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!

My big boy

Little B and I got to come home early today (thank goodness, work was SO boring). He fell asleep in the car so I took him right to his crib when we got home. I checked on him once and he was laying down, I went back a couple minutes later and found this... my little monkey.

Stinky Birds

There is a walkway between the building I work in and the parking garage where I park. It's covered for weather purposes and has these glass tops that sort of bulge out for design purposes I guess. The last two winters I've worked here, I've noticed swarms of small and annoying birds that fly overhead in pursuit of berries or any other food from the bushes and trees that line the walkway. Well in this pursuit, you can only imagine these birds are all in a frenzy competing with each other. Whenever they're near I kind of duck my head in because I'm so scared of them flying at my face or even near me. Because of their frenziness (I think I just made that word up) they POOP all over the glass walkway tops. First of all, I'm glad those bulbous glass covers are there. Second, it's gross to look at. Third, (and the whole reason for this story) is that when it rains... the birds and their purple poop become VERY smelly.

On a side note, one of the VP's I sit near just sang "let's get ethical, ethical" to the tune of "Let's Get Physical". Wow... Wow.

1 MONTH UNTIL CHRISTMAS! Can you believe it!? This is me being excited.

I love us together. He makes me laugh.

Happy Monday!

This one is for Christina, and whoever else is a fan of Martryoshka dolls.

Well, it's Thursday again. Too bad it's not Friday. It's been quite the work week. It seems like everyone here is all stressed and grumpy and on edge. I don't like being around that too much. Well, okay- AT ALL. So, I honestly enjoy and look forward to my time with Ben at lunch. To break up the madness. Not only to see my guy, which is of course the best part, but there are other babies in his class that I really enjoy seeing as well. They've been in Ben's class with him since the beginning so I love to watch how they are developing and their little differences. Here are some pictures from the daycare!