Happily Ever Mock

Archives for November 2014

Countdown to Christmas Week 1

Today is the day! Our Christmas Countdown Link up Starts today!!!
Don’t forget to grab our button and write a post about something Festive! Then come back here and link up with us! Also make sure to check out what my lovely Co-hosts have to say!
Sundaes and Spaghetti and Our Pretty Little Girls

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So today I thought I would share with you our Christmas Tree! We decorated Monday night because my Mother in Law will be here today and we have a lot going on This coming weekend! I am determined to turn this little girl into a Festive little Elf:
 Here she is playing with Stella and getting ready to trim the tree in her Christmas PJs!

Putting on the ornaments!

Our Finished Tree!

I just love our tree. I love that each one of our ornaments has a special meaning.  From the yarn star made for me by Cleo one of my littles at work to the beautiful hand crafted one of our Wedding Invitation made for me and given to me at my Christmas Ornament shower before our wedding! We have since added ones from trips, like our honeymoon and now Hallie’s first Christmas ornaments! It’s our lives together in tree form! 

Have you put your tree up yet? Link up with us and show us what you are up to!
An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Friendsgiving!

One of my absolute favorite things about Thanksgiving, is a tradition my sister and I started several years back.  The night before Thanksgiving, we hold a Friendsgiving Marathon! It started as just the 2 of us and has grown through the years to include our cousins, friends, my husband and now this year, Hallie!


So here is your guide to hosting your own Friendsgiving! 


1. Order a ton of food! This year we are going with Chinese! 


2. Gather Seasons 1 and 3-10 of Friends! (I KNOW! No season 2 episode!) 


3. Enjoy!


Season 1: TOW Underdog Gets away! 
 “I’m very Thankful that all your Thanksgivings sucked”- Chandler 

Season 3: TOW The Football
  “I went really long” -Rachel 

Season 4: (And my personal fave): TOW Chandler in a Box
  “Fine but, Married a lesbian, left a guy at the alter, fell in love with a gay ice dancer, threw a girl’s wooden leg on the fire, live in a box!” – Monica

Season 5: TOW All the Thanksgiving Flashbacks
   ” Sir limps a lot, I came up with that!” -Ross

Season 6: TOW Ross got High
   “What’s not to like? Custard, good! Jam, Good! Meat, Gooood!” -Joey

Season 7: TOW Chandler Doesn’t like Dogs
   “Well I started naming states, but then I got tired of it so I started naming different types of celery. So far I’ve only got one, regular celery” – Phoebe 

Season 8: TOW the Rumor
  “Dear Rachel, you’re a very nice person. Sorry about your teeny weeny!”- Rachel

Season 9: TOW Rachel’s Other Sister
  ” Who has to die for me to get her” – Joey

Season 10: TOW The Late Thanksgiving
  “The Floating heads do make a good point” -Chandler

Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions?



How about Christmas? Don’t forget to link up with us tomorrow!
<3 Kelly

5 Months of Hallie Anne

5 months?! Woah slow down kiddo! It’s going way to fast! Let me stop and hold you a little longer! Soon you will be crawling away from Mommy and be too busy to give me snuggles! 


