Christmas continued...

The three of us had our own little Christmas on Sunday in the comfort of our own home :) We had fun opening gifts again and Harper got some fun toys that I picked up for her at the consignment store. Amongst a few other gifts, we got Daddy a wind chime he has been wanting and Daddy got Mommy 2 pairs of some really nice jeans I would never buy for myself!! We also ate some really awesome pork ribs from Costco for dinner- SO good! Until next year Christmas...it was fun!

Christmas in Houston

Chris, Harper, Jack & I traveled back to Houston to celebrate Harper's First Christmas! Once again, Harper was great in the car and even napped for an hour on the way home, yeah! We enjoyed a yummy turkey dinner with all the fixins on Christmas Eve and opened presents on Christmas morning. Harper really didn't know what was going on and just played with whatever we put in front of her (including wrapping paper) while we all opened gifts! It was a wonderful Christmas but I am looking forward to next year when Harper is a little more aware of what is going on!

Starting Christmas Traditions

One of the many things I look forward to now that Harper is in our lives are all of the fun traditions that go along with the holidays...especially Christmas!!! I think the Zilker Tree will definitely become one of those traditions as will a Trail of Lights that we will most likely explore next year! And tonight, I started another tradition, Christmas pj's!!! I gave them to her a little early this year (mostly because she doesn't know what is going on anyway) but plan in future years to give them to her on Christmas Eve, just in time to wear for Christmas morning! I will probably get more satisfaction out of these traditions for a little while but soon enough she will be able to appreciate and enjoy them too!

What's in my stocking Mommy???


Harper modeling her pj's!

Happy 11 months Harper!

Happy Birthday Chris!

It was my hubby's Birthday yesterday so I decided to make him a yummy dinner and dessert to celebrate! Chris loves this gnocchi casserole dish that I make so I decided to spice it up a bit and make another version of it...gnocchi, homemade Alfredo sauce, sauteed zucchini and turkey sausage...throw some breadcrumbs on top and throw it in the oven...it was good! I also made homemade Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing that were to die for!!! I hope my hubby had a good Birthday...Mommy and Baby Harper love him very much!!!

Crock Pot Lasagna

I recently purchased a crock pot cookbook in hopes of finding some new crock pot recipes. I was intrigued by a lasagna recipe so I decided to give it a try. I made a Pesto Lasagna with Spinach and Mushrooms. I was very happy with the way it turned out! I wouldn't do anything differently and you really could play around with the ingredients. Just make sure you get the no-bake/oven ready noodles. Oh, and it was done in like 3 hours versus 5 hours...ALL the recipes I do in the slow cooker have significantly less cook time then the recipe indicates, I have to wonder if I just have a crappy slow cooker? Anyway...if you are looking for a new recipe you can throw in the slow cooker this is worth a taste!

Zilker Christmas Tree

After dinner tonight we all got bundled up and headed over to see the Zilker Christmas Tree! I knew I wanted Harper to see it because it's a tree made up of thousands of lights...and Harper is all about lights lately! It was fun to see her point and look at the lights and watch all the people. Chris and I shared a bag of Kettle Corn and we all sat on the bench and enjoyed the lights for awhile. We will definitely go back next year!

Our little escape artist!

Lucky Chicks Ugly Sweater Christmas Party (that's a mouthful!)

For those of you out there that don't know this already...we call my bestest group of girlfriends the Lucky Chicks...and the LC's get together every year at Christmas and have a little party, this year we decided to have an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party and we had a blast! Kathleen graciously hosted the party at her house and we had yummy food, our gift exchange and we voted on the best sweater! And the winner went to- Tanya!!! She is now the proud owner of a Snuggie for wearing such an ugly sweater! I personally always look forward to this gathering, it really gives us all a chance to spend the evening together catching up and just enjoying our friendships!


Kathleen, our host!


Tanya, Carrie & Steph


Tanya- the ugly sweater winner!


My ugly sweater- thanks Tina!!!


Erica & prego Gina

Parental Visit

Granny & Papa Wilson were here last weekend visiting for a few days...and although we didn't really do that much we of course kept busy with Miss H! The visit started off a little rocky when Harper took a little while to warm up to Granny & Papa, after picking them up from the airport I stopped at the grocery store for a few things and when I got back to the car H was hysterically crying! Thankfully she got over it pretty quick and by the end of the trip she was reaching out for her Granny! We did some shopping, ate yummy food, babysat 2 wild boys for my friend and did a lot of hanging out at the house...it was a great visit! I even made my first pie from scratch, pecan pie and I have to say it was quite delicious! Oh, and Santa paid a visit too with lots of fun gifts for Harper! We love our visits with Granny & Papa and as Harper gets older and really starts to know what is going on it will be really special to see how much she will look forward to seeing them!

Some pics from the visit: