Christmas 2009

We spent Christmas weekend in Jackson at my parent's house. It's always great to spend time with family and this year was no exception. We spent a few hours of the weekend watching home videos from the past few years. We laughed A LOT...mainly at my expense since I tend to act a fool when the camera is around. Anyway, here are a few pictures from our time in Tennessee...

I got the Glee soundtrack...woo hoo!!! Nathan was a great sport and let us listen to BOTH cds on the way back to Louisville! =)

Sunniee on Christmas Day...her new outfit and skateboard. Beautiful girl!

Graciee in her new outfit...so cute!

Austin aka Jonathan Crompton LOL

Jaxon and Gavin

Nanny and three of her grandbabies

Sunniee and Graciee getting ready to go play outside

Tiffany and Gavin...love that little smile! =)

Mimi talking to Brandon...he just stared at her

Graciee and her "Baby Alive"...this doll really eats and poops - kind of disturbing! LOL

The Hollis family...Tommy, Tiffany, Austin, Sunniee, Graciee, Jaxon and Gavin

The babies...Gavin, Brandon and Jaxon in outfits that Nanny got them...sweet!

Graciee ready to open presents!

Mama Sae and Paw Paw came over the day after Christmas...this is Mama Sae holding Brandon

Pa and Gavin

Nathan and his baby boy...one of the my fave pictures from the weekend

We had a great weekend and hope to make it back to Tennessee soon!

Meg

Christmas Candy

I made some Christmas candy to take to my parent's house for the holidays. I am posting the recipes on here in case you need any Christmas candy ideas...none of these are time consuming or difficult!

CHOCOLATE PRETZELS
Ingredients:
Bag of waffle-shaped pretzels
Bag of Hershey Kisses
Small bag of M&Ms

Preheat the oven to 350degrees. Lay pretzels flat on baking sheet and place one hershey kiss on each pretzel. Bake for ONE MINUTE...literally! =) Take out of the oven and immediately press M&M on top of the hershey kiss.

WHITE CHOCOLATE OREO BALLS (thanks, Summer)
Ingredients:
1 pkg of Oreos
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 pkg of white chocolate morsels

If you have a food processor, dump the oreos in and pulse them until they are sandy. Then add the cream cheese and pulse until it forms a ball. (You can also use a blender.) Form into quarter sized balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Once they are all formed, let them set up in the fridge for several hours.

Then melt the chocolate of your choice in the microwave and dip the balls into the chocolate, totally covering them. White chocolate does a lot better if you heat it over a double boiler with about 1 teaspoon of veg oil.

Place back on the parchment lined baking sheet and let them set up in the fridge until the chocolate is hard.

They might not look very pretty but they are YUMMY!!! =)

PEANUT BUTTER RICE KRISPIE TREATS
Ingredients:
9 cups of Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup of peanut butter
1 stick of butter
1 13 oz jar of Marshmallow Creme

Melt butter in a large pot. Once melted, turn heat to medium-low. Add the cereal, peanut butter, and marshmallow creme. Mix together. (I add everything in slowly rather than just throwing it all in the pot...it makes it easier to stir.) Spread the mixture in one or two 9x13 pans depending on how thick you want them. Place in fridge for an hour or two so they can set. ENJOY!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!



Meg

Baby Book

I have been pretty good about keeping up with Brandon's baby book and I am hoping I can do the same for Baby Moore #2. I have a folder on our computer that is designated for Brandon. Within that folder is a folder for each month. Everytime I take pictures I store them in the appropriate folder and when it's time to work on his baby book I go to the necessary folder and determine which pictures I want to print. Since Brandon just turned six months old on the 10th, I worked on his five month page today. It only takes me about twenty minutes...last month and this month, Brandon loved looking at the pictures when I was finished.




Meg

Exciting News

I went to the doctor this afternoon to get the confirmation that I am pregnant and about six to eight weeks along!!! I was able to keep it pretty confidential for a while until I started showing...yeah, that's CRAZY! I didn't start wearing maternity clothes until I was 14 weeks with Brandon so everything happened a little faster this time around. We are going back to the doctor in January for an ultrasound so I will update you then!

Pray for mine and the baby's health...it is still early in the pregnancy and until we cross that first trimester marker, I will remain anxious. Thanks in advance for your prayers. Oh, and pray for Brandon...bless his little heart! =)

Six Months

Brandon turned six months old on the 10th. We went to the doctor today for a check-up and shots. He weighs 19 lbs 3 oz (90th percentile) and is 29 3/4 inches long (100+ percentile). He got his shots and did SO good!!!! He didn't even cry...such a big boy!!! =)

He is eating anything and everything (baby food with an occasional taste of mommy's food...lol) at this point and is still sleeping like a champ! We are so thankful for such a happy baby!!


