A Weekend of Firsts

We had a busy weekend, what's new right? It was good though and well spent. Friday night we were pretty tuckered out from the week, which is usually the case, and so we rested. Saturday we woke up and took Ben to get his first haircut. My coworker Jen's husband is a barber so we took him there since it was someone we knew (kind of), and he's done lots of first haircuts. Ben sat on Daddy's lap the whole time and was a champ. Of course he's a wiggle worm, but we managed and he only kind of got annoyed once. Being the smart Barber Wil is, he suggested to bring one of Ben's movies, which helped a lot. Then daddy got his haircut, BUT since it was Ben's first, he got a certificate! We got to save some of his hair and tape it to the certificate.

Before and After!

Wil The BarberThen it was time for Ben's party! We got home and cleaned up the house the rest of the way, cooked and the troops started rolling in. We had a lot of fun, the weather was absolutely PERFECT, and Ben was really good! (He did get a 2 1/2 hour nap which really helped!)

Here was the cake eating. He liked the frosting a lot more than the actual cake of course. He was pretty cute.

Not sure why I decided that I needed to growl when forcing his hands in the cake... but whatever. Opening presents... look at how he's sitting! I love it!

After presents, he was pretty worn out... some people had left, we gave him a sippy with milk and he was OUT.

He also graduated to his new big boy car seat thanks to Nana! He really loves it and really didn't take much to adjust. He spends a lot of his time in the car with me, so I think that's why he does so well. He loves it though, it's a whole new perspective for him.

So it was a good weekend, we had fun! I'm going to bed now, because I went to bed late last night and I'm tired. Here's a little giggle to cheer you up if your feeling blue, or just to cheer you up!

The Ladies Man

I made it to Friday! Here is a true description of Ben in his daycare class, as he IS the only boy in his class. (I know... what are we doing to him already!) What's funny is Jiznin got us this shirt for Ben before he was even born! I guess it was predestined for him to be a "Ladies Man".

I am so excited! I am off early today, taking Ben to his 1 year check-up and then we get ready for tomorrow! AND it's supposed to be like 70 today! I am rolling down the windows and enjoying it!

*My mom told me I needed to put a disclaimer that I was feeling REALLY out of it yesterday when I wrote this.

• It Thursday. It's almost 3. I have a headache and just want to go home.
• Ben is standing a lot on his own.
• Someone is using vinegar with their lunch and it stinks.
• I want a Nano. My Mini is kind of old school... not that any thing's wrong with that. I like the green and orange ones. They're cute.
• It's nice out today. It's supposed to get in to the mid-70's this weekend too.
• I just bought a Midnight Dark Milky Way.
• I need to clean the house for the party Saturday.
• Ben gets his first hair cut Saturday morning by my co-workers husband who happens to be a barber!
• I'd really like a sewing machine someday. I'd like to start up a couple of small projects.
• I am STILL MAKING MY BLOG book! I decided after working on it for a while that I didn't like the background I chose, so I have to work on it even more. I like this one a lot better though. I just want to see it now though!
• I really love the song that Sting does called St. Agnes and the Burning Train.
• I'll be 30 in 9 days. Whoa.
• I am in one of those weird funks today where I feel like I'm in another world. I just feel so completely out of it.

You thought I wasn't going to post didn't you?

Well, we had a good and busy day yesterday. Pretty much the same as any other, and luckily Ben is too small to realize it. The real celebration of his first year (and us surviving it!) is on Saturday. There will be friends and family, presents and cake and I'm pretty sure he wont know what to do with himself. School was good, I think he could tell he was getting a lot of extra attention- but that's about it. I went to see him later in the afternoon and he was very tired and was kind of grumpy when I'd play with the other kids... hence the fake cry face he's making in the picture. He's a silly boy. The other little girl that has the same birthday as him (born in the same hospital) is in the picture with him. After work/school, we went to dinner with Nana & Poppy at Ryan's favorite place... but Ben likes it because he gets french fries and likes to lick the blue cheese off my finger that go with my wings! We got home and gave him his little presents and then gave him a bath and bed. Unfortunately it was 9 before he got to go to sleep, but luckily he took a two hour nap today at school. That meant me not getting to spend time with him though because he was sleeping during my lunch hour. But naps are super important for my growing guy.
Tonight we're pretty worn out. I put Ben down early to make sure he gets plenty of sleep. And it's not even 8 and Ryan's already asleep on the couch! I can't WAIT until Friday. I am working a 1/2 day and taking Ben to the doc! We'll see if it's time to get him in a front facing car seat! I really hope so, I hope he'll love it! Well... that's all for me.

