The Link Home

think inside the box

2012-02-02T08:05:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I got box in the mail.

(of FREE diaper I might add!!)

While we were playing with his toys on the floor, he kept going for the box.

Typical baby huh? They all love the box better than the toy.

He was so distracted by the box that I just put him in there!!

He played for a good 30 minutes in the box without any toys.

I finally gave him some toys and he played for another 30 minutes.

Sometimes I guess it's a good thing to think inside the box!!

And can you guess what he's playing with this morning while I type up this post??

Yup....the box!!

30 errrr....19 days of photos

2012-02-01T22:05:00.000-06:00

Well, it's a good thing I didn't make a resolution to take a picture every day, because I definitely failed.

I did so good on my Photo A Day challenge until the 19th, and then I just completely fell off the bandwagon.

Here are the pictures I did take though.....

Would I be crazy to try to take on the February Photo Challenge????

I think so.

But I think I'm going to do it anyways.

Starting tomorrow......a day late. Ha! Oh well!!

I might even try to catch up on all my January photos too.

We'll see.

Happy February!!!

february desktop

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

project life {week 4}

2012-01-31T21:00:00.000-06:00

I was a little late getting my layout made this week, but I got it done!! It literally took me all of 15 minutes to throw it together. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how easy, simple and stress free this project is. I'm probably going to start sounding like a broken record because I'll probably say that every week! Ha!

{I always take pictures of my layout in Pearson's room because it gets great natural light in the mornings but I didn't take my pictures until about 5pm so there is a glare from having to use my flash.}

Anyways.....Here's my layout for the week.

Since Mommy & Daddy didn't make it into last week's page, I made sure we got in this one!!

I used to always print my pictures matte but for some reason I recently switched back to glossy. This week I went back to matte and I don't really care for them anymore. Back to glossy it is.

I took alot of pictures this week so I'm actually going to have to add an insert inbetween pages, but that will have to get done tomorrow!!

Cost this week..... $0.36 for prints at Wolf

Happy Project Life Tuesday!!

iPhone rewind {january}

2012-01-30T15:00:00.000-06:00

Here's our life the then lens on my iPhone this month!!

Such a big boy in his new shoes.

Teething.

So happy that he fits in some of his hand-me-downs from his cousin Ethan!

I just think this picture is funny!!

This seems to be Pearson's signature face these days.

Afternoon naptime was skipped. Can you tell?

Sportin' his new outfit made by Lolly.

MOPS wore him out.

I love spendin' my days with this sweet boy.

I think he like the container better than he likes the Puffs.

Socks are Pearson's new favorite snack!

A long morning of crying it out finally worked.

Baby Mum Mums. Yum Yum!!

Sweetest. Baby. Ever. even if he hadn't napped all day.

So squeezable.

Crying it out is finally starting to work.

Little Man loves his jumperoo.

In-N-Out Burger date with my boys!!

Little Man can clap, and it is so incredibly cute!!

I love how he sleeps with his little bum in the air!!

That's all folks!!

meal planning monday

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

Monday: Matt: Chicken Pot Pie Me: Sonic Flatbread Melt Taste Test!!

Tuesday: Sonic Hot Dog Taste Test!!!

Wednesday: Shrimp Tempura Tacos with Garlic Cream Sauce, Rice & Black Beans

Thursday: Pizza w/ our Small Group

Friday: Parmesan Crusted Talapia, Green Beans, & "Red Lobster Biscuits"

Saturday Breakfast: Blueberry Breakfast Cake (finally!)

Saturday Lunch: Sandwiches

Saturday Dinner: Studio Movie Grill possibly

Sunday Lunch: Frito Pie

Sunday Dinner: Super Bowl Party (Turkey Apricot Pinwheels)

valentine's day onesies

2012-01-27T09:50:00.000-06:00

Valentine's Day is totally a girly holiday, but I still wanted something festive for my little man to wear. Boyish Valentines Day outfits are hard to come by, so my Mom and I came up with this cute little tie and suspenders onesie!!

Is that little onesie not to die for???

You can find this precious little boy Valentine's Day onesie in my Mom's Etsy shop for only $21.

She also has this cute girly Valentine's Day owl for $21 as well in her shop.

She has lots of cute owl designs to choose from.

My Mom stitches the owl onto a onesie, but if you would rather, you can purchase the owl applique by itself and iron it on to a onesie that you already have for only $6. What a steal huh?

So head on over to her shop and get to shopping for your little Valentine!! And while you are there check out all of her other amazing things she makes!!

You can also e-mail my Mom directly at triedandtruedesigns@yahoo.com. Be sure to tell her that I sent you!!

my friend lindsay

2012-01-26T18:37:00.001-06:00

For the past year I have followed Lindsay on Twitter and her blog.

Neither of us really know how we originally found each other but we did and such a fun friendship has developed because of it. Matt makes fun of me because I talk about her like she lives next door. We were both pregnant at the same time and now we both have little boys that are just 6 days apart so we have alot in common. It's been so fun to "experience" all the same things at relatively the same time with someone. Up until today we have just been "URL friends".

But today we finally got to meet so I feel like I can call her a real friend now!!

We met up for lunch at Pei Wei then came back to our house to let the boys play!!

The boys did lots of chewing and rolling while the Mamas did lots of chatting!!

These little boys are on the move (well more so Hudson than Pearson because he can crawl) so it was impossible to get a picture with both of them.

I am so happy that I finally got to meet Lindsay, but I sure wish she lived closer because I'm positive be would great friends.

And I've officially named this "The Buddy Chair"!! If Pearson has a buddy come over, they have to take a picture in the buddy chair!!

Won't it be cute to see a picture of all of Pearson and his buddies over the years?

So glad that he got to have Hudson in his buddy chair!! We can't wait to play again!!

layered lemon dessert

2012-01-25T09:40:00.000-06:00

This yummy lemon dessert is a new favorite of ours. My MIL made it for our Christmas gathering and we just couldn't get enough of it!! If you are a chocolate lover, you could totally switch the lemon pudding for chocolate pudding!

1 Stick of Butter, softened

1 Cup of Flour

½ Cup of Pecans, chopped

1 (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

2 (8 oz.) Carton of Cool Whip

1 Cup of Powdered Sugar

2 Pkgs. Lemon Instant Pudding Mix

3 Cups of Milk

Combine butter, flour and pecans and press into a 9 X 13 baking dish tomake crust. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350°. Cool completely before adding 1^stlayer.

1^st Layer: Mix cream cheese with powdered sugar. Fold in one8oz. carton of Cool Whip and spread on top of cooled crust.

2^nd Layer: Mix 2 pkgs. of instant lemon pudding mix with 3cups of milk and spread over 1^st layer.

3^rd Layer: Top with an 8 oz. carton of Cool Whip and ifdesired, sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Enjoy!!

project life {week 3}

2012-01-24T07:30:00.000-06:00

This week was all about Pearson. Mommy and Daddy didn't make it any pictures this week. Oh well, we all know Pearson is the cutest in our little family, so I'm okay that it's all about Pearson this week!!

I'm sure you noticed that some of my journal cards are typed this week. I found this tutorial on how to print on journal cards. I mentioned in an earlier post that I hate my handwriting. It's not so much that I hate my handwriting, it's more that I can't always get it straight and perfectly centered like you can with typing. It drives me nuts when it's not perfect.

I'm not going to lie, it definitely added more time to creating my layout, but I think it's worth it. It's looks so much better to me. Hopefully I'll get faster at creating the journal cards in Photoshop the more I do it.

I still going to continue to add little captions with my handwriting, but all journal cards will be typed. I'll probably even go back and re-do all my journal cards from Week 1 & 2!!

Cost this week: $0.87 for prints @ Target

Happy Project Life Tuesday!!

meal planning monday

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

It's a cleanin' out the freezer kind of week here, so we aren't eatin' too healthy this week. Oh well!!

Monday: Dinner @ The Havards

Tuesday: Stew & Cornbread

Wednesday: Leftover Pizza & Salad

Thursday: Fried Rice & Egg Rolls

Friday: Out to Eat w/ a Giftcard

Saturday Breakfast: Breakfast Tacos

Saturday Lunch: Frankie's with MOPS gals

Saturday Dinner: BBQ Beef Sandwiches & Tator Tots

Sunday Lunch: Biscuit Pizzas

Sunday Dinner: Planning Mtg @ The Church

we all love comments....right??

2012-01-21T08:30:00.000-06:00

I know I sure do and I'm pretty sure everyone does too. I blog to preserve our families memories, but when you know people are reading your blog and leave you comments it makes you want to blog even more!!

So why don't we make it easier on ourselves.

I'm going to give you a few tips to make commenting easier and less of a hassle for all of us!!

1. Take word verification off of your comments.

I'm not going to lie. Sometimes I type a comment out and then don't leave it when I see that I have to type in the word verification. It's SO annoying......especially if I'm leaving a comment on my phone. They say that the point of word verification is to keep from getting spam comments, but I don't have word verification on my blog and I rarely get spam comments and if I do the filter doesn't publish it on my blog. So do yourself a favor and remove word verification. I promise you will get more comments from me and I would bet that other people would comment more too!!

Here are the steps to do this.....

(If you are in the new blogger interface you will have to switch back to the old blogger interface. You can only make this change in the old blogger interface for some reason. )

1. To switch to the old blogger interface, go to your Dashboard. Click on the gear on the ride hand side of your screen and click Old Blogger Interface.

2. Once you are in the Old Blogger Interface click on Settings.

3. Next Click on Comments.

4. Then scroll down to where you see this.......

5. Click on NO then be sure to save changes.

2. Link an e-mail to your Blogger profile.

Do you ever get frustrated that you can't reply back to a comment on your blog? I hate having to click over to their blog to leave an unrelated comment on their blog post just to answer their question they had on my post. I used to just type to answer in my comment section, but nobody ever goes back to read it. (I know I don't on other blogs) I also sometimes just respond through facebook or Twitter, but I don't always know the person through other social media. So here's the solution to this problem. Link an e-mail to your Blogger profile, and when you leave me a comment I can just click "reply" in my e-mail and it will e-mail you back!! Nice huh?

Here's how you can link an e-mail to your Blogger profile.....

1. Go to your Dashboard and click on your Profile Picture in the top right hand corner. (Mine says The Links)

2. Next Click Blogger profile.

3. Once your are in your profile, click on Edit Profile in the top right hand corner.

4. Make sure "Show my e-mail address is checked". Then make sure the e-mail that it is currently set to is the one you want your e-mails to go to. If it is not, just scroll down and type in the correct e-mail address.

