One Year Older and Wiser (Hopefully) Too...

On Thursday, I gained another year in age...28 now!! (I'm getting way too close to 30-AHHH!!) The scary thing about it, is that I told Creighton the other day how I worry about losing some of my brain power, since I'm not teaching kids anymore. I know I only taught 3rd grade, but I did train teachers in how to teach math, plus you really do use your brain a lot more when you are working with students and adults, and not just singing nursery rhymes to your baby. So that is why I added the word hopefully to my title.

Overall my birthday went pretty well. When Creighton had asked me if I had any plans for my birthday, I told him I was going to spend the day with my students. (That's what I've done for the last 5 birthdays, so it was kind of a downer to not have students around, excited for me to have my birthday). I did however to a couple of fun things. I got to go to breakfast at Kneaders' with some friends--love their all you can eat french toast. I did some tutoring, then later went and got a free ice cream from Cold Stone--free for me, but not for Creighton! After that we also got my free birthday movie from Hollywood video. (Oh, and to top it all off, on Friday we went out with some friends, who had a birthday on Friday, to Tucanos for my free birthday meal!) Yes, I get in every free thing that I can! Don't you???

For my birthday Creighton (or I should say the baby) got me another figurine for my Willow Tree collection :) and he also got me these beautiful roses!! Thanks hon!


For some reason, this year I have been a little bit more reflective about my birthdays in the past. So while I am not going to share things about all the ones I remember, I thought it would be fun to jot down some of the most memorable birthdays I have had!

~On my 7th or 8th... I can't remember, birthday my mom had the "cake lady" from our local grocery store make purple roses for my mom to put on my birthday cake. I got to carry my cake out of the house (we were eating it outside--only in CA can you do that in Feb.) and I dropped the cake on the ground. I was so sad and embarrassed!

~On my 10th birthday I got to have my first sleepover party. Well, we ended up staying up and talking too much so my parents separated us and made us sleep in different rooms-yeah, that's all I can say about that one!

~On my 16th birthday my parents threw me a surprise birthday party. I was totally surprised (which doesn't happen often to me) and it was a lot of fun!

~On my 19th birthday I was a Freshman in college, and I had a crazy friend hide ice cream sundae ingredients in trees around the dorms, and made me climb them to get all of the stuff so we could have sundaes--it was a lot of fun--totally a college birthday!

~On my 23rd birthday I was teaching school for the first time and brought treats to my class. A boy in my class was highly allergic to practically everything, but said the treat should be safe--then had an attack in class!!!!!

Those are the best and the worst of my birthdays, that I can remember.

Copy Cat...
Now, for a confession--I am a total copy cat. I am always looking for projects to do, and copy whatever I can find. Whether it is copying a scrapbooking idea from someone (Mandy and Becca, that's you) or copying a craft. So these two crafts I'm posting pictures of, originate from my friend Sharla's blog, but the letters can also be seen at Jessica's and Michelle's blog!! (I guess that's how you know it's a good idea, everyone copies it from you).

These were both easy, and inexpensive--two of my favorite things. Oh, and fun too!

Now for a quick catch up on the little guy! He's still growing like a weed, and as fun as ever. We love it when he does this (sucks on his lower lip). A) We think it's cute. B) We hope it stops some of the constant drooling!!

I just like the next picture of me and him! I think it's sweet!

Since he has been rolling over so much, he now sleeps on his tummy. Actually, it is more his knees, since he is a stink bug sleeper. The picture below doesn't really do the "stink bug" position justice, but let's just say that he wakes up every morning with red marks on his knees from moving around on them all night. Too cute! Oh, and do you notice his blanket tucked under his arm? He loves to have stuff near his face to cuddle with!

Happy Tag...

Write down six things that make you happy. Post the rules, tag six others and let them know you did it. Then tell the person when your entry is complete.

Six Things That Make Me Happy:
1- Being a mom
2- The sound of water (ocean waves, or from a creek)
3- Doing fun and cute crafts/projects
4- Knowing my workout is done for the day
5- Reading
6- When my husband comes home early from work (and goes to bed a decent time)

Thanks Jessica!

Oh, I tag...Megan, Brittnee, Julie, Hayley, Shandi, and Mandy!

A recap of the holidays and some pictures...