Happy 1st Birthday to Ben!

I will take LOTS of pictures today and update the post later when the day is done. Here is the Birthday Boy this morning! I can't believe how fast a year has come and gone, and we all survived! What a blessing it is to have such a wonderful little person in our family. We love Ben so much and can't wait to see what kind of a person he develops in to!

Ben's 1st Birthday-Eve

I decided I wanted to blog everyday this week. Let's hope I can keep it up! It might not be much but I'm going to try! Yesterday it snowed (as shown in the previous blog) and also rained, and then froze overnight. So because of this, most of the school districts were closed today... kind of a waste if you ask me because the roads really weren't bad. There were a FEW black ice patches, but not too bad. BUT... we do live in GA, and people just aren't used to it I guess. Ben was the first in his class to get to daycare too, and I'm thinking a lot of parents wont be here at work today.

We had a pretty good weekend. Friday night Ryan and I got to go on our first date in a while. We went and saw Slumdog Millionaire and ate lots of junky food at the theatre all for free! We had gift cards that we hadn't used yet that we got for gifts when Ben was born. I realized we'd been to the theater ONCE before Friday night since Ben was born! (By the way, excellent movie!) Then Saturday we went and looked at trying to downgrade in the car dept to try and save money on car payments... but they tried to gyp us over with not such a good deal- so we told them no thanks. Then that night Delinda came over and hung out with us. It was lots of fun too. She got the awesomeness of cuddle time with Ben for his night bottle. And got to see his cute little bootie while he was crawling around naked right before bath time! Yesterday we went to Church then cuddled a lot when we got home and tried to stay warm while it was snowing. Then we went over to the Terry's and had hamburgers and played Rock Band. It was lots of fun. I rocked out Tom Sawyer, crushcrushcrush, and Alive. I only ever sing, because I'm afraid I'm too uncoordinated to do anything else- especially the drumming!

Anyway, it was a good weekend. We're now preparing for Ben's birthday tomorrow and party this weekend. We take him to get his first haircut on Saturday too! He needs it really bad and I'm thinking he's going to be a lot blonder and so cute! His ends are dark from when he was born, but his roots are a lot lighter. So it should be interesting! I pray for the forecasted warm weather for Saturday so we can do the cake eating outside. I can't wait to see how messy he gets! I wish my family could be here- I miss them all very much!

Here's video of our Georgia snow:

Happy March 1st!

Ryan had to take Ben out during Sacrament Meeting today because he decided that he likes the way he sounds when he yells really loud in the cultural hall. He came back in and said it was snowing, HARD. So we have a fun treat today! Makes for a nice, cuddly Sabbath! I'm glad it sometimes snows in Georgia. Key word here is "SOMETIMES".
(Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Samantha!)

Lions and Tigers and Bears! OH MY!

I really haven't been a good blogger lately. I am sorry. I really have no good excuses. No, I take that back... I have plenty of excuses, but who wants to hear them?

So... let's see. Where to begin. After filing our taxes the other day with the TAX MAN(name that movie!)... we found out that we could not e-file because someone had already used Ben's SSN to claim him as a dependant. "Uh oh" Is right Ben! Who that someone is- we don't know... but it's awfully rude and inconsiderate of that "someone". And also quite worrisome that our not quite 1 year's identity has already been stolen. Now we have to wait on an investigation and HOPE that it was a mis-type and that no one really tried to STEAL his SSN. I'm trying to be very realistic though and plan on checking his credit report. My sister said "he's a baby and he already has a credit report?" Right?!!!!

This past weekend we drove to Knoxville, TN to visit my lovely cousin Laura (Lulu) and her family. We left straight after work Friday. I kind of feel bad now looking back on it because I don't think I was myself this weekend and probably wasn't much fun for her. Usually I'd stay up late talking the night I got there- but tired me didn't even think about it and went straight to bed and didn't realize they had stayed up waiting for us to come down after we put Ben down to hang out. SORRY! I didn't sleep so hot that night, so the next day I was TIRED but still had a lot of fun. Laura kept asking if I was alright, and besides being tired I was fine! We went to the Knoxville Zoo and Ben saw some of his first of the Wild Kingdom. We saw Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras, Bears, Lions, Tigers (oh my), a baby chimp, birds of all kinds, gazelles, a hyena, and many, many more... it was fun! Afterwards we went home, Ryan jumped on the trampoline with the kids, we hung out and ate good food and watched a movie. The next morning we woke up to a thin blanket of snow and then it snowed a little in the morning. I loved it! Knoxville really is a pretty place... I could see myself living there. It reminds me a lot of where I grew up in Flagstaff, AZ. It was sad to leave that day... I wish we could have stayed longer- and I really still do feel bad that I was having an "off" weekend. I loved laughing and giggling and being silly with them though. It was a good trip!

