What's going on around these parts...

Figured I would throw you a little bullet point post to speed you up on what's going on in our busy world.

First let's start off with Emma.

• She is officially crawling, for real.  Hands, knees and going wherever she wants when she wants.
• She thinks she is independent and can walk (but she can't).
• She is in size 3 diapers.  They are so big and I'm amazed that my baby is big enough to fit in them.
• She is hooked on Sesame Street lately.  Her bff is Elmo.  Sorry Mickey.  She's found a new love.
• She loves to climb (on the fireplace).  It's making this momma a nervous wreck.  Even with bumpers and a blanket on it I freak out.
• She's so healthy.  She has yet at almost 8 months old to get sick.  No colds.  No ear infections.  No tummy bugs.  Nothing.  I guess the breastfeeding for several months paid off.  That and getting her out of the house all the time.  I think she's built up a great immune system.  Should I knock on wood right now?  Yeah, probably.  *Knock Knock
• She is almost out of all 6 month clothes.  She has a few things that she can still squeeze into.  She's my little chunky monkey.
• Her sleep schedule has changed some.  She's now asleep at night by 8 or 8:30 and is awake every morning at 7:30.  I can't believe she let me sleep until 9 or 9:30 for MONTHS and now all of a sudden she wakes up earlier.  Boo.  She is taking about two naps a day at an hour and a half to two hours a piece.  Sometimes I can squeeze in a 30 minute evening nap.
• She is almost saying dada.  I can't tell for sure though because for some reason she whispers it.
• She has found her tongue.  She copies me by sticking it out.
• She is eating Puffs and Yogurt Melts now.  It's the cutest thing to watch her pick them up and put them in her mouth.

As for the rest of us...

• We are leaving for the beach in 8 days.  Wooo Whooo!
• We are having a new air conditioner and furnace installed Monday.  Thank the Lord.  We bought this house two years ago and it's needed one since then.  I'm ready for a cooler house.
• I changed birth controls twice recently.  I was on Yaz, then Natazia.  Both pills.  Hated them.  Was forgetting to take them and decided we did not need another little Emma crawling around so I switched to Nuvaring.  No need to worry to take a pill everyday and I'm loving it so far.  No babies for us for AWHILE.
• Dustin is working a LOT lately.  I'm a tired momma.  He's worked 7 out of the last 8 days.  12 hour shifts and mostly traveling out of town.  Talk about feeling like a single parent much of the time.  It's tough.  Now I know what I mom went through when we were little (my dad was a truck driver and only home on weekends).  I'm so thankful for vacation coming up.
• My birthday is in 7 days.  I will be 25.  Half a century, OMG.  What happened to the care free days of being 18? Since 21, time has flown by.  I have no idea where 22, 23 or 24 went.  I am looking forward to celebrating at the beach though.
• I'm also looking forward to presents *cough cough Dustin :)
• My mom makes me a home made carrot cake with cream cheese icing every year...Yum.
• Due to a busy summer we haven't been to church as much as I want.  I miss it and can't wait for traveling to slow down so we can get back there.
• My house is always dirty...I feel like being a stay at home mom it should always be clean and the laundry should be done but it's almost opposite.  The more I'm home the more dirty it is.  I can never keep up with it.  That might have something to do with a moving child.  She's into EVERYTHING.

Well that should about catch you up on us.  Crazy, hectic, busy life.  

Do you have a spouse that travels a lot?
If so how do you deal with it and keep busy?
What new stage is your child in right now?
Leave a Comment and Share!

Roughing it...kind of.

Recently we went camping, in a TENT, with a BABY.  Have we lost our minds, you might ask? Yes, probably.  The weather was actually quite nice which helped tremendously.  Why is it though you go camping to relax yet you come back more tired than you were when you left? It was extremely relaxing but it's just so much work.  Putting up a tent, gazebo, air mattresses, hauling tubs of food, gas tanks for the stove, a mini fridge, chairs, tables, fans, fishing poles, tackle boxes and coolers is not what you really think about when you want to relax.  Once camp was set up though it was great.  Dustin only got to stay two nights and had to go home the third night since he had to work.  Of course the day Dustin isn't there she was extremely fussy and cutting her second tooth (wooo whooo!).  Thank goodness I had my mom and step dad and sister there to help me out.  Overall, the trip was great but I've decided next time I'm renting a camper fo' sho'!

 My sweet niece Ashie.  We had a photo shoot.

 Baby girl swimming in the creek.  It was quite a challenge keeping her from eating rocks.

 Hanging out at the campsite.

 Our gorgeous weather.

 Sleeping beauty.

 My parents doing what they do best.  Fishing.

 Pick A Boo.  I see you!

My nephew "BoBo".  His name is Ethan but if you say that he will for sure correct you and say "No! My name BoBo!"

Couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  I'm telling you, we have had the busiest summer ever.  It has been packed full of fun weekends.  I am so ready for it to slow down though.  We leave for the beach next Friday so only one trip left until a slower pace.