For Christmas this year we were in UT, because Creighton had to work :( But on the day before New Year's Eve we got to drive out to CA to visit with my family. While we were there, the little guy got to meet my brother Evan, who is going to BYU Hawaii--lucky dog!!, for the first time. He was great again in the car on the way there and back, but had a little bit of trouble sleeping while we were there. Not sure if he was going through a growth spurt or what, but he has been better ever since we have been home.

Here he is with Evan.

While in CA we went to the beach again, and this time got some better weather. We went to Dana Point which is right by my grandparents house, so we got to visit with them afterwards.

I look silly in this picture, but I love how you can barely see the baby with the blanket wrapped all around him--it was very breezy that day, but clear!

I love that we actually have a good picture of us, besides the fact that we really aren't in focus that well--bummer.

Now that we are back, I am really missing the warm weather--of course. I guess I can at least be grateful that it hasn't snowed since we've been back, knock on wood. I'm sure though, that that won't last for much longer. Oh well, at least Jan. is coming to an end, which means one more winter month will be gone! Yahoo!!

Before I get to some pictures of the little one, I just have to say Welcome Home to my brother Logan. He just returned home from his mission in the Philippines today. Hopefully I'll get to see him one day soon...I'm so proud of him, and am sad to see this journey be over for him. But I'm very excited to see him too. I've missed him so very much. Plus, he will finally get to meet the newest member of my family! How fun!!

Love you Elder Young!

He loves to grab things and put them in his mouth!


Look at those big blue eyes.

Mom and baby!

He is seriously such a cutie pie!!!!

He's always got his fingers in his mouth.

He looks like an angel here, all glowing--photography props to my husband!

I need some ideas...

On how to keep a baby from rolling over in his sleep, and waking himself up (3-4 times a night)? He rolls over from back to tummy all of the time, but doesn't roll over from tummy to back a whole lot. And every time he rolls over his arm gets stuck and he wakes himself up crying. I have tried rolling up blankets (and rubberbanding them so they won't come undone) and putting those next to him, but he kicks and moves about until they are out of his way enough to roll over. What have you guys done to help solve this problem? I'll take whatever suggestions anyone has. THANKS!!

Oh, and new pictures are on their way soon :)

He did it!!!

In the last 2 weeks, my little guy has conquered two milestones. He giggled for the first time last week (he squeaks at things and squeals at things, but this was a real giggle). Then today I put him down on his back and went to the bathroom, and when I came back he was on his stomach!! (And this was a real roll, not a fake one like Creighton tried to pull on me yesterday, when he switched the baby over on his opposite side while I was out of the room). I was totally shocked, excited, and sad at the same time. Sad because I had missed it, excited that he had learned something new, and shocked that it had come so quickly. I immediately called Creighton and told him about it, then my mom, then got out the video camera to try and capture another one. It took some patience, but I finally got it on tape. Then later this evening he rolled from his stomach to his back once, and back to stomach a few more times. I couldn't believe it. Although it's a couple of days late, I say it's the best Christmas present I got. It is absolutely amazing to watch him grown and develop, literally, on a daily basis. And it all happened the day after he turned 4 months--way to stay on schedule babe!

Merry Christmas Tag...

(I got this cute tag from my friend Becca's blog--thanks Becca!)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love to see presents wrapped all nicely under the tree, but I do appreciate gift bags and their ease during the holiday time.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real tree. We always had a real tree growing up, and I love the smell of them. Since we've been married we've only had a tree twice, and both times it was real.

3. When do you put up the tree? I like the idea of doing it the Fri. after Thanksgiving, but sometimes it just depeneds on our schedule and what works that year.

4. When do you take the tree down? After New Years. However this year we will be in CA before New Years, and so it's coming down before we leave.

5. Do you like eggnog? No. I think as a kid I might have at least tried it (and maybe liked it, I can't remember), but I don't like it now. Just the word "eggnog" makes me sick.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The barbie doll house my sister and I got.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My mom. She always says she doesn't need anything.

8. Easiest person to buy for? My dad. He's always up for a good book :)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, just a small one a visiting teacher gave me a few years back.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I was hoping to mail one out for the first time this year, but we obviously didn't get quite that far. Hopefully next year.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Is there really such a thing as a bad Christmas gift? Nothing comes to mind.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? Home Alone!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually in Oct. or Nov, since no one ever tells me what they want before then.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can remember.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My grandma's Christmas cookies, especially lemon bars.

