Christmas!

Christmas was different this year. It was my first time in 33 years not spending it with my family! Dave did a great job of getting into the Christmas spirit this year... we put up a tree the first weekend in December, we put decorations up outside and inside, and we followed many traditions. We woke up -slept in!!!! - then we opened stockings and ate breakfast. Instead of orange rolls and mini sausages, which are a tradition from my family, we made grits along with scrambled eggs, bacon and OJ. After breakfast we took Parker and Riggins on a walk so they would be a little tired while we opened presents later. And that plan worked... mostly. We opened presents and gave Parker and Riggins their toys to keep them occupied. We had a good time opening gifts. And we got a lot of gifts for lil fab! For the rest of the day we walked the dogs again, watched two movies at home, and ate dinner. For dinner we had ham, mashed potatoes (leftover from Christmas Eve dinner at our friends house), mashed sweet potatoes, and sweet potato biscuits. We also had some cheesecake for dessert, another leftover from Christmas Eve dinner. All in all, it was a great day. I was so happy to at least talk to my family and hear their voices. And it was very nice spending the entire day with my boys.

Our Christmas Tree - love it!

Beef's ornament.

Riggins taking ownership of the wubba and treat toy.

Parker taking ownership of the tennis ball toy.

Parker and Riggins "fighting" over their new toys.

Dave opening his gifts.

Riggins with his ornament from Dave's mom. Parker got one, too.

YAY!

Almost perfect.

Looking good! 

Finished product with yummy maple syrup. Thanks again Kevin!

Thanksgiving

Dave and I were excited to spend Thanksgiving at home this year! We usually drive to Indianapolis to have Thanksgiving with my dad and step family, but last year we moved on Thanksgiving Day and now Indianapolis is too far of a drive. So here we are. We started to make a list of all the things we wanted at our own Thanksgiving... turkey (one grilled, one baked), sweet potato casserole, mashed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, rolls, cornbread, dessert, etc. We decided our list was too long for just us (but we'd eat it all by ourselves if we had to!), so we invited one of Dave's coworkers over and his family. They just had their second child and all of their family had just been here and weren't coming back until Christmas. They happily joined us, as did Dave's mom. Dave and I made the majority of the food as planned, but our guests brought gravy (gluten free), mashed potatoes (gluten free), stuffing, and Cheesecake (gluten free crust!). We made the rest. It was awesome! Dave grilled the turkey and did a great job; I grilled the turkey and did well, too, in spite of my leaving the gizzards in (oops). Oveerall, everything tasted very good! Dave and I ate leftovers for every meal except breakfast through Sunday night. And the desserts lasted even longer. :) We look forward to doing it all again next year.

Parker and Riggins relaxing on Thanksgiving morning.

Parker relaxing in front of the fire. And yes, Mom, the TV was stuck on football again!

The spread on our kitchen island. Yummy!

 Dave's turkey.

My turkey.

Gravy (and our first time using our gravy boat!)

Carrot and Parsnip dish. It was amazing and it's definitely a "make again".

Cornbread - a David and Merritt staple.

Mashed potatoes and Caramelize Brussel Sprouts. Dave made the brussel sprouts and they were surprisingly good (it must have been the maple syrup for me!).

Stuffing

Sweet potato casserole - one of my favorites and I make it every Thanksgiving.

Cheesecake

Fudge

Homemade Corn Tortillas

We finally used the tortilla press I received for Christmas in 2009! I was a little intimidated to use it, so it stayed in the cabinet. Dave noticed we had Masa Harina in the pantry and suggested we try to make our own corn tortillas for dinner, rather than purchase them from the store. And we are so glad we made them from scratch! They were easy and delicious! Dave doesn't think we should ever by store bought corn tortillas ever again. And I'm pretty much in agreement. The homemade versions didn't break nearly at all and they were a little thicker. We use the corn tortillas to make grilled fish tacos for dinner. Below are pictures that document our process:

Mini corn tortilla balls.

The corn tortilla press!

A corn tortilla ball becomes a corn tortilla after it's been pressed (between wax paper).

Cooking the corn tortilla. Hint: You only need a very little bit of olive oil... don't go even close to overboard. In fact, we probably will just spray some PAM next time.

Finished corn tortillas.

Our toppings for the tacos.

Dave grilled tilapia on the grill and topped it with salsa.

Our finished (empty!) plates. I meant to take a picture of our tacos, but they looked so good we ate them before I remember to take a picture. Trust me, they were delicious.

Me and Lil Fab at 22 Weeks!

This is me and my little boy! I was 22 weeks along yesterday, but my outfit was cuter today so we took a picture this morning before I left for work. :)  You'll see more pictures this weekend (via Facebook) because we are headed to Alabama for the homecoming football game. Alabama plays Vandy, so we'll be a house divided. But Dave's realistic and roots for Alabama every other weekend. I have a maternity houndstooth dress to wear that my friend in Austin let me borrow. I cannot wait to wear it, walk around campus, visit friends, and enjoy the game with Dave!

More Baby Stuff from Generous People

Lil fab is a lucky dude! We have been gifted a lot of things for lil fab, and this post is to share what we've gotten so far. My college friend, Brandi Ferrari, lives here and she gave me some stuff (along with the pass to that church consignment sale). My good friend Christine Janaske sent a package, and then my cousin, Sarah Noble Loftis, lives here and offered to give me some of her baby stuff. Her boys are 4 and 1, and she's done having children. She had a lot of stuff to give us! Dave and I were completely overwhelmed. I am very surprised at her generosity, given we hadn't seen each other in ten years or so prior to my moving here and we've never been close. I guess this is what family does, though! Below is all of the stuff we've been given and some of the items I got from the church consignment sale that I forgot to include in the last post.

 The bumpo seat is from Sarah.

 This onesie is from Brandi. Our mutual friend Andrea gave it to her when her boys were little. Isn't it cute and funny?!?!

This is a ducky bathrobe/towel and six washcloths I got at the church sale.

 Sarah gave us this bath tub thingy.

 I picked up these two blankets at the church sale.

 I hope you can read upside down! I swear I rotated this picture before I imported it, and now I'm too lazy to change it. The book on the left is the first thing I bought for lil fab, and the "Walter the Farting Dog" book is from my mom.

 This is the boppy I picked up at the church sale. I bought this one because it came with a cover, and it was before I found out lil fab would be a dude. We'll save the cover just in case we have a girl someday. I did see a Houndstooth print cover online and I think I'll register for it!

Sarah gave is this entire bag of bottles!

I'm apparently technologically challenged this evening. This is supposed to be a picture of the bottle sanitizer Sarah gave us.  

 This is the bottle warmer from Sarah.

 Sarah gave me this breast pump from Medela.

Sarah gave us this infant car seat... 

 And this one!

                                                Sarah also gave us this car seat blanket thingy.

 Sarah also gave us this vibrating chair.

                                           More from Sarah! She also gave us this drying rack.

Please use your imagination again. :) My good friend Christine Janaske sent us this book and two bathtub puppets. I don't know if that's what they really are... but they are very cute!