.:Meet the Ritchies:.

Are you getting ready for the holidays that are fast upon us?  We have been very busy with holiday parties, DIY gift projects and cookie baking!  The girls are with their other parental units this week. so Mark and I have a few days to prepare their Christmas gifts.  We are hosting Christmas Eve at our house this year for my side of the family and I am super excited for this!  We recently hired our good friend Andrew, who happens to be a contractor, to build us a dining area that would allow us to actually sit at the table and eat dinner like a civilized family!  What a concept!  Our “dining area” is pretty much non-existent, so we had to be creative.  I had envisioned a bench seating arrangement with a long table that folds down out of the way when not in use.  Well, Andy has made it happen even more beautiful than I had pictured!  He has finished the bench and will begin work on the table after the New Year.  I can’t wait for us to be able to sit down as a family and have dinner at the table, instead of in front of the TV and actually share in some quality time with each other.  I did this as a kid, and never realized how important it was to me until I wasn’t doing it with my own family as an adult.  Here are some pics of this project…

BEFORE

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AFTER! Isn't it gorgeous??

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And the bonus part, there is storage room inside the bench!

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The girls and I made some Christmas cookies and candy on Saturday morning, because Veda was headed to ballet at 11:30am and then we wouldn’t see her again until after Christmas.  So we fit in as much as we could, and it was really fun!  I had to purchase a spritz cookie gun thing, since I don’t own one but had my heart set on some spritz cookies.  I added a little peppermint flavor to the cookie dough, and I must say it was super yummy!  The girls had a great time using the cookie gun and playing with the different shapes. And of course, the decorating part!  Then we melted some chocolates and they made some Santa and Snowman lollipops.  It was really fun, as you can tell…

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I love that she has red chocolate on her nose!

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Sorry I have not updated my weekly belly picture in awhile.  We are now 31 weeks, almost to 32 actually which means we just have two more months to go.  We get to have another ultrasound this Wednesday to see how everything is going with the placenta previa.  The doctor wants to be sure that things are good for a natural delivery, since I delivered Claire by cesarean section.  I appreciate that my doctor is taking all the necessary precautions to ensure that things go smoothly this time, but as you know, anything could happen no matter how much you prepare.

Holiday dress for work (Dress: Target, Necklace: Forever 21, Headband: My own)

We will share pictures of our holiday gatherings, and more DIY gifts (don’t want to ruin the surprise!) soon!  I hope you and yours have a wonderful (and productive, if you are like me and still have a ton of shopping to do!) week!

xoxo