The Story Of Aunt Ann's Pie

Growing up, I would go with my parents (and sometimes Uncle Bill) to Paris, TX to visit family. We would visit my great-great-grandmother, Granny (Pearlie), my great-granddaddy, Aunt Blondie and Uncle Jimmy, and Aunt Margaret and Uncle Hershel.

But I always enjoyed visiting my Uncle Gene, Aunt Ann, and Cousin Sondra the most.

Not because I liked them more than the others, but because they had a farm (with horses, goats, chickens, rabbits...). As a kid, farms are so much fun to visit! But also because my Aunt Ann made some mean pies.

My favorite that she made was chocolate. And she knew that, too. Whenever we went to visit, she would make it for me.

A few years ago (well, at least 10) she passed away. Throughout the mourning period I realized that I would never get to taste the delicious chocolate pie again. And I don't really see that as shallow because she put a lot of love into that pie for us, and I hope I showed her enough love besides just the love of her cooking. She was, after all, a very special person, just like all of my family in Paris.

When I met Cary just a little over 3 years ago, I learned something really neat about his family: they are big into homemade meals. Including cakes, muffins, and pies. And another really neat thing: they make a delicious chocolate pie...one that tastes just like my Aunt Ann's!!!

Every time I take a bite of this treat, my mind flies back to my childhood, sitting in the yellow kitchen, talking with my family, eating lunch as quickly as I could just to get to dessert. And then off to play with the animals...but that's not the point.

Tonight we are making that chocolate pie to take to our New Year's Eve game night. I'm not sure if mom has tasted this pie yet, but I hope it brings back the wonderful memories of Aunt Ann, and the fun days we had in Paris.

Here's to wishing everyone a very Happy 2010. May your past bring you good memories and your future hold pleasant surprises!

And To All, A Goodnight!

Finally! Here I go with the post for our Christmas Day gathering!

We were snowed/iced in during Christmas Eve, and mom was wonderful to take care of Brylee in the morning after she woke up (did I mention she's a morning person, up around 4:00 every morning?), so Cary and I got a little more sleep.

After we woke up, we ate some cinnamon rolls and got dressed. Cary checked out the road and afters sliding around a bit, we loaded everything together and attempted our way home.

We made it home safely, took a moment to change clothes and freshen up, grab the gifts for Cary's family, and then went sliding to their house. Ok, ok...the roads between our apartment and his parents' house were not bad at all, mostly because it was past 10:00 in the morning and the sun was out. But it was still slightly nerve-racking!

We made it safely to Brenda and Gary's, and not long after that, Brad, Faith, Helen, and Mema arrived. It was good to see them, and it was fun to watch them go straight to Brylee and look at her.

Lunch was delicious: turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, rolls, fruit salad, and beans. We followed up with chocolate, cherry, and apple pies, ice cream, and Mema's special pound cake. Chocolate still is, and always will be, my favorite!

And don't forget the gifts! We opened up all of our presents, which included a knitting kit for me (I get to learn!), a GPS for Cary (actually 2!), an activity mat for Brylee, a beautiful framed print of Woodstock, VT's shopping center, a teddy bear reminiscent of one Cary had as a kid, and a beautiful Italian Charms bracelet that I get to add links to!

Check out the website for Italian Charms here:

www.pugster.com

There was so much more we got for Christmas, but since it has been nearly a week, I have not remembered all of it. I need to go take pictures!

After opening gifts, we had a great time talking, playing with our new toys (Helen got a karoke machine, which Cary got the most fun out of), and just spending time together. I can't wait for Brylee to be old enough to join in and understand what a great family she has around her.

Cary, Chester, Brylee, and I made our way home that evening to celebrate our Christmas. This was originally going to be the morning celebration, but obviously Mother Nature had other thoughts. But the night was special!

Brylee got an Elf on the Shelf, some Dallas Stars onsies, and a little bible. Cary got a shirt, a cd, a book, and a framed Hopper print for our dining room. I got a cd, calendar, and a knitting kit (2!)...and of course the amazing glider and ottoman I got early for those late nights with Brylee. And Chester was also spoiled by getting a really nice bed!

What an amazing Christmas! I am so truly blessed with everything, especially my family. I love being with them, and with the snow on the ground this year, it was so magical.

I hope everyone had as great of a Christmas as we did. Today is now New Year's Eve, and I plan on having a great time tonight with more family again, watch for a post soon (or as soon as Brylee will allow!)

Merry Christmas To All...

And A Happy New Year!