I would be lying if I said that the state of the economy isn't worrying us. We are trying to make some very overwhelming decisions in our life to cut down on costs and what we spend our money on. Luckily Ben has started to eat more and more "big boy" foods and is now starting to transition over to milk instead of formula- so we should be able to save a few bucks on that. He's a big fan of french fries, waffles, goldfish, spaghettios, carrots, peaches, and noodles. And he LOVES Ranch or Blue Cheese too, I'll dip my finger in it and then let him suck on it and he does the coolest little tongue thing! It's hilarious! He'll eat the pureed stuff still, but isn't as interested in it. It's so strange realizing my little baby is turning into a little boy and will be walking any day now AND is almost 1 years old! He's got such a cool personality and is so fun to be around. Last night Ashley came over to hang out while Jacob was at the church and she and I were giggling and Ben thought we were funny so he started laughing and that made us laugh even harder, then he would laugh more and so would we.... it was funny and cute! I wish we had it on video. His two top teeth finally broke through, thank goodness. Those were a beast... much more uncomfortable for him than the bottom two. Sucks that he still has a whole mouthful left to go through!

Well, that's all for now I guess. We're off to go see the newest addition to the Tubb family tonight! Congrats to Cecilia and Aaron and welcome to the world little guy!

Picture Pages, Pictures Pages...

Here are some more picts I took from the weekend. Our boy is getting to be so big!

Fun with Biter Biscuits! It was time for a bath after that!Before:After: I would caption this "What mom?"

He loves playing at the front storm door. It's great fun for him.

My favorite is the one on the bottom left... I love his face he's making and his little hands pressed up against the glass! Too funny!

Enjoying the Outdoors... FINALLY!

We had a pretty darn good weekend. I spent most of Friday night and Saturday morning finishing up the editing of Ashley and Jacob's wedding pictures. Then we headed down to Piedmont Park (in downtown Atlanta for those not around here) to meet up with Cecilia and Aaron, which we never got to find unfortunately, and to take pictures of Ashley G. and Brandon for their Engagement announcements. Parking was a nightmare and there were SO many people there, like SO many- but it ended up being really nice. The pictures seemed to have turned out pretty nice and it was a beautiful warm day and Ben had lots of fun with his daddy. You could tell that it did him a lot of good to be outside and get some nice fresh air. Plus he's so content even just people watching from his stroller. He's a very curious kid. He was as happy as could be while we were there and pretty worn out (as well as mommy) when we left! Afterwards, we went to a pizza place for dinner after the Park and then went home and to bed!

It's kind of a nice change once in a while to head into the heart of the City. We are definitely in "The burbs"... so we miss out on a lot of the eccentric and unusual (and sometimes SCARY) people and sites that the city has to offer. These guys were just jamming out... making a little cash, enjoying the warm weather... playing their music. Made for a picturesque moment.

Sunday we went to church and on the way home stopped at little park in the middle of the neighborhood with a swing set and slides, picnic tables and bbq's. We got Ben on the swings for the first time, and he LOVED it! He already automatically started pumping the swing to keep it moving! He's a natural! Ryan is now motivated to get him one for our backyard!

I'm thinking (and hoping) he's going to be an outside kind of kid. He seems to perk right up when he's out there getting that fresh air. I'm glad for that. He gets that from me! Sunday night we got to go to Newnan to visit some friends of mine, the Grush's. It was so good to see them! Here are some pictures!On another note, the poor kid is getting his top two teeth in- mostly the one on his left side. This time has been more uncomfortable for him I think then the bottom teeth were. I always feel bad for the little babies that have to go through this- so that makes just about every baby I guess. I've reassured him a few times though that he won't remember this and this too shall pass. :) I don't know about you mommies out there with children with teeth, but my kid seems to get this AWFUL cough/cold thing every time and he just doesn't sleep well because of it. Anyone else have that problem? Because of all of this, he's been pretty sensitive the last almost two weeks now. I'll be glad when he gets those chompers in. Also, I've decided I need to stop worrying about him choking on things and really get him going on real food and not jar food. I also need to convince him of it too. He seems ready to chew things, I mean- he "pretends" to be chewing when we feed him, even applesauce! So I'm thinking he's ready. We bought some things for him to try out... now we just need to do it! We're also pretty excited to start buying real milk and not formula and not spending money on jar food anymore!!! We're counting down the days! He's also picked up saying "ball". We've been trying to catch it on video... but haven't been very successful, but it's freakin' cute!!! He says it like "bawl". I love watching his little mouth while he says it! Makes us both smile! We love it! Well, that's about it for now!

