New Couch

Kelly reminded me that I haven't posted pictures of our new couches. We are really loving them. I now enjoy sitting in the living room, when I used to dread it after a while. I don't know if the pictures are clear enough, but the fabric is olive green-ish and the pillows have a lot of nice muted colors in them. Mitch actually slept on the couch a few nights ago because his legs were bothering him, and he loved it. (I don't know if that's a good thing or not.) So (drumroll) here they are:

They make our end tables and coffee table look very small, but it's ok for now. And our carpet even looks good. Who knew?

Roll Over, Beethoven!

Ok, maybe not Beethoven, but definitely Jacey. That's right, she finally rolled over (from back to tummy)! She worked for about two weeks arching her back and looking behind her. She could even do it when she held on to our fingers for a few days. Two nights ago she looked at me, swung her hips over, and tucked those arms in. And ended up on her tummy. I've been worried about going to the doctor for her 6 month check-up and having to tell the doctor she hadn't rolled over yet. But no worries! Now whenever I lay her on her back she'll roll over in a few minutes. It's really quite adorable. The only problem now is that she doesn't like being on her tummy for very long.

She's also loving food. I have to admit I am too. It's so much fun to feed her. I'm also making her baby food right now, and it's a blast. I also thought that baby food was disgusting, but now that I know what's in it, it's not that bad. Personally, I actually think I make really good applesauce. I have a wonderful cookbook that makes it easy to know how to make the food as well. And it's cheaper. So everyone is happy.

Here's a few pictures for everyone:

Jacey usually takes an evening power nap, and it's prime-time cuddling for Mom and Dad.

Yum!

My musical child? She loves listening when we play the piano. She sometimes even dances in my lap.

She loves reading now and looking at the pretty pictures.

Rumbly Tummy

Jacey has now officially had her first taste of food. Yesterday I decided to pull out the carrots and make her some carrot cereal (carrots with rice cereal, yum!). As I was trying to puree the carrots, I realized our blender wasn't going to work, since it was made for larger quantities. So Mitch and I headed to Amarillo last night to shop a little bit, and we came home with a Magic Bullet, which is supposed to change your life (at least in the kitchen). Today I successfully made Jacey carrot cereal, and she loved it. She almost ate 2 servings full.

On our shopping adventure we also stumbled across two new frying pans in our set on sale for $49. Now, we knew we were needing new ones, but we didn't really plan on spending the money for them. However, those pans are usually $129. So we splurged. I figure $25 a piece really couldn't be beat.

We also went to Best Buy, Mitch's all-time favorite store. And we came home with 2 movies (off of a gift card) and a new sound system for the youth room. It's the first purchase of many for the youth room. Someday soon the kids are going to go up to the room and wonder what has happened. Hopefully that'll be a good thing.

An update

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. We've had a busy holiday, and I just didn't have the energy to blog. But now we're home and enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon, so here's what's been happening with us.

We spent a great Christmas day here at home. It was the first Christmas we've spent in our own home since we've gotten married, and we had fun spending it together. Jacey helped me open her presents, since she can grab things very well now. After lunch we started packing up things for our trip to Nashville. Mitch was so ready for the vacation. I was a little worried about how Jacey was going to do traveling in the car for a day and a half, but she was such a good trooper. Mitch and I decided to just take it easy, and however long it took was ok. We arrived there at about 2 on Thursday.

The last visit to Nashville back in October was very hectic. We all wanted to just take things easy and relax. I didn't see everyone that I wanted to this time, but the family time was priceless. Mitch and I even went on our first date in four months! We definitely did ourselves a disservice by not going on a date earlier, and have resolved to go on one at least once a month now. Christmas with my family was great too. We were spoiled and loved it. Mom and I now have webcams so that she and Jacey can get to know each other even though they're apart. Charlotte got an Xbox 360 for Christmas, so she and Mitch played Guitar Hero III and Halo 3 most of the week. They were a blast to watch. No one plays Xbox with Mitch so well, not even me.

For New Year's Eve Charlotte invited all of her college friends to dinner and a sleepover. They wanted an excuse to dress up (mainly the girls did, I'm sure) and to see each other over the break. She cooked a really good batch of lasagna and peppermint ice cream cake. She also looked great, I might add, thanks to some help from her big sister. We got her a complete outfit in about and hour and a half (jewelry and shoes included!). The next morning we figured out that about 15 people slept over that night, including ourselves.

On Wednesday we headed to Atlanta for the National Conference on Youth Ministries (NCYM) and hooked up with Shawn and Katie Frazier for lunch. It's so nice to be able to see them now that they live in the Nashville area. Mitch and I both miss all of our Harding friends, and look for any opportunity to get together. They are both doing a wonderful job as teachers at Middle Tennessee Christian. That evening we arrived in Atlanta and really enjoyed the next three days. Mitch got some good ideas, but also connected with a lot of people he hadn't talked to in awhile. I love watching him and knowing what a good job he's doing. Jacey's schedule (and her learning that she has a voice) didn't allow me to do a lot of things, but I was able to go to one class on "preparing your daughter for every woman's battle." Basically it was how to prepare your daughter to be sexually pure. Sometimes having a little baby makes you forget about the lessons you as a parent are going to have to teach later on. I learned many valuable things that will hopefully help Jacey and our future children.

