christmas crafting {2014}

i know, i know....you have all been impatiently waiting to get a peek at our 2014 baumgartner christmas ornament, haven't you?!  we did indeed continue our tradition with a homemade ornament, and i love how they turned out!  

our snowflakes were made out of clothespins, and the various steps of taking them apart, gluing them back together, staining them, attaching string and tags all allowed our kiddos the opportunity to participate. 

if you are curious, you can take a peek at our previous year ornaments here:

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

we also did a fun painting project to give to grandparents, and this was a big hit with the kids while making them, and with the grandparents when opening them!

their little thumbprints served as a string of christmas lights.....and i just love that we will be able to look back on how much the've grown as we display these festive decorations! 

oh, and this is how hendrix writes his name these days - 4 years old - i am so proud of him! (though if i don't remind him to start on the left, he wants to start on the right and write the letters backwards.....not sure if that is a product of being a lefty, or if that is just a normal preschool phase.....lol!)

hope your family had a warm holiday season filled with love, projects and fun!  ;)

Adventures in Eating

This is the face Hendrix makes when he is trying a new food for the first time.  This was butternut squash which was the first vegetable he ate.  While it was very different from the cereal and required a little getting used to; he really likes squash.  :)

Peas on the other hand, he despises.  Daddy was the one who fed those to him, and he even mixed them with his oatmeal to try to dilute them a little bit, but Hendrix hated them.  He didn't spit them out, he just started crying, and was inconsolable.   He got so upset that he wouldn't even eat cereal after that until a couple hours later.  Guess we will wait to try those again.

The next veggie on the list was sweet potatoes.  He likes those a lot too, and has become much more coordinated to use his hands to try to shovel it in faster!  He is a noisy eater and in between bites you can hear his rendition of "mmmmmm".  

He has been known to try to eat his bib if he thinks that he is still hungry when the bowl is empty. ;)

I have been having fun making his baby food, and will probably continue to do so as long as I have the time and energy to plan ahead.  It is so much cheaper and I feel really good about knowing that what I am feeding him is wholesome.  

Making the baby food it actually pretty easy, but since I freeze it in my ice cube trays, I can only do so much at a time before I have to wait for it to solidify.

Hendrix is eating about two ice cubes (roughly 2 ounces) of vegetables once a day, and then cereal the other feeding.  That makes my "batch" (of three trays) last for about 24 servings.  It's a pretty good system.  He seems to like these orange veggies, now if I can find a  green one that he might put up with.....