My Healthy Little Eater Man

In a quest for eating healthier...

My son is such a great little eater man! I switched up his lunch today. First, it was obvious he was bored with Tyson chicken nuggets. Second, lame. I can do better than fried crap for his lunches, right?

So, today he had a mini turkey and cheese quesadilla, 1/2 apple, 1/2 banana, and (gasp!) yogurt. We've never attempted yogurt on his own. But, look at him! What a little pro!!

And, he ate it all! I wonder what to make for tomorrow...

Top o' the desk to ya!

Well, it's day #2 over at A Bowl Full of Lemons and I wasn't excited about this... The top of the computer desk. Really?! Come on! First of all, I HATE this room in our home. This is the only room that is never organized, never cleaned right, never arranged right. I HATE it! So I was not too thrilled about this. See? The tops of both of our desks (yes, yes...it said top of your desk not your spouses. We are in the same space though and, well, I had to do it):

My sad little desk...

His monster sized desk that is too big for even for the Beanstalk Giant (you know...Jack and the Beanstalk... what's that giant's name?). This obnoxious thing will be gone one day. It is NOT invited into our next home. And, if it finds its way in...then it will be in the basement...or in the fire pit. 

And now for the afters....not much of a difference. But so? The challenge was the TOP of the desk. Not the whole room or anything else!

Clean and pretty for the most part.

 I never know what I'm allowed to move out of the way with Jason's things. So, I did as much as I could.

Surprising things:

1. Why is it so hard to just put stuff in the trash when it is...trash?! 
2. Do you know how much dust was there?! Look at the shine on his desk? It is still a monster though. And, I still hate it. Goodbye, desk. You will not be here for much longer. Can you say Craigslist!?
3. Hehe - I physically connected the printer to his computer (which was hooked up to mine). 
4. I couldn't print from my computer anymore...even though it has the capability. I just couldn't do it right.  (more later about why I switched this up)
5. Jason fixed it when he got home. Ok, that isn't surprising. He's amazing. What's surprising is that I just can't read... I checked the wrong connection box. Lame. 

So, even though this was not exciting in the beginning, it is done and new things are coming from it. You'll see later this week. Fun!

Now, if cleaning/organizing is on your goals list this year or you just like a challenge, then go here:

The Junk Cabinet

Or in my case, the cabinet above the microwave that holds everything known to man.

I am participating in a challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons (cute name!):

Today's challenge was to organize the insanity that lurks in your junk space... All of my drawers are being taken over by all of my fun cooking things, so we have an evil cabinet of death. I wasn't going to add this to my resolutions list, but then I went to put something in there and 500 things fell out. So, it had to be done. Stupid cabinet. We are supposed to do a before and after shot, but I couldn't take the embarrassment... Here is the after though:

I moved those shelves up to make some more space. I love that I can move the shelves around. :) I don't know why I never did that before though. Hmm...

On the left door, I have our calendar from our church (helps in being reminded of some of my resolutions) and my nifty cleaning schedule thanks to Clean Mama. On the right door, I have our menu plan for the week. I used to do the whole month, but since we are changing up our budget a bit...I am trying something new.

Then there are my cookbooks...I had way too many. Some of which will be given to friends who want them. If you know the recipes in them, you definitely don't need it anymore, right? I also have my favorite drawer organizer (which needs labels in my opinion) with first aid things, everyday tools, 3M hooks, pens, etc. Oh, and that green tub is filled with my mail items and my coupon file.

There you have it. The junk cabinet is taken care of and, hopefully, will stay this way! If organizing/cleaning is on your list of resolutions, you should definitely join in this challenge. I love a challenge!!

Happy New Year

Two hats are always better than one! And, a messy face always looks cute! Andrew and Tusker think so anyway. :)

This morning Jason surprised me by saying, "Let's go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast so you won't have to cook." I was so excited! Cracker Barrel is my #2 favorite place to eat. Surin West is #1 - in case you were wondering!! Awesome sushi! Anyhoo, that is how we started our celebration for New Year's Eve and it didn't stop there.

