Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!

So much to say, so little time...
Christmas was great. We had family in town and then we went to visit more family! It is always great to have everyone together.

Our trip to Philadelphia included meeting our newest niece Elsa, playing in 24" of snow that (thankfully) fell before we got there, and going to the Please Touch Museum.

Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Leah with her aunt Jenni

Leah's first snowman

Tim, Sara & baby Elsa

The grandparents with the granddaughters

Leah took holding baby Elsa very seriously.

The Please Touch Museum

And to share some more exciting news - we are expecting our second child! I am due in July. We told our parents by having them open a picture of the ultrasound. The reactions made for some good photos.

"Thanks for the picture frame."
No mom, the frame isn't the gift.

"Why are they giving us a picture of Leah's ultrasound now?!?

Oh! Your future baby?!?

Hmm...

Well yeah, I know it's a picture of a baby.

Ha! You're pregnant!

Have you heard?

I'm 30 now. The big 3-0. Joe was sweet enough to take me to Vegas for my birthday where we ate some very nice meals (I am spoiled now) and saw the Cirque de Soleil show O. When I lived in Huntsville, Joe and I watched a Bravo series on the making of another Cirque show, Ka I think, and we saw their auditorium show in Memphis a few years ago.

O was fantastic! I snapped a few pictures before the show started.

This is the ceiling of the theater. The middle part is actually a trapeze that comes down at the beginning of the show.

The stage.

The mimes came out at the beginning and made appearances throughout the show. They were pretty funny. They got some of the audience members wet, who didn't seem to happy about it.

Us before the show.

And of course, one of the cutest helpers you could ever have in the kitchen.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese

This is super tasty and should be a hit with any kid - BUT, I should warn you. It is not diet friendly. :)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
2 packets ranch seasoning
2lb grilled chicken, cut into bite size pieces1lb bacon, cooked crispy and chopped
1 pound elbow macaroni
3 cups coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

In a heavy saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat. Add flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes.

Add milk in a stream, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking.

Add 1 1/2 packets ranch seasoning, and simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, until thickened, about 2 minutes.

In a kettle of salted boiling water cook macaroni until just al dente, about 7 minutes, and drain well.

In a large bowl stir together macaroni, bacon, chicken, sauce, Cheddar, and 1 cup Parmesan. Reserve 1/2 cup bacon.

In a small bowl stir together bread crumbs, remaining ranch seasoning, remaining bacon, and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan. Or you can sprinkle these ingredients over the casserole separately.

Bake macaroni in middle of oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

November has passed so fast! Joe and I are excited to welcome the newest member to our family, Elsa Maxine was born on the 16th. She is adorable and we can't wait to meet her!

Thanksgiving was great and Leah enjoyed spending lots of time with family. We hosted my side for dinner and then played a couple of rounds of Scene It! My sister brought the Simpsons version and surprisingly the girls almost won. Who would have guessed? Crissie, Steve & Jenni took the girls to the Thanksgiving Day Parade downtown, Steve took all the girls to Monkey Joe's one day and Crissie and I took them to the City Museum. It was a full week!

I will leave you will the latest from Leah.

-Do you need to go potty before your bath?

-No, I'll just go in the bath.

Funny girl. So of course I made her sit on the potty until she went.

Leah's First Concert

Leah's daycare had a Fall Harvest concert on Tuesday night! I wasn't sure if she would be included because she hasn't been there long but she was. It was all very cute. Below is the link to the videos - someone walked in front of me, so it is in two clips. The second clip in the album is actually the first part. Anyways, this is the first time I've done this so I hope it works. Let me know if you have any trouble so I can try something else if I need to.

http://www.vimeo.com/album/145803

This weekend Crissie, Steve and the girls came down to visit. It was great, and the kids had a lot of fun together. We have been letting the big girls have slumber parties whenever we stay together, and Leah was great at Crissie's. I guess being at home is different for her, Leah was a party animal! She was not going to sleep. They even orchestrated their own pillow fight. So I ended up moving Leah back to her crib, but she was happy with that.

Friday we had a mini-celebration for Katie's 4th birthday and Saturday we went to the zoo and enjoyed the wonderful weather. That night Jenni, Joe and I watched the girls so Crissie and Steve could go out for her birthday. Elaine did great even though she isn't a fan of other people. :)

2 more weeks until Thanksgiving!

Halloween

Leah was a skunk this year for Halloween - Little Stinker. She loved it, she loved having a tail & telling people to say "Eww!". I put a little face paint on her nose too and she got a big kick out of that. I really thought Leah would only be interested for a few houses, but she actually made it almost the entire way around the block. Also, candy is a HUGE motivator for her. She loved watching all the other trick or treaters and the decorations, and she said "trick or treat" and "thank you" just like she was supposed to.

We carved pumpkins on Saturday morning. Leah thought that was great. She liked the seeds & goo inside and talking about how she was getting messy. Joe made a scary pumpkin, Leah called it the tiger pumpkin because of the sharp teeth.

Jenni's birthday is November 1st so before we headed out we had her family and my parents over for dinner. My dad went out with Leah and I and my mom stayed back with Joe to give out candy. Leah liked having her grandpa there to talk to & he took her up to some houses, too. When we got home she helped grandma give out candy until we ran out.