Tales from Auburn

Oh the dreams

2011-10-17T10:10:00.000-05:00

There is nothing I want more in the world than to be a stay at home mommy. Nothing! I can't tell you how much I hate leaving the Butterbean for work. I hate when he spends the weekends away from us so we can work. I feel like I miss out on so much of his life and it completely breaks my heart!

This past weekend The Mr. had drill in Montgomery, I had to work, and the Butterbean spent the weekend at his grandparents house. I know he was having a great time! But when you come home to a completely empty house, no mommy duties, no kisses goodnight, nothing. . . well it's really hard. I cried. (It may be the pregnancy hormones) But I realized how much I wanted to have a normal family life. One where The Mr. isn't missing on the weekends, where we can do family activities on the weekends, go to church every Sunday as a family, or go visit family on the weekends.

How could you leave a face like this:

And I can't believe I'll have to leave two precious little faces very soon. I am so heartbroken.

Haps

2011-10-06T20:41:00.000-05:00

Goodness, I really am the world's worst blogger right now! But here's a rundown of what we've been up to,
- The Butterbean turned three! (I'm having heart palpitations typing this right now)
- Planned the Butterbean's third birthday. (Success)
-Still trying to get my house in order (Will it ever end?)
- Worked on my new blogsite for my photography. You can visit it here. I update it frequently with my latest sessions.
-Got the flu/worst cold known to mankind. (Thanks to the sweetest three year old around.)
-Could't take any medicine for it, because we have a jellybean on the way. (Yup, it's true! Sick with morning sickness and a
cold. Yay!)

Hoping to get back into a regularly blogging schedule soon!

My husband snores

2011-08-09T22:13:00.000-05:00

My husband snores. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. In this post, I am going to share my "save your sanity because you love the guy and don't want to strangle him" tips. :)

Most nights, we race to bed to see who can get there first mainly because, if I get there first, I can fall asleep with out listening to the snoring. If he gets there first, the bed isn't hot.

(The Mr. claims I catch on fire at night. Who knew?)

So here is my routine, if in fact he gets in the bed before me and passes out into a deep slumber.

Step 1. Generally speaking, after walking into the room and finding your sleeping husband vibrating your eardrums, gently slip into bed with such ease as not to wake him but with a tiny little bounce.

If this doesn't get him to turn over and stop snoring, go to step 2.

Step 2. Try tossing and turning. Now don't go jumping around in the bed, but do turn from one side to the other. Chances are he'll wake up ever so slightly to turn the opposite direction as you and stop snoring.

Didn't work? Go to step 3.

Step 3. This time toss and turn with more force than previous attempts, but take a bit of the covers with you. By gently tugging the sheets, he may startle and turn over to his side.

No success? Commence step 4.

Step 4. Wiggle around like a fish. He may wake up and think you are having a seizure, so when you accidentally kick him awake he'll feel sorry for you. (Desperate times call for desperate measures)

Still no luck, call the cops, it's time for step 5.

Step 5. Shake him. Shake him. Shake him. Tell him to wake up and stop snoring or turn over!

Step 5 is sure to work, but it does have concequences. In fact, he is sure to be upset that you woke him over snoring, because he is 100 percent sure he doesn't snore.

You could do all 5 steps. Each one an increased level of desperation to catch some zzzzz's. But lets face it,
you could just go to Target, buy some ear plugs, go to Ashley Furniture, get a King size bed and call it a day. Both parties will be happier with the King size bed anyway.

But under no circumstances, I REPEAT, under NO circumstances should you ever ever ever take the palms of your hands, place them on either side of your snoring husbands head, and manually turn his head to the side to get him to stop snoring. He may just wake up and think you are trying to kill him by snapping his neck.

Don't ask me how I know that. . .

I know what you are thinking. . .

2011-07-28T22:46:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. Terrible blogger of the year award goes to. . . (enter my name here). ::le sigh::

So a lot has changed around these here parts! Seriously. The biggest thing being that we moved!!! Same town, but different house and much more room (and closet space). The closets were the biggest selling feature for me. Especially when you have a master closet that you, your husband, and two year old can lay down and do carpet angels on and not hit each other. Not that we would EVER do that or anything. Theoretically speaking of course.

::Ahem::

Since we've moved, we have been learning about our new neighborhood and the ways of life over here. In the past month since we've moved in we've :

unpacked 75 boxes, (still have about 15 more left),
added gutters to the house,
bought new living room furniture,
figured how to get a herd of 15 deer to stop eating your plants, (that one was fun)
went to war with the mass amount of spiders in our yard claimed an early victory only for the mammoth of all spiders to show up on our back porch yesterday,
explained to the Butterbean what cicadas are that they will not eat you and yes they are loud,
had a window crack due to new home construction settling,
have a backyard that flooded (hoping the builders will fix that too)
got a cat.
got rid of cat. (yep, I'm allergic)
began working on setting up my home studio/office! :)

We put our home on the market in April. It sold in a month! And we moved at the end of June. So crazy considering the way the market is right now. But we are so blessed. :) Can't wait to begin decorating each room and showing some before and afters! Should be fun stuff.

I promise not to disappear for another 4 or 5 months again. And to make up for it I'll leave you with a picture.

Irony? Quite possibly.

I love my job!

2011-02-28T21:11:00.000-06:00

Don't get me wrong, I love my nursing job. . . .

But the whole photography thing, I think I love even more. Here's why:

I get to photograph cuties like this all day!!!!! I couldn't resist sharing these pictures, they are two of my favorites from a recent session and make me smile. I just love the opportunity to photograph such precious little ones.

At each newborn session, I marvel at how God placed every tiny little eyelash, little toe, little finger, every little fleck of that flaky newborn skin in it's place, and lets not forget those little newborn wrinkles. Perfect tiny miracles. The Lord is simply amazing. And I am in awe of all of His tiny creations.

A heavy heart

2011-02-18T16:31:00.002-06:00

As I'm sure you've heard on the news recently, Auburn's oak trees on Toomer's corner were poisoned by a self proclaimed Alabama fan. (And I use self proclaimed, because I'm sure Alabama isn't claiming him as he is a lunatic).

These two trees, which stand on Toomer's corner (named after Toomer's drugs) in Auburn have been there for 130 years. They have stood the test of time. Two strong trees, which time after time have seen celebration after celebration as thousands of Auburn fans, cheering our cheers, yelling WAR EAGLE to those passing by, hugging our family and friends, and throwing toilet paper in the trees to celebrate a victory. A time honored Auburn tradition that has been around now for 50 + years.

As a college student, coming to Auburn was a choice that I made by myself. My family certainly didn't have Auburn degrees. They were from northern schools and if had their way, I would have gone to Michigan or the University of Illinois.

After my first Auburn football game as a college student, a few of my friends wanted to go to Toomer's corner. They had already packed their toilet paper. I thought it was strange and slightly mental that people in daylight, would dirty up their own tree!!!! I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

We got down to Toomer's corner. People were running towards downtown with toilet paper in hand. Shouts of "War Eagle" filling the air. Everyone was so excited! There wasn't a stranger to be found. Everyone was family down there. Everyone. All at once, I had thousands of family members. There was a guy celebrating by riding his unicycle through the street, parents who brought their little children, orange everywhere, and toilet paper streaming through the air. It was then that I thought. . . "It is so great to be an Auburn Tiger." And I joined in!

You see these trees are so much more than just trees. They are a tradition. They are celebration. They are family.

The Mr. and I were so excited this year when the Butterbean had his first Toomer's corner experience. After Auburn won the SEC championship, we loaded everyone up in the car and off we went. The Butterbean wasn't too sure what to think with the huge crowd of people. We cheered WAR EAGLE, we chatted with friends, we celebrated. Then it was time. . . we made our way through the crowd with our one roll of toilet paper. The Mr holding the Butterbean and I guiding the way. We got close enough. I handed the roll of toilet paper to the Mr. (knowing he could make the throw far better than I could) I held onto the kiddo as I said, "Now watch Daddy." I was so proud seeing my little guy see his father throw that one gleaming white roll into the air and disappear into the streams of white all around.

I was excited to share that moment with my little guy and couldn't wait until he was old enough to do that for himself. Something that The Mr and I had both participated in as college students. Something that I hoped for him to do himself.

The life of the oak trees' fate is grim. It saddens me that the Butterbean may not be able to throw a roll into the same tree that his father and I threw into as college students. We could always replant two more trees. But it's still not the same tree. And it may take 3-5 years for all of the poison to be out of the soil before that is even possible.

Though the uncertainty remains on the tree's fate. I will continue to take the Butterbean to Toomer's corner after wins. To celebrate with my Auburn family. To remember the times of triumph, the times of celebration, and instill in him the Auburn spirit. You see, Toomer's corner is so much more than just two trees. It is family and love and life. So I will end this post with a simple sentence that I carry proudly in my heart:

It certainly IS great to be an AUBURN TIGER!!!!

Proof.

2011-01-28T14:31:00.001-06:00

This is proof that he needs a hair cut. Pretty sure he is channeling his inner Albert Einstein.

Or maybe Steven Tyler. . . . he's cooler.

Teach 'em young.

2011-01-25T16:26:00.000-06:00

Yes, I'm teaching him the love of photography young. . .

I think he loves it. Don't you?

My tiny talking toddler and me

2011-01-19T12:53:00.000-06:00

Yes, my tiny talking toddler and me sat on the floor playing with cars.

He glanced at me and said, "Mommy, look a flower!"
I looked and saw no flower.

He stated again, "Flower, Mommy!"
I saw no flower.

"I don't see it." I said. "Where do you see this flower? Why don't you point to it"

He looked and looked and then pointed to it.

It was no flower.

It was a spider.

I screamed. He looked at me in horror as if he did something wrong. I yelled, "Don't touch it!"

Then I grabbed a shoe smooshed it. And screamed everytime the shoe hit the body of the bug I despise the most.

The Butterbean glanced and me and sadly said, "spider."

I said, "Yes, that was a spider"

He then said, "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww"

I said, "Yes, spiders are ew."

I am obviously ruining my child for teaching him my disgust for all things spider and instilling my horror of spiders in him. That's okay. Maybe when he gets to be a 10 year old, he can kill them for me.

Maybe a rut?

2011-01-17T21:10:00.000-06:00

You may think my lack of postings maybe the result of a blogging rut. But alas, my dears. . . it is not. I haven't been too busy to blog. I haven't not felt like posting. It's just that I get ideas. Great ideas for a blog post as I'm falling asleep every night. Aaaaaand then I'm too lazy to actually get back out of bed and post. But please forgive me for blogging in my head. Strange concept I know.

Anyways, here is a list of blog posts in my head that weren't actually published here but were published in my head. In no particular order:

Why red and orange shouldn't touch
Chocolate chip cookies after dark
Photography mumbo jumbo
I'm cold. Really really cold.
Conquering the world, one toddler at a time
Kleenex. Why it's not all that it is cracked up to be.

They are really great posts. And pretty funny if you ask me. Too bad they are all in my head. I really should work on getting them on this blog. Really shold work on that. . .

It's 9:30pm on a Wednesday night

2010-12-15T21:37:00.000-06:00

It's 9:30pm on a Wednesday night. And as I sit here typing this there is a two year old standing behind me on the couch playing with my hair and watching Finding Nemo.

I don't mind that he's up this late. We don't have anywhere to be tomorrow morning and don't have to be up too early. I am absolutely loving this whole "waiting for a job to open somewhere, stay at home mommy thing." The past week, I've been able to clean my house, have home cooked meals, and most importantly spend some quality time with The Mr. and my Butterbean. Wow, how I have missed this stress free feeling. It's been two years coming, and wow does it feel good.

So being as how I'm now attempting to go back to my "wanna be like Martha" roots, I have taken up knitting. I have been working on a few projects. . . and by few I mean really one project but I have restarted it, three times.

Okay, it's a scarf. Can't be too hard right? Yeah, um. . . not so much. The first time I began knitting a scarf. . . I thought it looked pretty good. No mistakes. About three hours into the project, The Mr. walked in and asked me what I was making. It was a scarf of course. He then explained that scarves are not supposed to be three times as wide as your head.
Scarf project fail.
I guess that one will be a blanket.

The second scarf, well. . . let's just say it has issues.

Now the third scarf. . . I'm doing okay on it right now. Maybe I'll post some pictures. Or maybe I won't because it is quite embarrassing.

I'm no Martha. . . but I shall prevail and I will finish a scarf gosh darn it. . .

War Eagle!

2010-12-13T00:08:00.000-06:00

There has been quite the array of celebrating around our house lately. Besides celebrating Thanksgiving, my graduation, upcoming Christmas festivities, we have been celebrating our Auburn Tigers!

As an Auburn fan, I have been waiting for a fun season like this one has been to share with the Butterbean. So when Auburn won the SEC Championship, what else could an Auburn family do who live in the town of Auburn? Well, you grab some toilet paper, put a coat on your two year old, grab the camera, and go downtown to Toomer's corner where you will meet thousands of Auburn fans celebrating in the street. Auburn cheer's, pictures and the celebratory rolling of the tree will take place.

And take place it did! There were so many people down there, I'm pretty sure the tree couldn't hold anymore toilet paper. There were globs of it all over the street.

The Mr. and I had a great time introducing the Butterbean to Auburn culture. Needless, to say the Butterbean was a little confused and didn't quite know what was going on, but went with the flow anyway. We ran into several other friends and their families and took a few pictures.

And yep, that's us standing in front of the gorgeous toilet paper background! Another failed family picture. But it was the best we got. In the other pictures, the Butterbean insisted on hiding behind the toilet paper. Notice the Butterbean's death grip on the toilet paper. He knew what was going to happen to it. . .

