Easy Cheesy Cajun Potatoes

Y'all know I only like to cook things that have lots of flavor, and these definitely have it. We love eating these potatoes with barbecued pork loin...but in truth, I could eat them by themselves! I have no pictures to prove to you they're not yucky looking...just...trust me. They're G-O-O-D.

Easy Cheesy Cajun Potatoes

• 4-5 Potatoes, peeled or unpeeled (I prefer mine peeled)
• 1 stick margarine, melted
• 1 envelope of dry onion soup mix (find this in the soup aisle in the box section)
• 3/4 cup water
  
• 1 Tablespoon Tony Chacheres (sp?)
• 12 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or just your favorite kind)

Preheat oven to 350*
Slice potatoes and place in 9x13 dish
Mix melted margarine, onion soup mix, water, and tony chacheres in bowl
Pour over potatoes
Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour
Uncover. Add cheese
Place back in oven uncovered until cheese is melted

Sisters & Their Kids

Kacie came to visit with Caroline this week and wow how she's grown! She looks SO much like Kacie, it's unreal. And can I say--what a good baby! She just sits and stares and rocks to sleep. She loves to cuddle and coo.

My little Drew was never like that! As soon as he could open his eyes well, he wanted to be bounced and jump around. Is it just the child or is it more girl vs. boy. I've heard lots of support for the latter argument, and I tend to believe that gender probably plays SOME sort of role for the majority of kids. (Although, there ARE outliers!)

Andrew got randomly called out of town Tuesday morning to Arizona so Kacie was kind enough to stay with me to keep us company. We had so much fun! (Do we ever NOT have fun?) The kids were great. We went out to eat with the parents, talked about black Friday shopping, and caught up on House, Heroes, and Twilight.) The great-grandmothers, grandmothers, and the Papaw had so much fun playing with these grandbabies!

*The pictures uploaded in random order. Enjoy anyway!*








(Seriously NEVER thought I would post a picture of me sans make-up. Then I decided "who cares?" I bet even Beyonce looks rough in the mornings.)






Little Kacie!

Halloween 2009 & Chuck E Cheese

I know I'm the last breathing blogger who hasn't finished blogging about Halloween yet, but I can't rest until I get it written down. (Okay, that's a lie. I've slept fine.)

On Halloween night we got the pleasure of heading to our neighbor's Halloween party/cookoff (Hi, Daphne!) As Andrew's mom, Debbie, and I were getting Drew ready for the party, Andrew decided it was imperative that our pumpkin get carved before the trick or treaters came to our house (where we would not even be located...).

The party started at 5. At 4:45, Andrew started carving his elaborate Scooby Doo Pumpkin. Ms. Debbie & I headed to the party sans Andrew at 5:30pm to enjoy DELICIOUS potato soup. Even picky little Drew partook in the meal. Andrew showed up about an hour later with a proud display of Scooby Doo Pumpkin iPhone photos. (Wish I had a picture to post. It turned out great!) *sigh* Husbands. Cant' live with 'em. Can't live without 'em. ;) (Just kidding, babe--love you!)

Instead of trick or treating this year, we decided to hit up Chuck E Cheese for the first time. Are we crazy or what? We thought it would be uncrowded, but we were wrong! Drew had a lot of fun, but mainly stuck to any game with a steering wheel.


Walking into a place like Chuck E Cheese with 200 sets of dirty hands and prevalent strains of the flu give me the chills. Good thing I had my handy dandy Lysol spray! Yep. I sprayed every one of those toys with Lysol before I let Drew touch them. Oh, I got laughs, but you know what? He didn't get sick from there, so it was worth the stares!

My verdict: we had fun, but Drew probably would have had just as much fun playing in our truck with the steering wheel. Andrew, however, got our money's worth. He had a BALL. I actually went to find him after 10-15 minutes of him being gone. Found him right where I suspected: the deer hunting game. Are we surprised? ;)

Trunk or Treat 2009 Pictures--Arrr Matey!

