:: drink + be merry ::

We had a fun little Friday night with friends + food... the Wasingers came in town Friday afternoon so we got to spend some time with them and pick up Iz early so her and G could hang.  We had to run by the store to grab a few things and it was pretty entertaining for the other shoppers.  Runge was super mom at one point when I was on the phone, handling both children and the cart!  She put them both in the front and it was too cute.. wish this video was longer..

Hen & Iz, she was showing him all her toys.

i love mac & cheese for dinner!

hmm, i think i'll have a piece...

time for bed {Iz and G had almost matching pjs}!

We had way too much food, as usual.  Thank you everyone for bringing such great stuff to eat!  I made cheesecake for the first time and it was pretty delicious... white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, recipe is at the end of this post.

the dudes... just being dudes...

this was too cute... hen and iz sharing the dino..

checking out the tree..

this is Henry giving Iz a hug, so cute.

love this of Hen.

the holidays are such a crazy time and it's always hard to get together with friends so it was really nice that they were able to come on such short notice.  We had 3 little ones sleeping in our house that night which is a record for us, we ran out of rooms so Henry slept in our laundry room.. sounds kind of strange, but it worked out perfect!

White Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

12 OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 1 cup)

2 Tbsp.  butter or margarine, melted

3 squares baking White Chocolate, divided

2 pkg.  (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened (I used light)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp.  vanilla

2 eggs

1/4 cup  red raspberry preserves
Heat oven to 350.Mix cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 8 or 9" square pan. Melt 2 chocolate squares as directed on package.Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in lg bowl with mixer until well blended. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.Bake 25-28 min. or until center is almost set. Cool 5 min.; spread with preserves. Melt remaining chocolate square and drizzle over cheesecake. Cool cheesecake completely. Refrigerate 4 hours. Cut into bars/squares.

This was my first time to make cheesecake so I was pretty proud of myself when it turned out... I guess I never realized it was that simple!  Jacob wasn't a huge fan of the oreo crust so I may try grahams next time.. I think the oreos just make it look more festive.

baby it's cold outside...

Iz and I got to go for a run because the sun was out and it wasn't totally freezing... we did get all bundled up though and Iz just looked so cute, I can't get over her face with that hat on!

 Iz knows what and where eyes are, so she is pointing to fire dog's eyes...

This was funny because I walked into Target after dad and Iz and she was all strapped in with the strap so high on her, I just couldn't help laughing... the straps aren't always that high right?

 Ride'm cow girl!

I'm standing and not holding onto anything!

pine cones + spray paint

We have some pretty great pine cones that fall off our pine tree and after seeing pine cones in stores to buy, I started collecting them.  I bought some soft gold metallic spray paint (at Michael's with a 40% off coupon, so really only spent about $3) and used left over white spray paint to give them a little color.. they turned out pretty nice.

Just a fun easy little project that makes for great decor during the Holidays {I have since added red ornaments to them which I will add pics of later}.

just some Iz...

I had to take this pic of Iz sleeping, she is using her giraffe as a pillow.. too funny.

hi mama

Iz likes to stand and balance without touching anything so this is her, not touching... it makes her so happy when she does it without fail.

Isabelle giving fire dog a hug... she loves him so much, which is extra special because he was Jacob's favorite when he was little... and he just happened to match her outfit :).

Isabelle is 13 months old now and it's like she was 6 months yesterday, where does the time go?  She is my little girl now, such a little person, I can't believe it.  It's amazing how smart she is, I feel like I underestimate her sometimes because she surprises me every day with something new that she says or does.  A little bit about Izzy girl since her 1st birthday...

~she is still wearing size 2 dipes, but once they are gone, we are going into 3s

~she is wearing more 18 month clothing, but still fits into most of her 12 month clothes

~she is so chatty, I know I have said she was chatty before but now she is actually saying words and sentences even though we don't always know what she's saying.

~she is a fast mover and likes to stand up and take a little step or two and then sit back down... she's not quite confident in herself to just take off walking, which we are kind of thankful for, no rush!

~she loves to play with her toys, dance and clap, she has the biggest smile that shows off her dimples that I just adore

~OH, how could I forget, she has learned to flush the toilet... she did it about 5x in a row after she figured it out.  Maybe that will be in our favor when it comes to potty training ;)

~she still gets one bottle right before bed of mostly milk with a little bit of formula (just because we are trying to use it up), but we are almost done with the bottle... doc said she should be off of it by 14 months

I think that's it for the most part, I'm sure I will think of other things so I will continue to keep you updated on her developments.  My goal is to be totally up to date on here by the end of this year!

back to cali, cali...

Pavers won an award for one of the jobs they did this year and the award ceremony was in Palm Springs  (Indian Wells to be exact), so we went so Jacob and Kenny could accept.. I know, total bummer.  Look at those studs!

Our hotel was really pretty and all decked out for the Holidays...

We ate breakfast Friday morning on the hotel's back patio, which was right on a golf course.. this was the view.

We did a little shopping during the day Friday and ate some delicious pizza for lunch at Sammy's.

It is such a golf town, so there were golf carts everywhere as people's mode of transportation.. thought this one was pretty fun!  Surrey with a fringe on top...

 Jacob and Kenny accepting the award... they had to say their names into the mic for everyone :).

We drove back into LA early Saturday morning so Kenny and Courtney could see the town... this is one of the things they wanted to see, the Hollywood sign... 

 Kenny and the Transformer in front of the Kodak Theater..

 Rodeo Drive... "big mistake... huge!"  Oh how I love Pretty Woman!

 Just one of the many insane cars on Rodeo Drive.. a Bugatti... first time to see that car!  I have to admit, it was pretty amazing!

We went to Manhattan Beach to show Courtney and Kenny before meeting our friends Laura and Kristiaan for dinner in Hermosa and this is what we pulled up to.. just loved it.

We ate at a wonderful taco place called 'Hot's Kitchen', they have like 30 different tacos {tapas style} and they are delicious... these are Jacob's, chicken fried steak + mashed potatoes & some steak thing.. I took his word for it that they were tastey.

It was so good to see you Laura (and of course Kristiann), thank you for having dinner with us!

Gram had Isabelle while we were gone (thank you mom!) and I missed her so much... I think she missed us too because she was so happy and giddy when she saw us, literally dancing and squealing!  This is her with dad checking out the tree.. being so happy!  I just love her so much!!

YAY!

We had such a nice quick little trip to LA, good to get away, but even better to be back home with our little Isabelle.