The Farmer's Nest

Morning Activity

2012-02-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

I love the month of February. I love the unpredictable weather, a house filled with pink and red Valentines decorations and of course my Birthday. We worked on some crafts the other day that kind of go along with the Valentines theme.

Not much else going on over here. Our mornings have been slow and uneventful. I like it that way however, I had high expectations of setting aside a learning time with Little Miss during Bubby's first nap and each morning that time slot gets away from me. I just need to get organized and plan out the activities at night and in advance but my night time gets away from me to. Arghh. Do any of you super moms have planning/scheduling/activity advice to share?

{ Maternity Session }

2012-02-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

I hope ya'll are doing well this morning! It's supposed to be another gorgeous day today. We have been so blessed this "winter" with gorgeous sunny days and rain showers. This session was done on one of those days last week and I love the way they turned out. This mom-to-be is absolutely gorgeous and I think you will agree. Just looking at her smile you can't help but find yourself smiling too.

Have a blessed day!

Rainy Days

2012-02-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

Last week was the perfect combination of a few beautiful sunny days spent outside followed by some cold rainy inside days. On those rainy days we baked a lemon blueberry yogurt cake, played in tents, turned the heater up and burned a yummy smelling candle. I love days like that. It was 2:30pm when I looked at the clock and realized I hadn't taken a shower yet. I wasn't about to use my nap time on one so I just stayed in my pj's all day.

That rainy day got me to thinking that I might need to try Scentsy. Do I have a reader that sells Scentsy on a website? If so, please email me.
Did ya'll have a good weekend? Did anybody discover a new delicious recipe I need to try? I keep reading about these Ham and Swiss Sliders. Apparently many people served them for Super Bowl Sunday and they got rave reviews. I can't wait to make them.

{ 9 Months }

2012-02-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

You Are...
not wearing the DOC band anymore
crawling everywhere
standing up and holding onto furniture
walking while pushing chairs
putting everything in your mouth
toothless
eating everything you possibly can
talking and squealing
saying "da-da" and laughing when we ask you to say "ma-ma"
following your sister everywhere
trying to drink from a sippy cup
waving
playing a recorder and doing it really well I might add
feeding yourself
rolling over and crawling away during diaper changes
and
making the cutest face with your tongue sticking partially out of your mouth

You love your Daddy so much. As soon as he comes home you make a bee line to the door for him to pick you up. You pretty much don't let him out of your sight.

I love how cuddly you are and how much you enjoy sitting on my hip all day long.
I love how you lay next to me in the mornings before your Sissy wakes up.
I love the way you curl your lips when you squeal.
I love the way you follow your Sissy around the house just begging for her attention.
I love the life you bring to this home.
We love you so much.

White Queso {Recipe}

2012-02-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

This is a re-post from last year that I just had to share again. Now that Pinterest has come on the scene and has declared every recipe as the "Best Ever" I thought I would share with you the real "Best Ever White Queso." No seriously, it is. I promise I'm not reaching for "pins" here, I just want you to eat the best queso this Super Bowl Sunday. I'm about to deliver you out of so-so queso and into the world of "take your finger and squeegee the bowl for every last drop" queso.

Your going to need fresh produce to make pico de gallo or you can purchase fresh pico from your grocery store.

If you purchase fresh pico you will still need lots of fresh cilantro and limes.

In the section of the scary processed cheese you will bypass the big yellow box and look for white american cheese. Our store doesn't sell it without jalapenos in it so if yours does that works just as well and the box may look different.

Ingredients:
1 large box (2 lbs) of White American Cheese
1.5-2 cups of fresh pico
1 cup fresh cilantro (If you added lots of cilantro to your homemade pico then reduce this amount to 1/2 cup)
1 large lime (squeeze the juice and add some of the pulp)
1 chopped jalapeno
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chipotle paste
1 tsp of extra hot sauce (use whatever you have available) I personally use Freebirds death sauce.
1/2 cup of cream or half and half
1-2 cloves of minced fresh garlic

Put it all together and heat until well mixed. You can also add some mexican cheese Queso Fresco if your feeling extra fancy. This stuff is AMAZING! I promise you won't disappoint if you show up to a party with this in tow.