A Shower of Bullets

I'm sorry I've been such a horrible blogger as of late. Life has been one crazy thing lately. I decided to do my typical bullets type post today. I just have a lot of thoughts and this is easier to get it out.

• I, and several other people I know, are scared of Peanut Butter at the moment. Especially living in GA where the peanut farmers and plants that produce it are under scrutiny right now. I have a bag of Valentine's Reeses Peanut Butter Cups sitting in our snack drawer here at work that no one wants to eat.
• I just got back from the creepiest and weirdest doctor's appointment I've ever been to. This is me never going back there again.
• I hate that I don't get to spend more time with my kid during the day. He's turning into a little boy. Only 1 month away from his first birthday! I can't believe it!
• I am happy my sister's phone interview went well today. Now it's waiting for March to come to find out if there's a second one.
• I have the ginormous bamboo at my desk that has just grown to be a really cool plant. Well there are 3 bamboo stalks and each one of them have a really large shoot coming out. SO, I decided to cut one of the shoots off and stick it in the water with the others to see what would happen... so far we're okay. It's lookin' a little sad and yellow- but I checked to see if it had rooted today and it has! So that's good news right? I hope so... that took a long time to grow!
• I'm finding that I have to wear my glasses more and more each day and I hate it.
• IT'S COLD today. Like REALLY, REALLY cold. It's 30 degrees, but with that blasted wind out there if feels like 19. BURRRRR!
• I'm craving Indian Food right now.
• I need a vacation... in the Caribbean.... St. Johns maybe.... for like a week long... with my family and good friends....
• WE'RE GOING TO SEE DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE in May!!!! YAY! I am pretty darn excited about that.
• We're going to Knoxville, TN to visit my cousin Lulu in a couple of weeks. It's been since we got married since I've seen her and I miss her! I'm pretty excited.
• I think my bone that's near my hip (but isn't my hip) is broken or has arthritis or something that doesn't feel so good.
• I hate bills.
• I wish it was Spring.
• Our work decided to "Go Green" (which by the way I am SO sick of that term...) and now stock the break room with utensils made of... CORN. Corn people, utensils made from corn. And don't you think for a second that they don't add a funky taste to the food your eating because they do! I'm sorry but when I'm sipping my hot chocolate from my corn spoon, I don't want to taste it.
• I want to go home and go to bed. BUT... I can't until things are done. SO I'm just going to go home. And now.

my parents wanted to see another video, said the other wasn't long enough, so this is a whole 9 seconds longer!

Chasing Teddy Bears

It's official... I have the cutest kid ever. That's all. This is mostly for my parents, this is a game they always play with babies and they love it, obviously. And he thinks it's so silly and always laughs as I'm doing the "one step, two step..." because he knows that "tickle you under there!" is coming! I love our guy very much. It's so incredibly amazing and fun to watch him grow and learn and develop into his own little personality. I love how when he's sleeping he has to have a blanky or something soft to cover his face with, he's always done that I don't think he'll grow out of that for a while or maybe ever. He does this little thing were he'll cough twice and then he sneezes. He HATES his diaper being changed. When I say "you want to go night-night?" now he'll make this little whimper noise like "YES PLEASE!". He's growing up so fast and learning and changing into a little boy. Only one month (and a day) until he's a YEAR OLD! Holy moly!
It's also official that Ben isn't scared of much EXCEPT for dogs with pointy faces. She's not afraid of Ally probably because she's just always been around. And we thought it was just Delinda's dog- but we went to some friend's house last night for dinner and they have a mini-dachshund and he scared the poop out of Ben too. It's kind of funny... I know I shouldn't laugh... but it's just funny to see his reaction. The way he acts, it's like NOTHING will make him safe. I would say he was more afraid of Delinda's dog then theirs though.
Life is crazy of course, but all is well. We are blessed with many things and people in our lives. We just found out I wont be getting the much hoped for raise we thought I'd get this year, but at least I have a job. No one in the company (supposedly) will get one due to the way the economy is right now. We have had a pretty good weekend so far. Yesterday was filled with baby showers, shopping, Photoshop, errands, and dinner at some friends. Tonight we're going over to the Terry's to hang for some Super Bowl. I wont be watching it, but I enjoy the company! Much love to you all.