Do you like to camp?

How do you camp? Roughing it or a Camper?

Leave a Comment and Share!

What Seven Months-ish Looks Like.

Wow, is time flying by or what! Little Miss is over seven months old already.  Not really sure when it happened but she is turning into her own little person.  I already miss the early days.  The days of peacefully sleeping all day, sweet little dreamy smiles, looking around in awe and figuring out her surroundings, little baby clothes, newborn diapers and the cuddling..oh how I miss that the most.  I may be missing all these things terribly but I really am enjoying this new stage.  She is so much fun.

Let's see what's new shall we...

• I'm pretty sure my baby is preparing herself for the army already.  She is scooting on her belly EVERYWHERE.  Baby proofing is already in the process.  Fireplace padded, CHECK.  Getting our dogs groomed tomorrow so that Emma can no longer pull out chunks of their hair, CHECK CHECK!

•  She says momma! Well, I'm sure she doesn't get that I am momma but she says it so that's all that matters. It sounds about like ma ma ma ma ma and she says it the most when she's eating so she probably associates "momma" with "food".  She's a smart one already folks.  Also, no dada yet.  I'm sure if he started whipping out his wallet she would start saying it.  Her only sounds so far are ba ba ba ba ba, ma ma ma ma, baby gibberish that I cannot understand and ear piercing shrieks.

• She has one sweet little toofer and more are coming.  She has been a little crabby lately and I'm positive it's those teeth bothering her.  I have to say I'm ready for those bad boys to come in already.  However, that one little snaggle tooth shining is just the sweetest.

• She is still sleeping through the night (knock on wood).  She is usually asleep around 9 if we aren't out somewhere (sometimes it's 10 or 11) and awake between 8 and 9 the next morning.  I am one lucky momma.  I can't believe I have a baby that sleeps.

• She loves to sit in a cart while shopping or in a high chair at restaurants.  She thinks she is so big.  She sits there smiling and just waiting for somebody to stop and say how cute she is.

•  Naps these days are rough.  I shouldn't complain, she sleeps 12 hours a night.  I only wish she would take a long nap everyday that way I had a little free time during the day.  The cat naps are killing me.  Twenty minutes here and thirty minutes there are better than nothing I suppose.

•  She's around 18ish pounds now.  My chunky monkey as I like to call her.  She's in 6 to 9 month clothes.  Some 6 month clothes are starting to get a bit snug though.  She's also a fat roll away from a size 3 diaper.  Oh those rolls....they are precious I tell you.  I think she also stores things in there for the winter. Fat babies have to eat ya know.

• Emma has the best personality right now.  She's really starting to come out of her baby skin.  She loves people but sometimes will tuck her head into me when a stranger comes up to her to tell her hello.  She's really not shy so I think it's just a game to her.

• She sits up on her own now.  She still wobbles sometimes but is starting to catch herself and adjust.  She still topples over sometimes though.  She is also pulling up onto things now.  She started making her way towards the fireplace and pulling up on it.  Hence the baby proofing in bullet numero uno.

My big beautiful girl.

Do you have kids?
If so, what was your favorite stage?
Are you baby proofing?
If so, what are you doing to make your bambino safe?
Comment and share!

"Down by the creek bank by the old holler log..."

Most of you are probably scratching your head right now wondering where I came up with the title for this post.  You probably don't get it because it was a song I sang in our Children's Choir at church when I was ten.  Man, did I love that song.  I wish you could hear me singing it right now.  You would probably point and laugh but that's ok because I don't mind accepting my inner cheesiness.

From my title you may have guessed that this post is about creek banks and if you did, you would be correct.  This weekend we drove to my old hometown to visit some family.  We stayed at my sister and her sweet boyfriend Jed.  It was such an amazingly relaxing weekend.  We slept late both days, lounged in our pj's for hours and made a trip to Jed's family's property.  They have a set up at their creek for campers and tents.  It's really awesome.  It's the same place we went for my sister's 21st birthday.  It was nice to go back and enjoy some time with the people we love most.

We arrived Friday afternoon and relaxed with my sister until her boyfriend got off of work.  We ate some delicious Mexican food for dinner and headed back to the house.  The night was filled with great laughs, fun games and some great mother daughter time.

 Mom and Daughter Facials? Check!

Letting Jed get in some practice for fatherhood someday? Check Check!

After just arriving at the creek we realized there was a massive wasp nest under the gazebo.  You see it was raining so it was our only shelter from getting wet.  Emma, myself and my sister hung out in the truck while my husband tried to dispose of this:

There was actually two of these.  I swear there were 20 wasp in it.  Every time Dustin got close I kept singing "My Girl" in my head.  At one point Leeha even rolled down the window and sang it to him.  It was a pretty intense situation until we were able to get some Wasp Killer.  I'm pretty sure we wasted an hour of our day just ticking off some pesky wasp.

After the wasp problem was under control, we fed our chunky baby.