16. Lights on the tree? For sure--bubble lights!

17. Favorite Christmas Song? I love all Christmas songs really, but Silent Night is an old time favorite, and Where are You Christmas is a newer favorite (my students from last year sang it at Christmas time, and so it melts my heart every time I hear it).

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel usually, but this year we stayed at home since Creighton had to work--miss you mom and family!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Definitely.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I'm not really sure yet, we don't have a tree topper yet...

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? I like the idea of one on Christmas eve, and the rest on Christmas.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The fact that it goes by in a blink of an eye, and of course the traffic and busy stores.

23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? The ornaments my grandma made for us one year for the 12 days of Christmas.

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Prime Rib

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A piece for my Willow Tree collection.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thank you Mandy!!!!

I have been trying all week to get these pictures up on blogger, but to no avail. Finally Creighton suggested that the pictures might be too big, since all of the pictures are from our new camera and 10 times the size of the old camera's pictures, rather than being a Windows Vista problem (boy oh boy, do I miss my Apple laptop from school!) So I asked my friend Mandy if she has to resize her pictures from her SLR camera and she said yes. And she taught me how to use a very useful tool on Photoshop--actions!! It was so fast and easy, I loved it. Thanks again Mandy! Now on to pictures (yeah, don't you just love pictures!)

Happy 3 month birthday!




My little munchkin turned 3 months at the end of last month. It's amazing to watch him grow. He is growing up so much, and so quickly! (Can you believe that he is bigger than Snoopy now!!!) Another great thing is that he has been sleeping through the night now for the last few weeks. Since he was about six weeks or so he would sleep from 7-4/5, with a late feeding at around 10 in there. Now he sleeps from 7/7:30-7:30 in the morning, still with a late night feeding. He is just amazing. Maybe that's normal, I don't know, but whatever it is, I love it!


My family came up for Thanksgiving and for the baby's blessing. One of my family's Thanksgiving traditions is to go see a movie and go see the lights at Temple Square. This year we went to see the James Bond movie, and I had a lot of reservations about it since we had never taken the little guy to see a movie (especially a loud, explosive one), but he did wonderful. He slept through most of it, and then when he woke up, I just held him and he went back to sleep. He as a great sport too at the temple, but it was freezing cold and he and I were both starting to get sick, so Creighton didn't get to stay as long as he would have liked too (trying out the new camera and all), but we did enjoy the lights, and he still got some pretty good pictures.


The Sunday after Thanksgiving, we had his baby blessing. We had some family there, and some great friends there too. It was so nice to see everyone there to support us. This is one of the pictures that I like of the 3 of us. Creighton's cousin took our pictures for us, which was super nice of her. If I didn't hate the way I look in them, I would love them even more. I need to learn how to use Photoshop better so I can make some improvements on myself, and then maybe I can post some more of them that have all of us in them. Luckily my little boy is so cute, and so photogenic. He definitely didn't get that from his mom :)

Only in California...can you get sun ripened tomatoes on Dec. 1st (and later). We went to CA for just a few days after Thanksgiving and I just couldn't believe the weather. I sure do miss it. I got to wear shorts and sandals while I was there, and eat breakfast out on the back patio--that's one of my favorite things to do at my parents house--sit on the back patio and read, catch some rays, eat a meal, just about about anything will do.

Here's a picture showing just how strong my cutie is!! He learns new "tricks" as we like to call them, all of the time.

One of the special things we got to do while in Cali was go to the beach. Unfortunately it wasn't the sunniest day, but as you can see, it was warm enough that I could wear shorts and get wet, and still not be freezing. In fact, the cold water didn't even make the baby cry. I was the one who squealed, and not him (only because the wave came up a lot higher than I was expecting, and still had my sandals on!!!)

His first, but definitely not last, time at the beach. What a trouper he is. Do you want to know the best part of the whole trip-he slept all the way there and back. I only had to wake him up to feed him (we went during the night, to make it easier for him). He's an angel, I feel so blessed.

Here's my little gangster, as my brother would say. I just love putting his hood on him whenever he is wearing a hooded sweatshirt.


One last thing. For the last few weeks now, he has been exploring his yummy hand. He has gone from thumb, to a finger here or there, to the back of his fist, and now, he currently likes to suck 3-4 fingers at a time. I really don't want him to be a thumb/finger sucker. But the real problem is, that his fingers are so long, he ends up gagging himself and spitting up half of the time. And whenever he sucks on them, it's like he's turned on a faucet in his mouth and it just starts leaking out saliva everywhere!! It makes us laugh all of the time. Gotta love him--and we do--a lot!!!!!!

So Frustrated...

I have tried to upload pictures twice now and blogger just isn't working for me. I have so much to catch up on over the last 2-3 weeks too, so it was going to be a fun post. But I guess it will just have to wait another day. I hope I can get some pictures up, and share what we've been up to, but until tomorrow here's a thought/question: How long will my hair be falling out for (with the hormones adjusting since I had the baby)? I am honestly afraid that I am going to be bald soon. I have never, ever, ever, in my life, pulled out so much hair daily. AND...Will it grow back in? Luckily, I have always had thicker hair, but I kind of wanted it to stay that way, so I need it to grow back in. I know this is pretty normal, but please, fill me in on your experiences, and help me get a better idea of what's going on, and how long it is going to keep on going. THANKS!!

PS Why is December the fastest month of the year? (I mean, I know why...I just wish it wasn't)

Not sure what to post about...

For the last couple of weeks, I haven't been quite sure what I should post about. I mean of course I can always post about the baby, but I've been trying to figure out what else there is to post--unfortunately, not much! I have been working on a couple of different projects, but most of them aren't done, so they aren't worth posting about yet. I do have one thing done though, so I will show you that first.

No, I did not make the quilt, that was a gift from one of my old students and her mom. It is all M.E. fabric--my favorite, isn't it great though. What I did do was recover the cushions on the chair. Some friends of ours so nicely gave us the chair, since they are done having kids, and all I had to do was recover it. I am not the best seamstress by any means, but it really wasn't too hard. My mom did help me finish off the bottom cushion--thanks mom. Now the only thing left to do on it, if we do it, is to stain the wood so it matches the other furniture.

Now for some fun pictures of the little (big guy--oh yeah, he was 90% for height, 75% for weight, and 50% for head circumference).

Bath Time...

He really does enjoy bath time, which is such a nice thing. He never cries when he is getting a bath, even when he gets sprayed with water and he is getting rinsed off. Which, by the way, is Creighton's favorite thing about bath time. (He doesn't want him to be afraid of water, so he says that if we get him used to the sensation of having water on his head, he won't be afraid to dunk his head in the water when it comes time to swim).

So here are some fun bath pictures, in order. And although his face is all scrunched up, he never cries or gets upset. He just has to adjust to the water all over his face :)

The End!

Happy Late Halloween!!!

I know I am late on posting a Halloween picture. But my parents were here this weekend, and so it was a busy one. And since they were only here for 2 1/2 short days, I had to take advantage of my time with them. Here is a picture of my little guy in his Halloween outfit. (We didn't get him a real costume because we didn't take him out trick-or-treating, but we did get him an outfit to wear for the day). The sad thing about Halloween was that we only had trick-or-treaters from 4-5:30 or so. I think we maybe passed out 30-40 pieces of candy :( It wasn't even dark before we had our bulk of kids come by. Trick-or-treating here is so much different than it was for me growing up in CA. I don't know if it's the area, or the times, but it's sooo different. Oh well.

What a cutie he is, although, I'm not sure that orange is his color :)

And here's another picture just because it is soooo adorable and I want everyone to see it!! (I'm not a proud and biased mother or anything! JK!) I could just kiss him and hold him all day.

Happy 2 month birthday to my big boy!!

Here is his 2 month picture. I can't believe how big he is getting. We go to the Dr.'s on Tuesday where we will find out exactly how much he weighs and how long he is. He weighs somewhere around 12 pounds or more, and is 24 inches or longer from what we can tell, but we'll get the true stats soon!!

The rest of the pictures are just some cute ones that we have snapped of him over the last couple of weeks. It is so much fun since he has started smiling. It was hard a first to get a picture of him smiling, but now he does it all of the time, so we can usually get at least one smiling picture a day. Oh, I just love him to death!

We just love this picture because he looks like he is frowning--he just sucking in his bottom lip. It's too cute!

My youngest brother came in to town last weekend and got to see the baby for the first time. It was fun to get to visit with him, but it went by way too quickly. We are lucky because this weekend my parents are coming back in to town, for just 2 1/2 days (they decided they couldn't wait until Thanksgiving to see him!) So we are really excited about that!!!