For those who have asked how I do the mosaics or the groups of pictures all together, I use this site. http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php. I'm not sure if there is an easier way, I've heard about and have unsuccessfully tried the Picasa photo thing... so give it a whirl! I think that only works on PC's for those Mac users out there.

Phew.

So we're all good now, for the most part. I still have some sniffles and coughing but overall we're good. Nothing too exciting to report. We just always seem to be busy although I probably couldn't pin point with what.

Tonight we're going over to our home teachers house for family home evening which should be fun and interesting. They just had their 5th baby, and they are super cool.

Here are some random videos from my phone today with Ben at daycare- mostly for my parents and family not close to my guy. He's definitely perked up and back to his happy playful self! SO glad! I'll have to get some video of him walking with his Walk n' Ride Lion. He does really well with it! I wouldn't be surprised if he started walking with in the next couple of months! Yikes! Ryan's ready, but I'm not!

My kid the bully.

ER Visit

Here is a picture of Ben and Ryan at the ER. That little mini hospital gown was the highlight of our evening, especially when Ben asked the nurse (using my voice of course) if we could take it home and she said yes we could sneak it in our bag. Hopefully our bill wont reflect that! We had a pretty cool thing happen that day though that I wanted to remember, we received a letter in the mail from a long time friend of my parents from California that day. In it she said she was going through some old mail and found a letter addressed and stamped from 2007 that she hadn't sent to us, when we got married. In it was a check for $100 that she rewrote up and sent to us!!! Score! When we got ready to leave the hospital that very night, the lady told us our copay was going to be $100 exactly. The Lord works in mysterious ways. How random is that!?

This was obviously after he had taken his no more tummy ache meds and drank all his Pedialite. He was MUCH perkier and had his color back.

WOW. We've had a tad bit of a stressful time since Friday. Ben had a fever at daycare of 101.2 so I had to take him home and decided to take him to the doctor. When we got there his fever had gone down and the doc told me it was just a cold. So we went home and fed him, got him in the bath and right when we got him out, he started throwing up. He threw up EVERYTHING we had fed him and then some and finally stopped. I tell you what, that is the most horrible thing to have to see- your baby pale and shivering because of throwing up and him not knowing what the heck is going on. He fell asleep in my arms and I was able to get him to take some liquid. He slept for about 2 hours and then woke up restless and shortly thereafter started throwing up again. This time he threw up the Pedialite and then starting vomiting mucus. He was lethargic and tired and crying and so we called the nurse on duty at our doc's office. By this time it was around 10pm. She asked me a series of quesitons and then had the doc call me, and incidently it was the one that had seen him earlier that day. He suggested we go to the ER at Scottish Rite. So we loaded the kid up and made our "fun" trip there at 10:30 at night. Luckily we didn't have to stay too long, he has an ear infection they hadn't caught and was a tad bit dehydrated. They gave him an anti-naseau pill and some Pedialite and he perked right up. We stayed for a little bit, then they let us go and by about 2am we were home and in bed. However, he has had a bit of a struggle wanting to take anything to drink. He finally started feeling better yesterday afternoon.
Ryan and I both came down with whatever it was he had on Monday. Luckily I already had the day off, but Ryan came home early to help me out with Ben because I was not doing so hot and about a half hour after he got there he got "it". We were pretty much out of commission the whole rest of the night. We have some of the bestest friends we could ask for, Jacob and Ashley came and hung out with Ben while we wallowed in our nastiness and took our turns in the bathroom. We are so grateful for them. We both stayed home Tuesday to recover. Ben still wasn't feel terrific and not drinking a lot, so for precautious measures we took him to the doc to make sure he was okay and he was.
Turns out just about the whole of Ben's daycare was sick with this thing... I personally am still recovering- it's taken all of us about 3 or 4 days to feel better. On top of that things at work are both stressful for the two of us and this was just not good timing. Oh well, such is life eh?

Going to the Temple and we're gonna get married...

