80 Degrees and Christmas Trees

December 1st was an unusual one.

We picked out our Christmas tree, Lowe's style.

 

We brought our tree home and found the perfect spot for it.

We decorated our tree and home to get ready for Christmas.

 

Oh, and we did yard work because it was 80 degree and our grass is still growing strong : )

What a way to start the month of December!

Gobble Gobble, Thanksgiving 2012 Recap

I hope your Thanksgiving was as joyful as ours!

We waited 17 long weeks to tell most all of our family about our baby news, but we wanted to tell them in person and it definitely paid off to see everyones joyful reactions when we finally told them the good news.

Sorry no film or photos of peoples' reactions, but again, you can only imagine all of the excited looks.

Here is our Thanksgiving recap:

Getting Thanksgiving lunch ready. Notice the shorts and t-shirts, it was a warm day.

Granddad Connie cutting the turkey. Notice the two large bowls of black olives, it's a tradition to always have black olives at Thanksgiving/Christmas. They usually don't last long.

 Jesse and I got to meet our nephew, Jack, for the first time. He was such a cutie! It made me want our little guy to be here...but I think it's best he waits until April :)

Such a natural.

 

 My grandparents got to meet Jack for the first time also at Thanksgiving.

All the grandkids together with Granddad Earnest and Grandma Joyce.

And finally I will end with a goofy picture... It was such a added bonus to get to see my best friend over Thanksgiving. She lives in Los Angeles now and our visits are few and far between, but always full of fun and quality bonding.

Since neither of us have access to a Braums anymore, we had to make a stop and indulge! Julie does a much prettier "goofy" face then I do...I mean who looks like that eating ice cream?  : )

Happy Birthday and Congratulations, Pops!

I have gotten out of order in my blog posts, so now that our big baby secret has been revealed, I must rewind a bit to catch you all up on other happenings from the McKee household.

Jesse's parents, Mike and Kim, came to visit at the first of November to see us, attend the international quilt show (Kim) and celebrate Mike's "big" birthday. *I won't reveal ages.

It was the perfect opportunity to share the baby news while they were here, especially since we wanted to tell all the family we could in person.

Here we are at Taste of Texas celebrating Mike's birthday.

We came back to our house to have a second dessert, yes second, and open birthday cards.

 

We had a really cute idea lined up for the announcement, but then that failed, so instead we bought Mike a birthday card that was from the baby.

 

Opening card number one (baby's was at the bottom)

 

Opening card number two.

Opening card number three, baby's card! You can see the confusion on Mike's face and you can tell Kim has just about figured it out.

 

I have no pictures of what happened next (although we do have video), but you can only imagine there were lots of hugs and excitement.

 

Here they are looking at the sonogram.

 

Besides revealing baby news, we celebrated Mike's birthday by checking something off his bucket list. We went to the Alamo in San Antonio.

Since this is Mike and Kim's first grandchild, they got to choose their grandparent names, Pops and Gramma.

My parents already have five grandkids so they will remain Granddad and Grammy.

Between the four grandparents, seven great grandparents, four aunts, four uncles, five cousins and numerous other family members and friends, our child will be very, very loved!

A Secret Kept Too Long

"You're what!?!" has been the shocking response/question I have received now many times and that is because it starts with me saying "I'm pregnant!"

That's right, Jesse and I are having a baby boy in April!

We have slowly been leaking the news to family and friends, but considering I am already 18 weeks pregnant and know what the gender of the baby is, people are understandably shocked.

Here is what you've missed over the past 18 weeks...

Just ignore the terrible background and the fact that my head is slightly cut off in these photos, that is not how the originals look.

I have been blessed to have had an "easy" pregnancy so far. I have had no morning sickness, just a little bit of nausea, but that has passed now. Second trimester symptoms now include slight dizziness, blurred vision, terrible memory loss and an increased appetite.

Banana's make me nauseous so that is about the only food I won't eat. I haven't had any weird cravings, I just crave extreme amounts of the stuff I usually like. I love pickles, but would never buy jars of giant pickles, until now : ) Don't worry, I don't go all crazy and eat the whole thing in one setting. I am still being health conscious of what I eat, but even my doctor has told me to give into my cravings or else it will only worsen.  Most of the time if I do have a craving as soon as I eat it, I don't crave it anymore. I am done with mass quantities of  pickles, I think.

I still feel pretty small considering I am 18 weeks pregnant, but I have been slowly expanding. Maternity clothes now feel way more comfortable then regular clothes, although I can still get away with wearing them.

In other big news, I have decided to leave my job. My last day is December 21, so just around the corner. I have had a great experience at my job, but the two hour commute was stressful and it was just time for a change. It has made me realize it is not worth risking my health or the baby's.

That now leaves room for recommendations as to what I should do with all of my spare time before the baby comes...suggest away!

Now that the cat is out of the bag, hopefully I will do better about baby updates.

By my next update, I hope to look definitely pregnant. We will see!

Fall is in the Air

I am still getting used to the fact that 80 degrees is considered fall weather in Houston. But I am not complaining, because it feels so wonderful!