When you want to respond to a comment left through e-mail just make sure when you click reply that you see an actual e-mail address for the person. If it says "noreply-comment@blogger.com" that means they do not have an e-mail linked to their blog.

And just in case you didn't already know this......you know you can get your comments e-mailed to you. I didn't know that for the first few months I had my blog so I thought I would share how to do that as well......

Just go to your Dashboard. Click on Settings. Click on Mobile and E-mail then make sure you have and e-mail in the "Comment Notification E-mail box!

Happy Commenting!!

P.S. Just for fun if you link an e-mail to your profile, leave me a comment on this post and I'll respond through e-mail to show you how it works!!!

story time

2012-01-20T21:41:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite memories of a child was going to the library with my Mom and brothers. We each had our own library card and we all got to pick out 7 books. I enjoyed looking at them at home, but my favorite part was always returning. Ha! For some reason I always thought it was fun to drop them in the drop box outside or even better to drop them on the conveyer belt inside that moved the book to the box!! It's funny the thing you remember as a kid.

This morning I took Pearson to Story Time at the Public Library for the first time. I didn't really know how he would do considering he only took a 20 minute nap this morning. Can you tell he's just a little bit sleepy?

As soon as the librarian started singing and using her puppets, he was all ears.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Look at my perfect little student!! Just precious!!

He even helped me turn the pages when we read Goodnight Moon.

I'm looking forward to making Story Time at the library a weekly trip for us!!

baby chef

2012-01-19T22:30:00.000-06:00

Pearson and I whipped up a batch of my favorite cookies this afternoon for our small group tonight.

Pearson was quite the little fussy pants this afternoon because he only took one 45 minute nap today. Today was Day 5 of him only taking one 45 minute nap. Yup, this Momma is about to go crazy!!! I love my sweet boy, but he has got to sleep some during the day to give me a break. We are going to cut down his sleep at night to 10 hrs in hopes that it will help him be more sleepy and nap some during the day. So we'll see.......

Alteast, a simple spatula (with nothing on it) and making cookies with Mommy made him happy!!

Seriously, these lemon whippersnappers are so easy and so yummy!! You should go an make them today!!

project life {week 2}

2012-01-18T14:57:00.000-06:00

Week 2 is in the books.....errr book.

I know it's only been 2 weeks, but I am loving Project Life so far. It really is SO simple. I'm not stressing out about making anything fancy. I'm just plopping the pictures in and journaling about our week. It took me no longer than 30 minutes to put this all together.

It is such a good feeling to be on top of things and not fall behind. I hope I can keep up with my one page a week. I plan to jot down notes all week of what we do then plan out my page on Sunday evening. I will print pictures and work on my page either Monday or Tuesday (depending on whether I have MOPS or not on Monday) then post on Tuesday.....hopefully!!

I'm still waiting for the Design A and Design D page protectors to be back in stock so for now some of my pages aren't in page protectors. I actually think they look better in the pictures with out the page protectors....no glare!!

When I decided to do Project Life, Matt's first comment was "How much is this thing going to cost me?" I am going to try really hard to make this a very inexpensive project. Most of the extra supplies I'm using I already have in my stash of scrapbooking stuff. I'm going to do my best to not purchase anything else other than more page protectors (when they are back in stock) and pictures each week.

Here is what I've spent on Project Life thus far......

12x12 3-ring binder- $11.99

Cobalt Core Kit- $24.99

12 pack of Design B Page Protectors- $6.99

Date Stamp- $4.79

Ink Pad- $4.89

Week 1 Pictures @ Wolf- $0.42

Week 2 Pictures @ Target- $0.87

Total: $54.94

See ya next Tuesday with Week 3!!

glory to god forever

2012-01-17T20:57:00.001-06:00

We sang this song and on Sunday and I can't seem to get the words out of my head. I've been singing this song over and over to Pearson during the day. He's so cute and he gives me the biggest smile every time I sing it!! I pray that I can not only live a life for all His glory but teach Pearson to do the same.

Before the world was made

Before you spoke it to be

You were the king of kings

Yeah you were yeah you were

And now you're reigning still

Enthroned above all things

Angels and saints cry out

We join them as we sing

Glory to God

Glory to God forever

Creator God you gave

Me breath so I could praise

Your great and macthless name

All my days all my day

So let my whole life be

A blazing offering

A life that shouts and sings

The greatness of our King

Take my life and let it be

All for you and for your glory

Take my life and let it be yours

Glory to God

Glory to God forever

pearson {7 months}

2012-01-16T15:17:00.000-06:00

Dear Sweet Pearson-

It's the 16th already?? How do the months just seem to fly by now that you are here? I guess they always say, "Time flies when you're having fun!" And baby boy, we are having so much fun with you!!!

You are such a happy baby. We can just look at you and you will smile at us now!! You give your biggest smiles to your Daddy. Sometimes when he isn't even looking at you, you'll just look at him and smile. You just love your Daddy!!!

In fact, you started saying "da-da-da-da" this month. You don't quite have it associated with Daddy, yet, but his heart swells every time you say it. We joke because one sure fire way to get your to say "da-da" is for me to say "Pearson- Can you say ma-ma?" You always look at me and say "da-da"! Ha!

You are babbling lots of other sounds too. You love to play in your crib and just talk and talk and talk while you play with your toys. I love hearing all the sweet new sounds come out of your mouth.

You celebrated your first Christmas this month and you got lots of fun new toys. You are having a ball playing with all of them. I can sit you on the floor of the living room and you are so content to play for quite a while. Your favorite toys are your blocks, your tool bench, and board books. You also still really love playing in your jumperoo, especially when I open the window for you to look outside!!

You love your toys, but you prefer real things if we let you have them. If we have our iPhones in our hand you will do anything to get to it. You really love anything that you aren't supposed to have. When we go out to eat, we'll give you a toy and all you want to play with is our cup, or the salt shaker or Mommy's hair, or phone. You name it, if it's something you shouldn't have you want it. At home the TV remotes and the containers to anything are also your favorites.

Most of the time you like to play with your toys sitting up, but every now and then you fall over and then you just love to roll all over the living room. You can finally roll over both of your shoulders. You used to just roll over your right shoulder. You would roll all the way across the room, then we would turn you around and you would roll back to us!!

You aren't crawling yet, but since you can roll, you are definitely on the move. If I leave you on your tummy, you are never in the same spot when I come back. I definitely have to keep my eye on you because you can pretty much get anywhere by rolling, scooting, turning or pushing back. We will definitely have to start baby proofing soon because you have started to pull up on your knees some. I think crawling is going to be here soon.

You went on two more road trips this month and did great!! We went to Arkansas so you could meet your Great Grandma (Mema) and we went to San Antonio so Daddy could watch the Baylor Bears in the Alamo Bowl. You also had your first hotel stay at The W in Dallas and you went to your first sporting event. We watched the Men's Baylor Basketball team at the American Airlines Center!!

You have been sleeping good at night for the most part this month. We still put you to bed around 7:30. We lay you on your tummy, turn your sound machine on and you are out usually within 5 minutes. Every now and then you wake up once in the night needing your paci, but it's a quick fix, so I don't mind getting up for that. You sleep a full twelve hours most nights, waking up around 7 or 7:30 and sometimes I get lucky and you sleep until 8:00.

I said you have slept well at night for the most part this month because for the past week we have had the joy of experiencing teething for the first time. Your first pearly white popped through on the bottom last Saturday, January 7th. For a few night you woke up screaming and you just couldn't settle down. I had to nurse you in the middle of the night a few days and one night we were even awake from 11pm-2am and again from 4:30-6am. It was a long night. We tried Tylenol, Baby Oragel, and Hyland's Teething Tablets (not all at the same time), but I can't say any of those things really gave you any relief. You seemed to only calm down and go back to sleep if I nursed you. The past 2 nights you have woken up crying too, so I think we are on round 2 of teething. I think I see the other bottom tooth coming through. Hopefully it goes quick!! Thankfully you seem to be fine during the day, you are just bothered by it at night.

You are on a pretty consistent napping schedule this month. You nap around 9am and 2:30pm; your naps just don't last very long though. We are lucky if you nap for an hour. Thankfully you go down easily and you wake up happy, so I can't really complain that they aren't long. I still have to rock you to sleep, but it just takes me 5 minutes tops, and you don't fight it at all anymore. I decided this past weekend that I am not going to rock you anymore. Your going to have to grow up and fall asleep on your own. Unfortunately it's not going so well. On Saturday you didn't take a morning nap and you screamed for about 45 minutes before you took your afternoon nap. Sunday was better, you took a 45 minute nap in church and then took a great afternoon nap after falling asleep nursing. But then this morning, you cried for an entire hour and didn't fall asleep, so it looks like we'll be trying again this afternoon to fall asleep all by yourself.

I have had so much fun giving you solids this month. It give us something to do during the day, and it also helps me stretch our time when we are out. I can usually give you some babyfood and it will tide you over until we get home so I can nurse you.

Last month we had only given you different kinds of cereals, sweet potatoes, and bananas. This month you have had apples, pears, peaches, mangos, blueberries, peas, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, carrots, spinach, and corn and you have loved every single one of them. I am so happy that you are such a good eater. Your favorite food is definitely pears. I can't get them in your mouth fast enough. The funny thing is that I actually craved pears when I was pregnant with you!!

We are still nursing 5 times a day around 7:30, 11, 2, 5, and 7. When I nurse you have started to get very distracted. I usually have to nurse you without the TV on and without my iPhone or computer in sight. We have started to just go in your room where it's quiet with no distractions to nurse.

You are eating 3 meals a day now. I feed you oatmeal mixed with some sort of fruit for breakfast around 8:30. I give you a fruit and a vegetable for lunch around noon and I give you a veggie mixed with some sort of cereal for dinner. I sometimes give you a little fruit too for dessert!! You also started eating puffs and Baby Mum Mums and drinking water from a sippy cup this month too. It seems like you are eating all day long, but it keeps you happy and Mommy loves a happy baby!!

I've been more diligent about giving you bottles this month because last month you did not like taking them at all. I try to give you atleast one bottle a week, which hasn't been hard since you go to the nursery on Sunday for church, every other Monday for MOPS, Tuesday for Bible Study and we now have people over on Thursday night for small group. I usually nurse you at church on Sunday, but all the other times you are getting a bottle. I am starting to run out of breastmilk because I quit pumping so you are now getting formula in bottles as well. You are taking Simalac Advanced and seem to be doing well going back and forth between breastmilk and formula when needed.