All About Hallie this month-
  • Age- 5 months!
  • Weight-  11 lb. 2 oz! A whole pound in a month…yet still not on the curve for weight! 
  • Length- 23 1/2 inches! She is a long skinny girl!
  • Size- I pulled out the size 1 diapers, but I am thinking of getting more Newborn ones…these 1’s are HUGE on her! She doesn’t leak or anything, they are just super big and puffy and kind of look ridiculous!  Onesies- We had a moment a week or so ago when the newborn onesies wouldn’t snap on the bottom…probably when she grew that extra 1/2 inch in length. The size 3 onesies are still big, but the Tshirts fit great! So she is either wearing those or the really big onesies with pants so that you can’t see the extra flap at the bottom! lol  Pants- 3 month (mostly) again needing them for length. Some fit great, some are huge! PJs 0-3 or 3 month for length! This girl! Skinny mini! She is soo long!
  • Eyes- Still blue! Fingers are totally crossed they stay blue! Other Moms…when did your babies eyes change color?
  • Hair- Brown, but seems to be getting lighter. She also has her Daddy’s cowlick!
  • Sleeping- 10-12 hour stretches at night! (Generally 7pm to 6 or 7 am) Usually takes 3 small naps during the day! 
  • Eating- Still every 3 hours (aside from at night!) She gets 4 oz at each feeding except the first and the last feeding of the day when she’ll take 5-6 oz. We tried rice cereal…she hated it! We are going to try oatmeal soon! 
  • Milestones- Still rolling every now and then, but she would rather try to figure out crawling! She scoots backwards and then gets mad because she is moving away from her toys instead of closer to them! She is getting really good at practicing sitting! Loves to stand and will even try and hold herself up on the ottoman, which is her new favorite thing to do!! Still babbling a ton! Still drooling and teething! Loves to shove anything in her mouth! Especially hands…not always her own and Daddy’s nose!
  • Memorable outings- Storyime/playgroup, Pumpkin Patch, Halloween/Trick or Treat, and Visiting Houston again!
  • Favorite toys/activities- Still loves ceiling fans and mirrors! Loves her turtle which we have named Dewy! Also Hello Kitty Blocks, Owl rattle, Dolly, rings, Firefly, Very Hungry Caterpillar, Her new dolly from friend Mira, etc.  Loves books! A girl after my own heart! We read before bed every night! Also loves the rhymes we do at story time! Particularly (Tick Tock, Horse named Ron and Patty Cake!) Loves to play with Stella.  DANCING! She loves to shake it! Especially with Daddy! She also really enjoys watching football and listening to music! 
  • Words/sounds- Imitating sounds a little. Has started saying “Ooh Ooh” to herself usually in the mirror or sometimes to her BFF the ceiling fan!
  • Nicknames- I call her sweet pea, peanut, peanut butter, sweet girl or Hal…Daddy likes to call her Daniel son when I put headbands on her…but other than that sticks to a generic sweetie or cutie!
  • Funny moments- Sticking out tongue or mouth WIDE open! She also loves to grab our hands and stick them in her mouth! I also loved the video I got of her practicing standing holding the ottoman!
  • Looking forward to- Each and every moment! We are decorating for Christmas tonight (the weekend got away from us too fast!) and I can’t wait to see her face when she sees the lights and ornaments! 


Slow Down Baby girl! 
Mommy Loves you!
<3 Kelly

Liebster 2!



How fun! I was nominated again for another Liebster award by Ashley, from Thanking God for Second Chances! Thanks Ashley! 
Here are the rules::
1. Post 11 random facts about yourself.  
2. Answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.  
3. Nominate other Blogs to do the same.  
4. Let the bloggers know you nominated them.


 11 Random Facts About Myself  
1. I listen to Christmas Music year round!
2. I never left the country until my Honeymoon to London. It still is the only time I have left the good ‘ol United States!
3. When Topanga and Cory got married on Boy Meets World, I had my mom write me a note to get out of a school function so I could watch it! lol
4. I hate whipped cream….but I love Cool Whip! 
5. I need more sleep than the average person! Thank God my 5 month old loves her sleep! She sleeps about 10-12 hours tonight…and I myself need 9-10 and copious amounts of coffee upon waking (shh…people think I am naturally peppy!)
6. I am a sitcom junkie! I have seen every episode of Friends, Boy Meets World, Gilmore Girls (does that count as a sitcom???) and How I Met Your Mother MULTIPLE times!
7. I am a festivity nut! Yep, I have a tradition for practically every holiday!!
8. Scariest moment of my life: I was in a car fire!
9. Best moment in my life: Welcoming my daughter into our lives with my amazing husband! 
10. Peanuts= yummy Peanut butter= ewwie! 
11. I am allergic to bananas, red wine and macadamia nuts 

Now for Ashley’s 11 questions…


1. What is your favorite makeup item?- Blush! I know that’s lame but I look super pale otherwise!
2. What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory? Keeping the secret of what I was Thankful for last year! My teeny daughter growing in my belly!
3. What is your favorite meal? Just 1???!!! Pasta, Cesar Salad, and Bread! Can’t go wrong!
4. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money? Pay off our house!
5. What is your dream job? Can I just get paid to be a mommy?! No? Okay….maybe a shop owner of some sort! I have so many creative ideas that I  would love to put to use!
6. If you were given a free vacation of your choosing, where would you go? ITALY
7 Why do you blog? To document my daughter’s life
8. Do you have a personal mission statement? If so, would you mind sharing? Oh gosh, not really…aside from the whole Golden rule thing! Do unto others…you know…
9. What one item must you have with you at all times? I guess my phone… or chapstick!
10. Favorite thing about your home?  Hallie’s room! My Mom, Mother in Law, Best friend Joyce and Cousin in Law Jennifer, helped me make it so special for Hallie Anne!
11. Do you Black Friday shop? If so, what are you “must” places to hit? NO! I prefer Cyber Monday…no crowds, no lines, no crazies!!!! 