Deal Alert...

I just thought that I would let those of you who are interested know that at Albertsons you can get 10 2-liters of soda for $10, and then at the register you get a $10.00 mail in rebate. Which means you get the soda for 30 cents (just the tax). There is no limit to the number of sodas you can get, you just have to ring them up separately, and mail in the rebates separately. So if you are a parent who helps out with class parties, or if you will be needing drinks for upcoming holiday parties/events, or if you just want some soda, this is a super good deal. It's FREE, you can't pass it up!! (It's only good for 7-UP, A&W Rootbeer, and Sunkist sodas).

A Tag...

I haven't been tagged, or done a tag in quite some time, but my friend Mandy tagged me, so I figured it would give me something new and different to post about, so here I go. Anyone who wants to do this tag, feel free, but I tag...Kendra, Megan, Becca, Bethany, Julie, and Hayley.

I am: now a mother
I know: that families are eternal
I want: to feel in control of my life again and have a schedule
I have: a club foot
I dislike: the snow after Christmas
I miss: my parents and California
I feel: lazy sometimes
I hear: a baby breathing on the monitor
I smell: nothing
I crave: water, I am thirsty all the time
I cry: when I think about how fast my baby is growing up
I search: for free scrapbooking stuff on ikeagoddess.blogspot.com
I wonder: if we will ever move from Utah
I regret: not participating in study abroad programs while at BYU
I love: my son
I care: about my family
I worry: about my weight
I remember: camping every year at Dinkey Creek
I believe: we have a true prophet on earth today
I dance: with my son
I don't: like having a messy/cluttered house
I argue: when I feel like I am right
I write: in my daily calendar with the weeks' "To Do List"
I win: at things that I put my mind to
I lose: at bowling--not my sport
I wish: my husband worked at normal times of the day
I listen: to 103.9 fm most of the time in the car
I can usually be found: at home--sad huh :(
I am scared: that something will happen to my baby
I need: new clothes
I forget: to read my scriptures as often as I would like
I am happy: when I am doing what is right

Hope everyone has a good week!

Warning: Bouncing while running may be hazardous to your health...

Throughout my pregnancy I walked at an incline for 40-50 minutes 5-6 times a week, because I was worried about running while being pregnant. Since I've had the baby I've tried to go a few times a week, but am lucky to get 2-3 times in (and it's with the baby, so it's always just walking). Well, this morning I decided I was going to make sure to leave the baby so I could try and run a little with the walking. So I fed the baby and then about an hour and half later, when he was asleep, left for a walk/jog. Have any of you tried running with DD boobs that are fairly full of milk???? (I HATE having such a big chest since being pregnant) Let's just say it is horrible. It's fairly painful, and completely uncomfortable. I could only run for a little bit at a time, and everytime I did run, I had my arms holding/supporting my chest as I ran. I'm sure that everyone who drove past me thought that I was retarded and didn't know how to run. I tried switching it up and only used one arm to support at times, but then it just looked like my other arm was lame. What am I suppose to do (I will definitely make sure that I go right after I feed next time, but what else?), how am I suppose to be able to do more than walk while I am nursing? This seriously sucks. I knew that nursing would take sacrafices, but I never thought that running would have to be one of them. Any suggestions or ideas? Anyone out there ever have to deal with this besides me? Please help!!!

Something to cheer about...

So last week, and the week before, Albertsons was running some great deals. Oh, even the week before that too. I have to say how excited I am for their super 10 for $10 or less deals. The first week I got Campbell's Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom soups for 50 cents a piece. You can't even get Wal-mart's brand of the cream soups for that price. My mom and sister thought it was such a great deal, I had to pick them up some too. (I think I got close to 100 cans of soup :) Then the next week they had Duncan Hines cake mixes and Hershey's baking chips for 70 cents a piece (but they ran out so I had to get a rain check). Last week they had Pillsbury rolls, crescent rolls, and cinnamon rolls for $1.00 a piece and I had 30-50 cent coupons off each one. Plus they had general mills cereal $1.50 a box. Well they ran out of cereal so I had another rain check with that (not to mention the coupons I had for those too 50-75 cents off a box--all thanks to bettycrocker.com).

This morning I ran to Albertsons in hopes that they would have all of the items in that I had rain checks for and tada!!!!