Last night's Trunk or Treat was a hit! Our family costume theme was "pirates" and our costumes were pretty cheap & easy. Drew's was store bought from Target ($12) and mine was pieces put together out of my closet. For Andrew costume, we bought a $10 black shirt from Marshall's and cut off the sleeves and neck. Made a cheap vest! We did spend $2 on his hook and $10 on his wig. It was worth it; he loved the hair! ;)

I don't have much time to go on about how great the night was, so I'll just give you a few pictures:









To see all of the night's pictures, click here!

Striped Tie Attire

Last night was the long awaited evening. After a trip to 2 separate Wal-Marts, I came home with my fabulous new sewing machine. I was so thankful the manual included instructions on how to thread a bobbin and a needle. I'm that type novice level.

I waited all afternoon to see Drew's tale-tell signs of naptime so I could throw him in the crib and...er, rock him to sleep and put him to bed...so I could start to work on project #1.

This has to be sewing 101 'cause it was so easy! There is an obvious flaw on the knot, but naptime is too short to rip out each stitch and start over. So the flaw stays! But besides that, how cute is my man gonna be?!


Thanks to Char for the instructions! And please go look at her site. She is so crafty it's sickening.

Weaned.

I had been thinking lately that it was probably time to wean Drew. About 6 weeks or so ago I really thought it might be the last time I nursed him because he was really showing a lack of interest in nursing. So, that night I took it all in. I tried to take mental photos of exactly how sweet my precious boy looked as he nursed. I remembered nursing for the first time, at 1 week, at 8 weeks, at 6 months. How he would kick his feet around and smile while he nursed. Beautiful memories no one can take from me. I cried and prayed and thanked God for such a sweet blessing.

Weeks went by and Drew suddenly became very attached to nursing again right before bedtime. I began to think I might end up nursing a 125 lb. 9th grader if I didn't put an end to this. But how?! Nursing was our crutch; it made bedtime so easy!

Well, last week Drew cut 3 more teeth. And seriously 5 more are peeking through now. That's 11 teeth plus 5 coming in that were joining us in our nightly nursing sessions. Last Monday night I bit my lip through it. Tuesday night's nursing session lasted about 1.5 seconds--long enough for me to get well acquainted with each tooth. I unlatched him and that was it. No turning back! He hasn't fussed once and has gone down for naps and nighttime beautifully.

The last nursing session wasn't exactly as I had imagined, but it was time! Breastfeeding was so hard in the beginning. I wasn't sure I would make it to 6 months, let alone a year. But then it became second nature and that time was "our" time--one no would else could replace it. I'm so thankful God gave me the opportunity to nourish my sweet boy for the first 15 months of his life. It's been a beautiful process!

(Now please bear with me as my hormones are going nuts and I'm eating myself out of house & home!)

Dallas- Day 3

Thankfully Drew slept in this morning until 9:30. Good thing since we were up from 5am-6am with one grouchy kid. We had muffins and juice in the hotel room, played with the vacuum (finally got a screwdriver!), and read books.

Drew started getting fussy so I decided he and I would get in the shower. Our hotel is awesome--but not kid friendly. We have one of those cool looking showers that has no door or curtain; it's only partially blocked to the rest of the room, so you can just step in and out freely.

(similar to this)

Drew was all over the "stepping in and out freely" part. I was so worried he was gonna bust his head-again! After we both got clean, I stepped out to dry off. When I turned around. my squeaky clean little boy was squatting....pooping right there in the shower floor. Ahhh! Yuck! I went to get a wad of toilet paper to clean it up. It took like 4 seconds. When I turned around, he was playing in it! I know, I know. TMI for most of you. He basically had to have another shower after that & I had to clean the poop deck.

It was so nice outside today so we eventually went out to the hotel pool. It was very relaxing & a nice change of scenery. My friend Hilary warned me that Texas always has a constant breeze, but I'd say it's more like strong winds! The wind blowing just never ends around here. It's pretty much useless to curl your hair unless you prefer it stuck in your lipstick from the wind!

