. Perfection is over-rated just as New Year's Eve can sometimes be.

If you don't expect the world, you'll never be let down.

I want to do my best at what I do. Will I be the best? Probably not.

All that matters is now. Every second. Not perfection.

I want to continue to savor these moments as they are passing all too quickly.

I want to be more organized in my head and in my home.

I want to read and learn more of God's words.

I thought I would do a post about 2012, but I can't even put it into words or pictures. Not today, anyway. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in two weeks. I loved this year. It was fun; it was stressful; it was perfect for us.

This is probably my favorite picture from this year. We took it on Christmas Day. I think it describes our year.

Happy :)

Bring it on, 2013! :)

New Look!

Maybe even a new feel!?

With the new year approaching, I thought my blog could use a little face lift! One of my besties, Jessica of Diamond Doll Design, offered to pretty things up! Didn't she do a fabulous job? She went with a rather festive look since we started planning before Christmas and she is going to update the look as the seasons and and such change :) I think it's so fun!

We are still making some tweaks here and there so bare with us! The goal is to have things be pretty, organized and functional!

First and foremost, I know that I love going to blogs and finding new blogs. I had a blog roll list on my right sidebar previously. It is now under my picture. I'm going to be adding blogs consistently as there are many I enjoy reading! I'm also organizing other posts......

I think the top social media buttons and pages are self explanatory, but if you are anything like my mom, you are still figuring out this social media and networking stuff :)

I can't believe I've been blogging for five and a half years! That seems crazy to me. It's been such an enjoyable experience. I still can't believe that sometimes people want to read what I have to say. It's also a bit crazy that I put my personal journal on the worldwide web, but I can't imagine not doing it. I'm so thankful to have it to look back on and I'm so thankful it's led me to such wonderful people and blogs!

Thanks for reading :)

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at inthiswonderfullife{at}gmail{dot}com

***If you are interested in a blog makeover, you should definitely check out Diamond Doll Designs! Jessica does a fabulous job and it's so easy to work with! She does have about a month wait list so contact her now to get your name on it!***

Cream Cheese Pineapple Ball

Over Thanksgiving, my cousin made a cheese ball as an appetizer for people to snack on. I immediately noticed it's base was cream cheese and I love cream cheese. I next noticed there was something sweet. My next bite I realized it was pineapple, which I also loved! This was my first time to try this ball and it is definitely one of the best cheese balls I've had and I feel like I've tried lots of cheese balls.

{This is half a ball left from Christmas Day.}

My cousin sent me the recipe so I thought I would share!

2 - 8 ounce blocks cream cheese, softened
8 ounces crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped nuts (1/2 in ball & 1/2 to roll ball in)
1/4 cup green peppers, chopped fine
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
small green onion, chopped

Make sure that cream cheese is soft and mix pineapple and all ingredients, leaving 1/2 cup of chopped nuts out for the top. Form cream cheese mix into a ball and then roll in the remaining chopped nuts.

Easy, quick & delicious!

2012 Holiday Cards!

I love our card this year. Brent's mom did it and when I looked at it, I still had I can't believe we have these two sweet babies thoughts.....

A Very Merry Christmas!

Per my last post, I did decide to take a few days off of blogging, from my entire computer in fact, to soak up the holiday moments with my loves :) I'm back now and

Santa! .....and stuff :)

I hope you all are having Happy Holidays!!!!

I feel like I've kind of been neglecting my blog, though unintentionally! I've been posting on Instagram quite a bit, and while I love doing that, I want to be sure I'm updating my blog. I love having posts to look back on with words, stories, updates and pictures. I love all these precious days, even with some horribly stressful moments, and I'm thankful to have my blog to journal it! Of course I'll continue to post on Instagram/Twitter, I'll be posing more pictures and rest of the story right here :)

I also want to get better with connecting and re-connecting with bloggers. I use to comment on blogs quite a bit, but now I'm always skipping the comment part so I can squeeze a bit more reading in. It doesn't really matter to me whether I get comments or not, but sometimes just one comment can brighten my day!

So, that brings us to Santa.....

Nativity

Lindsey, from Love to the Moon, asked me to join in on her 12 days of Christmas posts and I was happy and excited to do so!

She told me that she would love me to post about anything to do with Christmas! I thought I would share on my blog, too!

I, too, LOVE the holidays. I really love everything about it. The only thing I don't like that it does seem to pass quickly, I suppose like every other aspect of time!

For the past three Christmases, I have technically either been pregnant or have had relatively new babies. I've not purchases many new Christmas items, although I've really been wanting a Nativity scene. I see so many pretty ones and....

So real....

I still haven't wrapped my head around the shootings and Sandy Hook. It's consumed my thoughts, but it's like I can't keep thinking about it....but I do.

