Thanksgiving...dun dun DUN

Haha, don't let the title fool you. Thanksgiving was fantastic! Ryan and I had so much fun cooking the turkey together. We didn't even argue. I am so thankful for my little family of three, and that I made an edible turkey! :) 

Here is the bird, stuffed with garlic, onion, lemon and a bunch of spices. 

Here is the mixture we soaked the cheesecloth in...

Ryan stirring the mixture....

 Lylah was so excited. Can you tell? (She loves her woombie!)

Soaking the cheesecloth...

 Putting the cheesecloth over the bird...

 Putting it in the oven....

 TA-DA!!!!!

Carving the bird!

Ahhh, success. It was so yummy! My family came to eat with us and they enjoyed it. It was a great day. Happy Thanksgiving!!

She's here! And she's the best thing EVER.

So, if you are not a fan of large amounts of baby pictures, you should probably not visit my blog much anymore. Cause I am sure from here on out it will be pictures of Lylah, crafts for Lylah, pictures of Lylah and just to mix it up...videos of Lylah.

Lylah graced us with her presence on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30pm. I think this is funny, cause as a teacher this time is a great time of day. Haha! She came quickly, and she is the most beautiful baby. She is so cute I just want to stare at her forever. Ryan and I stared at her in the hospital, we stared at her in the car (Well Ryan drove, I stared), we stared at her in our room, and we will probably stare at her until she's 13 and tells us to "stop embarrassing her." And even then, I am sure we won't stop staring at her.

We are home, happy and completely sleep deprived. But she is very worth it. Some time I will sit down and type more about her birth story, but not today. I am trying to squeeze in a blog post before Lylah needs to eat, I pass out, or both. I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining. It's the best time of my life, and I am not even kidding.

I have taken some pictures, but trust me, there are more to come. The first set is from her birth, and the last three are from this morning. Gotta love that morning light.

Lylah's Birth....

Above: Ryan's favorite...

My favorite (like blow it up to poster size and put it everywhere in my house favorite)

A few new ones from today....

Going to try to blog about something else besides the Nursery, baby, etc.

Happy Fathers-to-be Day to my awesome husband! This is a late post, but hey, I'm pregnant. Oh, you didn't know that? Yeah, I don't talk about it enough. Sorry. I'll try to post more about being pregnant. (Sarcasm.) 

For Father's Day, I wanted to do something really sweet for Ryan. Let me tell you something about Ryan. He needs NOTHING. He doesn't need clothes, shoes, movies, cologne, ANYTHING. If you ask him what he wants, he doesn't know. If he needs something, he purchases it. (He gets this from his Dad.) If he wants something, it is way too big of a purchase for me. Like a receiver, or a TV. Yeah, like I'm gonna get him that without him. I ain't nobody's fool. 

So I do know he likes food. And recently, I have introduced him to massages. I have an amazing massage lady who I LOVE and have seen for over a year. She is fantastic. Her name is Megan and she is at Salon and Spa at Eaton Court in Allen, TX. If you need a massage, she is awesome. 

So Sunday morning, I snuck out of bed early. This is really hard to do, because Ryan is an especially light sleeper, and even more so that I've been pregnant. But somehow I made it out to the kitchen and managed to cook this without waking him. I thought for SURE I had woken him up, but when I went to bring him breakfast, he was dead to the world. 

YUM! 

It was so yummy. (Of course I made some for myself) I gave him a gift certificate for massage and we headed off to church. 

I am so lucky to have this awesome man! He is going to be such an amazing father. I love hearing him talk about Lylah, and how he can't wait to play with her. Just take a look at this....

Yup, that's my awesome Husband reading to the baby. I love him. 

Happy Fathers Day also to my Dad. He is such a great Dad! I love him so dearly. He always makes me laugh and is just a fun guy. If you know my Dad, you probably know that I am a lot like him. I just love him...He is the best. I miss living close to him and will get to see him in a few weeks. 

And Happy Father's Day to my awesome Father-in-law! He is such a great guy, and I'd have to say the BEST Father-in-law a girl could ask for. He is so kind, easy-going, and very easy to get along with. He is such a great man! 

My little girl is SO lucky to have these three men in her life. I can't wait to see them interact with her! :)

Happy Father's Day!! (A little late...)

The New Car Story

Ryan and I had been researching cars for a while. We had researched everything you could possibly research, and if you know my Husband, you totally believe me. After lots of research, we decided to test drive two cars. The Ford Edge and the Honda Pilot. We wanted an SUV with low mileage, a reasonable price tag (we wanted to pay cash, per the Dave Ramsey plan), the right color, pretty interior and a nice mom-mobile. 

