Christmas Fun!

I think that I mentioned in the previous post, but Santa sure spoiled the Richeys this year.  He spoiled Drew, he spoiled me, and he sure spoiled Miss Callie.  I really think that its funny that a little unborn Princess can receive so many gifts.  I guess that just goes to show that everybody is already as crazy about her as we are.

She got these Christmas outfits a month or so ago from her Mimi (my mom).  I really think they're quite cute and we have our fingers tightly crossed that they will fit her next year at Christmas.  I love the little dress and can't wait to see her in it with some white tights and black shoes.  I'm not sure if you can tell your not but the trim along the bottom is fur.  I guess you're never too young for fur!

Callie also got quite the assortment of bags.  One from her Mimi, one from her Aunt Angela and Uncle Keil, and the last from her Aunt Lora.  I am excited that we will have them and they'll be able to have different uses.  The backpack and the smaller bag in the set seem like they will be great for trips to dinner or quick trips out.  The other two big bags will be awesome when we go on long all day adventures!  They are so cute and I can't wait to put all kinds of fun stuff in them :)

Callie wasn't the only one who got a fun toy for Christmas.  After eyeing Angela's market tote that she got for a wedding present, I finally have one of my own!  I can't think of a more perfect gift that she and my brother could have gotten me and I'm so excited about putting it to use.

Like I said, Santa spoiled us rotten.  We felt very loved and very blessed!

Grown Up Christmas Presents...

Isn't it odd how as you grow up, the things that you want for Christmas change?  I can remember when I was younger all I wanted was toys, just like any kid.  In my teens, it was clothes, CD's, and purses...  Now, I do good to even think of things that I want for Christmas.

At this point in time in my life (being 6 months pregnant), clothes were completely out of the question.  Not only did I not ask for any, but I explicitly told people not to buy them for me.  I did ask for a bottle of perfume for Christmas and a little jewelry, but other than that, not much.  The few things that I asked for might surprise you:

A Kindle, from Amazon.Com.  This one isn't that weird, but let's just say that I'm already addicted to it.  I read yesterday all during my lunch break because it was WAY too cold to go outside!

These rugs are very cool (and kind of pricey, thus them being on my Christmas Wish List).  They are from LL Bean and they are called "Water Hog Rugs".  Apparently they are supposed to be great on hardwood floors and they're supposed to keep dirt from being tracked through the house.  Mom has a huge one in front of her door in from the garage and swears by it.  So I got three :)  I got them in tan...  One is huge (also in front of my garage door), one is small and crescent shaped (in front of my sliding glass doors that Scooter goes in and out), and one has her name on it and her bowls sit on them.  FUN!

 And finally, I got a Bissell Spot Bot!  It is actually the pet version, but I think that it will also be great for the Newborn Babe Version.  Or at least, that's what I'm hoping :)  I think that Drew had a little help on this one, because I had never told him that I wanted one.  I had mentioned, however, to my mom and sister-in-law that it might be pretty cool to have one so I'm not sure which of them spilled the beans...  Thanks!



Anyway, my gifts are perfect!  They are things that I had been wanting but probably would not have spent the money on for myself.  Not too mention, I'm thinking that they'll both help to make my life a little bit simpler...  And really, isn't that what we all want for Christmas?

Cruel & Unusual Punishment...

Well, maybe not really...  Maybe it was just bad planning on my part...

I definitely had my OB appointment yesterday afternoon.  Baby Callie is doing just fine, but honestly, stepping on those scales almost killed me.  I told my doctor that apparently I had eaten WAY too many Christmas cookies...

Uhhh...  I think I should've scheduled the appointment for next Monday and NOT yesterday!

Anyway, have a great Tuesday and surely I'll get a good Christmas update on here soon!

Thankful Thursday - Today I Am Just Thankful...

Christmas time has a tendency to drive me absolutely insane.  It seems like it is so busy and that nobody really gets a chance to enjoy it.  Drew and I have had to merge both of our family's Christmas activities together and it seems like nobody (our parents and even ourselves) is willing to give.  We want to continue doing exactly what we did pre-marriage even though its really not possible.  