I am nominating ALL MY READERS!!! Especially Sindi! Please share some facts about you and answer these questions on your blog or respond below!

1. Do you have a favorite Family Tradition? 
2. Who was your favorite teacher? 
3. What is your best talent?
4. Spring or Fall? Why?
5. Summer or Winter? Why? 
6. Tell us about your best Vacation!
7. Do you have a favorite song?
8. Whose your hero?
9. Biggest Pet Peve?
10.  Favorite Color? 
11. If you could be a character on any movie or TV show who would you choose? 

ENJOY!

Oh hey, Friday! Pics from the week, 8

Yeah! Friday!!! It doesn’t quite seem like Friday to me, but I will take it! I hope you have a fun weekend planned! Ours is fairly low key! I am working Saturday night, but the rest of the weekend I intend to get some Christmasy things done! A bit of shopping and HOPEFULLY I can convince Christopher to help me put our tree up! I just know Hallie is going to love looking at all the lights!


So, on to some Oh hey, Friday business! Here are our pics from the week!

1.


Showing off her new Tshirt!
She makes ME happy!















2.

3. We made Indian hats at Playgroup this week! 



















4. Hallie flirting with our new friend Jude!

5. This video of Hallie also had me totally cracking up this week! Girlfriend is getting so big! And learning so much! It’s insane how fast it’s all going! 

In fact, my little peanut is 5 months today! We are going in for a weight check today! Be looking out for her stats on Monday! My guess is right around 11 lbs 4 oz….but who knows! 

Have a great weekend!
<3 Kelly

DIY Kids Christmas Gift Idea

This weekend when we were out of town, we got to play with Christopher’s cousin’s little girl Taylor! She is just the cutest kindergartner you ever saw! She has so much personality and a HUGE imagination! 

So Christopher’s Aunt pulled out the coolest thing! They are called story stones! Have you heard of them?
They are little stones with a picture painted on one side.  You put them in a pile, picture side down, and each person takes a turn flipping over a stone and adding to a story by using the picture on the stone that they chose.  
Here are the stones that we were using: 

Stones: Campfire, Ladybug, Sailboat, Tree, Car, Ice Cream Cone, Flowers, Mountain, Sun, Cactus,  Balloon, House.  

Even the adults had fun playing and we had some wacky stories! 

I got to thinking that some of the kids on my Christmas list might really enjoy these.  But instead of purchasing them from Etsy, like Christopher’s Aunt had, why not make a personal set for each kid on my list?

For instance, my friend Callie’s little boy Aiden loves baseball and rocket ships, so why not make stones with those pictures for him? He apparently loves to tell stories, so hopefully this is a Christmas gift that can spark his imagination!

The best part of this gift is, while it is a really nice and personal gift, it’s relatively inexpensive to make.  I got a 3 lb pack of stones at Hobby Lobby $3.00! And everybody has paints around their house, right? If not each color is about .77 cents! 

I got started last night, what do you think? Maybe not quite as good as the originals, but I think the kids will really enjoy them!
So Far I’ve Made: Balloon, Pizza, Egg, Mermaid, Snowman, Pumpkin, Baseball
Flowers, Kite, Pencil, Gift, Rocket, Sun, Ice Cream, Ladybug, Bubbles, Mountain
Snake, Tree, Apple, House, Sailboat

           
Speaking of Christmas gifts, don’t forget to come back next Wednesday for the Christmas Countdown Linkup!
<3 Kelly

Oh hey, tuesday! Ha! Pics from our weekend!

We just got back from a really nice visit to Houston yesterday! 

When we first got in, we got to celebrate Christopher’s Grandpa’s 93rd birthday with him! 

Here is Grandpa with SOME of his grandkids and great grandkids! 


We went back to Grandma and Grandpa’s after the party to help him with the iPad! Here’s Hallie and Grandma

 We got home WAY WAY passed Hallie’s bedtime, but this little trooper got a 2nd wind and she was rolling around on the bed shrieking and laughing! Silly baby!

