300th Post!

I started writing a post about my freezer meal cooking extravaganza yesterday when I realized that I was on post #300! Many of you wonderful people are newer followers but I have been blogging for quite a while...August 17, 2009 to be exact! I just started using Facebook to share my posts once I got pregnant!

To celebrate my 300th post let's play a couple games! Of course, games have winners!! What's the prize you ask? How about a small Amazon gift card!

Game #1
First you have to view my blog using the web version! Look at my blog archive and see if I have ever written a post on your birthday. If so, leave me a comment on that post that says Happy Birthday to me! Make sure you leave your name when you post a comment!

Game #2
Leave me a comment on this post with a fun or exciting topic to write about that I haven't written about before.

Game #3
Leave me a separate comment on this post telling me what you would buy from Amazon with a small gift card. I'm just curious what everyone is shopping for!

I will go through all my comments (make sure you leave your name!) and pick a random winner this weekend! But don't delay...I could close this party down at a moment's notice!!

Man this party was fun...better head to bed!

15 Weeks

15 weeks old! Time goes by so fast! Tomorrow is the first day of school (for teachers) and I am so glad I decided to take the first nine weeks off! I can't imagine going back to work tomorrow...it went by way too fast!

Likes: chewing on his hands & arms, putting his links and rattle in his mouth, napping with his hands over his face, chatting, smiling

Dislikes: Zoe barking when he's sleepy

What's New in the Last Week: starting to get his feet up when he's laying down (soon he will be able to reach his feet!), grabbing things and getting them in his mouth (sometimes he gets more of his eye than mouth), smiling at people and himself in the mirror, giggling more, and holding his head up for longer spurts

Funny story from this past Friday...I was getting ready to take a shower and Clint picked up Parker to tell him bye before leaving. He then went to set him back down in his bed and Parker curled up his little lip and started to cry! So daddy just had to pick him back up and love on him some more...before handing him back to me so I would have to face the sad pouty lip! It was so sad but cute :) I love these cute little moments!

Good Morning!

Look at that belly!

Trying to find grandma & grandpa's house!

So excited I couldn't get a picture of his new jammies!

I just love his morning smiles :)

We took a road trip to Lafayette to have lunch with Hilary & Scotty...so of course we had to wear our IU shirt!

He was so thoughtful even while napping.

Passed out on the new bed...Parker approves!

snuggling

so sweet

Hello!!!

napping and trying to wake up afterwards

He just loves to chat while hanging out in his swing...especially if we aren't close!

14 Weeks

Our little baby bear weighs 14 pounds and 10 ounces this week and is now 14 weeks old!

Likes: babbling, raspberries, smiling

Dislikes: getting his nails trimmed

What's New in the Last Week: grabs on to things purposefully (sometimes has to concentrate pretty hard if it's something hanging!), putting his pacifier into his mouth on his own quite a bit

I love having the mirror in the car because sometimes I catch him doing silly things or just looking cute :)

trying out the doorway jumper...still a little small
 

maxin' and relaxin'

just a wavin' and a flappin'

love his feet here

so thoughtful

always smiley in the morning

Harry Potter gear!!

I love putting things on his head.

This baby gets more mail than the President!

Back up choice for this week's pic!

Laundry Room Makeover - Part 1

Our laundry room is hideous. It's not too bad of a space but it is the Bermuda Triangle of doors! This room is the entrance to the kitchen, basement, and garage. And all three doors open into the laundry room! Its a disaster!! So recently we decided to give this room a makeover!

This corner had a sink and a cabinet - both of which were nice but not really necessary. We are thinking about moving the sink into the garage. While the sink isn't a necessity, it is actually really handy because Clint comes home from work, mowing, and doing who knows what else and he is filthy! He scrubs all his filth off here before coming into the kitchen. Hopefully we can put this in the garage so that he can still use it to get cleaned up without tracking grime all through the house. 

We took the cabinet out but we have other storage plans in mind so we aren't really losing anything here.

The first thing we decided on when planning this makeover was getting rid of one of these doors! Obviously the garage door is important! We also want to keep the basement door for a variety of reasons, but a walking child in the next year is one of the big ones! So the kitchen door is the winner! Clint's first though was to just take it out but the washer and dryer can get kind of noisy so we'd rather have something. So what else can you do? Pocket door! My mom is going to be thrilled! She loves pocket doors! This will automatically give us more space because the kitchen door was the one door that was always open and taking up room!

Once the drywall is ready to be painted, we are going to take these cabinets and the rod of hangers down. We are going to replace them with a homemade shelf with 8 cubby hole openings (2 rows of 4). I am going to buy baskets to fill each cubby. The picture I took doesn't show all the wasted space above and beside the current cabinet. The shelf we are going to make with touch the walls and ceiling to maximize our storage space!We are also going to hang the rod under the shelf so that the rod doesn't sag or rip off the drywall/paint (like the shower rod is currently doing).