All the shopping wears me out.  I feel like half the time I don't even know what to buy people.  This year I think that I've done a good job, but buying for people that you don't really know is hard because you just don't know what to buy and if they'll even like/use what you've bought.

Stress...  Drew and I have stressed completely.  Between Callie and the normal holiday anxiety, it has been kind of tense at our house.  Trying to keep everybody happy.  Trying to not make the in-laws upset about one thing or another.  Trying to be 15 places at once.

But what I need to really try and focus on is how lucky I am.  I have a roof over my head, food on my table, and (multiple) warm coats.  There are so many people in the world who do not have those luxuries.

My post from yesterday had pictures of me reading a Christmas story to about 60 kindergartners.  These children come from one probably the lowest income school in the BG City School System.  They come to the bank once a year and we throw them a Christmas party complete with Christmas stories, snacks, and a visit from Santa Claus including a small gift.  Let me tell you about a couple of the stories that I heard about after they left:

• A set of twin girls.  One of my co-workers saw these two blond headed little girls playing in the street in the cold.  He was driving, stopped and turned his car around, and told his son that they were going to do something for this family for Christmas.  Turns out there is at least one older child (maybe two, I can't remember) and that the children were basically on their own, fending for themselves.  The parents are idiots and not really in the picture.
• A boy who seemed to have some sort of mental disability.  Apparently his great uncle is also his dad.  Yes, you read that right.  A man impregnated his niece and this boy is the result of that act.  Also, this boy lives in a house that is infested with black mold.  The boy is continuously sick and the family is about to be evicted.
• This isn't really a story I heard but something I witnessed, one boy was handed his Christmas present and when they were told that they would open them, he didn't know what to do with it.  He sat and looked at the box.  Turned it from side to side.  His teach finally had to open the end of the box for him so that he could know what to do with it.

Times are hard my friends, but they will never get any easier for these children.  How do children like these step out of this cycle in an attempt to better themselves?  Do they even know that there are things that are better?  Do they think that its attainable?  I don't know.

I just know that they sure made me thankful for the opportunities that I have to take care of my family and in the spirit of Christmas, they made me thankful for the opportunities that I am given that allow me to be charitable.

Wordless Wednesday - The Funny Faces You Make When Reading to Kindergarteners...

Clearly I was quite enthused :)

Tasty Tuesday... Couldn't resist...

Sunday after Drew and I went and attempted to register for Miss Callie, we came home and I cooked dinner.  It was a cold, snowy night so we were in the mood for warm, spicy food!  I made these Sour Cream Enchiladas that I found a year or so ago on AllRecipes.com.  They are absolutely fabulous and one of mine and Drew's favorite dinners.  Apparently, Drew was a picky eater when he was a child so its probably a surprise that he would eat something like this but between the two of us we definitely made a dent in the pan!  It is nice though because there are definitely enough left overs for dinner at least one more night!

Sour Cream Enchiladas

Ingredients

1 bunch cilantro
1 cup sour cream
2 (7 ounce) cans jalapeno salsa
2 (7 ounce) cans prepared green chile salsa
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded
1 onion
12 (6 inch) flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

To Make Sour Cream Mixture: In a blender or food processor, puree cilantro, sour cream, jalapeno salsa and 1/2 can of the green chile salsa. Set aside.

To Make Chicken Mixture: In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, onion and the remaining 1 1/2 cans of green chile salsa. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Heat tortillas in conventional or microwave oven until soft. Pour enough of the sour cream mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish to coat the bottom. Place 2 heaping tablespoonfuls of the chicken mixture in each tortilla, roll up and place seam side down in the baking dish. Pour remaining sour cream mixture over all and top with shredded cheese.

Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 30 minutes, or until dish is heated through and bubbling.