Tonight we got to meet several of Andrew's coworkers, including 2 of his bosses. One of them was so sweet! He saw Drew in the lobby and got on his hands and knees and played with him! I was so thankful to this man for entertaining my bored child! Andrew & his coworkers went to eat and I made the decision to bring Drew back to the room; it was late, he hadn't eaten, and was getting really tired.

He's finally asleep now, and we're praying for no diaper leaks tonight! We're heading out in the morning around 10, hoping to make it back home before 9pm. I so look forward to my own bed and all of Drew's toys to occupy his time! Oh, and there's no doubt I'll be praying for a quiet ride home tomorrow! So long Dallas, TX!

Dallas--Day 2

Yesterday morning Drew and I had the hotel room all to ourselves for a lengthy 3 1/2 hours. We nearly drove each other nuts! And poor Drew--he was pretending to brush his teeth while I brushed mine and he slipped on the tile and hit his forhead on a piece of hotel furniture. He immediately had this huge gooseegg on his forehead. I noticed he had a little blood coming from his mouth. He wouldn't let me look to see, so I assumed he had just bitten his tongue or scratched himself with his toothbrush. 20 seconds later all the tears were gone and he was in a good mood again. While we love being here with Daddy and wouldn't want it any other way, we were more than ready for him to pick us up for lunch yesterday!

We battled the chilly day and ate Chick Fil A for lunch and then hit up Toys R Us. Since Drew and I would be in hotel confinement for several more hours upon our return, Andrew & I decided to try and find him a toy to play with. Do you know what we came back with? A vacuum with a detachable dust buster. This may only sound crazy to us because we just bought him a vacuum at home 2 weeks ago! But even though he already owns one 8 hours away, he pushed this one around the store and won our hearts over. He is now the proud owner of TWO vacuums.

When we got back to the hotel and Andrew headed back to his conference, I went to take the vacuum out and....needed a screwdriver just to get it out of the packaging! I guess Toys R Us is seriously protective of 18 dollar toys. So...we drove each other crazy some more.

Not long after that, Drew laughed with his mouth open and I noticed something looking really crazy on his left, bottom jaw. I can't even describe it except that it looked like he may have broken an uncut tooth in half and taken half his gums off. That's when I kinda freaked out. We know no doctors or pediatric dentists around here. I didn't know if I should call an urgent care facility or what! When we finally got a hold of Andrew he'd brought his boss, who is also an ER doctor, to see Drew. Thankfully, he said he thought it was just a large flap of his gums that had gotten pushed up. He said it should "flake off" soon. Ick. I was so relieved to hear it was just minor! Drew hasn't complained about it once! We headed back to the room to wait for Daddy for another few minutes.

It was about that time that I realized Drew had no pajamas for last night. Somehow in the rush of packing for TX, I layed out Drew's PJs and forgot to put them in the bag. What he's been sleeping in the past 2 nights got covered in chocolate milk yesterday morning so....off to town we went! We ate at Outback where Drew acted as tired as he felt. However, he was still long enough to eat almost an entire loaf of brown bread! Then....Target! Oh, how I love me some Target. I found two lamps I really wanted, but Andrew insisted on pajamas instead. (Party pooper.) In the end, Drew got Christmas pajamas. I figured, "Hey! I'm all about celebrating Christmas early. Might as well start in October!" So last night he donned his Christmas pajamas for bed. Good thing 2 sets came on the hanger because his diaper leaked last night. That meant he was in the bed with us. Have mercy! I don't think a California King would be big enough for Drew and us!

Dallas--Day 1

Aside from a few whines here and there, we made it to Dallas in 10 hours without any major complaints, mental breakdowns, or pull-my-hair-out sessions! That's a "win" in my book! I'm tellin' you--one of you out there who prayed for us must have it really good with the good Lord 'cause that's the ONLY way we made it here without a crying fit. I was literally stunned at how great Drew tolerated the drive. We broke out all of our "new" Goodwill books, magna doodle, new talking cell phone, bubbles, stickers, and a Walgreens basketball we got the day before; those pretty much did the trick!

I have to mention that Drew got to play in his first fast food playground in Little Rock during our lunch break. Mommy & Daddy both slid down the slide with him!