(May God bless you and yours during this holiday season!!)

Starting Out Christmas With A Brrrr!!!!

It is seriously cold and windy outside! We are having what is considered a Texas blizzard--a first that I am aware of. The wind is strong outside, the roads are frozen, and the snow was swirling all around us earlier.




So much so that we are spending the night at my parents' house after celebrating Christmas with them. Fortunately, they are only 20 minutes away from where we live, but tonight, this will be our home. I lived in this house for 25 years, and now, I am staying here for the first time in 2 years!




Christmas has been magical so far with the snow. Brylee's first Christmas and it is something I never recall seeing before in my life--a white Christmas!

We started celebrating by eating pizza (it was going to be ham at my aunt's house, but because of the weather, the party was wisely canceled. I miss seeing them!), and then opened up gifts. Oh my goodness!!!! The things we got--especially Brylee-her wardrobe is set for the next year with no worries of repeats often!





We have since spent 'quality time' playing with our gifts (including my new laptop--wow!!!!) and enjoying time together. Brylee has been awake a couple of times to eat, and T-Ma excitedly steps in to feed.





What an amazing night, and a great way to kick off my favorite
holiday by remembering the most important thing--our Lord and Savior born this day, as well as our incredible family!

A White Christmas?!

Too bad Brylee won't remember this!

From WFAA.com:

Yes, Virginia — North Texas will be getting a white Christmas, with snow accumulations of an inch or more throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area by late Thursday.

A storm system moved in to the region overnight, and patterns have changed. "It looks like the latest trend stays a little bit longer, it's a little bit stronger, and has a lot more moisture," said WFAA-TV meteorologist Jennifer Schack.

A winter storm warning is in effect through 6 p.m. for counties to the north and west of Dallas-Fort Worth, including Denton County.
Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties are included in a winter weather advisory during the same time period.

Christmas Eve started with widespread rain in North Texas, but precipitation in Tarrant County was expected to switch from rain to snow in the 10 o'clock hour; the shift is forecast to occur in Dallas County after 11 a.m.

Schack said computer models indicate the storm system will intensify north of Interstate 20 during the afternoon hours. "That means some blowing snow, reduced visibility, accumulating snow across the region lasting into this evening for the Red River counties and lifting off later tonight," she said.

The Channel 8 forecaster said between 1 to 3 inches of snow would accumulate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with higher levels as you go north. Counties along the Red River can expect from 3 to 5 inches.

The National Weather Service also issued a wind advisory for all of North Texas through 9 p.m. Thursday, with sustained wind of 20 to 30 mph and gusts as high as 45 mph.

Motorists should be aware of the potential for icy road conditions during the evening hours as skies clear and overnight temperatures drop into the mid-20s in North Texas.

The sun will be out on Christmas Day, with a high of 42.

I think I'll pack up lots of bottles and food for Brylee and Chester in case we get stuck tonight!

Not To Get My Hopes Up, But...

There is snow in the forecast for today!!!!

http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/graph/75063

We are a long ways away from this look, which was taken on our honeymoon in Vermont after a blizzard, but I love this picture!

Brylee At 5 Weeks

I found this on my weekly updates from babycenter.com:


Your baby is learning that she has hands and fingers and feet and toes. She's also starting to talk more. Not with words, of course, but by cooing — with increasing goos, gurgles, and grunts. This marks the beginning of her language development. Talk to your baby often. You'll be able to keep her attention by shifting from a low to a high pitch — the singsong style that parents in every culture tend to use when speaking to a baby.


However, this does not mention rolling over from her tummy onto her back...twice! And Cary and I have yet to see it!

Is this not the most angelic picture of her?

After some convincing, she stayed with Cary's parents on Tuesday night...all night long. I am so grateful to them for taking her so that we could sleep through the night. And of course, my mom has been begging me to let Brylee stay with her overnight for the same reason. Which I will be doing possibly this weekend and/or the next weekend.

Cary and I originally did not want anyone taking care of her overnight until she slept through the night (or at least got past the 3 hour awake phase that seems to occur every night at some time), but he pointed out to me that once she does sleep through the night, I won't need the assistance as much now.

I kind of walked around in a daze yesterday morning, missing my daughter, but also trying to get the apartment a small, very needed, cleaning. I have dusted off the thick dust layer, figured out the sizes for Brylee so that way I can make sure she wears everything at least once, and finished up the laundry. But I was glad to have her back at lunchtime yesterday!