I can't imagine those kids who saw what happened; I can't imagine the adults that saw. I would be haunted. As for the kids, their poor little hearts and souls must be in agony, but yet they are still too young to process a lot of it.

The parents and the families who lost a child or family member are experiencing something I also can't imagine. Even having had a child die, I know this is still such a different experience.

They all need our prayers. They really need them.

I thought last night....

Leggings, Scarves, etc......

I posted this pic on Instagram/Twitter last night....

Kitchen Tree! Sweet Treats :)

I haven't taken pictures of all of my Christmas decor yet, but I did take a few pictures of the kitchen "sweets" tree. We didn't do a big tree in this area this year because of the kiddos. So, I decided to do a smaller one on the island. I think the tree along with Margo and Todd, and a few other things.....

Twin Treats: Hugs & Kisses!

So a week or two ago, I posted this video, which I love. They are all about giving hugs and kisses. However, typically it's when we prompt them.

Also a week or two ago, they had their first un-prompted smooch in the bath tub. It was super cute.

Well, yesterday, I was picking up after breakfast and I walked around the corner to find them giving a peck and it was too cute! I grabbed my camera and started giggle. So, of course that made them get tickled so they did it a few more times, along with hugs.

MELT.MY.HEART.

I still can't believe I have two.

This cracks me up because it looks like she is showing him the deer on her shirt...

She puckered her lips several more times before her morning nap ;) The bottom right pic is where I caught them this morning after breakfast ;)

Happy Friday :)

Christmas Finds: Lucite Tray & Polka Dot Coasters

These can probably be considered great Christmas finds OR great gift finds :)

My sponsor, Crystal Faye, has some fabulous items right now! You may remember me posting about the shop here. Sloane is still loving her sweet headband and we love that it keeps her ears warm. I also have some necklaces from Crystal Faye that I will post soon!

Today, I wanted to share the personalized lucite tray and adorable gold dot coasters from Crystal Faye. How cute are they!?

I'm OBSESSED with this tray! I think it looks great anywhere in the house!

I wanted to get a closer picture of the coaster so you could see the cute dots...

The tray can be personalized for any occasion, family or person! She has a great selection. The coasters are also strong and sturdy, which is nice!

Along with loving my new Crystal Faye goodies, how could I not love the packaging, too! Adorable!

You can find the lucite tray on the site here and the gold polka dot coasters here :)

You can DEFINITELY still gets ome items in time for Christmas! There are lots of great gift options! If you have questions on shipping, please email Crystal - shopcrystalfaye@gmail.com

Also - FREE SHIPPING if you enter "TisTheSeason" at checkout :)

Happy Shopping!

Cetaphil :)

I recently teamed with BlogHer to do a review on Cetaphil products! The best part about this is that we had already been using Cetaphil!

I've always had sensitive skin, therefore.....

Food! Filling the babies' bellies!

I did this post last week on the things we use for our eating and at the request of many, I'm now posting some things they eat!

Knox & Sloane are eating gluten free. For the most part, they always have, but since my diagnoses with Celiac Disease, we decided, along with our doctor, that it would be best to eliminate gluten from their diet. Since I have the gene, the chances of one or both of them....

Christmas Finds: DIY Glittery Peace Sign

This very well could have already been done a million times and all over Pinterest, but I haven't found too much time to look lately. I, however, did take a two hour trip to Walmart a few Friday nights ago. Yep, I don't go to Walmart for probably six months alone and then I get there and can't drag myself out. I'm a Target girl all the way and it's ridiculously close to our house, but Walmart had some great things to offer and I caught myself thinking I needed to go up and down every aisle.

On the craft aisle, I came across some felt cut outs. I immediately saw the peace sign and my head starting spinning.....

Documenting Pregnancy - Whoa Belly!

When I first found out I was pregnant with Cohen, I signed up on Baby Center for their weekly updates. I loved reading about what was going on with my baby and body.

I also decided to blog about each week in pregnancy. I created list of them here. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for this. Once we found out about Cohen’s heart, I also blogged about that. I did weekly updates on how I was feeling, new baby goodies, baby kicks, doctor’s appointments and so forth.

Those posts keep it fresh in my heart. I loved being pregnant. I felt good and I fel......

Christmas Finds: Tinsel Trees

For the past few years, I've not really added much to my Christmas collection. I love Christmas, but I already had quite a bit of stuff. With our move last year and one of my fake trees lights giving out, I've started weeding out things and picking up new.

I thought this week I would share some things I've picked up this year :)

We got a new tree after Christmas last year at Sam's. It's big and beautiful. I did add some lights because I love lots lof lights.

While at Target last month, I came across these tinsel trees.....

It's not too late....

I love my sponsor, Tiny Prints, which I'm sure most of you know by now!

If you've waited to order any gifts or holiday cards, it's not too late! You can get 20% off your ENTIRE order AND it will arrive by Christmas! All you have to do....

Around the house - painting progress...