Our hotel is quite lovely! Egyptian cotton sheets and a flat screen TV (which hasn't been turned on yet) and a beautiful open tile shower. However, we somehow wound up with the hotel room whose bathroom door won't shut completely. So yeah, Drew's been caught playing in the toilet 5 times today. The last time I caught him he was this close to throwing the roll of toilet paper into the toilet bowl. That woulda been fun to clean up! ;) As I type now, he's asleep in his playpen (do you hear the angels singing?).

No, really. He's been a trooper! Today we got up and made our way across town to the children's museum. (And getting "across town" in Dallas is no small feat, might I add. The interstate system here is one in which to marvel!) Drew had sooo much fun at the children's museum...and I think Mom & Dad enjoyed it too. ;) We've decided to get our family a membership to Memphis' Children's Museum for this winter! (Pictures to prove how much fun we had..)


(This pretty much sealed the day as being great for Drew. The child has a love for all things "cleaning" related. Example: when we went out to eat tonight, there was a map mopping the floor. He went NUTS wanting to use the mop! He was fighting the other kids for this dust buster and vacuum.)


Sliding down the fireman's slide.


He really liked this John Deere tractor!


Andrew kept calling Bessie the Cow "Betsy the Cow." Just another reason I love him.



He really liked this pit of foamy blocks. Don't say it. We do NOT need a ball pit.


Okay so then we wandered into the adult museum. I found these huge bubble wands. Andrew was on the phone and saw my humongo bubbles and got so jealous. He was just itching at the bits to try it out.


Niiiice, honey!


Then Drew got in on the action!

Then we headed to TGI Friday's for a quick bite of lunch. Drew created a gift in his diaper for me, so I headed to the truck to change it. (No changing tables anywhere!) The door was open while poor Drew lay stark naked and half hanging out the truck with the wind blowing. Suddenly the "gift-covered" wipes fell out of the truck onto the ground, "face" up. Then the wind blew the door shut on my hip and leg! We were a sight to behold. It crossed my mind that if that wind blew hard enough to blow those wipes a few feet across the parking lot, that's where they'd stay! (No such luck--picked them up!)

Drew & I came back to the hotel for a quick nap. When he got up, he was ready to play. Our lovely hotel is awesome, but I don't think "child friendly" is a good term for it. We had to
get creative so I let Drew run up and down the 5th floor halls, ride the elevators, and play with the vending machines. Then we came back in the room and I let him climb in and out of the open shower, open and close doors, and play with the balcony door lock for a solid hour. I think we're gonna take that lock with us for the drive home.


Cracker Barrell was the top choice for dinner tonight, followed by a quick trip to Walgreens. I found Drew a $7 medical kit that will hopefully keep him occupied tomorrow. My plan was to travel Dallas, but uh...I don't think I can manage to get out of the parking lot here. Seriously. It makes my head spin and my stomach muscles tighten up. Memphis traffic doesn't hold a CANDLE to this place! So...we'll probably be dining at the hotel for lunch for the next two days. ;)

Overall....LOVE Dallas. It's beautiful! Lovely architecture. Green trees everywhere. People are SO friendly. My only suggestion would be to make these roads simpler! I'm off to think of hotel activities for tomorrow!

Blogger Widget Help

I've had a few people ask how certain features on my blog and how to get them on their blogs as well. Instead of rewrite it each time, I'm going to link it all up here! Hope this helps some of you!

• To put a cute signature at the bottom of your post, go here: My Live Signature (Pick a font, a size, the signature color, and a slope. It should then tell you you're finished. See all those little buttons for all the different sites? Click on the orange blogger button. If you enter your blogger user name, password, and blogsite, it will then add your signature for you!)
  

• To get a counter, there are several sites you can choose from. I chose: Site Meter. Why? It's free, easy to use, and breaks down where your visitors are from, how they got to your site, etc.

