I know I live a very charmed life when the downfalls of yesterday included:
* Realizing that corell plates are NOT shatterproof. In fact, a mere 3 foot fall will result in thousands of itty bitty shards of glass all over my kitchen floor and even on the top of my oven (How did that happen?)
* Parker caught his finger in the floor vent for the first time. Crying and bloodshed followed. Poor baby.
* Discovering that my DVR decided not to record the last 8 episodes of Sex in the City. I'm sooooo far behind now!
* I made my *delicious* homemade apricot cobbler from scratch for the second day in a row, only to have it once again turn out horribly. It was like a scrambled egg on top. No idea what I did wrong both days.
* Using the last of the apricots I froze this past spring and not being able to enjoy them.
At the end of the day, I told myself: It could be worse.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
What I'm Loving Wednesday
I'm linking up with Jamie again for her Blog Party!
I'm loving that we started remodeling our upstairs bathroom last week and are almost 90% finished. (8% of which is all the painting and finishing touches that I have to do. I really shouldn't be blogging right now!)
I'm loving that I got not one, but two new pairs of boots! Here's a pic of one of the pairs!
I'm loving that I bought my first pair of skinny jeans. Now I just hope they continue to stay in fashion for awhile!
I'm loving that when I opened my mail box today I had a hand written note from one of my besties!
What I love even more is that she'll know I'm talking about her when she reads this! (In case you think I get bombarded with decent snail mail on a regular basis, I'm talking about you, ADeidra!)
I'm loving that yesterday a woman from L.A. bought one of my slinky bracelets!!!! (Order yours at www.blingonastring.etsy.com) I'm going Hollywood, baby!
I'm loving that tonight is the season finale of Live To Dance!
Happy Wednesday, ya'll!
Friday, January 28, 2011
9 Months Old!
As usual, the time is just flying by at a rapid speed! But, a lot of exciting things happened during Parker's eigth month!
He began saying mama! Although I don't think he really knows that it's supposed to mean me. However, I'm not complaining!
He celebrated his first Christmas!
He got his second tooth!
He began drinking water from a straw sippy cup!
He said dada! And what's funny is that we happened to be on Skype chatting with my sister in China. I had just told her that we were working on him with saying it but with no success. Wouldn't you know Greg would walk into the room, I would say, "Parker, say dada" and he said it! I know my sister probably thought I was lying when I said he hadn't said it yet!
He had a special visitor one day! One of my best friends from high school stopped by on their way home from visiting some of their family in Colorado. Her little boys were very entertaining for Parker!
He had his first black eye. Obviously, I'm not proud about this one. I had all of his rattles and toys in the living room in a decorative metal bucket. I'm sure you can figure out how this story ends. Needless to say the decorative bucket now has a nice new home in our coat closet. Luckily, it was only visible when he had his eye shut. Everytime I tried to sneak a picture of him while he was napping he was laying on his tummy with that eye down on the mattress so I don't have any pictures of it.
I began using baby sign language with him! So far he hasn't signed anything back, and for the most part he thinks it's funny. If I ever want a big smile from him I just sign the word "sleep" and he thinks that's just a riot!
He began pulling up! Baby proofing is in full swing here at our house!
(Dontcha just love how my idea of baby proofing is to place pillows around the entertainment center?)
I added chicken, pears, and strawberrys to his growing menu.
He loves when I play patty cake with him and he has begun clapping his hands. It is just the cutest thing ever! He absolutely loves it when Greg places him on his shoulders. A sure-fire way to get him to stop crying is for Greg to do that with him.
He LOVES Shady. We have a little game that we play each night while I'm preparing dinner. Parker will be on the kitchen floor along with Shady (who seems to think I'll be dropping food on the floor for her.) Parker takes this to be that Shady is chasing him. So he will speed crawl to me and try to climb up my leg, all while looking at Shady and laughing at her. He is just the cutest thing.
His new favorite toy was a wooden spoon, but Greg thinks that's a dangerous toy so I have placed the wooden spoons back in the drawers where they belong.
He now LOVES going to the grocery store! I officially graduated him from the infant car seat to just riding in the cart.
Luckily we went to the doctors office for his well baby visit the day before he turned 9 months old, since the next day we were in Oklahoma. At that time he weighed 19 lbs. 7 oz. and was 28" long!
Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me in Oklahoma so here he is at 9 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day!
He began saying mama! Although I don't think he really knows that it's supposed to mean me. However, I'm not complaining!
He celebrated his first Christmas!
He got his second tooth!
He began drinking water from a straw sippy cup!
He said dada! And what's funny is that we happened to be on Skype chatting with my sister in China. I had just told her that we were working on him with saying it but with no success. Wouldn't you know Greg would walk into the room, I would say, "Parker, say dada" and he said it! I know my sister probably thought I was lying when I said he hadn't said it yet!
