recipe blog

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home sweet home...

So after being away for 5 days we were absolutely thrilled to be home!  However our house was such a disaster that we didn't want to be IN our home though.  I woke up before 6 this morning and was ready to get out and go shopping to get some of those great after Christmas deals.  I tried getting the husband up but that was a no-go so I did dishes and laundry and balanced our checking account while he and Essie slept until 8:30. 

Finally we were ready to go.  Just look at these adorable socks that Essie's Aunt Tanya got her.  They are Trumpette Disney and if you look closely you can see the Mickey Mouse.  They look like Minnie Mouse's shoes! LOVE them and we have a whole bunch of colors! :)

So we spent the whole morning shopping and after a yummy lunch at Blue Coast Burrito we headed home. 

Essie also had a yummy lunch of apple, banana, strawberry.  I think she was just a little pumped about it...whatcha think???

After lunch she played with daddy....again...a little pumped.

Do you see the shirt??? :)

and we took down the Christmas trees and other decorations! 

While Essie took a nap...check out that MAJOR paci!  We found that at Babies R' Us...it's a teething pacifier! And she LOVES to gnaw on those sides!

I don't know what it is about this time of year but I have the urge to clean and organize... I don't spring clean, I Christmas clean.  So I cleaned and organized our cabinets today and our pantry...

I even reorganized Essie's closet!

We spent the entire evening cleaning and putting things away.  We have all the Christmas stuff put up but we still need to give the ole' house a good cleaning tomorrow!  Then hopefully we can relax and enjoy the remainder of my break!

We also had a big event happen tonight.  I forgot to mention that Essie has been swaddle-free for a week or so now! YAY! That was a BIG undertaking...she was quite fond of the swaddler!  So we moved her to her own room tonight for the first time!  So far she's been okay...just hope it stays that way.  I was so sad to move her over but I knew it was time.  I always said we would do it before she was 6 months and that just happens to be next week....

6 Years Ago...

6 years ago yesterday (I was traveling all day so I didn't get to post) we walked down the aisle...

Happy Anniversary Babe!

Christmas in Pine Bluff

So Christmas Day we loaded back up and headed south to Pine Bluff (to Travis' parents house).

and all was going smoothly until he hit Jacksonville.  Apparently it was still flooded from the rains and they had everyone get off the interstate and detour through downtown.  What normally takes 5 minutes to get through town took 1 hour and 10 minutes....

thankfully Essie slept through it!  But we did see alot of flooding and damage...I really feel for those people living in the houses next the roads...some of them had water up to the windows!

So we finally arrived in Pine Bluff on Friday afternoon and we hung out with Travis' family for awhile. And of course Maggie snooped under the tree and found ALL the presents for the dogs and drug them out and opened them.

That evening she took a bath and was VERY interested at looking at herself in the mirror.  She would NOT take her eyes off herself and she kept trying to hit her reflection.

On Saturday morning they let Essie open a few of her presents before everyone else arrived so that everyone could watch.  She of course was more into the tissue paper and wrappings.

She got a really cute tooth fairy pillow, socks, piggy bank that Travis' mom had painted and added a tutu to, and Patches the rocking horse.

That day she also started making this crazy, monkey face.  She did it time and time again.  We were laughing so hard I thought we would POP! 

That afternoon she and Tucker took a short nap while waiting on the rest of the family to arrive. 

Around 5:00 Travis' brother, sister in law, niece, and nephew arrived and we got to open all the gifts!

She had fun eating boxes again.

And playing with Uncle Benny. I think she's kinda crazy about him...he makes her laugh really hard!

Excuse my hair in this picture...Travis tried to take it over my head..I normally wouldn't post this horrible quality a pic but just look at that face!