• To put the links to older posts at the bottom of each blog post: Link Within. This is fairly easy to use, but if I remember correctly, once you enter this very little information and click "Get Widget," it automatically puts it into your layout of your blog. So don't think it's not working when nothing happens! Go look on your layout to find it, then move it underneath the post section of your blog. If you can't get the colors to match up, contact customer service. They're fast and fix the problems quickly!

• Other cool stuff, including stick figure families: Widdly Tinks

Hope this helps a few of you! Happy blogging!

Finer Things

There are so many finer things to be glad for this week (one of which is not my keyboard which keeps moving the cursor all over the screen!):

1. Apple butter pancakes and chocolate milk with the whole family.
2. Independent play time. Hallelujah!
3. White pumpkins on the mantle
4. Not having to turn on the air conditioner or the heater during the day. Hello, savings!
5. Hearing Little Man say "Daddy"
6. A molar and canine finally cutting through the gums
7. Aunt Deda who kept Drew for 6 hours yesterday while I shopped/ran errands
8. Finding a dress I'd been eyeing for months on sale at half price!!!
9. Drew's new sleeping pattern...sleeping until 9-9:30am! Yes!
10. Rocking & cuddling with my little boy at night while he sings to himself.

Post Children Fashion Rules

I was at the store the other day during nap time, trying to hurriedly find an item worthy of my Kohl's bucks. After searching through every department and coming up empty handed, I spotted the perfect pair of boots in the shoe department. They were adorable, my size, and the exact color I wanted. How lucky can a girl get? I pictured myself cruising the mall, the movies, and restaurants with these cute boots on.

As I headed to the register, boots in hand, I thought, "Wait a minute. When am I actually going to have a chance to wear these boots to the mall, movies, or restaurant?! I haven't been to a real mall in ages, and I've been to one movie in a year and a half; eating at a restaurant usually means Drew's chewed up and spit out food ends up on my feet!"

Motherhood surely takes its toll on our fashion choices. Post baby, it seems there are different times that affect how we don our bodies. During breastfeeding days you must choose wisely: button downs and flowy shirts are good; one piece dresses and tighter fitting shirts are bad...very bad. Then you must consider matching your hooter hider material to whatever you're wearing that day. If you're pumping at work, you must choose clothing that comes off and goes back on easily...and is not too prone to wrinkling if you must hold that article of clothing between your knees as you pump in a public bathroom.

Then take the kids' runny nose days; you'd best wear something green so the nasal output blends in. Oh and just forget anything white or that says "Dry Clean Only." It's a waste of your time and money! And let's not mention jewelry choices post baby: namely small and nondangly...and indestructible to little hands.

So Clinton and Stacy, as you continue dishing out advice to mothers around the world to look cute and stylish while heading to the grocery store with kids-in-tow, just remember all the rules those mothers are having to abide by. And they're probably just lucky they got a shower and dry hair that day. Much less 3 inch heels and a matching cardigan.

Oh and just for kicks, I got the shoes. I decided I could wear them while I electronically, socially network with you all.

Dear Santa, Love Drew

I'm a planner by nature, so making my kid's Christmas wish list in October is right up my alley. He'll be 2 weeks shy of 18 months when Christmas rolls around, so I'm looking for toys in the 18-24+ month range. Any suggestions of toys you have for that age is greatly appreciated! So far we have:

Dusty the Vacuum Cleaner


or if I can find it, I'd prefer this one since it's more realistic...

iPlay Vacuum


Little Helper Broom & Dustpan

(Are you sensing a theme here? Little Man loves to help clean!)


Play kitchen and/or grill. Still haven't decided on a specific one yet. I want it to be: sturdy, durable enough to last through several kids, and have noises to make it realistic. I've read the Step 2 Deluxe is the best if more than one kid will ever use it.

(I'm also reading lots of reviews about Toys R Us giving a coupon out before Christmas for 20% any one item...Good thing!) Suggestions?



Play Food




Shape Sorter


Any small, play tent that can be "his" space. I think he would really love one!

Any other suggestions on things that hold your kids' attention span for more than 10 minutes? I'm all ears!!!

