Photo Dump

This begins with Thanksgiving (GASP!) i know.. sorry it's so late. :)

Next up, Christmas Tree hunting!!

 

 

Random Stuff like making Homemade Marshmallows, our decorated Christmas Tree

and our contribution to the McHenry Christmas Party!

Lastly, a bare belly! I had Alex take this for documentation of 35 weeks!

Our weekend with Makayla

We were lucky enough to have my 6 year old niece Makayla join us for the better part of Saturday and Sunday. She is the cutest and the smartest 6 year old i've ever met. Here's what we did to entertain her while she was with us!

When my sister and mom brought her down, we all headed to Isaac's for some lunch and then to the mall for a little bit. Makayla and I sat on Santa's lap (because she wouldn't do it alone) and despite almost crushing his leg, he basically granted my christmas wish to have a baby girl. (Like it was a choice?) Since we weren't allowed to just take a cellphone picture from inside the santa area, Alex took one from afar.

After the mall, we headed home and got down to gingerbread village business. I bought the kit at the grocery store and it was 4 or 5 tiny gingerbread houses. I had to whip up some more icing (that we kind of didn't really use) and our houses weren't exactly the most attractive or.. well, stable. Makayla did a great job though and she barely got messy! Alex and I on the other hand were quite messy and I'm pretty sure there are still candy sprinkles on the floor.

When we completed our village, we sat down to a nice dinner of Velveeta shells and cheese and broccoli. We needed to hurry a little bit so we could make the movie we planned to see, which was The Muppets. Honestly, and I can say this because Makayla doesn't read my blog, the Muppets was cheesy. I know it's a family movie and stuff but cut down on the cheese and maybe I would've liked it more. It was fine though. I can't say I laughed at all but I know there were some people beside me cracking up, so something must've been funny. We were asked for popcorn quite a few times but reminded the little miss that if she got popcorn at the theater, she wouldn't get ice cream when we got home. She choose the ice cream, as any smart person would do.

At home afterward, we ate ice cream and played some Mario coin runner and then put Makayla to bed in the middle of our King Size (thank god we have a king size). Alex and I hung out a little bit before joining her. The good thing about Makayla is she's always been a really good sleeper. Even when she was younger, all you would have to say is "close your eyes, keep them closed and when you wake up it will be morning" and it worked. At least anytime I've put her to bed. She is a mover and a shaker though. I think I got hit in the face once.. Alex probably got hit a couple of times. She turned diagonal in the bed with her feet in my back. I specifically turned my back so she couldn't kick my stomach, lol. It was an interesting night to say the least!

So now I have a song from the Muppet movie in my head called "Am I a Man, or Am I a Muppet?" sheesh!

Anyway.. Makayla woke up Sunday morning at 7am! I gave her my iPad to keep her busy but this didn't last all that long before she was asking for pancakes, since she knew we planned to make them for breakfast. We tried and failed at making pancakes with cookie cutters, unfortunately. But the pancakes tasted good and I would totally make that an every Sunday deal if Alex would let me. After pancakes we did some coloring. We played more coin runner and I made our pizza dough for lunch later on. We decided to go to a nearby park to play for a little bit and when we got home, Makayla and I made our pizzas (ugh, i missed taking a picture of this!) and watched Alice in Wonderland. After the movie, I took her back up to home base and we ended up going to Hoss's for dinner with my mom and Julia. YUM!

I totally get (more than before) how 24/7 being a parent is. Granted, with your own kids you don't constantly have to entertain them, but adding in fun activities spices things up and keeps things interesting! We're really lucky that Makayla is so well behaved and mature for her age so she can keep up with us really easily and we can keep up with her. We had a great time, and hopefully when our baby girl is a little bit older, she can come visit us again!

