taking a cue from my mother’s sense of heritage, we’ve decorated the house this year with swedish-inspired decorations. red, black, white, wood, and lots of candles. it’s not a definitive scandinavian decor, but it feels right: simple, and classic, and fun. festive and sacred. my father made the wood ornament tree for me, i’ve adopted my mother-in-laws tradition of advent activities, and my family -over the past couple of years- has bestowed on me some beautiful nativity scenes to call my own. so though this year the powerdrivers are sticking closer to home to intentionally focus on what christmas looks like for the three of us (and next year for the four of us!) we remain loyal to the traditions that made christmas a very special holy day for both jp and me when growing up.
what does your family do to make your home feel special for christmas?
- advent calendar
- hand & cloth stockings
- DIY tree garland
- swedish decorations (ornaments, sta lucia tree topper, black and wood candelabra)
i’ve partnered with winter session, one of my favorite local companies, to host a christmas pop-up market at the populist. it’s this coming sunday and monday evenings, 5-9. there are so many great vendors including some you’ve heard of through me before (mountain vs. plains, primary ties, r.l. linden & co) and many more. ollie’s vintage will be there too and i’ll also be slinging some real live mistletoe. and the populist bar will be serving up some tasty libations. so come on by and say hello!
we’ve been wearing ramona in our Boba Carrier 4G since she was a wee one. it’s been jp’s go-to since the beginning and since ramona has gotten bigger and wants to be in and out more when i’m wearing her, it’s been the one i’ve gone to more and more as well. it’s also great for carrying her on hikes with us. so i was stoked when Boba offered to send me their BobaAir, a lighter, more compact version of their traditional boba Baby Carrier. this was perfect timing as our air travels to minnesota for thanksgiving would be the perfect time to try it out.
the BobaAir is different from the Boba 4G in that it is all nylon, completely lightweight (the 4G is lightweight too so i don’t know how they managed that!), and folds into itself into a zippered pouch that can easily be stashed in one’s bag or purse. traveling with ramona happens a lot and i’ve never been one to lug a stroller around. so finding a carrier that not only allows me to toss her up on my back so i can have hands free when needed (boarding!) but also is easy to carry along when i’m not using it (we aim to pack light light light) is a big plus.
we loved it. we traveled with just my purse and her little backpack, and when i needed her to stick close i just superman tossed her up on my back and we were off! when we had boarded the plane, i took her down, zipped up the boba, and chucked it in my purse (which still fit nicely under my seat).
i will say the 4G is still better for longer term carries (hikes and such) as it feels like there is more support there for the larger child. but sacrificing that for the ease of a small carrier that didn’t take up all my personal purse space was well worth it on shorter trips around the airport, boarding, and baggage claim.
items of note:
- ramona’s arms in the boba look really weird and are how she likes them. i swear. she sticks them down and wiggles them around and even when we try to adjust them she tucks them in again. other children do better with their hands out of the carrier. that’s ok too!
- forgive the photos. like i said we travel light, which means no big fancy camera was taken and so these were taken on my phone by jp at a time when ramona was going bonkers (um, naptime in an airport is impossible).
- coloradans: isn’t it awesome that boba is a boulder-based company?! support local as much as possible!
- this post is not a sponsored post. boba did offer me a free carrier in exchange for my opinion, which is here and is completely my own.
girl!
we were surprised with ramona but wanted to have a heads up with this one. we’re only planning on having two children and thought that knowing the gender of the second would enable us to do some organizing and preparing for our ultimate family (sell old girl clothes to free up space in our teeny home if it was a boy). also, jp was pulling for a boy. but, being the amazing man he is, just knew that he needed some advance notice if he was to be fated with three spirited women in his life. so though his vision of being a father included having a son, we’ve been talking about all the perks of having two daughters and ramona having a sister. we are thrilled. over the moon. elated. my hubby will make the best father for these two young ladies.
oddly enough, (and not that i have any control over it), but i never pictured myself as a mother of two girls. perhaps it’s because my vision of motherhood growing up was one of each: a boy and a girl. and i grew up as the only daughter in the family so the idea of sisters is a bit foreign to me. however, as we’ve talked about the positives of two girls, i am relishing in the idea of ramona having a sister as many of my close friends have sisters who they are so intimately close with in only the way sisters can be. i’d love for her to have that. (for those of you that know i have an older brother –who i love dearly and admire greatly and consider a friend as well as a sibling– have no fear: i am not offending him; we’ve talked about how different it would be if we were the same gender. there would be a closeness there not possible with different sexes.)
either way, it’s a girl! and we’re pretty set on a name but you’ll just have to wait for her birthday bc there’s got to be something to look forward to.
welcome