And yes, we did meander our way up to the tree and watched as our celebratory roll hooked itself around a limb then disappeared into the crowd below. But I'm positive I saw someone pick it back up and continue wrapping it around the branches.

War Eagle! So proud of our Tigers, Cam Newton's Heisman win, and playing for a national championship.

We will now commence our regularly blogging schedule

2010-12-06T15:07:00.001-06:00

Let me preface this post by saying, "I did it!!!"

Did what? You ask.

My dear friends, I have finished nursing school!!! Can we just take a moment and join hands around the computer as we sing "Hallelujah"? I added a video below to help you if you are not inclined to singing by yourself. Go ahead, push play and sing along with me!!!!

Now that we got that out of our system, I need to play a little catch up. Aaaaaaaaaaaand go:

The photography business is booming! So much so, that I'm actually considering hiring someone. . . I need a secretary. Like in the worse way.

The Butterbean is no longer a butterbean. He's thinned out and though is still a heafty little guy, it makes me sad knowing he is growing up.

The Mr. is still working like a crazy person. I hope to take some of that burden off of him soon, but frankly it's rather hard to find a nursing job around here lately. And that's just one of the reasons why I wanted to go into nursing to begin with. . . job security.

I'm actually considering going back to get my Nurse Practioner now. I mean, why not? I don't have a job, may as well enroll in more school, right?

The Butterbean is now a picky eater. Little does he know, I sneak those veggies in. ::cue evil laugh::

The Mr. is watching some horrible space movie right now with Matt LeBlanc. It's bad, really bad. Oh wait. . . their spaceship just exploded. Maybe this will put an end to the horror.

I am going to attempt to make my first ever cheesecake tonight. Let's see how this goes since I am not very good and baking. ::crossinng fingers::

I spent Thanksgiving sick at my mom and dad's house. I felt like poo. Thankfully, I could eat a little something because the food was amazing.

The Butterbean was the one who got me sick.

The Mr. had his wisdom teeth taken out, had some complications that warrented a whole lot of pain, infection and sinus trouble. He's finally getting back to his old self. Thank goodness!!

Auburn is going to Glendale, AZ to play for the national championship! I am so proud of my team! War Eagle! Win or Lose, the have had an amazing season and I'm excited that they are representing the SEC.

Okay, that's a random post, but there you go.

Regular blogging to begin now that nursing school is OVER!

The pumpkin patch, errr farm?

2010-10-21T11:49:00.000-05:00

So recently, The Mr., The Butterbean and I all had the day to spend together. So what better way than the pumpkin patch! However, from the pictures you see here, The Butterbean had more fun with the animals than actually picking out a pumpkin.

He had a great time visiting with Mr. Goat. He also was allowed to feed him!

Loving the baby bunnies.

Playing with the corn. . .

And FINALLY picking a pumpkin. But only after The Mr. and I made him stay away from the animals for 3 minutes.

Tiny Toddler Say What?

2010-09-26T15:01:00.000-05:00

Now that the kiddo is speaking sentences on a fairily regular basis, things in our household have gotten even more interesting. Take for instance last week as I was putting the garbage can out to the curb:

Butterbean: "pee-pul tash mommy! pee-pul tash"
Me: That's right honey, that's people trash.

As we are driving down the road the Butterbean spots a gargage truck and screams: "MOMMY!!! It's PEE-PUL TASH!!!"

Me: Yes baby, that is the gargage truck that picks up the people trash.

Yesterday as he was running around through the house staring up at the ceiling: "Bee-cu, ooo are you bee-cu? Mommy, ooo are you mommy?, Igee, ooo are you Igee?"

Translation: Biscuit, where are you Biscuit (our dog). Mommy, where are you Mommy? And Isaak, where are you Isaak (his best friend) (He loves to play hide and seek and this is what he says when he's the seeker)

Have I told you that I'm pretty sure that he's going to be one of those kids that can tell you every year, make and model of every vehicle ever made? Oh I haven't? Well, let me tell you. . .
This kid knows what everyone of his little friends rides in. We were in the parking lot of the grocery store the other day and he says, " Mommy, das Ella's car"
So I turned and looked at the car he was pointing at. Sure enough. . . it was indeed the same make and model of the car that his sweet little friend rides in. And what's even scarier is that he's done this numerous times pointing out the various cars that he friends ride in. wowzers.

The other day I asked him to say "Pocahontas." And he said it. Perfectly. So I said, "How about Sacagaweeha" And he mumbled a litle bit then said, "wee-aaaaaaaahhhh!"

I sure do love to hear his little thoughts being voiced. I wonder what he'll say next!

Jerome

2010-09-13T21:00:00.001-05:00

I am often intrigued by what my TWO year old says. Today was no exception.

While we were playing inside around the house, the Butterbean runs over to me and says, "Jer-ome". I asked him who Jerome was.

He said, "Jer-ome".

I said, "Oh really? I still do not know who this Jerome is, sweetheart."

A little louder her said, "Jer-ome."

I again explained that I wasn't sure who Jerome is, and how he knew a Jerome is beside me. As we don't know anyone by that name. (I was growing a little concerned by this point, imagining ways my child had met a Jerome and who this mystery person was.)

The Butterbean then screamed, "JER-OME!!!". And then scampered out of the living room toward his bedroom.

A few minutes later he came back holding his shoes.

"Jer-ome, mommy."

And then it clicked. . . He was trying to say shoes-on.

I guess he wanted to go outside and play.

Mommy fail.

Apparently I'm shady

2010-09-08T16:39:00.000-05:00

Apparently, I'm shady. Well, at least that's what I gathered from the sales representative at JcPenney today.

Those of you who know me, know I'm married to a cop. And honest, hard-working cop. So I never do anything illegal. I mean, come on!

But today, as I was shopping at JcPenney, with a stroller, bags full of shoes from Dillard's (that I DID pay for!), a overly large diaper bag/purse, and a toddler screaming "COOKIE!" at the top of his lungs warrented me as being "shady." Oh yes.

I noticed her out of the corner of my eye as I was looking for my size in a particular shirt. I felt her glaring at me, actually. So I turned to face her and smiled at her. She continued to stare at me. So I smiled again at her and went along with my business. She moved to the other side of the rack and stared again. . . . I thought she was going to ask the college couple if they needed help finding anything. But she didn't. She kept staring at me. . .

now it was getting awkward.

She asked if I needed any help. I said "No, thank you. Just found my size!" She said okay. And stood there.

Really?

She continued to stand there.

Finally I asked her if I could help her. Since she had been staring at me and watching me like a hawk for 10 minutes. She very poignantly said, "I'm making sure you don't take anything and put it into your stroller or bags."

O. M. Goodness!!! I was a little taken back by the fact that she was basically accusing me of trying to steal a $5.00 t-shirt from JcPenney.

I really didn't know what to say. . . so I glared at her while I thought of something and as I felt my face become hot with embarrassment I said, "I think you are mistaking me for someone else and if you would like to look through my bags and see the receipts for my purchases, you are more than welcome to, but I would just like you to know that I am offended that you are basically accusing me for something I would never ever do."

She didn't apologize. She just said, "No, I don't need to do that." And walked off.

Geeze! After all of that. . . she just walked away.

I bought the shirt anyway. Afterall, if was a cute Auburn t-shirt and only $5.00.

Oh and the Butterbean, yep I sure did buy him a cookie.

Oh, Lake Michigan. . . how I miss you

2010-09-05T08:17:00.001-05:00

About a month ago, we left and went to Michigan, Chicago, and Wisconsin to visit family and have a whirlwind vacation. We did have a lot of fun, but the Butterbean definitely broke his "good" travel record.

We left in the middle of the night thinking that he would sleep through the night in the car. But instead, he was WIDE awake! (little stinker) He loves to travel and see new places, run errands with me, and get in the car and go. But staying awake for 24 hours does have it's downside. Talk about an ill little boy the next day!

Anyways, I wanted to share some pictures from the days we spent on the sandy beaches of Lake Michigan.

The Butterbean was thrilled when The Mr. finally got the kite up in the air.

A very very sandy toddler. That was definitely not fun to clean up! ha!

My amazing drip castle, if I must say so myself. :) Though the Butterbean destroyed it just as quickly as I was making it. I had to get a quick picture to commemorate.

We had such a wonderful time at the lake! I could just live there!

A post in which I update.

2010-09-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

Wow! Things have been super crazy around here!

School started back for me! Last semester of nursing school, might I add! Can I getta "Woop, woop"?
I can't believe I'm almost finished. It has been such a long time coming, but I'm almost there. . . almost. I mean the train is still in the tunnel, but I can see a slight light behind the train. Hopefully, that will be moving soon.

Besides school, I had a birthday last week. It wasn't a big day, but my nursing school friends made it so special by throwing me a little birthday party during our lunch break. Are they awesome or what? I just love them. I sure am going to miss them like crazy when we graduate. My dream would be that we would all work the same shift, at the same hospital, on the same floor. I can dream, right?

Speaking of birthdays, the Butterbean is about to be two!!!! Two!!!! Can you believe it? It's insane to know that I'm going to have a two year old. He is the most awesome kid ever and I want at least three more, just like him. I told The Mr. I really wanted a brother for him. . . So who knows. More kids may be in the future soon. We shall see!

The photography business. . . lets just say, God has blessed my business more than I ever could have imagined. I was thinking I might get a couple bookings a month and I was perfectly happy with that. But instead, I have been booked every weekend! Between taking pictures, editing, placing orders, packaging and delivering the products and pictures, I have been super busy. Busy, but soooo blessed! Praise God for such a wonderful way to meet so many wonderful people and capture such special moments in their lives! Amazing.

About a month ago, we were able to take a vacation up north to Lake Michigan to visit my Grandma and then over to Chicago and Wisconsin to visit my sister and Papa. It was the Mr's first time to see Lake Michigan and we had a blast! Oh, how I love the north in the summertime! I have a good friend who will be moving to Ann Arbor soon, so that gives me just another reason to go visit again real soon! ;)

And guess what, The Mr. gave me a flip video thing-a-majigger for my birthday. And as soon as I figure out how to upload videos, I shall post one. But until then enjoy the sweet picture of my almost TWO YEAR OLD at the top. It was taken on the beautiful sandy beaches of Lake Michigan.

Maybe it's a phase

2010-08-11T21:12:00.000-05:00

"It's just a phase."

I seem to tell myself this a lot lately. It's just a phase.

He won't scream like a banshee forever. At least I hope not. It's just a phase.

He won't spit out his food forever. It's just a phase.

He won't run from me when I try to give him kisses forever. . . or maybe he will. Okay, so that may not be a phase but reality soon enough.

Well, I believe we have hit a new phase, folks. A new era in our lovely household.

The kid hates when I sing to him. And I mean HATES it!

I sing the Alphabet song. The Butterbean responds by screaming.

I sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider. The Butterbean rebuttles by screaming.

I sing Michael Buble's Everything to him. The Butterbean screams louder.

When did he begin to hate my singing? I mean, I'm not that bad of a singer. Really folks, I'm not. I actually have a pretty decent voice.

But seriously. The kid hates my singing. (He used to love it.) It's just a phase right?

But the song that really puts him into a fit of, almost two year old, fury is the Six Little Ducks song. Oh yes! Fury comes over him. He throws himself on the floor, kicking and screaming, tears coming from his little eyes.

Where did I go wrong? Six Little Ducks is a great song. I even do the motions and everything.

Please, someone tell me it's just a phase. . .

2am conversations

2010-07-30T21:12:00.000-05:00

During our incredibly long drive up north in the middle of the night, The Mr. pulled off to get some gas. I felt the car slowing down and sleepily opened my eyes. Glancing at the clock I saw that it was 2:15 am. Whew. . . That's pretty early.
At that point, it was my turn to drive so I decided to grab some coffee in the store to perk me up a bit. The Butterbean was waking up so I grabbed him too and off we walked into the store. The Mr. met us inside and picked out some chapstick and various other items we had forgotten in our whirlwind packing extravaganza early that day.

Upon leaving the store, the Butterbean pointed up and squealed saying "moon!". I stated back to him, "Yes baby, that's the moon."
The Butterbean: star
Me: Yes, that is a star.

The Mr: That's not a star.
Me: Yes, that's a star. Look at it. It's bright and right next to the moon!

The Mr: That's way to close to be a star.
Me: Well, maybe it's an airplane or something.

The Mr: That's no airplane.
Me: Well, what do you think it is. Because last time I checked, I'm pretty sure stars look like that.

The Mr: It's an alien spaceship watching and waiting to abduct someone.
Me: No it's not.

The Mr: Well, that ain't no star.
The Butterbean: Moon!!!

end of conversation

I'm pretty sure The Mr. must have been sleep-walking, talking, dreaming. . . right? RIGHT?

The Butterbean and the Library: a short story

2010-07-18T10:49:00.000-05:00

Finally, after weeks of wanting to get one, I gave in and did it. I had one a super long time ago, and for whatever reason it disappeared and I haven't had one since.

So yesterday, I finally buckled down and decided "today was the day". I gathered the Butterbean's sippy, a few diapers, wipes, and tossed them in the diaper bag, buckled the Butterbean in the car seat and off we went to the library to finally get the library card we have so desperately needed.

We pulled up to the public library, I got the kiddo out of the car and we walked in together. The Butterbean gibber gabbered excitedly as he held on tightly to my finger, as we walked up to this unfamiliar building. Outside a middle-aged woman sat talking on her cell phone. The Butterbean waved at her and smiled. She stopped talking on her cell and said to him, "God did a wonderful job on you." I smiled and thanked her as I pulled the heavy doors open and got the Butterbean inside.