And if you have no shame like me then go ahead and add a dollop of guacamole to it. I like saying "dollop." Go ahead say it, "d-o-l-l-o-p!" That was fun wasn't it?

Let me know if you make it! I'd love to see what other dips and desserts ya'll are making for the big game. If you want to share please leave the link in the comment section.

Waking Up

2012-01-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite simple things in life is a sleeping baby. There's nothing sweeter. I love the peacefulness of the room, the slow breathing, the hands and legs sprawled out or tucked tight. It's angelic. I *might* even risk waking that sleeping baby just to take a peak. Unless that baby is our light sleeping Bubby. In that case I'll come in right as he's waking up to catch those sweet moments.

{Family Session}

2012-01-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

This sweet family invited me out to their ranch for this session. When I pulled in the gate my little photography heart went pitter-patter. It was a dream. It had everything you could want and more. Their daughter was on a mission the whole time, but could you really blame her? I absolutely love capturing children in their natural state. At two years old she wants to explore, see the horses, run over the bridge, see her grandparents, swing and drive the tractor. Heck, at almost 30 years old I wanted to do those things too.

As always, I'm honored to capture these moments.

Teddy Bear

2012-01-24T20:52:00.000-08:00

I love that she always has one of her animals with her. This particular ones name is Cubby. He was her first. He's the bear that always gets selected to go outside and on adventures. I adore a child holding a bear, especially when that child is mine.

Hair Day

2012-01-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

If your reading this at www.familyoffarmers.blogspot.com you will soon need to update the web address to http://www.thefarmersnest.com/

We had a great weekend. It was a typical January weekend in Texas. Heater in the morning and A/C by lunch time. Saturday we stayed in our pj's a good portion of the day. I love that. That means we didn't have anywhere important to be. On Saturdays from August-December Matt is either breaking down football film or at a Basketball tournament so when we get to January a full weekend together makes this family happy.

Bubby and Little Miss are really enjoying playing with one another these days. Poor Bubby doesn't totally "get" what shes doing to him. He just loves the individual attention shes giving him.

I think she needs a sister............ and he needs a brother ;)

{We Moved}

2012-01-22T18:06:00.000-08:00

We moved over to http://www.thefarmersnest.com/

You might need to update the new web address to continue receiving updates.

I look froward to seeing you over there!

-Robyn

Insta-Friday

2012-01-20T05:44:00.000-08:00

Our week captured through my camera phone.

It was one of those weeks. A week full of challenges that brought out laughter. Matt left for work one morning and didn't make it far from home. Everything that could go wrong did. Tire goes flat, jack breaks, wife brings another jack, thing to crank the jack breaks, put donut on the car, donut goes flat, fill donut and front right tire up with air, get to tire shop, need four new tires, $-.oo in the bank account, thread for lug-nut breaks at tire shop. You know the typical stuff.

I had plans for our family to eat leftovers. That is until I held the leftovers above my head to check the bottom of the container to see if it was microwave safe and I got butter fingers and dropped it. It hit the top of my head and crashed onto the floor. Rice got everywhere, it's like the glitter of food. I just stood looking and laughing at the wreck that just went down in my kitchen.

It was in that moment that I made the choice. You know the "Laugh or Cry" choice. I laughed so hard that Little Miss thought something was terribly wrong with me. I explained to her that I had an accident and we would now be eating breakfast for dinner. Because that's what you do in a pinch.

This little guy decided that crawling isn't enough for him and he needs to keep growing.

Big trip to town to eat at Daddy's favorite place. We decided to use our gift card for the occasion.After we ate our meal and gave the card to pay, the server told us the card would not work at that particular location. Nice. Again we just laughed while Matt regretted the splurge on his Dr.Pepper.

First time in the basket. Sissy stayed home with Daddy to make this possible.

