BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes 2008

Over at BooMama's they are doing a tour of Christmas decor in your home so click on the button and check it out!



Welcome to our home...

You will be greeted by a GIANT wreath on the door that was given to us by some friends who own a nursery...


Here is our tiny tree that is set up on a table so that our 10 month old, Harper, won't get into it.


We have another wreath on the other side of our door, as well as lights on the entertainment center - oh yeah!


And in the kitchen... Our ginormous poinsettia (also given to us by the nursery people. They are so sweet!)...


My display of Christmas cards... do you see yours? (You can also see this hanging in the picture above)



And before you leave, why don't we sip on some wassail...one of my favorite Christmas beverages...and eat some coconut cake.

Christmas Wassail
INGREDIENTS

* 2 quarts apple cider
* 2 cups orange juice
* 1 (46 fluid ounce) can pineapple juice
* 2 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
* 1 tablespoon whole cloves
* 1/2 cup honey


DIRECTIONS

In a large stock pot over medium heat, combine the apple cider, orange juice, pineapple juice, cinnamon sticks, cloves and honey. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat, or transfer to a slow cooker to keep warm while serving. Strain out cinnamon sticks and cloves before serving.

I would give you the coconut cake recipe, but it takes 5 days to make... who has the time for that? Oh yes, my mother does, and that is why I am going home for Christmas!

SHOCK OF OUR LIVES!

Well, this afternoon I had a suspicious feeling I was pregnant. I have been going to bed pretty early this past week, but I thought it was because I was getting sick. Then, my period did not show up, so I had a feeling.

After a delicious GREEK lunch (which I was craving this morning at 7 am), I told Chris I needed to run by the dollar store to get a few things. I picked up some razors, soap, a magazine, and a pregnancy test. I had to ask the man behind the counter for one - so embarrassing! Anyway, I came in the door with my bag of loot and Chris didn't expect a thing! I put Harper down for a nap, and then went to take my test. With in a minute... sure enough...

POSITIVE.

I had such a surreal feeling. It took us so many months to get pregnant with Harper... I had many, many negative tests, so when this one came up positive, I was in shock. Chris had to leave for night church, so I decided to wait and spring the surprise on him later that night. (Plus, the Titans were stressing him out, and I didn't want to tell him our good news when he was upset with his team!) So, after he left, I wrapped the pregnancy test up in a cute little box, and put it under our tree.




Once we came back from church, I told him that I had an early Christmas present for him, and I just couldn't wait until Christmas to give it to him.



Here is a video of his response! (Once I can get the technology bug worked out... I will post it

We've Been Traveling... A LOT

Catch up... well, it has almost been a month since I posted last! Goodness time flies! In the last post Harper was sick. She stayed sick for about 4 days with a high fever, cold, and cough. We had all the stops pulled out... green froggy humidifier, bed propped up, saline drops, and the glorious nose sucker! By Friday afternoon, her fever broke, and I had to leave her with the grandparents for the first time. It wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. She did well, and had a blast with Chris' parents! I was able to accompany my husband to Fall Retreat for middle school and high school and it was SO MUCH FUN! We had such a great time in Kentucky!

(Harper and her Grandaddy. I have no pics of the fall retreat because I forgot my camera!)


We came home Sunday, only to do a few quick loads of laundry and re-group to leave for Georgia on Tuesday morning. We had such a great time visiting family and friends on Wednesday. On Thursday, we continued our travels to Alabama to visit Chris' grandfather & his aunts and uncles. One of Chris' cousins has a little boy, Mason, that is a week younger than Harper. And his Aunt Penny has a 2 year old son. It was lots of fun with all the little ones, and I know each year will only be more fun as we get to watch them grow! After eating lots of yummy turkey and casseroles, we drove back to Georgia. Harper did great with all the travel! We timed the trips to her nap schedule, so it worked well!
(Harper and her Great-Grandad)

(Grandma Jo with Mason and Harper)


The following day, Friday, we met up with some of our dear friends, the Harbins, who just had a sweet baby girl, Libby, at the beginning of October.
(Heather & Libby and Me & Harper)


Saturday morning, we got up and drove back to Nashville. Ahhhh, so good to be home for... 4 days.
(Our family in front of the tree at Chris' parent's house)


Then, we were off to Pennsylvania for Johnny and Meg's wedding. Johnny, my brother, and Meg were married by Justice of the Peace in December 2005 right before he went to boot camp. So, now that he is back from Iraq, they had a "real" wedding in Meg's church. We flew to Raleigh on Thursday evening after Chris left the office. Harper had a blast on the plane! We rode with two girl soccer teams, and Harper entertained them with all of her faces the entire flight. It was great!

That night, we got all settled in, but Harper decided she didn't want to sleep but for about 3 hours. She would scream and cry when we put her in the pack n play, but would immediately stop when we got her out. I tried to bring her in bed with us (which we never do), so she thought it was play time. She would sit up and clap her hands, try to poke us in the eye, and crawl all over the bed. We were all exhausted by the time we had to leave!

We had so much fun meeting up with Nancy and Will, and Uncle Jack & his family at the airport. On the plane we passed Harper back and forth - we were all entertained! Friday afternoon, we ate a the Primanti Brothers... so yummy! It has french fries on EVERYTHING (including the salads). Since FF's are my favorite food in the world, I was super excited that someone had thought of this idea!!!
(Our family... Uncle Jack, Caroline, Nancy, Me, Harper, Chris, Mom, Liza, Aunt DeAnn - where was Will?? Oh, he was asleep at the hotel b/c he has worked night shift the previous night)


Saturday was the wedding, which was in a beautiful Catholic Cathedral. The wedding was about an hour away from our hotel, but the reception was back at the hotel we were staying at. The drive there was no problem, but the drive back took us 3 1/2 hours! It was snowing and the roads were icy. But, once we got to there, we had SO.MUCH.FUN!!! That was by far the BEST wedding reception I have ever been to! Great food! Yummy Yummy cake! AND THE BEST DANCING in the world! Harper didn't last long.. she timed her meltdown right when the entrees were coming out. Chris gobbled his down, took her upstairs & put her down. Then my younger cousins, Caroline and Liza, went and sat upstairs with her so Chris could come down and enjoy the Par-tay! :-) (aren't they sweet? I wish they lived closer!!!)
(Beautiful!)

( Our family after the ceremony) - Oh, during the ceremony Harper did great... until she figured out that her voice would echo. It was quite funny. She did it a few times, then got distracted doing something else - good thing! haha)

(Chris and Harps after her outfit change for the reception)

(Me, Johnny, and Nancy the morning after the wedding.)


We flew back Sunday & were so glad to be home! The next day, Harper was back to running a temperature and had developed a terrible cough. I knew it would happen after being in such cold weather, and the toting her around the eastern part of the US. So, I took her to the doctor and sure enough she had her first double ear infection. She is on antibiotics now, and is doing much better!

We leave this Saturday for Boone, NC to see Nancy graduate - hooray! And then Monday we drive onto Raleigh, then Clinton, then back home after Christmas!!! THEN WE ARE STAYING PUT!

So, if you have read through this entirely too long post... you now know why I haven't posted in a month. Maybe come the new year, I'll be back to posting on a regular basis... or not... we'll see ;-)