OBSESSION

So if you follow me on twitter you know that my mom and I spent a lot of last week watching Downton Abbey Season 1 and also Season 2. I kept seeing everyone talk about it on twitter and then it won a Golden Globe and I finally asked Helen of Monograms and Manicures fame what the deal was. She was so incredibly nice to offer to send me her Season 1 on DVD and I gladly accepted. Needless to say I am totally hooked.

I have to be honest, British accents and period pieces aren't always my thing. Not to mention that I also have a low tolerance for things that can be slow paced. But this show is crazy good. It has the perfect amount of romance, suspense, mystery and intrigue. I have fallen in love with so many of the characters and absolutely loathe some of them too. My mom even commented on how she couldn't believe how into it I am.

We are planning a future trip to go see my cousin, Pamela(see her blog here), who is living in England right now. I have no idea if it is close enough but if it is possible, I am dying to go see the Highclere Castle in person.

I am writing this post on Sunday night, when the new episode airs. I am sad because I am so used to watching it with my mom and being able to discuss every little thing and now I am watching it by myself and I am dying to discuss it with someone! Downton Abbey problems! Ha!

VISIT DOWN SOUTH

Elting and I went to Hattiesburg for a few days to spend some time with my mom. While down there it was the perfect opportunity to hop on down to Waveland to see Megan and her brand new precious baby boy, Francis! He is three weeks old and so cute and so tiny. I cannot believe that Elting used to be that small!

I was so happy to get to visit with Meg and talk about being a mother now. She is doing such an amazing job and I know Francis and Elle will be such good friends, seeing as they will be dates to every Mississippi State football game. (wink wink)

I only held him for a little bit because he was much more content to lay swaddled in his moses basket. But I was soaking up all the newborn-ness.

Neither Elting or Francis were sure what to think of each other.

Elting and Megs having a conversation about this baby stuff.

Just had to post this picture because of those baby blues.

Besides my trip to Waveland the rest of our days were spent hanging out with my mom. We watched the entire first season of Downton Abbey and started the second. I am obsessed. More on that another day this week. On Saturday we took my grandmother to lunch and then had to run to Walmart (ugg) for her to get her "pills." Umm, so turns out her pills are Altoids? Anywho, my mom and I decided do have a little fun dressing up Elle. Sorry the picture is blurry but Elle was not loving the cowgirl look.

I like to call this picture "fun at the Walmarts"

FOTO FRIDAY

Just a little girl and her dog.

LOW KEY AND FANTASTIC

We had a fantastic weekend with the main event being our little family of three plus an Aunt Annie celebrating the absolute love of our lives birthday. Yes! She is one. And I will say it because I don't care if it is cliche. I cannot believe it. I am so sad. And it is not because time is flying by so quickly (but it is) and it is not because she is growing up so fast. (which she is) I think I feel sad because we will never be at this point of our life again. We will NEVER be new parents again. We will NEVER just have one newborn again. We will NEVER have a brand new experience every single day like we did this year. And that makes me sad.

Not too sad though. Because Elting has brought us so much joy. I never really knew JOY until we had her. I knew happiness. I knew love. But this is so different and I am so grateful for every single hard second of it. If you are ever reading this Elting. We love you so much!

Friday and Saturday we relaxed at home and watched movies. We watched Hangover II Friday night. It was the same movie like everyone has said but still funny. And Saturday we ran errands to pick up some small gifts for Elting for her birthday and went out to lunch and some quick Las Delicias for dinner. Elting had her first chicken quesadilla and I was so proud because she seemed to lurve her some Mexican food just like her mommy.

For Elting's birthday we decided to do a very low key affair this year. There was talk of the grandparents coming in town but we are going to see my mom very soon and so we decided to just let everyone stay home. We decided to take Elting to the Memphis Zoo in her favorite thing ever. (if you have a baby get them the Push2Step car)

The weather was very humid and I am actually pumping this blog post out on Sunday night because we are about to have terrible storms. So just in case we lose our power I have this done. My hair did not cooperate to say the least but here is a picture of our little family on the day she turned 1.

