Luc is THREE!

This year has brought plenty of learning experiences for Luc and us alike. He has transformed from toddler to little boy right in front of our eyes. Once again, it is a joy to watch him grow and learn and progress through his childhood. We know these days are short in the big picture, so we try to focus on them as much as possible. We love you so crazy much Monkey!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Today, we had originally planned to visit the aquarium on the west coast, but since we are all still in recovery from a particularly rough cold, we're postphoning this birthday outing to later this week or next. Luc got Play-Doh as one of his birthday gifts today, and we've been making snakes all morning!

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Last but not least,

a wonky felt star tree topper!

clearly, handmade.

this week, next week

It's hard not to get all caught up in a holiday frenzy, even if it is way more subdued and much less commercialized here compared to the US. There has been a marché de noel every weekend somewhere, plus vendors setting up special holiday kiosks in the city center.
Luc has been sick for almost a week, and now Alex and I seem to be coming down with the same thing. So we are taking things slowly and I'm doing just the most important stuff on the to-do list in order for all of us to get suficient rest. Thus, the mountain of laundry is back and 3 times the size it was before. I did find a few minutes to bake some brownie cookies tonight. (priorities, people!)
Tomorrow we plan on relaxing, enjoying a lasagna lunch together, assembling a couple last minute gifts to give to friends, and then we're going to a friend's place to have a Christmas Eve feast. Unless we all wake up feeling sickly, and then we'll make a visit to the doctor's before he closes up for the weekend. Let's hope not.
The mango burn on my arm is almost fully healed, and sadly, I've sworn off mangoes forever. Unfortunately, our trees are dropping like 20 a day which have to be picked up and thrown away so as not to attract bugs. For the mangoes we pick, I can't give them away fast enough. It seems we always have a pile of mangoes sitting around. I should start a little roadside stand!

a good place to watch the rain

Alex has off all next week, so some projects will be started/completed, we'll head to the west coast for Luc's 3rd birthday, and in general, enjoy some good quality family time.

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Sort of cheating at calling this handmade, huh? Hmm, how about handpicked from the beach?

20, 21, & 22

All 3 of these are handmade.

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Sent from the states.

18

Handmade.

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Bought at a Christmas market 2 years ago.

There was much moving around to get this little bird in the perfect spot.

 Finally, it was placed laying on it's side in the inner branches. :)

tastes like mango flavored irony here

Take a look at these beauties. Gorgeous, heavily scented, ripening mangoes. Who wouldn't be temped by them?

It has taken me one taste (half a mango added to a smoothie that I shared with Luc, to be exact!) to put me back in my place.

On Wednesday, I picked a huge bunch of mangoes from our tree who is still heavily loaded. I didn't notice until later that some of the sap must have dripped onto my arm, (it was just beginning to rain) and it burned - BURNED!!- my skin. Also, since I had the smoothie, I've been super itchy around my neck, ears, eyes, and the crooks of my arms (what do you call that anyways? the inside of my elbow? no, it can't be that.)

I love me some mangoes, but this is too much. If anyone knows of anything I could do to have my mangoes and eat them too, please, help a girl out!

16

a gift from a South African friend.

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Handmade from our shell collection.

how to eat a litchi (or lychee)

If you're interested in learning more about litchis, go here or here.

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Handmade

All the ornaments are becoming clustered around the center bottom, but they are also constantly rearranged by Mr. Luc. I'm happy he's liking the daily ornament routine we've started here. We get excited for Christmas, get to practice numbers, and get to talk about the textures, shapes, and meanings of each ornament.

10, 11, 12, and 13

The lack of posts the past few days can be attributed to the monkey refusing to nap (4 days in a row, yikes!), a crazy busy weekend, and spotty internet. But thankfully, today I am finally able to have a little down time.

10 - Handmade from a sea urchin found on the beach here

11 - Thrifted

12- Sent from my family in the states, I think it's my favorite one so far!

13 - Picked this up in Madagascar years ago, it became an ornament just this year though

Also, we met another American randomly on the playground Sunday morning! She and her husband (who is Reunionnais) moved here just after their son was born, a boy who is only weeks apart from Luc's age! What luck! And what a small world!
We plan on laying low this week as much as possible, to gear up for another busy coming weekend. I love the holiday season!

9 and a finished tree skirt

Handmade from a necklace charm left behind by Chloe.

The bias tape is all sewn on, and I really like how nicely it turned out.

My favorite part is the three buttons.

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This ornament was given to me by one of my Mom's friends on my first Christmas. My parents sent it along for our tree this past year. I love the fuzzy mane and tail. Luc has been talking about this one for days now, and proudly said "right here" as he found the perfect spot for it on the tree.

3 great things: today on the internet 07/12/11

ALL of these were too good not to share with you all! :)

chocomint cookies with milk chocolate middles

santa hat brownies

how to make felt baby shoes

pregnancy update-between 30 and 31 weeks

I can't believe I'm this far into the pregnancy now. It's gone by faster than I thought it would, and certainly faster than it felt the first time. During my pregnancy with Luc I felt like it would NEVER end, and I would just whine about wanting my body back for myself.

There's nothing huge to report at this stage except that I'm getting huge. I feel like a penguin, but a lot less cute. I've gained something like 7kg so far, and it's getting uncomfortable. I move slower, and with a lot less grace.
And wow, looking at this picture, I guess it's time to cut my hair again. It's been nice to have faster growing hair, so I am trimming it as little as possible in order to keep the length. Pretty soon I will have it up all the time anyways because it will be oppressively hot. Enough about hair.
Last update I mentioned naming the baby something that starts with a G, and perhaps I worded it a little awkwardly, because then my family was asking questions like "why does the name have to start with a G?" No, no, it's just a name I found, that is on a very short list of other possibilities. And by short I mean there's only one other name, one that Alex came up with, and that one starts with a T.

The fatigue is back. I've got to rest more than ever now, which is hard because I like to be productive sometimes.
I haven't made a single thing yet for the baby. Will all those projects happen like I originally planned? I don't know. Right now I'm trying to focus on a few various house projects that need to be completed beforehand. Alex has some extra vacation days to use up before the end of January, so hopefully we'll be able to use those to our benefit.