Christmas 2013

Happy Monday friends!  I hope you all had a spectacular & blessed Christmas!  I can’t wait to hear all about what you did, who you feasted with, and what gifts you gave and received!  I don’t know if you remember this or not, but last year we moved for Christmas…..we were “unwrapping” a different kind of packages: our own belongings thrown into ugly brown boxes.  So while we were in our house this time last year, it was hardly the typical Christmas.  I guess I consider this Christmas to be the first one in our new house, and I was very much looking forward to it.  We decorated for Christmas, visited Santa, went to Christmas parties and shows, sent out our Christmas cards, and we were ready; this Christmas was just as much fun as we thought it would be.

On Christmas eve, after church, I made lots of cookies, and we drank delicious hot cocoa.

The morning of Christmas, the Mr. had to work so he brought home some yummy coffee to start Christmas morning.  I poured mine into this snowman mug….for obvious reasons :-)
For breakfast the Mr. fixed a fire in the backyard and I cooked, eggs, tater tots, biscuits & gravy, and sausage.

Since we got back from our cruise the pups have become our shadows.  I don’t think they ever want us to leave again.  I secretly love this!

Once we ate and saw that Santa had stopped by our house we were ready for presents! Can you believe that only 2 people and 2 four-legged people live here?! We’re definitely blessed!
The Mr played the role of Santa and handed out gifts.  The puppies were so excited and followed him back and forth to the tree.  I think I can honestly say that these two are big fans of Christmas :-)

See, the pups are really stuck to us these days lol
We thought this was super funny lol Mostly healthy oranges ;-)After unwrapping my first clue for a scavenger hunt, I found my hubby by the tree with a gorgeous new engagement/wedding ring upgrade.  I am *still* completely shocked.  He said that he bought this the day before we found out we were expecting in September.  That was really a monumental weekend!  He also got me a new lens for my camera; he knows me so very well!  I am seriously head over heels for that man, and not because I received awesome gifts, but because he loves me so much and he tries so hard to demonstrate his love for me.
We tucked some tissue paper under Tomlin’s collar and she wore this “cape” all day.  It was hilarious to watch her run around outside like a super hero lol

What is Christmas without something warm to eat (we had chili for supper) and watching A Christmas Story?! These two were completely worn out at the end of the day.  They were snoring so loudly on the couch; we had to turn the TV up to actually hear! This is what I thought about cleaning up after Christmas lol I ended up waiting until the next day just to enjoy the mess of Christmas a little bit longer.I hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did.  It’s always the most magical time of the year, and I’m already looking forward to what Christmas will be like next year as a family of 5 (of course I’m including the pups in this number lol)

LWTH *Television* Debut!

Oh my stars! Do I have some exciting news for y’all today, or what?!

Do y’all remember when I posted this picture on FB & Twitter with this caption:

Spoiler alert: This time tmw an entire film crew will be eating this in my kitchen! #somethingupmysleeve #sneakysneaky

Well it’s time for me to spill the beans!  Yesterday LWTH made it’s television debut on Great Day Houston!!!!!  My segment was on what to do with your holiday leftovers. Check it out:

I have to say that this was such an honor for me to be a part of!  I was so nervous (duh, I’m sure you can tell from the video), and was totally out of my element.  But I learned something through all of the filming (besides the fact that people in TV work exceptionally hard), the best way to learn is to get out of your comfort zone.  I was totally out of my element, but I learned a lot about myself.  It really was an awesome experience to be a part of! I loved meeting the producer, Deborah, and the crew, and it was a dream come true to have a crew in my kitchen…really I’m beyond honored for the opportunity.  If any more chances come my way I will definitely be sharing them with you!

Merry Christmas Mail Month

December is my favorite month to check the mail.  I practically run to the mailbox after work everyday. I love to receive all of the fabulous Christmas cards and pictures from our friends and family.  I wish this happened more year-round, don’t you? Since I don’t know everyone’s address I thought I would “send” you a copy of our Christmas card this year. Merry Christmas friends! Merry Christmas eve!

Did you know we were gone?!

Well last week if you were missing me, that’s because the Mr. and I were on a cruise!!!!!!!  We had a blast and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.  But I have to say I really did miss y’all!  I’m going to be catching up on reading your posts and such over the Christmas break….a week away from y’all is seriously just TOO long!

Here’s what happened around here last week, in case you missed it:

Little Peep Bumpdate (weeks 14-16)

Thanksgiving Recap

Our Christmas decorations

Our Christmas wish list for Santa

The pups Christmas list for Santa

Dog Drool, Cocaine, Santa, & the Brain

Have you ever stopped to think about how the magic of our secular Christmas impacts our brain?  At what point does our brain recognize the difference between fact and fiction?  When do we stop believing in Santa and what role does the brain play in this process of development? 
What role does mental time travel, Pavlov's drooling dogs, cocaine, and neurons have to do with explaining our Christmas brain?!
Check out this recent article posted in The New York Times, Santa on the Brain, by Dr. Kelly Lambert for a more in depth description of how the brain changes as we grow and how that alters our perspective on the magic of Christmas.

Dear Santa, We Roof You!

Well folks, today I’m another year older.  Each year I always say the year went by fast, but seriously, didn’t this year go by fast?! I grew a lot this year, and I experienced a lot of lessons.  Not every lesson was fun, but I’m glad that I had each learning opportunity.  The Mr. and I had a really fun year: we kicked off the new year in our first house, struggled with infertility, got promotions at work, and found out we were expecting our first baby.  WOAH! Busy and fun year, but I have to say I’m really looking forward to this next year :-)  Today, I’m celebrating my birthday at sea…I’m stuffing my face and sleeping a lot….I promise you it’s the best way to spend my last birthday before baby :-)

Since I told you what we wanted from Santa on Wednesday, today I thought I would let the pups take over the blog and let you know what they have asked Santa for this year:

Hello LWTH readers!  Mamma let us steal the blog today while she is relaxin’ in the sun, so we want to share with you some of the items on our Christmas wish list this year:

Bones-  We call these “chewies” around our house, but seriously, we can never have enough of these.  We always need more :-)  These keep us entertained for minutes at a time….sometime we get the feeling that mamma and daddy give us these so we will “behave” but we don’t care, as long as we have them. Peanut butter- Mamma and daddy always laugh so hard when they watch us eat this.  We’re not sure what is so funny, but we think it tastes pretty good! Tennis Balls-  We have no idea how to play tennis, but we don’t care.  We love when daddy gets home from work and immediately takes us outside to play fetch.  Next to nap time, this is our favorite time of the day. Treats- Mamma keeps this jar on the kitchen counter filled with treats; this gift request is really for her, we don’t want the jar to run out. How terrible that would be and we don’t want mamma stressed! Kong- Is there ever such thing as having too many kongs?! Especially the kongs with magical treats inside?! No way, we need more!!!!! New shirts- With the pending arrival of our new little brother or sister we want to look fashionable when we finally get a chance to meet.   That list isn’t too bad right? I mean last year we asked for a backyard, and since we got it, we feel like this year our requests should be a little less expensive.  Hopefully Santa will get this post and be sure to stop by our house this year!  What are your four-legged family members asking Santa for this year?

Christmas Decor 2013

I really am trying to catch up around here, and since Christmas décor has been up since Thanksgiving, it’s probably time to share that with you too lol While my sister was here for Thanksgiving she helped us get all of our decorations up and get in the Christmas spirit.  It was fun to find a new place for everything in the new house.  Here is our Christmas house this year: