There’s something about the first holiday gift for me.  Usually purchased this time of year, it initiates a little burst of holiday enthusiasm and a settling feeling of “I did something to get this ball rolling.”  And by ball, I mean shiny Christmas ornament with glitter on the outside and cheer on the inside.  I’m all for letting November be November and giving Thanksgiving its time to shine.  But that’s part of the fun of November for me–doing little things here and there that lead up to a more relaxing and fully enjoyable December.  Hence (holla for the word hence), the first gift.  Wrapped and waiting.  Every time I open my closet doors I see it way up on the shelf, and it makes me smile. 

Last year, I finally did Christmas right and this year, we want to simplify even more.  I bought almost all of my gifts online last year, and I took the time to search for well-made toys that would A:) Last, B:) Really mean something to my girls, and C:) Not take up a lot of room in our home.  I look for free shipping deals.  I keep an online wish list throughout the year of things I really love for my girls, and I use it to guide both my own gifts for them and to answer questions when grandparents ask what they want.  After years of buying Christmas gifts, I’ve realized less is more–hard to do but feels good when you stick to it.  I’d rather have a few really nice things that will last for my girls than a bunch of junk for them to open and forget about later.

Things I Like to Buy for Them:  Nice baby dolls (never gets old for them) and baby doll accessories (a good stroller, a few cute clothes, cloth doll diapers, bottle, etc.), toys that encourage imagination, educational toys and books, puzzles, crafts and art supplies, wood and felt toys

Things I Steer Away From:  Oversized things that will get in the way (we have a good kitchen set and a nice wood easel, and two “big” toys is enough our house can handle), cheap plastic (although those little dress-up click clack shoes will always be a fave), things with little parts that will get lost

I clean out their toys this time of year as well–sort through the things we don’t use to donate to Goodwill.  I’m getting better at this every year, and I’m finally getting the hang of simplifying my girls’ rooms and belongings for not only an easier life (it stays clean!), but more appreciative children. 

So, on to the first gift.  We have a thing with baby dolls.  My mom has had a thing with baby dolls for years–she can talk for an hour about makes and models of dolls, where they are manufactured, how well they’re made.  And my all time favorite gift memory from my childhood is when my sister and I received new baby dolls Christmas morning, delivered to our front door by a nurse (neighbor my parents bribed) in her hospital scrubs.  They were wrapped in receiving blankets, and we proudly reached out for them like real mamas.  (They were also filled with this jelly-like substance to make them heavy, and three days later we broke them open and cleaned out the jelly, shoving it in the door pockets of our Chevy Citation while our oblivious parents drove to Grandma’s…but that’s a moot point).

We’ve had several different ones throughout the years, but most of our dolls have been cheap things Brett excitedly comes home with from the grocery store because he does that sort of thing.  But this baby?  I saw her in the Magic Cabin catalogue and fell in love.  Designed in Sweden (I’m speakin’ my mom’s language now), the Rubens Barn dolls have soft-sculpted bodies and weighted bottoms to make them feel real.  Nella’s going to love hers.

There are a number of Rubens Barn dolls to choose from–both babies and kids and girl and boy dolls. And I love the cloth bottle and pacifier set (the little mouth opens on the doll).  One comment from this post will be randomly chosen to receive a free Rubens Barn doll, reader’s choice, courtesy of Magic Cabin. You can find Magic Cabin on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest as well.  We love their well-made toys that encourage imagination.
We’re also simplifying our wrapping this year.  I’m usually tempted by beautiful wrapping paper and rows of pretty ribbon in craft stores, but I am loving the simplicity and cost-effectiveness this year of parchment paper, baker’s twine, paper doily tags and $1 stamps.

The baker’s twine is actually a $10 giant skein of fine yarn.  It lasted us through all of last year’s crafts and North Pole Party (coming again this year!) and we have gobs left for this year.

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My favorite IG pic this week: A moment Nella and I shared where I danced her to sleep, serenaded by classical music. Our night weather finally qualifies for cozy fleecy jammies…I like.

Instagram is a free phone app.  You can find us at etst on Instagram.

Magic Cabin Rubens Barn doll winner announced in Monday’s post. Tell me four things…

1.) What’s streaming from your MP3/radio/CD player/record player (so many means of listening these days) right now?
2.) Last thing that made you smile.
3.) What you’re looking forward to right now.
4.) Last thing you bought for yourself.

