Maternity Photoshoot

We spent Thanksgiving in Nashville with my husband's family this year.  It was a wonderful time together with family!  So much delicious food and much needed relaxation!  

One of my sisters-in-law is pretty talented when it comes to photography so I had asked her beforehand if she would mind taking some maternity pictures of us over the holiday.  She agreed and we all had a blast coming up with photo ideas and running around outside in the freezing cold!  Here are a few that I absolutely love!

D's family home has so many fun places to pose for photos!

Our cousins gave us these sweet baby shoes from Italy!  Our little man will be so stylish!

D and I can only be serious for so long.  Neither one of us are big on being in front of the camera... so we usually end up acting awkward!  But then it's time to focus again. :)

Must get a good belly shot.  I was 27 weeks along here!

And of course, we can't have the hubby feeling left out... belly shot for you, too!

After fooling around with the camera settings for awhile Rachel was able to snap some great silhouette shots... I'm so happy to have these!  Thank you for these memories, Rachel!! 

Thanksgiving Pies

This year D and I will be making the 12 hour drive to Nashville, Tennessee to spend Thanksgiving with his family.  Since this is one of the first times we will NOT be flying, I offered to bring something to help out.  Fortunately, I got to bake the pies, oh happy day!!  

The day before we left it was time to hunker down and get two pies and one cheesecake made!  I just love getting all the ingredients together in a happy little display before diving in and making a mess!!

It was about this time that I was baking the two crusts for the Pecan and Pumpkin pies.  I had selected a fancy recipe off of Food Network and it was baking away.  Well, when I checked on it... the crusts had completely fallen to the bottom of the pans!  I had never had this happen before.  I checked into all the different reasons for having crusts fall flat and was trying to come up with a new plan to try again.  And then it hit me... in times like this... I need to call my Grandma!  I phoned my 90 year old Grandma and relayed my situation.  She gave me some sage advice about pie crusts and even her recipe that she has used her whole life... for every pie she's ever made, she said!  I took her advice... and recipe and they turned out flaky and delicious!  Sometimes, old school is the right school, what can I say??  

The completed pies and cheesecake!  I don't know what I was thinking making a pumpkin cheesecake... and having to transport it 12 hours in the car!  Can't make things too easy, huh?  I have to say that it ended up surviving perfectly and got lots of rave reviews at Thanksgiving dinner!  

Here are the recipes I used:

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Pie

And for the two pie crusts I used my Grandma's recipe instead of the one included in the links.  Also, I did not bake the crusts before filling them.  

Grandma's Every Pie Crust  (one 9 inch pie crust)

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup cold shortening

1/2 cup cold water

Combine flour and salt.  Cut in chilled shortening until dough looks like crumbles the size of peas.  Sprinkle in cold water and mix with fork until just combined.  Chill for 30 minutes before rolling out and placing in pie dish.  Best to chill again for 30 minutes before baking.  Fill crust with pie filling and bake according to pie recipe directions.  

Recommended Read

Probably most of you have heard about the What To Expect books.  I highly recommend that you purchase What To Expect When You're Expecting.  Its organized by each month of pregnancy.  It has been a tremendous resource for those moments when I stop and think... Is THIS normal!?!