Also, I have had this Pampered Chef Rectangular Baker for a year and had not used it until a couple of weekends ago.  I finally made a pan of brownies in it and now I'm hooked!  I cooked my enchiladas in it last night and was absolutely amazed at how easily it cleaned up.  I just scraped some of the stuff off with the scraper and then wiped it clean with a dish rag.  Wow, it was easy!

Anyway, I hope y'all are having a great Tuesday!

A Snowy Weekend Wrap-Up!

Good Morning! 

Do you all have snow there like we do here in BG?  It is a mess!  The county schools are all closed and WKU was even on a half day delay for finals.  The biggest event for this weekend was driving to Murray KY to watch my brother graduate with a degree from Murray State.  I am so proud of him!  He joined the Navy right after high school and since he has been out of the service, he has come home and worked full time and went to school full time in order to get his degree.  I know that he will be very glad that it is over!

Sunday, Drew and I tackled the crazy task of starting our gift registries.  Well, actually I had already started them on line but we went to two stores and went crazy with the little scanner thing.  Registering is so hard.  Being a first time mom who really doesn't have much experience with babies, I am clueless!  I know that I have a lot to learn and am so glad to have "Mommy Blogs" that I follow and have learned from.  We also tried to buy things that were gender neutral and could hopefully be used by Callie's future siblings.  Do you guys have any suggestions?  What items could you not live without when your kiddos were babies?

Somethings we registered for were:

Fisher Price- Laugh & Learn Playcenter (Drew had a hard time deciding on this...  he ended up picking two that he liked and then I made the decision to go with the farm themed one).

I have seen these Soothing Seahorses on lots of blogs and scanned it the minute I saw it.

My mom and I made a trip to "Babys R Us" a few weeks ago and the girl that we talked to told us that this Chicco Travel System is absolutely the way to go.  Since then, I have been stalking moms in department stores with this and asking their thoughts.  Everybody really seems to approve!

A Tummy Time Mat.  This is the Baby Einstein Baby Neptune Ocean Adventure Gym.

So what do y'all think?  Are these good things to register for?  Obviously, these are just some of the high points but please, let me know what you really liked.  Also, I was so glad that Drew and I had our iPhones.  We were looking up the items as we went along seeing which ones did or didn't have good ratings.  That was such a great resource for us!



Ugh...

Well friends, I did it again...  I disappeared off the face of the Earth.

So sorry...  Being pregnant has made me more susceptible to colds and allergy crap that I have ever been and its really wiping me out.  I haven't been productive in the evenings at all.  Hopefully it will get better and I'll be able to update you on what's going on in BG...

Funny story though:

Drew went to the Titans vs Colts game last night in Nashville with some people that he works with and they put him up in a really nice hotel.  I texted him at 10 and said I was going to bed (basically so he didn't call and wake me up).  At 1AM my phone rings and its my husband telling me that there's somebody there that he wants me to talk to.  WHAT?!?!?!  So I am telling him no, no, no when this other voice (that I don't know) comes on the phone and talks to me.  He says "tell me which of these songs that you like better "Good Morning Beautiful" or "I Got a Brand New Girlfriend" and I told him to pick.  This person proceeds to sing the chorus to "Good Morning Beautiful" into the phone to me.  It was AWESOME and I told him it was worth being woke up for!  Drew gets the phone back and says "Kelsey!  I'm hanging out with Steve Holy!" who is the singer who sings both of those songs on the radio...  CRAZY.  I guess it just goes to show that you never know who you'll see in Nashville.

Oh, and for a little Christmas cheer for you all!

Nursery Theme

Well, Miss Callie now has baby bedding.  Or at least, it has been ordered.

It is definitely more pink than I had originally planned but I do really like it.  I wanted something with farm animals, more specifically, I wanted something with horses.  This was the best that I could find that wasn't too boyish.

Anyway, I really like it...  Drew really likes it...  My mom and sister-in-law really like it...  So, I can't wait to see it when UPS brings it to my house!  Hopefully it won't be long :)