Happy Holladays to YOU! (Part 2)

Christmas day was filled with lots of excitment and fun around the Holladay house hold. I woke up early to help Santa fill Hubby's stocking and then, since I was up, made a random breakfast of fresh fruit, cinnamon rolls (from a can), and blueberry muffins. I got a few things done and then couldn't resist anymore and went in and told Hubby Santa had come and he better get his butt out of bed!

We got up, had some "breakfast"...continental style...watched some TV and really just relaxed and hung out. We finally decided to open the presents under our tree and that was really fun. A few surprises, a few laughs, but over all, a good time. : )

We ended up just spending the day laying around, making sweet potatoes, and enjoying our time with each other. Around 3:00 we headed over to my parents and hung out for a bit before opening presents and having dinner. There were lots of surprises and it was so nice to just hang out with family...WITH SNOW ON THE GROUND OUTSIDE! I can't believe I forgot to include that yesterday...it snowed ALL day on Christmas Eve so it was pretty cool waking up to a White Christmas on Christmas morning! : )

One of our surprises was a new camera. I have been reading so many blogs lately that I have become super interested in taking better pictures and my parents surprised Hubby and I with a new one. We went home and took about 1,000 pictures of the dogs and I tried to get creative and took this one:

turned out pretty good if I do say so myself! I am still learning what all the buttons and knobs do but hopefully we will have some new and better pictures to share! Like this one that Hubby took:

We are realizing that with this camera, Vegas doesnt look as weird and you can actually see what she looks like! Very exciting! : )

All in all, it was a great Christmas. We are very blessed and it was so nice just to be with family. Oh...we did get a few other surprises from my parents for "Punkin"...diapers. : )

"Punkin"'s room also had a major makeover this weekend...more on that tomorrow!

Happy Belated Holladays!

Happy Holladays To YOU! (Part 1)

Well...the stockings were hung, the tree adorned, and cookies baked. As of last week The Holladay family was ready for the holidays! And now...in a blink of an eye...it's over. Geeze...that was quick!

To recap let me give you a run down of our Holladay Festivness!

Lets see here...

Thursday night (Christmas Eve) Hubby and I had the family (Mom, Dad, and Auntie from NYC) over for a traditional Christmas Eve dinner...BBQ! Our menu featured pulled pork, mac & cheese, baked beans, coleslaw, dinner rolls, and for dessert apple and pecan pie. The dinner turned out mildly successful...edible but not exactly what I was hoping for. The pulled pork was yummy...I think I need to share that recipe with the world soon and the dinner rolls were delicious because hello...anything involving butter and bread is delicious...but the baked beans, mac & cheese, and coleslaw were less than amazing.

The baked beans should have been tested prior to an important dinner. I HATE it when I do that. You would think I would learn! I was hoping for them to taste like Bush's but they didn't and I was annoyed so Hubby was forced to go to the store and just buy me a can of baked beans. Probably should have done that in the first place. Oh well...live and learn...AND go for the recipe that has ketchup in them because mine didnt and I think that would have helped them look more "authentic".

The mac & cheese...hmmm...I am usually on board with The Pioneer Woman and I have tried this one twice with the same result, so this one has got me thrown for a loop! My roux turns out fine, my sauce is thick and creamy. When I add the cheese it looks like HEAVEN...pour it in the pan...top with more cheese and bake! Then when it comes out....it tastes weird. It has a weird texture and a lack of cheese flavor. Is it the egg? The cheese? The fact that I am using margarine instead of butter and 2% milk instead of whole? What is going on?! Maybe I will need to try another recipe and see if it is me...

The coleslaw. Good but not great. It is missing something and I am just not sure what. I need to play around.

Over all though...things were okay and everyone went home with a full belly...just wasnt what I was hoping. I will try again though!

After dinner we opened presents that Hubby and I had for my family. There were a few surprises and everyone seemed pleased with everything. : ) That is a good feeling. Sometimes Christmas just stresses me out because I feel that I am not buying the PERFECT gift....but I am working on that...I really am.

Once everyone left, Hubby and I finished cleaning up, sat down by the tree for a bit and went to bed. It was a great night!

Christmas Day coming tomorrow!

Happy Holladays!

Ummm...adorable!

So we have these great neighbors who live two houses down. We have slowly but surely been building a relationship with them, which was definitely assisted when we found out she was having a baby and then...hello...WE are having a baby! She is due in January, I think the 9th, so she is just adorably huge and ready for that baby already. They are keeping the sex a surprise which I think is both terrifying and fabulous!

Anywho...she is very crafty and recently purged their house and therefore her cake pans and was nice enough to bring this over for me!

Um...what?! Adorable!! (I totally stole this picture from Ebay by the way)

We had plans to go over to their house on Sunday (last Sunday) so Hubby could help install a shelf in their laundry room. I realized that I never got to say thank you for the pan in person, so I thought of no better way to say thanks then to make them their very own snowman cake to celebrate the holidays!

He turned out REALLY stinkin' cute I think! The pan is really meant to make him stand up but I didn't want to stress myself out too much, so I started small.

I also had some cupcakes made and extra icing so I thought what the heck...how about some poinsettas too!

Hope your holiday is just as sweet!

Happy Baking!

156

Hubby and I had our second appointment on Friday. We met with one of the birth assistants and she was absolutely fabulous. Our appointment lasted about an hour, we asked all sorts of questions, I learned I need to be eating two eggs a day (I had my two this morning...scrambled), and I need to hit the pavement because they are serious about me walking an hour a night.