Little Miss got her fingernails painted for the first time. She sat patiently as I painted away and then she chipped it off as soon as she could.

It's been a beautiful week with lots of time outside.

One way to keep her busy.

In other news....Little Miss is near potty trained. Thank yall so much for all the advice and encouragement. We are one week into this and have only had one accident. We even got out of the house a few times this week without any problems. I'm so very proud of my big girl.

Motherhood

2012-01-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

The Lord's tugging on my heart in many area lately.
Motherhood
Priorities
and Servanthood to name a few.

I don't have my own words yet. Just thoughts scrambled and messed up in my head.

I'm in the process of reading The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. I highly recommend this book. I want to share a few excerpts from the book that describe my thoughts and feelings much better than I can articulate.

"This is one of the best ways I can be a servant leader to my children. When I model patience in the midst of difficulty, joy in the midst of messes, contentment in the midst of lack, then provide them with a pattern for their own lives. They will learn that my joy is not circumstantial but real because I have an endless source of strength through the power of the Holy Spirit in my life."

"Often I served my children joyfully and enjoyed the memorable moments of their growing-up years. But sometimes I struggles irrationally with their demands and then felt guilty for struggling. Instead of understanding that this was normal and that how I handled it would make all the difference in their lives, I often fought against it. In doing so, I'm afraid I lost many beautiful opportunities to be a servant leader in our home."

"I have realized that one of God's purposes for my children is to be his tool for disciplining me to make me more holy! I do not have to be a perfect mom--just an authentic believer. From interacting with my children, I have seen my own selfishness and my lack of patience more clearly than ever before! I have blown it many times with my children, but even these mistakes have helped me to mature and depend on God more than I would have without my parenting responsibilities."

I can feel God move in my heart with every page I turn.

Sally Clarkson holds a Mom Heart Conference every year in Dallas and I'm desperately trying to make it this year. Has anybody ever been or wanting to go? I would love to hear all about it.

On a lighter note. I read this article yesterday and it is spot on. If your a parent please go read it. I promise you will relate.
Don't Carpe Diem

Because sometimes this is what it's like around here.

Cloth Diapers

2012-01-16T20:29:00.000-08:00

Well folks, I've been cloth diapering for going on 2 weeks now and the verdict is........I love it! I'm kicking myself for not trying it sooner. It's easier than I ever imagined. The hard part for me was doing the research and making the decision on what brand and style I would first purchase. Because it's an investment I chose to approach it by spending the same amount on cloth as we do on disposables each month. For instance, this month I spent $100 on cloth and that bought 9 diapers. I have to wash every night so as soon as we get our February paycheck I will invest in another $100 worth of cloth and that will allow me to wash every other day. When it comes to washing them, that's another easy and strangely fun part of my nighttime routine. I enjoy watching the diapers go from dirty to clean; and there's something therapeutic about hanging them up to dry.

Here are the details for those of you that are curious.
I went with bumGenius 4.0 one-size stay dry. I bought some with snaps and some with velcro (hook and loop) and I think I'm leaning more towards the velcro. The only argument against the velcro was that it might wear out over time. I have a friend that has been using hers for over 3 years and there's no sign of them giving out any time soon. Next time I order I'm going to buy a few Freetime all-in-one to see if I like them as well.
I chose bumGenius for two reasons, the first being that they got all over great reviews. The other reason I chose BG is their return/warranty policy. They offer a 30 day money back guarantee on all of their diapers. To me this was huge! One of the biggest reasons people don't want to try cloth is because of the investment. With this kind of deal there's really nothing to lose. You can try cloth diapers for a month and in that time you will know if it's for you or not. Either you love it or hate it and if you don't dig it then you send them in and get your money back. Sealed.The.Deal!

Leaks
When I first got them I did have a few leaks due to not having them on correctly and not changing them often enough. You do need to change them about every 2 hours and just like with anything there was a learning curve to putting them on correctly.Now I have them snug on each kiddo with no leaks.