A long holiday weekend =

a long recap blog post. so if you don't want to read alll about it.. just quit while you're ahead ;)

Wednesday, I got out of work at 3pm which is like heaven on a stick. I made a caramel apple cheeesecake pie from this recipe, which has been working out for me for about 3 years now give or take and my Auntie Christine loves it, am I right Aunt Chris? Anywho, Alex and I did our normal weeknight routine with the addition of hanging out with Nick, Laurel and Nate for a couple hours. Cue the debates about warfare.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, obviously! We headed up to my parents around 9am to spend some quality time before going over to Da's house. (Da is what we call my paternal grandmother). When we got there we got down to business of setting up the table by filling drinks etc. because we had to eat before the Packers game started. The food was delish per usual and after everyone was filled to the brim, we watched a little football. Well, okay, I watched a little and then retired to the kitchen to peruse the black friday newspaper inserts. I can't believe how cheap HDTVs are right now. Who's with me? It's crazy! If only I were in the market for a new TV! (i'm not, hello, baby on the way)

Anyway, at about 2pm we had to take off from Da's to head to our next destination, Lynn and Debbie Brubaker's in Kimberton (1.5 hours away from Camp Hill). We arrived in good time with time to socialize before the meal started. It was really nice to see everyone and catch up a little bit. I even got to show pictures of baby girl since we brought them along. We don't get to spend holidays with the extended Brubaker family very often so it was nice to see them. Plus, Lynn and Debbie do NOT disappoint when it comes to hosting and the food that they and everyone else contributed was delicious! That turkey was probably the moistest thing I have ever eaten (sorry Alex, you make a good turkey too). I wish I had more room in my belly for more food but I was stuffed! We spent the evening chatting and also playing Rumikub with Nate and Laura.. love that game!

Friday, Alex had to work so I got to sleep in! Thank goodness! Though that really only lasted until about 9am. When I eventually got out of bed, I decided to hit up Carter's outlet for the insane sale they were having of 50% off plus I had a 20% off coupon plus got another 10% off for getting there before noon! The outlets weren't as bad as I had anticipated. On my way there, I took a bit of a shortcut down Old Philly Pike and a cop ended up behind me in a 35 zone (annoying) .. then we're waiting at a red light and the person across the way breezes right through it. What did the cop do? Turn around and pull them over? Nope, he stayed behind me and basically ignored it! Cray-zay! I was a bit peeved but whatever. Back to Carter's. That place (as I've said before) is overwhelming. And I totally know I shouldn't be buying my baby clothing before even having a baby shower but I could NOT pass up that kind of sale. So I bought a couple of things for when she's older that she can wear. As well as some really cute summer outfits that were on clearance!

After Carter's, I headed to Neato Burrito to pick myself up something and then to Saigon to get Alex and Keith some lunch. We all had a nice time chatting about baby stuff and eating our yummy food. Neato Burrito is good but it is filling (cue Anchorman quote and the subsequent punting of poor Baxter). After lunch, I headed home just in time to see the surprise from Omer and Charmayne delivered by Charmayne, Nick and Laurel. They were starving so they didn't stay but the surprise awaited setup in the basement. I'm pumped about it, it's going to be so fun! So I put up some Christmas decor and then drew the tree on the nursery wall so it's ready for painting. It's looking really good and if all goes according to plan I will have saved a TON of money just painting it myself instead of buying the set of decals. (Enter shameless self promotion). Then it was time to head to Iron Hill to meet up with the Bru-clan since Alex and Omer usually do that on Friday's that he works anyway. We couldn't stay long however because we had to head up to my Grandparents house for the Christmas Tree decorating celebration which included a house filled with cousins running wild and aunts and uncles to catch up with. We had a good time and took lots of pictures. I had a really nice chat with my cousin Sarah who is due with her 3rd baby in May. She cloth diapers so I got all the dirty details (ha!) about what she uses and how she cleans them and all of that stuff. I've been meaning to ask her all about it so I'm glad I had that opportunity. I'll do another post on cloth diapers because I did take the time to make a spreadsheet (are you surprised?) and the savings are in-sane!