The next day, Christopher and I went out to help Grandpa again and visit some other loved ones while Memi and Aunt Melissa babysat! They had so much fun! This is Hallie in Christopher’s Great Grandpa’s Candy Pot! It was so nice to get this sweet picture while I was missing my baby girl! This was the first time I’d left her for more than a couple hours!
When we got back, we spent a little time with the family, then met up with good friends Sindi and Justin for a late lunch!
After lunch all of Christopher’s Aunts came over to play with Hallie! We had a lovely dinner and played with Taylor! Christopher’s cousin’s little girl! She’s precious! 
We had such a nice time! Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Oh hey Friday, Pics from the week! 7th Edition

Happy Friday people! We have a busy weekend ahead!!! We are making a quick visit to Houston, as well as a family photo shoot at my Mom’s. She wants a picture of her whole family for the house! 
Another thing for my list this weekend is to buy Hallie more clothes! She went through a HUGE growth spurt this week and no longer fits in her newborn onesies! It’s insane, it was like over night! 
So, because all of the 3 month clothes we got at her shower were for summer, this kid practically needs a whole new wardrobe!


Anyway, on to Oh Hey, Friday business! (Tell me if she looks bigger to you!)


1. So Hallie was dressed all “Fancy” on Monday and she fit the roll perfectly! Everyone was saying she looked like a scene from “Breakfast at Hallie’s” (Ps excuse my messy dresser!)


























2.) She was “Pretty In Pink” on Tuesday! I think this might have been where the growth spurt hit. She slept ALL day on Tuesday!


























3.) On Wednesday I discovered Hallie LOVES peek-a-boo! She loves it even more when Mommy comes under the blanket too!

4.) Hallie all dressed up for the cold weather we have been having
 5.) Sitting like a big girl, visitng Nana

Fall Soups

Sorry I have been a bit MIA. I have been a little sick lately!

The good news is, that due to sickness and the (FINALLY) chilly weather here in Big D, I have 2 yummy Fall soup recipes to share with you!

Cream of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh mushrooms – cleaned and chopped finely
1 tbsp olive oi
2 Cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp thyme 
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock 
Salt to taste
1 pint Heavy Cream
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley garnish

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in bottom of soup pan. Add butter and lightly sauté garlic on medium heat. 
2. Add in mushrooms, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the moisture from the mushrooms disappears. 
3. Add in chicken broth. Stir occasionally until broth boils, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4 Season with salt and pepper to taste
5. Finally, add heavy cream, and bring to a simmer. Turn heat off.

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
2 cups of diced cooked chicken
8 cups of chicken broth (I like to use the bouillon cubes/follow directions on bottle….but any broth will do)
1 can of tomato sauce (also adding 1 sm. can of tomato paste thickens it up.)
1 medium sized white or yellow onion, chopped
4 roma tomato, diced
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 Jalapeno Peppers Chopped
Garnish with:
fried flour tortilla strips (just fry tortilla in frying pan until golden)
shredded cheddar cheese
Fresh avocado slices
Can Serve over rice

First spray bottom of a large soup pot with cooking spray. Put thin layer of olive oil at the bottom. Cook garlic and onion first stirring occasionally until translucent. Add all other ingredients starting with broth.
Simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Currently November

Hey there everyone and Happy Tuesday! For today I thought I would give you a little look on what is going on here at the Mock house lately!  


Reading: I am still on the wait list at the Library for Sophie Kinsella’s new Shopaholic! So right now I am 3/4 of the way finished with Where’d You Go Bernadette by: Maria Semple. It’s pretty good! Witty and thrilling at the same time! Love that there is a mystery aspect of it! 

Watching: Still Binging on Gilmore Girls via Netflix! Also who watched Big Bang last week! My heart just melted at Sheldon! So cute. I also have been watching Dancing With The Stars and I have to say that I hated last nights results! Grated I think I will be saying that almost every week now because almost everyone left is AMAZING! 



Working on: Everything Christmas! Lists, shopping, slowly getting ready to decorate! (It would already be up but I think my husband might think I was crazy! 

Looking Forward to: Tons of family time in these next 2 months! We are headed into Houston for part of this upcoming weekend, and then My Mother in Law will be back here for Thanksgiving, as well as family on my Mom’s side coming in for a visit! Then before we know it, it will be Christmas! 🙂
I also cannot wait to see the Christmas pictures we took for our Christmas cards! Hallie is just precious! 
Here is a sneak peek:


Loving: That some people are starting to get all their Christmas decorations out! Even if I can’t get ours up until closer to Thanksgiving, at least I can enjoy those (fellow) festivity nuts on our street!