I'm so glad that you are taking a bottle so well now because it makes it very easy for me to leave you in the nursery or with family. It's always been easy, but it just takes a load off my shoulder now that I don't have to worry about pumping to feed to you!! Every time we pick you up from the nursery at church they always tell us what a good baby you are, and that makes this Mommy so happy! Lolly and Pops always enjoy keeping you too because you are such an easy baby!!

We usually get out atleast once a day whether it be a trip to Sonic, the grocery store, a lunch or breakfast date or a walk. Wherever we go you are always a happy baby. You love riding in the car and looking at yourself in your car-mirror, you love being in the stroller and looking out at everything, and you love sitting in a high chair and staring at people!!

This month has by far been our favorite because you are so alert and observant to all of your surroundings. You are learning new things everyday and we are loving every second with you. You are such a precious boy, Pearson, and we love you to the moon and back!!

Love-

Your Mommy

{7 month Stats}

Weight: 18 pounds (ish)

Length: 28 inches (ish)

Eating: nursing 5 times a day (around 7:30am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, & 7pm) along with 3 meals a day (around 8:30, noon, & 6pm)

Bedtime: around 7:30pm

Awake: around 7:30am

Naps: usually 2 45 minutes to an hour naps around 9:00 and 2:30

Diapers: size 3's

Clothes: 9 months, 6-12 months, & 12 month hand-me-downs

Favorites: eating baby food, sleeping on his tummy, playing with your toys, bathtime, when daddy gets home, puffs, and your sippy cup

Latest Tricks: rolling all over the place, sitting on his own, babbling, saying da-da-da-da.

Look how you've changed.

meal planning monday

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Monday: Cheater's Potato Soup w/ Bacon & Cheese

Tuesday: Hawaiian Chicken Salad

Wednesday: PW's Braised Beef Brisket, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Veggies, & Salad

Thursday: Pulled Pork Tacos, Rice & Beans

Friday: Mini Lasagna Cups, Green Beans, Salad, & Garlic Toast

Saturday Breakfast: Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Saturday Lunch: Salad Wraps

Saturday Dinner: Stew & Cornbread

Sunday Lunch: Ham Rolls & Chips

Sunday Dinner: Pizza

monthly onesie stickers

2012-01-15T17:54:00.002-06:00

I have had a few friends ask me about Pearson's monthly pictures recently, so I thought I would do a little post about them!!

I look forward to taking his pictures each month and using his monthly stickers. In fact I almost have his 7 month post ready to go for tomorrow. OH MY WORD......how in the world is my baby almost 7 months old???

Anyways. About the stickers....

I got my stickers off Etsy from Purple Possom.

I ordered these really simple colored ones so I could use a different color onesie each month.

They also make more detailed boy ones and even ones that look like ties.

They also have lots of super cute girl designs!

They even have a Just Born stickers that you can add on.

And here's the best part....

Purple Possum is having a sale until Tuesday, January 17th. The 12 pack of stickers that are regularly $9.00 are on sale for $7.20. And the Just Born sticker that is regularly $0.75 are on sale for $0.60!! So, head on over to Purple Possom and get your little one some monthly stickers. Or these would even make a super cute inexpensive baby shower gift!!

project life {intro} & {week 1}

2012-01-14T21:46:00.002-06:00

Have you heard of Project Life??

Per www.beckyhiggins.com

Project Life is a back-to-basics approach to memory-keeping. This simple format requires no skill - only your pictures and a pen. No one's life is perfect but everyone has a story and every family has a collection of memories. Putting pictures + stories together in Project Life makes us more aware of our blessings and encourages us to cultivate a good life.

I love the idea of Project Life because I don't have time to do all the fru-fru scrapbooking, nor do I have the space to store it all. I also don't have the time to learn how to do the digital scrapbook thing, so this is the perfect thing for me.

I first found out about Project Life last year from a friend's blog. I have loved looking at her layouts each week over the past year. She has even written some detailed post answering questions about Project Life and how she makes it work for her. Over and over she said that it is so easy!! I wanted to start when Pearson was born, but I just never got around to it. At the end of last year, my awesome sister-in-law posted on facebook that she was going to start Project Life, so I knew I had to do it too. I had no excuses. She is a phenomenal digital scrapbooker, so she will be doing it all digital. I hope to be doing digital in 2013, but for this year I'm doing it the way it was originally designed.

I'm using this kit and making it very simple. Lot of people that are doing Project Life this year are going above and beyond and making the adorable lay-outs and making their different from everyone elses. I have to admit, I'm little jealous of their layouts and I want mine to look better, but I'm just going to do Project Life the way it was designed. Mine might look similar to someone else's because I'm using the kit, but it will be unique to me because it's all of my pictures and my memories. My Project Life album is going to be simple. I'm putting in pictures, using my Project Life Kit cards and sitckers and doing all of my journaling with my own handwriting {even though I hate it with a passion}.

The thing I love about most about Project Life is that is it's all about the everyday things. It's not all about making "theme-y pages" or "fancy smancy designs". It's all about preserving your memories and keeping up with it week by week. I hope to stay on top of it and post my layouts each week, so without further ado......

Here's my Week 1 layout......

Here's a closer look at the left side.

And a closer look at the right side.

I'm already looking forward to finishing my week 2 layout!!

baby free date night

2012-01-14T08:30:00.000-06:00

Last night Matt and I had our first baby free date night of the year.

{not a great picture because of the dang flash, but it's all I got}

One of our New Years Resolutions was to go on atleast one baby free date night a month. I am so thankful that we have my parents close by to help us out with this goal. It's so nice to always have a babysitter.

We had a giftcard to Olive Garden, so we had some delicious Italian food. We thought about going to the movies. We haven't been to one in forever, but there was really anything worth seeing.

So, as we were driving home at 8:00, I told Matt that I thought it was crazy that when we were dating we didn't have enough time at night. Midnight always came to soon. And now, we couldn't wait to get home to our sweet boy, put our PJ's on and snuggle up to watch a movie together.

Times have changed, but I wouldn't want it any other way!!

good news & bad news

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

{good news}

I got a pretty new Erin Condren iPhone cover today!!

{bad news}

I dropped my iPhone on the kitchen floor last night and the screen shattered.

It still works just fine, it's just really annoying to have huge cracks across the screen.

I've heard there are cheaper places to get the it rather than taking it to the Apple Store.

Any recommendations??

party in the crib

2012-01-12T21:41:00.001-06:00

So I facebooked/tweeted last night that I would share with you all about my first week of Project Life. I didn't have time to take pictures of my page, so you'll just have to see some pictures of my sweet little boy having a party in his crib!!

After Pearson wakes up from his naps I have been putting some toys in his crib and letting him play for a little while to give myself some more time to get some things done.

Remember Pearson only naps for 45 minutes twice a day so this lets me get atleast get an extra hour to do things!!

He LOVES playing in his crib.

You'd think he'd feel confined and want out, but he could literally play by himself in his crib for a good 30-45 minutes!!

He makes the sweetest little noises and just talks and talks to himself. His newest sound being "da-da-da-da-da-da"!!! Daddy is super proud!!

I love playing with my sweet boy, but I love that he can entertain himself sometimes.

It makes for a happy baby and a happy Momma!

taco bites

2012-01-11T19:59:00.003-06:00

My blog has been a little quiet this week because Little Man is teething, which equals Mommy not getting much sleep. Last night Pearson was up from 11-2 and then again from 4:30-6. I'm pretty tired. I went to the grocery store today, paid, and walked out of the store. The cashier came out saying "Ma'am, Ma'am" but I didn't even turn around because I didn't think she was talking to me. Finally she tapped my shoulder to tell me I had forgotten my groceries. Ha!! I'm just a little tired. I've lost more sleep this week I think than I did when he was a newborn. He's always been such a good sleeper, so I'll be glad when this teething thing is over.

Anyways, I just wanted to share with you a quick and easy recipe, because that's the kind of things I've been cooking lately!!

Taco Bites

You'll need....

Wonton Wrappers

1 lb of Ground Beef

Taco Seasoning

Any Taco Toppings that you prefer

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Brown the meat and add taco seasoning according to the package. Spray your muffin tin with Pam and place a wonton wrapper inside of each cup. Put a scoop full of taco meat on each wonton wrapper and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 8-10 minutes then top with the toppings of your choice. We put tomatoes, cilantro, sour cream and hot sauce on ours!!

We thought these little Taco Bites were pretty good. I'll definitely be making them again, and I can't wait to try some more recipes out with wonton wrapper!

Enjoy!!

meal planning monday

2012-01-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

Monday: Lasagna, Garlic Toast & Salad

Tuesday: BBQ Ribs, Mashed Potatoes, Salad, & Rolls

Wednesday: Talapia with Shrimp Bayou, Rice, & Green Beans

Thursday: Cheater's Potato Soup w/ Bacon & Cheese

Friday: Baby Free Date Night :)

Saturday Breakfast: Sausage Balls

Saturday Lunch: Crab Triangles & Chicken Noodle Soup

Saturday Dinner: Cranberry Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, & Rolls

Sunday Lunch: Taco Salad

Sunday Dinner: Pizza

christmas in january

2012-01-08T20:46:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Christmas with Matt's side of the family. We had to postpone our Christmas with them because Matt's grandma was very sick. Thankfully, we are happy to report that she is doing much better!!

Pearson loves seeing all of his cousins......especially Ellie. He loves to play with her and really love to pull her pretty brown hair!!

The cousins

{Peyton, Ellie, Emma, & Preston}

Pearson got some good stuff. He got some super cute jammies, bath toys, a fun book, some snap-it toys, and some Baylor gear.

The girls of the fam!! I sure do love my sweet mother in law and sister in laws.

The baby boys with Grammy and Grandaddy. I think Pearson is ready to start playing with Ethan!

And here's just a few more pictures from our afternoon.

And are these not the cutest little Converses you've ever seen?

My first grade teacher (who happens to go to my church) gave these to Pearson. Her son painted them. Aren't they cool?!!?

Alrighty, Christmas is officially over now.

This Christmas was so much fun!! We loved having a little one to celebrate with this year. I'm already looking forward to next Christmas when P-Man will be 18 months. How fun will that be?? I'm going to have to figure out how to keep Pearson out of the tree but it's still going to be so much fun!!

Oh, and I already bought 3 Christmas presents for next Christmas. I am determined to finish my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving this year!!

story time with pearson

2012-01-06T22:40:00.002-06:00

I love it when Pearson "reads" his books.

