A Merry Christmas

What a blessed year we have had with our two precious sons! They are such a light to our lives and make everyday better with their sweet smiles, laughter, and playfulness :) We are also blown away by the unexpected news that we would soon welcome another child into this world! God is so good...even when we least expect it he pours out His blessings on those that fully trust Him with their lives.

We have had so much fun this season blessing others with what God has blessed us with. I feel like we have given more now than we ever have, and in return, I feel "wowed" by how good giving really feels. I am really looking forward to staying home this weekend with my family and starting our own Christmas traditions. I'm looking forward to our candlelight service at church tomorrow night, reading the Christmas story to the boys, and baking a cake for Jesus :) I'm going to be cooking our first real Christmas day dinner for family...so I pray the 5lb beef tenderloin is amazing! More than anything, I'm just so thankful for my husband and to share this special time of year with him. I just love him immensely, and I'm really looking forward to sitting back with him and enjoying our boys faces Christmas morning.

And the results say:

So, I bought the test yesterday because it has been right for a few of my friends. I think it's only 80% accurate, but I thought it would be fun to do until we go in for our next scheduled ultrasound.

And the results said:

I'm definitely not going to get my hopes up in case we find out it's a boy (which I will certainly be happy to have). It's nice to think I could really have a girl this time around :)

10 weeks

Baby #3 is on the way and moving all around in my belly! We had our 10 week ultrasound yesterday and the baby was literally dancing all around :) The heartbeat was 175 and I'm measuring right on time for a due date of July 9th. We are finally used to the idea that we are REALLY having another baby...the shock has finally subsided! This pregnancy has been very different from my other 2, but the sickness has let up and I'm starting to feel a lot more like myself. I will try really hard to be a better blogger now!!

Now that's a deal!

If you're a stay at home mom, you're probably looking to save money on a regular basis...especially this time of year when it seems like all we do is spend, spend, spend! Anyhow, I was in the process of picking out our Christmas cards on Shutterfly, and I came across a blog entry from a close friend about free Christmas cards for bloggers!

So excited to learn about this and even more thrilled I'm going to save some money on our cards. They have some amazing card designs this year and I'm having a hard time picking a favorite. There are just so many possibilities! I have had a Shutterfly account for many years and have always been pleased with their wall calendars, photo books, and Valentine cards.

So the deal is, they are giving 50 Christmas cards away to bloggers. Yippee!
Check it out!

Pumpkin Cookies

I made some delicious treats for Nolan's class yesterday for a little Happy Halloween gift. I used the same recipe on sugar cookies I made last year for Valentine's Day, and they were such a hit, it will be my forever go to recipe for fool-proof cutout cookies!

The recipe:

Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies

3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 c sugar (Recommend using sugar that vanilla beans have been stored in)

2 sticks butter

1 egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.

Roll onto a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

For the icing, I used a tub of Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Buttercream frosting and added 4 drops of red and 6 drops of yellow food coloring (you may have to play with it a bit to get the exact orange you want).

I used green gum drops cut in half for the stems.

The finished product:

Happy Halloween!

Be a Blessing to Someone Else

Our family has decided to "Adopt-A-Box" this Thanksgiving season to provide for another family other than our own. We wanted to bless a family that could not afford to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal on their own. For only $40 we purchased the items below to box up and bring to our church next weekend. They will distribute the goods from there. I really encourage you to do the same through your church or for a family you know.

 With the items in the pic above, they will be able to make sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, peas & corn, cornbread muffins, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, pumpkin pie, sweet tea, and a $20 gift card to pick out their turkey from Walmart.

 All boxed up!

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink"...whatever you did for the least of my people, you did for me."

Matthew 25:35,40

My 1st Field Trip!

Nolan went with his pre-k class to a small Pumpkin Patch right off the beach at Church of the Redeemer this morning. He has been looking forward to this day all week and asks me everyday if it's time yet! Once we arrived, the kids were able to pick out any pumpkin they wanted, listen to a short story, and have a snack. The whole thing lasted about an hour and Nolan was pretty whiny the whole time :( I'm not sure why he was ready to leave just 10 mins after we arrived, but as soon as his friend Chase arrived...we were good as new!

 Sophie, Nolan, and Davis ready to leave school!

 Nolan and Sophie checking out the pumpkins

 Nolan wanted a picture with me instead of his friends....being a little clingy at first!

 Where's Nolan's baby pumpkin?

 He finally found the "perfect" one!!

 Chase finally arrived!! Yay!

 The class picture

And that wraps up his first field trip :)

Love this man :)

So lucky to have such a handsome and fun hubby to do life with.

It's nice to occasionally get dressed up and enjoy some dancing every now and then. I feel so blessed :) Had a blast at JA Charity Ball last night babe!

Grow Garden Grow!!!

Several weeks ago, Eric devoted an entire afternoon to fall planting in our vegetable garden. Now after weeks of watering...we're really starting to see it flourish! We currently have basil, sweet red peppers and banana peppers and are anxiously awaiting the full growth of our creole tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and romaine lettuce. It won't be long!! We love our garden :)

 Nolan loves to water the garden

 My afternoon ritual unless Eric waters in the early morning!

 Peppers are almost ready

 This lettuce is going to save us lots of $$

 Can't wait for the broccoli and cauliflower to sprout!!

 Picking basil for homemade pesto tonight :)

  Creole tomatoes and basil has doubled in size!

Back view of the garden

Southern Miss Homecoming

We had a blast this past weekend at Southern Miss Homecoming! I dropped the kids off with my parents on Friday and was able to enjoy a fun weekend with Eric and some close friends. The weather was way too hot...but hey...we are in Southern Mississippi, so what can I say!

Eagle Run 5k the morning of Homecoming. Eric beat me but....

I placed 3rd (my first running medal ever) in the women's 30-39 divison!

Me & Nicole

Nicole, me, and Taylor at our tailgating tent on Loyalty Field

 Me & Nicole with Alicia & her baby girl May

 Me, Joanna and Carrie

Go Eagles!!!

There's just something about football season and dressing the boys up in their jersey's that makes me so happy! Watching them play football with their daddy in the front yard was even better :) We've also got new Saint's and LSU attire for them to wear for all the upcoming games because I think it's so stinking cute. Eric and I also enjoyed spending the whole day together on Saturday and went to the Southern Miss home game while my parents watched the boys. We enjoyed our tailgate group...but man was it hot!! Really excited about some cooler weather soon!

William starts MMO

William's first day of Mother's Morning Out at Trinity was last Wednesday. I think it's going to definitely take some getting used to!! William still takes a morning nap so going without it is going to take some adjusting :) I ended up picking him up early after my bible study at 10:30 (an hour earlier than scheduled). I hope this week will go better for him and hopefully he won't walk around with the blankie so much!

First Day of Pre-K 3

Today was Nolan's first day of Pre-K 3 at St. Mark's. He has been looking forward to this day for weeks and was so excited to get dressed and wear his backpack again! I was super excited as we pulled up and saw all the parents taking in all the excited children. As a friend snapped the last picture of me & Nolan before I left...Nolan kinda got a little nervous, but said, "I'll miss you." Then with a quick kiss he was off to play. For a brief moment a tear and a smile came all at once. I was both happy & sad. Happy he's starting a new chapter of his life, sad because my baby is growing up. Oh, how I love my sweet Nolan :)