Christmas Time!

After Thanksgiving and the fun, we started putting up our decorations yesterday. Tonight, we finished the tree, and Emma had so much fun with the lights. Last year, she wasn't so into the holidays, but its so cute this year seeing her get so excited about the lights, the tree and the decorations. I love reliving holidays through young innocent eyes, it really brings a new joy to this time of year!



Here's a video of Shane and Emma relaxing under the tree, enjoying the lights from below. :)

Emma's Cousins!

We went to Spokane last weekend and got to visit with Shane's sister and her family. They are Emma's only cousins, and we don't get to see them very often. Emma had so much fun! Here they are cuddled up watching a movie.

Thanksgiving Day!

I am absolutely addicted to cooking and the Food Network. Even though we are splitting Thanksgiving between my parents and Shane's parents, I still bought everything to make Thanksgiving dinner. So on Sunday, I'm going to cook us our own little Thanksgiving so I can try all these new recipes, and of course have leftovers.

I tried this last year, and it was so great! From Emeril Lagasse, Fresh Cranberry Compote, really easy to make and so much tastier than the can!

I'm going to try these from Martha Stewart's website... I am one that swore, I'd never love Martha, but I really am starting to! I learned on her show how to make homemade chicken stock, and I tried it yesterday! It actually turned out pretty good! I was surprised! :)

Anyway, here are a few recipes, all from Martha's site that I'm going to try.

Green Bean Casserole with Fried Shallots




Cornbread, Pecan & Wild Mushroom Stuffing



It just looks so yummy! I can't wait to try it all!

Hallelujah!

Emma's still been fighting the "food" battle for the last couple of weeks...she's finally been doing a little better. Last night, she had her first full dinner in a week and a half. I made some homemade chicken noodle soup with veggies and dumplings. She snarfed the noodles and carrots. It took a little coaxing, but she ate it! Every time she ate a carrot, we both clapped and shouted, "YEAH CARROTS!". I feel a bit odd for getting so excited about such a small thing, but it was such a relief to see her eat a full meal. Prayers were answered! :)

Emma's two favorite things...

1. Horses. She loves her little rocking horse. She loves her horsey pajamas, and she loves "Jesse" from Toy Story 2. She's quite the little cowgirl. At the mall the other day, we let her ride one of the little carousels. While she was on, we kept saying, "hold on tight". She loved it...when it was time to get off, she was upset and cried on the rest of the way out of the mall. Since then, she's said at least a couple of times each day, "Mommy, I hold tight on horsies!" She'll never forget it, and we'll never be able to go to that mall again, without her knowing that it is there.



2. Drawing. Especially on her hands, thank goodness it hasn't translated to the walls yet.

Arghhh!

So... many of you know that I am in the process of working on my National Boards for teaching. I'm currently in the 2nd year. It is the most challenging process I've ever gone through. Much more intense than even my Masters degree. Scores were released this morning, and I was super close to certifying again, but didn't quite make it. I was more disappointed than you can believe, and now I have one more year to finish the process.

After waking Shane up before work and crying for a bit...he was so sweet and sent me flowers at work. I'm glad I have a sweet husband, and a goofy daughter to get me through a hard day!

Emma can Read!

Here is Emma reading her favorite book right now, "Polar Bear..." She loves to name all the animals as we go. Honestly, it gets a little annoying to read to her after the 10th time in one day. This was the first time she sat down and read it (kind of) on her own. I was so happy!