It makes the Kindergarten teacher in me very happy!!

He just sits and stares at each page. I love it!

He was so interested in The Mitten today.

It's a great winter book. My Kindergarteners always loved it.

I'm pretty sure Pearson loved it too!!

Can't you just see him saying......

Will you read it to me now Mommy?

gettin' in shape

2012-01-05T21:37:00.003-06:00

Matt gave me some new running shoes for my birthday. They are Nike+ shoes so I got the Nike+ chip to go with them for Christmas!!

I'm having so much fun setting up my work outs on my phone. It's neat to be able to know how far I'm walking and how many calories I'm burning. I haven't worked out since early November so I'm trying to get back in the swing of things by taking some long walks with little P and the pup.

This app will be nice when I start the C25K program. I still haven't decided when I'm going to start it. I don't want to start until all the really cold days of winter are gone, but I'd like to run a 5K before summer when it gets really hot.......so who know when I'll start!! For now I'll just continue to take longs walks and do work out videos at home.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other health/fitness related news.........all my baby weight is officially gone!! I totally forgot to post about his before Christmas. The week before Christmas I went to my last WW meeting for the year and I had lost 12.4 pounds for a total of 8.25%. This morning I weighed and I lost my final pound to put me back at my wedding weight!! I'm soooo incredibly happy to be back to my normal weight. I'm still going to go to my WW meetings this semester to keep me accountable to maintain my weight.

Now it's time to get toned up and in shape!!

puffs & sippy cups

2012-01-04T20:22:00.000-06:00

Somebody got to try Puff today for the first time!!

If you hand him anything he puts it straight in his mouth. Today when I handed him a Puff he would not put it in his mouth for anything.

Once I put one in his mouth for him, he figured out that he was supposed to put them in his mouth.

He LOVED them.

I'm so impressed that he can grab them and put them in his mouth.

Are those little fingers not the cutest thing ever?

They don't always make it into his mouth. They get lost sometimes and they also fall on the floor.

Any ideas on who waits underneath the high chair for crumbs??

He was entertained for a good 30 minutes this afternoon with Puffs!!

Not only did he try Puffs today, I've been giving Pearson a sippy cup each day with a little bit of water in it.

How in the world is it time to give him a sippy cup?

He doesn't usually get anything out of it by himself.

So I have to help him tilt it up if he really wants a drink.

Even if he's not getting a drink, it keeps him pretty entertained.

He's a pretty happy camper just chewing on the nipple.

I'm happy to have new little tricks {puffs & sippy cups} up my sleeve.....

......but slow down little man. You don't have to grow up so fast!

of all the pictures

2012-01-03T10:00:00.000-06:00

When my hard drive crashed last week and I thought that I might have lost all my pictures I couldn't help but think about the pictures I would never see again. I knew that all my pictures that I had posted on my blog were safe and all the pictures that I had put on facebook were safe, but there were so many others that I just don't post online for whatever reason. Those were the pictures I kept thinking about. I couldn't bare to lose all of those pictures.

Thankfully, my external hard drive had everything back up so I didn't lose any pictures.

Of all the pictures I have {and I have tens of thousands}, do you know which one I kept thinking about??

I don't know what it is about this picture, but I love it. I think it just shows how teeny tiny he really was. I never posted it because I'm pretty sure I hadn't showered in a few days, I looked a little sleepy and my bra is hanging out. But if I lost this picture, I would have missed it sorely. Out of all the pictures I have, there is just something about this pictures that I love!!

PHOTO A DAY

2012-01-02T20:51:00.003-06:00

A friend posted this on Twitter and I thought this looked like fun! It's similar to Project 365 but just for this month. And I love how it tells you what to take a picture of. I don't even have to think!! That's my kind of fun!!! Ha!!! I'm going to be taking all my pictures via Instagram, just for fun, since I have the ap and never use it!!

Wanna join?

Here's my picture for today....

{day 2} breakfast

I'll be posting all of my pictures at the end of the month here on my blog, but if you want to see them daily, you can follow me on Twitter!!

meal planning monday

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

Monday: Taco Soup

Tuesday: Golden Mushroom Pork Chops, Potatoes, & Carrots and Salad

Wednesday: Talapia w/ Mustard Chive Sauce, Red Potatoes, & Green Beans

Thursday: Meatloaf Meatballs, Potato Casserole, Green Beans, & Salad

Friday: Chicken Poppyseed Casserole, Seasoned Brown Rice, & Salad

Saturday Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls

Saturday Lunch: Frito Pie

Saturday Dinner: Taco Bites, Chips & Queso

Sunday Lunch: Chicken Pot Pie

Sunday Dinner: Pizza

2012 resolutions

2012-01-01T19:35:00.002-06:00

It's officially 2012 so you know what that means!!!

It's time for some New Year's Resolutions. I feel like New Year's Resolutions are kind of "going out of style". Nobody likes to make 'em then break 'em so they just don't do them anymore. Well I'm old fashion and I'm going to keep making them. I like to use January 1st as a day to focus on what I want to do, things I want to accomplish, and/or things I want to quit doing. If I don't succeed at all of them, I'm totally okay with it. I just like to set goals for myself!!

Here were my resolutions from last year. Let's see how I did......

1. I want to read my 365 day devotional book and be more intentional about my time with the Lord.

**I was pretty inconsistent with this one all year long. I'm hoping to do a better job on this one since Matt and I are doing the ESV Study Bible Plan together.

2. Complete Project 365 by taking one picture a day.

**I did great January and February, but then I got really tired of taking pictures of food and my dog. Once Pearson was born, I'm sure I took a picture everyday, I just didn't take the time to upoad it onto the website.

3. Comment more on other people's blogs.

**I definitely did this. And I totally think the more you comment on blogs, the more comments you get on your own!!

4. Try one new recipe a week. (atleast until the baby comes)

**I'm glad I added the "until the baby comes" part to this resolution because I did pretty good until Pearson came along!!

5. Quit picking my finger nails. (I've quit picking 8 of them, since my pre-natal vitamins make them grow like crazy, but for some reason I still pick on both of my middle fingers! Funny huh?)

**Ahhhhhh I did so good on this one until recently. Pre-Natal vitamins did wonders for my nails, so I had them al grown out all throughout my pregnancy and even up until recently. I haven't been diligent in taking my vitamins lately and my nails are consequently not as healthy, so I've picked them all off again. Grrrrr.....stupid bad habit.

6. Continue to coupon and bring my grocery budget down even more.

**Eeeeeekkkk!!! I have completely fallen off of the couponing bandwagon since Pearson was born. I started getting frustrated with coupon earlier this year because of the stupid "Extreme Couponing" show on TLC. I feel like it has ruined couponing. I felt like everytime I made my list, gathered my coupons and went to the store everything was gone. So frustrating. Now that Pearson is here, I just haven't made time for it. I have got to get back on this because we are a single income family now.

7. Work out 2-3 times a week throughout my pregnancy and hopefully even more after the baby.

**I would say I did this pretty well until Thanksgiving! I worked out/went on walks all throughout my pregnancy, and as soon as I was cleared from my doctor to work out again I started doing videos and going on lots of walks with Pearson. Time to get back on track though!!

8. Floss my teeth.

**I just hate flossing my teeth and I just can't make it a habit. I've decided it's only neccesary to floss my teeth the week before I go to the dentist. It's just enough flossing to not make my teeth bleed when they floss them! Ha!!

Sara Cozad-If you are reading this, don't tell Ben I said this!!)

9. Write in our Blessing Book.

**Ooops....I totally forgot about this one.

10. Enjoy every moment of my pregnancy and cherish every moment with our sweet babe.

**I most certainly enjoyed every moment of my pregnancy and I have cherished every moment with our little guy. I definitely did the best on this goal!!

Here are my resolutions for 2012....

1. Read the Entire Bible!!
**Matt and I are doing the ESV Study Guide Plan on our iPhone along with our church. I'm so excited to have Matt to keep me accountable.

2. Run a 5K
**I have absolutely no desire to run a half marathon or marathon, but I think a 5K is totally doable. When it warms up a little I plan on doing a Couch to 5K program and put my new Nike Plus Ap to use!!

3. Project Life (or atleast my own version of it)
**I'm so excited to finally start this!! My SIL is also doing it, so I'll have a partner in crime!!

4. Organize
**I want to go through every drawer/closet in our house and get rid of stuff we don't need.

5. Wake up before Pearson
**I've gotten in such a bad habit of sleeping until Pearson wakes me up. I want to start waking up at 7am (which is around the time Matt leaves for work) and get things done before Pearson wakes up at 7:30 or 8:00.

6. Set 30 minutes a day aside to read (atleast 5 days a week)
**This is another goal Matt is doing with me. We want to set time aside each evening to just sit in a quiet house without the TV on and read. I haven't read a book in so long. I have no idea what I'm going to read. Probably baby/parenting books! Ha!

7. Read a book a day to Pearson
**Pretty self explanatory. Sadly, I haven't done a very good job of reading to Pearson. I have so many book and I am a former teacher. I have no excuse.

8. Get back into couponing
**We are a single income family now, so I have got to get back into couponing and saving money. It's time to get my grocery budget back under control!!

9. Utilize Pinterest
**I have so many pins and I don't do a dang thing with them. I want to make new recipes, put together new outfits, do crafty projects, plan Pearson's 1st birthday and lots more!!

10. Be a better wife, mother, daughter, & friend.
**I know this is a cheesy cliche resolution, but I really want to be a better person. I am so selfish sometimes and I just to work on putting others before myself more often. Can't we all try to be a better person??

january desktop

2012-01-01T10:00:00.000-06:00

top ten of 2011

2011-12-31T22:00:00.000-06:00

......in no specific order!!!

{Number One}

Sweet Little Monster

{Number Two}

Fussy Pants

{Number Three}

Squeaky Clean

{Number Four}

The Rangers Biggest Fan

{Number Five}

Pumpkin Pearson

{Number Six}

Grrrr....

{Number Seven}

My Little Turkey

{Number Eight}

Green Peas.....Ewww

{Number Nine}

That Smile Melts My Heart

{Number Ten}

Santa Baby

2011: a year to remember

2011-12-31T10:29:00.000-06:00

2011 has been an unbelievable year for us!! Obviously the best part about 2011 was welcoming our sweet baby boy to our family. There were lots of wonderful moments but nothing can top that!!

Here are some of our favorite moments from 2011.

We started the year off by finding out that we were having a baby boy!!

