Nothing interesting

Not that I'm complaining but life is a bit dull today. We didn't feel like going out and doing much tonight so we planned on staying home, having a good home cooked dinner and putting some storage units together that we purchased three weeks ago. We're 1 for 3. We certainly accomplished staying home but I went over to the store to catch up on some work and I didn't get home until 6ish and the boys were eating. I had steaks laid out and didn't get to cook them :( Then our evening slipped away and still no storage units put together, how does Mat get out of that every time it's on the to-do list??? Rees had been doing so well with potty training. I have to be more vigilant with it. He comes and tells me he has to pee. This is the last little "baby" thing that I have left. I thought I would be super dooper happy when the day came, but inside it feels sorta like he's trying to cut all ties from me, is that silly? Probably, but that's the way I feel and I'm sticking to it. He put on his little boxer briefs this morning and they are so darned cute. He won't wear his pants he has to show his big boy undies off. Aghh were does the time go? He is so big now. He can communicate so well now. His words are forming so well and he understands/remembers everything! Amazing how much children learn in such a short amount of time. Well I'm depressed now, and please no one suggest the addition of child number two yet... forewarning I just like to moan and groan about my baby boy growing so quickly, but I am not in any way saying I need another baby at the moment :) Next big ordeal will be getting a house with more room so someday we may be able to accommodate another child, Rees has taken over our whole house now with the addition of his Christmas toys. I feel a Yard Sale coming on in the Spring. I am trying so hard to make it until the ball drops I just don't think I'm going to make it another thirty minutes, wish me luck !

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Feeling better

So after all the Christmas excitement, Christmas Illness, Store catastrophe, and sleep deprivation  I finally just collapsed in my bed at 9:00 last night and slept until 7:00 this morning and it was just what I needed. I finally feel back to normal. I got up this morning and threw an Elmo movie on for Rees that he got for Christmas and hadn't seen yet and to my surprise it is still keeping him occupied (2 hours is a record) so my house is almost clean, laundry is done and I am blogging so all is well in our house this morning! I think we are going to tackle Wally World this morning so I can stock back up on groceries and get all the stuff I need to store my Christmas tree decorations. I want Chinese for lunch so bad, but I just don't know if I'm brave enough to try it yet, I still have "throw up" memories that is so gross I can't believe I said that LOL. Oh well no going back now it's out there! I am so stinkin happy to have energy back. I think I'll go get my Rees man and play a little hide a seak that's his new favorite thing to do for the moment :)

Santa could have just left me coal, but instead....

Okay so let's start on Christmas Eve. We were with Mat's side of the family and we had a great evening. Rees had a wonderful time and really got into it. We came home went to bed in anticipation of Santa visiting us, but I must have been really really bad this year because I got another visitor... A VIRUS of some sort. Oh my gosh it was terrible. I threw up all night along with a few other details that we won't discuss. Rees woke up at 6:00 and he was throwing up too. So needless to say we had to postpone Christmas day until Saturday. We were a sickly bunch, it was really sad. On Saturday we went to my mom and dad's and did our usual thing which is so fun. I was still really run down and exhausted, and I couldn't eat my dad's prime rib so that really stunk, but we had a wonderful day. Then last night Mat woke up about 1:00ish and said "here we go again" and he came down with it. So today he is really dragging around. It is a terrible sickness and I hope everyone else can avoid it! So our holiday wasn't ideal, but it was the best it could be under the circumstances. Out of all of Rees' gifts that he got guess what his fav was??? A set of 6 chapsticks that I put into his stocking. Isn't that funny? He is in that stage of doing everything that we do so he is really into the chap stick thing right now because Mat always has one is his pocket. He carries all six sticks in his hand at all times. Yesterday I found one stuffed down his diaper, he didn't have any pockets in his pants so I guess that was the next best thing :) Such a resourceful young man! That was our holiday. I am hoping that New Years won't be as eventful. I can't wait for Monday to come so we can get back to our normal routine.

Merry Christmas

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve. We have run around all evening to be with family and it has been really wonderful. Rees is old enough now where he is getting into it now and understands a little bit about whats going on so that makes it so much fun. He is such a social butterfly. He loves going and being around a large crowd of people, more people for him to entertain. So here is a little glimpse of how much my little man is enjoying his Christmas festivities.