We were greeted by a sweet librarian who assisted me in filling out the info for getting a card. It took a little longer than expected and I could tell the Butterbean was getting antsy, so I sat him up on the counter with me, so he couldn't run off. The tall ceilings and tile floors were quickly discovered to be a great acoustic stage fit for the Butterbean when he let out a little scream, due to me having a death grip on him atop of the counter. He giggled after he heard that echo. And I saw the gleam in his eyes as he began to let out another scream. I quickly scoulded him and gave him a firm no, and a "sweetheart, we don't scream in the library." This was only fuel to the fire as he let out scream after scream, despite me having my hand over his mouth by this point.

The librarian could tell I was having a difficult time with him and told us to go pick out a book. She guided us over to where the children's section was and we were on our way. The Butterbean and I were finger in hand, until he saw all the bright colors hanging from the children's section and took off running. I chased him down the short corridor into the children's section.

I finally caught up to him when he stopped dead in his tracks. I squatted down to his level and told him he must not run from mommy as that was not a good thing to do. As I was talking to him, he was glaring at all the books placed neatly on the shelves. I saw the excitement come across his face as he quickly ran over to the shelves yelling, "BOOK, BOOK, BOOK!!!".

By the time I caught up with him he had already pulled three books off the shelves and thrown them on the floor. (this is what he does at home. Grabs a book and throws it on the floor as I pick it up and put it back on the shelf) I knew what he was thinking the instant I saw that twinkle in his eye. We only have about 50-60 books at home. Here he has thousands upon thousands. What an awesome mess this would be!

I placed the three books back up on the shelf as he quickly grabbed more and threw them on the floor. It was a vicous cycle. I tried distracting him by saying, "look at the pig, rabbit, etc" It didn't work. He knew my tricks and distraction techniques.

I gave up trying to clean up and picked him up. Big mistake. He looked at me and screamed in anger as he kicked and flung himself around like a fish out of water trying to escape my hook of a grasp. I told him to stop. It didn't work. So I grabbed the first book I could off the shelf and we walked to check it out.

Under my left arm in a football hold, the Butterbean continued to scream as I walked faster and faster to the counter. We checked out the book and left as the Butterbean screamed.

Can't say I ever want to take him back to the library. I know I will. Someday. Or in two weeks, when the book is due.

But next time, I'm going to put him in the stroller.

Blog slacking

2010-07-07T17:40:00.000-05:00

So I realized I've been blog slacking. . . I really have and I apologize.

The Butterbean is about to hit the big 22. 22 months that is. And at 22 months, he has hit the terrible two's early.

Temper tantrums-check
indecisiveness- check
finicky eating- check (today he's only eating fish for dinner. . . at least it's fish though and not cookies
getting ready to potty train- check (He's beginning to show interest in the potty and has even come up to me holding his diaper saying "Mommy, I poop, I poop.") I think we'll begin to actually sit on the potty next month.

I need to upload pictures, but frankly I haven't edited any. I've just been editing client pictures.

If you would like to see my website, leave me a message with your email and I'll send you the link.

The bug vs me.

2010-06-26T21:35:00.000-05:00

There's no easy way to put this, so I'm just going to come out and say it. I hate bugs. I seriously hate bugs. Anything creepy crawly for that matter. (Just ask my neighbors about that one time they saw a spider in the grass)

Anyhoo, lately we've had this problem with these "dirt dobbers" or "mud wasps" building their home in the corners of our house. I noticed it's home a couple weeks ago. So I did what an other self respecting wife did and told The Mr. about it and told him to take care of it. And he did. The next day it was gone! Whoo hoo! Yay for being bug free.

Yesterday, I noticed it was back. Joy.

Today, it had already built three columns. Even better.

I needed to get rid of it fast before it had a whole city next to my front door. So I grabbed a stick and I poked it. It didn't really do any damage but put a hole in it and the little "mud wasp" flew right out of it swooping down at my head a few times. I screamed and ran.

The second attempt went much better. I grabbed the hose with the super spray nozzel on it and soaked that nest in water. I smiled as I watched the muddy nest run down the brick and onto the pavement.

My smile turned quickly into concern as I realized something (not a dirt dobber) was running down the wall with the water. So I got a little closer. . . .

My concern turned into panic as I realized that what was falling down onto the concrete with the water and mud were spiders!!!!!!!!!! FREAKING OUT NOW!!!!!!

I RAN! AND SCREAMED AND RAN!

Of course the mud was off my brick, but now I had dead spiders laying everywhere. And not just any spiders, spiders with legs. Long legs.

Someone should have warned me that dirt dobbers/ mud wasps kill spiders and keep them in their mud hut. But I wasn't warned.

. . . . . . . . Two hours later, the Butterbean and I headed outside for an evening walk. I heard a familiar buzzing noise right outside my door. So I looked up and much to my dismay was a two and a half inch mud cave.

ugh!

Bug (2) - Jen (0)

Perspective

2010-06-16T16:55:00.001-05:00

Have you ever experienced one of those moments in your life, where your problems and complaints were suddenly put into perspective?

When you realized that your problems were not nearly as bad as you thought they were?

A time when you realized just how fragile life was?

A time when you just wanted to hug your loved ones and friends and tell them just how much they meant to you and how much you loved and appreciated them?

I had one of those today.

It hit me hard. Like a train. . . it took my breath away. I was sad. I cried. I prayed.

And let me just say, to ALL my family and friends, in-laws, loved ones, I love you all. Thank you for everything you have done for our family the past year and a half. Thank you for helping us with babysitting, for listening to me complain about school, to laughing with me, to crying with me, to supporting my new photography business, and everything in between. . . thank you. I LOVE each and everyone of you.

GOD has been so good! And I am so thankful.

Mentionable Monday

2010-06-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

Look at those eyelashes! So long and thick and perfect. He uses them on a daily basis to get out of trouble. He knows he's cute. Definitely mentionable.

Good news!

2010-06-03T20:50:00.000-05:00

(And yes, this deserves a post all it's own.)

I didn't pass out, vomit, talk to fast, make terrible jokes, or die.....

I survived my first speech. Whew!

Now only two more left. . .

speech

2010-06-02T15:31:00.000-05:00

Wish me luck! I have my first speech to give tonight for my speech class. I think I may vomit. I hate public speaking.

What's the speech on? Well it's on Elmo, of course.

But I still may vomit.

Is your teacher strict? Um, no. She's completely awesome, hilarious, and laid back.

But I still may vomit.

Omg, or I may pass out and vomit.

I hate public speaking.

Okay, I'm off to vomit.

Air

2010-05-28T16:20:00.000-05:00

Air. I need some right now. I need a looooooong vacation with a pool, beach, and waves. Will that happen anytime soon? No. Sadly, it won't. Maybe next year. ::sigh::

This summer has been jam-packed already and it's just going to get more busy. Along with taking care of a toddler, a household, studying, nursing classes, clinical days, a speech class, and a blooming photography business, I'm just swamped! I do love it all though! And I surely have to say that I have been incredibly blessed!

But back to that air. . . I know it's coming. It will be here come come December when I graduate from nursing school!!

Ahhhhhh Air!!!

I sure hope it smells like roses too.

What do you want to be?

2010-05-23T13:21:00.000-05:00

As children, we are asked starting in elementary school, what we want to be when we grow up. I remember several people wanting to be doctors, nurses, teachers, the ice cream man, and a football player. Ah, the possibilities were endless as children, weren't they.

And when the Butterbean becomes old enough to go to school, he will be asked this very question. But I have a feeling that I already know what he's going to be when he grows up.

Can you guess?

I believe he's going to be a politician. Yep. You read that right.

At the ripe age of 20 months, I'm raising a politician in training. And here's why:

He never meets a stranger. He excitedly waves "hi" to everyone he meets and always greets you with a smile.
He has his fake laugh down to a science. Yep, that's right. The kid can laugh with the best of 'em. Sure he has no idea what your laughing about, but by golly, he's going to laugh when you do.
He's a talker. We ususally have no idea what he's talking about, just like most politicians, but he can talk nonetheless.
He loves to shake hands. And oh my goodness does he love to shake hands. Anyone and everyone he comes across he sticks out his tiny little hand waiting for the other to grasp it. This makes it nearly impossible during church to sit back down after the "meet and greet" at the beginning of the service or to get out of the grocery store. And it doesn't matter if he's shook your hand 5 seconds before, if your still standing right there, he's going to do it again.

Yep, that's why my baby is going to be a politician. Now, we just have to work on him kissing babies and I think we'll have the politician thing solidified.

Texting

2010-05-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of things in life I don't have a complete grasp on. Texting is one of them. Don't get me wrong, I know how to text people. But I really have a hard time with people who text abbreviations.

I'm probably the odd one out on this, so let me explain. I will text full sentences, punctuation, the whole works. It's easy for me to do that. I know what I'm saying and trying to relate through the phone. But whn pple snd me a msg using nly abbrvs it tks me a supr lng time to figr out wht n the wrld thy r trying 2 say.

Doesn't that just defeat the purpose of texting in the first place?

I'm just sayin'.

Jump!

2010-05-05T14:01:00.000-05:00

Mom! Up please?

Okay, that's better!

Jump!

Rest!

Jump and rest!

Ham!

A new favorite

2010-05-03T21:45:00.000-05:00

The Butterbean has a new favorite book. He likes to carry it around with him. Look at the pictures. And bring it to me to read to him.

We read it multiple times a day.

I'm pretty sure I've memorized it word for word.

The book is titled, "Guess How Much I Love You"

Which is certainly a wonderful book for me to read to him, since I love him right up to the moon, and back.

Attn friends!

2010-05-01T09:44:00.001-05:00

At last. . . 3rd semester of nursing school is OVER!!! Only two more left!!! And I'm set to graduate in December! 7 more months. eeeeek!

Though I'm completely excited about third semester being over, I still haven't seen the light at the end of the tunnel. It's more like a train still there. . . but I have hope that the light everyone talks about is on the other side of that dingy train.

I have the next few weeks to enjoy the tiny bit of summer break I will have before hitting the books again. I'm going to spend it playing with the BB, thoroughly cleaning the house, possibly reorganizing and concentrating on building up my photography portfolio.

**speaking of photography: If you or anyone you know might be interested in a free photo session. . . I'll be in the Birmingham area at the end of next week and the weekend and into the following week. You can leave a comment or message me on facebook. (and don't worry, I won't publish any comments with any contact information in it.)

Well the Butterbean has started to pile toys on my lap. . . I guess that means he wants to play. Pictures of the BB to come!

Eye Candy

2010-04-23T10:14:00.000-05:00

I have a love/hate relationship with Springtime.

I loathe the pollen. Luckily I'm not allergic to it like a lot of people down here, but it just gets everywhere! We go outside to play and the pollen blows in my eyes making me feel like there are tiny bits of sand in them. I want to open up my windows and air out the house, but I can't because with in 30 minutes the inside of the house will have a nice yellow dusting. ::sigh:: Not to mention going outside and getting covered with pollen.

For example: The other day I came in from outside, shook out my hair, and watched a yellow dust cloud fall gently from my locks. (Stop, ~~hammer~~ shower time!) That's some serious pollen madness out there!

Despite the yellow dusting of everything outside, Spring in the south is full of eye candy! We are talking luscious flower gardens, bright colors everywhere, and bumble bees buzzing by.

See? Beautiful right?

Now, if only we could get the heat and humidity under control. I'd be a happy camper. ;)

C is for Cookie!

2010-04-17T22:14:00.001-05:00

mmmmmmm.

T-shirts, T-shirts, everywhere!

2010-04-17T08:01:00.000-05:00

If you are anything like me, you collect T-shirts! And I mean a lot of them.

errrr, Well. I did collect t-shirts, that was until I watched an episode of Hoarders and decided to get rid of a ton of clothes and throw out those old raggedy things. I regret getting rid of the T-shirts now. Each one meant something special to me, but when I go on a "getting rid of things" spree, there is no stopping me! ha!

A friend of mine has started making T-shirt quilts. Hence her business name, the T-shirt Quilt Co!

The concept is simple. Have a bunch of t-shirts. Preserve your memories and get a quilt made! Woot!

Seriously, I've seen her work in person and the quilts look fabulous!

So if you have a lot of shirts and want to do something with them besides throwing them away, check out her page! You won't be disappointed!

T-Shirt Quilt Co.

April 15th wait no 16th!

2010-04-16T08:32:00.001-05:00

I can't even remember what day it is! Today marks the 5th day I've woken up with a raging sore throat. And I think the ~~pollen~~ raging yellow dust storm outside is to blame for that. ::aaaaa chooooo:: excuse me.

And today is the 7th day in a row, I've woken up needing a coffee IV, stat. And those of you who know me well, know I'm not too much of a coffee drinker. I'll normally make a cup before clinicals at 4am, or sometimes when I just need a quick jolt. Though, I do have a weakness for all things Starbucks and can't resist temptation when passing one. . . So throw in a random Starbucks here and there and that would be the extent of my coffee habits. I'm beginning to think that the prepackaged Starbucks ground coffee I picked up at the grocery store this week has something to do with it.

Today is the 3rd day I've had this annoying pimple on the side of my face. It hurts and it's gross.

And today also marks yet another 85 degree hot spring day. Today the Butterbean will want to play outside, as I sweat like I've been working in the desert digging holes. This whole sweating thing is not helping my pimple matters.

::drops to knees, and throws hands in the air:: Oh where is my lovely low 70's degree spring weather? {I can be as dramatic as I want to! It's my blog afterall}

After all of this complaining, only 13 more days and I'll be done with 3rd semester of nursing school! ::wipes sweat from brow:: And what a celebration that will be!

