Superbowl

We went to Josh's parents house to watch the game. We munched on burgers, hot dogs, rotel dip, and bbq weenies. For dessert we had Ritz Pecan pie (yummy!) and chocolate pie (equally yummy!).

I was hoping for a great game and it was!

We had a great time and CeCe was dressed for the occasion :)


My favorite commercial here!

Where's the chicken?

My wonderful friend Becki inspired me to also write about my recent cooking ventures after reading her post here.

I would say I'm an average cook. I'm no Paula Deen but I can read directions and execute them properly. Josh would say I'm really good at it but I think maybe that comes from him only really knowing how to make mac 'n cheese and a couple of other things that he would probably eat on a daily basis if I didn't cook (which actually might be ok with him but nonetheless he still likes to eat my cookin').

Over the past few weeks we've been delving into our finances because we are planning to and are sooooo close to being able to pay off all of our credit cards (another post for another time) and realized we spent WAY to much money on crap food. Throughout my entire pregnancy and the first month thereafter I had no desire to cook and sometimes it's just hard to cook for two so we would just pick up food here and there. And now I'm just sick of it all. I also want to get back in the habit of cooking at home because it not only saves money but it's also good for family quality time!

My mom and I took a trip up to Arkansas to visit my sister a few weeks ago. She and her husband cook every night. Most of the time they are quick and easy meals but they also mix in some really good homecookin' nights. So when we got back I was so ready to get groceries and cook some grub! I called my sister to get some ideas and with list in hand we went to the store.

Of the almost $200 worth of groceries was a nice big pack of chicken tenderloins that I was excited to bake sometime that week. We got home and to make room for the new stuff I took out the old stuff and put it on the counter for Josh to empty and put in the trash while I finish putting up the groceries. I leave the chicken out because I planned on placing each tenderloin in its own bag to freeze so when we were ready to eat it we could just thaw out what we needed. Well I finished putting the groceries up and moved on to something completely forgetting about the chicken.

The next day rolls around and I remembered that I never divided up the chicken nor did I remember putting it in fridge or freezer. So I'm thinking where the heck is the chicken? I looked in the fridge and freezer (hoping Josh put it up) and could not find it. Well turns out Josh put it up alright....IN THE TRASH! Not once did it ever dawn on him that throwing the 'brand-spanking-new-right-there-when-I-put-it-in-the-grocery-basket-unopened chicken' in the trash along with the old stuff out of the fridge was the wrong thing to do. UUUUGGGGHHHH!

The only thing that got me through it without making him go back up to the store and get more chicken (besides me not trusting that he would get the right thing) was knowing that I had all the ingredients for some homemade chili that I was equally...maybe even a little more... excited about cooking. So I made the chili and all was right with the world!

I nibbled on the chili all week long. It was sooooo deee.lish! I also made a sausage and baked potato dinner that was pretty good and worth making again!

I'm looking forward to keeping up with this cooking kick so I welcome any and all good, easy, and cheap recipes!

p.s. thanks Becki

Goodbye 2008 :)

Well it's time to change the first thing people see when reading this blog (picture of CeCe flipping the camera off) so I thought I would go ahead and write another post!

We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends! And we decided to stay in and enjoy the comforts of home as we ring in the new year :)

What a great year 2008 has been to me! I have had the wonderful pleasure of spending another great year with my wonderful husband and we welcomed our gift from God, Cecelia! I'm so in love with my family :) CeCe is now a month and 8 days old and I have loved every second of being a mommy. It's amazing how many changes she's gone through so far that I can hardly wait for the many, many more to come. She's beginning to smile, has started 'talking' a lot more, and has accumulated a double chin, 3 fat rolls in her neck, and she no longer has knuckles! This makes me so proud because it is the nourishment that my body provides her that is making all of that happen! God is GREAT!

Although I don't think much about resolutions for the new year, I will say that my goal is to be the best wife and mom I can be and my relationship with God continues to grow!

Happy New Year and God Bless!

Don't make her mad!

Our Angel is 3 Weeks Old Today :)

Merry Christmas!

3 Weeks :)

Sleeping Beauty

I love how her legs are all curled up!

Isn't she beautiful :)

She's a Lady.........Our Miracle is here!

We welcomed Cecelia Raine Allen into the world on Sunday, November 23 at 6:56am. She weighed 6 lbs, 14 oz and was 19.5 inches long. We had a wonderful delivery! I started having contractions at 1am, water broke at 1:30 and about an hour later we were off to the birth center. We arrived there at 3:15am and I was dilated to a 5. I labored for a little bit while our midwife was getting the bath ready. I was in the bath for a little over an hour and in that time I dilated to a 10 and started to push. She wasn't descending so I had to get out and push squatting holding onto the bed post for what seemed like forever. I think this was the hardest part of the labor because I was running out of energy (having been awake for almost a day at that point). I pushed her down enough to where she started to crown. They transferred me to the bed where I delivered her a couple of sets of pushes later. Josh caught her, announced she was a girl (we couldn't believe it!) and put her on my chest. We left the birth center for home at about 4:30 that afternoon.

We are adjusting well...taking it day by day! We feel truly blessed to have such a sweet daughter.

Here are some pictures:

First Bath

Car Ride Home

Waiting

I am in my 38th week and am getting so anxious! The midwives said there was a strong possibility of me going into labor before now due to how much I have progressed but NOTHING! Of course, there is never any guarantee....everyone is different. It's just been kind of frustrating being in waiting mode. I think the baby is too comfy being inside my belly! He/she needs to come out though......we are ready!

Hope it happens soon :)

Gotta love him

Some pictures of our sweet Tony boy!

Tony trying to get his ball from under the chair

Caught destroying his bed

Another shot......As happy as can be!

Howdy Folks....

We went to the great State Fair of Texas on opening weekend! Dwayne had never been before so we wanted to take him and, of course, try all of the new fried goodness they have this year! It wasn't as crowded as we expected it to be so that was nice. First thing we got was a famous Fletcher's Corn Dog! Then we made our way around the fairgrounds to taste all of the new goodies.


Here is my rundown on the new fried foods:

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Waffle Balls - I was really excited about this because I LOVE strawberries but unfortunately it was the biggest waste of money and stomach space! BUT for some reason we didn't get the real deal. There were no balls and no stick in our version. We got a rectangular waffle layered with whipped cream, strawberries and powdered sugar. Maybe the 'real' version is better (hopefully).

Deep Fried S'mores - This was pretty good. It comes in 2 triangles. I think the real s'mores are way better!

Fried Chocolate Truffles - This was creamy chocolate deliciousness but, in my opinion, a little costly for just one.

Fernie's All-American Fried Grilled Cheese Sandwich - This was well worth the money. It is cut into 4 triangles and comes with 2 pickle spears, some shoestring potato chips and tomato soup dipping sauce. Yummy!

Chicken Fried Bacon - Saved the best for last! This totally lived up to its Big Tex Choice Award. You get plenty and it was yummy!

We didn't try the Fried Banana Split and Fire & Ice...........that'll have to be first on the list next time.

Major Disappointment - There were no biscuit samples. They replaced them with ice cream cones (as if there aren't enough desserts to try already). UGH!

We stopped by the car shows, saw the butter sculpture and checked out the new wine tasting 'exhibit'.

On our way out, I grabbed a buttery corn-on-the-cob! It was de.lic.ious! And Josh got another Fletcher's Corn Dog!

Overall, it was a great fair experience! I have to go eat now. Got hungry thinking about all of this food :)