10 boxes of cereal (Lucky Charms, Plain/Honey Nut/Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, and Total Cinnamon Crunch) plus 10 boxes of Duncan Hines cake mixes, and 10 bags of a variety of Hershey's baking chips all for a grand total of...$24.67!!! Now, maybe you don't think that's a great price, but I was sure happy with it all. I think that if I had bought all of these items at Albertsons at regular price (not the cheapest on a daily basis I know, but still) I would have spent about: $100.00.

Soooo cool huh?!!

A few things to post about...

First of all, a big hooray because Creighton got his car back last Monday. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited we were to get it back. The first thing we had to do was get it registered, since that expired in August. But you can't register a car you don't have can you?? The next thing we realized was how filthy it was. So Wednesday morning, we gave it a good old scrub--inside and out, and now Creighton doesn't feel so dirty driving it. But here's the best part of all. Creighton told me today that the check engine light came on yesterday, and so far has stayed on--not a good thing. Let's just hope we can figure this all out quickly and painlessly. Creighton is already talking about getting rid of it, and getting a new one for him...two cars in 1 year is a little much for me, so let's hope it doesn't really get that far. We still have to take my car in to get the side fixed, but that should be much quicker--cross your fingers!

Last weekend some friends gave me a good size bag of hand picked peaches, and I decided to make some raspberry-peach freezer jam. My good friend Julie makes it, and always gives me some, and since it never lasts long at all, I thought I would make my own batch of it. Well the peaches I had made enough for about 8 batches of jam, so I went to Mitchell's to get some raspberries. I bought a whole flat, and it was only enough to make 6 batches (so I used the rest of the peaches for oatmeal and waffles), but boy oh boy is that a lot of jam. I used almost my whole 25 pound bag of sugar!! It took some time, but I think it was worth it. So far two people have told me how good it was, so I guess my first freezer jam experience can be called a success. Here are the results...

(I think that the color of the jam is so pretty, Creighton said it looked like blood :) )


Here is a peak into the baby's room. We are still finishing up the wall on the opposite side; adding some pictures and his name. So I don't have anything to post of that side. The bead board goes all the way around the room, except for that it is only 1/2 way up on the other walls. Doing the bead board this high, and with a shelf, was our friends' idea, and we just love how it turned out.

Now for a quick "quote of the day." I have to quote Bella Swan (yes I am a HUGE Twilight fan for those of you who don't know. Maybe one day I'll have a confessional on my blog where I admit just how HUGE of a fan I really am).

"EW. SNOW," Bella Swan

This is the horrible view from my back window, from this morning, after it had already started to melt. Luckily this afternoon, things look quite a bit different. I'm just so glad I didn't have to drive in it last night like Creighton did!!!!! Where oh where has fall gone? Please don't say it is gone for good. We never really had spring this year, so please don't take fall away too. Haven't we had enough winter????? I miss CA...

One month has come and gone...

Last Friday, Sept. 26th, my little guy turned 1 month old :) I can't believe that it has been over a month now since he was born. He is growing so much too. He weighs about 10 1/2 pounds and is about 22 inches long. I can't believe he weighs that much because he only eats every 3-4 hours, and I am lucky if I can get him to eat for a total of 20 minutes. I guess he is just a really efficient eater, and maybe I have really good milk...who knows! The poor boy is slowly losing his hair on the top of his head, and he is just about finished with a good old case of baby acne--ha ha! But things are clearing up, and he is still just as cute as ever. I truly believe that I fall more in love with him everyday. I am just waiting for his first real smile. Hopefully it will be coming sometime soon, and I better be the first person he smiles for, considering that I am the person he spends the most time with, plus I am his #1 care giver :)

Here is his 1 month old picture.

This is a picture of him after a bath. Can you tell how much he loves having his head covered by the towel?? It was driving him crazy, but my sister and I just laughed the whole time I was taking the pictures of him. He is just too cute!!!

This is Creighton's favorite past time with him. This is how I found them when I got home from getting my hair cut a couple of weeks ago. Too funny!

I have some projects that I have been working on, so as soon as I get them completed, and get some pictures taken of them, I will put up some more posts about them all.

Two new recipes and an old favorite...