Daddy and his very serious little girl. Ha!

Aunt Annie with her niece. So happy she came with us. Elting adores her. Sometimes even prefers her over me.

I love this picture. That is all.

Birthday presents for the birthday girl.

Birthday girl with her presents. We only got a few little things toy wise and then bought her some books. We love getting her books. We write in them to tell her what the occasion was and books are also what we buy for her as a souvenir if one of us goes somewhere. Annie was so nice to get her some neat beach things for our trip this summer. Elting has asked for some fun toys to play with in the sand.

She also asked for a cute hat to protect her little hairless head from the sun. She was a bit fussy from all the excitement. She wasn't loving it so much but she will come around.

Instead of a cake, we went with a girly pink cupcake. You should of heard the debate over whether to light the candle. We decided against it.

She really hasn't had a whole lot of sugar. A bite of a cookie or cupcake here or there. She enjoyed the cupcake. Did not come close to finishing it though. She like the cake way better the icing.

Happy Birthday my darling girl. Thank you for giving us the best year of our lives!

SEATTLE OBSESSIONS

So there are a couple things that are staying on my mind from my Seattle trip. You don't know me at all if you are surprised that they are both food related.

The first, this ice cream shop called Molly Moon's. Yall! I am not a huge ice cream person but this place was out of this world good. What made them so awesome were their unique flavors ( all organic of course). Susan and Andrew took me the first night I was there for dessert. Where I got a scoop of balsamic strawberry. Sounds weird but that balsamic mixed with the strawberry ice cream is crazy good. Oh my god! My other favorite flavor was the maple bacon. I love salty sweet.

I was so crazy about this place I insisted in going every single day. I was eating this ice cream in the freezing snow and did not care. By the end of the weekend there were serious jokes about Susan and Andrew packing this stuff in dry ice and shipping it to me. Which I would just die if that could really happen!

The other yummy treat which I was able to pack some in my bag is Midnight Oasis Drinking Chocolate. It is from a swanky chocolate shop in Queen Anne called Chocolopolis. Since it was cold we were pumping this stuff through our veins the entire weekend. This is like no other hot chocolate I have ever had. It is made from really dark chocolate so it is not overly sweet and it tastes really chocolate-y and not just sweet. I brought a can home and decided to make some last night. But before I did I panicked that I would never get to have it again once I finished our tin so I made sure I could order some online before I made my first mug. Disaster diverted, you can actually order it directly from the chocolate shop.

WALKING THE STREETS OF SEATTLE

Hi! I just arrived home after a jam packed weekend with good friends and some sight seeing in the great city of Seattle. I have never been that far west and loved the city. Not to mention I was able to celebrate Susan and Andrew's baby that is due in February with a wonderful baby shower!

It is kind of funny because I arrived and then it started snowing. Surprisingly, Seattle does not get a whole lot of snow and by the time I left (which was just in the nick of time) they were expecting a "historic" snow storm. Seattle as a city is so different than anywhere in the south and I loved it. People walk everywhere, the style of homes is so different, food makes an effort to be healthy at ALL time and is organic most of the time. Despite it being F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G I we had a great time and Kenny and I are already planning a trip back to visit together so we can go to the Gorge and maybe do some of the surrounding vineyards and outdoor activities.

This is closer in real life but this is the view from Susan and Andrew's Queen Ann neighborhood. We never went to the space needle but I did not feel the need because I saw it flying in and you see it everywhere as you drive around the city.
All bundled up for a little shopping/sightseeing in Queen Ann. It was so cold. I was kicking myself for not bringing my brand new Hunters. I did not have appropriate shoes for this weather ha!
Pic in the snow!
We stopped in this little pub that had the absolute best food! I had a spicy chili and cilantro tuna melt on sour dough bread and I just have to mention it because it was probably the best tuna melt I have ever had. Just to let you know I pretty much ate my way through this Seattle and this weekend.

