{the hawkeye state}

One of my dearest, sweetest, oldest (since FIRST GRADE), bestest friends, Jessica, is moving to Iowa. The Hawkeye State (how's that for some trivia). Last night we ate at Hunter Gatherer with Cayce and Jamie (also dearest, sweetest, oldest, bestest friends) for the 'last supper'. I know it won't be the last, but it'll be a while before we can have another! :( But Iowa is a perfect road trip!! She and her daddy are leaving out earrrrrly tomorrow morning, so here's to a safe journey and good travelling weather! Heehee this little Christmas snow we got last week ain't nothin' compared to Iowa snow!

Jess, I know you'll love it out there and I'm going to MISS you! Amers in a half shell!

Also we did take some pictures but Jamie has those! Perhaps she'll post them on facebook??

{thankful}

Chad and I have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season! We have each other and amazingly wonderful family and friends, we have a sweet little girl on the way who is loved so much by so many people, we have jobs we love that allow us to provide for our growing family, we have a roof over our heads and a warm bed (to snuggle with 3 very bad canines and kwang!), we live in a great little town with wonderful neighbors, and a great church, we have men and women fighting for our country so we can enjoy the things we're thankful for. It's very easy to take these things for granted and not realize how lucky and blessed we are. We hope your holiday season is just as enjoyable and fulfilling as ours!

We had 3 Thanksgivings this year and I only managed to take one or two pictures. This is from Chad's family's Thanksgiving down in Olanta.

Meet Todd and Aubrey and Abby, Chad's oldest sister and her husband and their dog, and Ally and Parker, Chad's youngest sister and her boyfriend. And of course me and Professor Chad. :)

And if this ain't proof of how good we've got it, I don't know what is...

{this is the most photographed food i've ever eaten...}

Yesterday was my dad's (Big Dad) 56 birthday so I decided to cook him supper. And what a super supper it was! This idea came about when Chad went grocery shopping with me and I lost him. I finally found him over at Chef Gary's table sampling some fried Cornish game hens. Cornish Kwang hens as we like to call them...

It was decided. Our culinary adventure was a salad of mixed baby greens with raspberry vinaigrette, butternut squash soup (nutterbutt squash as Scootie calls them), fried Cornish Kwang hens with wild rice and grilled asparagus and key lime pie for dessert.

The salad was prepackaged plus organic...you can't get better than that. The vinaigrette was Marie's brand. You can find it in the salad section at the grocery store.

The nutterbutt squash soup was regular. I've never had it before and I don't really want it again anytime soon. Mama, Daddy and Chad liked it. The girls liked it A LOT. Scootie and I did not like it. The recipe is here. I added 1 cup heavy cream and a dash of dill from another recipe I found. You might like it. I did not.

*The girls polishing of my bowl of soup...like you don't let your dogs lick your plates! That's how we do dishes! I'm kidding...but I'm serious...! Also notice how the soup matches my floor. It also matched Big Mom's sweater.

Cornish Kwang hens were delicious. De. Lish. Us. We got 6, one per person, but only ate 3. I would do a half per person next time. All we, and by we I mean Chad, did was slather em up with butter and sprinkle salt and pepper on them and fry them in a stock pot on the stove. They cooked for about 20 minutes or until they were 180 degrees. Pull them out and let them drain and we put homemade garlic butter on 3 and Lawry's Havana Garlic and Lime Marinade on the other 3. The wild rice was Uncle Ben's. For the asparagus, put them in a baking pan, drizzle olive oil on them and sprinkle with salt and pepper and roll them around to coat them good and broil 5-10 minutes. Simple as that! Girls also got to sample the main course as well and they gave it two paws up.

Dessert was key lime pie and coffee. Need I say more?

*Thanks for the thumbs up Scootie!

Big Dad said this was the most photographed food he's ever eaten. He also said I should make Cornish Kwang hens more often. Perhaps I will when my kitchen recovers. I'm glad you liked your birthday supper! Thanks for being the best dad in the world! I love you!

I have a few November birthday shout outs for my obnoxiously large family: My lady cousin Erin's birthday was the 10th. She turned TWENTY ONE! This is the ending of an era where she was Anna Bush born January 23, 1985 and resided at 771 Windsong Trail (don't act like you're surprised). I hope the legacy can live on through another deserving co-ed. I love you ReRe! My cousin Austin's birthday was the 13th and for his birthday Carolina BEAT Florida and took on the title of SEC East Champs! GOOO COCKS! Big Dad's was the 18th, see above meal. My friend Jessica Sloan also had her little girl, Natalie, on the 18th. Congrats! And last but not least, is my long lost cousin Ben who turns 26 on the 21st. He only graces us with his presence on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I could maybe pick him out of a crowd...I kid! I kid! If I forgot your birthday, it's probably not because I don't like you, just my brain simply is not capable of holding all that information. My family is HUGE, I tell you!