Ms. Priss Goes to the Pumpkin Patch...and takes her family with her

It's 12:07am and I have no clue as to why I'm sitting here with cats on my eyes, attempting to blog. I guess that will be my excuse if you find 20 grammatical errors in this post. ;)

Did anybody else get to pull out their long sleeves this last weekend? We had planned on going to a pumpkin patch with Andrew's mom which was located in Arkansas. Andrew's mom even made Drew an adorable pumpkin shirt for the occasion! We woke up Saturday morning around 8am, stopped for doughnuts (First ones we've eaten in over a year. Um, I had three. And I'm not ashamed.), and headed out on the 2 hour drive to a pumpkin patch.



So we got there, petted some stinky animals, rode around on little miniature tractors, and took the obligatory pictures. Drew had a grand time running amuck.



What a cutie!


Then his daddy wants to go and be the center of attention... ;)

Then we headed out past the donkeys and a pig to get on the biggest trailer I've ever seen sitting in the biggest pile of mud ever to ride to the pumpkin patch.

(Biggest trailer ever.)

Okay so we rode to the pumpkin patch. Does that sound weird to anyone else? All the pictures I'd ever seen of people taking their kids to the pumpkin patch consisted of kids sitting among piles of orange pumpkins placed conveniently next to the cash register. Not so in our situation! We headed out to the actual "patch" of pumpkins. And mud.


I clearly was not prepared to walk into the actual patch of muddy pumpkin fields since I had chosen to wear my brown suede flats. Instead of ruining my shoes, I opted to play the role of Mrs. Priss and keep my feet inside the trailer, taking pictures. Boy, was I a sight among all these other women! Let me break it down for you:

We're on this extremely long trailer full of hay being pulled by a tractor through the mud and muck. I so conveniently chose to sit right by the tires of the tractor. Three words: lotsa mud slingin'. My hair is blowing in my face and sticking in my lipstick while all these other country women had smartly chosen to ponytail it for the day. My sweater is just a little more than see through, and the wind riding down the highway doesn't make me much warmer. I'm really cold and shaking and am trying to wipe my kid's snotty nose on my new Gap sweater to keep it from being blown back into his hair. Andrew says rather loudly due to the engine noise, "Too bad it's not two weeks later! You would have been in luck 'cause I would have had my camouflage coat in the truck." "I don't think I would get that desperate!" I said, in hearing range of all the other country women on this trailer.

Then I took my cute brown suede shoes and shoved them down my throat.

They were all wearing camouflage. One lady was wearing a baby sling made of camouflage.

"Yeah, I only wouldn't wear it cause it wouldn't match these shoes, dear." Argh!

So then add to the fact that I didn't wanna get out in the mud to pick a pumpkin, and they really thought I was stuck up. Then it really didn't help that when I stayed in the trailer, I was "hollering" to my husband where the pretty white pumpkins were to pick for me like a little priss pot. Then I'd either yell to him that I liked it or hated it.


Trying to find the wife a suitable white pumpkin.

Sorry, ladies that I came off as a snob. I'm really not! So next year I think I'll just stick my hair in a ponytail and borrow the hub's camo to save myself the embarrassment.

Okay so ALL of that to say....we had a really good time overall! Drew had more fun than any of us, and really loved playing with his pumpkins. Here are all the pictures that couldn't fit into my crazy, snobby story:


This little guy was on clearance!


He doesn't think my joke is funny.




A fake picture of me looking warm and not snobby and my child's nose clean for 0.5 seconds.


Someone is impressed with pumpkins...






Daddy showing off Drew's new Mossy Oak camo boots from Uncle Austin!




Drew's scary face. :)



Overall a very good time at the pumpkin patch of 2009 with lots of lessons learned for mommy!

Happy 15 Months, Drew!

15 Months. And what a fun 15 months it has been! People never warned me of all the "fun" that comes at this point! Your personality is shining through more and more each week. You love to laugh and are almost always happy. However, this last week or so has brought out those terrible temper tantrums that have left us wondering if we would make it until bedtime!