He had a special visitor one day! One of my best friends from high school stopped by on their way home from visiting some of their family in Colorado. Her little boys were very entertaining for Parker!
He had his first black eye. Obviously, I'm not proud about this one. I had all of his rattles and toys in the living room in a decorative metal bucket. I'm sure you can figure out how this story ends. Needless to say the decorative bucket now has a nice new home in our coat closet. Luckily, it was only visible when he had his eye shut. Everytime I tried to sneak a picture of him while he was napping he was laying on his tummy with that eye down on the mattress so I don't have any pictures of it.
I began using baby sign language with him! So far he hasn't signed anything back, and for the most part he thinks it's funny. If I ever want a big smile from him I just sign the word "sleep" and he thinks that's just a riot!
He began pulling up! Baby proofing is in full swing here at our house!
(Dontcha just love how my idea of baby proofing is to place pillows around the entertainment center?)I added chicken, pears, and strawberrys to his growing menu.
He loves when I play patty cake with him and he has begun clapping his hands. It is just the cutest thing ever! He absolutely loves it when Greg places him on his shoulders. A sure-fire way to get him to stop crying is for Greg to do that with him.
He LOVES Shady. We have a little game that we play each night while I'm preparing dinner. Parker will be on the kitchen floor along with Shady (who seems to think I'll be dropping food on the floor for her.) Parker takes this to be that Shady is chasing him. So he will speed crawl to me and try to climb up my leg, all while looking at Shady and laughing at her. He is just the cutest thing.
His new favorite toy was a wooden spoon, but Greg thinks that's a dangerous toy so I have placed the wooden spoons back in the drawers where they belong.
He now LOVES going to the grocery store! I officially graduated him from the infant car seat to just riding in the cart.
Luckily we went to the doctors office for his well baby visit the day before he turned 9 months old, since the next day we were in Oklahoma. At that time he weighed 19 lbs. 7 oz. and was 28" long!
Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me in Oklahoma so here he is at 9 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
What I'm Loving Wednesday
Click here to see what others are loving this Wednesday!
It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago I blogged about what I was loving that particular Wednesday. Little did I know that just a few hours after posting that blog my husband would receive an unexpected phone call saying that his Dad passed away.
It's strange how such a normal Wednesday can take such a drastic turn. Greg received a phone call that his Dad wasn't doing well after a surgery to remove a hernia. He decided to come home because he thought we may be making a trip to Oklahoma. I was completely unaware of what was taking place and was out running errands with Parker when I got a phone call from Greg asking where I was and when I'd be back home. I knew that his dad was having complications after his surgery but I never once thought it was something that was life threatening. However, I could tell in my husbands voice that something wasn't right. Once I got home Greg said he thought we should head towards Oklahoma, where his Dad lives. I frantically began packing and shortly afterwards we received the phone call that no child wants to ever get. His dad had a massive heart attack and passed away.
The 8 hour car ride to our grandmothers house in Oklahoma was long and depressing. It was also pretty quite since Greg was driving and I didn't want to ask questions and get him upset. I thought about what I had done earlier that day and inwardly scolded myself for blogging about something as trivial as a scrapbook.
Several days later we had the memorial for Carl. The chapel was packed and several friends and family members spoke about memories they had of Greg's dad. Some of the stories were humours while others were touching. Greg's dad lived on Lake Texoma and after the service that is where Greg and I headed to spend a week. During that drive I had more thoughts crossing my mind. In the end, I realized that I shouldn't have berated myself for blogging about something as simple as a scrapbook. Carl lived life to the fullest. And I realized that part of living life to the fullest is embracing the small things in life that give us pleasure.
With that being said, this Wednesday I'm loving:
That Greg had the honor of having his dad stand beside him at our wedding and proudly serve as our Best Man.
I'm loving all the fun memories Greg and I have with his dad at Lake Texoma.
I'm loving that we were able to make one of Carl's wishes come true: He became a Grandpa in April. The cherry on top of the sundae was that I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Parker. Greg was the last of our family name, and now Parker will continue to keep our name going. (Hopefully he'll have a wife who will give birth to four boys just to insure our name doesn't end soon!)
I'm loving that Carl drove eleven hours to meet his grandson when he heard I went into labor.
I'm loving that despite the distance between us, Carl was able to spend time with Parker on a handful of different occasions.
I'm loving that Greg and I will keep Carl's memory alive with stories that we'll be able to share with Parker as he gets older.
Happy Wednesday, ya'll! Enjoy and embrace today and make all the small things count!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
What I'm Lovin' Wednesday
I'm linking up with Jamie for her Wednesday blog party again!