Saturday morning we had breakfast planned with Alex's parents (Omer and Charmayne) and Nick and Laurel. Alex made potatoes (yum) and a napa cabbage dish and I cut up apples and kind of unsuccessfully roasted grapefruit (it just tasted like regular grapefruit by the time we got there, bc it wasn't warm anymore). Anyway, they already had a whole spread waiting so we chowed down and it was yummy. I used to not enjoy breakfast so much but it's growing on me. After breakfast we engaged in a cut-throat game of Yatzhee which I stunk horribly at. The 2nd game we started I was doing killer but it ended up we had to leave before we could finish.

I plan to do a separate post of the activities we did while babysitting my 6 year old niece Makayla, so I'm going to insert here a few teasers: Santa. Gingerbread village. Movies.

Sunday I took Makayla back to my mom's house around 3pm. I stayed and chatted for a little while, just as Makayla expected I would. Then they said they were going to Hoss's so I joined them. I never EVER say no to Hoss's. Ever. Never ever ever. Anyway, to Hoss's we went and it was nice to just eat salad for dinner and not get overfilled for once that weekend. Then I made the trip back home and got to spend some relax time with Alex before drifting off into the best sleep I've had all weekend.

And we all lived happily ever after. The end.

What we did last weekend..

Last weekend, Alex was away with some friends at a cabin in the woods.

I did a bunch of stuff while he was gone like visiting my family and seeing my grandparents. It was a nice weekend, just what I needed before the holiday weekend starts.

Here is a picture of me and Makayla from Saturday!

Weekend Fun

This past weekend was SUPER busy. In a good way though because most of it was spent with people we love! And look, I took a lot of pictures!

Friday night we attended Eric's Surprise Birthday Party. And i'm pretty sure he was totally surprised. The food table was immaculate and I ate wayy too much but that's what happens when there's really good pizza, guacamole and buffalo chicken dip (and more). PLUS the cake was to-die-for. Strawberry swirl.. I could eat another piece right now!

iPhone Quality. Blowing out Candles. Jamming with Spotify. Baby Evander and Cake!!

Saturday, I took Alex to the farm and then went to the Outlets to visit Carters and then to Babies R Us to get gifts for a baby shower I went to on Sunday. Carters is pretty overwhelming with the amount of stuff they have. I didn't even know where to start! But i did get a cute outfit for baby Hix! I also have to say, shopping off of a registry is hard. I didn't realize it was so involved but I spent 45 minutes in aisle 6 of babies r us trying to find the things I wanted to get. It was worth it though! After I picked up Alex we went to Amelia's and got some discounted items. Then we went home and got ready for Nick & Laurel's Wine & Cheese party.. which was a BLAST! Here are the pictures from that. Look out, there's a lot!

A quick photography tutorial? I need me one of those!

The cutest wine glass charms ever made especially by Laurel! She could sell these I swear!

These were the most delicious truffles in the history of truffles (that night).

Photo compliments of J.Huntington.. she's a pro

Enjoying the food.. how could you not?

Sorry for the blur.. they're so cute though, right?

I sat in that chair right there. :)

The other side of the room, where all of the music selection took place.

A sampling of the fare.

The setup before we commenced with the tasting!

My glass and my favorite wine of the night, a Riesling!

Priceless face filled with Birthday Joy!

One of the food tables. The cheese on the left was my favorite! So buttery!

We had such a good great time, and Nick & Laurel did such a great job at keeping everything organized. They designed the sheets and the labels to go around the wine bottles. They're so creative! Plus the food was ah-mazingly delicious! Add in yummy wine (sips for me) and super awesome company.. I can't think of a better time!

Sunday morning I went to see my Dad sing in church. He did an awesome job singing "Long Black Train" by Josh Turner and don't worry, there were more people in the audience then the 3 that you can see in the picture. After church, I stopped at my grandparents to show them some baby pictures and then I stopped at Target. When I got home I had to wrap up some baby gifts and then it was off to Britt's shower!