Detergent
After reading forums and cloth diaper blogs I found that the most affordable and cloth diaper friendly detergent is ALL free and clear. There are other detergents specifically for diapers but they are a little pricey.

Poo
I bought flushable poo liners to place in the diapers and these have been a life saver. It looks like a dryer sheet that you lay in the diaper when your putting it on the baby. When they poo you just fling it into the toilet and flush. No scrubbing or dealing with a yucky mess. I guess for some reason when I thought of cloth diapers I thought of washing poo in a machine and that just grossed me out. Just so you know there's no poo in the wash. If I do encounter a poo overflow that the liner doesn't catch I will either take it outside to spray it off or use our shower head nozzle over the toilet. I have a picture of this process but my husband sweetly encouraged me to save it only for those who want to see. If you want me to send you a pic just text and I will gladly share ;)

Dirty Diapers
I haven't yet purchased a diaper pail so right now after I dispose of the poo in the diapers I am storing them folded up on my washing machine. Because I wash every night it's not out of hand and there is no smell. I do however look forward to finding a better system for this.

Wash
First, I set my machine to do a cold rinse and I put some detergent in this wash and then for the actual wash I use hot water to wash and cold to rinse.

Drying
I got an old crib rail for a couple of bucks from the mission and store it in-between the washer and dryer when not in use. When the load is done I hang the diapers and inserts on the rails and move them to the room with the most airflow. If it's a sunny day I can just carry the rail outside and place it in the sun. When I get more diapers I will attach another rail so that it can stand up on it's own when opened at an angle.If the diapers aren't dry by morning time I throw the inserts in the dryer on medium for about 10-15 minutes. The outside covers usually dry within an hour so I've never had to put them in the dryer. I know of others that throw both the cover and the insert in the dryer. I hang dry because that seems to be the cloth diaper "norm."

Storing
When the inserts and liners are dry I stuff the inserts into the diapers and place them in a basket next to the wipes, just like I did disposables.

On the go
When we go to church or Austin for the day I put the kids in disposables so I don't have to mess with keeping up with the diapers while I'm out and about.

Another thing I love about cloth diapers now that I've started potty training Little Miss is that I don't have to keep up with two different types or sizes of diapers. Because you adjust the diapers to fit your child perfectly you end up with a better fit than a disposable.

I'm sure there will be days that I might consider the cost of throwing one away versus cleaning up the blowout that occurred. I'm also certain there will be phases in life where the extra load of laundry might be a breaking point for me. When this happens I have no problem taking a break and using disposables until life settles down. Either way, once I'm no longer buying my stock of cloth diapers our family will be free of the diaper budget and that's huge for us.

I hope I helped anybody who might be on the fence or curious about the cloth diaper system. It really is easier than what it's been made out to be. Back in the day when it was the only option and it involved safety pins and scrubbing with a washboard I understand the joy those women must have felt when disposables came along. However, I throw away over $100 a month in diaper and this new system is a blessing to our family.Please let me know if I can help answer any more questions. I'm new to this and not very knowledgeable but I will try to help. I'm still texting my cloth diapering friends with questions all of the time. There are blogs and websites devoted to this subject that you can find a ton of information on.

And if any veterans out there have anything to add or further advice to share please leave it in the comments section. I would love to hear ways to make things easier.

Potty Training {Part 1}

2012-01-13T06:08:00.000-08:00

I don't have a post planned to follow this one but I'm sure there will be one as I know this is a process. First, I would like to thank all my readers here on this blog as well as all of my Facebook friends for being so faithful with your comments, advice and encouragement. I read every single comment and email even if I don't promptly respond, please know that they mean so much to me.