Well Ashley and Jacob did it. They got married this weekend and it was WONDERFUL! I am so happy for them. And I had the honor of taking their pictures and my wonderful husband assisted me. They got sealed Friday and then had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner that night. The next day they had a ring ceremony and their reception. It was so sweet and special and I'm so glad we got to be apart of all of it and that we got to mark it down in history for them with the pictures! They are off to their honeymoon now, and I am off to fixing up and uploading the hundreds of pictures I took! Love you guys!

Happy New Year!

Wow, what a crazy beginning to the year for us already. I wanted to post pictures (or a mosaic) of our fun time we had New Year's with our friends before I forgot. Luckily, Ben slept most of the time. He wouldn't fall asleep in the crib we brought, but he DID fall asleep in his carseat! So we just put him and the car seat in the crib once he was a sleep. He was out like a light! Silly kid.

So I guess it's time to update on our Christmas events. We had a really wonderful Christmas. Not only were we blessed with the gift of something on our doorstep every night from a very generous Secret Santa, but the night before Christmas Eve someone from the ward called and asked if they could bring something by from the bishopric. I just assumed it was a treat that everyone would be getting... So while Ryan was out at Jacob's bachelor party; Ashley, my sister and I hung out. The brother from the ward dropped off the "something" from the bishopric and it was a GIANT bag of toys and books and things for Ben! I just kept thinking, "what did we do to deserve this???!" I felt and still feel very humbled and blessed for the generosity we were apart of. I will never forget that. I hope to pay it forward next year... or someday anyway.
Christmas Eve Ryan got home from work and we got some last minute things from the store and headed about an hour South of our house to his Aunt Vicky and Uncle Lanny's house. It's been a Christmas tradition for his family for a while. I love their home, it's so southern looking with the wrap around porch and a little creek nearby. Housed in the garage is Ryan's secret desire... his grandfather's 1996 convertible Mustang. He's hoping to someday get it. He has a lot of great memories of his grandfather who has now passed and that car.
We played Dirty Santa with the gifts we each brought... read the rules... it's different then you're picturing if your MIND IS IN THE GUTTER! :) Ryan walked away with the coveted gift of the night- a Atlanta Falcon's football jersey worn in a game by Jason Webster. Now neither one of us are really big fans of football or care that much about it- but Ryan's cousin Deana is a cheerleader for the Falcons and she said that the jersey could be sold on Ebay for a good amount of money. That of course caught Ryan's attention. So after it being stolen by his Aunt from his mom, then from his aunt by his Dad, Ryan got it! It was a fun game, the first time we all had done it. I think we'll keep doing that every year.
Christmas morning we opened our presents after Ben ate of course...it was fun to see my little guy have much more fun with the card board boxes, wrapping paper and gift bags then the actual toys. Although, he was a big fan of the book Andrea got him. We had a wonderful morning together as a little family, and then we were joined by my sister Delinda. We exchanged gifts and then ate breakfast together. She had to scram so we decided to veg out before heading over to Nana and Poppy's (Ryan's parents) house. We had yummy spaghetti over there and had a wonderful time opening presents. Boy did we get spoiled. When we got home, we got both my brothers and their families and my parents all on an iChat so we could "be together" on Christmas. Gotta love the Macs! It was good to see and talk to everyone, I was REALLY homesick that day. I love and feel we are so blessed to have modern technology...(but not as much you see...)!
Here is a montage of our fun holiday season! Sorry if some of the photos are repeats... deal with it! Next up, New Years!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Southwest Crab Dip! YUM!

So I made this for a bridal shower, and will make it tomorrow for the New Year's Eve party I'm going to. I almost had a heart attack thinking I'd lost it because let me tell you what... IT IS AMAZING. SO, to prevent from losing it- I'm going to type it out.
I got this from a Paula Dean magazine, the recipe is by Kelsey Brown. This is so NOT low fat...

SOUTHWEST CRAB DIP

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper
1/2 small Vidalia onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c dry white wine
2 c heavy whipping cream
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, cubed
1 (8 oz) package Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 pound lump crab meat, picked free of shells
1 4 oz can chopped green chilies
1/4 c fresh lime juice
1/2 minced green onion
1/4 c fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed red pepper
Garnish: fresh cilantro
Tortilla Chips

In a 4-quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add red bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes. Stir in wine, and cook until liquid is reduced by half, stirring frequently. Add cream, cream cheese, Velveeta, stirring until thickened. Stir in crab meat, chilies, lime juice, green onion, cilantro, taco seasoning, and chili powder; simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt and crushed red pepper. Garnish with fresh cilantro if desired. Serve HOT with tortilla chips.