Mine:
1.)  James: Rhodes, Piano Recital
2.)  Nella and Brett playing the blanket throwing game
3.)  I’m going to the symphony tonight…alone.
4.)  A cinnamon crisp bagel, Panera

I woke up early yesterday morning to vote–stopped and picked up coffee on the way there, stood in line for forty minutes, texted Brett half way into the process, asked him to make Lainey’s lunch and warned him we’d probably be late for school.  We made it just in time, arriving as the bell rang.  I quickly kissed my girl goodbye and ran back to the car.  And then ran home.  And then ran through the events of the day, subconsciously aware of this sense of urgency and anxiousness that has attached itself to me lately like a parasitic fish.  We’ve had some unhealthy symbiosis going lately–I give the fish a place to dwell, it nibbles off my calm.

I am excited about the coming months–holidays, preparing for this baby, welcoming family and friends to town and enjoying some of my favorite traditions.  But there is three-shots-of-espresso-in-a-styrofoam-cup kind of excitement and there is tea-with-milk-and-honey-served-in-elegant-china kind of excitement.  I want to be the latter.  Calm enthusiasm.  Content to just be.

I took Lainey to ballet last night–our first class in a while.  Instantly lulled into a state of peace by the Schubert melody that filled the studio, I sat–calm and still–and watched my little girl gracefully flutter across the floor.

“I have to get our Nutcracker tickets before they’re gone,” I thought for a panicked second.  But then I thought I should tell my urgency to shutthe$#@*up, and so I did.  I smiled and sank further into my chair.  I whispered to myself “she’s really mine” while she possé-ed across the mat.  I paid attention to every little kick that was simultaneously happening inside me.  I could have stayed there all night.

After dance, our friends asked us to join them for a milkshake.
And right as I was about to explain that we couldn’t because I had to hurry home, drop Lainey off and get to Fred’s, I said yes.  Because a calm night with my girl was exactly what we both needed.

I don’t have to go to the Nutcracker this year.  I don’t have to make it to Fred’s every single week.  I don’t have to have everything ready for a baby or make homemade Christmas presents this year.  I do have to be present though–for my family but mostly for myself. 

I skipped the election coverage last night.  Went to sleep with the girls instead and actually got the coffee rolling this morning before I even turned the T.V. on.  I’m happy the election is over and hope to see the partisan gap close as we all work together for our country. 

I loaded up my iTunes with new classical tunes today–lots of Schubert and Bach, Debussy and Mahler.  In fact Schubert lulled Nella to sleep tonight–over my shoulder–and it will be happening much more around here.  I felt very close to God indeed.

Preparing for baby and getting ready for the holidays–those are wonderful things.  But not urgent.  Nothing is more urgent than being kind to ourselves and present for our families. 

The produce mart close to our house reopened after being closed down this summer.  We celebrated with Plant City strawberries.

Swiper.

Brett and I got a babysitter and scheduled a date for this weekend.  I moved the teapot out in the open in the kitchen so I’ll be reminded more to stop what I’m doing these next few weeks and sit down for tea.  I ordered two used books on Amazon today–one for me and one for my girls.  And I cleaned my tub, stacked pretty towels next to it and organized a crate of my favorite soaps–an invitation that is quite the opposite of urgent.

I love these reminders.

And I’m happy we’re back to ballet.

oh, i love when she’s weird.

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Sponsor Welcoming Walls is returning this month with lots of new holiday treats in the shop to “warm your nest for guests,” as owner Candi says.  Welcoming Walls offers an array of vinyl decals for your home, from simple statements for your front door to quotes and designs for lonely walls that call for more.

I love these simple festive statements in our home:

Welcoming Walls is currently offering FREE SHIPPING on all U.S. orders and a free gift (four of those cute little leaves) with your order. Candi’s holiday designs are beautiful, and she’s happy to make custom, personalized designs as well.

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Also, check out Tea Collection’s Countdown to the Holidays, a daily dose of crafts, decorating and fun creative ideas for you and your family.  I’m sharing a fun fall wall hanging craft over there today.

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What helps you turn urgency into calm?  How do you keep the excitement in your home this time of year from becoming the over caffeinated styrofoam cup kind?  Do tell.

Our curtains finally flutter, brought to life from their motionless slumber by November breezes our open windows usher in.

I’ve just returned from a solo bike ride where my overactive brain was hushed by the sound of wind and the occasional cracking from an acorn that lined up perfectly beneath my tires. 