Susan's mom is a wonderful cook and we cooked dinner at home a couple of nights. We stopped at a grocery store to buy ingredients for a Red Snapper and seafood stuffing dinner(it was amazing) and the cute couple decided to pose with a honey dew since that is the size of Baby John in her tummy!

Celebrating at their baby shower that was so fun. I enjoyed getting to meet all of their Seattle friends and the shower was beautiful.

On the last day I was there, less snow meant we ventured downtown to go to Pikes Place Market. First, I hit up Beecher's cheese. Famous for their mac and cheese which Oprah listed as one of her favorite things one year. I bought some cheese and cheese curds to take home. I loved the place because they set out all kinds of cheese to sample. So I sampled!

Obligatory tourist picture with the fish mongers that throw the fish. The seafood was just ridiculous.
I sent this picture to Kenny because he loves crab legs. He couldn't believe the size or that I didn't buy any. $30 a pound is crazy, right?
Before leaving the market we stopped at one of the little restaurants in the market with a water view and had clam chowder. I have only had clam chowder out of a can (hangs head in shame) and this soup was so good. The sour dough bread was delicious too.

By Tuesday I was so ready to get home to see this little girl. She and her daddy had been getting in A LOT of quality time and I received so many pictures of her looking this happy. So thankful to Kenny for letting me have some girl time.

DO I HAVE TO MAKE UP MY MIND?

For a very long time I knew that I wanted to name a little girl Elle. Then that turned into Elting because I like the idea of being able to incorporate a family name and I wanted to have a different name. After a year, we are still calling her both names. You have probably noticed this in the blog and if you know me in real life. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to why I might call her Elle or Elting at that moment.

But people have asked in the past and I had a close friend ask me the other day. So what are you officially calling her? And I didn't have an answer for her. Is that normal. For us to call her both names? Will she be confused in the future?

What is even more sad is that on top of Elting and Elle, I also tend to call her other names like Ellie Bellie, Bug or Elles. The good news is she does look at us and respond when we call her name. No matter what we call her. Should we just let her get older and let her choose? Gah.....I don't know.

HURLO

I enjoyed getting back into our normal routine last week. It was so nice to have some days at home after all the traveling we did over the holidays. This weekend was more of the same. Friday afternoon I met up with my friend Lindsay and her little boy at Shelby farms and we pushed the babies around in their little cars. It was so cute and they loved it. Our weather has been crazy warm for January. Saturday, Kenny and I ran errands together. We shopped some bikes because are considering gifting two to ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. We were also trying to figure out what we are going to do for Elle's birthday cake. We swung by the grocery store and bought things to make fresh guacamole for dinner. I have actually never made guacamole on my own before and it turned out really well. I grated the onion so it wouldn't have to much chunky onion and omitted cilantro since we are not cilantro fans. Then we picked up some food from a local Mexican restaurant here. Dinner was delicious and we watched the Saints game and the Mississippi State basketball game. Saints won. Dawgs lost. Still a fun night at home.

On Sunday, I met up with my friend Susan for a little lunchy, a stop by Dinstuhl's candy and then we went to see the movie Hugo. It was in 3d so I had a horrible headache by the end but it was okay. It is getting a lot of Oscar buzz so I am glad I saw it.

Starting yesterday I am back on team fit! We are going to this beach this summer and I want to be ready. I downloaded My Fitness Pal on my phone and I am going to start trying to be more aware of what I am eating and exercising again. Last night I made one of Skinnytaste's recipes. Anytime I make soup I always double the recipe because I just go ahead and freeze half. This soup was really good and somewhat easy to make.

Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup

Stuffed Pepper Soup
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 6 • Size: 1 1/3 cups soup, 1/2 cup rice • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 261.2 • Fat: 4.8 g • Carb: 37.5 g • Fiber: 4.7 g • Protein: 17.6 g • Sugar: 6 g
Sodium: 606.3 g (without salt)


Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 lb 95% lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 cup finely diced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cans (14.5 oz each) cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 3/4 cups tomato sauce
• 2 cups reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot or dutch oven, brown ground meat on high heat and season with salt.Drain fat if any, reduce heat to medium-low, then add peppers, onions and garlic.Cook about 5 minutes on low heat.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, marjoram and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Serve about 1 1/3 cups of soup in each bowl and top with 1/2 cup cooked brown rice.