I love fall, but I think that is because I am just so sick of the hot, humid summer weather. I am also sure I will "love" winter and spring and then summer again once it comes around : )

The new season has inspired me to start pinning again on Pinterest (I pin in waves). Check out my latest pins...

Love this idea, so simple.

Plaid...A fall and winter favorite for me.

Scarves are such a great accessory. I have been on the hunt for a great leopard scarf like this one.

Monster Munch.

I am not a huge candy corn fan, so I think next time I will leave out. 

 

I may be among a small percentage of adults that doesn't like dressing up for Halloween. It just seems like so much work and everyone always judges your outfits on creativity..or lack there of.

 My opinions aside, this looks like a pretty cute/simple idea that I would try, if forced.

 

Pumpkin Fluff.

 

This stuff is so good! It can be so much more than just a dip. I think it would make a great frosting or cake/pie filling. 

This just made me laugh, as well as it kind of creeped me out. What a great idea for a Halloween party.

 

I made these several years ago for a Halloween party and they were a big hit. So easy to make and so good. My bows weren't that pretty though.

That is all I have for now, I am sure before too long I will be pinning Christmas ideas...yikes.

 

Happy fall everyone!

Happenings Lately

More like happenings all summer! I have been so busy this summer with work, family and just having a good time that I have made no time to update my blog.

First and foremost, I got a NEW CAR! This has been many years in the making. I started thinking about getting a new car four years ago, started saving three years ago, started searching (seriously) two years ago and just a few months ago, bought my first new car. It was well worth the wait.

Just a heads up, I will probably have a whole separate blog post for my old car before we sell it. It has been a part of my life for the past 10 years, so it deserves a little recognition.

Part of my lack of blogging has been due to how busy I have been at work. The good news is, it paid off. I got a promotion! It feels so good to be recognized and rewarded for for the hard work you put in. I am excited to see what lies ahead for my career.



I finally reunited with my college roommates and of course good friends.

We met in Austin, TX and had a blast catching-up...and eating cupcakes.
I miss these girls.


July 25 Jesse and I celebrated our three-year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been three years already and yet there are so many more to go.

 

We went to Taste of Texas for a nice steak dinner, yum.

 

Continuing our tradition...

I received Toy Story 3.

Jesse got a Three Musketeers candy bar, a Three Stooges DVD and a three pack of gum. Not to mention there were three gifts : )

In September my parents came to visit.

 

Since the game wasn't on TV, Jesse somehow rigged it to where we could watch the OSU game on a borrowed ipad. It worked pretty good. 

Dad and Jesse went to the gun range, while mom and I went shopping.

And we went the to Museum of Natural Science.

 We did several other things, all making it a fun-filled weekend.

 

 

 Two weekends ago we took a very relaxing trip to the lake with friends.

 

Sitting on the dock, watching the sunset and talking with friends was the perfect, relaxing weekend!

 

Too bad our friends did not want to participate in the photo. Thanks Matt, Katie and Charlotte for such a good time.

 

Well, that's what you missed. Hopefully I don't let fall pass me before I do another update.

Try This Immediatety! A Rave Shrimp Recipe

I typically don't rave about the food I have made from Pinterest, but this I must recommend.

I pinned it from my SIL, Sarah, and it was so easy to make and absolutely wonderful.
OK, now that I have really talked it up, I am sure someone in the crowd is a food critic and won't like it, but take it from non-seafood lover ( the exception being shrimp), this is good.

Honey Lime Shrimp, Yum! 

I got this great recipe from www.thedoughwillriseagain.wordpress.com. Check out her blog to get the recipe.

What I did different, which wasn't much...

• Winged the spices and honey (I put a little more honey in then recommended)
• Used fresh limes from our lime tree
• Cooked it a little longer to blacken it a bit
• Added plain bread crumbs ( I don't think this really did anything to the recipe, but it did help blacken it)
• Used frozen shrimp instead of fresh

I hope you all add the ingredients to your grocery list this week and give it a try.
Happy eating!

Mini Vacay

My sister and her family invited us to join them for the weekend in Galveston and we had a great time swimming in the ocean/pool for a day.

Beach photos.

This is the first summer I have been this white...ever! So I was glad to get a little sun and shed my ghost-like appearance.

Sister and bother-in-law cooking a delicious meal.

 Shadows.

Love taking sunset photos.

Funny Faces.

This is what happens when you let your four-year-old nephew take your camera.

 Speaking of funny faces, looks like we are all doing our own thing in this photo.

And the funny faces continue...

What is is about a sleeper sofa on vacation that makes everyone want to pile in?

 Nothing better then getting away from the city to soak up some sun and be with family.

Family, Family, Family

The past few months have been full of family visits.

For Memorial Day we traveled to the Nashville area to celebrate Jesse's Grandmamma's 80th birthday.

The Birthday Girl!

Family Randoms

In June, Jesse's parents came to visit us in our new house.

It was a cool and rainy day at the zoo, which meant no crowds and all the animals were out and about.

Family Game Night

For the 4th of July, we traveled to Oklahoma to be with my side of family.

Speaking of family, there has been an addition. 

I have a new nephew! Jack William Kirkpatrick was born June 2. Isn't he precious?

Got to love family!