Steph was nice enough to take a snap of us!

 The shower was lovely and it was nice to catch up with Stephanie and meet Alicia (another pregnant girl, 5 weeks ahead of me) And they had a delicious spread (what isn't yummy to me these days?) plus amazing cake and then a candy bar with all pink candies! Britt got a ton of stuff! It was all so cute! Baby Hix is set! Plus it was super helpful in doing my registry later that night, which I talked about in my 30 week baby bump post. So after the shower, I relaxed a little bit and then hit Target (again) to redo my registry. We spent the rest of the night relaxing after a yummy dinner of falafel and tabouli!

I'm repeating myself when I say this but I LOVE busy weekends.

What's a weekend without..

..seemed like a good title. But i don't have the answer. Fun? Family? Shopping? Sleep?

Friday night we went and got me an iPhone. We didn't get the 4s because I couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't need Siri to do my dirty work, I can do it. And I don't need 8 MP when 5 is good enough. So a 4 is what I got. I'm loving it. It makes me want to text people because it's so much better than a blackberry in that regard. After we got the phone we hit the blockbuster box by the grocery store and picked up Limitless. I really enjoyed it. I think Alex found it entertaining as well. It's a good way to kill a couple of hours, that's for sure.

Saturday, Alex was up bright and early to help his dad put on a roof. I, on the other hand, slept in til about 10. It was glorious. I watched Grey's Anatomy on the DVR and thought about going to JoAnn Fabric to exchange the felt glue for more fabritac. This didn't happen. Alex arrived home earlier than I thought he would and we needed to go to the grocery store before heading to my parents. We hung out at my parents for a while, visiting for my mom's birthday. We had a delicious dinner at Carrabba's. That place is sooo good. I don't know how I fit all that food in my stomach. Dessert might have been the best part of the meal!


Sunday, we slept in. We're trying to soak it up while we can ;). Alex installed all the new fun stuff he got for his kegerator and then eventually went to the farm to see the roof and then to Dan's to watch football. I watched Private Practice and then vacuumed and then cleaned the vacuum. Fun! Then I finally hit up JoAnn Fabric and then the grocery store for a snack. My mom and Julia came down to do some shopping and I did some damage at AC Moore and Home Goods. Christmas decor in the Brubaker house is going to be awesome this year, I can just feel it! When I got home I watched Something Borrowed, which was a cute movie and then Alex came home. I took him to Home Goods to show him a rug that I liked earlier and we ended up getting it. I don't know how much I currently like it in the living room (i imagined it being bigger and maybe more square?) but we have a while until the return by date, so this is our little test drive. The cats have been driving me crazy with it already. They were smelling it and I am terrified they will 'knead' on it pulling up the fibers so much that we couldn't return it even if we wanted to. We ordered Bun salads from SaiGon cafe which were delicious (and filling) and then I wrote a couple of blog posts before hitting the hay.

Such a fun weekend but it went way too fast. Slow down weekends but speed up weekdays, amiright?

Sunday Celebration

Sunday we celebrated Alex's mom's (Charmayne's) 60th birthday!

It began with a delicious brunch at The Stone Barn in Kennett Square followed by a visit to Longwood Gardens followed by a selection of appetite satisfiers and dessert at Nick & Laurel's apartment in Newark.

We had a great time of course and I should've taken a picture at brunch and at Nick & Laurel's but I didn't have the camera out, we were too busy having fun, obviously.

We did however take lots of pictures at Longwood Gardens so here they are! It was mum weekend or something of the sort so there were tons of different kinds of chrysanthemums in the conservatory. There was snow on the ground outside so pictures of the outdoors are limited. Enjoy!

Mums!

Also celebrating 35 years of marriage on this day

Our favorites :)

Spider Mums

Sweet parasol design on the ceiling

My favorite mums, I don't know their technical name.

Laurel & Nick

Passion Flower Vine