Dreamin' of pigs!

Just had to post this picture because she is so darn cute and to show that slowly but surely her hair is getting thicker. Some days it's curly..some days straight. Who knows how it will look when it grows out. I just can't wait to put a sprout and pig tails in it...oh the day!!!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! We got to host, as I wanted to host one more holiday before the baby gets here. It was a lot of work, but it turned out great. We set everything up outside to help with space, and go figure at the end of November it was 80 degrees out. A little toasty, but we made it work. I was so thankful to have all of my family together, except my sister and niece (Audrey was sick). Here are a few pictures from the day

Evan made 2 turkeys (1 roasted one fried). It was his first time ever and they both came out delicious. We had a whole turkey left so everyone could take home leftovers.

Everyone eating outside...notice the tank tops! It's warm!

Everyone wrote on their thankful leaves and loved the tree.

This was before we ate...can't tell. Two preggo cousins. Shannon is due in 1 1/2 weeks and I have 4 1/2 to go. Can't wait to meet these new babies.

Craft Time: Evan's family always made Christmas crafts after Thanksgiving. I loved the tradition so much that I decided to start it with my family. It was relaxing and gave us something fun to do and something to get ready for Christmas.

The babies colored Christmas trees. Actually they decided they wanted to color the pumpkin instead:)

The adult craft: Christmas advent countdown calendars. I did the sample and made everyone magnets ( 1 star and 1 baby Jesus). The star is moved through day 24 and on day 25 Baby Jesus shows up. Everyone made their own designs, and it was fun to see what they came up with. These are made from cookie sheets from the Dollar Tree, acrylic pant, and picture stands. I made the magnets with clear/flat marbles, mod podge, printed google images and hobby lobby magnets. It was fun!

By the end of the day I was whooped and thought I might deliver the baby...luckily I survived after a good back rub from my AWESOME husband and some sleep:)

New Crib

With the new baby on the way, we needed another crib. Evan's dad was nice enough to get us one. I decided that I wanted to get Dixie a white one to match her room a little better and pass down the cherry wood set to the new baby (poor baby..already getting hand me downs).

I was super excited when we got the crib in...it's beautiful and looks great in Dixie's room. She really likes it too and has been asking to play in it even when it's not time to go to sleep.

Thankful Tree

I wanted to start a new family tradition this year...a "thankful tree." I was originally going to paint a tree trunk on a sheet and hang it. Everyone would take a leaf and write their name, year and what they are thankful for and we would hang it back on the tree and add to it every year. However, th more I thought about it, the more I thought, how hard it would be to find a place to hang a big sheet every year. So, we decided to put our tree up early and turn it into a thankful tree.

I put the leaves all over it and added 5x7 black and whites of my family. We will do the same thing with the leaves year after year. I am really excited about it and watching how it grows over the years and seeing what everyone is thankful for.

$1 entertainment

Saw this balloon at the Dollar Tree and couldn't pass it up since Dixie is obsessed with Elmo and balloons. $1 has provided her loads of entertainment and a huge smile. Evan had to tie a plastic rake to the end so it wouldn't float in the air constantly. I think Dixie enjoyed letting it go and then saying "uh oh" over and over again...stinker. Today she started looking at herself in the back of the balloon saying her name over and over again as she saw her reflection and kissed herself over and over again.

6 weeks to go!!

Yes....I am HUGE and yes, I am in my PJ's! The countdown is truly on. Getting ready for Christmas makes it so close. I am def ready to meet this baby and see what he/she is. I am also ready to sleep comfortably......oh wait...I am about to go back to no sleep:) Should be getting the crib in this weekend. Gosh this is flying by!!!

In preparation for the new baby, I wanted to get Dixie a Big Sister shirt. I found lots of cute ones on ETSY, but they were going to cost me about $25. I decided to try to make one myself, but man it is hard to get that embroidered look without messing up. I am no good at it. I wanted some funky and fun material, but it's almost too much and it's hard to read. Oh well...looks like I might order one after all, but she can still play in this one.

Fabric Bracelet

I decided to go ahead and make a matching bracelet to go with the necklace that I made for my cousin. This was SUPER easy!

I bought 3 thin plastic bracelets at Wal-mart for $1 a piece...kind of a rip off, but I didn't have any old bracelets lying around.

I decided to glue the 3 bracelets together to make 1 fat bracelet. I cut strips of scrap fabric with pinking shears and just hot glued them around the bracelet.

It turned out cute and kind of matches the necklace. The ends will eventually fray a little, but I think that adds some character to the bracelet. So, for under $7 I have a necklace and bracelet set. I almost glued some mini washers tot he top of the bracelet to match, but I liked it plain.