Conversations

2010-04-13T21:12:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wish I spoke "baybee". I know I did at one point in my life, but I lost that skill a long time ago.

Today the Butterbean had a friend over to play, while his mom was at work. I decided to take the kiddos on a little wagon ride around the neighborhood to get some fresh air and enjoy the warm weather.

I was tugging them along in the wagon when I heard this:

The Butterbean: Mama
Friend: Mama, Dada
BB: Mama
F: Mama, Dada
BB: Maaaaaaaaama
F: Mama, Daaaaaaaaaada!
(they started to both scream at this point)
BB: MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMA!
F: Mama, DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADA!

I interupt with a "Look you two, an airplane"
BB: Airplane
F: plane
BB: AIRPLANE
F: PLAAAAAAAANE!
BB:: Beee- buum (translation: big bump. We had just hit the curve. I know, I'm a terrible wagon driver)
F: DOG! (after hitting the curve we passed a dog)

BB: babababababab pbthhhhhhhhhhhhh, (throwing his hands in the air and hitting his head) Peee-boo! (translation: peek-a-boo)
F: (laughing hysterically) dadadadadadadad, nononononononononono!

Then the two started laughing and began to speak what I like to refer to as "baybee". Which in my book, is a serious conversation between two parties under the age of two that involves big hand gestures, hysterical laughter and continuous babble, in which the adult listener has no idea what is being said.

If only I had my video camera with me. It was precious!

Whereabouts

2010-04-10T21:54:00.000-05:00

We have been busy lately! I mean, I've been seriously slacking on the blog posts. And I do apologize for that. (You know, to all five of you who read this thing, ha!) With 3rd semester of nursing school coming to an end, gorgeous weather, exciting pediatric clinicals, Easter-time, and oh yes, starting up a photography business (yep, you read that right) I've been pretty busy. Nevermind, that spring fever is at it's finest here in the deep south and all the Butterbean and I seem to do is play outside during our free time.

Speaking of outside, I have some flower beds that need a little TLC. Hmmmm. I'll have to get to that soon. Or any of you want to come pull weeds for me?

anyone.

anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

It was worth a shot. Moving right along. The Butterbean is sprinting now. Fun times to be had with that. ha! And as I chase after him to make sure his skin stays intact, I can feel the lbs shed off of me.

Okay, so not really, but I'd like to think I'm getting my cardio in for the day.

Speaking of cardio, I really need to start working out. But lack the motivation. And honestly, Jillian and the 30 day shred scare me.

Maybe I'll just finish this post and finish editing pictures from yesterday's photo shoot instead. Yep. I think I'll do that. But first I leave you with this:

Do ya'll remember my nephew, Thing 2? I snapped this cute pic yesterday while playing Hide and Seek with him in the park. I thought it was so sweet, and he looks so shy. . . looks are deceiveing my friends. ;)

I love this kid.

2010-04-07T17:19:00.000-05:00

I love this kid. Seriously, I do. He's awesome!

I love looking at things through his eyes. A stick, becomes many things. A speck of dirt on the ground is a bug. As he explores, I do too, slowly remembering what it was like to be a kid.

And I also remember what it was like when mom told me it was time to go home.

A little egg hunt

2010-04-01T21:02:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, the Butterbean had his very first egg hunting experience! A little unsure what to do, he started his egg hunt by watching all the other little kiddos running and diving toward the eggs.

The Mr. helped the Butterbean by directing him toward the eggs, which the Butterbean lovingly referred to as "balls".

He found his first "ball" and picked it up. Unsure of what to do with his new ball, he looked over toward me and shrugged.

After The Mr. guided him to placing the egg in his basket, he started to get the hang of what he was supposed to do.

So, he searched.

And he came across a little blue egg.

He was so excited! The Mr. showed him that the eggs actually open and that there was candy in them. So he spent the next several minutes eating candy from his eggs. He actually ended up finding another little yellow egg. He was proud of his three little eggs, and so was I.

After the sugar rush wore off, we had a tired little Butterbean and headed toward home.

A walk with daddy

2010-03-25T19:33:00.000-05:00

The Mr. works incredibly hard to provide for me and the Butterbean. So I cherish the rare opportunity that we get to spend our evenings together. Much to my delight, we were able to spend a wonderful evening together yesterday. The Butterbean was itching to get outside, so we decided to take him for a late afternoon stroll around the neighborhood.

So during our walk, we ran. We laughed. We chased the Butterbean. We stopped and played with a giant tennis ball.

The Butterbean picked up tiny rocks from our sidewalk. (notice the little AU peeking out from his pants)

Just spending time together, outside, as the sun was settting around us was perfect.

Tubby Time

2010-03-22T21:16:00.000-05:00

The Butterbean loves bath time. And I do mean, love! He can hear the tub water running and bee lines straight to the bathtub, where he attempts to throw his leg over the side to climb in. silly boy.

We've had to start keeping the bathroom door shut now because he's actually fallen in the tub. That and now he knows how to turn on the water. That is just an accident waiting to happen so we just keep the door shut for safety and for my sanity.

Have I told ya'll what a ham he is? Because if I haven't, here's proof!

And the infamous "cheese" face. Though he makes a lot of silly faces lately, he says "cheese" now when the camera is in his face. ha!

Rain Rain Go Away!

2010-03-21T15:12:00.001-05:00

We need some serious sunshine around here. I feel like it has been raining for weeks on end. (probably because it has been raining for weeks on end.)
Currently, the skies have opened up their flood gates and proceeded to flood our backyard. . . again.

I guess for now, we'll just continue to look out the windows and dream of sunshine.

::sigh::

And play inside with our toys.

The Butterbean and a Wedding

2010-03-20T21:25:00.000-05:00

So the Butterbean had his first wedding experience as a toddler today. He wasn't quite sure what to think about it at first. But after he warmed up to his surroundings, I do believe he had a good time. And here's some proof:

He started off the ceremony sitting in his Paw-Paw's lap. From there he was able to get a good look at the other people around him and of course the other kiddos across the aisle from us.

After munching on a snack of strawberries, crackers, cheese, and a few nibbles of carrot sticks, he decided it was time to try his luck on the dance floor. He was smitten with this little lady here:

(oh, and did you notice his little Chuck Taylor's. I have to say, he's dressed to impress)

We made several attempts at a family picture during the reception, and these were the best. Can you tell the Butterbean was still in dancing mode?

The Butterbean even went up to the musician to check out the guitar and gear. Luckily, the singer was kid friendly and pulled him right up into his lap where the Butterbean sat contently for a couple songs. During "Sweet Melissa", he even gave the Butterbean a chance to sing. He tried. I'm thinking he has a strong interest in music and may become a singer one day.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we had such a good time with family and friends. And I think the Butterbean had a great time. I mean this is what we saw 10 minutes into our 2 hour car ride home:

Success? I think so.

Congratulations K &S!

Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip

2010-03-15T10:22:00.014-05:00

I love Spinach Artichoke Dip, but it's so unhealthy for you. Probably one of the most unhealthy appetizers out there. So the other day, I was on a mission to make it healthier.

Now, most recipes out there make it with Alfredo sauce. Which is super high in fat and sodium. Ewww! So here's my little rendition for you, dear readers.

I had a hard time measuring everything out, because normally I just throw things in a pot and taste as I go or use my palm as a measuring guide. So here's what you need:

1 package of frozen spinach.

1/2 of artichoke hearts chopped up (you can use more if you like more artichokes in your dip)

1 package of fat free cream cheese softened

approximately 1 cup or so of fat free sour cream

approximately 1 cup or so of shredded Parmesan cheese (this is the "fattiest" thing in the dish)

A touch of skim milk to mix it all together well.

3-4 cloves of garlic finely minced

1 onion diced.

freshly cracked pepper to taste ( I don't add salt, because the Parmesan has plenty of it)

First thing you are going to want to do is saute' your diced onion and garlic in a pan with a little bit of EVOO. (extra virgin olive oil) or whatever your oil/butter preference is. I like mine to get caramelized. I love the sweet flavor the caramelization brings out in the onions. caramelization? Is that even a word?

Moving on.

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 300 or 325 degrees. Somewhere in there depending on how your oven heats.

In a mixing bowl, mix the spinach (make sure you squeeze the heck out of it to get rid of all that extra water), chopped artichoke hearts, cream cheese, sour cream, parmesean cheese and milk.

Give it a good swirl.

Now add in the caramelized onions and garlic. Mmmmm. Starting to smell good, right? Add some of that cracked pepper in there and mix, mix, mix. Or until it looks like this:

Looks pretty good right? Technically, you could eat it at this point if you reeeeeally wanted to, but I like mine hot!

So pour that mixture into a baking dish, sprinkle a little extra Parmesan cheese on top, and bake for about 30 minutes or so until it starts to get all bubbly and lightly golden brown on top. Or look something like this: ::insert ooo's and aahhh's here:: Serve with some toasted pita bread, torillas, or tortilla chips. Yum! Try it and tell me how you like it.

Happenings

2010-03-13T12:45:00.002-06:00

So what exactly have we been up to lately? I'm going to show you! It started off with a playdate. This was no ordinary playdate. This playdate consisted of the kiddos bouncing in the Butterbean's crib for two hours. TWO HOURS!!! (I'm pretty sure the baby techno music that my aunt sent the Butterbean had something to do with the mass hysterics at our house that night! ha!) The kiddos laughed hysterically, The Mr. and I laughed hysterically. Fun was had by all. I know the Butterbean was worn out and slept very well that night. Then we began on a little home improvement project. Okay, so not entirely little. We tiled in the backsplash in our kitchen! I rocked the tile saw and slapping that sticky stuff up on the wall. It was a lot easier than I thought it'd be. And I'm so incredibly glad we did it! See: Then the Butterbean came down with one of these:

You see the rash all over his face? Yup. The rash was followed by vomiting and a low grade fever. ewww. But, at least I had a pretty kitchen to admire while the Butterbean threw up in the sink.

So as you can see, we've been pretty busy. But I promise more updates real soon. And yes, the Butterbean is feeling back to himself. He's running around screaming "Mee-mow" (mickey mouse), Poo-ba (my dad), pretending to talk on the phone, and his new word is "milk" as he runs to the fridge.

sorry folks!

2010-03-11T22:04:00.002-06:00

I've been a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad blogger. And I apologize! But I promise pics and what we've been up to tomorrow. I'm certain you'll understand when you see! Smooches to all!

Well That's Never Good.

2010-03-04T20:20:00.003-06:00

I grew up in a construction zone. Literally. My parents were always re-doing, renovating, upgrading, and building something to our house. I learned to get used to having your make-shift kitchen in the basement, or sleeping in the living room because on a whim your dad decided to build you another. ::sigh::

So it's really no big deal that they should be renovating your old bathroom on the weekend that you choose to visit, right? You should be used to construction right?

Hmmmmmmm.

The other night, during our lovely visit at my parents house, I had to get up to go to the bathroom. I knew if I held it until the morning, that a) my bladder could burst or b) I could end up with those "Omg, I almost peed on myself dreams, where you have to go so bad you wake up moments from actually going." Yeah, we've all had those.

Despite wanting to lay in bed and fall back asleep, my delirious, sleep deprived, self rolled out of bed and shuffled down the hall to my old bathroom.

I opened the door. Tried to flick on the light. Didn't work. Whatever. I felt around for the toilet.

What happened next, is something I don't care to share. Just know that nothing good can happen when your old bathroom looks like this:

Hope now

2010-03-02T09:16:00.002-06:00

"Everything rides on Hope now. Everything rides on Faith, somehow. When the world has broken me down, Your Love sets me free." -Hope Now, by Addison Road As I was watching The Bachelor last night, the bachelor, Jake, got down on one knee and proposed to the woman that he chose in the end. Moments earlier, he was shedding tears and saying good-bye to another woman that he said he loved and would never forget. I couldn't help but think how distorted his perceptions of true love were. Was it really fair to the woman that he proposed to that he had loved another just moments before? I certainly don't think so. To be quite honest, if that was The Mr. I would have said "no". Sadly, I watch that show week after week, hoping to see a glimpse of true love that I know doesn't necessarily exhibit itself in the fashion Jesus wants for us. We live in such a fallen world. A world that is missing true love. True love that only Jesus lived. After all, Jesus is love, God is Love. Jesus was the epitome of true love, sacrificing himself, taking all of my sins, your sins, just so we could live forever with Him. True love. The Bible teaches over and over again to "love thy neighbor as thyself." Mark 12: 30-31 says: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Indeed, there are no other greater commandments than these. Put God first and your neighbor second, yourself last. Could you even imagine what our world would look like then? Amazing. The way God intended for it to be. Pure, Love. This broken world, with it's adultery, hatred, jealousy, and greed taken all away with the Love of Jesus. I am free from all of these things with Him. I am free of the burdens of this life. Praise God! But until, all of my friends, loved ones, people of the world come to know Him, I will hold onto Hope that keeps us perservering even through the most impossible situations. I will hold onto unabiding Faith that Jesus walked, and is still beside me today. I will most importantly hold onto Love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love

Shamu stories. . .

2010-02-26T13:27:00.007-06:00

I seem to have this magnet that draws cashiers, or strangers in general, to talk to me. It's like I have a sign on my head or back or belly that says, "Please ask me what I think about (enter topic here). " Not that I mind at all, I do enjoy talking to the cashiers at the grocery store and getting to know them a bit.

With that said, I'm pretty opinionated when it comes to people working with wild animals. I'm all for the Save the Whales movement, don't pollute the oceans, and preventing forest fires. But I can't say that I would be willing to put my life at risk working with wild animals. They are called "wild" for a reason! The same goes for zoo's and circus workers. You think a tiger won't turn on you? I beg to differ.