*so, I didn't use the green onion or crushed red pepper and it still turned out awesome. I also used the bottled Lime Juice too. Also, since crab meat is expensive- I buy 1 package of the real stuff and then another of the imitation crab meat to save pennies.

I just had to write about the momentous occasion. I am 2 months away from being 30 years old and am actually wearing high heels for the first time in my life... to work. Outside of home.

Is anyone alive? Anyone checking blogs and making comments anymore? Or is it just me?

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells...

So I just had to share, I mentioned before we have Secret Santa's doing the 12 days of Christmas. Last night we got one of our FAVORITE of the treats/gifts they've been bringing. How cute is this? I am totally going to try it sometime! They're little Rudolph brownies!
I have mentioned before how much I love my boys. And I love how much Benny loves his daddy. Ben usually does the snuggling with me because Ryan is the "play guy", but last night Ryan got a special treat and they got to do the snuggling, I mean "hanging out" together!
Well, I am on vacation now and trying to release the left over stress from my hectic day at work yesterday. Ben's asleep, and now I need to either rest myself or wrap presents, clean the kitchen, make cookies, and do laundry. Hmm... that's a hard decision!

I am counting down the hours. The hours until I don't have to work anymore for the rest of the week! I wish I could say the rest of the year... 4 week days off is better than nuthin'! It is super COLD here today. Yesterday it was getting cold, and today it just hits you like a ton of... ICE! HA! We went from like 70-something degrees to this. I'm okay with it though, it makes it feel more Christmas-sy. Now I wish it would just snow, Christmas morning and that would make me happy.
Not much else going on. We went to go see some pretty lights at Stone Mountain, but we were GREATLY disappointed when after we paid $8 just to enter the park itself (parking, different parts of the park, hiking, etc.) we were going to have to pay $20 A PERSON on top of that. We said forget it, and went to dinner and watched "Scrooged" instead. We stuck it to the man.

Christmas is coming, the Heather's getting fat...

Well... one week away from Christmas time. Can you believe it? Do you have your shopping done? I have MOST of mine done... but Ryan informed me today he's only "looked". Better get on it babe!
We have been spoiled this year by a Secret Santa (I'm assuming from the ward). They are doing the 12 days of Christmas and have been so sweet to think of us, make us feel special and help bring the Spirit of Christmas to our home. I am sad we can't be with my family this year, it was supposed to be my turn for Christmas... but no money and no time off cause problems with that. If Ryan doesn't work, Ryan doesn't get paid! BOOOO. The weather hasn't helped us much in the way of getting ready either, it'll be 72 degrees tomorrow. A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS PEOPLE! I've got MOST of my Christmas cards out and am still waiting on some addresses.
Not much else is happening. Benny makes us laugh everyday, he's such a character. He loves to see what's going on and play and learn. He just explores, and with that exploration he's learning so much about things. How to pick up things, stand up, walk around tables, get on his hands and knees, he loves to get around so much. And because of that... he can fall asleep just about anywhere because he wears himself out so easily! He fell asleep sitting and watching everyone through the glass at the end of his crib yesterday. I am grateful for considerate teachers at his daycare who snap some of those moments I hate missing! I asked to be released from Primary. I tried. I really did. There is just TOO much going on in our life right now. And that one kid, as good of a heart as he has- just makes me a little bonkers! The Bishop kindly agreed and will be granting my wish, hopefully soon! Sunday, I was in sharing time with my class and BOY was already causing problems. My patience was growing thin and we hadn't even made it to our class yet. I decided to go ahead and let one of the presidency ladies know what was happening and that I possibly would need a parent's attendance. I prayed and prayed for patience and asked Heavenly Father how to handle it. Just then, right at the end of Sharing Time... a sister in the presidency got up and announced a toilet in the woman's restroom had flooded and they had to turn all the water off, and because of this we all had to leave. All I could think of was "THANK YOU HEAVENLY FATHER!" As silly as it seems, I really felt he answered my prayers!
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know I am grateful for this time of year. Christmas is my favorite holiday for many reasons. But I am most grateful for the Savior. I do not wish to go into all the personal reasons why, but I have a great testimony that He lives and that the atonement is real and that He loves us. I am grateful for this time of year to remember Him, and hope that the commercial side all of this (although fun) will not ever blind me or my family of this truth.
I leave you with my happy Benny and his cute chiclet teeth! Doing two of his favorite things, clapping and taking a bath!

