Most Popular in 2011:

1. free Sewing Book
2. not Sorry, just Full
3. Tigger’s Pregnancy
4. Village Baby
5. Village Family
6. Dutch (Oven) Pancakes
7. Guess what?
8. This one’s One
9. Needy
10. Sick Day

And for fun, a few posts needing some love (i.e. comments… they just got lost in the shuffle, right?):

1. Sleep Gallery
2. Submit to MamaWit Mag – okay, so we haven’t formerly announced this yet thus it hasn’t had a ton of hits, but check it out to share your parenting stories, photos, artwork, and more with the world!
3. Advent
4. Three Little Words
5. Our Month in China

We’ve moved Lori Ann’s posts to her own personal blog. Read her latest post about celebrating Advent as a family this season. To have YOUR blog post featured on MamaWit, just submit the link or full text with our contact form. To submit your writing or creative work (drawing, photo, graphic design, whatever!) to the MamaWit Magazine, read the guidelines here: the upcoming theme is “New” and the deadline for the first round of submissions is January 20th.

Tigger enjoys her nativity set sheep, last year and today

It’s Advent, the season before Christmas where we expect and wait for Jesus! I honestly have to say that to me, Advent is the most wonderful time of the year. Just like at Lent, during Advent I look backwards and forwards both.

Looking backwards:
In the past I’ve posted about our Advent bedtime story books and how we form our family traditions. Last year, Sarah and I shared our thoughts on “doing Santa” in America and China. My list of favorites to read, watch, and listen to in anticipation for Christmas are still available here (and I’d love to hear your favorites in the comments!)

This year:
For this year’s family advent devotions, we are reading a chapter a day (they’re short) from Jesus by Joseph F. Girzone. Every Sunday we light one candle and sing a song of expectation. Tigger’s nativity (with handmade fabric characters) it out for play, and ours will slowly make the journey around the room until Jesus arrives Christmas morning and the Wise Men on January 6th. Christmas Eve, we’ll wake up to surprise gifts (new pajamas, snacks from the U.S., a book, and something fun) in our pajama bags, and we’ll watch Nativity Story that night. I’m sewing Paul’s pajamas and knitting Hope’s. In lieu of our usual exchange of 3 gifts on January 6th (Epiphany), we’ll be going to Disneyland this year!  If you’re still looking to purchase any gifts, this page has sales through December 3rd on Amazon (and using our link supports MamaWit without costing you anything!)

Looking forwards:
When Tigger’s a bit older I’d like do Bible storytime with stories like these and these tips from desiringGod. Maybe next year this Advent Storybook (recommended for preschoolers) would be most appropriate. Other future ideas are an Advent activity calendar and/or Jesse tree (but not as a tree? somehow, maybe?).

…and you?
Share about your Advent, Christmas, and other wintertime traditions in the comments or forums. If all this talk of Advent is new to you, start with this free printable book, A Jesus Advent Celebration by author Ann Voskamp.

This isn’t a post with advice for getting your baby to sleep… I just finished this pagewith the resources that most helped me (you should click over for the photo at the top if nothing else!) As I was searching for a photo to stick on that page, I realized as I found picture after picture of our peacefully slumbering baby that she really did sleep a lot! Here’s a trip back in time to remember that she really did sleep, even in the early days. Feel free to comment with your infant sleep stories or links to photos of your snoozing sweeties.

6am. The air seems crisper, the sky meditative. Something about the still quiet seems to enter my body with each breath, helping me think clearer. No distractions, nowhere to go. Just my daughter and I, enjoying a new day together. Tickling, giggling, playing peek-a-boo. Quietly, so as not to wake Baba. Which makes it all the more fun, like a secret between just the two of us.

Tigger’s bedtime has been 7pm since she was 5 days older. As a newborn, she slept (barely interrupted by nursings) until 9am. As she got older, morning wake-up backed up to 8am, 7am. Now 6am.

And I couldn’t be happier.

What’s your morning routine? Is it dreaded or enjoyed?

For a long time, I’ve been meaning to write an idea I have for a blogger’s “Family First Challenge.” All too often I read Mom bloggers (like… ahem… me…) writing long apologies about why they haven’t written, and I’ve begun to think, “Why should you apologize?… Your family is worth the first of your time!”

In an age of the Super Mom, we Mamas tend to feel insecure if we aren’t doing it all… cooking nutritious whole-food recipes from scratch three times a day (plus healthy snacks!), keeping the floors spotless, writing genius-producing homeschool lessons, keeping our tyke’s faces perfectly clean, never losing our temper, and naturally writing a blog post about it all each and every day. You know, to inspire all the other Moms.

But is that what we are doing?

Or are we encouraging the insecurity? Are we setting the bar for a “good Mama” so high that we feel the need to publicly apologize when we drop one of the balls in our over-the-top juggling act?

So, fellow family bloggers, let’s agree to put our families first. No apologies. That will look different for every Mama and every family, but for me (for now), it means:

• computer screen is off when Tigger is awake
• eye contact with Baba when he comes up to talk… meaning eyes off the screen!
• cutting back to about one blog post here per week (I realized that was the original intention of this blog, and as I’m taking on more projects for the nonprofit I work with, it’s a good idea again)
• spending my weeknights crafting, reading, and playing games with Baba… not websurfing and typing posts

If some creative Mama out there really and truly has the time to design a little “Family First” image we can all use whenever that’s what’s going on (you can link to this post and/or write a relevant one of your own), go for it.
Me? Well, I intended to, but I have a family to tend to, first.

Big smiles,

Big silliness.

Gray? I don’t want to squelch her creativity or anything, but really? Gray?

You should know my favorite colors are green, yellow, and red. In college, I was especially fond of orange. Bright orange. Before that, it was purple. Not too pastel. Bright.

You should probably also know that I am a recovering perfectionist.

I finally hung my “inspiration board” behind the craft desk that was Baba’s gift to me for Valentine’s and Mother’s days. I was motivated this morning to decorate one square with artwork from Tigger, so out came the crayon box and paper. I was envisioning a bright, colorful design to match everything else I love. Her hands went for the box, pulling out not blue, green, or orange (her usual favorites), but — gray.

As a (recovering) perfectionist, gray does not fit my idea of “inspiration” or “decor” either one. God and Tigger, though? Apparently, they’re more interested in teaching me more “letting go” lessons.

How have you had to let go of plans and ideals to give room for your little ones to grow and learn?

This Pancake Saturday, I tried out a new recipe for corn (pan)cakes. Tasty and filling!

Corn (Pan)Cakes, serves 2 (plus one baby pancake for one little baby!)

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2-1 cup boiling water
• 1/2-1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 banana, mushed
• oil for frying

1. Combine cornmeal, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Pour 1/2 cup boiling water over the mixture and beat until thick.
3. Pour 1 tsp. vinegar into a measuring cup and add milk to equal 1/2 cup. Let sit 5 minutes.
4. Pour soured milk into mixing bowl.
5. Mix flour, baking soda, and banana into bowl. Stir until smooth.
6. Use a brush to lightly grease a skillet (this is my “trick” for all pancakes), and warm over medium-high heat.
7. Pour mixture onto surface. When the edges start becoming firm and the pancake begins bubbling, flip to brown the other side. Enjoy!

I put each finished pancake on a plate in the oven on a low temperature to keep them warm until breakfast time! We especially like them topped with my apple salsa.

I’m still on a hunt for more pancake recipes for our weekly Pancake Saturdays. Share what you like!