In Pictures

Here's a quick recap of last weekend - in pictures.

Grammy and Papa came on Thursday night and brought me some new Tonka trucks and other goodies!

I played hookie from school on Friday so I could stay home and play all day with Grammy and Papa.  We had so much fun - they let me do anything I want!

Daddy grilled yummy fajitas and we all played outside.

I really liked eating the grass!

Saturday, Memaw, Grandad and Aunt Sherry came to visit.

I think Grandad's super cool because we have the same name.

After everyone left, Papa and Grammy kept me so mama and dada could go out.  They went to a crawfish boil and must have had a lot of fun because they didn't even take any pictures.  Thanks Grammy and Papa for staying with me, I know mama and daddy enjoyed a little time away.

Sunday we went to the track with Uncle Scott and Reese.  I had so much fun playing with Reese.  He's pretty funny!

Too bad Uncle Scott's car broke during the first pass.  It's ok though, I was there to help hold the flashlight while daddy was trying to figure out what happened.

Happy Friday everyone!

It's Never Too Early

To start planning your only child's First Birthday Party, right??  I mean it's only 11 weeks and 2 days till the party!  And there are so many things to get ready!  I am notorious for waiting till the last minute to plan stuff, but not this time.  I hope to have everything for Jack's party ready by the first of July.  The party is on July 17th.  I hope that on the day of, we'll only have to pick up his cake and some balloons.

I decided on a "Beach Monkey" theme.  Think Luau with some cute monkeys thrown in.  Truth be told, I have been eyeing these invitations for a while and found some other beach monkey stuff, so it just fit. 
Plus it will be the middle of the summer and in Texas that means it will be at least 100 degrees that day! HA!  I ordered the invitations yesterday from Polka Dot Design.  I love this website (my favorite brands are Paper so Pretty and Cross My Heart) and have ordered invitations from here for several parties and have never been disappointed.  They will even print and assemble them, too.

I have also ordered plates, napkins and goodie boxes from Oriental Trading, along with all the goodies to fill the boxes.  So fun!

My mom ordered these really cute table covers and some leis from Target.  Target also has some cool backdrops that I hope to have, so it will really feel like we're at the beach, even though we're just in our backyard.  HA!

Table Covers

And, I'm going to have this talented lady make a custom shirt and party hat to match Jack's swimsuit.  I found the PERFECT swimsuit, but of course it is sold out of his size.  I guess I'll have to keep looking, or maybe he will be in a 4T by July - he is growing fast! HA!

I plan to have a banana split table set up similar to this, but not so girlie.  We'll go with red, blue, green and yellow buckets.  I do hope to make the little tags to go on all the buckets, along with a matching banner.  See why I need to start all of this so early!  I would love for Polkadots-Pirates to create everything for me, but unfortunately she's not taking anymore orders this year, but visit her blog anyway because she has some GREAT ideas!

We'll also have a splash pool or two, hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and dips and a fabulous cake.  I'm still looking for a bakery to create the cake, so if you're in the Dallas area and know of a great bakery, please let me know!

So, that's what I've got planned so far.  What did you do for your kid's first birthdays?  I'm open to any and all suggestions!

So much to say, so little time...

I need to blog about our weekend - parents in town, grandparents and aunt visit, crawfish boil, races, etc -but it's getting late and today I'm tired, but I just HAVE to share about these ribs!

I don't think the picture does them justice, but oh. my. goodness. they were SOOOOO good!  If there is one thing Randy can do well it's grill.  We haven't had ribs in forever, but that's what he wanted to do today.  We're kinda tired of chicken, hamburgers, steak, and pork chops.  I'm not too good with recipes - I kinda just throw everything together and hope it turns out good - but on these we used Uncle Chris' Rib Rub, BBQ sauce and chopped garlic.  I think he put the rub on the ribs and the BBQ sauce and garlic in a 8x8 foil pan.  He cut the ribs in half (we used pork baby backs) and stacked them off of direct heat on the charcoal grill.  He added a few different smoke chips - pecan, apple and maybe cherry - and cooked the ribs for about 2 hours, basting them with the BBQ sauce mixture and rotating them top to bottom about every 15 minutes or so.  After 2 hours, he put the ribs in the foil pan and covered them with foil (this is the trick to good grilling) and cooked an additional hour.  They were so tender and falling off the bone.  Delicious! 