We had a huge snow storm where the schools were out for 4 days.

But we missed all the snow because we were on our Babymoon.

{a cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica}

My Mom and I spent my entire Spring Break making Pearson's bedding.

We traveled to Arkansas for Matt's cousin's wedding.

We had four lovely showers for Baby Pearson.

We had maternity pictures taken.

I finished Pearson's nursery.

I couldn't have been more pleased with how it turned out!

24 hours of labor, 2 hours of pushing, and a c-section later, we welcomed our son to this world.

Pearson Davis Link

7lbs 15oz.

21 1/2 inches

6.16.11

2:21am

We had family pictures made that I will cherish forever.

We had lots of lazy days in June because Matt was able to take off 3 1/2 weeks of work.

I started my new job as a full time Stay at Home Mom.

Pearson's cousin Olivia Reese St. John was born on July 26th.

We celebrated my 27th birthday, Matt's 29th birthday and our 3rd anniversary!!

The Rangers had an unbelievable season and came so close to winning the World Series.

Pearson's had his 1st Halloween.

Pearson took his 1st road trip to Austin, TX.

Pearson celebrated his 1st Thanksgiving.

We have watched Pearson grow and change.

Pearson had his 1st Christmas.

We enjoyed celebrating as a family of three.

We look forward to 2012 and all that it will bring!!

iPhone rewind {december}

2011-12-30T20:39:00.000-06:00

Here's some little snippets of our life according to my iPhone!!

Kisses from my little man!!

Short hair= No bed head

So proud of himself that he can finally sit all by himself.

Homemade chai tea latte

Who needs toys when you can just chew on tags!

Pearson loves his own remote.

Too cute for words!!!

Tammy and Sam stole my phone. Silly friends.

My little roly poly.

He going to be in everything!

1st time in the highchair at Chick-fil-A.

Naptime with Daddy.

Hey, how did you get under there?

All those toys, and he just wants to play with the basket.

Sleepy shopping buddy.

He wants to crawl SO bad.

Love my new TOMS that my parents gave me.

New Year's Eve Party Pooper

a night out with my boys

2011-12-28T23:13:00.000-06:00

So Matt and I were totally blessed by a sweet friend of mine tonight. A friend that I used to teach with called last week and asked if we would be interested in 2 Baylor tickets to the Men's Basketball game at the American Airlines Center and a free nights stay at the W Hotel in Dallas. Her parents had won the package in a contest and weren't able to use it so they wanted to give it to someone who could really enjoy it. If you know my husband at all you know he is huge Baylor Sports fan so we jump on board immediately.

We shopped around at Park Lane this afternoon, leisurely drove through Highland Park, then checked into the hotel around 4pm. I got my camera out to start taking pictures and of course, my battery was dead. I was so mad.....so iPhone pics for the weekend. Thank goodness for phones that take decent pictures!!

P-Man was loving the big King Sized bed!!

We got free WiFi for our stay!!

And we have a nice view of the city. (behind these curtains)

The bathroom is sooooo modern.

We literally walked right out of our hotel and right into the game!!

We had no idea that our seats were on the floor. Matt was super pumped about being so close to his Baylor Bears.

Me and my little buddy in his vintage BU gear watching the game. I actually had a great time watching the game. I can enjoy any sport when I'm right up in the action!!

See how close we were!!

We were so close that the refs could possibly hear all the stuff that Matt was yelling at them!!

Pearson was absolutely perfect for the entire game. The game started after his bedtime so I didn't really know how he was going to do. He took a nap before we left so he was so happy to look around at the players and the big screen. He was even being a little flirt with all the ladies around us.

The Bears won 54-52. It was such a great game. Matt was super excited for the win!! The game was on ESPN2 so we had tons of friends facebooking/tweeting/texting us telling us that they saw us on TV. One friend even said that Matt's reaction when the game was over was awesome!!

Such a fun night out with my boys.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to the Collins family for thinking of us and blessing us with a fun night out!!

pearson's first christmas

2011-12-25T22:34:00.000-06:00

Pearson actually slept later than normal on Christmas morning. He didn't wake up until 8am, which was nice, but it kind of made us have to rush to make it to church by 10:30.

Santa brought hand-me-downs this year. Pearson's cousin that is 2 years old passed down a great table top toy and riding/walker toy. We thought Santa could use the break and just give hand-me-downs this year!!

I was surprised that Pearson could sit on his toy so well.

He really liked all the buttons on it. I can't believe he's going to be scooting around on it soon!!

He can't stand on his own, but he loved playing with his table top toy while I was holding him.

It won't be long before he can stand and play with it on his own!

Since we had already had two Christmas celebrations, Pearson knew just what to do with the presents.

Isn't he just precious in his little Santa PJ's?

We probably could have saved our money and just given him paper and boxes because that's what he seemed to love best!!

Christmas was so much more fun this year with a little one around. Matt and I had so much fun watching him open all of his presents.

Pearson's favorite present was his little tool bench. He loves all the lights and songs its sings. It is so cute to watch him play with it!!

We had such a great Christmas together as a family of three.

Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year, I toned down my big Christmas breakfast and just made Monkey Bread. Mmmmm....so good!!

We had to get ready quick for church but we made it. Thankfully we didn't have to go far because we went to church with with my parents here in town.

Merry Christmas from The Link Home!!

merry christmas

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from our little family to yours!!

twas the night before christmas

2011-12-24T22:30:00.000-06:00

Pearson is ready for Santa to come!!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

christmas eve

2011-12-24T20:30:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Christmas with my immediate family Christmas Eve afternoon.

Last year it was just Carson. This year there are three grandbabies!!

Each Christmas is just going to get more and more fun!!

Pearson knew just what to do with the presents. Rip it open and eat the paper!!

Carson is not into taking pictures this year, so I tried to snap a few when I could, even if he wasn't smiling.

We gave him a fun little mask and cape with a C on it, but he wouldn't look at me. He was being shy.

Pearson got lots of fun things, but he really loved playing with his guitar from his cousins.

Matt got an electric razor.

I got some TOMS and I love them!!

Matt and Pearson got a special present from my Mom and Dad. My Mom was in the attic cleaning it out and came across an old Baylor sweatshirt that my Uncle had given me when I was little. It is a little big, but it will be perfect for Pearson to wear to his first Baylor basketball game on Wednesday night!!

Thanks Lolly and Pops for all the fun goodies!!

After we celebrated with my family, my Dad's side of the family came over for dinner and gifts!!

Oma, Pearson, & Joe

Oma & Joe and the 3 great grandkids!!

All the celebrating wore Pearson out. He NEVER falls asleep when he is around people, so I know he was tired.

I went ahead and changed him into his Christmas PJ's while we were there. Isn't his little bum so cute?

We usually go to the Christmas Eve service but it just didn't work out this year, so I'm looking forward to going to church with my family tomorrow since Christmas is on a Sunday this year!!

christmas eve eve

2011-12-23T19:30:00.000-06:00

Friday night we drove straight from Arkansas to Nonnie's house for my Mom's side of the family Christmas celebrations.

Can you tell we look a little tired??

This was Pearson's first Christmas celebration and experience opening presents. He loved the ribbon.

His favorite part was eating the paper!!

Of all the fun things they got, all Pearson and Olivia wanted to play with was one of Carson's old toys!!

Thanks Nonnie for all the goodies!!

I'm glad we made it back in town for Nonnie's delicious chili, the abundance of desserts, opening presents and our fun Chinese gift exchange!!

a special visit to arkansas

2011-12-23T12:00:00.000-06:00

Matt's grandmother has been in and out of the hospital for the past few months. In the last few weeks, her health has really gone down so they moved her to a hospice home. We got a call Thursday night that she was not doing well at all, so Matt left work around 2pm and we were out the door headed to Arkansas by 3:30pm. Pearson did well for most of the drive until it got close to bed time. He screamed for about 45 minutes until he finally fell asleep. We got to Arkansas around 9pm and enjoyed spending time with Mema and introducing her to our sweet boy for the first time!! We got to spend some more time with her and Matt's entire family on Friday morning before we had to head back home. We are so thankful for the time that we got to spend with her.

Matt and Mema talking sports with each other before we headed home. I know exactly where Matt gets his competitive nature and love for sports!!

Four Generations

{Mema, Grandaddy, Matt & Pearson}

Pearson was worn out from all the traveling and staying up late so we couldn't get him to wake up for a picture, but we are so glad that we have a picture of him with his great grandmother to show him someday.

santa baby

2011-12-22T22:11:00.000-06:00

merry christmas from my parents

2011-12-21T21:53:00.000-06:00

My Mom made these cute little reindeer outfits for the grand-babies this Christmas so we decided to put them all in their outfits for my parent's Christmas card picture!

Here are some of the other pictures I took that didn't make the Christmas card!

Pearson says, "Mmmmmm Olivia's foot is looking pretty yummy right now!!!"

It wasn't easy getting a 3 year old, a 5 1/2 month old and a 4 month old to cooperate, but I think we got some pretty sweet pictures of the grand-babies!!

kidney stone.....

2011-12-21T20:50:00.000-06:00

So this is random......but I passed a kidney stone this morning.

Wanna see it?

I'm sure you probably don't, but I'm going to show it to you anyways!!

Pretty crazy huh?

I'm sure you don't really want to hear the story about it either, but I'm going to tell you anyways. It's my blog and I want to remember all the crazy little things that happen in our lives.....including the time I passed and kidney stone and didn't even know I had one.

So Monday afternoon I got a "catch" in my back. I had been sitting on the couch all day long helping a friend set up her blog. I just figured I had sat on the couch in a funny way and my back was just hurting. It kept hurting all throughout the day kind of off and on. I didn't really think much of it because I usually get a funky "catch" in my back once a year or so. No biggie. Well later that evening, we went to dinner with some friends. My back was still hurting off and on, but I wasn't in enough pain to leave dinner. After dinner we went over to their house and I couldn't seem to get comfortable on the couch. No matter how I sat my back just kept hurting worse and worse. I then started to feel nauseas. I had no idea what was going on with my body so I told Matt that we had to go home. On our way home, I seriously felt like we were driving to the hospital again to have a baby. The pain in my back was very similar to the back labor pains I had with Pearson. (Not as intense, but very painful.) When we got home, Matt had to put Pearson down for bed while I sat by the toilet feeling like I was going to throw up. I laid in bed with a heating pad on my back for quite some time. I was finally able to fall asleep but I'm pretty sure I didn't move a muscle all night because it hurt so bad to move. And to add to the back pain, I woke up with cramps. All day Tuesday, my back pain and cramps were off and on, so at this point, I really had no idea what was going on with my body. Wednesday morning I nursed Pearson in bed and while I was nursing I felt a really strong urge to go to the bathroom along with a really sharp pain. As soon as I was finished feeding him I went to the bathroom and heard a "ping" in the toilet. Sure enough a little stone had come out. I had never had a kidney stone but I thought that it looked like one. I got online to read all about symptoms and sure enough back pain and abdominal cramps are some of the symptoms. I called the doctor and told her all my story and she told me she was 99% sure that I had passed a kidney stone because all my symptoms were totally gone. She said I could have gotten a kidney stone for a million different reasons, but it could have very likely been related to my funky postpartum/nursing hormones.