By Saturday we were ready to start towards home, so we returned to Nashville to do some laundry and rest up for traveling. We made it home on Tuesday and were so glad to see our beds. Right now we're mainly caught up with rest and taking care of things, but Jacey's having difficulty taking her afternoon nap. She cried for an hour or so both Wednesday and Thursday. She did ok yesterday but today reverted back. She's just not able to put herself back to sleep without a lot of help. I'm not suprised, since she had a stressful two weeks. It's just hard to know what to do and when to pick her up and not create bad habits. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon.

Our big Christmas present arrived on Wednesday...our new couch and loveseat! We are now finally grownups. At least that's what it feels like. They're very pretty and very big. We are loving them. Anything is better than a worn-out old futon.

Well, that's what's been happening these past few weeks with us. Hopefully I'll have some pictures for you soon.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve! We have had a very insane week, thus the lack of updates. But now we're home and being lazy, so here I go. We had a good weekend visit with Mitch's parents. We really enjoy when they come visit because we usually make it to a movie and dinner. This time we saw National Treasure, and I think it's fantastic. It's a great sequel. Today we spent our time relaxing and playing Super Mario Bros. III. Mitch downloaded it off the internet, and I'm having a blast. The only Nintendo I had access to was my granny's, and I had to fight all my cousins for a turn. Mitch is very patient with me when we play.

Jacey has definitely blossomed recently. Today she kept down a spoonful or two of cereal, much to the delight of her momma. Maybe we can start experimenting with eating food soon. We also finally found her a Bumbo chair. They had been recalled for a while, but now they're back! She had fun sitting a chewing on Dad's new loofah.

The small things in life

As I sit here and enjoy my brownie and milk, I realized I have never honored the small things I love about living in Canyon. And so here they are, in no particular order:

1. Braum's. I have to admit that at first I wasn't all that impressed with their food and ice cream. Growing up in Nashville you learn to love Purity. However, Mitch and I decided one day that we needed to try Braum's whole milk. One word. Yum. And I'm not a big milk drinker at all! But now we go through about 2 gallons a week. I also love their ice cream. It's way better than Blue Bell, and cheaper too.
2. The mindset that a trip to Walmart is a "long" way. Walmart is on the edge of town, about 5 minutes from our house.
3. No traffic. People here talk about traffic problems. I even heard once on the news that Canyon had a traffic problem! To give them credit, there is a stoplight that has no turn signal, which is annoying. But not really a problem. When I go to a city I have to remember to have patience, since it takes forever to get through a stoplight.
4. Tascosa Hot Sauce. It has to be some of the best salsa I've ever had. The Panhandle of Texas doesn't have the best Mexican food around, but they definitely know what they're doing when it comes to salsa (and the chips that go with it.) It's cool too because it's made in Amarillo. My mom buys 3 or 4 big jars when she comes to take home with her.
5. Everyone puts up Christmas lights. The majority of the people on our street have put up lights of some sort. Mitch and I were feeling like the outcasts, so we went to Walmart and bought enough icicle lights to go around the house.

Get to know me- Christmas version

Welcome to the Holiday edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love wrapping presents. To me, bags are just an easy way out of wrapping the presents.
2. Real tree or artificial? This year I got Mitch to go with me to look at real trees, and about 5 minutes later we had the perfect one picked out. It's thick, and full, and smells unbelievably good. In the past we had a very small, skinny fake tree.
3. When do you put up the tree? Whenever we have time. This year, we put it up yesterday.
4. When do you take the tree down? Same answer...whenever time permits.
5. Do you like eggnog? I've honestly never tried it.
6. What about Fruitcake? Again, I've never had it, but probably don't.
7. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably Barbie's Dream House. I got it when I was around 5 years old, and I can't wait to pull it out again with Jacey. Supposedly my parents stayed up half the night to put it together; mom having a blast, dad being miserable with all the little stickers and girly stuff.
8. Do you have a nativity scene? Yep, my mom got us the Willow Tree nativity scene a few years ago.
9. Hardest person to buy for? Probably Leland.
10. Easiest person to buy for? My mom
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I actually can't think of one
12. Mail or email Christmas cards? I used to send cards. This year, you'll just have to know you're loved without one.
13. Favorite Christmas Movie? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. What a classic! Mom even has all the figurines. I also like White Christmas.
14. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Right before we leave for Thanksgiving, since we celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving together with part of the family.
15. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope but sometimes I want to.
16. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? fudge, cherry cheesecake
17. Clear lights or colored on the tree? We have both. Supposedly if you wrap the trunk of the tree with clear lights, it glows. Then we put colored lights on, and our tree definitely twinkles.
18. Favorite Christmas song? Jingle Bells and Sleigh Ride (I love the crack of the whip and the horse...I'm am band dork, I know.)
19. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? We are actually going to be home for Christmas day for the first time. Then we are traveling to Nashville to visit my parents. Yep, 15 hours in the car with an infant. I'll keep you informed on that one.
20. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? actually yes
21. Angel on the tree top or a star? We went with a Santa hat. Whoever distributes the presents on Christmas morning wears the hat.
22. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning, unless it's cool pjs from the Wiggains.
23. What is the one present you want most this year? I honestly have everything I wanted already. The rest is just icing on the cake.
24. Most annoying thing about this time of year? "White Santa" gift exchanges. I hate opening and stealing things that someone got just because it was the worst thing they could find in their house. Dirty Santa is much better. It's the same idea, but with really cool gifts.
25. What I love most about Christmas? Being with family, giving presents, possibility of snow, carols, getting cool stuff, and the magic of it all.

I tag Mitch, Mom, Charlotte, and Laura.