Potty Training Boot Camp Day 1
We started potty training for real today. By for real I mean I actually took away the diapers and let Little Miss bare bottom it today. Per the advice of other moms I did the naked booty, salty food and lots of water method. I spread quilts on all the area rugs so they would catch any accidents and then I placed garbage bags under the slipcovers of our furniture. The entire house is wood floors so that helped a lot. I had taken her to get big girl pretty panties the night before but she wasn't totally interested mainly because it wasn't "Winnie the Pooh" or "Sesame Street." First thing in the morning I offered Little Miss her favorite salty chip "Funyuns" and her normal apple juice and water (a little heavier on the juice this time.) She drank it fast and then headed over to the living room to play. It wasn't but five minutes later that she said, "oh no, Mommy I'm wet!" We ran to the potty and she sat down and finished her business. I jumped up and down with excitement and was so proud of her! I had to make a big deal about it to start the day off right. I rewarded her with a Teddy Graham and the Teddy Graham bear did a dance for her. This really struck a cord with her and she loved it. The better part of the day was spent in and out of the bathroom running to the toilet. I'm so proud to report that there were no other accidents until right before bed in her pj's. I think this one happened because she thought she had something on to catch it. As soon as she realized she didn't have a diaper on she ran to the potty to finish. I couldn't be happier for my little girl. I can't believe how fast she caught on. Up until this point I had left the initiating up to her. She was still wearing a diaper and I was just counting on her independent personality to do the initiating. Looks like I just needed to give her a plan of action and she took charge.

I'm not yet sure how to handle the sleeping situation as she is very new to this. I cut her off from drinking anything after dinner and had her go potty three times before bed. I put her in a cloth diaper because it feels more like panties and it doesn't hold as much. Even if it leaks through maybe that will help with the process? I don't really know. I know I want her to feel proud of herself with what she CAN do during the day. What are your suggestions for night time?

While I'm ready to not have two children in diapers it doesn't change the emotions that come with new milestones. It's during these times that I'm reminded how fast this life is. It wasn't long ago that I was changing a dozen diapers an hour with the size "N" on it. I want to savor every moment I have with these precious children God has given me. It's the small things in life that end up being big things.Now, I'm all emotional and have this song playing in my head. The first time I heard this song I was driving to my last doctors appointment before having Little Miss. I'm pretty sure when I walked into the office they thought my water had broke because of all the tears that had fallen into my lap while driving. It still get's me every time.

{ Baby Cooper } Newborn Session

2012-01-11T21:52:00.000-08:00

Is there anything sweeter than a newborn baby? I think not. I cannot get over this precious little life and the story God is writing for him as we speak. He has been born into an amazing family and I look forward to watching him grow.
Is it possible to have 100 favorite pictures? This session proved to me that it is indeed possible to love every picture. I also learned that it's incredibly difficult to click the delete button when this little guy is your subject.
I hope you enjoy!

Sweater Leggings { DIY }

2012-01-09T19:48:00.000-08:00

After having riding boot envy for almost two years I finally broke down and bought a pair with my Christmas money. They are so comfortable and pretty much go with anything that I feel really stupid for waiting so long to join the club. I guess I felt like I didn't dress up enough to warrant the purchase but then I realized that the boots themselves are what dress up a normal outfit so...game on. I'm so excited about all the possibilities! One look I'm totally digging is the riding boots with sweater socks. I had a sweater in my thrift store stash and decided to make legging out of it.

You can hem the raw edges but if you don't have a sewing machine you could always use fabric glue or hot glue to tuck it under and press down so it doesn't unravel. If you use glue I suggest washing on gentle and line drying it.

I got my boots from the Steve Madden outlet store for under $75. The other pair that I had my eye on were the Lucky Brand Aida that you can find for a great deal HERE.

The "in my dreams" boots can be found HERE.

And if you want to make use of the remainder of the sweater you can make a Pottery Barn pillow knockoff....

This Weekend

2012-01-08T22:01:00.000-08:00

We had the perfect weekend that was filled with time spent together, nowhere to be and nothing to do. It seems like it's been a while since we've had one of these. We are usually busy by our own doing and forget that sometimes slowing down to just be with each other is far better than any activity. The weather was sunny and beautiful on Saturday and cloudy and rainy on Sunday. Best of both worlds.

The kids played together for the first time. Sure, they interact and engage in one another daily but Saturday they actually played and giggled and entertained each other equally. It was such a joyful sound and made this Mama heart smile.