(like my exciting video!!)

Sunday Clint worked on the first step: taking off the door, taking off the drywall in the laundry room, installing the pocket door, and hanging new drywall. He needs to finish the casing and then mud and sand the drywall. Then we are going to paint! We are going to use the same color that we painted our extra bathroom. You can see the color here. Then we will lay a new floor! We are thinking a brownish color which would match the baskets I want for the shelves...something like these:

The plan for the corner that had the sink and cabinet is still up in the air. A couple things that we have in mind are:

*a fold-down drying rack like one of these:

*a fold-down shelf/table for folding laundry; kind of like these:

*and finally we are thinking about a small little bench with space underneath for shoes; although we can't decide if we want a corner bench or a straight bench:

One last idea I have is to put a small little shelf between the washer and dryer, but I'm not sure if there is enough room. The washer loves to jiggle around and a small shelf might help it stay put! And it would be easy access to detergent!

I can't wait for this little project to be done! It will be a nice room to first walk into when coming home!

Picky Eater

Those that know me well know that I am a 'picky' eater.I think I have been that way ever since I can remember. In my opinion though I am not a needy picky eater. I don't put pressure on other people to choose where to eat or what to make. I can find something at almost all restaurants and I have gotten a lot better at figuring something out if we go somewhere new or that I wouldn't really pick. The one person it's hard to go out to eat with is my sister because she usually likes more ethnic places that I'm too chicken to try, because I'm afraid I won't be able to find something. She is pretty good at compromising though.

Contrary to what some people may believe, I don't really enjoy being picky, especially the older I get. I would love to just eat anything - so many people post things on Facebook and Pinterest that look so appetizing but (see below).

(sorry for the language)

A quick list of what makes me 'picky': Not a fan of vegetables, don't like 'weird' textures, can't get past smelly or strange looking foods, and not really into mixed-up foods (casseroles, etc).

As I have gotten older, I have done a lot better at trying new things in my quest to like more foods, although it isn't always successful. Because let's face it, who wants to be picky? Which brings me to a point I have heard, although not for a long time, that being picky is a choice. Really? You think I enjoy eating a small array of things? I wish I liked more foods but I'm not going to force myself to eat something that is not good.

However!! I read this article the other day as I was Google-ing how to get over being a picky eater and I thought these were good tips. I have also decided that I am going to try to do a blog every week about trying new food! I wanted to do "Food Friday" but I don't think I will be very good at blogging on a Friday after dinner...but we'll see! I am going to start this in August so that I have a little time to get recipes and a plan and such together. I am glad to be blogging about this so that I will be held accountable for this little escapade! No chickening out!

One thing that I already have started is that I am getting together with some friends to create a bunch of meals to throw in the freezer. Hopefully we can share some ideas to help get me started on my quest to broaden my taste buds! I'm also glad to have dinners premade so that Clint and I don't eat cereal for the rest of our lives!

So feel free to join me in my food adventures!!

Rolling Over

I mentioned that Parker finally rolled over the day before he turned 3 months. Well after he did it 2 or 3 times, he realized that he is a pro at it! He also has decided that as soon as I lay him on his belly he would rather roll over! 

He decided he would rather chat with me first...

(I had my toothbrush in my mouth btw)

Then he decided he would actually roll over!

13 Weeks

Bonus double blog post day! Parker is 13 weeks and also 3 months old today! He is getting so big but I am loving every minute of our time together :)

Likes: sleeping while sitting up, talking as much as possible, blowing bubbles, playing with a few toys, looking around while nursing, smiling

Dislikes: Zoe barking (not all the time though...luckily), 7 o'clock

What's New in the Last Week: rolling over from his belly, reaching for, holding on to, and waving toys...oh and putting toys in his mouth some, giggling like crazy

He is really good at grabbing these and putting them in his mouth.

He likes to look at this guy and grab the rings on his hand. 

I may or may not like this firefly more than him but it's growing on him! I really like all these Lamaze toys...they're so colorful!

Trying to capture him rolling over on video...not this time! He was too busy showing off for the camera I think!

He just loves to talk! Wonder where he gets it from?

Such a cutie

sleeping and sitting

Stop that fake cry...I won't give in!

Our first birthday party...photobombed by Zoe of course!

All up in your face!

His first ouchie...Lucy was hiding under his play mat and started going wacko because he was kicking and she caught his little foot! Luckily he only cry for a few seconds. Bad Lucy!

We had a great visit with Aunt Lindsay!

He was so proud of rolling over!

One of the screens on my phone...cute picture and a countdown until we go to California!! Oh and a countdown for when I go back to work...like how I scheduled that?

I just bought these two things and can't wait for them to get here!

Baby Leggings

Bumble Bee PJs!

Here is my first attempt at adding an audio file...I don't like the giant widget but oh well! He loves raspberries!!