Random happenings...

Last Friday was no different than any other...We all know my child loves his sleep which leaves me scurrying in the mornings if we have to be somewhere on time. Which, of course, was to meet daddy in Dallas to head west. Alot of times when this happens, Colt gets to wear his jammies all day. Hints the pumpkin suit(he slept in it)

Colt loves to cuddle with daddy (Thursday night)Colt riding the four wheeler with Gertie as soon as we arrivedMonday we had another class at the Little Gym...I am now officially proud to say that my child is no longer scared of the balls!!! He actually crawls for them now...go figure!Today, Colt and I drove the best 35 minutes ever to meet our good friend at Benihanas for lunch. Afterwards, we headed straight over to the brand new, huge babies r us across the way.

To my delight, I see this big orange spoon hanging on a display. My first thought was, "dangit! Why didn't I think of this?!!" I was skeptical at first, but just had to find out for myself if it was really as awesome as it seemed. The spoon I found is called the "squirt boon spoon."

Here's how it works...

The easy-to-fill bulb holds up to 3 ounces of baby food and attaches firmly to the spoon end.
Simply squeeze the bulb to dispense just the right amount of food
Squirt comes with a protective cover to seal food in and keep the spoon clean between feedings
Bulb holds 3 oz of baby food
Detachable bulb with large opening for easy cleaning
Convenient and portable, great for on-the-go feeding
One-handed feeding
Dishwasher safe
BPA-free
Phthalate-free
PVC-free

Right when we got home, I just had to tryout our new spoon...

It worked like a charm not taking anymore than 2 minutes to eat 4oz of food! I quickly rinsed the bulb, put 4oz of fruit in it and a few minutes later...BAM lunch was over, no mess all in under 6 minutes!!!! We did the same thing for dinner, veggies, fruit...DONE! no bib, one handed, no waiting for mommy to hurry and scoop some more...WHY didn't I see this months ago?!! AMAZING...I would highly recommend that all of you new mommies go get one. I'm always down for something that makes my life a little easier! They come in pink too :)

As far as Colts new "talents"...He can now pull up on the coffee table all by himself...He'll do anything to get to mr Frog!

I am now catching up on The Biggest Loser(Tracy go home!), 90210, Melrose Place, DWTS and a few Wheel of Fortunes! HA!
Can anybody help me make a signature?!!! I've been wanting one and I have no idea how to do it...help help help! I'd love you forever :)

Happy Birthday Hubster!!!!

Today is the big day...My hubby wubby of over 4 years is the big TWO-SEVEN. It is incredibly weird for me that he is this old. I know he's not that old, but this is the 1oth birthday I've celebrated with him...The first being his EIGHTEENTH birthday! (everybody knows that we've been together since I was 14 and he was 17 right?) To give you a little taste of what we looked like at 15 and 18...(only a week or so after he turned 18) was Blake's senior halloween party. He went as Hugh Hefner and of course...I was a playboy bunny...my shirt said "playmate." For some reason, this was the best I could come up with?!! HAHA! I'm aware that my hair and eyebrows are out of control! Random thought* Isn't that weird that at this time, Hef's new girl friends(the twins) as of now were 9?!!!!!! SICK!

So today, Blake had to leave like super super early for work...well super early for him/us at like 6am so I hardly remember him leaving. I remember mumbling happy birthday and that's pretty much it. I really wanted to cook him breakfast, but obviously that didn't happen. Blake called around 11ish to see if Colt and I could eat birthday lunch with him. To which I replied, "YES!!! If Colt would ever wake up!!" So finally about 20 minutes later Colt started making noises, which I normally ignore because he goes back to sleep, and I ran in there so I could get him dressed, fed breakfast and head to eat bday lunch with daddy!

Colt helping daddy pick out what to eat (Can you tell where we are dad?! :))
Colt eating cornbread...kind of
We then headed to the grocery store to get stuff to make dinner as well as daddy's favorite cake!

Speaking of CAKE...
I made a german chocolate bundt cake...THE EASY WAY...Yes, there is an easy way

Here is what you need

I know you are wondering why there are two cans of icing there...We'll let me just tell you my secret... my little secret is to add one can of icing INTO the cake/box mix. AND THEN add another can on top!!! YUMMMM Let me know if you try it!! Cause it is GOOOOOOOD!

Before the icing on top...perfection!

And after with 27 candles!

I cooked Blake's favorite meal upon request which we all know is meatloaf and mashed potatoes...I mean seriously...is there anything better than homemade mashed potatoes?! Besides cake and cookies...I think not!