No doubt about it: you are looking more and more like your daddy! You have his colored hair from when he was a little boy. Someone actually told us the other day that "he's too cute to be a boy!" which is the same comment Daddy got as a baby.


You understand so much more than you did last month! You make connections really well with music. For example, if I sing the song your zoo toy makes, you will run to the other room and get the zoo toy. If I sing the song your fridge farm makes, you'll go get it! You looooove to sing and dance. When we ride in the wagon (you finally sit down in there!), you just sing and talk to yourself. It's adorable! I only wish I knew what you were saying. No matter, I guess. It's obvious that you're happy & at this stage, that's all I care about! You sing e-i-e-i-o constantly. Yes, you finally added that "o" on the end! Your favorite song is one which I have no idea what the name is, but I was told you sing it all the time in nursery school and the teachers even figured out the tune. When I say you love to sing, I mean you love to sing! You get that from your mama. That'll be a good stress reliever later in life. ;)

You know what a dog and cat are and attempt to say it, but only mommy & daddy can understand it). You sign "all done" when you're finished eating (or just ready to get down and play) and it's so cute. You still sign "more" but not always at the appropriate time! You understand the words: cat, dog, ball, train, zoo, shoes, outside, "come on," no, scary face, down, bite, drink, bath, shhh, bye bye, nose, hair, and tongue.

Your newest obsessions are the broom, dust buster, and vacuum. You LOVE to help with those. And my walls are proof. ;) You even try to help dust with your own cloth. Is this a sign for the futre? Please say yes!!! We're already planning on telling Santa you want a kid sized vacuum and broom for Christmas!

Physically, you can now run (and do it often!) and even walk backwards! You also put your head flat on the ground and your bottom in the air so we'll push you over for a flip.

Your facial expressions! Oh they can melt me! When I tell you "no," you kinda hang your head down and give me these big puppy dog eyes and shake your head. I've laughed on more than one occasion. You make the funniest "scary" face when I prompt you. I've got to get it on camera. Your Granna & Papaw just ate that up tonight! You can show us where your hair is, what your nose does, and where your tongue is. We're working on ears right now, but you get that very confused with hair. Speaking of hair, you love playing with other people's!! You think it's funny to cover my face with my hair and then uncover it to find me making a silly face.

Eating troubles requires its own BOOK, much less post or paragraph. We'll just say you're VERY picky. What you like at one minute, you spit out the next. Most days, you live on goldfish, chocolate milk (your favorite in the morning), bread, and yogurt puffs.

What you WILL put in your mouth is anything that feels good on your poor gums. Your first molar finally broke through a little over a week ago. I see 2 others with white spots under the gums, so they should be peeking through any day now. One of your favorite items to chew is the oven mitt.



You would LIVE outside if we let you. If the words "shoes" is mentioned, you race to find a pair! (And while speaking of shoes, you're in a size 6/7 shoe!!) You're constantly standing at the door, reaching for the handle on your tip toes. I dread the day you are actually able to REACH the handle! You love your lawn mower, push car, and wagon. As long as we let you stay outside, there are very few complaints from you.

You are MISCHEVIOUS, little boy! Into EV-ER-Y-THING! You pull things off any surface, dump over laundry and trash cans, play in the toilets, play in cabinets, stick your hands through the space b/t the lock and the cabinet, turn on the bathtub water alone, climb up on your toys to get to the top of your crib, climb up people's stomachs....get the picture? ENERGETIC!!

You love to climb up Daddy to get to the ceiling fan pulls. You are absolutely giddy over pulls!!

Climbing to your destination.


Looks like Daddy got the bad end of that deal...

A lot of times your bursts of energy and curiosity get you in trouble and I spat your hand. Not hard. Let me tell you how much it hurts...you usually look at me and smile when I spat your hand. ;) Today you purposely turned your sippy cup upside down and mashed the spout on your tray to make all the milk come out (a new, annoying, favorite trick....*groan*). I looked at you and said, "Nooooo, noooo." You spatted your own hand and smiled while you shook your head. LOL. It was pretty darn cute! Some things that get you in trouble:


Opening the over drawer and climbing on the stove to unlock the oven door. You're too smart for your own good.