Today, a sweet cashier asked me what I "thought of the Shamu tragedy". She gave me an honest smile and made eye contact with me as she waited for my answer. Then, her smile quickly faded as she waited while I searched for words to explain how I felt with out hurting her feelings about the innocent question that was asked.

She saw the "look" I gave her. And said, "oh you don't have to answer if you don't want to." I smiled and told her exactly what I thought. So here it is written out for you my friends:

1. It isn't Shamu's tragedy. It was a human life who was taken by a whale. It was her tragedy, not a whale's. And my heart and prayers go out to her family.

2. Why would you work with a whale that has killed two people?

3. If this animal has a history of violence, why not just set it free? I'm pretty sure it would survive.

4. Killer whales eat seals, their natural food source in the wild.

5. You are dressed like a seal when you wear a wet suit.

6. The whale might eat you, if you are dressed like a seal.

It just seems to me that Sea World ignored some very obvious safety concerns. Why would they continue to "work" an animal with such a violent history and put their staff at risk?

Has no one ever thought of this before?

New hobbies.

2010-02-21T22:27:00.004-06:00

I think it's fair to say that the Butterbean is beginning to develop interests and take up hobbies. His love for Mickey Mouse and his Elmo remains at the top of the list, especially at bedtime. (He snuggles with a little stuffed Elmo, while falling asleep) His list of hobbies include playing outside, running around the house, opening and closing cabinets, hiding his pacifiers, taking all of the books off of his bookshelf, and eating goldfish crackers. But he has taken up a new hobby. Oh yes, my friends, a new hobby. The other day he kept going over to my computer, wiggling around a little bit, and then running back to the computer. So, I opened my laptop and he stared at the screen waiting for something to happen. Nothing. So he did a lap around the living room and came back to stare at the screen again. He did this repeatedly while I tried to figure out what he was trying to tell me. We had been Skype-ing my parents a lot lately, so I thought maaaaaaaaybe that was what he was wanting. I called my dad and asked him to get on Skype just to see if this was the answer to his peculiar behavior. My dad called in. The Butterbean squealed in delight then proceeded to run laps excitedly around the room. After he settled, my dad and the babe discussed important matters like animal sounds, "Mee-Mow" (mickey mouse), parts of the face, peek-a-boo, and random jibber-jabber with a squeal here and there. One whole hour later, as you can see, the Butterbean was most content. Hmmm, I'm thinking that Dad via Skype could be a great babysitter while I do the dishes. . . I'm just sayin'. ;)

What a difference!

2010-02-20T20:40:00.002-06:00

What a difference a week makes! Last week, we had weather like this: And today, we had weather like this:

I tell you what, I am oh so thankful for both our sunny 60 degree weather days, and our beautiful, white snowy days.

And incase you are wondering. . . my kid is the one who prefers to play in the dirt at the playground. Slides. . meh. Swings. . meh. Tunnels. . meh. (I think you get the picture)

I'd like to thank the Academy

2010-02-18T20:27:00.007-06:00

Let me start off by throwing a little Sally Fields at you, " You like me, you really really like me!"

Well I suppose a few of you do anyway. I received an award! Exciting isn't it?

Thanks, SP! I just have to say, I'm honored that you considered my blog for this award.

Now, with this reward I have to share 7 random things about myself with you. (per rules of beautiful blogger award)

So here it goes:

1. I really like socks. But I only like to wear white cotton socks. You know, like the package of socks you buy in bulk at Walmart. Yep, those. I slightly freak out inside if I run out of white socks and have to pull out the Christmas, Valentine, or Easter socks my mom has to buy me for various holidays. Don't get me wrong they are cute, but they just aren't the same and aren't as comfy. But I never never never wear socks in bed. Something about my socks touching the inside of my sheets gives me the heebie jeebies. (I know, go ahead say it. I'm weird.)

2. I'm deathly afraid of spiders. Not the normal type scared either. I have a slight panic attack, sweating and usually run out of the house screaming when I see one. The Butterbean thinks it's pretty funny to see me run around like a crazed maniac. One time, in high school, I saw a spider crawl under my bed. So I calmly got down on the floor to see where it went. I couldn't find it. Soooo, I literally stayed up the whole night until it came out from under my bed.

I mean, there was no way I could sleep with that devilish creature under my bed!!! For all I know, it could have found a way up into my bed. And we certainly couldn't have that happen.

3. Here's why I'm scared to death of spiders. I was bitten by a brown recluse. It was not pretty. It involved a fever, dehydration, several injections, being deserted at the doc in the box, the nurse digging around in my arm to find a vein, a scalpel, hot compresses, oozing. . . I could really tell you the whole story. Maybe one day, unless enough of you beg to hear the whole thing I'll tell it. And it was quite a day.

4. I don't like jelly beans. 'nuff said.

5. I have seen the sunrise and the sunset. And I have to say, both are equally impressive in their own right. It is like God painting the sky for us everyday twice a day. Beautiful.

6. I'm totally pumped that my child is a fan of Mickey Mouse. He even says it! " Mee Mow" I live for the day that we can finally take him to Disney world.

7. I have a love/hate relationship with cooking. Sometime I love to cook, others I loathe it.

Okay, now that that is over with I need to share the love and throw some nominations out there!

So I nominate

My dear friend, C and her little cutie patootie, Mr. Man.

My friend, Kristen. Her and her husband are hilarious and are so in love with each other and God. I love their blog!

Aaaand last but not least, Amanda and her adorable little girl, Belli! Her and her family grew up right down the street from me growing up! And it is so neat to be able to watch sweet Belli grow up now that we are farther apart.

So there ya go girls! Enjoy your awards!

A Love poem

2010-02-16T18:17:00.002-06:00

We don't really celebrate Valentine's Day in our house. We usually go out to eat as a family (it's about love afterall and we love love love our baby boy!) and maybe give each other cards. This year I picked up The Mr. and nice card telling him precisly how I felt about him. It was a little mushy, yes. But sweet nonetheless. I was proud of my little card. The night before Valentine's Day, The Mr. got a really urge to go to the grocery store. He was acting a little funny, so I asked him why exactly was he going. I kept prying until he finally told me that he needed to go get a card. I told him that it was just ridiculous and he need not get me a card. And if it was really important to him he could just make me one. He agreed and decided not to go to the store. The next morning, I woke up, stretched, got out of bed, and grabbed up the Butterbean and went into our living room. There was a folded, stark white piece of paper with a giant heart with an arrow drawn on it. Awwwww. . . he actually made me a card. I got teared up and then smiled at the sweet card he had made for me. I opened it and inside was this: Roses are red Violets are blue I'll let you kiss me, If I can kiss you too. Will you be my Valentine? True love, my dear friends. That is true love. Love my hubby!

The Tale of the first snow experience. . . kind of.

2010-02-12T22:26:00.005-06:00

Well, it actually snowed today! What? I know!!!! I was freaking out just like a 6 year old on Christmas morning. I love snow, I love winter, I love everything about cold weather! Needless to say, I was stoked! So I did what any self-respecting mother would do to her spawn. I got him dressed up just like Ralphie's little brother, Randy in a Christmas Story. Poor baby, couldn't even move. Before we both broke out into a sweat from the tangled struggle of dressing a toddler to look like a stuffed teddy bear, I hurriedly took him outside to enjoy the falling snow! I put him down, and he slipped and fell. Couldn't get back up. So, I gently stood him back up and there he stood. Still. Almost statue like, just moving his eyes to see the snowflakes. After a minute or two, he became a little more comfortable in his new surroundings and did what any "normal" toddler does. He screamed at the snowflakes, of course!

The screaming didn't do as much as he would have hoped. I think he was trying to get a reaction out of them. Needless to say, they continued to fall on him despite his attempt to get them to stop.

A little frustrated, he decided to blow off the whole screaming thing, and gave into exploration.

And explore. . .

We were only outside for a short period of time. But I do believe the Butterbean's first snow experience was a success! I'm pretty sure I didn't traumatize him.

Tomorrow, we will enjoy our precious little 4 inches of snow before it melts away. Maybe even build a snowman or two. I'm so thankful the Lord gave us such a wonderful snowy day! A day that rarely ever happens!

Yep, and that hat. I knitted it. How 'bout that for some domestic diva goodness. You can call me Martha.

Wonderful Winter Weather

2010-02-09T10:12:00.002-06:00

One good thing about living in the deep south, is that we get incredible winter weather. Though I prefer to play in snow and freezing cold temperatures during winter (my favorite winter activity is snow skiing), I do enjoy a beautiful Alabama winter's day. I'm talking gorgeous, bright, blue skies and a high close to 60 degrees. It gives such a wonderful break to the dreary, drizzly 40 degree weather days we've been having. And trust me friends, that drizzly weather stinks like a skunk stuck in a garbage can.

So yesterday, the Butterbean and I took a little walk around the neighborhood to soak up some much needed Vitamin D.

We then met up with some friends at the park. The Butterbean crawled around in the dirt, climed up stairs, slid down a slide, crawled through a tunnel, and of course spent time swinging besides his friends. (And I got some much needed "mommy time" chatting with the other moms).

The Butterbean discovered that playing peek-a-boo around the "ice cream shop" at the playground was so much fun!

Today, we are back to our drizzly winter weather. But it was oh so wonderful having a beautiful day to play out it in. Maybe we'll venture to Petco today to see the fish. (I've been trying to teach him about fish lately). Sounds fun right?

Such is life!

2010-02-08T13:09:00.002-06:00

I think I've said it before and I'll say it again, life with The Mr. is rarely boring. And I have to admit he keeps me on my toes constantly. So, clinicals have begun again (I'm in nursing school for my second degree). And with clinicals means being away from the Butterbean all day :(. It's sad, but something I have to do. The Mr. usually keeps the Butterbean while I'm at clinicals. I think they have a pretty good time. The other week I came in from school and found the Butterbean and the Mr. playing on the floor. The Butterbean giggling as the Mr. tickled him. (melts my heart). I quickly unloaded everything from my day, changed out of my scrubs, unloaded my lunch box, etc. I went to the kitchen sink, turned on the water. . . SHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I was drenched in water. (okay, not completely drenched, but my shirt was wet enough it had to be changed). Yup, The Mr. decided that April Fool's was coming several months early and thought it would be great to tape the water sprayer on the sink. Well, it got me. . . good. The Mr. got a good chuckle out of it. I laughed a little too. Ahhhhhh, yes. My husband, the prankster. Wonder what he'll do next. . .

Precious Moments

2010-02-06T07:48:00.002-06:00

This morning, the Butterbean woke up a little bit too early for my tastes on a Saturday. So I put him into bed with me to snuggle for a little bit. (and also give me a chance to get out of my sleep coma) We snuggled for a little while. He wiggled around, buried his face into my arm, and closed his eyes. It was wonderful. We layed there for a while just sharing each others company. I began to close my eyes and drift off to sleep. . . . WHAM! I was abruptly woken up by the Butterbean slapping my face, saying "mimi, mima, MIMA" (he calls me anything but Mama) I asked him why he hit mama, as it wasn't a nice thing to do. He proceeded to gibber jabber in baby language then proceed to recite his animal sounds followed by pointing to my "eyes, nose, mouth" and saying each. As he layed there next to me jabbering away, I thought to myself, I'm going to miss these days. One day, he won't be content cuddling next to mommy. He'll want to get up right away, or sleep in till noon. And goodness, has time flown by already. There is such beauty to be seen in childhood. The Lord sure has blessed my life by letting me be this little boy's mommy. And I don't want to miss a single second of my little babe's childhood. For these are precious moments that are gone far too soon.

Protect your Pics

2010-02-04T13:31:00.005-06:00

Nothing is safe on the Internet. Nothing. Anything you write (or type if you want to get technical) or post to your blog can easily be taken by others. As a blogging mom, the thought of someone taking pictures of my child and posting it to their blog as their own child terrifies and sickens me. But it happens. Your pictures are not safe on the Internet. Yes, the things you post to your blog are yours. And you are protected by law should anyone steal your content. But is it guaranteed someone won't steal them? no. of course not. And are you prepared to have a legal battle should someone take them? nope, not me! I'm going to share a few things I have done to my blog to make it a little harder should someone want to steal my pictures. First thing I did was to disable the right click function. What is that, you ask? Well, the right-click function makes sure that the person who right-clicks on your photo won't be prompted to save the picture to their computer. To do this follow this tutorial here. Now will it make absolutely sure that no one will take your picture? No, not necessarily. But it's going to make it a whole heck of a lot harder for them if they try to. Another thing you can do is to add text or a watermark to your pictures. Don't put your name on it, or a cute little character, or a design. MAKE SURE it has your blog address on it. Right in the middle, or over a good amount of the picture. Why? If someone is reading blogs and they come across YOUR photo with YOUR watermark on it with YOUR blog address, it makes it a whole lot easier for that person to notify you that YOUR picture was taken. Pretty cool, huh?

So how do you add a watermark/text? If you have photoshop, simply use the text tool, choose your font, size, etc and type out your text. Tip: make sure you have the original image saved in another place because photoshop will embed the text into your image.

If you don't have photoshop, or other photo editing software, you can use flickr. (This is what I do, even though I have photoshop) You can use flickr or another web-based photo hosting website to upload your pictures to. On most of these websites you can edit your pictures and add the text there.

I also thought about making my blog private. Which is a great and wonderful idea if only your family and friends have your blog address and keep it quiet. Since so many of my family and friends know my blog address and I'm too lazy to start another blog, I decided against it. But honestly, if someone wants to get to private content they can. It's actually really simple. (and I don't plan on sharing how to do that). And to those of my friends/family whose blogs are private, don't worry. Your blog address is safe with me!

