Thanksgiving

We had a very blessed Thanksgiving this year.  For one, it was Klive's first Thanksgiving.  Also, we were able to be with almost all of our family. 

Klive with his cousin Macy.

He also was able to meet all of his Great Grandparents for the very first time.

Klive and Meemaw

Klive and Nanni

Klive and Poppa

Klive also was able to spend some time at both grandparents' houses and with almost all of his aunts and uncles.  It was his first time to travel and was a whirlwind trip, but we had a great time.  

SuperKlive

Our church had their annual "First Fest" the Saturday before Halloween.  I just couldn't miss the opportunity to dress Klive up in something cute. 

Return to Sunday Dinner: the Simple Delight of Family, Friends, and Food by Russell Cronkhite

One good recipe after another is what you will find in this cookbook. Cronkhite breaks each chapter into a menu of five to six recipes and starts each chapter with a short one page story. The concept of the cookbook is based on Sunday dinners and the joy that comes from family gathered around a table eating comforting food.
There are certain things I look for in a cookbook. One, are there pictures for a majority of the recipes? Two, are the recipes easy to read and follow? And three, and most importantly, is the food appealing and something I would want to cook and eat? This cookbook has all three. So far I have made the chicken and sausage gumbo and the sour cream-apple bundt cake. The recipes were well written and the finished product was truly excellent. I took the bundt cake to work and it was a hit. I like that this cookbook has a mix of traditional food and some slightly different recipes thrown in. I am planning to cook quite a few things out of it in the near future. The stories of the authors’ faith and food experiences were heartwarming and an added bonus. I would absolutely recommend this cookbook.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

3 Months

Klive turned three months almost two weeks ago.  He is getting so big.  Time is flying by.

He is cooing and babbling up a storm these days.  He also found his feet this week, so he has been fascinated with grabbing them.   

Introducing...

 

Klive

(picture by Melanie of http://dimplesanddumplinsphotography.com/)

 

Sorry for the very late blog, but obviously life has been a little busy.  Klive was born on his due date, July 5th.  And that was not planned.  I went into labor the afternoon before.  He weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.  And as you can see he is gorgeous.  Sorry, proud momma blogging.  The picture above was taken when he was exactly one week old.  

 

 

 

I find myself taking entirely too many pictures on my phone instead of on the camera.  I need to stop doing that.  So as of yet, this is all I have.

 

 

This is the most recent picture of our new family.  It was taken when Klive was 7 weeks old.  I promise that I will be blogging more frequently with more pics of our sweet little boy.

Klive's Room

Klive's room is finally completely ready.  Let me say that I could not have finished this without a HUGE amount of help from Brigitte and Anna and my hubby.  After many showers and LOTS of stuff for Klive, I was feeling slightly overwhelmed with getting everything put in it's place.  I did manage to organize things into piles in the guest room, but I just simply couldn't get any further without help.  And I love to organize, but I just couldn't seem to get started.  Friends and hubby to the rescue!  They spent an entire Saturday afternoon helping me organize his drawers, his bath stuff, get off all the tags of his 0-3 month clothes, take sheets and changing pad covers out of packaging, hang up shelves and art, assemble the bouncer and play yard, and even make a cute pendant banner to put on the wall over his bed.  They even packed his diaper bag!  Wonderful I tell you!  I spent several days doing lots of laundry and putting everything away.  That was fun.

The hanging shelves and the lamp came from IKEA.  Bless you Anna and Brigitte for putting that lamp together!  Let's just say the assembly was a little frightening at first.  The lovely blue crocheted blanket hanging on the chair was made by my Aunt Nini, and the quilt with my fabric was made by my friend Veronica's mom.  It's so soft and sweet!

And this was my DIY project.  I sanded this nightstand that used to be beige and painted it the same gray that I used on two of the walls in his room.  I think it turned out very well. 

Check out the awesome bookshelves that Kevin made!  This is exactly what I wanted his bookshelves to look like, but finding something like this proved to be difficult.  Crate and Barrel actually sells shelves like these, but they are $20 each and only two feet long.  These shelves are four foot long.  The bookshelves really meant a lot to me because I love to read so much and I hope Klive does as well.

Sorry, some of these pics are grainy and dark.  The tree painting was made by my friend Gwen.  Isn't it awesome!  It looks just like the tree in my fabric!  And the fabulous rocking horse was given to Klive by Kevin's uncle.  Klive will just love it!

Above his crib is the banner that myself and the girls made out of some burlap, rope, and a little paint.  And check out the crib skirt that Veronica's mom made for me!  It should be a little straighter for the pic, but I had just messed around with the mattress so it got a little lopsided.  It is perfect though!  Also hanging off the crib is a sweet crocheted hooded blanket made by my mother-in-law.  Precious!

I haven't managed to put anything in the smaller frames yet, but I do have plans for them.  I purchased the center framed art with his name from sarah + abraham.  They have the cutest stuff!

I really love how everything turned out and I can't wait to see Klive in his new room.

34 Weeks

Here I am at 34 weeks.  No, I am not headed out for a night on the town.  I had just attended the beautiful wedding of a co-worker of mine.