Hair cuts were given.

Some of us changed into our bathing suits but forgot to change our shoes. This is my step dad.  You know you are so jealous of his sense of style.

I decided at some point during the day to get creative and use this new app on my phone called Retro Camera.  I found it thanks to this post from Kat.  Love her blog.  I'm always finding new things because of her!

Me and my best, Erin.

  I spent the rest of the weekend taking cool pictures on my phone while lounging at Jed's.  Emma enjoyed crawling around on his carpet.  She can't get around as good on our hardwood floors.

Auntie and her girl.  

Cuteness that is Tuck Tuck.

Bailey Girl.

I told you once before I'm a picture taking fool.  I wasn't lying.  Nine times out of ten my blog posts will be accompanied by pictures.  I just think it makes posts so much better.  It really lets you see a glimpse of our lives.

So far 2011 has been a fantastic year.  Non stop and I love every minute of it.

Do you have a creek near by?

What has been your favorite trip so far in 2011?

 Comment and Share!

Snapshots From My Droid

Just a few random shots that have been stuck in my phone.  Enjoy!

*Warning.  They are mostly going to be of Emma.

 How did my baby go from this little...

To this BIG! No more blanket to hold her up and she bounces up and down.

From learning to hold her head up, to this...

  Hands and Knees People! Almost crawling!

 We recently visited some friends in Lexington.  Emily's son Sam wanted to take a cat bath like Emma had earlier.  I don't think he realizes he's outgrown the sink.  Btw, how adorable is he?

Sammy boy was absolutely in love with Emma.  He wanted to hold her every five minutes.  Check it out...Emma is almost as long as him.

 Bath time with mom.

A little R&R at the Salyer Pool.  Can't forget the corn hole.  We are all obsessed.

My sweet baby at the beginning of summer.

 Me and my best friend Emily.

Sitting in the cart all by her big girl self.  How the heck did this happen?

I Love Canning. For reals.

I have officially learned how to can thanks to my mom.  I've always wanted to do it but have never had a garden or thought to go buy some fresh veggies from the Farmers Market.  This year my mom planted a huge garden so in order to reap the benefits of it this winter we have been canning like crazy.  I am so in love with the whole process.  It will be a new obsession each summer.  It's almost therapeutic.  I'm not going to lie it's hard work though.  As in blood sweat and tears hard work(blood from the mosquito bites from picking the garden, sweat from the heat picking the garden and tears from chopping onions and peppers all day!)  It's very time consuming but so worth it in the end when you look at the final product all nicely canned away in jars.  So far we have canned around 12 jars of Salsa, 8 jars of Jalapeno peppers and 8 jars of tomatoes.  We have also froze several packages of squash, okra and corn.  I'm really looking forward to some fresh veggies this winter.

THE PROCESS:

We used salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 tbsp of Lemon Juice and 1/4 tsp of Garlic Powder for each batch.

 We diced some cilantro and onions. 3 tbsp of onion and 2 tbsp of cilantro.

 Then we chopped some jalapeno's and cayenne peppers.  Boy were these things hot.  My eyes were watering the whole time.  We separated them into batchs.  It came to 2 jalapeno's and a half of a cayenne for each batch.  Not pictured, we also added some can Green Chile's.

 Next we peeled and cored the tomatoes.  We used about 3 tomatoes for each batch.  After peeling them we ate them cut them into fourths and threw them in the blender.

 Everything altogether in the blender.  Just hit blend but we made sure not to blend it to much that way it still has some chunkiness to it.

 After it's blended just put it on the stove and get it boiling then simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Your then ready to put it into your jars.  Make sure your jars are clean.  Have your rings and lids in hot boiling water and after filling a jar, clean the rim of your jar and pop a hot lid and ring onto it.  Seal very tight and turn the jar upside down.  I would say after about an hour or so your jars should seal (you should hear the pop).  They will seal after they have cooled down some.

That's all there is to it.  Very easy.  Just think you will have salsa for those cold winter months.  If you don't have a garden just hit up your local farmer's market or a stand at somebody's house.  Everyone is selling fresh veggies right now.  Trust me, you will thank me later.

I also, made some more fresh baby food for Emma this week.  Instead of putting it in jars to freeze, this time I used ice trays.  After it was frozen I popped the food out and threw it in freezer bags.  It was so much easier and the little food cubes are so cute!  This time I stocked the freezer up with Peas, Apples and Pears.  It really is so much cheaper to make her food.  I got a bag of frozen peas for A DOLLAR and it made six servings.  You can't beat that when jars of baby food are almost a dollar a piece.

I just really love fresh food lately.  Oh, and I love canning it, freezing it, cooking it, eating it...get it? got it? good! Thank you Lord for fresh vegetables and fruit that I can put on my family's table.  That is all, Amen.

Do you have a garden?

If so do you can and freeze your vegetables?

What is your favorite fresh vegetable?

Leave a comment and share!