Christmas 2012

I am 95% finished with my Christmas shopping. We aren't doing adult gifts this year so it's been easy to knock it out for all the kids.

Here is what we have so far:

Avonlea:

Bennett and Peytonn:

The boys will each get a bigger item, but we haven't fully decided what those will  be yet. I keep asking them, but it changes daily. I have a few ideas in mind.

My Christmas present was 2 new pairs of jeans and a pair of boots:

Source: zulily.com via Courtney on Pinterest

I absolutely love Maurices jeans! The top pic is the Taylor jeans which I adore! I have 3 pairs. The bottom ones are new to me, they are the Maurices Denim Flex line and I adore them even more than the Taylor jeans. I got them in my original size since they are a straight legged jean and they fit perfect! I probably could have gone with the size down, but I despise tight jeans! The good news is the jeans are affordable: $29 for the Taylor and like $38 I believe for the Denim Flex. I bought them at buy one get one half off!

Hello and Goodbye

Hello to a smaller jean size! Goodbye 10 pounds worth of baby weight! Thank you Zumba and myFitnessPal! You're rocking my socks right now!

Thanksgiving menu

This is our 4th year hosting Thanksgiving. Its a lot of work, but I prefer it to traveling with 3 children to  several different places. I started hosting right after Bennett was born. So yes, I decided to host Thanksgiving when I had a 2 weeks old preemie baby. Again, it was easier than taking him to a million places. But I've really learned to enjoy it. I love cooking, so why not host a huge meal?!

Usually, I just roast my turkey the same way that I roast my chickens. But this year, I am trying something new. I decided to take the plunge and attempt to brine our turkey. I used the recipe from Pioneer Woman:

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Since I knew I had to work all day today and the bird needs to brine for at least 18-24 hours, I made the brine last night and put the turkey in it.  I used the Reynolds bags to place the turkey and  brine in. Then I put a layer of ice in the bottom of our cooler, put the bag of turkey/brine in, and another bag with ice on top. I placed the entire cooler outside where it was cold. I checked it this morning and the ice had melted a little, but it was still cold and plenty of ice left. We used a free range, organic turkey this year as well that I got from our co-op. It's ginormous! I think its about 18lbs, but I'm also feeding 8 adults and 5 children. Plus I want leftovers. I think it should be fine.

Our other menu items include:

*rosemary and butter yeast rolls* I make these every year and they are a huge hit!

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Courtney on Pinterest

*cornbread stuffing* Also an every year thing and a huge hit!

Source: food.com via Courtney on Pinterest

*cornflake potatoes* This is my grandfather's recipe and I have loved it since I was a child

*deviled eggs*

*Greenbean casserole*

*7-layer salad*

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Laura on Pinterest

*Mashed potatoes and turnips* trust me, you'll never know the turnips are in there!

Source: ahealthypassion.com via Courtney on Pinterest

*Homemade Pecan pie and pumpkin pie with real whipped cream*

*My mom's homemade sweet potatoes*

*Homemade gravy*

I think that about sums it up. I make everything from  scratch for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think the holidays warrant really good, homemade food! I don't mess around with the premade stuff.

I can't wait to gobble it all down!! But, I do plan to run that morning so I don't feel guilty about eating all that good food. :)

A million and one things

I'm sorry, an update is long overdue it appears. Things have been crazy busy around here lately with work and kids.

Bennett turned 4 at the beginning of this month. He had a wonderful party filled with family and friends. The star gift was a Nerf gun bought by my husband. (insert eye roll) Not my top choice and its spent more time put up due to pointing it at people and shooting it at people.


But he had a good party and that's what matters. He also got to celebrate his birthday at school and he loved getting to wear the birthday crown all day. He had his 4 year checkup and on his actual birthday. He weighed in around 33-34lbs. He's in the 25th-35th% for both height and weight. Poor kid is short like his mama. I talked with his  doc about his 'behavior' and she sent a referral for an OT evaluation. (Occupational therapy) We go today for that appointment. Other than that, he is healthy as a clam.

Things have been stressful  around here lately. Work this past week was insane, I worked 48 hours this week alone. I have a difficult court hearing coming up the week after Thanksgiving and that is just looming over my head. I have been so stressed and busy that I lost 5lbs this week. Yes, 5lbs in one week. Its not healthy, but having those 5lbs gone feels really good, I'm not going to lie. It was the jump start I've been needing. I've been religiously tracking on MyFitnessPal on my phone, which has really helped.

Speaking of phones, I have finally joined the iPhone world! Holla! Its much easier for everything to sink now with work. I live on my phone, its my life. I'm on 24/7 with work and this allows me to get fast responses. I am really loving the iPhone so far.

Does anyone have recommendations on cases? I've seen the Otterbox and I know it will protect it, but I need it to be slim enough to fit in my pocket. I have to take my phone everywhere so I  can call 911 in a drop of a hat. So it needs to be slim and sleek. Any suggestions?

Doc appointment update

Avonlea had her 15 month check up on Wednesday. Her stats were as follows:
Weight: 21.4lbs
Height: 30 inches

The issue: in 3 months she has only gained just over a pound. Although its not a huge concern at this point because she is still between 25th-50th % for weight. I knew she was thinning out and it was one of the things I wanted to ask the doctor about.


We already started giving her 1-2 Pediasure drinks per day and I wanted to know if that was enough or if she should be getting more. The doc said we were  doing the right thing. She also said that Avonlea should gain another pound within a month, and if she didn't then we could add another drink in per day, for a total of three. The doc asked about Avonlea's appetite and how she ate. One thing I am very thankful for is that none of my kids are picky eaters and they eat just about everything. Avonlea is no exception to that. I was more concerned about her not getting enough fat for her brain to develop since she was not eating that much dairy.

I've started to add some dairy back into her diet to see how she handles it. So far we have successfully added cottage cheese and regular cheese without a problem. The last 3 days I have given her about 4oz of whole milk per day to see how she does. So far, so good. I hope this will help her gain some weight. She has been stuff in 12-18 month clothes for about 4-6 months now.



She also is finally signing the word "more" back to me. I've been using it with her for month and all of a sudden she just started doing it!