So we set out on Memorial Day to test drive two hand-selected SUVS. Low mileage, the right color, etc. (Except I secretly didn't like the color of the Pilot we were going to see, but wanted to drive it anyway.)

We drove the Edge in McKinney and loved it. Only problem was I didn't want to buy the first car I saw. I wanted to see if I liked the Pilot better. So we left to drive to Lewisville. (Plus I wanted a third row...)

When we got there, the car had been sold that we wanted to see. Ryan was not happy, because he had called to specifically check if it was there. But then, I laid my eyes on this beauty: 

....and the rest is history. (Which worked out because they sold the Ford Edge about 10 mintues after we left!)

It's a 2007 Honda Pilot, with leather interior, voice navigation, heated seats, a 3rd row, and low mileage (and a warranty). 

 Ryan test driving it. 

So we bought it. A few hours later, it was ours! Forgive my appearance below...it had been a long day!

But first, I had to say goodbye to the Lexus, because we traded it in. I'm not gonna lie, I cried. That car had been so good to me. I loved that car..she was just getting quirky and was 11 years old.

Saying goodbye.....

One last look...

And into the "new" car!

Right after we bought it!

And I love it. It took some time to get used to..I kept wondering whose white SUV was in our garage. I still get excited when I need to run an errand and I climb into it. I am so happy! Okay, I'm done bragging about my new car. :)

Anniversary (Very Late!)

Ryan and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary on May 12. My Grandmother passed away the next day, we painted our nursery the next weekend, and bought a car last weekend (more on that in another post). So, I am late with my anniversary post!

I love my Ryan so much, and I am so excited we are having a baby in a few months. He will be such an awesome father. He already is! He has read to Lylah, talks to her all the time...he is the best. I can't wait to see him love on our little girl.  He loves children and babies, just like me. It's one of the first things I noticed about him. Here is proof...

Ryan with Jonah, our friends the Fleming's baby boy

Playing with sweet Addi (several months ago!) our friends the Brown's baby.

With newborn Addi last June.  Can't believe it's been almost a year!

(And wearing the same shirt as when he met Jonah. Must be his "baby-meeting shirt"!)

I can't wait to add pictures (many, I'm sure) of Ryan holding Lylah!

We had a great anniversary, with a trip to Joe's Crab Shack, which is my favorite!! He gave me a massage certificate (the man knows me well) and a sweet necklace with an L on it. He did well, and we had a great time! I love that man. Can't believe it's been four years! Time flies....

Babymoon

Ryan and I had a marvelous time in Hot Springs, AR at Bartee Meadow Bed & Breakfast. It makes me miss it just talking about it! Everything about this place was just delightful. Here are a few reasons I loved it: 

1. An adorable, cozy cabin with a beautiful view. 

 2. This guy was there with me. Here he is outside the cabin, which was so cutely decorated for Easter.

3. Little touches, like our names EVERYWHERE, welcoming us, wishing us goodnight, etc.

5. A hot tub on our back porch!

6. A delicious steak dinner with my favorite guy.

7. A picnic! After which I owned Ryan in a game of Horse.

 7. Sparkling cider and cookies on our last night, which we consumed wearing our fluffy white robes that were provided. We lived in those!

It was so wonderful and relaxing. No dogs, no cooking, no noise, and only a little rain. (But even the rain was romantic!) I love my man!

(Ignore my white arm. Please. For my sake.)

We got bored...

This is a long overdue post, but when it snowed like crazy, we got bored. Ryan and I both stayed home from work, and shenanigans ensued. See below.

We dressed up our dogs.

Resourcefully cooked.

Pancakes. Training for when we have kids. (My Dad always make us initial pancakes)

I wanted to do a puzzle. Ryan did not.

Read funny things at WhenParentsText.com

The dogs got a little stir-crazy, too.... 

Gotta go....Sadie is trying to drag Lewis around the house.

It's a....

GIRL! :)

Here are some pictures from our little reveal party we had with our small group. It was so fun!

 The pink team. Notice Addi is in the picture because she even picked the pink plate.

Little blue team. This is funny cause on Facebook most people guessed boy!

Everyone!

About to cut...

Cutting...

Still cutting....

My favorite picture of the night. It's a girl!

So happy!

We are so thrilled! It's 95% chance its a girl, so it's still possible it's a boy....but I don't think so. :)