putting up our christmas tree

welcome december! i haven't been on here for almost a month, it feels like forever. 

yes, i skipped thanksgiving. 

yes, i'm still pregnant--and tired--every day. 

please forgive me for these non-watermarked, un-edited photos, but i just don't have the energy! 

so without making too much of a fuss for my absence, i will get right along to it. 

we managed to put up the tree the other night. it was quite pleasant actually. it was quiet and we didn't get hot drinks because it was super hot outside. i would have loved to have some eggnog and my christmas station on pandora playing, but the older i get, the more i enjoy silence. 

the husband actually helped set the tree up! the kids did fantastic with decorating the tree, and there was minimal fighting...i only had to do very little ornament rearranging :) 

 

and with that...there's us. in our pj's, messy hair, and total beach ball body :)
i love decorating our tree as a family, don't y'all?!

little notebook keeper

hey guys. i'm not dead. i'm just in extreme discomfort :)
i'm not exactly sure what happened, but week 28 of this pregnancy {today is week 29 for those of you wondering} kicked my butt. it wasn't only this growing babe inside...it was that horrible cold.
that cold that knocked three of us down for days. where we couldn't get a good night's sleep or eat normal without puking guts up.
and it wasn't just us. i heard about half of the world came down with something. oh yeah, that's right. and if you're in the midst of it, i really would like to pray for you, because it. is. not. fun. 
but one afternoon, we had just an ounce of energy left in us, and Andrew requested a notebook to draw in. this kid loves to draw. 'loves' is literally an understatement.
he will draw anything on everything paper he can get a hold of. lucky for him, we produce it in-house as well as have a nice supply of it {what can i say? i'm a paper-junkie}
he wanted a big notebook. and i've made plenty for him these past few months that are smaller--he really takes no time in filling those up.
i've said no to single sheets of computer paper and told him he must keep them in notebooks from now on.
i would love to see him continue this love of filling up sketchbooks.

imagine him being 20 years old and have a box full of his little notebooks full of amazing 'good guys' + 'bad guys' + weird creatures? adorable. 
so yeah. guess what he will be getting for Christmas? teeeheeeheee! 

happy hump day and hope you are not battling some sickness!

OOh, also, I've posted some new items in our shop + reduced prices for the holidasy, so check them out!
>>ShopWitty is also on Twitter and Instagram if you'd love to follow, see our products, + get some behind-the-scenes sneakpeeks!<<

this weekend

last thurs night, andrew wanted pancakes for dinner. i said no because dinner was already made but then i told him i would make pancakes for breakfast. he has his routine before school in the mornings and i love to surprise the kid. whether it be a good breakfast or a silly note/drawing in his lunchbox, etc. so he came downstairs to eat his breakfast and he saw that i had made him these:

pancake lollipops. that's right. i rock. they're from pinterest. thank you so much pinterest. totally easy and fun. you can see the original link here I just about died over them they were so cute. he managed to almost eat all three of his.

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and finally this weekend was actually great for us. it was our first weekend all together since school started. husband didn't have to go work on saturday and it helped my mood a lot. yay for no more football! we loaded up and we joy-rode to downtown houston all the way to Texas Art Supply. I get all giddy going in there. it's not like walking into hobby lobby or michaels, it's so much more homey feeling. better. plus Andrew goes nuts with the little journals they have at the front of the store and the envelopes for individual sale. we spent a long while there looking for supplies. that made us quite hungry.
it was lunch time so gary found a Mexican restaurant right down the street from there with a great Mexican vibe. and we all know how much I love that.... they had authentic Mexican decorum and food. too bad I couldn't try their world famous margaritas *grumble grumble*

oh how i wish i would have brought my big girl camera. i would have snapped away at those sturdy wooden cross beams, the cast iron candelabras, the engraved piel with hand-carved calla lily frames...it was wonderful. even the servers were wearing a mariachi looking uniform. and yes, the food was so good--especially the salsas and the fajitas. i miss my mexico. 

it's easy to entertain the boys...they love eating chips and banging away at the silverware. ha! 

happy face // sad face 

I loved their little patio full of planters with magueys....totally reminded me of the gigantic one we used to have in my home in Durango. it is no longer there, but I remember it being massive & sharp. it was great for us three kids to grow up around. makes me appreciate them today and brings back memories of the house I grew up in.

to end our saturday, we went home and got busy making paper. we have a couple of new products in the works, i'm so excited! i also posted our holiday cards up on etsy! check them out here. 

when i need more paper, all i gotta do is ask ;) 

also, this weekend was for the boys teaching them about chores. mostly andrew because he is old enough to learn & do. jonah is still a bit young, but can do some things. he helps by unloading the dryer, sorting clothes + putting away. andrew helps with folding his own clothes + socks, vacuuming, and wiping surfaces {he whines about not being able to do it, but when he finally gets it, he is a pro. i will not be fooled! } i will also not let my kiddos get away by not learning how to properly clean house {ahem, gary witty....} or not be responsible to take care of themselves. no sir. 

also, they have been warned that when baby comes, they have to be able to do things on their own. i won't be able to take care of 3 babies at once, 4 if you count the husband. i love them but they gotta pull their weight too, ya know? ok. end ramble. 