This week our painter ended up having an opening so we decided to have him paint our dark wood trim!

I've blogged about it several times, but our house felt really dark when we first moved in. There were dark colored walls, dark wood trim and some dark wood doors.We are almost at our year anniversary of living here, which seems crazy, but I've think we've made good progress. Anyways, at the first of the year, we went ahead and had the kitchen, small living area and breakfast area done. We LOVE it. In the summer, we had all the main walls done, but decided to leave the wood trim for a bit just to make sure we didn't want it. I knew pretty quickly I didn't. I just like light and bright......

Have You Tried This Yet?

Procter & Gamble recently launched a new program called Have You Tried This Yet? to help make consumers aware of innovative products to improve everyday performance in their lives and homes.

I recently tried.....

Cranberry-Avocado Salad with Candied Spiced Almonds & Sweet White Balsamic Vinaigrette

My mom recently came across this recipe on Pinterest and it's originally found HERE.

It is amazing. It has pretty much everything I love in it. The candied spiced almonds and dressing are definitely my favorite! I also really love cilantro.

Mom and I plan to make treat gifts with the almonds!

I've eaten it for my past three meals and I could eat more. It's SO good!

Cranberry-Avocado Salad with Candied Spiced Almonds and Sweet White Balsamic Vinaigrette 

Ingredients for the dressing:

⅓ cup sugar
1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
1 ½ tablespoons sesame seeds
½ teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons dried mustard
1 tablespoon minced sweet onion
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup white balsamic vinegar
⅓ cup vegetable oii
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients for the salad:
12 ounces baby spinach, arugula, field greens

1 small bunch cilantro, washed and dried, leaves removed whole from stems
2 medium avocados, peeled and halved
¾ cup dried cranberries
¾ cup Candied Spiced Almonds 

Directions:
1. For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a pint sized glass jar and shake well to dissolve sugar.

2. For the salad, place greens and cilantro leaves in a large bowl. Add avocado and dried cranberries and about 1/4 cup of the dressing and toss gently. Scatter candied almonds over salad and sprinkle lightly with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pass extra dressing at the table.

6 dinner size salads, 8 side salads

Candied Spiced Almonds

Ingredients:

5 cups sliced almonds, or a 1 pound package*
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cumin*
1-1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika* - some smoked paprikas are quite hot, if you don't like "hot", just use 1 teaspoon and they will be mildly spiced.
1 teaspoon vanilla
sea salt

*The cumin and the smoked paprika give just a hint of mysterious, delicious flavor - even though these are savory spices, these almonds are still wonderful served with sweets like ice cream or yogurt.

Directions:
1. Place a large sheet of foil on a work surface. Spray with cooking spray or rub a teaspoon of oil over foil with a paper towel.

2.  Place sugar in a large non-stick sauté pan and heat over medium heat , occasionally tipping and swirling the sugar until it is all melted into a pale golden syrup.

3. Lower heat immediately and add butter, cinnamon, smoked paprika and vanilla. Stir until well combined and all butter is incorporated into the sugar syrup.

4. Add the nuts and stir gently to coat. Don't worry if you have some clumps of caramelized sugar - they will melt as you continute to sauté the almonds. Cover and continue to cook on low, stirring every minute or so until almonds are a delicious golden brown. Watch very carefully as they can go from beautiful to burned very quickly! Turn out onto prepared foil and sprinkle liberally with sea salt. Spread out on foil to cool. 

Enjoy! 

Personalized Ornaments

One of my sweet blog buddies, Annie, opened up a cute creative shop! She is super woman, for real. She's always posting fun projects.

 A.B.C Creations makes unique goodies from whimsical wreaths to birthday banners!

Annie was so nice to send the kiddos personalized....

Baby Eating! - The Stuff

I’ve had quite a few people request info about Knox & Sloane’s eating regimen!

Of course it has changed with time, like anything else :)

I thought today I would post about the stuff and then do the food next.

We did high chairs, but the ones we originally picked....

The good people in the world.....

Today was a fun day. The weather was abnormally warm for December so Brent and I decided to take the babies to run some errands and then to the park.

The errand right before the park was one one of the close-by markets. We just needed two things so I took Brent's debit card and ran in.

When I was done checking out, with four items, I put the receipt and card in the back pocket of my jeans...........

Baby Carrying

A lot of people love baby carriers that you wear. I honestly only wore one on one occasion, that I can recall. It’s not because I didn’t think it was handy or a good idea, but I had two babies. If I held one, the other wanted to be held. If they were awake, I tried to split my time, and I was usually sitting in the floor doing it so I could still be by both of them. I wasn’t ever really doing anything where I needed free hands and to keep the baby close by. I feel like, looking back, I wasn’t doing anything…except taking care of two babies..sitting on my bum..in the floor, haha :)

When I was alone with one baby, I never really had......