I made copycat Chick-fil-A ,we mowed and collected leaves and spent almost the entire day outside.

As a mom I have found that my heart grows deeper in love with my kids in a particular day and/or week. I know this may not make sense to everyone but what I mean is that I fall deeper in love with them and can feel my heart growing in that particular moment. It may result from great one on one time or just bonding together, either way it's something I notice. This weekend was one of those moments for me.
The Lord is so good to me!

{Stay At Home Mom}

2012-01-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

I am often asked questions regarding our budget, staying at home on a coach/teacher income, and ways to make ends meet. I have yet to sit down to write a post about it for many reasons. My blog friend Ashley posted on this subject yesterday and explained everything beautifully. I couldn't have said it better myself. I would love it if you would go over to her blog and read her post if you've ever had any thoughts at all on the subject.
The Vanilla Tulip

How to make a play kitchen set out of a pair of nightstands {DIY}

2012-01-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

I'm going to attempt to walk you through some of the steps I took to make a play kitchen set out of a pair of nightstands. It ended up being a lot of fun and fairly easy to make. We hired a contractor to make the most difficult part, the door. The contractor was able to use the two drawers to make the custom door. This allowed us to use the same wood and cut down on supply cost. I didn't take pictures of every step mainly because I did most of the work in between naps and didn't always have time to grab my camera. I hope this is helpful! Please comment if you have any questions and I will be happy to help.

Find two nightstands that are at the height of a toddler or the child that will be using the kitchen set.

I removed the middle shelf from the nightstand that would become the oven.

This opened up a groove to allow for the oven rack {aka cooling racks} that were cut off to fit the space.

I left the middle shelf on the kitchen side.

I removed the backs from both nightstands to replace it with beadboard.

I used mending plates and trim to serve as the backsplash.

Little Miss helped me install the backsplash. At this stage she had no clue that I was working on something special for her.

We went to Lowes and had them cut a piece of plexiglass to fit the oven door. When I came home my husband caulked the inside of the door with silicon and we carefully placed the plexiglass in it.

My husband made the cuts for the kitchen sink and faucet. I used a corning ware casserole dish as the sink mainly because we have an apron front kitchen sink and the porcelain is more familiar to her than stainless. I found the faucet at the mission for $5. I really wanted a "J" faucet but couldn't justify spending $40+ on one. I will just be patient until I find one that is used and then I will replace it to look more like a kitchen sink rather than a bathroom. It's not like she can tell the difference.

My friend Brooke made the stove burners using her Silhouette machine.

I found the antique stove knobs at the local appliance repair shop. They had a bucket full of old vintage and antique knobs.

I initially placed a battery operated touch light in the back for Little Miss to use as the oven light and quickly realized that we were going to blow through touch lights in a hurry. If the oven light wasn't on, then the oven didn't work and her food wasn't "makin" so I had to make a quick modification.

I borrowed our friends "hole cutter drill thing"

and cut a new hole for a nightlight.

The nightlight has a switch on the front of it so Little Miss can turn it on and off herself.

It's secured with hot glue on the inside and caulk on the outside. It's plugged into an extension cord that's plugged into an outlet.

The kitchen sink curtain was made with Amy Butler, Heather Baily and Tula Pink fabric that you can find on fabric.com.

January Ramblings

2012-01-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

I took the Christmas decorations down last night. I actually wasn't ready to put them up but knew that if I didn't take Christmas down I couldn't put up Valentines....so that was my motivation. The house looks bare. I don't like it. Usually I'm ready to rid the clutter and gain the space back but this time it's made the house feel empty and not cozy. There's just something about the warm glow of those lights that make me feel right at home. Am I the only one that feels this way?

I've already cleaned my closet and Bubby's dresser has been organized and de-cluttered of clothes that he's outgrown. One clutter zone at a time. It makes me happy to open my closet and see everything in it's place. It won't stay like this for long so I will enjoy it while I can. It seems like all it takes is one rushed morning of getting dressed to get things out of order and then it just snowballs from there.