After a fantastic breakfast, we headed over to Best Buy and bought some things we weren't planning on (Hey! the New Year isn't until tomorrow people. And that is when all the the crazy happens! Not today. Tomorrow!) We got Wii Resort and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. I know. Don't start. The obsession with that game will never end. Thank you, Blizzard. But, I really do think that it will be okay this time. Andrew is older and wants to play with Jason. So, computer time for him has been cut waaaay down actually. It is nice to have me time, too. I like not having to attend to other people every minute of every hour. But, I digress :)

One we made our crazy purchases, we strolled down to the bookstore and whatnot. It was so nice outside today. Warm, but with a cool breeze. Perfect. So perfect, that after Andrew took his nap... He drove (i.e mommy pushed) his little Cozy Coupe around our neighborhood. Yeah, I know. I used to have it in the house, but Christmas kinda made less room for bigger toys. The Coupe is now parked in the garage where it belongs.

Oh yeah! And dinner - it was cooking alllllllll day! I made a yummy Italian pot roast complete with loaded mashed potatoes, greens beans, and Southern corn bread :) YUM!

But the real "party" started afterward. The festival of laughing until it hurts.

So, I'm sitting (finally - omg, I'm amazed my feet have not yet begun to swell...) and we are laughing with Andrew about his party hat and how Max is scared of the horns (poor fur ball). Then, I'm holding Andrew and saying, "Andrew, when your Daddy and I were younger and you weren't here just yet...well, it was much different on New Year's." LOL. But, for real. Do you even know how many times I've tired to get us to go to a New Year's Ball/Party/Extravaganza of some sort?! UGH!

Well, of course, Jason says, "Nah-uh! We've gone out" and proceeds to explain various CHRISTMAS parties. Um, no. NEW YEAR'S not CHRISTMAS. Then he tells me about my parent's New Year's party. OK, 1) My brothers were all there - a party PARTY doesn't involve kids (sorry boys, I do love you very much though. 2) That first reason doesn't even matter because we were NOT 21!!! You can't ring in the New Year if you can't have some bubbly. Lame.

Then, all of a sudden....

"WHAT?! WE ARE 25?!?!?!?!? WE COULDN'T DRINK AT THAT PARTY?!?!?! WE HAVEN'T BEEN 21 IN 4 YEARS?!?!?"

He was really serious. He asked me how old we were and what year this was. Are you kidding me? Then comes the laughing-til-it-hurts-and-we-have-tears-in-our-eyes. Andrew was laughing, too! That made it even funnier. He didn't even understand and he was laughing like he totally did. Such a cutie!

So, yes, honey. We are 25. And, maybe next year we can go out on the town (wink wink!)

Happy New Year, everyone!!

If He Builds It

and I say anything about it he stops. So, I take a picture instead. But forget that the flash is on. Good job, Heather. LOL. Anyway, he was very busy working on something and humming a little song this morning. It was so cute and I really wanted a picture.

But he says "no no" right after he realizes that a picture was taken. He was not happy about it either. But, so? I win! I got cute shots of him building a very nice tower...house...building of some sort. Still not sure.

I really cannot wait for him to talk so I actually understand him. Then I will let you know what he builds next. :)

Resolution: Be AMAZING!

HA! I can wish, right? I have quite a few resolutions this year. Normally, it's the typical no swearing, no junk food stuff. But, Andrew's bigger so things have changed a bit. Most of them are for him actually. Anyhoo! Wanna know what I'm doing differently this year (and hopefully for a long time to come)?

1. I really want/need to be a better Catholic for Andrew. I've tried before to do this, but it's never worked. But, I think because of Andrew, it will stick this time. So... Andrew and I are going to start attending Mass on Thursdays. We already go on Sundays, but Andrew goes to the nursery. He's at the point now where he knows when I say "shh!" but its the actual understanding of it all. Daily Mass is shorter, too (the prayers that are usually sung on Sundays are said, plus most music is omitted except for the beginning and end). Oh, and Thursday is the school Mass. He will get to see all of the kids from kindergarten and up sit quietly and listen to the "stories."  
2. I want/need to be a better Catholic for me. In the "me" case, I'm planning on praying the rosary weekly (instead of monthly). And... (gasp!) go to confession monthly. I haven't been since the week of our wedding and that was over 3 years ago. So, I'm kinda overdue...just a tad ;)  
3. Recycle. Alabama is apparently behind the rest of the world in this idea. Why our disposal service does not offer a recycling service is beyond me. Why I cannot find a recycling center close by is also another mystery. But I will find one. This resolution may not start off on the 1st, but it will become a habit. We need to take care of the world we live in, right? So since this looks like it will become a monthly run to whatever place we can find, we at least are going to set up a dedicated spot in our garage for it. Look's like I'm heading to Lowe's for some large bins soon. 
4. And one that everyone claims they will do...save more money! Yeah, I've become one of those coupon clippin mamas, too. But, whatever we save will go straight to our new home. And, thankfully, our prayers were answered and we are having a boy. So, more savings there. And, I'm starting a new thing where each month is going to be a challenge - slash the budget somewhere. Like groceries...instead of spending X like last month, I will have to spend less. My motivation? Get my children in Hoover City Schools - at the very beginning. Pray that we move within 4 years... I'm not sure how much longer we can handle Redneck Boy's big ass truck obsession (looooong story...just pray for us).

