Growing families and growing bellies

Amy and Cole came from Seattle for a visit the week before Christmas. The first few days were really low key since Cole had a cold and was adjusting his sleep times and sleeping in a strange place (rough combination). Amy and I did make it to the fabric store where she helped me finalize some fabric choices for pillows (my never ending house project). It was so fun to play with our kiddos and compare our baby bellies. Amy and I are both having boys in April...probably in the same week!

Our bellies at 22/23 weeks

Not the greatest picture as it was taken at the end of a long day

While Amy was in town, my grandma also came in town to celebrate her 80th birthday. I don't have any pictures from that (missing camera) yet. We also spent a day in the Woodlands with Stephanie and Jon. Stephanie is a great auntie to her niece and nephew. She helps us lug our kiddos around the mall and everywhere else too!

Gearing up for Christmas

Lydia has been playing with her nativity set. She knows baby Jesus (and tries to share her paci with him), "mommy," "daddy," and angel.

We went to the Kids Crazy Christmas Show at church and had a great time. Lydia LOVED the costumed characters. She just walked up to them and hugged them (she's never seen costumes before).

Here's a shot of the stage at the show. It's really big and well decorated.

Lydia was the first one up dancing. I love how she notices the camera on her and tries to pose for a picture!

The house is decorated. I let Lydia "have" one ornament on the tree. She's allowed to touch only her ornament which she does several times a day. All the others she just points to and says "mommy."

My mantle and tree (with glittery twigs sticking out).

Lindsay Countryman and I swap babysitting one morning a week. I took this picture when I had the twins at our house. Look how good they are having lunch!

Next on the agenda? Amy and Cole are coming Wednesday for a visit. I cannot wait to see them both. We'll also celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday this weekend. It's gonna be a fun time.

Especially for Camille

Hey Camille and other out of town friends...check out nature's Christmas decorations!

SNOW!

We may get up to 3 inches today!

The view from my kitchen window

The front of the house

Lydia's swing set

Thanksgiving Day

We had a beautiful Thanksgiving Day. I'm so happy my family was willing to make the drive to our house this year. We played for a few hours before lunch. Emily and Lydia played on the new swing set while the others chatted and watched football. I wanted to eat at 2 and "planned" accordingly. I had NO idea the gravy would take so long (I used some fancy Bon Apetite recipe that was really good but not worth the work). Good thing mom was there to help me make the gravy! We ate at 2:45...that's not too bad! The food was hot and delicious. In addition to my turkey, gravy, and apple sausage stuffing, Cate made mashed potatoes, Brian made sweet potatoes (AMAZING), Lauren made a cold, sweet cranberry side (borderline dessert), Steph made green beans, mom made rolls and pies, and dad brought the wine. Dan "made" canned cranberry! We introduced Cate and dad to the wii. Mom and dad were the last to leave (Dad was getting hooked on the wii). Here are a few pictures from our day.

In front of our new house (no landscaping yet)

Steph and Jon with baby Ryan (Brian and Lauren's son)

Emily and Lydia

Nana and Emily

Dan and Lydia

Me and Stephanie

Me and mom

Steph (with her medal for the fastest run that morning) and Jon

Brent and Cate

Me and Lydia

The dinner party

Happy Thanksgiving

I am especially excited for this Thanksgiving as I am the hostess for my Texas relatives. Leave me a comment with your plans for the day!

Praise the Lord for His abundant blessings!

I was inspired by several Bon Apetite ideas. Here are my cornbread and sourdough cubes drying out. I'm making cornbread according to Ben Westcott's (my brother in law) instructions. He's an amazing cook and gave me really great instructions (no measurements, just "feelings" to know the cornbread is perfect).

I am brining the turkey in a salt, cider, and spice mixture. Here's the bird soaking.

I set my table days ago. How else do you ever get to enjoy your china?

This is my $8 centerpiece.

Can you tell I'm excited?

Happy Thanksgiving!

What's for dessert?

Lydia ate her crayons this evening.

I had to pull wax off her teeth!

A little overdue

Sorry for the lack of posts lately...it's not been for the lack of things going on around here! We've entertained many friends and family in our new home and are working to get things set up for Thanksgiving. Why is it that hanging things on the wall is so scary? So permanent! I have artwork leaning up against the wall where I'd like to hang it; I just can't put the nail in the wall. If you're free, come by and give me your opinion. Maybe I'll feel better if someone else tells me that's the right place for a piece!

Lydia is interested in her potty chair these days. Actually, she went IN (not just next to...another story) the potty today. Her reaction? She almost cried. She did NOT like seeing her pee pee in the potty chair. Oh dear. And what kind of treat to you give a little girl who is not interested in candy, cookies, or ice cream? Ideas, anyone?

And the big news...we found out Lydia's going to have a baby brother! Lydia has been practicing her sweet little mommy skills on all our baby visitors. She loves to give out kisses. A few more months and maybe she won't cry every time I pick up another baby!

More Before and After Pictures

We've moved in! Check out these pictures to see how far we've come.

Breakfast room before

Breakfast room after

Formal living room/front entry before

Dining room after (we opened up most of the wall).

Front entry before

Front entry after

Master bathroom before

Master bathroom after

New master bathroom shower

Master bedroom before

Master bedroom after

Dining room before

Dan's study after

Wet bar before

Wet bar after (it's all gone!)

Almost done

We are so close to being done with our remodel. The house passed it's final inspection today! We are moving furniture tomorrow, then the rest of our stuff on Saturday. I am half dreading and half anticipating the weekend move. I know it will be a ton of work, but the weather report looks good, and we have so many people helping us.

Here are some before and after pics. I will do this again when the rooms are decorated, but I'm just so excited to share now!

This used to be a small study off the master bedroom with entrance to one of two master baths (the door in the corner). We closed off the doors to the bathroom and master bedroom, leaving a doorway off the main living area. This is now a nursery. It's just a small little room that will fit a crib, changing table, and toys. But, once we're done with babies it will be a great play room.

This was the master bathroom off the former study. It is now our master closet (this picture only shows one corner of the closet, but it's pretty big)!

The master bedroom lost a little space to the closet, but we added a tiered ceiling that makes it feel much more luxurious.

This was the fireplace. You can't really see from the picture, but it had lots of floral and heart decor on the face. We ripped that off and put stone over the brick. We still need to repaint the inside.

This is a view of the breakfast room (with a bit of the wet bar on the right side). This biggest change here is the wet bar is gone and you can see into the kitchen now. Hmmm, maybe the biggest change is actually that we replaced the pink carpet with hardwood. It's a toss up.

And my favorite before and after, the kitchen. Not only is the kitchen 8 inches bigger (hey, I took all I could get), but it's opened to the main living area with my fabulous BLUE breakfast bar. I know it's my personal taste, but I love it. We have all new cabinets, appliances, granite, and buttercream subway tile back splash.