A Christmas for the dogs...

Things have been crazy in our household and I have not found my way to the computer in a while.  Tina came in the Monday before Christmas with a huge gash across her chest and leg.  A trip to the emergency vet, $400, and a sleepless night later, she was all stitched up with a cone on her head.  Of course, Butch was scared to death of her and wouldn't relax when she was anywhere within 500 feet of him.  That only applies to when Butch was allowed in the house though...he peed on the Christmas tree twice last week.  I have no idea where that came from, but it just added to the overall dog-weirdness of the holidays.

Christmas morning for us was different and wonderful.  We didn't travel at all, which is new for our little family.  So we were excited to start our own traditions.  Scott spent no less than two hours putting together Elizabeth's toys but watching her face as she saw her rocking horse for the first time was well worth it.

We enjoyed a wonderful day together and felt very blessed for our little warm house and wonderful life.  With God's blessing, next year we will be a family of four and will have one crawling around and one tall enough to pull most of the ornaments off the tree. 

Here's a shot of the Christmas turkey that almost wasn't.  To make a long story short, we didn't eat until almost 7...and now I know why most women wake up in the morning and put the turkey in...ha!

And my Christmas cactus actually bloomed on Christmas day!  Scott and I tried to figure out if that meant anything...like this is going to be an amazing year...but it turns out that they are supposed to do that.  Who knew!  Ah well, I'm expecting an amazing year anyway

Halloween

I've never really been that big a fan of Halloween.  We don't decorate the house or buy a ton of candy or anything.  So I didn't put a ton of thought into what Elizabeth was going to be because I knew we weren't going to go anywhere.  They had a trunk or treat at the YMCA and also church, but they were both on nights that Scott couldn't go and I didn't want to experience all that fun on my own. (ha!)

So Halloween night rolled around and I put the candy by the door and Scott asked if we were going to dress up Elizabeth.  We had been given a hand me down flower costume from the Campbell's that "we'd been hauling around for over 800 miles" (quote, my husband) and that's what I was going to try her in.

The first five seconds were successful and then I think she got freaked out and started fussing.  My child isn't crazy about stuff on her head anyway and a giant flower head is no exception to that rule.  We ended up turning on "her programs" (Sprouts) and that appeased her until the doorbell started ringing and she was able to hand out candy. Crisis struck again when we had to take a pack of M&M's away from her because she was eating through the wrapper and this mood lasted since the Tennessee / South Carolina game had started.

We left the front porch light on for an hour and then turned it off to get ready for bed and our cranky little flower was more than ready.  I missed Gary McSwain trying to scare the pants off me, but all in all, it wasn't a bad night.  Early bedtime for everyone and then an early wake up call, since 15 months old don't understand the meaning of daylight savings time.

The trouble with sourdough...

It's not like staying at home with my daughter doesn't take up all of my time...there are always chores that need done or errands that need run or concepts that need taught (like everything is not a du-CH and mommy is not elmo)...  But anyone who knows me knows that my idle hands do no one well and I decided to give them a go at bread.  My mom has always made wonderful bread and my sister is now a pastry chef...I figured, it's in my blood!  Plus, it's economical and who doesn't love the smell of fresh baked bread in their house?  That was my thinking anyway and so I set out to try sourdough first.

Now, let me begin by explaining that I haven't always had the most time to spend in the kitchen, so it's not like cooking is second nature to me.  So as I began on my sourdough, I carefully followed the instructions and made the starter.  It was still pretty warm outside then, so I put it in the garage to rise.  I checked it the next morning...nothing.  The next evening...nothing.  Well, maybe if I move it into the refrigerator...nothing.  No rise - yet there was a lot of STINK!

I was ready to throw it out completely and spray my kitchen with a good can of lysol (Cassandra style) when Susie told me I could still try to make pizza dough out of it, even if it didn't rise.  So I tried...  My husband walked in the house that night, kissed me hello, and lovingly asked, "What is that?" 

"It's pizza," I said.

"It is," he retorted?  "Well, I guess I sort of see that."

I threw it out. 

So I gave up on sourdough completely and thought, I have started this journey on too much of a challenge.  I just need to stay simple and make easy rolls.  Ok, so when they say to add WARM liquid to the yeast, to me, that means to let it boil just a little bit.  Needless to say, there was no rise AGAIN and my dinner rolls came out as rocks.  My poor husband, again my guinea pig, attempted to eat one, but we really don't have the money for him to get broken teeth fixed at the dentist, so I didn't push it.  I threw them out too.

Therefore, I determined that since my mom makes fantastic bread and my sister is a pastry chef...why should I waste time specializing in bread??  It's not like that is going to be my contribution to family dinners anyway.  So back to the drawing board.

Next crafts project...sewing!!!

Our little girl is one!

I'm not sure if Elizabeth will ever appreciate me doing a blog to record the events of her life.  It will probably be outdated once she's old enough to read it.  But I hope it keeps our family and friends updated on her progress.  That, and it may keep the print journalism major in me active. 

We spent Elizabeth's first birthday in Las Vegas, also celebrating Aunt Anessa's wedding.  She had quite a lunch spread.  Her grammie made her turkey and macaroni and cheese (her favorite!).  There was salad and hamburgers and crab dip.  Unfortunately, we ran into the afternoon nap time and also a major case of the crabbies.  We attempted to get her to smash cake and she did...right into her eye...and screamed.  After a two hour nap, all was cured!

 

At one, we are so proud of our baby girl...sorry, our big girl now.  She can walk and tries to run but always ends up going at an angle and crashing.  She loves the doggies...they are not too sure about her.  Her vocabulary is...well, it's hers.  She says mama and dada, dog, book, duCK (sounds like it's German with an -ech on the end!), "all done", up and down and I love you (I la la).  She loves her books...especially when they are all over the floor.  Lately, she runs to the door when her daddy gets home from work and I see my big husband melt.  She gives the best open mouth kisses.  She loves anything with cheese and salt...she is not crazy about sweets.  I still wonder if she is my child.  

This year has been such a blessing.  It seems like Scott and I look at each other at the end of every year and say, "This was the best year yet."  And the past one is no different.  It's funny how having a baby changes you.  Who would have thought we would have both gotten out of coaching?!  Our lives are completely different and we have never felt more blessed.