Our Christmas Tree

Drew and I set up and decorated our Christmas tree on Christmas Day. I know this seems super late, and ideally we would have put it up a while ago. We had one Sunday after Thanksgiving that we could have done it, but ended up being too tired. Every weekend after that Drew was out of town and there was no way I was hauling the tree out of the closet and putting it together by myself.

So we did things the old fashioned, traditional way. Christmas is actually a serious of 12 feast days, starting on Christmas Day and extending to January 6th, Epiphany (when we celebrate the Visit of the Magi or Wise Men).

I also had taken all of our Christmas decorations back to my parent's house last year in an effort to declutter our small apartment. I had forgotten this until we got the tree up and had no ornaments to decorate with, but we made do.

This year our tree is decorated with peppermint candy canes, stuffed animals we received for baby Evie, and a paper angel that Drew made. I have to say the angel is pretty awesome! He did a really good job with some paper, scissors, and a bit of tape.

Merry Christmas and Peace to all men! 

26 weeks

Here is my 26 week photo update. We had a great time visiting family this week. I am feeling really good - no serious aches or pains and plenty of energy. I can't believe my second trimester is coming to a close!

I feel her kicking around a lot more often now and even notice little hiccups (they are a very strange rythmic pulsing feeling). I think her little head is pressing down on my sciatic nerve though because I have sharp lower back pain almost all the time now. I need to keep doing my stretches. :)

In the next few weeks I will have my gestational diabetes test (so fun! you get to skip breakfast, down some really nasty sugar orange drink, and then have your blood drawn) and another sonogram to look at her brain development and positioning.

I am getting more excited, but I can't say I am ready for her to make her appearance just yet. I am glad for another 2 1/2 months to read some books, get baby gear organized, and cook some meals to store in the freezer for those first few weeks.

A Simple Christmas Meal

This year Drew and I were able to spend a quiet day together at home for Christmas Day. We slept in, read books, watched movies, played games, set up & decorated our Christmas tree, and made a simple meal for dinner.

We had leftover ribs and pork tenderloin that Drew's granddad had smoked for Christmas Eve. So delicious! Everyone goes crazy over the ribs especially. I felt like we were walking away with precious cargo getting to have so many leftovers. :)

To accompany these we made cornbread, BBQ baked beans, and a new veggie side dish I had wanted to try. We really enjoyed it, especially because it was fairly healthy and easy to make.

Here is the recipe for the veggie side dish.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/roasted-kabocha-squash-haricots-verts-mushrooms-and-pepitas-recipe/index.html Roasted Kabocha Squash, Haricot Verts, and Mushrooms
It was a little spicy, but perfect with the other parts of the meal. I used butternut squash instead of kabocha, onions instead of mushrooms,  and green beans instead of haricot verts because 1) I'm cheap and 2) I was at Albertson's not a farmers market.

Baby Shower in Sherman

A few weeks ago some friends of ours hosted a shower for us at their home in Sherman. It was really just an excuse for us to get together with close friends and have a relaxing night of socializing. We treasure nights like these because our friends are precious to us and we may not have the same opportunities in the future between moving (God knows where. really. he does.) for residency and a baby.

We asked everyone to bring their favorite children's book so that we could start to build up a library for baby Evelyn (and any future kiddos). Our hosts had each person record themselves reading the book too, so now we have audio files to easily entertain her for years to come. Plus, even if we move far away she will still be able to hear the voices of her aunties and uncles. :)

Thanks for a great night friends!

25 weeks at the baby shower! 

Drew looking serious with his buddy (also soon to be dad) Adam