This is for Grandma and Grandpa Collier... look at his cute teeth! Not the best quality- it's from my phone.

I am loving having the decorations up!

Finger Lickin' Good!

As Ryan said tonight "You've officially become a Southerner". I made my first fried chicken tonight. Not bad if I do say so myself. He photographed this momentous occasion! HA!

(Yes, that is a Penguin humidifier in the background...)

Big Ben

Ben has started to find interesting (and STINKIN' CUTE) ways to sleep!

He also has pretty much popped out tooth #2. We actually got a picture!

We went to his 9 month check up, and he's still a shorty (fancy that!) and has a big head. He gets that from the Collier side! We've been calling him Big Head Ben today. My mom told me I better stop before he gets a complex! He's doing wonderfully though and all is well!

Good Eatin'!

So I thought I'd offer up a recipe that me and my mom learned from Ms. Erin G. It's AWESOME and easy and tastes wonderful! It's a wonderful Sunday meal, and pretty much everyone likes it.

Italian Crockpot Chicken
Ingredients: 1 package Good Seasons Italian seasoning
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup (or I use cream of chicken & mushroom soup)
1/2 (soup) can of milk
4 defrosted, boneless chicken breasts, uncooked (or 2 chicken tenderloins per person)

Directions:
Combine sauce ingredients (seasoning, cream cheese, soup, and milk). (Sauce may not be smooth.) Put sauce and chicken in crockpot. Heat on High-3 hours, or on Low-all day.

That's it! It's that easy! We serve with either rice or egg noodles! I hope you make and enjoy!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

I've been a little bit on the fritz lately... poor Ryan and Ben. But mostly poor Ryan. Today I figured out why and what I needed to do to feel better and was cruising along much happier. Then I went and saw my Ben at lunch and I felt like I crashed again. I miss him! I know it's been 9 months (happy 9 months Ben!) but I'm still not used to leaving him and being okay with it all the time. Somedays, lets be honest, I welcome the break- but I always miss him. I even cried walking out of the daycare and it wasn't really because of anything in particular. He's just getting so big and I feel like I'm missing it all. He makes me so happy and I just love him so much and am so proud of him. His happy eyes and face make me want to be a better person and mommy. I am so lucky to have him! I know Ryan feels the same. It's amazing to me and such a miracle how he got here to this earth and that I got to and get to still be apart of his journey.

Speaking of getting big, he's moving to the next class up on Tuesday! That means crawling, standing and playing central! He's already having a good time in there during his half days there! You can see he's loving that little bike thing he's on! He didn't want to get off the whole time I was there with him!

We got our Christmas tree last night but didn't have time to decorate, so we'll be having some fun doing that tonight! I will post pictures tomorrow! Yay for Christmas!

Tell Me Why I Don't Like Mondays...

Well, back to reality tomorrow. BOOOOOO! I've already got the case of the Monday blues and it's still Sunday!
We've had an interesting holiday weekend. Ben's first Thanksgiving wasn't the GREATEST. It wasn't AWFUL, it just wasn't what either one of us are used to. I was NOT in a social mood and had a headache and there was family drama-rama. I sure missed my family a lot too. I hate not being near them during the Holidays, but such is life. And we made it through. The food was good and it was fun to visit with Ryan's extended family. Here are some photos from the group that were there. Ryan's parents, Aunt and Uncles, and his sister and hubby and kids, and a cousin of his and their kids.

It's also been a pretty LONG weekend (not that it's bad or anything) with Ben. He FINALLY broke through his first tooth, now we just have to patiently and lovingly wait until the other one breaks through. It's right on the verge, so hopefully it'll come through here the next two or so days. He's been a trooper and it could've been worse, there are times when he just wants to constantly wail... not the kind of "weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth" kind of wailing... just like yelling about his teeth hurting him so darn bad! I'll admit it, drives me a little batty after a while. Thank goodness for Tylenol and gum numbing stuff! And LONG naps. :) I have to say though, it's pretty darn cute seeing that little toofie.
I have started to put up my Christmas stuff... but I am waiting on the tree to really get into it. It's been raining all weekend, so we are waiting until it dries up a little. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! Stupid rain! I want to get it done before the weekend though, we're having a bridal shower here for my dear Ashley and want it to look nice! That's about it for now. Hope everyone had a splendid weekend!