So there's the story......I had a kidney stone. Kinda crazy, but in a weird way, I'm kind of proud of myself for enduring the pain and not even realizing what was going on. I guess having a baby increases your pain tolerance, because I'm pretty sure I would have had Matt take me to the hospital the first night that my back hurt so bad! Ha!! I'm hoping this was a one time thing and I don't continue to get them, because it wasn't fun.

boys boys boys

2011-12-20T19:48:00.000-06:00

Today Mr. Wes and Mr. Thomas came over to play with P-Man.

Wes in 9 months, Thomas is 7 months and Pearson is 6 months!!

Kristen (Thomas' Mommy) was my roommate in college my senior year.

Christie (Wes' Mommy) is a friend from church and was in the same sorority as Kristen in college.

I made tortilla soup for lunch and lemon whipersnappers for dessert! So yummy!!

When the boys played they kind of all did their own thing, but every now and then we would catch them interacting with each other.

Pearson was hogging all of his toys!

So Thomas just decided to play with his socks and toes!

Wes doesn't have a jumperoo at home so he was pretty happy to play in a new toy.

And he loved all the tags on Pearson's Taggie toy!!

Pearson was pretty happy to watch the other boys play.

We had such a great time eating lunch, catching up on life, talking about all thing Mommy, and letting our boys play.

They boys "played" hard, and really wore themselves out.

Around 2pm, we could all tell it was naptime!!

Thanks for bringing your sweet boys over to play!!

Pearson and I are looking forward to another playdate sooner than later!!

crashed.....AGAIN

2011-12-20T19:24:00.000-06:00

Do you remember 2 years ago when it crashed and I had to pay $800 to get all my data retrieved off my hard drive?

So my hard drive crashed AGAIN.

Well thankfully I learned my lesson and bought a external drive and I back it up often. Thankfully I backed it up on December 10th so the only things that were not backed up were pictures taken after that date. Luckily most of them were still on my camera or I had burned a CD of them.

On Tuesday computer had a random message pop up saying that I needed to restart it. So of course I did. When I re-started it, it wouldn't turn back on then it kept beeping at me. I had a bad feeling that my hard drive was possibly crashing.

I took it up to the Apple Store and I was really hoping that this dude could help me out but he couldn't.

He gave me the bad news that my hard drive had crashed, but he was super helpful in telling what I needed to do.

This time the crash cost us much less. I bought a new hard drive and installed it myself!! {Thanks to YouTube videos} I took it back up to the Apple Store to have the Operating System put back on then I put all my data back on by hooking up my external hard drive.

PRAISE THE LORD FOR EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES!!

If I wouldn't have back up my computer, the last time I had back it up was around September so I would have 3-4 months of pictures of Pearson's life. I have lots on facebook and my blog, but not all of them.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE learn a lesson from me AGAIN. Get and external hard drive and back up your computer NOW!!!!

meal planning monday

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

Monday: Dinner w/ The Havards

Tuesday: Pulled Pork Tacos, Rice & Beans

Wednesday: Golden Mushroom Pork Chops, Rolls,

Thursday: Goulash, Squash, & Salad

Friday: Dinner @ Nonnie's

Saturday Breakfast: Sausage Balls

Saturday Lunch: Sandwiches & Chips

Saturday Dinner: Dinner @ My Parents

Sunday Brunch: Breakfast Casserole

Sunday Dinner: Dinner w/ Matt's Family

6 month check up

2011-12-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I took Pearson to the doctor for his 6 month well check-up.

Since our appointment was at 8:30am Matt was able to go with us and just go into work a little late!

Our big healthy boy checked up perfectly. He's hit all his milestones and is growing right on his growth chart.

He weighed 16 pounds 14.5 ounces (50th percentile). He was 27 1/2 inches long (75th percentile). And his head circumference was 44 1/2 centimeters (25th percentile).

While we were waiting for the doctor to come in, he couldn't keep his hands off the paper.

He tore it to shreds and even got a little taste of it!!

Pearson had to get 3 shots and one oral vaccination. He cried pretty hard after his shots.

It just breaks my heart to see him cry. I'm glad Matt was there to help comfort him.

We go back to the doctor in 4 weeks for a flu shot booster, then our next appointment isn't until he is 9 months old. Thankfully there are no shots at that appointment!!

pearson {6 months}

2011-12-16T10:46:00.000-06:00

Dear Sweet Pearson-

How in the world are you six months old today? You are a half of a year and that is just crazy to me!! Who said you could grow up?? You have got to slow down little man!!

This month started off a little rough, as you were not napping well and were just down right fussy. Thankfully I think we have worked things out and you are just a joy to be around now!!

After we got through our rough patch, this month has definitely been my favorite. We are really seeing you grow and learn new things right before our eyes. It's so fun to see you accomplish new things and discover new things.

We definitely don't have to work as hard for your smiles anymore. You are just a happy baby and will smile for just about anybody. Now if we could just get you to smile for the camera!!!

You giggle at different things everyday. We haven't really found one thing that makes you giggle every time. We wen do get you to giggle it just melts our hearts. It's the most precious sound!!

You are still drooling and chewing on your toys like crazy, but we still haven't seen an pearly whites pop out yet. You LOVE to suck on people's fingers. If someone is holding you, that is the first thing you go for. And if you get their fingers in your mouth you "gum-down" on it so hard. When you get teeth, it's going to hurt!!

You are finally back to your normal sleep schedule. We put you to bed around 7:30. We lay you on your tummy, turn your sound machine on and you are out within 5 minutes. I am so thankful that you can fall asleep on your own at night. Every now and then you wake up once in the night needing your paci, but it's a quick fix, so I don't mind getting up for that. You sleep a full twelve hours most nights, waking up around 7 or 7:30am. There are some mornings that we find you in the exact same position that we put you in at night. You must be a hard sleeper!!

Napping has been SO much better this month. I still have to rock you to sleep, but it just take me 5 minutes tops, and you don't fight it at all anymore. You typically take your longest nap in the morning around 8:30. You usually nap an hour to an hour and a half. You then take a mid-day nap around noon and another nap around 3 or 4. One of those naps is usually about and hour and the other is about 30 minutes. Sometimes you take a long afternoon nap and someday you take a long mid-day nap. It just depends on the day! I'm so glad that you have decided naps are worth taking.

You have started to "talk" to us this month. You love to talk when you are in your high chair, when you are sitting on the floor, and when you are in your carseat. You are making some the "ga", "da", "ma" and "ba" sounds, but obviously you mean nothing when you say them. It's so sweet to hear you babble. I'm pushing for you to say Mama first and of course Daddy is pushing for Dada first. We'll see who wins. I'm sure it will be Daddy, since most babies say Dada first anyways!!

You have really started to love your jumperoo. You played in it well last month, but you have finally figured out how to jump in it and it makes you giggle sometimes. It's so cute to watch you play!

You still love to play on your tummy, however you don't stay in one spot anymore. You love to roll all over the place. One morning this month I laid you on the floor to play with your toys while I went to fix breakfast. When I came back in the living room, you had rolled all the way across the room! Also while you are on your tummy you pulled up all the way on your hand and you can scoot back and turn around. I'm sure it won't be long until you are crawling.

Speaking of new skills, you can also sit on your own now. You are an official sitter and you are too cute when you are doing it. You are so proud of yourself. You spend alot of the day sitting on the floor playing with your toys. I put them all in front of you and you just go from toy to toy. I think you would prefer to play with your toys on the floor than be in your jumperoo. It's so nice to set you down and know you can play contently while I get things done.

You celebrated your first Thanksgiving this month. No food this year, but you love all the attention that you got from our family!!

Our biggest change this month is that we have introduced you to solids. We started rice cereal about a week and a half after you turned five month. We gave you rice, oatmeal, barley, and multi-grain cereal (in that order). I did rice cereal just once a day for the first few days, then when I started introducing new cereals we started giving it to you twice a day. Two weeks after doing just cereal, I introduced you to bananas and then sweet potatoes. You loved both of them.

Today I gave you green peas and you didn't really care for them. We'll try them again tomorrow. I've enjoyed making your babyfood so far, but I'm not opposed to giving you store-bought food when we are out and about. You've done really great eating solids so far and I look forward to introducing you to lots more new foods in the coming weeks.

Since we've introduced you to solids, you've really gotten yourself on a great schedule. I am still nursing you 5 times a day but we have also added 3 meals a day. Your naps are way more predictable and I'm loving it!!

I love nursing you, so I rarely give you a bottle. I made a mistake and went about 4 weeks without giving you a bottle this month and when Lolly & Pops kept you last week you refused to take your bottle of breastmilk. So when your Aunt Nicole and Uncle Bryan kept you the other day I decided to give you a bottle of formula. You wouldn't take that either. You finally took a bottle of breastmilk on Sunday because you were so hungry. I've got to be more diligent about giving you atleast one bottle a week to keep you used to them!

We used to eat dinner at the island with you in your bumbo, but you are grabbing and reaching for everything so that doesn't work anymore. We have to eat at the table now so you can sit in your high chair.

Speaking of grabbing and reaching for things, you are starting to get into everything. If we are holding something, you want it! If you are close to something you'll do everything to get it. I can only imagine the things you are going to be getting into when you are actually mobile. You are going to be a busy boy.

You still do great when we are out and about. You love riding around in your stroller, because you love all the sights to see. It's so nice to be able to go places and know that you will be content. I went to dinner with a friend last night close to your bedtime and you were an angel. You sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time and had dinner with us! I'm so thankful you are such an easy going baby!

Pearson, you are our world. Life without you just wouldn't be complete. We thank God for you everyday. We love you!!

