Six Months and Counting!

Last week we reached the six month mark!

Sorry, Blogger does not want me to be right-side up with this one!

At our last checkup, Baby was fine with a good heartbeat, although I am measuring a little ahead. They said it should even out over the next few weeks, so I'm hoping for a break in this growth spurt! :)

Last week, I finally took the plunge and donated eight inches of my hair--which I had been planning to do anyway. My hair is growing even faster than usual, so I think it will be less drastic by the time the baby comes.

Ta da!

Twenty-five!

Sunday night, Jordan and I hosted our third annual Elf Party. This year's theme was one of the elves' four favorite food groups:  candy canes! 

I made peppermint hot cocoa and mint chocolate chip cookies:

Cranberry chutney (I love the Ritz snowflake crackers!):

I had some leftover pico de gallo from another Christmas party with some festive tortilla chips, and I also made some peppermint "fudge":

And for some healthy grains, a cranberry orange loaf in a "b-b-b-b-boondt":

We had so much fun! I always forget to take photos with people in them, though, because I get too caught up in running around and conversing. :)

Last night we had a great time with one of my best friends, Ruth, and her husband, Matt, and had our first Buffalo Wild Wings experience. Let's just say the Asian Zing was my favorite (I need that recipe, Chris) and the Mango Habenero was yummy but hot--it made the baby dance! We are looking forward to spending time with friends from Michigan this week, then Christmas with family. There is absolutely no snow on the ground in our area and our chances of a white Christmas are not looking good. ...No matter...we rejoice in our Savior and His unending grace in our lives.

Happy Christmas!

"That Was Totally...Wicked!"

I thought that maybe I should mention that the day before we left for vacation I made a trip to Des Moines with some friends to see...................................Wicked!

I had friends who had seen this and really loved it, and I so wanted to go to a professional musical, since I feel like I got shafted by seeing Rent in high school (no one told me the story line on that one). It was amazing! I was familiar with the story and had been listening to the soundtrack, but, truly, nothing beats live performances. Theatre will always live on because it delivers something cinema never can--a magical feeling that you are actually getting caught up in the story.

Anyway, my favorite songs, "Defying Gravity" and "For Good", were just as spectacular as I expected, if not more so because of the live sound.

The song, "Popular", was not my favorite of the night. In the soundtrack, Kristen Chenowith interpreted the song more melodically than this actress did. She went for flirty/ditsy/annoying, which works, but wasn't my favorite. 

Of course, I cheated and took these pictures off of Google, so they're not even the Civic Center cast--I wouldn't be rude enough to actually be taking pictures during the show. :) It was so much fun to dress up, go out to eat, and "take in a show", like it was something I did everyday!