Make a wish babe!

Since we almost ate over 2lbs of meatloaf and an enormous amout of mashed potatoes (and I did throw a can of green beans in the mix)...We shared one piece of cake. Its true... believe it or not. Even Colt enjoyed a few bites.

Happy birthday babe! I can't tell you how awesome it feels to have grown UP with you let alone grow OLD with you! You really are my best friend, my rock, my life, my hero, my provider and my joy...people always look at me in wonderment asking how in the world could we be together since we were that young...I really don't have any other answer, reason or example to tell them except for our wonderful parents. Yours having been together since 15 and 14 and mine having been next door neighbors their whole life. To this day, I still get butterflies when the garage door opens knowing that you are home. Did I mention you were the best dad ever!? *Sidenote...We all know Blake has been out of commission since THIS accident and he is now fully back in daddy action as of tonight!!!!! He changed his first diaper since August!!! Glory glory hallalujah!!!!

Babe..I know you don't celebrate your birthday as much as I want to or even care about it as much as I do but my mom always made birthdays a big deal for me and Haley and from now on we will too. I want Colt to find as much joy in other's birthdays as he does his own...It means cake...YAY!!!! :)

As I'm writing this, fixing to hit "publish post"..Blake walked by the couch saying, "are you going to remember your underwear this time?" I am still laughing out loud...you see, last week I packed up Colt and I for the ranch, left the house, made it 15 minutes from home and realized I had forgotten my underwear for the weekend...HAHAHAHA!!! So Colt and I turned around, came home and were just a tad bit late meeting daddy for our weekly trip out west. The answer to that Blake is YES...I have already packed and I packed THAT first! :)

Happy birthday babe....and a big thanks to Gertie and Poppy for raising such a wonderful, respectful, hardworking, hunting fanatic, fishing maniac, workaholic, ADD, father of the year, never sits down, family loving, amazing son that just so happens to be my husband and best friend.

Love, Ab

The Little Gym...Take 2

Yesterday was our second class at the little gym. Once again, they had lots of fun (different from the first class) things for the kids to do. Bounce on the big jumper inflatable, front flips over objects, spotted back flips, bubbles, partner log rolls etc...and the big dreaded balls! He did much better this time around. He never screamed nor did he shed a tear, but he was very uneasy around them. A little progress is good. However, Blake did buy 3 balls on his way home from work. After an hour of playtime with Daddy...it looks as if we have made peace with the scary scary ball! For now :)

Ashleigh, Skylar (6.5 months), Abby and Colt (8.5 months) Yay bubbles

wheel barrel to front flip

clapping

Front flip

This video is for the grandparents...its boring

The Little Gym

This was literally one second before the "I hate balls" meltdown!! log roll with mommy

pulling up for the bells

parachute

Everybody listening to the teacher...good babies!

Has anybody else heard of "The Little Gym"

I'm just now finding out about this and today we had our first of hopefully many classes!

They just opened a new one a few miles from our house and were offering free trial classes. So me and two of my mommy friends jumped on the band wagon to try it out and boy was it fun and quite stimulating!! It's a mommy and me type class so we got to participate in all of the activities such as...somersaults, front flips, log rolls, hand stands, wheel barrel, singing, pulling up on the mats, and much much more...The website describes the class like this...

Our Parent/Child Classes focus on:
Increasing physical strength, flexibility and coordination through gymnastics concepts
Awareness of spatial and perceptual concepts
Self-expression
Greater independence
Early socialization
Following directions and cooperating
Sharing and taking turns
Accepting challenges and new places
Developing Independence
Comfortably separating from parents
Feeling proud of accomplishments
Knowing colors and numbers
Preparation for pre-school and kindergarten

Colt did amazing UNTIL they brought out his new biggest fear (other than the vacuum and Edohana fire)...A BALL!!!! Seriously, he is deathly afraid of them apparently. Its ridiculous...check it out (I can't figure out how to rotate it so you'll have to tilt your head) It was incredibly sad and he was hard to console. It is just weirdest thing I've ever seen...

Has this happened to any of your kids?!! It was so sad, but I just had to get my camera and video it because I knew nobody would believe me! The teacher just said he was "overstimulated" but who knows...looks like I need to go buy a bunch of balls :) After the moms saw how Colt reacted to the balls they all gave their kids balls to make sure they weren't scared! HA!

Homecoming...