Climbing in the fireplace. This is a common occurrence.

While you're learning rights and wrongs, I'm learning how to have patience. What was I thinking last month when I thought I had acquired patience? I had no idea! Temper tantrums take it to a new level. I'm trying to not focus on housework so much while you're awake. While I encourage you to play indepdently, if it means I have to listen to you scream all day cause you want my constant attention, I just give it to you. It makes both of us happier and more sane! When things get really rough, we head outside! It's a "fix all."

What a fun month!!! This upcoming month, we'll be making our first long trip, your first trip to a pumpkin patch, and dresses as pirates for Halloween! Life with you couldn't be any better!!!


We love you sweet, boy!

Fall Decor Photos

My apologizes for going post-crazy the last few days. Guess I just have a lot to catch up on...and there's still more to come!

Just wanted to quickly post how the fall seasoning is changing our home. Fall is such an easy season to decorate for, is it not? Just add leaf garland or pine cones or the color orange and you've got instant warmth in your home. I declare that in my next house, I will have a dark orange wall!

Added leaf garland and berries to the topiares.



(The candelabra still needs candlesticks...two years after buying AND using it. I hang my head in shame.)


Just added orange berry twigs to my "dead stick arrangement" as Andrew calls it.




Berry garland on the large, takes-up-my-entire-living-room TV.


Thinking I might should have cleaned the legos off the table...Oh well. I'm human. ;) I know a lot of people don't like "fake greenery," but I think leaves and berries are held to a different standard. Kind of like Christmas trees....Love it or hate it, it makes my kitchen cozier.

I forgot the picture, but I also added twigs of berry garland to my kitchen shelves as well.

A cool front is coming in this weekend....we can't wait! Should be perfect for heading to the pumpkin patch on Saturday!

How cute is this giveaway?!

Shannon over @ Jelby's is doing a fantastic giveaway--probably my favorite item I've seen on her site so far! Cute fabric and girly....what's not to LOVE?

Dallas Bound

We've always known we were a bit loony, but now we know for sure. Andrew is heading to Dallas on business at the end of this month, and Drew and I have decided to join him. (Well, really, I didn't think I could handle this terrible stage alone so I told Andrew we were going, regardless.) This wouldn't be a big deal for most families--most families with great traveling babies, that is. Drew....not so much a good traveling baby. Actually a very poor traveler. So, please, for the sake of me not pulling all my hair out of my head on an 8 hour drive, please give me ideas of things to do to keep him busy!

I'm on my way to Goodwill's book store to pick up some "new-to-him" books since he loves reading in the car. Someone also mentioned a Mr. Potato Head that I'm going to pick up at Target. Anything else you can think of would be MORE than appreciated.

Temper Tantrum

As if I doubted that Drew was a stubborn, strong willed child, he has decided to prove it over the last few days. Two words: temper tantrum. Over EVERYTHING.

Can't play with the broom while Mommy sweeps? Tantrum.
Can't vacuum while mommy vacuums? Tantrum.
Can't go outside when it's raining? Tantrum.

You get the picture. Add that to the fact that I think I've said, "No, Drew" so many times today that my voice is hoarse. Add that to him getting into EVERYTHING: dishwasher, fireplace, cabinets (reaches his hand inside even with the lock), etc. Add THAT to the fact he "undoes" everything I just did: puts clean dishes onto floor, purposely spills chocolate milk on newly mopped floor, turns over stack of folded towels, drags clean clothes out of laundry basket and puts them back in the dryer, pulls things out of drawers that I JUST put in there. Makes me feel like....well...in one word....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that was said more than once today. The neighbors probably heard me. Good thing they both have 3 kids each.

So Drew and I both shed tears today on more than one occasion. Any other mom out there ever had one of these days? Thank you, God, for bedtime. Can I get an "Amen?!" How about some advice? Please...I'm willing to try anything short of beating him silly. Comment away.

Why Didn't I Think of This?!

Well, besides the fact that I have two left feet....



Hope this put a smile on your face! It did mine!