I planned to run today and it didn't happen. I even skipped my morning shower in hopes that it would motivate me to head to the park and justify the stink. When I opened the door to let Nellie go potty and felt the chill of the wind I decided not to. So I just stayed in my pjs all day and prayed that I didn't get an unexpected knock at the door. That always seems to happen on those days, am I right?

My friend Brooke brought me some of this Creme Brulee and it has taken everything I have in me not to make more. It was the absolute best I have ever had! I have a carton of heavy cream just begging to be used for this very purpose. Only thing is I don't have a torch. Do you think I could use the broiler to caramelize the sugar?

I test drove minivans this past weekend and I am actually getting really excited about the switch from SUV to minivan. I don't think we will have any regrets. It's the perfect family car and has so many bells and whistles that are very appealing to a young family. It seems like the only argument or reasons against not going with a minivan was that it wasn't cool. I'm glad that I'm not going for cool and that I don't really care how a car makes me feel or look. I want my car to be safe for my family, gas efficient, spacious and comfortable. Minivan = check, check, check and check. Besides, my husband is the only person I care to impress and he was the one that requested we get a minivan to begin with. All I can say is don't knock em until you've driven or ridden in one. We're leaning more towards the Honda Odyssey over the Toyota Sienna, if you have any input on this I would love to hear it.

This week I plan on posting a step by step on the making of the Kitchen set as well as other fun stuff.

New Year

2012-01-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

Where did 2011 go? Seriously, fastest year ever, no lie. It's been a year of many blessings.
Another year of staying at home raising my babies.
Welcoming Elijah into the world.
Pursuing Photography as a business.
Growing deeper with our Church Family.
Getting to spend time with long distance friends.
Slowing down to enjoy the simple things in life.
Learning how to be grateful and content in all areas.

Here are a few collages from this year.

I haven't had a New Years resolution "sit down" but as always I have had the thoughts and conversations in my head to know a few of the things I want to work on for this next year.

- Get organized in all areas. I am the most unorganized person. I lose stuff, have junk drawers that will hardly close, closets that need to be slammed shut before an avalanche comes down, cabinets full of random clutter and paper clutter with no rhyme or reason.
- Be better about writing Thank You cards and by better I mean actually writing Thank You cards. I hate to share this but I didn't write one Thank You card this year, and I had a baby, got meals, had a two year old with a Birthday and have been abundantly blessed. Please know that we are so thankful for all that we have been given even if we didn't send a card. I feel awful about it.
- Catch myself when I begin to compare myself, my life, my talents, my home, my body, my possessions, my marriage and my family. Catch these thoughts before they are entertained into anything that is not of Christ.
- Meal Plan
- Establish a house chore schedule for myself
- Be spontaneous with my husband. ( He's spontaneous, I am not )
- Be in the word daily, in prayer and devotion with my Savior. Making this a priority rather than facebook, blogs, and pinterest.
- Be more giving
- Plan activities and lessons for Little Miss to do during the week.
- Take an out of state vacation as a family.
- Have a fruitful garden.
-Run a 10K
- Go to bed earlier....and in response to that one I must get off of this here computer and get some shut eye.

Happy New Year!

{ 8 Months }

2011-12-30T08:10:00.000-08:00

I better write something about you being eight months old because in about two weeks you will be moving on to nine months. Life needs to slow down! This has been a month of a lot of change. You have reached so many milestones and are growing before our very eyes. Your personality is developing into something so special and we just love you to pieces.

