Christmas 2014

This post is similar to my Thanksgiving 2014 post, except for the one HUGE difference! Baby Emmett was here to celebrate with us! Most of these photos feature him... here's a little peek at our extremely special Christmas of 2014. 

Aunt Laney got to meet Emmett! She fell in love pretty instantly. 

Homet Christmas Morning Quiche Recipe

One of my all time favorite foods is Quiche Lorraine. Egg, bacon, onion, cheese, pie crust...what's not to love? Growing up, it was our Christmas morning breakfast every year. Once a year is not nearly enough, however. Since I got married and started my own family, we've had quiche quite a few times. I even started making my own crusts, and I've gotta say, they're pretty delicious. 

I won't lie and say this is easy or quick to make. The steps are simple, but there are a lot of them and it takes a while to make a quiche. It is SO worth it, though. My tip would be to make 2 or 3 quiches at once because they heat up so well and one just isn't enough! (I mean, look at that. Just look at it.) I am listing the measurements for one quiche, so you'll have to do your own multiplying. 

Emmett's Birth Story

Disclaimer: This post is super long. I am writing it all out so that I can remember all of the precious details of Emmett's birth, so just get ready for an in-depth story!

Emmett's journey into the world was not what I expected. Isn't that what you hear from every mom? When does it ever go exactly as anticipated? When does anything?

I'm so glad he came into the world his way...even if labor took 3 times longer than I thought it would. Even though I had to resort to taking medications that I was trying so hard not to take. Even though the pain was indescribable (and immediately forgettable).

December 8th came and went, and my hope that he would come on his due date proved false. Every day that week was agonizing, emotionally more than physically (although I was the size of a whale and every little thing took a ton of effort). I wanted him to be out so badly! I wanted to meet him, I wanted to be done being pregnant, I wanted to avoid being induced, I wanted his birthday not too close to Christmas. But that's a lot about me, and I figured out quickly that Emmett's entrance was, and should be, all about him.

My family made dollar bets about what day Emmett would show up. One by one, each day we had bet on passed by. The latest day that was predicted was by Jim, and was December 13. As that day came to a close, Alex and I felt so discouraged. Almost a week late and still no baby. Around 11pm we got in bed and prayed. It had been a while since we've prayed out loud together and I was feeling so down, I let Alex take the reins. He prayed that Emmett would be born soon. On God's timing, but soon. He prayed that I wouldn't have to be induced. He prayed that we would be healthy and safe. He prayed that we could meet our little one.

We started to fall asleep. After a couple minutes, at 11:30, I woke up with some cramp-like pains. I didn't admit to myself at first that they were contractions, I didn't want to get my hopes up. Alex started timing the pains, and after about an hour and a half they were 5 minutes apart and lasting for a minute. We woke up my mom, who's room is 15 feet away. (My dad was up in NorCal, but he got a call later on). I was moved downstairs to labor, and most of the next couple hours are a blur because I was so exhausted! We got zero sleep that night. Around 2:30, we let my doula, Betsy, know that labor had been consistent and contractions were getting stronger. She came over to observe and support. She told me to let myself melt into the pain. When a contraction would hit, I would breathe in and out very slowly and moan gently. I let every muscle in my body relax so much that I felt like I was just melting away. This technique helped me so much, and I continued to do it once we got to the hospital.

Emmett Douglas Jackson

Emmett Douglas Jackson is here!! I am obsessed. He is amazing. I've put our Christmas card/birth announcements below, we sent out two different ones. When I was designing them I just could not decide between the two, so we went with both! I had so much fun taking these photos and putting the announcements together! I've got to say, I have a pretty great model. 

If you're looking for some more details about little Emmett, click here for his birth story!

|| Posted by Kate ||

The Best Caramel Corn You've Ever Had

We made this popcorn 4 times this holiday season and it was absolutely delicious. It was buttery, fresh, sweet with a twinge of salt, and crunchy like caramel corn should be. We gave some away, ate a bunch ourselves, and definitely came up with a new Christmas tradition with this caramel corn! 