In observing different gratitude projects circling social media this month, I’ve been thinking about its very complex meaning.  So many of the things we are grateful for have inverses: having a home vs. not having a home, being healthy vs. being ill, having a job vs. being unemployed, etc.  But gratitude is more than an I’m-so-glad-my-life-is-better-than-that-person’s-life list.  In fact, it shouldn’t be that at all.  Being exposed to the inverses of good fortune is a wonderful catalyst for gratitude.  I can’t help but kiss my babies’ cheeks and feel thankful for their health when I hear of mamas huddling over sick babies in hospitals; and witnessing storm damage, gas lines, and crowds of hungry people gathered in the northeast this week certainly makes me thankful for food and power and a structurally sound home.  This is only one facet of gratitude though, lending to the very important awareness component of its meaning; but it doesn’t seem a very humble definition.  The true depth of gratitude comes when you move beyond awareness and find ways to do something for someone else–to bring gratitude to other places in the world.  I still make lists of things for which I’m grateful. I still need stories of “not having” to sometimes remind me of what I do have.  But I’m learning more to breathe gratitude and to find ways of practicing it hidden in corners beyond the obvious check-lists of health, jobs, home, things, etc.

So right now, I’ll string them both together–enjoying little moments right here, right now and finding ways to help make someone else’s “right here, right now” a little better.

Enjoying…

Walk friendly weather.

More Kitchen Time this Month

…which reminds me, fellow blogger and friend Meagan Francis at The Happiest Mom has launched The Kitchen Hour, a great way to connect and inspire moms during the time when we’re preparing dinner for our family.  The Kitchen Hour offers podcasts you can listen to while you cook, bringing tips, recipes and fun inspiration for connecting your family right to your kitchen.  I was honored to be part of Meagan’s first podcast and look forward to seeing how this grows!

Tights and Weather that Permits Them

Finding Nella “Playing Car”

(line up chairs and grab a tupperware top steering wheel)

Slowly Creating a Space Nella and Baby will Share

Inexpensive Decor Ideas

(inspired by Land of Nod catalogue: a cardboard letter and some yarn)

Watching Little People Explore

Things that Make YOU Happy: (#enjoyingthesmallthings on Instagram) 

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And ways in which you can help someone else enjoy little things and big things right now:

Ultimately, I know we are once again going to be impressed with the resilience of NYC and surrounding areas because they overcome…that’s what they do.  But they need help.  To assist in Hurricane Sandy efforts, I’ve asked some friends in those areas to help direct efforts where it is most needed.  Some of the most affected areas in NYC are Far Rockaway, Staten Island, Long Beach, Oceanside, Red Hook and Breezy Point.

You can donate your help in the following ways:

* Text REDCROSS to 90999 to quickly and easily donate $10 (will be deducted from your phone bill).
* Text STORM to 80888 to quickly and easily donate $10 to the Salvation Army.
* Text HUMANE to 80888 to quickly and easily donate $10 to the Humane Society (Humane Society is working to rescue animals that were left behind and to provide shelter for them).

Or you can make specific donations in food and supplies that are most needed, and they will go directly to places in specific areas affected by the storm:
* The items on this Amazon Wish List go directly to Staten Island Sandy Relief.
* The items on this Amazon Wish List go directly to Moms New Jersey Sandy Relief.
* For Far Rockaway Recovery, click here.
* See New York Times list of ways in which you can help.

And thank you to the compassionate readers who helped kindly inform where help is needed!

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Darkness creeps in earlier now–more time to burrow into our nest and enjoy family.

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The fabulous Shop Ruche is returning in sponsorship this month, offering their incredible collection of affordable, vintage-inspired and unique products for both mama and child. 

Hummingbird top, Shop Ruche

Shop Ruche has been one of my favorite online stores for some time now, and whether I’m looking for a particular item for an event, a gift for a friend, a seasonal wardrobe addition or a unique find for baby, Shop Ruche is guaranteed to have something great.

Favorites: Finishing Touch Blouse, Homemade Home for Children Book, Cabernet Peplum Dress, Stevie Floppy Hat, Hillary Indie Ruffle Heels, Jewel Tone Chevron Dress, Country Ankle Booties, Pom Pom Hat in Honey Mustard

Check out their new winter look book, launched today. 

And, Shop Ruche is offering readers a great discount on their children’s line this month.  Buy anything from Shop Ruche Children and use code KELLEHAMPTON15 for 15% off (offer runs through November 7, 11:59 PST). 

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What are you enjoying?
How are you feeling grateful right now?

Don’t forget to vote tomorrow.