Over the last couple of weeks I tried two new recipes that I got from allrecipes.com and I really liked them, so I thought I would share them with everyone. If you haven't been to allrecipes, you should definitely go try it out. They have every recipe imaginable, and each recipe is rated and reviewed by people who have tried it out, so after reading the reviews you can pretty much find the necessary changes to have the perfect recipe!! I love it.

I tried this one a couple of weeks ago, and we really liked the pretzels. We made all different flavors, and they were all delicious. The only thing I have to say is that they need to be eaten that day, and the sooner the better. Pretzels just don't keep very long. So either make sure you have enough people to eat them all, or make 1/2 a batch :)

Mall Pretzels

INGREDIENTS

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 tablespoons baking soda
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt

DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast, brown sugar and salt in 1 1/2 cups warm water. Stir in flour, and knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover, and let rise for one hour.
Combine 2 cups warm water and baking soda in an 8 inch square pan.
After dough has risen, cut into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 3 foot rope, pencil thin or thinner. Twist into a pretzel shape, and dip into the baking soda solution. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets, and let rise 15 to 20 minutes.
Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with coarse salt, garlic salt or cinnamon sugar.
Editor's Note
When forming the ropes, roll each one to about half the length you want, then set it aside while you roll the rest. By the time you get back to the first rope, it will have rested enough to roll further.

This carrot cake recipe I made last week. I only made 1/2 of the cake because Creighton doesn't like carrot cake as much as I do, plus with only 2 people, we don't need a whole cake :) I made a couple of modifications to this cake after reading the reviews, plus I like to make cake, muffins, and breads healthier by substituting apple sauce for oil, and cutting down the amount of whole eggs. (I actually usually just use apple sauce and egg whites, no oil or whole eggs, but the reviews said that this way was the best, so I didn't take out as much fat/calories as I normally do).

Carrot Cake

INGREDIENTS
4 eggs (2 whole eggs, 2 egg whites)
3/4 cups vegetable oil

1/2 cup apple sauce
1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg
3 cups grated carrots (grated with the cheese grater side)
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, apple sauce white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

This recipe for taco soup, I got from a student 2 years ago. It is one of the easiest soups to make, it's super healthy, and absolutely delicious. So if you are looking for a super easy, delicious, taco soup, you have to try this one.

Taco Soup

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chile powder
6 C. water
6 chicken bouillon cubes
16 oz. Jar of chunky salsa
15 oz. Can of corn, drained
15 oz. Can of beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 C. chopped fresh cilantro (I have never actually put the cilantro in, because I never have it on hand, and it tastes great without it too, so I guess it's optional)

Optional Toppings:

Tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and sour cream

Directions:

Place all ingredients except for toppings into crock pot and cook on low for 5-7 hours.

Well, I hope everyone enjoys the recipes. If you have anything extra special good to share, please pass it along to me. I just love to try new recipes, especially ones that are already tested by others :)

A quick update on the baby...

Things are still going well. He's really been a great baby. The amazing thing is how much more awake he is now. He will just stare at things forever. I miss the sweet "sleep all the time" stage, but I do love getting to see his eyes more, and watch him notice things as he can see better. The way he looks seems to change all the time too. It's so true that time just goes by. He will be a month old at the end of the week and I can hardly believe that. It seems that it took forever for him to get here. Each month, especially at the beginning, just dragged on. But now that he is here every second and every day just flies by. I guess that is how it always is though. I'm still trying to figure out a routine for him. He eats every 3-4 hours, which is great, but just not super consistent. Hopefully one of these days I will figure out what I am doing :) But for now, I am just enjoying every minute of him, and trying not to be too sad about how fast he is growing and changing. Creighton says that he is suppose to be growing and changing, so I shouldn't be sad about it. He's just ready for him to be smiling and talking already, and I am on the opposite end of the spectrum, and want him to be a cuddly newborn forever. No, it really is exciting to think about what the future holds for him, but it doesn't mean I won't miss this newborn stage!!

So here is a picture of him in his crib. Sorry it is crooked. I realized it after it was put on, and I don't want to go back and redo all of the pictures. Getting a post up takes enough time :) Anyway, he doesn't sleep in his crib right now, but it is so darn cute, I had to get a picture of him in it.
Just a picture of me with him. I decided that since I had actually fully done my hair, and put on make-up, I should probably take a picture with him.
Eyes wide open.
Getting his nap in after he ate. This is my favorite way to cuddle with him, but he has to be sleepy to let me do it!!