Sleeping beauty!

The little princess has put herself back to bed when she wakes up two nights in a row. That means no getting out of bed for me and I am so excited! Finally! If she keeps this up - I just might start feeling like my old self again.

A little late - but worth the wait

It took me a while to finish Andy's cake, but he finally got to make a wish. It was delicious - my sister-in-law Amy's recipe...YUM!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Andy's birthday has once again come and gone. He opened his gifts in the morning, and then went shopping to spend some of those gifts (Sweet gift card from his parents). He bought this stunning coat (see below) that I love just as much if not more than he does. Then later that night, Chad and Karen Rozmus took us out to dinner for a "double date" to Yamato's, a very, very good Japanese steak house. It was tasty! Happy Birthday Andy! I love You!




Yes - his gifts were wrapped in sheets. Stella got him this awesome soccer ball!

Thanksgiving

Stella helped her Dad with some last minute cooking.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. What else could it be when you are feasting on such delicious food? But no matter how good our company was on thanksgiving (which was the Rozmus' s and Meldau's - and they are great company) nothing can beat the Holiday's with Family. We missed our Families very much and we can't wait to see them on Christmas and New Years! Missing Family so much helped us to remember just how grateful we are for our Families and all that they do and are for us. Thanksgiving is always such a wonderful time to be grateful and content with all we have around us!

yup - a cup already

So Stella may not take a bottle any more, but she does great with my water-bottle or a cup.

Beautiful

My sister-in-law Nicole has the most adorable picture of her son Jagger in the leaves. It motivated me to take some pictures of Stella for Fall. She wouldn't give me a smile though - because she wouldn't even look at me to see my silly faces and exaggerated excitement. I still love the pictures though!

He just can't help it...can he

As we all know, Andy LOVE LOVE LOVES Thanksgiving. We are going to the Rozmus's for dinner, and Andy is cooking up a storm in preparation.

I love to see the Temple...

We went on a drive last Sunday to the Columbia Temple, and took some pictures for everyone to see. On the way there, we passed a gas station that my Mom and Grandpa may want to invest in =).



Stella was in awe of the Temple's beauty.
Around the Temple there are a couple little lakes. They look beautiful this time of year!

The Cook-Out

Last night - some friends from our ward, the Hoods, invited us to go with them to a private island on Lake Murray. (It is owned by the power company, so you have to work for them to access it - which Joseph Hood does=)) It is a beautiful place, and unfortunately the camera didn't make its way out until it was too dark. Stella slept for the majority of the time in the car, but once she woke up - we bundled her up tight because it was pretty darn cold. Despite the low temperature, we had a wonderful time! Tammy Hood, and her third out of four children (Claire) are with Stella and I in this picture. Claire is two months older to the day than Stella, so once they realize eachother exist, they should be great friends!

little trooper

I recently visited this absolutely huge children's consignment store that is super close to our house. Most of their stuff - unfortunately - is kind of junky, but I wanted a jogging stroller really badly, and they are fairly expensive. So I thought I would give this store a try. Well...I found one with Andy's help, and I love it! Stella also seems to enjoy it, because going outside is one of her very favorite things. If she is screaming her head off- which is pretty often lately- you can simply walk to the front door and put your hand on the nob, and she suddenly shuts up! So anyway...this morning I went on a run (slow jog actually), thinking nothing of the clouds above. You would think that after it rained all night, I might be a little hesitant about going outside - but no, not me, not today. In fact, I didn't even notice the clouds above until the first little sprinkle hit my nose. And by this time I was far enough from home that it didn't matter how fast I could run...it was obvious we were doomed. So I turned around, and headed straight into the pouring rain for home. Stella was so funny, closing her eyes and making little grunting noises. Poor thing was probably wondering why I wasn't doing anything even though she was obviously uncomfortable. We finally (remember - slow runner) made it home and into the covering where I took these pictures of Stella, our parking lot, and the hood of the stroller that unfortunately doesn't block little babies from rain that is being blown directly into their little eyes.

Why not the pacifier?

These days, Stella is all about sucking, but she won't take a pacifier. Now, not only are her fingers always soaking with slobber, but so is her bottom lip and chin. She sucks and chomps on it all the time. I will hear this loud chomping/sucking noise, and look over, and sure enough Stella is going at it with her bottom lip.

one man's trash - another man's treasure

butternut squash soup

So my sister-in-law Nicole started up a little recipe post thing, where we are all supposed to post a recipe once a month or so...well here is my first one. We had this for dinner tonight, and it is very tasty. Make sure you don't over do the thyme though - it can be a little much...at least for my taste. Otherwise, this soup makes me feel very festive and fall like. And a big plus is that it is healthy and low cal as well=).

2 tablespoon(s)	unsalted butter
1 cup(s)	(about 1 medium onion) chopped onions
2 1/2 pound(s)	butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (about 6 cups)
1/2	Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
3 cup(s)	low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cup(s)	apple cider
1 1/2 teaspoon(s)	salt
1/2 teaspoon(s)	fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 teaspoon(s)	fresh-ground pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until softened -- about 5 minutes. Add the squash and apple and sauté for 5 more minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the squash is tender -- about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. In small batches, carefully puree the soup in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

And the fun begins

I can finally put little clips in Stella's hair - and they stay! I have dreamt of this day forever. (at least it feels that way) I thought Stella would have more hair than she did at birth, so I was imagining bows from the very beginning, and she did get bows right off - but I am so excited now that I can clip something into her hair, and have it stay put. She doesn't seem to mind the clips either. Yay!

boo!

The Law school had a Halloween fair on Monday, and Stella had her face painted. I have been wanting to get her face painted since the Greek festival - so that was fun...at least for me. Can you tell she wouldn't hold still?


For Halloween Stella was a little cowgirl. We got the costume before we even knew what we were having - so the pink on the cowboy boots is important, but you can't see it that well in the pictures. She sure was a cutie! I was a cheerleader - not too exciting. One boy was handing out candy from a bowl that had a glove sticking up out of it, and I could tell his hand was in there, so I pretended I was putting my hand in one place, and then quickly moved my hand to the other side of the bowl and grabbed a piece of chocolate. Don't think he liked me too much. He said, and I quote, "YOU"RE ANNOYING YOU STUPID LITTLE CHEERLEADER!" Andy was a law student. Poor guy is soo busy. But overall the trunk or treat was a good time.




Stick-em up cowgirl. Stella surrenders!

We parked right next to the Rozmus's. Lucky us!