Combine 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 cup light corn syrup in a saucepan. Let it come to a boil for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 tsp baking soda. Stir together and pour over freshly popped popcorn (about 6 quarts). Mix thoroughly in a large bowl to evenly spread caramel. 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, spread popcorn out and bake for 1 hour, stirring popcorn every 15 minutes. 

Let cool completely and enjoy! (Easy, right?)

Holiday Cardamom Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

Christmas is a time for sharing. And gift giving. And love. So, with love, let me give you a wonderful gift by sharing the recipe for my absolute favorite holiday cookies (which aren't necessarily 'holiday' at all, I make them all year!). 

These cookies are easy, delicious and surprising. It is a basic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe that replaces the cinnamon with cardamom, and let me tell you! The difference is both subtle and obvious. There is something decidedly unique when you take a bite out of one of these, yet they are familiar and homey. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add 1 stick plus 6 tbsp softened butter, 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar to mixing bowl. 

Beat in mixer until creamy.

New Christmas Traditions

The weekend after Thanksgiving, the Homet clan decided to start a new Christmas tradition. We went over to Lakewood to Jim and Nadine's house (the same house I lived in after college..ah memories) and set up a little bonfire in the backyard. We also projected It's A Wonderful Life on their garage door and snacked on caramel corn, pizza and hot chocolate. After our Kansas winter last year, it felt crazy that we could be sitting outside at nighttime in November! California all the way. 

Here's some photos from our outdoor movie night. I can't wait to do it again next year with little Emmett walking around! 

IQR - Christmas Crush

It’s that time of year, boys and girls! The return of the ever popular Instant Queue Review. As part of my advent celebrations, I like to watch Christmas movies. You likely have a similar tradition. I mean, who doesn’t have a least one family movie they watch around Christmas? Even if it’s Die Hard, it counts. And now, after almost completing my class on Theology and Film, I feel even more equipped to assert my opinion as fact as I critique movies.

The rules are simple: 1. The movie has to incorporate some aspect of Christmas, this can be stretched to include other holidays, or generic winter themes, ie Snow Day, or 8 Crazy Nights. 2. The movie has to be available on an Instant Streaming Service like Netflix or Hulu. 3. The movie has to look at least a little bit terrible.

So, without further ado, sit back, relax, and enjoy a Lumberjackson Christmas tradition:

Instant Queue Review #1- Christmas Crush

Toward the end of the film I looked away from the movie, off into the distance, and just started repeating, "spaetzle, spaetzle spaetzle spaetzle."

I looked up to see Kate staring at me, like I was some sort of freak.

"Don't look at me like I'm a weirdo, somebody made this movie! They're the weirdos."

"Yeah, but that one guy is hawt."

Now, how did we get to this point you may ask? First, Kate made Spaetzle for lunch, so it was on my mind, and that word is a pretty weird word. Second, this film was so excruciatingly boring and absurd that me breaking out into a spaetzle chorus made perfect sense to me.

Homemade Egg Noodles Recipe

Well, Thanksgiving is over and I don't know about you, but we had a ton of leftovers this year. I guess that's what happens when you make two large turkeys for 8 people. Anyway, this year we decided to turn some of our leftover turkeys and (forgive me for saying this) turkey carcasses into some broth! After boiling the bones and innards for a few hours in a huge pot of water, we strained and cooled the broth. Now it was ready for soup! We added turkey pieces, carrots, onions, celery, salt and pepper, and these homemade egg noodles. What a delicious Thanksgiving twist on chicken noodle soup.

These noodles are so easy to make, and are big and doughy in the soup, like a kind of dumpling. They can be frozen and used later, or use them immediately! 

Start by mixing 2 and a half cups of flour with a pinch of salt. Place in a bowl and create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in 1/2 cup of milk, 2 eggs and 1 tbsp of melted butter. Mix together with your hands until the ingredients come together. Place on a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. 

Place dough in a small bowl and cover with a cloth. Let sit for 10-15 minutes. 

Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Don't leave it too thick or the noodles will be too big when cooked.