Top Ten Tuesday...

Thank you Michelle for requesting this top ten. It was a great idea and so much fun for me to think of, not to mention keeping me busy while "under the weather." I hope you enjoy it! I'm sure there are a few more that I could list, but these are the main ones I buy/drink.

Abby's top 10 (I only came up with 7) wines in no particular order...

1. Kendall Jackson merlot

2. Blackstone merlot

3. Blackstone cabernet

4. Estancia

5. Red Bicyclette

6. Wolf Blass yellow label merlot

7. Franciscan cabernet

Now go out, grab a bottle or 2 and start tasting! Let me know which of these you liked and if its not mentioned above...What is YOUR favorite?!

Jacci is my hero!

Thank you oh so much to my friend, sweet Jacci, over at Sprinkles of Scarlett! She came to my rescue and made me this great signature that you all get to enjoy at the end of all my posts!
Jacci you are awesome!! Everybody needs to go check out Jacci's "meatless mondays" for some yummy recipes!! Thank you Jacci you are amazing!! Muah!

Since Friday, this has been my life...

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+ Can only mean one thing...

It definitely takes a village! Thank you to the multiple family members who have passed around and loved on Mr. Colt so he doesn't get sick...Thank you to the best MIL ever for the sopapilla cheesecake, snickers and tub of chicken soup. I'm sure it tastes great, but its keeping me full until my taste buds come back to life. Thank you to my mommy who will be coming over this afternoon to make me her homemade cookie monster(similar to cheddars) and her special hot chocolate mix that I think could possibly cure me!

I don't know what in the world I would do without ALL the family who never fail to step up to the plate to make sure everybody and everything is taken care of. Yall are the best of the best!

I think tomorrow I will be up and running (slowly, but surely). I have a halloween party to plan for at my house on Saturday and errands need to be completed in a timely manner! Until then, resting and tv watching :( BORING!!!

All of this bed rest has introduced me to a few new shows...

Bridezillas...seriously?! I am shocked at the crude, rude and embarassing behavior! It can't be real...I just won't believe that someone would actually act that way...I just won't.

My Fair Wedding...This one is great. I love that David comes in three weeks before the wedding and changes everything! The bride doesn't know what he chose for her until the DAY OF.

Cake Boss...I love cake! They make the most extravagant masterpieces....almost like cake sculptures. Super creative. I cringed when they dropped a 5 tear cake that took days to make...down the stairs!!

Stay well everybody! Keep washing those hands!

I'm a big boy now I'm 9...

If I'm not mistaken...was it not just yesterday I posted "I'm a big boy now I'm 8!"
(8 months)

Apparently 4 weeks feels like one day around here...sheesh!

Today, Colt and I went to pick up our Mamaw and headed to the nearest Pumpkin Patch. Sadly, around here the pumpkin patch was in a parking lot and not on a cool country farm, but we took what we could get especially in the dreary cloudy weather.His little red head looks like a pumkin!Here is what our 9 month old precious pumpkin is up to these days...

...size 3 diapers
...size 12 month clothes

...size 4 shoe
...has 5 teeth! 3 top two bottom

...loves to eat bread, cheese and mashed potatos off mommy or daddy's plate

...still sleeping 12-14 hours a night

...still takes 2 naps a day-not so much two 3 hour naps as the past few months, but occasionally we'll sneak in a 3 hour
...has almost out grown the peg pereggo car seat and will be enjoying his new Britax Marathon here in the next month

...crawling crawling

...pulling up to a stand...on everything and hasn't quite figured out how to sit down slowly. Resulting in multiple head bangs and tears.

...immitates "ball" (ba) "duck" (duh)"dad" (da da) "momma" (ma ma) "poppy" (pop pop)

...his favorite toy is his stuffed green frog

...enjoys the singing in church, but after its over the talking begins so off to the nursery we go!

...super happy and animated all the time. I wish I had a penny for every comment about his smile, laugh and personality. I would be the richest stay at home mom ever!
...EVERY time he goes from crawling to a sit up position he claps. See for yourself below...

...He claps ALL the time. I think since we laugh and clap back saying "yay colt" he thinks thats what he's suppose to do all the time.

...He thinks peek-a-boo is the best game ever
...loves looking at himself in the mirror
...looks and pays attention to pictures. He gets excited at pictures of people he knows by kicking his legs and smiling/laughing.

...He makes the most hilarious "ugly" face (as we call it) when he is frustrated. He scrunches his nose and mouth while showing his teeth saying "na, na, na"or grunting.

...loves wearing his hat

...enjoys sitting in someones lap while they read to him. He sits very attentively and quiet touching each page as someone points to a picture.

...still walks in his walker everywhere and anywhere he can get to.
...totally over his jumperoo, but its super easy to contain him in that while I get ready. Until I come up with something else, he gets to play/whine in there...

...Colt is also a great football fan. Claps, talks and yells...perfect atmosphere for him :)

Happy 9 month birthday to our "big bear, little buddy, punkin, bub, bubbers, skunky, bizaboy, ColtT, Colter, biggaboy, monkey...You are our sunshine!

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