To me, her grandparents taking her overnight is considered a big Christmas gift to me. I get sleep!!! I do miss her while away, but I guess it also helps with the transition of her going to daycare while I go back to work (In 3 weeks... :o( ). I love my family!!!

Mom--get ready for your Brylee visit!

Chester Update

Sorry I have not updated since Friday when I took the Mutt to the vet. Here is the update, though:

The vet did a good exam on him and then told us that the concerns were toxicity or epilepsy. However, Chester did not show signs of continued toxicity (not eating, lethargic, jaundice...), so hopefully that is not the situation, as it would be more important to get the immediate care for him.

The vet then said that if it is epilepsy, there is no medication given unless the pet has multiple seizures in a week. So my fingers are crossed that Chester continues to be normal, no seizures.

Everyone has given him a little additional attention this weekend--we all love this doggie!
Thank you to everyone for the comments and support--I wish Chester could comprehend how popular he is!

The Greatest Dog Ever...

Chester, had a seizure last night. It lasted 2-3 minutes, and he was then disoriented for another couple of minutes.

My heart hurts. This dog means so much to both Cary and I, and I can't wait for Brylee to see the greatness in him that we do.

It is too early in the game to freak out, but doing research on the internet makes it look like epilepsy is the best situation. Some other posibilities include, according to this website:

Brain tumor or head injury

Lyme Disease

Renal Disease

Toxoplasmosis

Lissencephay

While feeding Brylee last night and watching Chester lay on her rug patiently waiting for me to go back to bed, I had to tell myself that I would rather have him have the seizures than any of us, for several reasons. One of them being that he will never get behind the wheel of a car.

Is it possible for him to only have one seizure and never have any problems again?

I know--he's just a dog to most people. But to me, he's one of my children. The most hairy, big-earred, goofy child, but also the best dog I've ever had.

Anniversary Night

Last night Cary and I had a wonderful evening celebrating 2 years of marriage. My mom and dad were wonderful enough to take Brylee and Chester for a little bit so Cary and I could have an 'us' evening.

We had our dinner at Bruno's which is the location where our rehearsal dinner was on December 14, 2007. We had dinner there last year on our anniversary as well. What a beautiful, romantic restaurant for a celebration!

I ordered my chicken parmisean, as I have done in the past (though the Manicotti was a close choice!) and we split cheese sticks and remembered our honeymoon...thinking back, one of my favorite days on our honeymoon was our first day when we were stuck in a Boston hotel due to a blizzard. Making the most of being trapped set the mood for the rest of the trip...and I loved every moment of it!

After dinner, Cary and I drove around looking at Christmas lights, as we did last year. This is such a fun thing to do, and I can't wait to do it with Brylee when she can share the excitement!

Last fun event of the night was stopping for dessert at Applebees. I had a Triple Chocolate Meltdown (very yummy and chocolaty!) while Cary had a Chocolate Chip dessert very similar to the Cookie Monster at Cheddars.

My favorite moment? When Cary used a gift card given to us by a family friend, and there was an amount left on the card that was the same amount of the desserts...he left that as a tip for the waitress. Merry Christmas!

We then went and retrieved the little ones, the rest of the evening still recalling what made each day special for us through marriage. Like I have said before, I am so thankful for my husband!

Brylee Is 0 Today!

Today is the day our sweet baby, Brylee, was due to come into this world. My Dr. even said that if she wasn't here by the 15th, I was going to be admitted into the hospital to be induced to delivery today.

What a surprise and blessing that instead of celebrating 0, we are celebrating 4 weeks today!

I say blessing because I am relieved that she came without induction because I would have been a nervous wreck the beginning of this week, thinking about the labor and delivery process. On November 18, when I woke up with my water broken, I didn't have time to think about it. The day was full of contractions, but not enough time to get freaked out.

She was born at 5 lbs, 9 oz., and despite the concern of being 4 weeks early, her lungs were in beautiful working shape. She was a perfectly healthy baby, and today weighs around 6 1/2 pounds! This is not accurate because the doctor's office weighs her completely naked and with ounces. This is from my scale and her in diapers and a onsies...) None the less, she continues to be healthy and loves her meal time!

Happy 1 month Brylee!

A Post My Dad Will Appreciate (Even If No One Else Does!)

I love to give inanimate things names. Like stuffed animals. Brylee has several stuffed animals, and Cary and I (well, mostly me) have given them names. But this combination is something only my father's daughter could do:

This is Bernard, the bear rug that we picked up to add to the decor in Brylee's room. My nickname for him? Bear-nard.














And this cute Bumble Bee pillow? Named Bee-nard.