Spread-A-Burger

I have found a new favorite family meal and it is CHEAP and EASY..my 2 favorites! It is called Spread-a-burger (sounds gross I know). Evan's Granny used to make it and I got to try it while in Texas a few weeks ago and was hooked. We had it for dinner last night and it was soooo yummy. I wanted to take a picture to post with this, but I couldn't wait a second longer to inhale it. So, if you are brave enough to forgo the name and please your fam with a delicious meal, here's how to do it:

You will need either French Bread or hoagie Bread sliced in half length ways (open faced) &

1 pound of ground meat or ground turkey meat (healthier)

Into the meat, mix 1 egg, breadcrumbs (not too much), ketchup, worcestershire sauce, mustard and mayo if you like, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 375.

Spread meat mixture onto open faced bread (thin...you want it to cook). Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Last 5 minutes add cheese on top and continue to bake. 15 minutes total baking time

The meat cooks, the cheese melts and the bread is so toasty and delicious it's amazing. You can choose to eat it open faced or close it up. ENJOY!!!!!

First BoBo

Now that Dixie has been walking, there are lots more opportunities for her to get hurt. She's gotten it down pact now and is fast, but those first few days she fell a good bit due to her thinking she could go faster than she could. I almost had a heart attack as she fell 5 times in 1 day..4 of which were on the concrete head first. Luckily, she hasn't had too much more of that..I guess that is the great thing about her being a late bloomer when she walks. However, this was her first big bobo..she scraped her face on the cement. I know it doesn't look that bad, but if you are a momma, you can understand the pain I felt when I saw her little scratched face.

Washer Necklace

As you know, I am all about making homemade gifts for cheap to save a little money and get out my creative itch. I LOVE looking at craft blogs and I am constantly finding projects that I want to do, but always forget about them. My cousins 23 birthday is coming up and she always wears cool, funky necklaces. I remembered running across a tutorial for a necklace made out of washers and ribbon. How much cheaper can you get...especially since I already have ribbon?So for $3.74, I made her this:

It can be worn long:

It can be worn short (My fav)

You can find the tutorial here:

As easy as it is, it took me about 30 minutes to get down the weaving pattern. I'm glad I didn't give up, and now I want one for me.

"Got can't heed in my heels tonight baby"

Dixie and her cousin Audrey had fun dancing in the kitchen the other night. Audrey resembles a scarecrow flying in the wind with her long lanky limbs while Dixie has one move: walk in circle with arms up. I actually think Dixie had more fun laughing at Audrey. They are so cute and silly at this age. I love how much fun they are having without a care in the world.

CUPS

Dixie's newest favorite thing to play with: Plastic Cups

She digs them out of the pantry and enjoys stacking them, knocking them down, fitting them inside of each other and crushing them. Why is it that the cheap household items are always way more amusing than her actual toys???? My plastic cup stash is running low.

Family Camp-In

Last night, we had our 1st official "Family Camp-In Night." Evan and I love to go camping, but with a little one and one on the way it makes it hard to get out in the cold weather. So we decided to set up the tent in the living room and watch Toy Story 3. We planned on making Smore's around the fire pit afterwards, but we were all too tired by the time the movie was done....next time:)

I was shocked that Dixie actually stayed awake for the whole movie and stayed in the tent for the whole movie. She thought it was fun and was rolling around everywhere, which made it interesting to watch the movie. It was lots of fun and I think I am making this one a family tradition. Evan and I did it before we had kids, but I can just picture our whole family in there as we grow making memories from year to year.

I was trying to get a family pic, but it didn't work out so well. I am looking rough and poor Dixie got completely cut off.

Ladies and gentleman...we have a walker!!!!

I don't know why I haven't posted this yet, but as of October 28th...Dixie is officially a walker!!!!!!!! Wooooo hoooooo! I never thought we would get here since she is 16 months now, but everyone kept saying they develop at their own speed and up to 18 months is fine. Not that I was stressed, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't carrying 2 kids on my hips in December.

I knew that one day it would just happen, and sure enough she just got up and started walking all over the place. It makes her look so big. She has gotten so much more confidence in the past few days and it's been fun to watch her speed up and walk around the yard and play. My girl is growing up and I can't believe it! Oh yea..she's cut 2 new teeth too. Geez....slow down Dixie..momma can't take all this maturing.

Here is a video of her tonight walking around in circles and being excited because her Nanny was here. Warning: she wipes out at the end, but I promise she was ok:)