So there you have it, a quick little post on how to keep your content and pictures a little safer. Though nothing is guaranteed. Do what you can to protect your family and yourself from those crazies out there!

If you have any other ideas on safety besides "don't post pics in the first place" then let me know! I'd love to get any thoughts and ideas, dear readers.

I am Butterbean, hear me roar!

2010-02-01T21:48:00.004-06:00

The Butterbean loves to knock you over. He thinks it's hilarious to toddle to where you are sitting and "growl" as he pushes you down on the floor. Yup, I do believe he thinks he's a monster, either that or a wrestler, or maybe a dinosaur, or a. . . you know, I really don't know where he gets it. So I attempted to grab a few snapshots of him in action. As you can see I succeeded in the first shot. The second shot, not so much. Here he was already attacking me. He moves fast I tell you!!!! FAST!

I think I'm in love.

2010-01-23T14:02:00.009-06:00

Those who know me know I don't bake. My idea of baking is buying some cookie dough, plopping it down on a cookie sheet, tossing the cookie sheet into the oven, praying they don't burn, and BAM (my best Emeril impression), I have cookies. Or better yet, going to the store buying one of those Key Lime pies that all you have to do is defrost. Now that, is my idea of baking!

Well, I signed myself up to make a dessert for some volunteers up at our church. Instead of doing my normal, buy pie let it defrost ritual, I decided to bake a cake. gasp. shock. awe.

I know, right?!?

So I bought some cake mix. (You didn't actually think I would make it from scratch did you? ha!) Searched for a great icing recipe. (I'm not a fan of icing from a container) And went to work on my cake. And yes, I prayed the whole time that my cake wouldn't burn. But I did buy extra cake mix, just in case.

It worked! I didn't burn it!

So, onto the frosting.

While digging into the great abyss that is my kitchen appliance storage cabinet to find my hand mixer, I came across this bad boy:

Now, I've had this puppy for a few years now. Never used it. Sad, I know. So I decided to give it a gander.

After removing several pots, pans, other various kitchen appliances, and getting stuck in the cabinet itself (yes stuck! You've really got to see this cabinet), I finally succeeded in pulling the 40 lbs appliance from the very spot in which it has sat for the past three years.

I washed it, poured the frosting ingredients in, turned it on and magic happened. The sound of the spinning whisk was heavenly. So much different from my hand mixer, which will make your ears bleed. Quiet. Soothing. And best of all, it was mixing my frosting while I assembled cake layers. Wonderful.

I think I'm in love with it. That, and my Pampered Chef garlic press.

So in the end, I had a cake and wonderful frosting to go along with it, thanks to my mixer. I'm pretty sure I will never go back to my screeching, ear bleeding hand mixer ever.

So here's the cake:

I actually decorated it myself!!! Can I getta "Woot, woot"?

Tiny toddler, Say what?

2010-01-21T19:34:00.005-06:00

It's no suprise that the Butterbean is a talker. After all, he has me, ahem, as his mother. And yes ladies (and quite possibly gents) I am a talker.

So the Butterbean has said quite a few things lately that have me quite amazed at his ability on picking up on words. He's like a tiny little sponge, just sucking it all in.

So he recently learned how to say lights. It's so sweet when he says it too. He'll walk over to the lights, point to them and say "@ss". So innocent and sweet, but yet he says, a word I really don't want him to learn. sigh.

Every animal says, "meow".

Example:

Me: What does a cow say?

Butterbean: meeeeeeeeeee ow

Me: No baby, a cow says moo.

Butterbean: moo

Me: Yay!! (I usually clap my hands) What does a cow say?

Butterbean: meeeeeeeeeee ow

Tonight we were sitting on the couch and he was resting his head against my chest. Sweet little guy pointed at the T.V. and said "guy". (He indeed was pointing at a guy on t.v.) Where did he learn that? So I said, yes baby, that is a guy. Then the Butterbean repeated "a guy". Maybe coincedence. But he's done it twice since then, to random men on the t.v.

He gives kisses now with great expression, saying "Muuuuuuh!" as he gives them. And not lets forget how he addresses EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. when grocery shopping by addressing them as "Hi, baby!" This greeting warrants 99.9% of persons shopping to stop and talk to him, ask about him, his age, and what not. But sometimes, I'd like to get in and out of Kroger in less than an hour. He's just so friendly. When I am in the mood to shop, we go on Wednesdays, Senior day. The older folks get a kick out of him. And he doesn't mind getting his cheeks pinched. He even knows how to throw in a fake laugh or two. Silly kid.

Ah, yes, my sweet Butterbean. My talker. My lover of words. My little copycat. My little man full of laughter and kisses. Can't wait till he starts speaking in sentences and I get to hear his thoughts.

Let me out!

2010-01-16T15:38:00.001-06:00

And yes, the windows are still dirty.

Conversations of Strangers

2010-01-15T15:55:00.002-06:00

So while out in the public eye, I'm very leery of talking on my cell phone. I try to avoid any type of eaves droppers from hearing what I have to say. Though I may live my life this way, I know others do not. This past week I heard a bunch of interesting conversations had by willing strangers dishing out their dirt. Little did they know, who was listening. Seriously people, watch what you say in public. Stranger Danger #1 (female, early 30's in Hobby Lobby): Yes Honey, I know we don't have any money in our account. pause. Well I'll just put anything I get on my credit card. pause. That's why you have a job! My interpretation: Yes, I know we are broke but I'm going to make us even more broke by spending our non existing money on crafts at Hobby Lobby. And you have a job to support my bad habits. Ouch! I bet that took a bite out of that husband. Stranger Danger #2 (female, teenager in Kroger): Like, I know we aren't getting along, Stacy said what? I just don't understand. pause. And condoms, okay I'll get those too. But I really don't know if he likes me, I'm really not sure, How about some M&M's and chips to go along with it ::giggle:: and whipped cream. (she finally took a breath here) But what happens if James says he doesn't. . . I finally got out of that aisle. I don't have an interpretation here, but she sure did make my head hurt. I bet her mom is real proud of her don'tcha think? Yikes! So what sort of conversations have you heard lately?

Late night ramblings of a broken heart. . .

2010-01-13T22:05:00.002-06:00

Haiti. I feel like I'm the only one who is constantly thinking about this horrific event right now. (Though I know I'm not.) My heart is broken beyond words for the missionaries, the children, the elders, and impoverished people of that country. People desperately watching as others die in the rubble, on the streets, desperately searching for their loved ones, holding out hope. . . maybe. My heart breaks. I shed a tear, or two, or three. . . What I wouldn't give to be on the first plane ride down there. The social worker in me. . . helping set people up with services, connect with loved ones, re-establish resources. The nurse in me. . . bandaging wounds, preventing even more death, preserving life. The photographer in me. . . capturing the heroic moments, the moments of reconnection, and tragedy. The mom in me. . . scooping up the crying child in my arms and holding on to it ever so tightly. The Christian in me. . . loving and loving hard during times of heartache. My heart is burdened. So I pray. That's all I can do right now. Oh Lord, show your love and mercy on this nation. I tightly hug my son, my husband. I'm blessed. I pray. I weep.

Maybe?

2010-01-12T15:32:00.003-06:00

Part of my New Year's Resolution to myself was to expand my photography horizons. So in attempt to shoot a subject other than people or things, I decided to practice on dogs. I wanted to take a few of my mom's two dogs to have framed for her. So here are the portraits of my mom's two dogs Mattie and Max.

I see on here now that I need to up my exposure a bit on the last picture. But it was showing bright on my screen. But through Flickr it's a bit different. Oh well.

So what do you all think? Are they frame worthy for my mom?

Thing 1 and Thing 2

2010-01-09T13:12:00.003-06:00

My, oh my how these two guys have changed this summer. Thing 1, now age 7, continues to enjoy legos, star wars, Nintendo DS, and has taken up Taekwondo ( I know that is completely misspelled) . Although I've only seen him perform his Taekwondo moves for me, my mom says he's actually really good! He recently tried out for his Orange belt and will be receiving it in a ceremony in a couple weeks or so! Yay, Thing 1, we are so proud of you! He is also very talented in the fine art of channeling Gilligan and being an all around ham.

Thing 2 has the uncanny ability to annoy his older brother at any cost. He's hilarious and has this "I'm up to something" look on his face about 90% of the time. He is creative and can entertain himself for long periods of time. His knew defense mechanism is to go limp. Kind of like a possum plays dead, so does my nephew, Thing 2. When asked to go upstairs and get ready for bed. He goes limp. When asked to do something he doesn't want to, he goes limp. You can pick him up and he just dangles there like a wet rag. Pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen. But I bet my sister doesn't' think so. And he also has the most beautiful eyes! Watch out ladies, here comes Thing 2!

So there they are, Thing 1 and Thing 2. I'm so very lucky to have such fun, awesome, loving nephews!

So our Christmas. . .

2010-01-08T16:34:00.006-06:00

Our Christmas was a blast this year! The family was together, great food, great company, lots of laughs and Apples to Apples is my new favorite party game!

Christmas Eve was low key. It involved waiting for everyone to get to my parents house. Mom and Dad went to church, but I stayed home with the Butterbean because he was running a low grade fever. Christmas day we opened presents, played games, ate, played more games, and had a blast. The Butterbean finally got the hang of opening presents;though it was short lived and mommy ended up opening the rest.

There was a lot of Thing 1 teaching Thing 2 and the Butterbean a thing or two about life such as how trains work, etc.

And of course there was a lot of the Butterbean following around Thing 2.

We had such a memorable Christmas and I hope we can all be together again very soon!

Now that things have settled. . .

2010-01-05T14:36:00.003-06:00

Now that we are finally back into the everyday groove, I have time to update you on a whirlwind December 2009. It began as I finished up my second semester of nursing school! (Supposedly the hardest from many who have undergone it before, but we shall see). After finishing 2nd semester the Butterbean and I visited Birmingham for a while to help out my mom and dad with my nephew, Thing 1. We had several days where I took Thing 1 and The Butterbean to various attractions around the city. We went to the McWane Center, I Jump (inflatable jump zone), and the mall to ride the carousel. I think the boys had a blast! Just as everyone was about to come into town and stay at my parents' house, this happened: My parents tried to get on the county's sewer system a while back, but they didn't let them. So they have a septic tank. Apparently all the lines went bad. Which caused flooding in their laundry room with, you guessed it. . . yeah, I'll just leave it at that. ewwww. You can tell by the look on my dad's face that he is thrilled. ha! He loves his yard. And he was grimacing with each dig of the backhoe. As I was taking pictures, I told him that one day he would look and laugh. This is the look he gave me. And this, ladies and gents, is where I get my "side-eye" look from. Thanks Dad!

Anyhoo, the problem was fixed. We could finally take a shower, use the toilet, brush our teeth, run the dishwasher, do laundry, and take a bath. Whew! It's amazing how you need water to survive!

I still have many pictures to share so stay tuned!

A year in review

2009-12-31T21:12:00.004-06:00

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. (To the few of you who actually read this) But with the holidays, family time, traveling from here to there, Thing 1, Thing 2, and the Butterbean desperately trying to keep up with them. . . things have been, for lack of a better word, busy. And I promise several posts in the coming days full of glorious fun-times. 2009 has been good to us. But I am ready to see it go. This year was filled with:

The Butterbean's laughter
Learned how to use coupons
The babe learned how to roll over
Cloth diapering
Started first semester of nursing school
Learned to make baby food
The Mr's birthday
Baby Einstein, Praise Baby, and Veggie Tales
Traveled to Baltimore
The Butterbean's first plane ride
A bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding
Painted the kitchen
The Butterbean's first tooth
Finished first semester of nursing school with great grades
Got a pool
Dog ate pool
Got another pool
Dog attempted to eat that one, but instead killed a tree
Fell in love with photography
Traveled to Chicago, Wisconsin, Michigan
Played at parks
Visited my sister, brother-in-law, Thing 1 and Thing 2 for almost an entire summer
Dare Camp
Sewed 6 curtains
Started a new Sunday school class
A day trip to Chattanooga
Conquered post partum depression
Started second semester of nursing school
Butterbean learned how to crawl
My birthday
Learned how to be a kid again
Fell in love with The Mr all over again
The Butterbean turned one!
Dressed the Butterbean up as a three-eyed monster
Had coffee with old friends
The Mr's Family Thanksgiving get together
My sister and family visited the south!
Family game night
Belly laughing
Long walks with neighbors
Finished 2nd semester of nursing school!
Decorating for the holidays
The Butterbean walks!
Christmas morning at my parents house with all the grandchildren
The babe's first carousel ride

As you can see 2009 has been good to us. But I have a feeling 2010 will be even better! We have so much planned for this year! The Lord has been faithful to us and fulfilled all of our needs this year, even when we thought it would not be possible. And I'm pretty sure, most likely 100% sure, that He will provide for us again!

And as I sit here and write this, I'm surrounded by family, a nephew currently attacking me, laughter in the next room, a movie on tv, a sweet baby fast asleep, and love. We are blessed.

So goodbye 2009, Hello 2010! See you all next year!

Dirty Windows

2009-12-21T15:59:00.006-06:00

Dirty Windows. I have them. They seem to follow us wherever we go. But I don't mind. Not at all. See:

He's the reason my windows are dirty. With out him, my windows would be clean. Clean windows are so last year. And for now, I love my dirty windows.

And I love him.