We also...got to hear the heartbeat. It was beating at 156 beats per minute and it was just amazing. Sounded just like you hear on TV and in the movies...so stinkin' cool! At one point, the birth assistant was moving the wand thing around on my stomach and the beating got louder and she said..."well looks like someone is swimming to the top to say hi!". ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I just about died, right there on the table.

This weekend, we also decided since there is indeed still a baby in there, that it would be a good time to think about paint. Hubby and I loaded up into the van and headed to Home Depot. We decided on green for the walls and we went daring...brown for the ceiling. We are going to do a jungle theme regardless of the sex, so we decided to go ahead and get that crossed off the list. I got to help prep but Hubby was in charge of painting...pour guy. He is going to finish on Wednesday but as of now, it looks REALLY good. The ceiling makes it look cozy and cuddly, like a little cave. PERFECT for sleeping. : ) I will post pictures once we have all the tape down and it is starting to look like a room again.

Oh...also...my pants are getting tight....yay? : )

Happy Baby!

Appointment Day!

Today Hubby and I have our second appointment with our midwife. I am not sure what is going to go down but since I havent seen her since I had my sonogram, I am expecting to get an exact due date. Everyone has been asking and I keep having to reply with...."well...the end of June, I think?" and that just doesn't work for some.

I think I am starting to get a belly that I can't suck in anymore. I showed Hubby this morning, he said it was cute. That made me laugh. I never thought I would hear him say that a belly was cute. He replied that if it was caused by eating "cake and ice cream" he would say something but for now, he is cool with a belly for "punkin". : )

Update about our appointment this weekend!

Happy Bellies!

My legs finally work again!

So after watching The Biggest Loser a few seasons ago, I got inspired to start walking. I started walking after dinner and on the weekends and started going pretty far distances. This lead me to the idea of walking a half marathon (13.1 miles). I asked around and found a few friends who said they were willing but I wasn't sure if they would really do it. Life can get in the way, I understand that, but I wanted to train and do it with someone who was just as serious as I was. Well the White Rock Marathon came and went, but the idea never left. Well around summer time of this year, I decided that I was going to do it. I asked Hubby if he would be willing to participate with me, and probably thinking that I would change my mind by then, he said yes. So I signed us up, paid our fees, and printed off our training schedule that we would start 14 weeks before the race.

We started training and of course, just like everyone else, life started to get in the way. We found out we were having a "punkin", the holidays rolled around and we were out of town every weekend for three weeks and before we knew it, December 13th was knocking on our door. The longest we had walked prior to last Sunday was 6 miles. It is exactly 3 miles to my parents, so we had walked there and back but since we didnt die, we figured we could push and surely do another 7.1....

We arrived at American Airlines Center at around 7:30 after parking across the street. I was cold and terrified as you can tell by my face.

But we had our numbers and we were committed.

There were 20,000 people....let me say that again TWENTY THOUSAND PEOPLE participating in the 5-person relay, the full marathon, and the half marathon.

It was INSANE. Hubby and I were at the very back of the pack (you have to enter your time when you sign up and they section you off accordingly) and in this picture, you cant even see the start line, it is actually around the corner.

The race started at 8:00AM and at about 8:15-8:20 we crossed the start line (under the balloons).

Once we hit that start line, we started walking...

and we walked....

and we walked some more...

through neighborhoods were people were cheering us on and bands were playing...

and over major freeways...where bands were playing.

It was tough. I would be lying if I said it wasn't. By the end my hips were hurting, my feet were hurting, and although I wasn't tired cardiovascularly, my body was beat. But soon we were at mile 8...

and then mile 10...

and before we knew it...12...

and then...together...we ran over the finish line.

It was an AMAZING experience and I can't imagine doing it with anyone else, "punkin" included!

Happy Feet Soaking!

Too early?

So is it too early to start buying maternity clothes? I am not showing but there are lots of cute things on sale and I don't want to miss out! I mean look at these!

                                                                                                

Come on Old Navy! YOU ARE KILLING ME! And hmmm...you can get a good sense of my taste by my color choices. : )

Pants I feel like may be a stretch because let's be honest, I am about to see if my "child bearing hips" will really show their true colors. I am hoping that they don't get so big I scare small children but I have a feeling that...things may get a little large in that department. Oh well...I guess it is worth it. : )

Happy Shopping!

Wow time is flying!

My precious little Santa advent calendar likes to stress me out every morning as I move the magnetic star one day closer to Christmas. 17 days left. This doesnt stress me out because I havent finished shopping...well I havent but I only have small stuff left....this stresses me out because the older I get, the quicker this month seems to fly by. I love this time of year, for the most part, and I just hate that it has to go by so fast!

SLOW DOWN CHRISTMAS, I AM NOT READY FOR YOU YET!!

Happy Season!

Thanksgiving Adventure!

Hubby and I left last Wednesday for New Mexico. The 500 miles northwest was ahead of us, and with Bailey (and a bunch of other stuff piled in the van) in tow...

we were off!

The trip took us about 8 hours or so...we had to take a few potty breaks.

We got to Hubby's mom's house around 3:30. Just enough time to unpack and enjoy the rest of the day light!

I tell people it is in the middle of no where, but as you can tell...we really were in the middle of no where. Despite that, it is absolutely beautiful and so incredibly quiet. You wouldnt believe the silence. As someone who LOVES silence (I am been known to drive home in complete silence) it is amazing.

We were surprised to see turkeys when we pulled up! Didnt they get the memo that Thanksgiving was the next day?!

We did a lot of relaxing,

walking around,

and enjoyed spending time with Hubby's family on Turkey Day!

We are very blessed and thankful for our lives and wonderful family. It was so nice to share the holiday with such warm and wonderful people!

Happy Blessings!