 Well, this decade is almost over, people. I hope everyone had a super 2010 and will have an even better 2011!

Happy New Year!!

By they way, I'm so going to wear some 2011 glasses. You'll see :)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I finally have all of the Christmas pictures organized and being printed in a lovely photo book! Since, there are literally hundreds of pictures that needed to be edited, decided upon, etc...it is just easier for me to share our book with you. This is definitely going to be a thing I do each Christmas! I hope you enjoy it!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Out with the Old

...in with the new!

This morning Andy was very helpful in taking everything out of boxes for me. All of his baby clothes, clothes to grow into (thanks, Mom!), toys were all over the floor in his room. But, it's ok. I wanted that. I went through every single piece outfit to determine what will become Alex's. Luckily, the majority of Andy's are all now Alex's. There were probably about 10 outfits that were so not the right season (like all the fleece...a bit too much for summer, eh?). But, anyhoo, 1 small Huggies diaper box of cute outfits that my boys can't wear will now go to some children in need. Now I can't wait for my awesome dresser to get here! See?

It's so nice! Half for Andy, half for Alex, and the top drawers for the many different types of diapers and whatnot. It comes next week! YAY!

I'll have a picture soon of what the room is going to look like soon. I found some great things and am just figuring out what I want for them. They are going to have the coolest room in the house! Other than the kitchen. Playing, sleeping and eating. The main things that boys do, right?

23 weeks down and 16 left!! We can't wait to meet you, Alex!

What does "A" Stand For?

Alexander!!

We are having a boy!!

This morning at 8:30, we (yep, all of us!) went in and saw our new sweet baby BOY! Our little Alex :) Only this time, we were able to do the 3D ultrasound along with the normal one. He is so cute!! He is weighing at just over a pound right now. Oh, and he might be a kickboxer LOL! You could watch him punch and kick all over the place! It was quite funny. Andrew though it was funny, too - at least he was laughing when we were. So wanna see???

Alex, we can't wait to meet you in 17 weeks!

Oh! The winning room layout is #1:

And the boys (hehe!!) are going to have a vintage sports theme going on! Kinda like this, but obviously baby/toddler friendly:

We are sooo excited!!!

No More Scraping for Me!!!

HAHAHA! Merry Christmas to meeee! I bought myself a present that I didn't know existed until today. I wish I had come up with the idea though... Ever since my mom gave me the ever-so-wonderfully-amazing KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas a few years ago, I have been able to fall in love with baking over and over again. Every time I see it's beautiful onyx shine, I clap - seriously. Some of my friends have been lucky enough to see this, too. LOL!

One downside...I have to scrap the stinkin bowl every few spins of whichever attachment that is in use to ensure all of the ingredients are mixed. WELL NO MORE!! Look what I found!!

I totally had this idea first, but whatever! It is being shipped to me as we speak! Oh, you still want to know what it is, huh? Ok.

This is the Beater Blade. This attachment fits the 5 quart mixers (they have bigger ones, too) and it's just like the normal one - BUT BETTER! It has this nifty built in scraper thingy on each side. It actually reaches the sides of the bowl and scrapes it while keeping the mixing going! HA! Seriously?! YES, PLEASE!

I cannot wait for it to arrive next week! I'm gonna be baking up a storm! Get ready, family! I will be bringing some fantastic goodies with us!