Love-

Your Mommy

{6 month Stats}

Weight: 16 pounds 14 ounces

Length: 27 1/2 inches

Head Circumference: 44 1/2 cm

Eating: nursing 5 times a day (around 7:30am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, & 7pm) along with 3 meals a day (around 8:30, noon, & 6pm)

Bedtime: around 7:30pm

Awake: around 7:30am

Naps: usually 2 1 hr- 1 1/2 hr naps and one cat nap (30 minutes) around 9:00, 12:30, and 3:00

Diapers: size 3's starting December 11th

Clothes: 3-6 months, 6 months, and a few 9 months and 6-12 months

Favorites: eating, sleeping on his tummy, playing with your toys, bathtime, when daddy gets home

Latest Tricks: rolling all over the place, sitting on his own, jumping in his jumperoo, entertaining himself with toys

Look how you've changed.

so I was wondering.....

2011-12-15T16:59:00.000-06:00

So I was wondering.....

Do you think Santa will come see me even if I don't eat my green vegetables?

Yuck!!

Those things are nasty!!

Nasty, nasty nasty. They even made me gag.

I guess I'll try them again tomorrow though and see if I like them.

breastfeeding doesn't suck

2011-12-14T19:00:00.000-06:00

**Warning: This post is about all things breastfeeding, so if you don't want to read about it then don't!!

I've been meaning to do a post on my thoughts and advice on breastfeeding for quite some time now, but I just keep putting it off. Since we are nearing the half-way mark of my goal {one year} I figured I better get on it!! This post is all about my experience with breastfeeding and some of my favorite things. I want to share this so that it can possibly help others to be successful with breastfeeding too!

I thought I would start this post off with a funny video I saw when Pearson was first born!!
My Mom was extremely successful with breastfeeding me and my brothers, so before I was even pregnant I knew I wanted to breastfeed my children someday. I really wanted it to work for me so I spent lots of time talking to my Mom about it, asking other Mom's questions, reading about it, and going to classes about it. You would think that since breastfeeding is so natural that it would be easy, but let me tell you......It is not easy!! It eventually gets easy, but it is very difficult in the beginning. I had an extremely hard time in the beginning and came across just about every problem you can have with breastfeeding. I told my Mom multiple times that if I wasn't so passionate about being successful at breastfeeding I would have already quit. There were lots of times in the first few weeks where I could totally see why people quit breastfeeding so early. I hope that if you are a new Mom or a Mom to be that this post will help you be successful with breastfeeding. If you have any questions please let me know!!

Here's my 5 pieces advice on breastfeeding......

1. Educate yourself on breastfeeding.

Don't be afraid to talk to a nursing Mom about breastfeeding. I would say most nursing Moms aren't shy about it and actually would love to talk about it. Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions.
Read books about breastfeeding. I read Nursing Your Baby By:Karen Pryor & Gale Pryor and on a lighter note I read If Your Boobs Could Talk By: Shannon Payette Siep & Adrienne Hedger {So funny!}
Go to a breastfeeding class at your hospital and drag your husband to it. It was a 3 hr night class and we learned so much. They gave lots of great handouts that I used a ton when I was first breastfeeding. I was glad that Matt walked away knowing all of the same information. It was helpful in the beginning to have Matt remind me of some of the things we learned in our class.

2. Invest in good bras.

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I could already tell that my boobs were getting bigger. I was uncomfortable in my regular bras so I decided to go ahead and invest in nursing bras to wear the remainder of my pregnancy. I bought 4 bras at Motherhood Maternity and 1 at Target. I loved the one from Target to sleep in and wear around the house, but it was not a good daily bra. I decided to wear just one of my Motherhood Maternity bras for daily wear until after I had Pearson, and I'm so glad I only wore one, because I ended up hating it for nursing and took the other 3 back. All of the Motherhood Maternity bras have underwires, and you aren't supposed to wear underwires while you are nursing. Also, because they have underwires, they don't unhook and fold down easily which is so annoying when you are trying to nurse.

Here is a list of the nursing wear that I have and love....
The Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra {purchased at A Mother's Gift in Plano Presby}
This is my favorite bra, I wear it just about everyday. It's super comfortable to nurse in, but it looks great under your clothes too. It has great support and it actually feels like you are wearing a real bra.

The Bliss Nursing Bra {purchased at A Mother's Gift in Plano Presby}
This is my second favorite bra. I wear this one during the day and in the beginning I wore it at night as well. It doesn't have as much support as the first bra, but it still okay to wear with clothes as it has privacy pads in it. It so soft and smooth that it feels fine to sleep in it as well.

Target Nursing Sleep Bra {purchased at Target}
This was the first nursing bra that I bought. I bought it before I had Pearson to have a bra in the hospital. It worked great for the hospital, but there is no support and it is very thin. When I sleep in a bra now, this is usually the bra I wear.

Seamless Convertible Strap Nursing Cami {purchased at Motherhood Maternity}
Love, love, love these tanks. I have one in black and white. Before breastfeeding I almost always wore a tank over my bra just so you couldn't see my bra through my shirt. Well, it's kind of annoying to wear a tank and a bra when you are nursing, so this is the perfect tank because it's a nursing tank that feels like a bra. There isn't a ton of support, but it doesn't just feel like you are wearing tank. You actually feel like you are wearing a bra. It's great because you can just let it hang out the bottom of your shirts like it's a tank and you can even cross the straps in the back if you want to wear something razor back! I haven't found a razor back nursing bra, so this was perfect for me this summer!!

**If you live near Plano Presby, you can go to A Mother's Gift and get fitted for nursing bras. It's best to go after your milk comes in because that is when they can measure your true size. If you are delivering at Plano Presby, you can get 20% off of all their bras. The ladies that work there are so knowledgable and super helpful. I highly recommend A Mother's Gift.

3. Be prepared with breast care supplies.

Lansinoh Lanolin

This stuff works miracles. Pack it in your hosptial bag and apply it after EVERY.SINGLE.FEEDING whether you think you need it or not. Trust me you do not want cracked/bleeding nipples. It's extremely painful. You don't have to wipe it off for the baby to nurse and just know that it is very greasy and it does stain your bras. If you don't want to stain your bras be sure to wear nursing pads underneath your bra.

Lansinoh Nursing Pads

I used these nursing pads when I was still using lanolin. They are disposable and very comfortable and discrete. I think most nursing Moms have to wear nursing pads for a while so that they don't leak, but I have never had problems leaking so I don't wear nursing pads.

Lansinoh Soothies Gel Pads

These little guys are expensive but I highly recommend them. . When your nipples are extremely sore in the beginning these gel pads feel so good. They have a cooling effect that really helps take the pain away. You can only reuse them for a day or so, but they are so worth it.

4. Invest in a pump.

Pump In Style-Advanced Backpack

This is the pump that I have. I bought it used from a friend and then bought all new parts (about $25). Sadly it's on it's last leg and isn't very efficient. But it does work if I need it too. I mainly used my pump in the beginning when I had really sore nipples. I would feed on one side then pump on the other to give one side a break each feeding. I also used it when I got clogged milk ducts. I would feed Pearson then pump and massage my breast to try and get the clog out. I don't know what I would have done without my pump in the first few weeks. If you plan on going back to work, I recommend buying one of the nicer pumps. If you are planning on staying at home, I don't think it is neccesary to have a fancy pump. If I would have had to purchase a brand new one, I think I would have just bought a single electric pump. I hate pumping, so I rarely use my pump. It is just not necessary for me to have a fancy one if I don't even use it. Also, know that you don't have to buy a pump before you have your baby. You can rent from the hospital then when you decide if you need one, and if you do need one, whether you need a simple one or a nice one. I have heard of plenty of people that buy a $350 pump then 6 weeks later quit breastfeeding and have a pump they barely used.

I used these Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage bags. I used a few other kinds and these were my favorite. {Just a tip, when you freeze your breastmilk, lay bag down flat like a pancake to freeze. After it is frozen, you can stack them up easier to store in the freezer than if you freeze it like the picture above.}

5. Don't give up.
Breastfeeding can be very hard in the beginning, but it DOES get easier. I promise. It's frustrating when you feel like you don't know what you are doing, your baby doesn't know what they are doing, you are in pain, and you don't even know if your baby is getting enough to eat, but don't quit. If you can get through the first 4-6 weeks, you'll start to feel like you know what you are doing and after that, it just gets easier and easier. If you are feeling frustrated or feel like quitting, call someone and get help. I called my Mom, my friends and the lactation nurses at my hospital plenty of times. Not only is breastfeeding best for your baby, but it's free, convenient and so rewarding. It's worth trying to stick it out.

If I can help you in anyway, please let me know!!

And I'll leave you with this.....

10 reasons why breastfeeding doesn't suck.

{via The Bump}

1. You'll feel far less crazy (we promise!)
A study of postpartum mamas found that those who breastfed their babies showed far less anxiety and more mutuality at one month postpartum than those who didn't.

2. It lowers the risk of childhood cancers
One study found the risk of childhood cancer in formula-fed children was 2-8 times that of long-term breastfed children. The risk for short-term formula feeders was 1-9 times that of long-term breast feeders.

3. ...And breast cancer in mamas!
Get this: If women who breast fed for less than 3 months were to stick it out for 4 to 12 months, breast cancer among parous premenopausal women could be reduce by 11%. And if they stayed with it for 24 months or longer, those risks could be reduced by nearly 25%.

4. Smart kids rule
Studies show that breastfed babies have significantly higher IQs by 8 years old than babies who didn't breastfeed -- even after adjusting the stats for differences between groups and Mom's educational and social class.

5. You could save on braces
The longer you breastfeed, the lower the liklihood that baby will suffer from malocclusion -- aka a fancy word for misalignment of the teeth and dental arches.

6. It cuts down on childhood obesity
Breastfeeding has long been tied with reducing the rate of childhood obesity, regardless of Mom's diabetes or weight status.

7. Allergies and ailments are no biggie
Respiratory wheezing, influenza, diarrhea, allergies, and eczema are way less common in breastfed babies -- think about all those trips to the doc you won't have to make!

8. It saves lives -- and government money!
If just 90% of US mamas breastfed exclusively for 6 months, not only would an estimated 900 babies live, but the United States would save $13 billion per year. (Yep, $13 BILLION.)

9. Oh, and it'll save you a ton of cash, too
Believe it or not, formula supplies for just six months can cost upwards of $1,000.

10. You'll fit into your skinny jeans faster!
Breastfeeding burns an average of 500 calories a day. Yes, really. Need we say more?

**If you are/were a nursing Mom, feel free to chime in your advice in the comments!! I'm sure new Moms and Moms to be would love the advice!

my funny boy

2011-12-13T21:01:00.002-06:00

Oh my goodness, Pearson is getting so fun!!