Yes...I still go to my high school's homecoming. Don't judge me. I still bleed blue and I always will. Sometimes, (maybe all the time) I even wish I was wearing my old uniform cheering on the field with the girls. HA! Do you think you can guess what I'll be for halloween?

With my mom working there as the counselor and educational diagnostician (Yaya), my mother in law being the secretary for the athletic director and former cheerleading coach for at least 11 years if not more (Gertie), my grandmother teaching college psychology, I really can't stay away :) I go up there at least once a week and take Colt to see his Grandmothers at work...and I'm pretty sure Colt and I haven't missed a home football game yet. With this being the homecoming game, Gertie had a garter mum made for him. It was the cutest little thing I've ever seen! (When yall were in school did the guys wear garter mums? Ours did). And a sweet friend of Gertie's had a shirt monogrammed for him as well. He's so cute and always dressed so festive. He must have a good mom :)

Gertie and her "baby boy"I was happy to see my besties, Amy and Krista, come out to support their alma mater. I do see them on a regular basis at our weekly "girls night in," but after 6.5 years...it was due time for them to come back to our old stompin' grounds...right girls?!

Just in case you were wondering...We won! Go Chargers!

Scarf Swap

Thirty-Two of precious Meredith's blog readers joined the scarf swap fun. We were all partnered up with another person and set out on a mission to buy a $15 scarf to send to our partner. After searching high and low for THE PERFECT scarf for JENN, all I found were perfect scarves WAY over budget. When in doubt, go to Forever 21 right?! So off I went...and of course, they never disappoint. Not only were there lots to choose from, they were all $7 or UNDER! I couldn't just buy one so I chose two....I hope you like them Jenn :)

After being away from home for two days, I came home to this little puppy on the front porch. Like I told Jenn, I only own one scarf and I'd be lucky to find it in my closet...So I was not going to be picky on colors because I'm not a scarf wearer, but I'm going to work on that :) I absolutely love the one she picked out for me. I'm the kind of person that likes to wear accessories that go with multiple things in my wardrobe instead of color specific. She did a great job and I couldn't have picked a better one myself! Thanks again! I love love love it! And thanks to Meredith for starting these fun swaps...I'm looking forward to the ornament swap next!!!!

Lets go out to dinner...

Hibachi might just be mine and Blake's favorite place to eat...Whether it be Benihanas, Edohanas, Fujis in Abilene, or any other hibachi place...You can find us front and center ready for the show and food! It never gets old! We order the SAME thing no matter where we are...Me: Hibachi chicken, steamed rice...Blake: Hibachi chicken DOUBLE FRIED rice! Colt, has a different opinion. Don't get me wrong, he is a great "eater outer" but when it comes to the HUGE FIRE at the beginning of our hibachi meal...he's out! Never fails...he always cries. It always scares him. Blake and I just so happen to be "one of those parents" who let their kids cry etc...So when the chef asked us " will the fire make him cry?" Our reply was, "yes, but do it anyways...real big." Just as I got my camera out to video it, I was too late. So as we left we saw another table just beginning their meal so we asked if we could let our baby see it just one more time :) (and you wonder how our baby wears hats and lifejackets without crying...you keep doing it until they don't mind anymore...You don't think I'm going to stop eating hibachi do you?!!) So I did get it on video this time...

I thought it was hilarious and super super sweet that the manager of the restaurant tried to console Colt during our meal by....

Showing him a magic trick?...it was cool, but he's 8 months old :)And showing him that his "boat" floated...which ended up sinking by the end of dinnerWhen I got home, I was cleaning out my purse when I realized...HAHAHAHA!!! This is what I pulled out of my purse...That does not include all of MY stuff that is in there...Camera, Wallet, Sunglasses, Regular Glasses, Phone, headphones, armband etc...

I can thank my mom for the HUGE bag I'm carrying right now. She went out of town for a week and I decided it would be fun to "shop" in her closet for a new bag! and I came across this perfect giant Valentino tote...It does the job quite nicely...Thanks mom :) I promise to return her soon... Daddy telling Colt T not to be scared of the fire...

Colt LOVES getting water through a straw
Tomorrow is homecoming! Colt may or may not be sporting the cutest little garder mum you ever did see! This will be his 3rd football game of the week....

We watched cousin Jordan play Tuesday

Cousin Kathleen cheer Wednesday

and Friday is the big game!


Doodad and Colt T being silly at dinner.
Colt at the football game Tuesday...

Have a great weekend! I'm working the garage sale with Gertie on Saturday...wish us luck :)