Christmas Commercial Chaos

2009-12-14T21:15:00.003-06:00

'Tis the season for those wonderful holiday-filled consumer driven commercials. Ah, yes. 'Tis the season indeed. For those of you that have been following my blog for quite a bit, you may remember this post. For those of you that did read that post, then you are quite familiar with my love/hate relationship with commercials. Lets just say that this will be a slight continuation of that post so long ago. I love the holidays. Family time, Christmas time, a time of celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, thanksgiving, and praise. Such a magical, wonderful time of year! Christmas commercials do have a place in my heart. I love them. . . well. . . most of them. Gap got it right this year! Did you see the little girls dancing around and cheering in their precious little holiday outfits? So cute! But not only that, one little girl freaks out in the middle of it. (hilarious!) I can't get enough of that commercial! Or the Best Buy commercials. Who puts their employees to work Christmas caroling? And it's great how they attack or sing to random passerbuy's on what to buy their loved ones. And then there's the Folger's coffee. All about family of course. As it is every year. The Hershey's kisses pretending to be bells. Another classic. But let's not get all caught up in my favorite commercials, let's talk jewelry. Your trying to tug on my heartstrings, aren't you, Kay, Zales, and Jared? But unfortunately, you are pulling on my gag strings. "Every kiss begins with Kay." Oh Puh-lease. I'll place my bets on this one, Kay jewelers. And I bet I win. I'm fairly certain every kiss does not begin with Kay. Maybe the letter, k. But I don't need a piece of jewelry to allow me to kiss someone. Ever. "He went to Jared? Really? Did he go there? OMG! Like, wow! He went to Jared!" Jared. . . no offense to you, but if my husband went to Jared, I would ask, "How is Jared doing?" I don't understand your commercial tactics at all. Honestly, it sounds like someone going to the godfather. Measly male: Godfather, aka Jared, I need your permission to have some jewels. Godfather: Yes, you may have jewelry. But first you must go attack someone in a back alley to get them. (He went to Jared. . . pushhhhhh-aw) One thing that all jewelry commercials have in common is the desperate attempt at combining the maximum amount of human emotion into a 20-30 sec TV spot. Oh yeah. They do. If we can't get you with true love guilt, then one of the other 37 emotions in the commercial will get you to buy our earrings. ::shudder:: And how about all of the love's embrace, never-ending, forever-theme creations that they design for the Christmas season. ::gag:: I understand the male species needs assistance in getting bling for the opposite sex. But don't put it in a commercial. Seriously. I would be disappointed if I got something "symbolic" like that and then saw it on a commercial. Boooo, way to take my moment away Kay!!! Only 500,000 other women have my same necklace. Not so sentimental anymore. Why not just wait until the husband/boyfriend/fiance/"just a friend I swear", walks into the store and then bombard him with your "symbolism" then. That way, when he gives the gift to the little lady, she will feel one of a kind. Bet ya didn't think of it that way did you, Jared? So bring on the reindeer, Santa's, baby Jesus in a manger. But please spare me the jewelry holiday commercials. As Ham from The Sandlot (circa 1993) would say, " Your killin' me Smalls." ::gag::

Chocoholics Anonymous

2009-12-13T20:33:00.003-06:00

Hi. My name is Jen. And I'm a chocoholic.

Give me a tiny little nibble of chocolate and it's all over.

For the past several weeks, I have been very good. I've maybe had a little bite of chocolate here or there. Until this week. . .

It all started when my dear husband decided he would bring home a few containers of M&M miniatures. I saw them glistening on the kitchen table. They seemed to be calling my name. Unsure of what they were for, I refrained from tasting their chocolaty goodness for a day or so. Finally, The Mr. confirmed that he brought them home for me.

Two minutes later, both containers were gone. M&M milk chocolate filled my belly. Mmmmmmmmmm.

I have a problem.

The M&M's were just the gateway. Following the consumption was dark chocolate Hershey's syrup on ice cream sprinkled with miniature M&M's. Then we ran out. . .

So I went to the store. I bought chocolate milk, more dark chocolate M&M's, chocolate chip cookie dough, as well as various other chocolate goods we will not speak of at this moment.

I need help.

Some people think I have a problem. I do! I admit it! Sometimes I tell them my magnesium blood levels are low. Sometimes I tell them "Deal with it. I am." (usually while I'm scarfing my face with chocolate candy)

Hi, my name is Jen and I'm a chocoholic and proud of it!!!!! Now, off to go make some delicious chocolate drenched ice cream.

A Mess!

2009-12-07T15:27:00.003-06:00

This is a face of someone who knows how to make a mess:

It's a cute little face isn't it? You may think this little face looks so sweet and innocent. But looks are deceiving my friends. . . looks are deceiving.

Case in point:

This is a mess. Notice the side-eye the dog is giving. Even the dog knows, this is not correct manners.

This indeed, is a mess.

And this little face, is capable of such messy behavior. But I forgive him. Afterall, he's just so darn cute!

you know your tired when. . . 2nd edition

2009-11-28T16:03:00.002-06:00

The Butterbean and I are visiting my parents this weekend. He's been sick with a low grade fever, junky cough, and runny nose. Last night we were up about every 30 minutes! I'm tired. The Butterbean hasn't slept. My parents are a little tired too from having him wimper all night last night.

But let me add, you know your tired when you fall asleep like this:

From the mouths of husbands

2009-11-24T21:21:00.005-06:00

Me: What's that smell? It smells like something is burning. The Mr: It's the pizza. I like it crispy. Me: (trying to be funny) I like my husband crispy. The Mr: So your going to eat me? Me: No, thanks. I'm not into cannibalism. The Mr: So if we were in a plane crash in the Andes mountains and I died. You wouldn't eat me to stay alive. Me: Nope. I'm not going to do it. The Mr: Would you feed me to our son so he can stay alive? Me: No. I would find other ways to provide for him, not involving eating you. And hopefully he would be with one of our parents so he wouldn't be in the plane crash in the first place. Plus, I would have to cook you before I fed you to the butterbean. The Mr: Well what if you didn't have any fire? Me: I still wouldn't eat you. The Mr: Hey, do you want a turkey? Me: What? The Mr: One just showed up on my farm in Farmville. ::End conversation::

A few thousand words

2009-11-22T10:58:00.001-06:00

You know your tired when. . .

2009-11-19T14:49:00.004-06:00

So the other day, the Butterbean and I decided that it would be a good idea to go to the grocery store as we were about to use up our last drop of milk. So I grabbed the diaper bag, sunglasses, wallet, keys, baby, and headed out the door. We were driving down the road listening to music. I, singing along to the music, the Butterbean clapping his hands, and kicking his feet. All in all, a good time was had as we drove down the road. I thought I kept hearing some noises off to the right of me. It sounded like it was coming from underneath the front passenger seat. So I turned down the music and listened. It sounded like a rustling, screeching, hissing noise. (If you can even fathom what that sounds like) My first thought, was "There is a freakin' rat in my car!" I kept hearing the noise as we drove along. Slightly freaking out each time the noise commenced. "This is not good!, It's going to jump out and crawl around on me or worse the Butterbean." Beads of sweat began rolling down my forehead. I could not have gotten to the grocery store any faster. I sped into the closest parking spot. Opened up the doors, grabbed the umbrella from the back seat, and began poking around the car. I jumped back trying my hardest not to squeal everytime I poked the umbrella under my front passenger seat. But I never saw anything. Nothing jumped out. Nothing. So I decided to continue on my grocery shopping adventure. I grabbed the Butterbean out of the car, got the diaper bag. And began walking toward the store. And then I heard it again. The screeching, hissing, rustling noise. Off to my right. What the heck??? Is there a giant rat following me? So I stopped walking. And heard it again!!!!!!! I looked off to my right. Nothing. And then I heard it again. . . and then figured out where it was coming from. Yeah. . . ummmmmm. It was the sound of my eyelases rubbing up against my sunglasses everytime I blinked. The sound just happened to bounce in such a way making it seem as though there was something off to my right. And then I realized, I needed a nap. A very very long nap. You may now begin your laughter.

Little things

2009-11-14T09:48:00.006-06:00

It's the little things in life:

-Eating the swirl off the top of a Dairy Queen dip cone.

-Getting "kisses" from your little one

-Driving with the windows down on a blue sky filled day

-Belly laughing until it hurts

-Enjoying the company of family and friends

-Shopping with your mom and sister

-Watching as your child discovers something new

-Playing outside

-Watching your baby "kiss" your feet. (I have no idea why he feels he needs to do this, but it's funny nonetheless)

-Babies in pajamas that "breakdance" on the floor

-Seeing a hummingbird as it buzzes by

- Catching a re-run of your favorite childhood show

-Babies in sunglasses

-Date night with your hubby.

-Fresh flowers on your kitchen table

-Painting a picture and doing your best to create a masterpiece.

-Dancing with your loved ones at a wedding!

It's the little things in life that make me feel like this:

The Plague

2009-11-12T15:43:00.004-06:00

The Plague.

We've got it.

Okay, so not really. But can we just get a break? It started this past weekend with the Butterbean vomiting. Awesome. But he seemed to get better in one day. It was great. So I thought that maybe something didn't quite sit in his stomach right.

Wrong.

Two days later, I was in the bathroom. Even better. I was in there so much, I just decided to sleep in our closet (which is close to the toilet).

While contemplating if the pickles I ate the night before had made me sick, The Mr. decided to join in the fun. When it rains it pours.

So I'm feeling better now. Still really weak. I get exhausted easily. Lost approximately 11 lbs in two days. But I'm able to eat a little bit at a time.

Please, let this be the last sicknesses of the year. Please.

Here we go again!

2009-10-28T09:00:00.002-05:00

The butterbean is sick. Again. The past couple days have been terrible. Fever, cough, runny nose, and just plain fussy. Poor little guy. No trips to the ER this time! Yay! Despite his sickness, he has been so goofy! Maybe it's the tylenol or motrin, but goofy. Like last night, when he crawled over on the kitchen floor and started break dancing. And by break dancing, I mean sitting on his bottom spinning himself around on the floor and then getting down on his tummy and doing the same thing. Hilarious! I tried so hard to catch it on video, but no such luck. He would hear the camera "ding" and he'd stop. He's mimicking what we say more everyday. Just this morning he crawled over to me and said," Hi, baby!" I usually say this to him every morning when getting him up or getting him up from nap time. . . or I pretty much say it all the time during the day. Hopefully, he won't mimic anything we don't want him to say. Good gracious, is this a fun age or what?!?!? He's so active, loves to interact, play, sleeps through the night consistantly, and he has such a zest for life. I can't imagine being a mom being any better than this. LOVE IT!!! and sure do LOVE HIM!

Taking a walk.

2009-10-24T16:17:00.004-05:00

For his first birthday, we got the Butterbean this:

And he loves it! The Mr. and I usually try to go cruising around the neighborhood a couple times a day. (weather permitting) It has a little horn that he honks. He loves to wave at his friends in their strollers. We thought about getting him a wagon, but glad we decided on this! Anyhoo, I captured a few snap shots that I thought were cute and figured I'd share them.

He is growing so fast! Total tooth count is 7!! And he's cruising around furniture, though not walking by himself. I'm sure it will be awhile till he walks. Sweet little guy would rather just observe than participate. We sure do love him though!

Pumpkin Patch attempt #1

2009-10-16T20:49:00.009-05:00

Well, October seems to be the month of failing. First, it has rained all month long! No joke! I've been wanting to work on Nathan's backyard playground, but yet all that has become of this playground is the pile of mud or soup in the backyard. I do pray the sun comes out soon!

One of my neighbors, Kim and I decided a few weeks ago that we would take our boys to the pumpkin patch. Yet, another fail. It was chilly and muddy. Kim's shoe got stuck in the mud. . . literally. Aaaaand the pumpkin's were expensive. Neither of us were about to pay an arm and a leg for them. They weren't even running the tractor for the hayride either. "Because of the mud," they said. So we decided to take a few pictures, then go to the farmer's market in town and buy pumpkin's there at a much more reasonable price.

We got a few cute pictures, but we decided that next weekend, we will try again. We are going to try a different one about 30 minutes from here. Hopefully, their tractor will be running, hot chocolate or apple cider will be on the stove, and mud will not be present.

Sweet little man, had a blast despite me not letting him run around in the mud.

This is his "cheese" face!

So we will try the pumpkin patch again! And yes, my little point and shoot camera is dying. You don't need to wipe off your monitors, it's having focus issues. So that's why some of the pictures look fuzzy. Gah!

How time does fly. . .

2009-10-10T08:35:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's October. Fall is officially here! I love Fall. By far my favorite time of year. . . besides winter of course. I just wish we actually had a Fall here. We seem to skip Fall and go straight into a mild mild mild winter here. It's hard to put out the pumpkins in 85-90 degree weather.

But despite the humidity and heat lately, the leaves have begun to change. Yay! So beautiful.

The Butterbean and I have kept ourselves very busy lately. This past week the Mr. was out of town and I had clinicals or class everyday. The Butterbean went to school and played with all the other kiddos there!

Have I told you he has developed a music preference? Yep, sure has. He's not a fan of country, rock, rap(not that we even listen to that mess), or any other radio station around here. Nope. My babe looooooves gospel music. And we are talking about the southern, stand in your seats, running down the aisles, Mariah Carey backup choir, Praise Jesus as loud as you can, gospel music. Yep. He does!

We were driving around the other day and everytime I would change the radio station he would scream and say "no, no, no". But when I stopped on a gospel station, he stopped and started dancing and clapping. Later on, when I went to go pick up the Butterbean from school, they were playing gospel in his classroom. And all the kiddos were playing, dancing, laughing, etc. Now, I know where he got it from.

And he's actually beginning to use words! So far he has mastered, "mommy", "dada", "da" (dog), "uh-oh" (he uses this for when he throws something at you. Yeah honey, that's not an uh-oh) "bye-bye", "hi", " Yay!" and "airplane". yep. He says airplane, as clear a day. I know he loves airplanes, I just didn't think he could say it.