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well guys, we baked our first Christmas cookies. the boys love to sneak them....and i do too honestly.

andrew especially liked taking some for lunch today. they are total cookie monsters. 

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i finally was able to have some girl time with a dear friend of mine. ate yummy cheesecake at the factory, walked around the mall a lot, and took lots of potty breaks. ha! no more water fo' me! 

and i seriously need a haircut....

ooh ooh and guess what? I was handed down two beautiful ivies and two violets from a neighbor who couldn't fit them into her moving truck. i have eyeballed her gorgeous plants since we first moved here 1.5 yrs ago. it's so funny she offered them to me....hmm. i wonder why? :P

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also, i receive those silly weekly reminders about baby's growth and this one makes me think, ummm what on earth happened to week 27? 

week 28? like really? finally! third trimester. and only 12 more weeks to go. 3 months. i know i can do it and thanks to the holidays, i know they'll fly by. thank you lord for blessing us! baby i cannot wait to meet you! eek, i get so excited {but not when you kick me because you seriously need to stop hurting me}!

have a great week you guys!

just a little spotlight

Hey guys, just a little update on our shop.

Katie from Katherine's Corner has so kindly written a small interview about our shop and us. Click here to read it to see how we got started + where we create!

Also, don't roll your eyes at me, but I started an Instagram account for our shop @shopwitty so you can keep up with new products there as well as twitter {i'm so social, i know}. Make sure to follow on there, and a million thanks if you already have! 

We have also signed up for another craft show for December. This one being specifically for makers and artists in Houston so we are praying our outcome will be a much better one than our first. Yes to progress-yes to being patient-yes to being proactive.

We are still busy making our paper and coming up with different products--Like mini notepads and successfully printing on our paper--woot woot. I can't wait to list them all in the shop. 

I have added a couple of new things in the shop and that I have a discount code of 10% if you use it at checkout with NEW10. So follow, spread the word + share, and support our humble paper shop!

Making paper is fun, why didn't I think of this sooner? Have a great week everyone! 

almost to third

...third trimester & third baby...I have never felt more in love. how is that possible? one always worries about spreading your love evenly for every member of your family. i already love this baby as much as I'll ever do, i don't know how it happened, but nobody is shorthanded love in this house. i can't wait to smell its little head, see its tiny toes, and watch it go into a milk coma in my arms.

i keep saying it because i'm afraid if i say she, she'll come out a he...just like last time.

i haven't been really taking pictures of this pregnancy with my big girl camera because it's somewhat uncomfortable to photograph oneself with a tripod and all that stuff about best angles and lighting...and well, i just won't do myself justice! ...of course i kid.

i don't think i posted my ultrasound or my unplanned gender reveal here...so here ya go:

a saturday in september, we headed to downtown houston for our first and only sonogram with two munchkins. we encountered a very confusing hospital. my sonographer was not very caring + quick {just like those good ol' docs} and i minded that very much...considering she was highly recommended. i guess personality doesn't count when your work is extremely efficient? 

anyway, this is the most flattering photo of the whole two photos my husband managed to take!!! wasn't this supposed to be a momentous occasion? well, apparently he can recall everything in his brain, while this image is engraved into my mind because what really happened is a blur to me...thanks babe. 

almost 20 weeks. 

we asked her if she would help us out with our gender conundrum. i didn't want to find out. gary really wanted to find out. so she handed us two envelopes. one was sealed. 

gary had been bothering me for weeks about finding out the gender. why? because he's an i-need-to-know-right-now kinda person. and you know what? i caved because i too, wanted to find out...only about 10% of the time though. the other 90% was because I couldn't stand him harassing me and guilt-trippin' me with those beautiful blue eyes of his.

and after our lunch, we gave the sealed envelope to big brother...needless to say, it said girl. just like last time. 

we weren't excited. we weren't shocked. 

we were just the same. 

so was opening the envelope really necessary? absolutely not. this is a great lesson in being patient, babe. just fyi for next time. 

so here are the first images of baby #3. my little alien looking bean. 

so there you have my bump. i never showed off or was proud of my two previous bumps because you feel so awkward and big. but with this one? let my shirt fly off, momma's coming through and she's big! rub it! RUB IT, I SAID! 

no, not you stranger. 

i was talking to my family. 

have a great weekend!