{for cayce}

I know, I know. I'm the worst blogger on the face of the earth. I would lie and say I've been reeeally busy, but the two people who actually read this blog know it's not true. :) I'm going to try and play catch up. I'll start with my 16 week appointment. FYI, I'm 19 weeks and we're going to our 20 week appointment next Wednesday. Slack I tell you!

16 Weeks
We had a great appointment with Dr. Salley again. Weavus's heartrate was 156. Chad and I bet on it before and I WON! I can't remember (because it was A MONTH AGO) what he guessed. I think it was something waaay low. Dr. Salley also said he had a 'girl feeling'. Hmmmm...we'll see next Wednesday. In bad news, I had to get a flu shot which ruined my morning. They hurt. I also kept Evus and she made my day better! I had to cart her over to the Toyota dealership to get my car fixed and she was so good! I'm serious. Best. Baby. Ever. She impressed all the boys with her spit bubbles and squeals. :)

Birthday Shout Outs
October is a big month for birthdays on the Bush side of the family. Well, our family is SO BIG, I'm sure any month is a big birthday month! We like to compare our family to kudzu. We're very invasive...in a good way...and keep on spreadin' out! Amanda's 22 birthday was on the 5th and she was lucky enough to have Carolina beat Alabama! Let's talk about a good birthday present! Also ESPN Gameday was broadcasting from the Horseshoe. I can proudly say that she didn't bring shame to the Bush name on national television. You never can tell with Amanda. I kid! :) Next was Lexi's birthday on the 6th and she turned 8! In lieu of presents for her birthday, she wanted everyone to bring dog and cat food to donate to the local animal shelters! I'm so proud of her!! This was the 2nd year she's done it! She's such a big girl now and I can't even stand it! Lexi has been taking riding lessons for a couple of years now and she even has her own horse! She's a white pony named Maggie. (Side note: Maggie used to belong to my band director, Mr. Thomas! Small world, eh?) Lex had a horse birthday party so Maggie and her riding teacher's horse Cricket came. It was a fun time for everyone! Lexi's dad, Uncle Charlie had a birthday last Wednesday, the 13th. He is such a great dad! Aunt Melinda and Uncle Charlie are foster parents. I have never met such selfless, caring and nourishing people! Lexi was one of their foster kids and they and the whole family were lucky enough to adopt her! Chad the Dad turned 30 on the 20th. It's a running joke that Chad has been 30 for as long as I've known him. We had a little dinner here for him with his parents and sister and her boyfriend and my parents and sisters and my memaw. We didn't have horses, but it was a good time! As a late birthday present we get to find out what little Weavus is going to be! And finally for the October Birthday Shoutouts, the newest member of the Bush family is going to be born TOMORROW, the 22nd! My aunt, Emmie, is having her 2nd child, a little boy, Jacob Adam. Bless his sweet unborn soul, I've been telling people his name is James Allen. Jake has an older sister, Brooke, who is an entire blog entry to herself! She is quite a character for lack of other words. We're all waiting to see her reaction to her baby brother!

Cheerleading
My little sister Jessie is a cheerleader for the MCHS JV squad. They started their competitions last Saturday and OMG, she did SOOO GOOD! It was her first competition ever and I was a hot, nervous, sweaty mess! She did so good though! She owned the mat and hit every move and her facial expressions were dead on! She is a natural! Jessie has 3 more competitions and I can't wait to see how they do!

Mountains
My family took a little weekend trip to the mountains the first weekend of October. We all had a good time and laughed a lot at each other's expense. Isn't that what families are for? :) My sister took all the pictures and you can check them out on her facebook page! P.S. it was fah-reezing!

I think that's all that happened in October. I think. Next week I'll let you know WHAT WE'RE HAVING! And I'll put up a 20 weeks belly picture, because, believe you me, this baybay is growing out of control! I won't forget! I hereby, solemnly swear to keep my blog updated. Did you read that Cayce? You being my sole reader, don't let my slip up!

{play date}

This past Saturday, Baby Weaver invited her (?) bff Evie over for a play date. Her mom, Cayce, is one of my bffs! We like to call our little duo Evus and Weavus. And I know you think Weavus wasn't able to play a lot, but I could tell she had a good time with her bestie. Evie was the perfect baby (Baby Weaver may have some big shoes to fill) and we had a really great time! Here are some too-cute-for-words pictures!

Evus is thisclose to thinking about trying to crawl! :) She kinda slithers to her toys.

I really didn't get the chance to hold Evie because of this one. He wouldn't put her down. I mean, Chad LOVED her.

Chad the Dad is a natural.

Perfect little angel. Again, Weavus, NO PRESSURE!

A little side note - My parents hadn't met Evie so we took her over to their house for a little visit. These people are itching for a grandbaby! Daddy tried to teach her how to eat boiled peanuts and between Mama and Chad, the baby didn't get put down!

Hooray for play dates and we can't wait for another one!