Halloween Costume Fail!

2009-09-26T09:15:00.007-05:00

So yesterday, I decided to try on the Butterbean's Halloween costume to see if it would fit. It's a tiny bit too big, but he may grow into it by the time Halloween rolls around. Poor little guy. . .

It took him a good 15 minutes to calm down after the torture ended.

What a week!

2009-09-19T09:13:00.006-05:00

What a week! And boy are we sure glad it's over with! The Butterbean has been sick. And I mean not just any type of runny nose, cough sick. I mean high fever take you to the ER kind of sick. And that's just what we did.

Poor baby was lethargic, running a high fever, vomiting, shivering, and came down with a terrible rash. So last Saturday morning, I ended up calling the doc, who in turn suggested that we meet him in the ER.

After a follow up appt on Monday, we discovered that the Butterbean had a terrible case of the hand/foot/mouth disease. It's actually a pretty nasty virus and is highly contagious. Dr. G. reassured me that it wasn't the type that could cause heart problems. So we are very thankful for that. Chances are he picked it up at his school, were he goes to play a couple times a week.

The poor Butterbean has been living off of jello, popsicles, yogurt and anything cold this week. He has a terrible sore throat with blisters in the back of it caused by the virus. So sad! But the past couple days he's been eating a lot better and starting to get back to his normal self!!!! Yay!

Speaking of normal self, did you know what he did?? He crawled on all fours. Let me tell you this story.. . .

Last week when he was so terribly sick, I had just given him some Motrin and put him down on the floor for a second. I turned my back and heard some rustling at our dresser in our bedroom. The baby had made a bee-line for the dresser to play with the handles. He was crawling fast on all fours! It was like he'd been doing that for several months. Then he noticed I was looking at him and he flopped down on his belly. He's sneaky. . . very very very sneaky. I wonder how long he's been crawling now and his been hiding this from us.

And apparently he's a pro at pulling up too. Oh yeah, the baby crawls right on over to what ever he wants now and pulls up like he's done it a thousand times! I don't know about you, but if this sneakiness keeps up, we are going to have major issues when he turns 16. I'm just saying.

Despite all this craziness, we did have him a little birthday party. We just had family over to celebrate, because I didn't want anyone else to catch what he had. I think he had a good time. And boy did he get a lot of great things. I'll have to post those pictures later. But for now, here are a couple pics to hold you over:

The wonderful cake! It was made by a friend of mine, Candice. If you live by me and you need a cake, I'll give you her number. Let me know!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Butterbean

2009-09-10T16:12:00.009-05:00

Happy Birthday, to you!

Happy Birthday, sweet baby!

Happy Birthday,

To YOU!!!

One year ago today, the Lord gave us the most precious gift. Our sweet baby was born! We are so incredibly blessed to have had such a wonerful year with this wonderful baby boy and praise God for allowing us to be his mommy and daddy! Butterbean, I'm so thankful for you each and everyday. It's been my greatest joy watching you grow and learn. Thank you little one for making me a mother, a better person, and for letting me be a child again and seeing things through your eyes. I love you sooooo very much, more than words could ever describe. And can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for your precious life. I am incredibly blessed to be able to call you mine. I pray that this coming year for you is even more amazing than the last. With love and kisses always, Mommy

The baby of many faces

2009-09-05T12:30:00.008-05:00

It is true that the Butterbean is a very talented face maker. He has about 50 different faces that he makes on an everyday basis. So I thought, I'd capture a few on camera for you and post them. Here is face #1: The contentment face. Usually made when content and playing on the floor with his toys. Face #2: The courtesy smile. Usually given to strangers, when he's not quite sure what to do, or when he mommy sticks a point and shoot camera in his face and tells him to smile.

Face #3: The "Really? Will you please stop taking my picture with that horribly bright flash" face.

Face #4: The "I now stick my nose up at you face" This usually happens when, he's getting frustrated. For example, when his mommy continues with the point and shoot bright flash chaotic madness.

Face #5: The "why is there a cow standing right by me" face. This face is rather serious in the studying of cows and their existence.

Face #6: The Pout. Oh so pitiful and sad, but usually followed by screaming for a bottle and food.

Face #7: The Ham. And a ham, he is.

Oh, my sweet baby and his many faces. And these aren't even half of them.

A thought

2009-08-27T21:59:00.001-05:00

1 Peter 4:8-11 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God." If only we could live like this every minute of our lives. Our world would be such a different place. So very powerful.

a little sneakpeek on a beautiful Sunday!

2009-08-23T15:02:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, the Butterbean and I went to my parents house. I ended up taking some pictures for his first birthday invitations. (Can you believe he's about to be one year old?!?)

I started the session with just regular look-at-how-big-he-is-now photos, and ended up with a cake smash! And the Butterbean had oh, so much fun! So I wanted to give my dear readers a little sneak peek. (You, know, because you guys are awesome!)

As you can see, he had a smash! I would love to show you the rest, but you are going to have to wait until he after the invites have been sent.

Completely unrelated, school started back up this week. So if I'm not blogging about our Auburn adventures, I'm studying. Which is a good thing. Especially if I become your nurse one day. You'd want someone who actually opened a book, right? I thought so. But don't worry, I promise at least one post a week with pictures of the Butterbean. And I have to keep everyone updated on the humerous adventures that The Mr. has embarked upon us.

Oh, and we still need help with our cypress trees! (See post below) HALP!

What a great day!

2009-08-15T09:55:00.009-05:00

We are up visiting my parents for the weekend before the craziness begins next week. I wanted to get at least one stress free visit in.

Yesterday the Butterbean and I stayed very busy. We ran a few errands, took a few pictures, had a playdate, took more pictures, and then went shopping!

Okay, so now more on the playdate, because I know you all are dying to see pictures. We went to go see Krista, Amanda, and Amanda's little girl, Isabelle. (also known as Belli). They live right up the street from my parents house and are friends from waaaaaay back in the day. (emphasis on way) We had such a great time catching up and letting the little one's play together.

As you can see here, the two are having a very serious discussion. Most likely about Elmo.

Belli has the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen. Isn't she gorgeous!

The two munchkins! Belli striking a pose for the camera!

Belli and the Butterbean playing. She was so great and shared all of her toys with him!

Thank you guys for having us over to play! I hope we can do it again very soon! I enjoyed our time together and the Butterbean did too! Isabelle is such a joy to be around and so very funny! We love her! The Lord has blessed you with such an amazing and awesome child, Amanda! Wonderfully made by our Maker, indeed.

To read more about Belli's story, hop on over to Belli's blog. Or if you prefer you can just click. I do hope you check it out!

11 wonderful months

2009-08-09T20:59:00.006-05:00

The Butterbean is now 11 months old! I really can't believe how fast time has gone! In one more month, we will be celebrating his 1st birthday! He has changed so much this month! So let me share with you what he is now doing:

-He is officially sleeping through the night! Actually, he has been doing this consistantly for about three weeks now, I was just a little nervous to share. I didn't want to jinx it afterall. But those of you who know me and the Butterbean well, know that he has never been a great night time sleeper. He's always been very wakeful. But not anymore! Yay!

-He is crawling. Though, it's not the typical crawling on all fours. It's more like a flop around like a fish crawling. And the baby can move! We caught him on video today going for the remote control. I would love to share it with you, however I've lost the cord that connects my camera to the computer. When I find it, I will share.

-He continues to sing E-I-E-I-O. Although, it may not really be singing, more like screaming and yelling it as loud as he can at the most inappropriate times, including the other day at the grocery store. The baby is an attention grabber and he doesn't care where the attention is coming from.

"E-I-E-I-O"

-He thoroughly enjoys bathtime. Though, this is not a new thing. He has discovered that the foam letters and numbers stick to himself and attempts to stick them to himself. Well, the Mr. and I actually stuck the letters on him and thought it was funny. So I guess he thinks that they belong on him now. He loves to splash and scream in the tub.

-He tries to copy what we say. Even though, we don't understand what he says, I can pick out the vowel sounds and such of what we had just said to him. He's a blabber and can gab all day. -The walker has become his new obsession. He loves that thing. Since he has discovered how to jump the little bump of wood seperating our hardwood floors from the tile in the kitchen, he has been "walking" all over the place.

-He loves playing in the church nursery! The nursery staff complement me everytime I go to pick him up. They are always stating how wonderful he was and was so happy. I tell you, the boy loves to be around other babies!

-He is such a ham! He is so silly! Always making faces and has become such a happy little guy!

We are so blessed to be the parents of this awesome, beautiful baby! I don't know if life could get anybetter! He is such a wonderful baby and the sunshine in my day! It has been my greatest joy watching this little one grow up right before me.

I love you Butterbean! Happy 11 months!

Oh. My. Goodness

2009-08-06T20:49:00.001-05:00

Talk about things that make you go hmmmm? click here Just thought I'd share this little gem. And say "Really?"

Just another day in paradise the armpit of the south

2009-08-05T09:40:00.003-05:00

Reason #122 on why I hate living in the armpit of the south: It's hot, sticky, and humid. It's so hot that the minute you step outdoors you sweat. And thank you Mother Nature for the "wonderful" amount of humidity that you injected in the atmosphere yesterday. I appreciate it. Thanks to you I started off with luscious flowing locks with a slight curl, to afro-Jen in a matter of hours. I felt like the episode of Friends when the gang goes to Hawaii and Monica ends up with a poof for hair? Yeah, dear readers, you can laugh now. Aaaaaanyway, yesterday the Butterbean and I decided to embark on an adventure to the jewelers and Target. We got our shopping done at Target and headed across the shopping center to the jewelers. (The place where they cut and resized my band popped open and my band was snapped right in half. Luckily they are going to fix it free of charge since they are the ones that sized it and incorrectly soldered it back together.) So, as we were coming out of the jewelers we were attacked by an ever so eager Gold's gym employee. Apparently he wanted me to come work out there. Please. Don't. Bother. Me. When. It's. 100 degrees. Hot. Humid. And. I'm carrying. A. 22lbs. Heavyweight. Instead of telling him what I was really thinking at that precise moment. I glared at him and said "I don't work out." Hoping that this would end the attack and we'd both be on our merry way. This wasn't the case. He grinned and said, "It's never too late to start." So I hiked the Butterbean up further on my hip, tossed my ~~glorious~~ now bouffant styled hair and stated, "Am I fat or something?" He had no reply. I walked away, happily greeted by my air conditioned vehicle. Moral of the story: Don't mess with me when there are dozens of other people around and you choose to attack the one drenched with sweat, carrying a 22lbs baby, diaper bag, and shopping bags. You will get owned.

Lazy Sunday!

2009-08-03T09:19:00.006-05:00

Well our Sunday wasn't entirely lazy. I believe some were more lazy than others around our house. The Butterbean started off the day by gabbing in his crib unitl I went to pick him up and feed him breakfast. Then we played and he went down for a nap. Meanwhile, I took a shower and got ready for church. We left for church, dropped the babe off in the nursery, worshipped, and then picked him up. The nursery staff reporting that he growled the whole time, but was very good and easy going. (Yes, my child loves to growl) Then The Mr, Butterbean, and myself went grocery shopping. Yay for food! After getting home we ate lunch, layed the Butterbean down for a nap, enjoyed a nice long thunderstorm and about started napping ourselves. While, the Butterbean slept, I cleaned, folded laundry, just did a bunch around the house. So who exactly was lazy around your house then, you ask? Well, He is the smallest member of our family to be exact.

It's Copper! And he decide to take up residence in our laundry basket.

At least the blanket is dirty.

My smart baby

2009-07-31T10:35:00.002-05:00

I tell you what, the Butterbean is one smart cookie! Lately I've been working on sign language with him. I was a skeptic at first. But it's actually working! Right now he can do the sign for milk, ball, and eat. I'm working on juice, mommy, daddy, and a couple more.

He's a smart little one and oh so beautiful! Just look at him!

Oh, so THAT'S why!

2009-07-29T11:38:00.010-05:00

We've all seen the little 1950's housewife with her little apron on and a rag over her shoulder making a glorious meal in the kitchen. Aka Beaver Cleaver's mom. Have you ever wondered why she has that rag over her shoulder? I don't wear an apron. Actually, I don't even own one, so you would never see me in my kitchen with an apron on. And I think it's a little too "Susie Homemaker" of me to actually do it. (Watch me now eat my words) Lately I have resorted to the whole "rag/towel over the shoulder thing". And for good reason too. I have a thief. A 22lbs, cute as a button, steal your heart with those puppy dog eyes, gummy smiling, slow to crawl, but fast moving in the walker, thief.

Since the Butterbean has discovered that he can indeed move forward in his walker, he's been moving around in that thing like a mad ~~man~~ baby. And of course he has discovered that pulling the towel off of the stove is oh so much fun! Needless to say, I now wear a rag on my shoulder.

The thief spots the towel hanging ever so delicately.

He ~~ever so gently~~ gives it a good yank.

I think he's rather proud of himself don't you?

And another thing, why do they call it a walker? The only thing that the Butterbean seems to do in it is run. I think I'm going to rename it "Runner".

Have you ever?

2009-07-25T10:42:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you have so much to do and nothing gets done. (or so it seems) This has been one of those weeks. Lately, I've been busy trying to pack up some of the Butterbean's old clothes, organize his room, purge our guest/storage room, clean out kitchen drawers, play with a busy baby, and go grocery shopping. Needless to say, there are boxes and stuff thrown everywhere. Eventually it will be clean, but right now, it's a disaster. ugggh! On top of that, have you ever been to the grocery store all 7 days out of one week? I'm on day 6 and I need to go back again. It's been one of those weeks.