Introducing.......

Ruby Belle Whitesides

Born: January 11, 2012 at 5:18 am
6 lbs 5 oz

She's here. She's awesome. We couldn't be happier.

I made it!

Her favorite place to snooze

Pre-sneeze

She loves to have her hands up by her face

Tick, Tick, Tick......

I've decided that the strangest part of this whole pregnancy process is the waiting here at the end. The "you could have your baby any day at any moment.....or it could still be a week away or more" stuff.  Luckily, there's still been plenty of fun happenings going on to keep us busy.

We celebrated our 6th anniversary with a delicious lunch at the Cool Mint and then chaperoned a tri-stake dance that night for some added romance. :) Later in the week we took advantage of having stayed in Texas for the holidays and hit up the end-of-the-year Wimberley Glassworks sale - something we've been wanting to do for ages. And then it was time to ring in the new year. We spent a great night with Jess and Ian devouring the Root Cellar's New Years Eve menu (rosemary shrimp as a starter, proscuitto wrapped chicken stuffed with goat cheese over garlic mashed potatoes, tenderloin short rib and white truffle polenta, creme brulee - all DELISH!)  and then visited Russ, Chow and little Phoenix. A fantastic way to welcome 2012!

In between our anniversary and the New Year we had the opportunity to go to San Antonio for Sabrina and Kevin's sealing. A super special night. And as an added bonus I got to see my former mission companion Sarah who was in town for her brother-in-law's wedding. We have so many great memories together and it was so great to see her. I only wish we would have had more time!

How we celebrate....

Let me tell you, there are some definite bonuses to being near the end of pregnancy during the holidays.  One word: indulgence. As C and I mapped out our holiday plans, it didn't take us long to realize that nearly all of our festive hopes and dreams rested upon which foods we hoped to eat. Every stage of the process was enjoyable: the planning, food shopping, prep and consumption. Success. We even knocked out some family faves we had yet to try on our own (bruzzola, risotto, krepsu) of which we were particularly proud. Another goal has been to add some new foods into our repertoire - additions have included: kale, parsnips, collared greens and mustard greens. All delicious.

So without ado, here are a few highlights:

Panettone! I gained some serious weight on my mission thanks to Panettone and we even found our favorite Brazilian brand right here in San Marcos. Lovin' it.

Chicken Tikka Masala - wow.....we love this meal.

A night out at one of our favorite spots in Austin: Bess Bistro

This picture makes me sad.....sad because it doesn't do the meal justice and even more sad because this meal is over. We had decided we wanted to try a new kind of fish so we splurged and bought Chilean sea bass.....and then we almost burned the apartment down with it. It was touch-and-go, but we saved it and it was AMAZING. Oh. My. Heart. Combined with our favorite Israeli couscous dish, this was one of our favorite meals of the holiday season.

Busting out the cocoa latte!

Chestnuts roasting in the oven.....la la la la laa la la

We did our best to take advantage of the day or two when it was cold enough to enjoy hot chocolate.

Homemade chex mix....HIGHLY addictive.

Feijoada! Viva Brasil!

Christmas cookies

Lots of delicious citrus

One of many such delicious lunches. You know you love food when you spend a good chunk of your birthday money on fancy bread, new cheeses, olives, and handmade salami.