Home Alone

Well, Nick just left to pick up our dog Ginger at the vet.....$197 later and my brother just took Austin to OKC for 3 days! I am all alone in my house and not sure what to do. After being gone for Christmas and having company I really need to clean and put up all the Christmas decorations. Nick and I hope to go and register for baby girl...we are getting closer to narrowing down her name and purchase a new camera with our Christmas $ we got. We will probably do a date night tonight or tomorrow night. I have a pre-natal massage and facial booked for Friday afternoon and then Nick heads to OKC to the Thunder game with some OC college roommates and pick up Austin which means.....Friday night I have the house to myself!!! I thought about calling up the girls to plan a girls night out BUT I think I will just sit at home after my day at the spa and veg out. Sounds like fun huh? So needless to say, don't call me Friday night because I will be enjoying some time alone.

Christmas Pictures

We spent Christmas in OKC this year. We left a little early because we thought another ice storm was coming in so we were there for 4 days. We had a good time but were ready to come home and get back to our normal routine. Austin got up at 5am on Christmas Eve and stayed up all day! Needless to say he was exhausted by the time we got home on Friday.

Here are some pictures from Christmas.

In his new race car

HoHo came

Austin and Aiden having some race car fun

Austin fell in love with this Avon train at my Aunt Linda's house....until he finally broke it.

This is an Avon tree that he fell in love with at my moms....what is the deal with Avon toys? He played with this tree over and over...it has a train that goes around the tree.

Me and Austin in our Christmas pjs

Me and Nick on Christmas Eve

I had lunch with Kristie and Amanda on Christmas Eve day. It was fun reminiscing about the good ole days at OC.

Tagged

8 shows I watch:
Days of Our Lives...I know, it's sad....never miss an episode
Grey’s Anatomy
Private Practice
Biggest Loser
Rachael Ray
Dancing with the stars
American Idol
Mamma’s Boys

8 favorite restaurants:
Pei Wei
Chick-fil-A
Fuddruckers
Olive Garden
Chili's
Ted’s
Mahogany
Ken’s Steakhouse

8 things that happened today:
It is only 10am so…
Cuddled with Austin
Watched Days of Our Lives from yesterday
Fixed Austin breakfast
Let the dog out to pee
Talked to Nick on the phone after playing basketball
Called the vet
Opened my blinds…in my everyday routine

8 things I look forward to:
Watching Austin grow and talk more
Meeting baby #2
Going to the spa…thanks mom for the giftcard.
Debt free
Working out and dieting after the baby…want to try Jillian’s Wii game I got for Christmas
A playroom in my house
Live closer to family
Heaven

8 things I wish for:
To go to heaven
No more worries
Faithful children
Healthy children
To read the Bible daily
To go to the gym/work out more
To be less busy…able to say "no" sometimes
Happiness

8 people who I tag: Anyone who wants to!

One of my favorite moments captured

Most of you know that Austin goes 90 miles an hour most of the time. Well, yesterday he refused a nap and by 8:15pm he had fallen asleep on the couch with Nick. We hadn't put his pj's on yet and he had fallen asleep watching Polar Express for the 4th time this weekend. Austin has NEVER fallen asleep on the couch so this is the first. I haven't had a picture of my boys sleeping together since he was a newborn so I was shocked when I walked in to see this.

So Sweet!

Family came to visit

We weren't sure if our cousins from NC would be able to stop by or not but they we able to come by for a quick visit on Sunday. Austin hasn't seen his cousins, Hailey and McKenzie in 2 years! We are glad they were able to come hang out for a bit.

Nana and my brother in law, Kevin also came in for a short visit this weekend. Here are a few pictures.

Nana and Austin

Austin playing with trains

Hailey, McKenzie and Austin...they were so busy when they were here I couldn't get them to all be still long enough for me to get a really good pic.

The joy of Christmas cards

I love getting any kind of card/gift in the mail but at Christmas it is extra special because you get so many at once! I went out to my mail box on Thursday and had a ton of cards in the mail. I got the mail on the way out and just couldn't wait to get home to open them all. Anyways, thanks friends and family for sending us cards. We truly appreciate it. Here is our collection of cards this year.

2008 Christmas Cards

Pre-school Christmas Program

Our church pre-school had their Christmas program on Thursday night. Since I am teaching this year I had to supervise my 3 year olds so I was unable to get a picture of Austin on stage singing. Nick did however video the entire program but didn't get a picture:( He did get a picture of my class and then I got one of him with Santa after the program. Here they are.

Austin's first cookie making experience

So we decided that Austin was old enough this year to try to bake. It was fun but also a little frustrating because we wanted him to have fun but also wanted them to turn out. I think he thought he was just playing with play dough cutters but as long as he had fun is all that matters. Here are a few pictures from Friday night's baking experience.

Cookie Cutting

Yes, he has flour all over him!
And the cookie go into the oven.

The final product.