                            

I made homemade scalloped potatoes and confetti corn.  Yummy.  For the potatoes, I sliced 3 red potatoes, covered with heavy cream (about 1 cup) added salt, cayenne and pepper.  Baked for 45 minutes at 425 degrees, then added about 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and a little parmesan, stirred and topped with Italian bread crumbs and baked about 15 more minutes.  Awesome!

                    

I have so many pictures and stories from the weekend, hopefully I can post all of that tomorrow.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Five Random Things About ME!

  

1. What was the first car you owned?

  ***1996 White Pontiac Sunfire***

I wish I had a picture of this car on my computer... maybe I'll have to scan it in and post it sometime.  I was so excited to get this car for my 16th birthday - BRAND NEW, nonetheless!  I think I actually got it a month or two before my birthday, so it was pure torture for my new car to just sit there waiting for me to turn 16 and get to drive it by myself.  HA!  I finally got a new car in 2003, but not to worry, "Whitey" the Sunfire is still in the family.  My grandad just couldn't bare to see it go, so he bought it, then sold it to my cousin.  14 years later, it's still going strong!

2. What song are you embarrassed to know the lyrics?

***Every song on R Kelly's 12 Play album***

This is a family friendly blog, so I'll just leave it at that.  HA!

3. Have you ever had stitches?

 ***Yes, twice***

One stitch in my left middle finger when I fell off the buggy at Piggly Wiggly and smashed my finger.  It was quite disgusting and if I remember correctly, I was only 8 or so, there was flesh popping out.  YUCK!

The other time, I sliced open my right pointer finger with a straight-edged razor blade trying to cut the tag off a new pair of socks.  I'm not sure how old I was, but I'm certain I was too young to have a razor blade in my room!  I got 2 stitches for that.

4. What was your first job?

***Lifeguard***

I babysat here and there, but my first "real" job, where I had to pay taxes, was as a lifeguard at the city pool in Kilgore, TX.  Oh my goodness, do I have some fun memories from that job!!

5. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?

 ***Elmo***

I'm sure I probably watched Sesame Street as a kid, but I don't really remember, so that's why I'm saying Elmo.  I love his little red self and all of the "Elmo" dolls they have come out with are just adorable!

Thanks Mama M for hosting Five Question Friday!

 Happy Friday Yall!

What a Mess!

This is what happens when you let your 9 month old feed himself...

Lucky for me I have a lot of Shout and Spray-n-Wash!

I think it's so cute how he props his foot up on the table.

And, I'm proud to announce it has been a few days since "real" food resulted in puking. Yay!

I think he likes playing with the spoon more than actually eating with it.

But it does eventually make it into his mouth!

What a Mess!

Sorry for the unedited pictures - just wanted to write a quick post before American Idol.

Happy Birthday Baby Chase!

Chase Michael
 

Born at 3:27am on April 20, 2010

8 lbs 4 oz

21 inches

My real life BFF, Heather, is a baby having machine!  She got to the hospital at 2:30am and had Chase less than an hour later, with NO epidural!  Rock star!  Heather, Daddy, Big Sister Lily and Chase are doing great!

I'm so excited for her, but super sad that I can't be there.  I was at the hospital when Lily was born and she was here when Jack was born, but unfortunately I'll have to wait until my scheduled trip in May to meet sweet baby Chase.  (Her husband is in the Army which has them stationed far from home.)  Thank goodness for Southwest Airlines and cheap flights, HA! 

Happy Birthday Baby Chase!  I love you so much and cannot wait to meet you!

A Snack Worth Trying

Meat Pies

Ingredients

1lb ground beef

1 small onion

1 jalapeno

your favorite taco seasoning

shredded cheese

3 cans Grands biscuits

refried beans - optional

 

Brown meat with diced onion and jalapeno, drain.

Add taco seasoning and refried beans, if desired.

I used a whole can of beans - I think half a can would have been enough.

*black beans or pintos would probably be good too*

Roll out biscuits - sprinkle surface with flour so bicuits don't stick.

Make sure you buy the original Grands biscuits, I bought Grands Jr by mistake and they were a little small and hard to work with.

Put a heaping tablespoon of meat mixture on biscuit and top with cheese.

Fold biscuit over and close edges with a fork.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I topped with a jalapeno for decoration before baking.

Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Happy 9 Months Little Man!

Official 9 Month Photo

You've grown and learned so much in the past month!  You can really crawl now and only do the "worm" when you are really excited or in a hurry - I'm pretty sure there are quite a few videos out there of you doing the worm, since all of the ladies at daycare think it's hilarious!  You just started pulling up in the past week or so and you are getting pretty good at it!  Tonight, Daddy even saw you move from the love seat to the couch and back.  And yesterday, you pulled up on the couch and moved your way to the end table and grabbed the remote control.  Stinker!  Always trying to get things you shouldn't have, despite all of the toys you have. 

I think the house is almost "baby" proofed, although, we still need to put locks on the cabinets and covers over the knobs on the stove.  We have gates which help to keep you confined to the living room - you do get to come in the kitchen and play with your bowls while I'm cooking or doing dishes.  Daddy put plexi-glass over the TV stuff and you hardly ever go over there now, but every once in a while you'll check yourself out in the reflection.  Too cute!  We lowered your bed a few weeks ago, so it's now on the lowest setting and when you figure out how to escape, I guess it'll be time for a big boy bed.  Hopefully we have a while before we have to worry about that! HA!

Your leg where you got your shot today.

I took you to the doctor today and you had to get one shot and a finger prick.  You were such a big boy and didn't even cry!  The doctor said you are a healthy little boy.  Your ears and lungs are clear.  Thank goodness!  She did say you have allergies, so we're going to try Claritin and see if that'll stop your runny nose. 

We are trying to get you to eat more "table" foods, but most of the time you gag and I give up.  But lately, you're doing much better.  You eat cheerios like a champ and the other night at dinner you had spanish rice and refried beans and actually liked it!  We haven't tried too many foods yet because I'm scared of you choking, but at school you eat all kinds of good stuff and the girls say you eat pretty good.  You still drink 32 oz of formula a day, but the doctor told me to cut back on formula and give you more food.  We'll try this tomorrow. 

Recently you've decided you don't want to go to bed and cry when I lay you down.  As soon as I pick you up, you're smiley and happy again.  Spoiled!  So, we let you stay up and play a little longer, and finally you'll wear yourself out and decide it's bedtime.  Tonight, though you were tired and fell asleep while I was holding you.  I love the nights when you do this - I just sit and hold you a while, because I know the day is coming when you won't want me to hold you anymore. 

You've also started snorting when you laugh.  You are so funny and get so excited.  When I pick you up, you'll bounce up and down, scrunch up your nose, snort and laugh.  It's so funny!  You also clap now when we say "Yay!"  And you love to look at yourself in the mirror when we're in the car and just talk and talk.

I could go on and on about all the things you do and all the ways we love you, but I'll stop here.  You have grown so much in the past 9 months and I love the little boy you are becoming!

Jack and Teddy - 3 days old

Jack's Stats:

Weight - 23lbs 14.5oz (he lost weight while he was sick)

Height - 29 7/8 inches

2 bottom teeth

2- 1 hour naps

Sleeps from 8:30pm - 7:30am

Happy 9 Months Little Man!

We Love You!

Things I Learned Today

• People love crawfish - I had a crawfish boil at work today and sold 64 pounds in less than 2 hours... there are only 75 people in the building and not all of them ate crawfish! More about this later.
• Batteries do expire - my camera needs new batteries and ours are expired and don't work... forgot my other camera at work.
• Grass makes kids puke - my child thought he'd try it out today.  Wish I had pictures.
• No matter how bad a day may seem, just thinking about Jack's big smile and snorty giggle makes me laugh!
• People other than my family and friends do read my blog - I won a bloggy award today! Yay!
• There are way too many June bugs and it's not even June yet!
• Ribeye steaks are not nearly as good as Filets and at our store only cost $1 per pound less.
• Home-made potato salad is so much better than store bought.
• I wish my family lived closer so we could be celebrating Papa Jeff's birthday with them this weekend.
• I love it when the TV is off and the only noise is Jack laughing or us talking.
• I forgot how much I love to sit outside on warm nights and just hang out.
• I love shiraz!  The shiraz of the week for me is Black Swan - super cheap, but super good.  I do love it when Silly Daddy picks up a bottle of random wine for me.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Happy Birthday Papa Jeff!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, dear Papa Jeff,

Happy Birthday to YOU!!

We Love You!