Christmas morning...

Aahhh... Christmas morning...

Jeremy & I woke up on Christmas morning with the sound of Anniston playing & giggling in her crib! It was a sweet start to a wonderful day!

We all went downstairs to see what Santa had left! ;)...

We really didn't know what to expect since Anniston isn't old enough to really know what goes on during Christmas, but it was so neat to see her just taking everything in... she loved opening presents! {Wonder where she gets that from?!} LOL...

She LOVES her pink activity center Santa brought!... she can't quite touch the bottom yet though...

I'd always heard Christmas is so much different once you have a little one... This Christmas was such a special & memorable year for Jeremy and I because of the addition of our sweet baby girl. She made everything seem magical that day and made us realize what Christmas is truly about.

Christmas Eve...

OK... so I have SO many pictures from our Christmas celebration this year that I will have to break my Christmas posts up to a few different ones...

I think its no secret that I just LOVE Christmas!!! It is by far my favorite holiday, so I couldn't wait to celebrate my favorite time of the year with our sweet little baby girl...

We started our Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve day by baking & decorating cookies for Santa...

Then after a few days of giving the little one cereal, we decided today was going to be the BIG day for our little girl to eat her first food... butternut squash! ;) I couldn't wait to start using my Beaba Babycook! (I'll have to write a separate post proclaiming my LOVE of this baby food maker because it is THE BOMB!!! Love, love, love it!!)...

And Anniston loved the yummy baby food mommy made!...

Then after dinner, it was time to read a Christmas book & leave cookies for Santa...

Thanksgiving...

Hey all!

Here are some pictures from Anniston's first Thanksgiving...

Having a little "sniff" of turkey with Granna & Aunt Melissa...

She got a doll from Aunt Sue & Uncle David, but didn't like sharing her daddy's lap I think! ;)

Some was a little turkey'd out...

Every year after our Thanksgiving dinner has settled, the family takes a hike up Lilly Bluff... it was really cold that day so we had to make sure we were all bundled up!... (She was SO cuddly in this pink poofey outfit!- I loved it!)...

Dad carried her in the Baby Bjorn for our hike...

We made it to the top!...

"Haaa" everyone!...

Just wanted to post a recent video & a couple pictures I took of the little lady last week... I have way too much fun with the video camera function on my digital camera... if you can't tell ;)

Anniston's 3mo portraits...

Hey everyone,

Here's some shots from Anniston's 3mo portraits we had done a couple weeks ago by my super talented sister-in-law, Melissa :) Can't believe our little one is already 3months old!! ...

If anyone is looking for a photographer in the Nashville area, she is awesome & is only charging $60 for a session fee right now since she just started her own business! {Just in time for Christmas portraits!} You can also check out her website http://www.melissaweberphotography.com/

Anniston's 1st Halloween...

Trick or treat!...

Here's a few pictures my sister-in-law, Melissa, took of Anniston in her Halloween costume...

And here we are the day of...

Our little pumpkin...

Toot & mom...

Toot & dad... (we had a slight meltdown ;)

And Toot w/ her BBF Stephanie :)

Mr. Bear & Miss Bink the Pooping Machine...

I thought these videos I took the other day were just too precious not to share... Anniston will probably be mortified when she gets older that I shared these with the world! LOL :)

Enjoy... the last 2 are a little longer but worth it I think ;) ...

Salmon & Couscous

I love to cook!... It hasn't always been that way though. My love for cooking really started to surface once I got married and had someone to cook for. And I probably didn't become all the great of a cook until after the first year of marriage ;)

I'm a little addicted to watching the Food Network cooking shows too. My favorite Food Network stars are Giada De Laurentiis, Ina Garten, & Paula Deen. I even subscribe to the Food Network magazine- which I would recommend to anyone- it is packed with tons of great reciepes! Its one of those magazines that you just have to read cover to cover so it always takes me so long to finish an issue.

Since I have a great love of cooking, I thought I would start to share some of my favorite reciepes in some of the blogs I post...

This one is SUPER simple & SUPER fast! It's for a baked salmon & couscous dish that has become one of Jeremy & mine's favorite simple & healthy dinner meals... The recipe is from Bobby Deen...

For the salmon:

Preheat oven to 350

Drizzle a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) on the bottom of your baking dish

Put salmon in dish (When I make it, we just use 2 pieces of salmon, but you can use up to 4 pieces)

Squeeze fresh lime juice over salmon (for 2 pieces of salmon, I use 1/2 a lime)

Sprinkle a little salt, pepper, & garlic powder to taste

And top with a little tab of butter on each piece

Bake salmon for 20 minutes

For the couscous:

Bring 2 1/4cup chicken broth to a boil

Stir in 10oz box of couscous & follow directions on box {The directions on my box just says when you stir couscous in boiling liquid, take off burner & cover for 5 minutes. Then fluff with fork}

Once cooked, add a little butter to taste
Add diced tomatoes, crumbled feta, & sliced green onions

To plate it, I just put a heaping scoop of the couscous on the bottom & top with the salmon. I also add a few extra diced tomatoes, feta, & green onions on top to make it look pretty... :)

So YUMMY!! Hope you enjoy! ;)