Now that he can sit up on his own, he is so content to sit on the floor and play with his toys. For the past few days he has gone to the same toy and does the same thing with it every time.

It just cracks me up, so I had to get it on video!!

Pardon all the crummy iPhone videos lately. It's all we have.

I think it is time that we invest in a real video camera.

{Hint, hint, wink wink....honey!!}

bananas & sweet potatoes

2011-12-12T21:13:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago Pearson had his first taste of rice cereal. He loved it and he has loved everything else we have given him since then. He has also had oatmeal, barley, and mixed grain cereal. On Saturday he tasted bananas for the first time. I mixed it with his rice cereal. He loved it!!

Here is a video of him eating his rice and bananas.

**Warning: This video is a little long. I just thought grandparents might like to see it!!

Tonight I gave him sweet potatoes that I made with my Beaba!!

He got quite a bit on his face, but most of it went in his mouth. I think he liked them.

Here's a video of his first taste of sweet potatoes.

I think he is going to be a good eater and like everything, just like his Daddy.

I'm looking forward to letting him try lots of new foods in the coming weeks.

I've got homemade apples, pears, carrots, zuchinni, squash and peas waiting in the freezer. And I've also got store bought prunes, peaches, apricots and mangos to try.

Yummy!!

meal planning monday

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

Monday: Roast Beef Sandwiches & Tator Tots

Tuesday: King Ranch Casserole & Spicy Cornbread

Wednesday: Spaghetti & Meatsauce, Garlic Toast, Green Beans

Thursday: Dinner w/ Cinnamon

Friday: Leftover King Ranch Casserole

Saturday Breakfast: Sausage Balls

Saturday Lunch: Urban Eats w/ friends

Saturday Dinner: Chicken & Dumplings

Sunday Lunch: Last Sunday Lunch

Sunday Dinner: Pizza

merry "tacky" christmas

2011-12-09T20:18:00.001-06:00

We had our ABF Christmas party last night. Before heading to the party, we dropped the little man off at Matt's sister's house. We are so thankful to have family close by to watch him when we have things to go to!! Can you tell he was just about ready for bed?!?!

Obviously you can see by our attire that it was a Tacky Christmas Party!! The Crumley's (who I forgot to take a picture of) hosted our party and catered some delicious Mexican food. We also had a white elephant gift exchange. Good times!! It was definitely a fun night!!

{The Zellners}

{The Hjertstedts}

who announced they are having a baby due July 4th

{The Hutchisons}

{The Kennedys}

{The Hanks}

{The Hares}

{The Henrys}

{The Jones'}

{The Goodings}

{The Hoopers}

{The Bledsoes}

and Baby Boy Bledsoe coming in March!!

{The Hammetts}

{The Depues}

{The Janes}

{The Davis'}

{Julie & Sam}

the single ladies.....their husbands had to work :(

**not pictured: {The Howards} and Baby Howard due July 9th

Can you tell that our class is having a baby boom? We have 2 baby boys here {Pearson & Brody}, a baby boy and baby girl on the way, and 3 unknown genders on the way!! Yay, for lots of little friends for Pearson!! Who's next????

And just in case you were wondering......Matt is wearing a women's sweater and I am wearing button covers!! Awesome huh?

Merry "tacky" Christmas!!

our first santa experience

2011-12-08T21:34:00.000-06:00

Growing up I never went to see Santa.

I know, I know........it sounds terrible.

But it's not, because.....

Santa always came and saw us at our house!!!

{my 2nd Christmas}

My parents had a friend that dressed up like Santa and he would come to our house every Christmas. We would have no idea that he was coming and all of the sudden we would hear jingle bells and a loud Ho! Ho! Ho! in our front yard. Not only did Santa come, but Mrs. Clause came too! They were SO real to us. We loved them. We got to sit in our own chair at our house and tell Santa want we wanted. We got to spend all the time we wanted with him and my Mom and Dad could take as many pictures as they wanted. Santa even brought his toy bag and had it filled with Tootsie Pops. We got to pick one out before he left. I always remember when Santa came it just felt so magical. So when it was time to think about taking Pearson to see Santa, I didn't really know what to do or where to go.

I really wanted it to be a family experience, but after we missed the first two Saturdays I realized it was probably going to be easier to just go without Matt on a weekday. I was originally going to take him to the mall in Fairview because I had heard great things about the Santa there. I loved that there was a virtual line you could wait in and they text you when it's almost your turn. The down side was that you couldn't take your own pictures. I really didn't want to have to pay the $15 to get one stinkin' picture with Santa.

My sister-in-law, was taking her kids to see Santa at Northpark yesterday, so I decided to just tag along, and I'm so glad I did.

Here's my 2 cents {or 7 cents} of advice on going to see Santa.....

1. If you are a stay at home mom, go on a weekday, before big kids get out of school. It was pretty busy yesterday, so I can't imagine what it would be like on a Saturday or Sunday.

2. Be prepared to wait. Thankfully they have a pretty good system at Northpark, but you still have to spin your wheels for about 2 hrs. You can start getting tickets at 9am, but Santa doesn't start taking pictures until 11am. I got there at 9:35 and got ticket number 53. They said we would see Santa at around 12:30 or 12:45. So whether you get their early to get a ticket or come in the middle of the day, you are going to have to wait.

3. Have a plan for while you wait. You can obviously shop while you wait. You could go eat breakfast, run errands around the mall, take your kids to the trains, go to Santa's story time, etc. We completely left the mall and went and took Daddy lunch!! I think this will definitely be our annual tradition, because we are so close to his office when we go to Northpark!

4. Go with somebody. If your husband can't go with you, find a grandma, friend, sister, or sister in law to go with you. We found it very helpful to have one person handing the baby to Santa and one person clicking away with the camera. Santa doesn't really take any time to talk to the babies so it's fast and furious trying to get their picture. At one point I was still clicking away, and Santa said, "Okay, someone come get this baby!!" Ha!!

5. Pack their clothes. If your child is like mine, they always poop or spit up when they are all dressed and ready to go!! I put Pearson in some Christmas clothes for the day, but packed his "Santa outift" to change into right before the picture. If something happened in his "Santa outfit" he could have still worn his original clothes because they were Christmas-y too!

6. Take lots of pictures. Just click away and get as many of those cute little expressions as you can. I'm glad I had my camera and I'm glad I got lots of out takes!!

7. Give in a buy one of the professional pictures!! {see picture above}I said I wasn't going to buy one because they were $15.95 plus tax just for one measly old 5x7, but their picture was SO much better than mine. Their priority is not for you to get a picture of your child with Santa. They want to get the best picture so you feel like you have to buy. The photographer stands right in the way of you taking pictures and Santa is always looking at the photographer. Kids are always going to look at the photographer with the fun toys and the big flash, so the photographer always get the better pictures. I think they also make sure they get atleast one good one. I'm glad I bought it. I still take my camera every year to catch the out takes, but I think I'll just plan on forkin' over $15.95 for the professional picture each year.

And on a side note......

I know that Santa is not the reason that we celebrate Christmas, but we are going to do Santa at our house. It definitely won't be our focus and if Pearson ever questions if he is real or not, I'm not going to go out of my way to keep him believing. I think Santa is a fun little tradition to do while you children are young, but Jesus' birth will be our focus and reason we celebrate the season. I'm looking forward to Christmas' in the future where I can really do lots of Advent activites with Pearson.

dear santa.....

2011-12-07T22:06:00.000-06:00

Dear Santa-

I've been a really good boy this year. Well, technically it's just been 5 months and 3 weeks, but I've been good for all of the days I've been here. Next year I'll be good for the entire year!!

Here's what is on my Christmas list this year......

1. I'd like anything handmade by my Lolly. I'll take anything, bibs, burp clothes, re-usable snack bags, onesies, leg warmers, you name it, but I really want a new diaper bag with sports on it. My Daddy loves sports so I think he wouldn't mind carrying a sports diaper bag!

2. I'd like some Baby Einstein Videos. My cousin Ethan loves these and he said I would love them too.

3. I need some board books. I don't have very many. I would love this First 100 Words book. My Mom used to be a Kindergarten teacher so she really wants me to like books! She says you can never have too many books.

4. I need some new footy PJ's. I'm growing so fast that I already need the 9 month size. But don't get the kind with snaps, it takes my Daddy forever to put those PJ's on. I only like the zipper kind!

5. I would love a Fisher Price Swing. We have the perfect place to swing on our patio!!

6. I love to listen to music so I would love some Praise Baby DVD's.

7. These trumpette socks are my favorite. They are some of the few socks that actually stay on my feet, but all the ones I have are for little babies. I need these in the 0-12 month size.

8. Now that I can sit up I'm ready get out of the baby bathtub. I could really use a seat for my bathtub so I can sit up and play.

9. Speaking of playing in the bathtub. I really need some toys for the tub, I don't have any! Oh and I wouldn't mind one of those Ladybug bath caddies.....except they make a frog one for boys!!

10. My Mom says every baby needs one of these toys. It looks pretty fun to me!!

11. I really want an iPhone, but I have a feeling my Mom & Dad are going to tell you I'm too young for one, so I suppose this will do.

I think that is it, Santa.

Oh wait, don't tell my Mom, but I saw a few of my Christmas presents in her bedroom. I wasn't snooping. She just had them laying out. I thought I would tell you so you wouldn't get the same thing for me!! I got some new 9 month winter clothes and this puppy and this tool bench!!

It was good to finally meet you today, Santa!!

Love-

Pearson

lunch with my boys

2011-12-07T20:14:00.001-06:00

Pearson and I went to visit Santa at Northpark today.

{more on that tomorrow}

While we were in Dallas, we headed over to Matt's office to bring him lunch.

The last time we went to his office was 3 months ago. Look how much Pearson has changed!!

We brought him Chipotle again. Pearson didn't get any Chipotle, but he did snack on Daddy's nametag for quite a while.

We couldn't even get him to look at the camera because all he cared about was Daddy's nametag.

Love those chubby cheeks!!

Oh my goodness and I love those boys!!

Pearson checked up on some of Daddy's work while he was there too.

As we were leaving we took a picture with the giant Christmas tree in the lobby. It was huge!! And beautiful!!

What a fun lunch date!!

We are already looking forward to our next lunch date.....which might even be in a few weeks when we take gifts to all of his employees!

Eeeek.....I better get on that and get on Pinterest and figure out what I'm going to give them.

Any ideas??