I'm loving this brown paper bag scrapbook my sister had one of her friends send me! I can't wait to put some of Parker's pictures from his fall photo shoot in it and proudly display it for years to come!
I'm loving that The Elks Lodge is having a chili and dessert bake off on Friday night! (I'm entering a chocolate chip bundt cake!)
I'm loving threadUP.com It's so neat it deserves its own blog post, but there is a link on the right hand side of my blog so you can check it out for yourself!
I'm loving that we are going to Durango this weekend with some friends! What I'm loving even more is that we will be staying in a log cabin for FREE!
I'm loving that this was a MOPS week!
Happy Wednesday, ya'll!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
A Really Good Friend
I have a lot of friends, but the really good friends are sometimes hard to come by. Luckily, I have been blessed with quite a few really good friends. One of which I wanted to blog about today!
*You know you have a really good friend when you have a ton of memories that you can reminisce about!
*You know you have a really good friend when you can totally be yourself around them.
*You know you have a really good friend when you can still have a great time gossiping about people you went to high school with.
*You know you have a really good friend when you get "real" emails from them a few times a month, not just forwards and jokes.
*You know you have a really good friend when they send you cards that are always spot on.
*You know you have a really good friend that despite not having seen each other in eleven years there isn't any of that awkwardness when you finally do have a reunion.
*You know you have a really good friend when they spoil your baby.
*You know you have a really good friend when despite living in a different country you still know what's going on in their lives.
*You know you have a really good friend when they help to support your healthy habits.
*You know you have a really good friend when you know they forgive you for not emailing as often as you used too.
*You know you have a really good friend, who remembered that when I received amazing perfume for my birthday, that I was still a little tiny bit disappointed when I didn't receive the one that was at the very top of my list.
*You know you have a really good friend when they mail you an amazing Christmas present and all they are getting in return is a lousy blog post....and you know they won't hold a grudge about it! (right?)
I love you, Nora! Thanks for always being a really good friend!
*You know you have a really good friend when you have a ton of memories that you can reminisce about!
*You know you have a really good friend when you can totally be yourself around them.
*You know you have a really good friend when you can still have a great time gossiping about people you went to high school with.
*You know you have a really good friend when you get "real" emails from them a few times a month, not just forwards and jokes.
*You know you have a really good friend when they send you cards that are always spot on.
*You know you have a really good friend that despite not having seen each other in eleven years there isn't any of that awkwardness when you finally do have a reunion.
*You know you have a really good friend when they spoil your baby.
*You know you have a really good friend when despite living in a different country you still know what's going on in their lives.
*You know you have a really good friend when they help to support your healthy habits.
*You know you have a really good friend when you know they forgive you for not emailing as often as you used too.
*You know you have a really good friend, who remembered that when I received amazing perfume for my birthday, that I was still a little tiny bit disappointed when I didn't receive the one that was at the very top of my list.
*You know you have a really good friend when they mail you an amazing Christmas present and all they are getting in return is a lousy blog post....and you know they won't hold a grudge about it! (right?)
I love you, Nora! Thanks for always being a really good friend!
Friday, January 7, 2011
My 2011 Goals
For the third year in a row, it's time for my yearly goal list! (I can't believe I've been blogging this long!) Here we go!
1. To print, label, and organize all the photos that are on my laptop and place them in photo albums. Yup, it's appearing on my list for the third year in a row. I think I'm starting to get on every one's nerves about this now...but putting this out there really is helping me! Let's see if this is the year I can finally mark this one off the list!
2. To learn and use baby sign language with Parker. I probably should have started this months ago since he's almost nine months old, but I don't really know where to start with this. I'm hoping the library will have a book or two that I can borrow to learn some basic signs.
3. To use coupons. I was so inspired by the "Extreme Couponing" special that TLC did last week that I decided it was worth the time and effort to begin clipping coupons again. I actually went to the store yesterday and used coupons so I'm hoping I can make this a habit. I'm going to Wal-Mart today and will be buying the supplies I need to make my own coupon book to take with me on shopping trips!
4. To paint all the closet and bedroom doors in our house. When we first began remodeling our house our plan was to replace all the closet and bedroom doors with raised panel doors and to paint them white. Currently they are all the brown stained wood flat slat doors. My husband recently decided that since we won't be living in this house very long anyway, it really isn't going to pay us back to replace perfectly good doors. However, thinking about all the priming and painting I'll be sneaking in while Parker is napping already makes me want to pull my hair out!
5. To bake a pie. Two pies to be more specific. I actually love pies but have always been too intimidated to bake one. I have two favorites in mind: my mom's lemon meringue pie and my grandma's chocolate cream pie. Did I mention I plan on making the crust from scratch?