Makes about 8 cups.

CHRISTMAS IS FUN WITH A BABE

Elting got some really cute things for Christmas that I wanted to share.

I've already mentioned this but she got her first American Girl doll. It is the Bitty Baby. Much more appropriate for a small child but still great quality. She loves it and I am sure it is her first of many American Girl dolls. We will definitely be making the trek to the actual store to buy a doll and have lunch with her doll at some point when she gets older..

Her first tea set...
This tea set might just be my personal fave because of all the cute sounds it makes. Sometime she talks in a British accent and it makes the the neatest pouring sounds. I love it! Elting doesn't quite understand the idea of a tea party just yet but that hasn't stopped us from playing tea party with her and she loves playings with the little pastries. I think it is a must have for any little girl!


Her first set of Toms.
Because what little girl doesn't want to look super cute in her purple and hot pink Toms and know she is giving a pair of shoes to someone in need.

The start of her Disney movie collection....
She received Fox and the Hound, The Lion King, Dumbo and another one I cannot remember now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY NEW YEARS, GO DAWGS, PHEW.

LONG POST AHEAD. I have spent less than a day at my home in the past two weeks. We have been all over the place! Come back later this week to see some posts on some of the fun things we received as Christmas gifts. We were so blessed.
We are home from a whole lot of traveling. Things are starting to return to normal but I am exhausted and my house is a wreck. The Wednesday before Christmas we headed to my mom's house to spend some time with her. My sister joined us on Friday just in time to accompany Kenny to a movie (Sherlock Holmes) and we all went to a yummy dinner at my new favorite restaurant in Hattiesburg, Tabella.

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed watching Christmas movies and just relaxing before we got ready to go to Christmas Eve service. My church's Candlelight Christmas Eve service and my mom's chicken enchiladas for dinner afterwards are my most favorite tradition. Kenny and I really wanted to include Elting in the service and have her with us for it the entire time. But of course she did not nap all day which is unusual for her. Luckily, she did great with the help of the church program and some cheerios. She loved the pretty candlelight at the end and it was so special to have her with us this year. After church it was home to eat and bedtime so Santa could come.

All the girls before church. Not sure what Elle is doing in this picture ha!

Mommy and Elle's first Christmas.

Christmas morning. Packages sorted by recipient.

Daddy and Elle's first Christmas.

Elting receiving her first baby doll from her Aunt Annie. More on this later this week. She loved it!!

On Christmas Day it was on to Fairhope to visit Kenny's parents and to spend a few days. We opened more presents,relaxed and had a wonderful traditional meal.

Monday, we got out and did a little shopping downtown Fairhope. I love that his parents retired to Fairhope because it has really fun shopping and so many things to do. Kenny's mom work in one of the shops part time and we stopped by to say hello to everyone. They all wanted to see Elting.

Elle and her Grandpa at The Cat's Meow.

We also stopped by to see Kenny's aunt who is recovering from having a stroke. She is doing so much better.

We headed home on Wednesday and made it finally that night to only to find that our water heater had busted and we had to replace it STAT. It truly was a blessing that our pan was strong and no water leaked in the house.

Thursday, Kenny and were off again to the Music City Bowl to watch our Bulldogs play and take the win!!! I actually didn't take that many pictures. But the first night we were there we did run into some Bachelor/Bachelorette Alum. Here we are talking to Craig from Ally's season. I liked him.Kenny and I were thrilled at our back to back bowl game wins and had a great time in Nashville with our friends. Many who we don't get to see all that often.

By the time New Year's Eve came we were on the road again and totally exhausted. So we ordered in sushi with my mom and my sister and watched movies. We watched the guitar drop on Beale Street's broadcast and were in bed soon after. I hope everyone had a fabulous New Year's.

I am excited for a low key January where we don't have a whole lot planned. A chance to catch our breath for sure.