And during my midnight feedings, I have come up with yet another one: This one, I dub...














Bird-nard.

Whatever it takes to make it through the long, tiring nights!

2 Years

Oh my! Cary has put up with me for 2 whole years!!!

This time in 2007, we were at our reception, eating and socializing, excited about our trip to Woodstock, VT, the most amazing vacation I have ever taken.

I know I say it a lot, and it gets sappy, but I am so happy that I have met him and God united us. Daily I say a prayer and thank Him for Cary.

I love the conversations, laughs, and adventures we have and hope that I never take any of it forgranted. My life has been so much better with him in it!

Cary--thank you for the best 2 years of my life. Thank you for being the best husband, friend, and now father. I look forward to the rest of our lives together.

Remember Him?

I thought I would take an opportunity to write a little something about our first child, Chester.

This is the greatest dog ever! He has been so good with the baby around, sniffing her on occasion, but mostly just trying to ignore her, especially at 2:00 in the morning when she is screaming and he wants to sleep. Whenever I'm feeding her, he'll go into her room and just lay down on one of the rugs and lays patiently.

I know that he is bored and feels neglected, and I wish he could understand how much he is a joy in our family. Whenever Brylee is asleep, I try to take time and pet him more, or play (which is minimal at this time unfortunately). Whenever we go somewhere for a few hours we make sure to take him to one of our parents to play in the backyard. He loves going over there, and hates coming home with us.

I can't wait for Brylee to be old enough to play with him and bring out the puppy in him again!

A Little Photocopy

Have you ever gone to a website that takes yours and your significant other's pictures and mixes them together to see what your children would look like? We did this with a site that Cary found a long time ago, and the outcome was, well, a little scary. I wish I could remember the site that we used before so I could post an example.

Well, Cary and I pulled out old photos of ourselves as babies this weekend to compare to what Brylee looks like now, a different way of seeing how she takes our features.

Unfortunately, Cary lost a lot of his baby pictures when his house burned down when he was in middle school, so we have limited pictures of him when he was around Brylee's age now. But I am excited to see the comparison as she gets older!

Take a look:

Cary as a tiny tot:


(at 3 months and at 10 months)

Me as a rugrat:


(at 5 days and at 2 weeks)

Brylee this last week:


(at 2 weeks and at 3 weeks)

I know the general response is that she looks just like me as a baby, but I think she definitely has Cary's lips and chin. Hopefully she'll also have his tallness and skinniness--and personality!

A Momentous Occasion!

Today we celebrate a great moment in Brylee's history (well, besides being 3 weeks old)--

She is starting to fit in regular Newborn clothing, and not just Onsies!!!

An Evening From The Past

Tonight Cary and I went to my parents' house for our weekly family night with them. We had a great time taking pictures (some will be posted in the future!) for our family and planning our Christmas pictures as well.

Afterwards, we sat down to think about our evening plans, including dinner, when my parents popped a wonderful question on us: how about they watch Brylee and Chester while Cary and I have a date night?

While I felt bad that we didn't have our usual family night, Cary and I jumped at the opportunity to go out and have some us time. We went to the mall to see what movies were showing, and found that Blind Side was showing. This movie looked great in the previews, and the next showing was in 15 minutes, so we got the tickets.

This movie is really good! I would definitely recommend it. Sandra Bullock of course plays a great role, as well as all of the other actors. And I love that it was based on a true story. I think it is one of my favorites for this year.

I cannot thank my parents enough for the time they gave Cary and me together. This is the same with Cary's parents. It is such a blessing that we get to spend some time together, remembering the times we had that helped us develop our relationship, while they watch our children. So many people do not have the opportunity that we do, and tend to lose each other while raising children, which is what I want to do my best to avoid.

To our families: THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart. Words cannot express how much I love you guys for all that you do, and I feel incredibly blessed.

And now, here's a tease of the pictures we took tonight:

Thanksgiving Picture

I was visiting my cousin's blog and saw her updates after her visit here (she lives in Colorado currently with her husband and 3 girls)

She got a great picture of all of the cousin's children together, and was nice enough to let me place it on my blog. Her oldest daughter, Addison, is seen holding Brylee. Brylee is so tiny, it looks like Addison is holding a doll!

Here is the picture of Austin surrounded by all of the girls, Addison (holding Brylee), Reagan (with the pink guitar), and Gracyn (the little one Austin is holding), and of course, Brylee (mostly hidden by blanket!)

Check out Kim's blog here. She is the one who inspired me to start mine!