First Christmas in Woodforest!

This year I've had a lot of trouble figuring out where all my Christmas decorations should go. And even after putting up the tree, decorating the mantle, draping garland on the stair handrails and putting Christmas colored place mats and napkins on the table, the house just doesn't feel as "Christmasy" as the old house did. I guess this is another one of the fun parts of having more space... gradually getting things to fill it all up.

We ran into the same problem outside. We have all these lights... icicles and nets... and no place to put them. Okay, we COULD line our whole house but just the peaks on our one story freaked us out in prior years. There is NO WAY either one of us are attempting the peaks on this house! None of our plants are big enough for net lights. But, we made it work and it turned out nice.

A few icicles on the porch and some lights up the columns (I've always wanted to do that). Frosty and the lighted trees are in the yard and this year they have snow around them (net lights!). The lights that normally string together the candy canes were on their last leg last year and we were too lazy and cheap to redo them this year so its just candy canes for now.

Another challenge was the front door. Our doors are tall and we have the wrought iron over the top glass panel. How do you hang a wreath without putting a nail in the door? I got creative and used some fishing wire to hang it from the wrought iron.

I opted for a more "natural" look to the wreath this year and left the bow off. I think I like it this way best.

I'm happy with the finished product of the outside decor. And to be honest... I think we have a great shot of winning "Best House" on our street! Ha! :)

16 weeks

We saw the doctor again today. No ultrasound :( so this baby's gender is still a mystery. We did ask if we could come back sooner than 4 weeks to find out the gender before Christmas and the doctor complied. We go back in 3 weeks, December 22 for the "Big Ultrasound".

Heartbeat was strong. I weighed in a couple of pounds LIGHTER than last time, with my tall boots on. I guess I should be happy about this but its weird to think a I have another life inside of me and I'm LOSING weight. The doctor assured me this was fine, the baby is taking everything it can from me (signs of the future???) and that as long as I'm eating better now (which I am) that I will start gaining weight soon.

Doggie Cousins

Admiral has been a part of our family for over 3 years now and had definitely been our baby boy no matter how big he is. For the first two and half years of his life, he was the only granddog on Ryan's side of the family. He is the spoiled rotten first grandchild who got lots of one-on-one attention from his grandparents!! :)

Now that Ryan's brothers are both married and in their own homes, the doggie family has been growing. When Kevin and Stephanie got married, we added Steph's dog Maya to the family and then we met Clive in June.

Just a few weeks ago, Eric and Whitney drove to Dallas to bring home their baby, Fievel.


Thanksgiving was the first time we got all the dogs together and it was a blast watching the "kids" play. The boys did a lot of wrestling, fetching and swimming while Maya did her best to stay out of the action (which is why I never got her in these pics--I'll do better next time!!! )

Clive and Fievel became fast friends. Fievel would nip and paw and jump all over Clive and Clive seemed to love it.


Admiral seemed to be pretty smitten with Fievel but he can be a bit intimidating to a little guy. Fievel did lots of hiding in small places that Admiral cannot fit! I think that when Fievel gets a little bigger he'll probably be bossing Admiral and Clive around on a regular basis! He's feisty

Kevin started playing fetch with Clive and Admiral joined in. Of course, Admiral thinks the only way to play fetch at the grandparents house is in the pool. Kevin would throw the ball in the grass, Clive would run after it and Admiral would run the opposite direction to the pool wondering where the ball was. Eventually Admiral got a clue. We finally gave in and started throwing the ball in the pool (had to be freezing). Clive followed Admiral right in.

Clive really only likes to get in if someone else (human or dog) is in the pool. He really wanted that ball but was just not so sure about jumping in until Admiral went first.

And you can tell when Admiral gets tired... He starts getting lazy and tries to wait for the ball to drift back toward the edge of the pool instead of jumping in to get it.

Fievel was very curious of what the big boys were doing, but this is about as close as he got to the pool. Only time will tell if he likes to swim!

Cousins... it doesn't get any better! And you know, as I wrote this post, I couldn't help but laugh that sometime in the next few years I could return to this post and replace all the references to dogs and puppies to kids and babies. As I think about how our family is about to grow again and how much my cousins have meant in my life, I think about the fun times our little one will have with his/her older cousin Helmi. And, I look forward to the day (whenever it may be... no pressure) that we add more people cousins to both families!!

A few additions

Yesterday was "Black Friday" and we contributed, but we did not really do real deal hunting. We didn't even leave the house until almost 12. Our main goal was looking for a swing for the front porch. We didn't realize how hard this would be. I guess the city is not the place for a country porch swing. We reverted to the Internet and got this swing which is being stained a dark walnut color.

