{what i'm loving wednesday}


1. Our Christmas stockings! (Ella and Finley's stockings are a tad bit different)!
2. Starbucks skinny gingerbread latte! Y-U-M!
3. Michael Buble's new Christmas CD!
4. Anything monogrammed!
What are YOU loving?

{cheeeese}

Our happy, blue eyed brown hair 10 week old! We love you, Ella Victoria!

{thanksgiving update}

Josh and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating with the Dearmore side of the family! It was my first year in 29 years not to be with my family. While I was sad we weren't with them, I couldn't have ask for a better family to celebrate with! I'm so blessed! This year was extra special celebrating with Ella! We ARE thankful!
McCain and Ella...our favorite little "turkeys"!
"Mom, I'm tired of taking pictures already"!
Thank you Aunt Jessi for my Thanksgiving dress! I love it!
I'm so thankful for daddy.
Just mommy and me!
"Mom, please tell me we aren't going shopping on black Friday"! :) (and no, we did not)!
Hope you and yours had a blessed Thanksgiving!

{2 months}

Happy 2 months to our baby girl (November 21st)! She is continuing to grow and grow. As you can see by the pictures, Ella is quite "healthy" these days! :) She is very alert, loves to smile, tries to "talk" to us, and enjoys bath time (not so much at first)! She continues to bring so much joy to Josh and I. We're blessed!

{give thanks with a grateful heart}

I don't even know where to begin. I have so very much to be thankful for and what an amazing year it has been for our family! God has truly answered many prayers {in His perfect timing}. Josh and I had been trying to sell our house since July 2010 and when we found out we were expecting, we knew then we were really under the gun. Our prayers were answered {again, in His timing} and we moved into our new home 5 months ago. Thank you Lord for teaching us patience, even when things didn't make sense to us at the time. You are faithful.
On September 21, 2011, the Lord gave Josh and I the most perfect little gift {there are no words to describe}, Ella Victoria. Thank you Lord for this beautiful, healthy baby girl. What an unbelivable journey we have walked since the day we found out we were expecting. I'm so thankful for our doctor who made our experience even more enjoyable and relaxed. Thank you Lord for showing your unconditional love for us through this tiny little baby. Her smile, bright eyes, tiny fingers and toes remind us of your awesome creation.
Thank you Lord for blessing me with a husband who loves his family so much. I've loved getting to see Josh become a daddy {as I knew he would be great}! His smile in all our pictures says it all! His heart is officially melted! :) I couldn't imagine walking this journey called life with anyone else! Thank you Lord for teaching me to others as you do through Josh. I love his big big heart!
Thank you Lord for our families! I don't think we could have done it without them. I'm so thankful for parents who love you and love their families more than life itself. Josh and I are so blessed to have parents who have been married over 30 years and grandparents 59+ years. What a great example they have shown us {and are continuing to do so}. I couldn't have picked better grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for Ella. I don't know how I could have been more thankful prior to Ella, but somehow, I am! Wow...I totally get it now! All those times, "this really hurts me more than you" or "I'm doing this because I love you so much"...yep, they were right! :)
I'm so thankful for friends! I feel so blessed to have best friends all the way back from 5th grade, college friends, grad school friends, work friends, church friends...We've all walked these exciting journey's together! From graduating, to mission trips {and matching outfits}, to proposals, to weddings and babies!
Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving! Psalm 100

{it's that time again}!

It's that time of year again! Time to take Christmas card pictures and find that perfect card to send out! This year will be extra special for Josh and I as we get to add one more little body in our picture...maybe 2 if Finley girl can cooperate! One of my favorite things to do during the month of December is to go to the mailbox! I can't wait to see who we'll get a card from that day. I love getting to see all the cute pictures and creative card ideas. Here are some favorites I've found while browsing for ours!

tasty tuesday {sweet potato bake}

Yes, it has been way too long since I've done "tasty tuesday". With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought I would share my very favorite Thanksgiving dish...Sweet Potato Bake (thank you Paula Deen)! My favorite part is it's considered a side dish, so that means you can still eat all the pies you want, right?!?! {Tastes much more like a dessert than a side dish...hint hint}!
Ingredients:
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup heavy cream, half and half, or whole milk
Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
Mix together with fork; sprinkle over top of casserole.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients together except for cream. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add cream; mix well. Pour into greased casserole dish (1 1/2 quarts). Add topping. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

{newborns}

Here are our favorites from Ella's newborn session at 10 days old. I love looking back and seeing how much she has changed since then. Stop growing so fast my baby girl!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139: 13-14

{7 weeks}

Ella turned 7 weeks this past Wednesday. I can't believe I'll have a two month old soon! Where oh where is the time going? She is continuing to grow (by the minute I think). She also shocked us by sleeping 7 hours on Tuesday night and 7.5 hours on Wednesday night (crossing my fingers this is our NEW pattern). Too bad mommy didn't get to enjoy those hours of sleep (as I was up checking on her making sure she was okay)! Here are a few pics from our week!

{ella's special visitors}

Ella is such a blessed little girl to have 3 sets of great grandparents. This past weekend, Ella got to meet my grandparents for the very first time (on mom's side). What a wonderful day we had together! We shared lots of smiles, laughs, stories, and pictures. We got to take our "four generation" picture...one we'll always treasure! Thank you for such a fun day, Grandmom and Granddaddy! We love you!