6. To contribute more to my family financially. Greg would love for me to find a well paying full time job. I would love to find a stay at home job so I don't have to put Parker in day care. I'm open to any suggestions!
7. To learn how to make spoon and fork jewelry. I have to say, I've been obsessed with spoon jewelry for a long time now. My mom can vouch for me! The other day I was doing some browsing through etsy and I was curious if anyone had a spoon jewelry store. Guess what else popped up. Fork rings! I was hooked. The next day I told my husband what he could buy me for my birthday (which is all the way in August). He asked what it was and when I said a fork ring and that it cost $150.00 he looked at me like I had lost my mind. But I promised him that it wasn't just a piece of jewelry....it was a piece of art! They are absolutely stunning!
I pulled up the rings and my husband said that he thought I should try my hand at making them myself. He even did a little research for me! I love it when my husband seems supportive of what could be a new jobby (job + hobby) for me!! I think it helps that since I would have to use some pretty heavy duty tools I would be working in the garage and my husband loves any excuse to hang out in the garage!
8. To begin working on my book again. Notice I didn't say specifically how much I would work on it! The only thing that is somewhat motivating me is when I occasionally overhear my husband talking on the phone to someone about my blog. He always tells them that I started writing a book and he doesn't know why I quit. Again, it's nice to know I have his support!
9. To host a few more Bling On A String trunk shows. I think this one is pretty self explanatory! To visit my store click here!
10. To finish The Harry Potter series. This one was on my very first goal list. And, sadly I still haven't finished the series. However, this is one goal that I'm cheating a little bit on. That's because I'm reading book 7 (the last one) right now! Sneaky, aren't I?
There you have it! What are your goals this year?
1. To print, label, and organize all the photos that are on my laptop and place them in photo albums. Yup, it's appearing on my list for the third year in a row. I think I'm starting to get on every one's nerves about this now...but putting this out there really is helping me! Let's see if this is the year I can finally mark this one off the list!
2. To learn and use baby sign language with Parker. I probably should have started this months ago since he's almost nine months old, but I don't really know where to start with this. I'm hoping the library will have a book or two that I can borrow to learn some basic signs.
3. To use coupons. I was so inspired by the "Extreme Couponing" special that TLC did last week that I decided it was worth the time and effort to begin clipping coupons again. I actually went to the store yesterday and used coupons so I'm hoping I can make this a habit. I'm going to Wal-Mart today and will be buying the supplies I need to make my own coupon book to take with me on shopping trips!
4. To paint all the closet and bedroom doors in our house. When we first began remodeling our house our plan was to replace all the closet and bedroom doors with raised panel doors and to paint them white. Currently they are all the brown stained wood flat slat doors. My husband recently decided that since we won't be living in this house very long anyway, it really isn't going to pay us back to replace perfectly good doors. However, thinking about all the priming and painting I'll be sneaking in while Parker is napping already makes me want to pull my hair out!
5. To bake a pie. Two pies to be more specific. I actually love pies but have always been too intimidated to bake one. I have two favorites in mind: my mom's lemon meringue pie and my grandma's chocolate cream pie. Did I mention I plan on making the crust from scratch?
6. To contribute more to my family financially. Greg would love for me to find a well paying full time job. I would love to find a stay at home job so I don't have to put Parker in day care. I'm open to any suggestions!
7. To learn how to make spoon and fork jewelry. I have to say, I've been obsessed with spoon jewelry for a long time now. My mom can vouch for me! The other day I was doing some browsing through etsy and I was curious if anyone had a spoon jewelry store. Guess what else popped up. Fork rings! I was hooked. The next day I told my husband what he could buy me for my birthday (which is all the way in August). He asked what it was and when I said a fork ring and that it cost $150.00 he looked at me like I had lost my mind. But I promised him that it wasn't just a piece of jewelry....it was a piece of art! They are absolutely stunning!
I pulled up the rings and my husband said that he thought I should try my hand at making them myself. He even did a little research for me! I love it when my husband seems supportive of what could be a new jobby (job + hobby) for me!! I think it helps that since I would have to use some pretty heavy duty tools I would be working in the garage and my husband loves any excuse to hang out in the garage!
8. To begin working on my book again. Notice I didn't say specifically how much I would work on it! The only thing that is somewhat motivating me is when I occasionally overhear my husband talking on the phone to someone about my blog. He always tells them that I started writing a book and he doesn't know why I quit. Again, it's nice to know I have his support!
9. To host a few more Bling On A String trunk shows. I think this one is pretty self explanatory! To visit my store click here!
10. To finish The Harry Potter series. This one was on my very first goal list. And, sadly I still haven't finished the series. However, this is one goal that I'm cheating a little bit on. That's because I'm reading book 7 (the last one) right now! Sneaky, aren't I?
There you have it! What are your goals this year?
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