Thanks Mom and Dad!!!! Hopefully its here by Christmas and you can see it!

While we were out looking, we made a couple of stops to look for side tables and other things we might need. We went to Old Town Spring (to check the Amish furniture store for a swing) and then went into a few of the antique shops looking for tables.

There is a great home decor place, Metals, Petals and More that I've heard about but never been to. It's not a bargain place but its not over the top expensive either. I was really looking for more florals/greenery for my kitchen cabinets but after getting a good deal at the Holiday Market I'm being cheap! But we did find these awesome planters for our entertainment center (and one was priced wrong so we saved $20... ha).
We previously bought something else that we only sort of liked so those are going back to the store today. We are VERY happy with these planters as they add a little color and totally fill the space.

Then, we hit up Pier One to look at some things I'd seen in their Black Friday ad and to look for little side tables. We found this cute little side table with two basket drawers. We didn't know if the drawers would actually be able to function but Ryan said "If they do, it be great to put toys and things in." Definitely not a conversation we'd have had 16 weeks ago unless it was about doggie toys! Luckily there is plenty of room for the drawers to open so it looks like we have some toy storage for the family room! :) And of course, a place for the lamp and nice place for someone to rest their glass.



The biggest thing we are lacking in the Family Room is a rug. We've started that search and have finally seemed to come to a good meeting point on style. I'm more modern and he's more traditional but we seem to be agreeing on several "transitional" style rugs. I guess they are named appropriately. I'm about to head out and try to see if I can see a couple we've found online in person... and to meet Suz, Luke and Hudson for lunch while Brandon and Ryan play golf.

I'm Officially Ready for Christmas

And it's not because...

• Thanksgiving is over
• I put the tree up last night
• It's cold out (well, Houston's version of cold)
• December is just a couple of days away

No, it's not because of any of those things.

It is because of this...

The Way the Cookie Crumbles' "Slice and Bake Brown Sugar Cookies"

If these don't scream "Christmas", I don't know what else does.

Stay tuned for the follow up on these cookies.

I ate my words...

And they came right back up... TMI?

In my last post, I was on day 5 of no sickness. I had switched to a new method of medication... one pill each night instead of half in the morning, half at night. This seems to be the key. Then, I ran out of drugs the day after my last post and made it a few more days without getting sick. I was on time/early for work the whole week. Miracle!

Then Sunday hit and it started all over again. I thought... 3 days of no meds, maybe it won't happen again or as often. Nope, Monday started the same way and Monday evening I bee-bopped my way to CVS for a refill. I've been good ever since but run out of meds again this weekend. To refill or not to refill... that is the question. Surely it has stopped by now, right?

In other, more positive news, I'm officially in the second trimester. I've gained a lot of my energy back. I am no where NEAR as tired and exhausted as I had been the first trimester. I'm starting to eat more and be a little less picky, but I'm not stuffing my face by any means. I've still not gained any weight and my clothes are still fitting just fine. I'm sure those days are numbered.

Next week we see the doctor. Maybe I'll have gender news to share....I really hope so!

Pecan Pie = Thanksgiving

My favorite PIE is pecan pie. I love pecans. I don't want them in my chocolate chip cookies, but I like them in lots of other things. Unfortunately, I married a man who doesn't like pecans, doesn't like pecan pie. Even worse, neither does his Dad or either brother. At least his mom is saving the family name... she likes pecans and pecan pie! Whew. I might have had to rethink things had they all been anti-pecan! I haven't polled my new sister in laws to see which team they are on, maybe this will be a boys vs girls issue. I'll find out tomorrow.

Anyway, I've been wanting pecan pie and wanting to make it myself. I've never made one, this is always Mom's job on the holidays. She makes a "mighty fine" Pecan Pie as my Pop would have said. I'd already committed myself to a side dish for Thanksgiving dinner and didn't want to over-extend myself. So, what do I do when I want to bake something, know my husband won't help me eat it and can't justify eating the whole thing myself??? I bake it, eat one piece, take the rest to work. My coworkers eat anything!

And last night, that's just what I did.
Pecan Pie
from Southern Sideboards, Junior League of Jackson

1 (9inch) pie shell, partially baked
1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans

Bake pie crust 3-4 minutes.

Cook sugar, butter and corn syrup over low heat until the butter melts. Do not let mixture boil.

Cool slightly. Stir in eggs and mix well. Add vanilla and pecans.

Pour filling into pie crust. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Pie should still be soft in the middle.

Overall it was a success. It tasted "different" than my mom's but we've nailed that down to me using real butter, she uses margarine. It was definitely "buttery". My crust also stuck to my pie plate, not sure about that part, maybe because I didn't let it thaw out, who knows. I'll try again one day.