Meg

Christmas with the Moores

Instead of getting hotel rooms for the weekend, Nathan's family rented a house on the river. It was the perfect size as there was plenty of room to relax and enjoy spending time together.

The view from the house

COLD!!

Grammy Carol with three of her grandbabies

Jacob and Brandon...sorry about the flash, little man! =)

Nathan and our 16-month old nephew, Jedediah

Brandon with his Papa Walter

Since we won't be going to Alabama for Christmas this year, we decided to celebrate while everyone was together. So, after a yummy barbecue dinner (Nathan's dinner) Friday night, we exchanged gifts...

The people that own the house decorated for Christmas...sweet!

Brandon loved the wrapping paper

His new ABC train

The family...

Jedediah loved Brandon's ABC train too! =)

As most times like this do, the weekend went by WAY too fast!! It was great to see everyone and we are looking forward to February when the newest addition is born...Melissa is having a baby girl!!!

Love y'all and hope to see you soon!!



Meg

Graduation

FINALLY!!! The day Nathan and I have been waiting for...GRADUATION DAY!! I think Brandon was more excited than anybody! =) I did okay not seeing Nathan some nights of the week. There were some days where Brandon wouldn't get to see his Daddy at all and he would be so excited when Nathan would come home and spend time with him. He is SO glad Daddy is around more!!!

Nathan's family was able to come to Louisville for the weekend which was great!! There were ten of them that came so instead of getting hotel rooms they rented a house on the river. They were here for a few days so we were able to spend some quality time with them.

Graduation morning

Nathan getting his diploma...YAY!!!

Nathan with his friend, Justin.

Us...I love him and am SO proud of him!

Nathan with his parents

We are still in the waiting stage...we have had minimal contact with one church but nothing has really come of it. So, we are continuing to pray that His will be done and that we will end up where we can most glorify Him. In the meantime, Nathan is continuing to work full time and taking time to RELAX in the evening since he doesn't have to read 5,000 pages a week! Ok, that's a slight exaggeration but not by much.

I am excited about what God has in store for us, but I have to admit that I am getting anxious about some of the details. The lease on our apartment ends in February. So, we have a few weeks before we have to let the office staff know if we are ending our lease or extending it. If we live month to month it is WAY more rent per month...if we sign a six-month lease that puts us here until August. I know that God could care less about leases and our time frames. I know that He will take care of us and provide for us but it makes me a little anxious.

Meg

Sam's Club

This morning Sally and I decided to take a little trip to Sam's. Since they have the double seat for the kiddos, it was very entertaining...

This is how the trip started...keeping their distance. (I love the way Laine is looking at me...hahahahaha)

Then, they started getting a little silly...

Hey good lookin', yo mama let you date?!

Laine, I know your Daddy isn't going to let you date until you are 40 but will he make an exception for Brandon...he REALLY likes you!! =)

Meg

A Day in the Life...

Nathan was gone all day today...literally. He left at 7:00am and got home at 8:30pm. I knew he wouldn't get to see Brandon at all so I made sure to keep him up after his bottle so that Daddy could see him for a few minutes.

Brandon and I lots of fun today and I was able to capture a few of those moments...(I have a camera phone so it's not like I carry a camera around everywhere I go...just so you know haha)

Playing in the hall outside the bathroom patiently waiting for me to get ready...notice his cell phone. I gave him an old one of mine since he LOVES to talk on the phone (especially when I am on it) =)

We ran a few errands and then spent the early part of the afternoon at the mall. We will be doing plenty of this during the cold months since we can't go outside. He looked around and "talked" the whole time.

Today was a milestone in his eating...he normally eats a fruit and bottle for breakfast; bottle for morning snack; a veggie and bottle for lunch; bottle for afternoon snack; and cereal and bottle for dinner/bedtime...Well, today he ate more in each bottle AND he ate two veggies for lunch - peas (ewwwww) and sweet potatoes.

Eli is becoming more and more attentive to Brandon...today more so than ever.

He walked around the blanket but never got on it

Brandon finally paid attention to him...this interaction went on for about 15-20 minutes. It was pretty funny.

I put Brandon in his bed so I could get his bedtime stuff together. He never plays in his bed so he was a little confused I think...

It didn't take him long to realize that Mommy could play a good game of peek-a-boo =)

He was laughing so hard...I guess it was funny that he was in his bed playing and not going "night night"

He discovered that the mattress was bouncy and was squealing and laughing so hard...this was GREAT! =)

Brandon and I had a good day (as we normally do) but he sure was glad to see Daddy when he got home (as he always is). Nathan walks in the door, puts down his stuff and says, "Hey, buddy." Brandon lets out a high pitched squeal and/or a laugh to welcome his Daddy home. So sweet!! I love my boys!


Meg

Best friends

Brandon has a new best friend...




Meg