First Juice for toddlers

Here is a juice I just found out about called First Juice. They come in two flavors to try...banana carrot & apple carrot. It has less sugar then your average juice and it is organic.

They also come in a sippy that is BPA & phthalate free plastic! It is also reusable!"First Juice® Brand organic fruit and vegetable juice beverage is the first juice for toddlers that is lower in sugar than traditional juices, with 50% less sugar than the leading 100% juice. It comes in a re-usable 8oz. sippy-top, and a 32oz. refill bottle." Visit First Juice and see what you think. I am going to try it out.

Bunko in our pj's

I play Bunko once a month with my girlfriends at church. There are 12 of us that play and tonight we got together at Devin's to play Bunko and eat breakfast while wearing our Christmas pj's. I only got to take a few pictures as I was busy blabbing my mouth and playing. I was so glad to get out of the house since we have been stuck at the house the past 2 days due to bad weather. Here are a few pics from my fun night out on the town.

Yes, Shannon and I have the same pants on :) What can I say, we both know are fashionable.

Candice and Monica....my two dear friends.
Me and Ashley are due 1 week apart....I am not a big fan of this picture...posing sideways really does nothing for me. Our girls are going to be such good friends. :)

This is our Bunko tierra. Candice was not our Bunko queen but she wore the tierra because she won the traveler gift card.

Dogs get cold too!

Earlier this morning I was telling Austin how cold it was outside and showed him the snow on the ground. We put his socks on his feet and turned the fire on to make sure we stayed warm. He then proceeded to grab "my" blanket and cover our dog Ginger up. I guess he was concerned that she was cold although she will be inside with us for the rest of the day. I am sure he will continue to annoy her but she pretty much lets him do whatever he wants to her!

Maybe he will use daddies blanket next time?

Yeah, she doesn't look too excited here.

A trip to see Ho Ho

We went to Bass Pro tonight so Austin could see "Ho Ho". We weren't sure if he was actually going to sit in his lap but he was all about it, as you can see. He talked about wanting to go to Ho Ho's house the past two days so I guess that helped. Bass Pro gives a free 4x6 if you get your picture taken and then I did the editing at home. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

Austin with Santa

Playing with play dough=free time for mom

So yesterday when I thought I was going to pull my hair out, I asked Nick to take Austin for 30 minutes while I took a bath. He cried at the bathroom door saying, "Mama, Mama, Mama" over and over. I finally asked Nick to get the play dough out and told him it would entertain him for awhile. At the time I didn't care what he played with...just as long as I had a few minutes of freedom. :)

This is his favorite play dough shooter thingy. He is really thinking hard here and using those huge arm muscles.

He is using these stencils to make different shapes. Uncle Matt taught him to say "poop" as it shoots out. Thanks Matt!

He was asked to show his teeth here...not as cute as we had hoped.

Check us out!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Pay It Forward

and win a prize! This past week I participated in a Pay It Forward contest on my friend Jessica's blog ....and I won these really cute slippers from Old Navy! So now it's my turn to "pay it forward" with my premeditated act of kindness. Would you like to receive a fun gift and then give a gift in return? Here are the rules...
The focus of this is to do an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will, in turn, pass the kindness along and "pay it forward". I will send a small, fun gift to the first 3 bloggers who comment on this post. In turn, those three will post this information and pick 3 people they want to send something to and the game will continue! The little something you send can be something you made or bought...anything you want! Just a gift that will make someone's day!
So if you want to play along, be one of the first 3 to leave a comment and then promise that you will then post about this on your blog, link back to me, and then send something to the first three people who sign up to play along through your blog. If you're just a lurker out there who never comments, now is your chance. Let the games begin!

Enchilada Casserole

This has been one of Nick and I's favorite easy meals to cook....well I cook it and we both eat it :) Austin loves to help with preparing this meal because he gets to tear the tortillas in small pieces and be my helper. Here is the recipe and some pictures from last week when we made it.

Enchilada Casserole:
1 lb. ground beef
1 med. onion, diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 (10oz.) can enchilada sauce
1 small can of diced green chili peppers (optional)
1 c. milk
1/2 lb Velvetta cheese
1 pkg. soft flour tortillas

Brown ground beef with onion and drain. Mix soups, milk, enchilada sauce and green peppers (we eliminate the peppers) and add to the ground beef mixture. Spray 13X9 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Line pan with tortillas, torn in slices. Cover with sauce and top with cheese. Repeat. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I remove the foil after baking for 15 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Austin throwing the Velvetta on the ground

Tearing and eating some tortillas

Tearing the tortillas and throwing them in the pan....working on his basketball skills too!

Milk

Velvetta...yummy.

Can goods

Casserole before baking....I know it doesn't really look tastey but it is.

Good Christmas Song

So most of you know that Nick and I love going to Christian concerts together. It is just about the only hobby that we can do together that we both enjoy except playing the Wii. Anyways we went to see the Third Day Christmas concert last year and I fell in love with this song and wanted to share it. The lead singer, Mac Powell has an awesome voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0H8EFjvcyA