You started to crawl! You took your first official crawl on Saturday, December 10th but waited until December 22 to go at it with full force.
You started sitting up to take baths with no concern for you face diving or falling back.
You enjoy sink baths.
You started to really suck your thumb. It's so helpful and really cute.
Your still wearing a size 4 diapers but starting tomorrow we will move to cloth diapers.
Your wearing 9-12 month clothes.
Now that your crawling you have become so content. You can get to the things you want to play with and move on when you lose interest. This has made all the difference in the world.
You are sleeping wonderfully now. You get tired around 6:45pm and actually go to bed around 7:15pm and you don't wake up until 6:00am for a feeding and then you go back to sleep until around 8:00-8:30am. And now that your crawling there have even been a few days that you have slept past 9:00am! Never thought this would happen.
You take a nap around 10:00-11:00 and then 2:00-4:00
You love to eat, as in you actually cry when I scoop the last spoon of food out. Your favorites are mango, pineapple and banana.
Your becoming a better car rider and just went to your first drive in movie last night. You feel asleep in your seat and we were able to stay for the second feature.
You are talking all the time. You mostly say, "da-da" but can say, "ba-ba" and a few others....just no "ma-ma" yet.
You always have a smile on your face, even if your squealing your still smiling and drooling of course.

And just when I thought you had done enough growing in one week I found you doing this during nap time...

And it scared you to death!

We love you Bubby boy!

Christmas Ornament Time Capsule {DIY}

2011-12-28T15:09:00.000-08:00

Before you pack up your Christmas decorations I have something I want to share with you. I have seen so many cute ideas involving clear glass ornaments and this idea evolved as a result of many of those. I love Christmas ornaments that have meaning and especially those that bring back memories from years past. Starting this year I plan to make an ornament time capsule of the Christmas Season. It's something easy to make right after Christmas is over, pack it up and enjoy it the next year and many to follow. You could have fun with it and do it a variety of ways. I chose to use glue, glitter and notebook paper this time around, I'm sure it will change each year. I even thought of writing out all of the memories with a Sharpie on the glass but hesitated to do that because the thought of it breaking and not having something salvageable with the memories on it would break my heart.

Christmas Part 3

2011-12-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

I guess I didn't take as many pictures at the last Christmas gathering. When we got on the road I realized I forgot the pack n' play for Bubby to take a nap in..ooops...big ooops. We didn't get to stay very late because we had been on the road and without regular naps for four days at that point. We had a great time and will need to go back sometime this next week to spend more time together.

I just got back from another DOC band day in Austin and finally got moved to a two-week appointment schedule! Going there every week was so hard on this Mama and the Littles. When we pulled up to the house this afternoon the sun was beaming into the yard and we were able to play for an hour before it got chilly. We all enjoyed being outside and stretching our traveling legs.

I put the Littles to bed a little early tonight and finalized my online shopping cart for my sample package of cloth diapers. Thank you everyone for giving me links and advice. After much research I'm going to try bumGenius and see how it goes. I'm kinda excited and kinda scared at the same time.

Oh and thank you for all your comments on the play kitchen. Of course I'm going to do a post on it! Ya'll are so silly if you think I was going to leave you high and dry...you know I wouldn't do that. I love sharing ideas ;) Hopefully I will get to that this week. Times just flying by for me right now and I'm trying to soak in what's important and not let the "to-do" list rule me. Hope ya'll are having a great week.

Christmas Part 2

2011-12-26T18:18:00.000-08:00

This Christmas Season was so special for us as a family. As parents we were so excited to celebrate Christs birth with our children and felt like Little Miss had a good understanding of what this season is all about. On Christmas morning I was the one that woke up at 5:30am and could hardly go back to bed. I was so excited to see Little Miss as well as Matt open the gifts I had for them. I made Little Miss a kitchen set and was giddy like a kid thinking about how much she was going to love it. And of course this was the morning that everyone slept until 9:00AM. When she woke up she noticed the house looked a little different but her eyes went strait to her "marshapillows.

Over the past few months Matt has learned some songs on the ol' pink guitar. He can play some of Little Miss's favorite nursery rhymes and really enjoys it. He usually just get's resteraunt gift certificates for presents so I was really excited to get him a "toy" that he could actually enjoy for a long period of time.I had to throw him off while I went to get the guitar so I placed the pick in a trash bag. Once he found it I walked out with the guitar. He was so surprised and excited!

As you can tell Little Miss is pretty excited about Daddy's new toy.

Trying to learn together. I have a feeling this will be something they bond over for years to come.