Stella's First Haircut

Stella loved the lil play kitchen they had in the waiting area.  {hint, hint...SANTA!!}

Her 'before' shot

 Sitting in the race car at Clipper Doodles, the kids salon.  She loves cars so I thought this might keep her distracted. 

 She and Tami getting acquainted.

 Daddy had to whip out the sucker - hey, whatever works to keep her still and not crying, right?! :)

 What a brave, big girl!!  Is my baby girl seriously already getting her first haircut?!

  Her 'after' shot

All done!  Look at that stylish bob - simply adorable!

Give Thanks

For the past few years, since 2007 after my Grandma passed away, Kyle and I have hosted my mother's side of the family at our house.  My mom would come up the day before Thanksgiving and start helping me prep for the big meal.  This year, however, my mom went to New York to visit w/ her husband's family.  I totally understood but thought 'how in the world am I gonna do this on my own?!'  However, I put my big girl panties on Sunday and headed out to Harris Teeter to purchase all the ingredients and just knew that I could whip it all together...just like my Grandma used to do.  Tuesday evening Kyle and I cleaned the house and got things in order for the big 'prep day' on Wednesday.  He assured me that 'we'd get it done' so I went to bed eager and excited for Wednesday morning to get here.  However, when it did arrive, I was SO ready for it to be over!!  I woke up w/ a stomach bug - that lasted, and lasted, and lasted!  It was awful!!  I called my family to let them know what was going on and they all agreed that staying away would be best.  This made me so incredibly sad b/c my aunt had planned to spend the whole weekend w/ us and celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday again w/ Kyle's family.  When I talked w/ her Thursday though she had come down w/ the sniffles so I guess it just wasn't meant to be for us to get together this year.  That made me SO sad but it was out of our control - stupid sicknesses!

Stella sported her new "S" turkey shirt even though no one was around to see it.

Such a ham...I mean, turkey! 

Finally on Friday, I started feeling better enough to head to the inlaws to celebrate Thanksgiving w/ them and Patty.  I didn't get very many pics - only pics of Stella w/ her Grandma and Pop Pop D.

And one of Pop Pop showing Stella her surprise he worked hard on all day! ;)

Even w/ all of the sickness and yucky feelings I was still able to Give Thanks!!  There is so much that I am thankful for this year - God, my loving and caring husband, my sweet and beautiful daughter, my health (thank goodness that bug passed), my awesome family and the best friends a girl could ask for.  I thank God for all of these each and every day.  I'm truly blessed beyond words!! 

She's a Genius!!

Yep, of course we already knew that Stella is a true genius but this small video clip (which I've realized all I do now is take videos of this precious lil peanut - however, more pics to come soon.  I promise!) is just a taste of some of the things she's learning to say and do.  I know I say this in pretty much every post but it's true - Kyle and I are truly amazed by all the things she's learning.  She's like a little sponge that's soaking up every ounce of what we are teaching her and it's so incredible to see.  And we, too, are sponges soaking up every ounce of our adorable little girl!

SpLiSh SpLaSh

Stella has been having a blast in the bathtub lately, splishin' and splashin', so we had to take a video to capture these priceless moments.  My favorite is the second one!  Too stinkin' cute! 

(Excuse the floating bath mat...better than her sitting on the hard tub though, right?! ;))

Mambo Italiano!

Tonight Stella tried her Grandpa D's infamous "pasta" for the first time and boy did she tear it up.  He makes his own noodles from scratch and his own sauce from scratch and it's DE-LISH!  We've given Stella spaghetti before but she's always spit it out every time.  I guess nothing compares to "the real stuff"!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics from her first taste of a TRUE Italian dinner, however, this pic pretty much sums up my heart.  What a precious doll baby we have been given to raise.  God has truly blessed us with this sweet angel and I'm forever grateful!

"...and my whole world...it begins and ends with you..."

W..A..L..K..I..N..G

That's right - my baby girl is walking more and more each day!  It's so amazing to watch her explore and build up her confidence enough to take a few steps at a time.  She's super cautious and takes tiny, itty bitty, baby steps but we're SO proud of her.  Walking's hard work didn't you know?!  Here's our Princess showing off her skills (WHILE holding her baby I might add) in her Gamecock gear.  I'm one proud mama!

Better Pulled Pork Dinner

Remember when I posted the Pulled Pork Recipe back in September?!  Well you can throw that one away because we tried a new one tonight that was 100 times better.  I love a vinegar based bbq and I finally found a yummy, easy recipe that passed the test.  Thought I'd share the recipe in case anyone's interested...Enjoy!

Spicy Carolina Style Pulled Pork

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 5 lbs pork shoulder
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered cayenne pepper
• 2 red onions, quartered
• 2 yellow onions, quartered
Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 4 1/4 hrs

1. 1combine the brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper, and rub the mixture over the roast. wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate a few hours, overnight is best.
2. 2in a bowl, combine the vinegar, worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. mix well.
3. 3place the quartered onions in the bottom of the crock pot. unwrap the roast, and place on top of onions. drizzle most of the vinegar mix over the roast, reserving some to add to the shredded meat at the end.
4. 4cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or high for 4 to 5 hours.
5. 5remove the meat and onions to a cutting board. remove skin and set aside. using two forks (or your fingers, if you have asbestos hands), pull and shred the pork. chop the onions, and mix into the shredded meat. using a fork, remove some of the fat from under the skin, mince, and add to the shredded meat and onions as needed for moisture and flavor.
6. 6serve on warm buns or crusty hard rolls, with the remaining vinegar mixture on the side.

TrIcK -oR- TrEaT

Sunday we geared up for Halloween.  I told Kyle that I thought it would be fun if we both dressed up too, but he wasn't interested.  However, I definitely think he wanted to participate in some way....

LOL He definitely played a little "trick" on Stella.  She was not excited about her daddy's new teef!  Ew!

She hasn't been feeling well the past couple of days - she's had the whole runny nose, sniffles and sneezes - so when I saw this smile I was glad to see she was feeling a little better.

We went for a ride down the street to show off her costume - a precious, headless poodle.  {She was NOT interested in putting the headpiece on so we just went w/ it!}

Our sweet neighbors, Terri & Tyler {sometimes known as Timmy ;)} had a special "treat" for Stella...a precious pink pig puppet.  {Try saying that 5 times fast!}  They are the sweetest neighbors and friends ever and are so thoughtful to have a special treat for Stella b/c she's not into the candy stage yet.

After making our way up and down the street to show off our new lil pet, poodle, we headed to Grandma & Grandpa D's.  Grandpa finally got Stella to put her precious lil "head" on at least long enough to get a quick pic.  

My two precious pups had a great time at the D's!

We tried to get another pic of the poodle but she was JUST not having it.

So after about 5 seconds, we took it off of her and changed her clothes.

She definitely enjoyed Halloween and watching the children trick or treat but I don't think she enjoyed the costume.  Maybe next year she'll be able to choose her own costume and she'll enjoy it more...maybe!