My disclaimer

I was bored so I read some of my posts from when I first started blogging and wow I was really surprised at how many typos, grammatical errors, and just silly things that I typed. To my surprise my current posts are just as bad :) so this is my disclaimer. I am terrible at spelling, horrible at grammar and always in too big of a hurry to go back and proof read. I have always been the sort of person that writes as it runs through my mind as if I am telling a story so that's why sometimes things seem a bit choppy or words may be repeated or deleted out of sentences. So I am sorry for that. I am 100% a numbers person and have no interest in improving upon my grammar.  In school that was always a low point for me. I thrived in math and art though if that counts for anything? Okay, I just feel silly now so I'm gonna leave it at that folks! Merry Christmas.

A picture says a thousand words

This is Bernie. He is a wonderful family dog. Lately Bernie as been participating in family activities a lot more than he usually does. Like our snow day. He came out with Rees and I and played in the snow for an hour or so. Bernie is a little (a lot) over weight so it has taken a toll on the poor dog. Between the snow day, being harassed by the new kitten and helping me wrap presents poor Bernie is exhausted. I was using him as a model for some pictures I wanted to take of Rees because the dog can hold still longer than my boy can. During me posing him and taking test shoots poor Bernie fell asleep.

Back to our snow day. I am such a kid when it comes to snow. I enjoyed it more than Rees did. I had bought this cool little snowman kit that I have been patiently waiting to use. So  I rolled my snowman out and stacked him up, then all the sudden some little maniac child comes out of nowhere and starts knocking him down, before I even got him decorated? What's up with that? Control your child. Somebody get this little hoodlum, oh wait he's mine. LOL It was really that bad though. He was certain that he didn't want this  "homan" up, until I broke out the snowman kit. He started to enjoy it then. We had coal coming out the snowmans back and the carrot out of his side etc etc etc. So when Rees got bored of playing with that I went back over and had my fun decorating him properly. See....

Then I proceeded to pull Rees around our huge yard for about thirty minutes until I thought I was going to pass out. He just kept saying "pooosshhhh pooosshhhh" I just had to laugh and tell him okay I'll PULL you. and that was our day.

Beautiful Miss B

I had the opportunity to photograph Miss B at three weeks old and she was such a doll. Check her out...

Isn't she precious? She slept most of the time so I got to play around and pose her a variety of different ways.

Does it get any sweeter than this? Well maybe it does check the next picture out.

This one stole my heart. Her daddy was so wonderful with her and father daughter relationships are like no other. It was so precious to see how he could calm her down so quickly effortlessly.

So thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to photograph your family!

Ready for some great recipes?

Here are some of the recipes I used this year for my cookie platters. I loved all of them so I wanted to share some "tested" recipes with you. The pb blossoms were so easy * you cheat and use a package mix for the dough, but time savers are always a plus right? So here they are.

Remember that you can right click on the recipe cards and "save to your computer" then print them. It makes it so much easier than trying to copy it :)

Out with the old

So went went out to dinner last night and I came home and got really sick and stayed up most of the night doing ungodly things with the toilet so today I didnt go to work instead my mom came and got little man, I took a nap, got up and felt much better then fueled up with some Mt.Dew and started cleaning. You ladies know the cleaning I'm referring to right? Throw all the toys that you can pry out of your child's hands away to make room for the new unnecessary toys that will flood you house on Christmas morning cleaning.  I took  huge totes of stuff out of our house today and it still doesn't look like anything is missing. We have a small place, but I just can't believe how much "stuff" we have accumulated over our seven short years together. Then add Rees' treasures into the mix and we're a cluttered mess. If there is one word that describes me perfectly it would be organized (in my opinion) so you can see my dilemma right? Clutter = disorganized = crazy Amy. I feel so much better since I have gotten rid of some junk. Then there's the problem of what to do with the stuff. It's all good things but I don't have anywhere to store if for a yard sale, I don't know of anyone that could use it and I can't bear the thought of throwing it away. I guess I'll just junk my nice storage area up at the store :(  Then I got a chance to clean my little piece of heaven (my craft room) and I am sitter here while I'm typing this looking around at how wonderfully organized it all is. Oh praise the lord for storage containers. and the ones with the drawers don't even get me started. I just like pretty stuff I could sit and stare at it for hours and just be happy. Most of it doesn't really serve a purpose other than providing me with indescribable happiness. Does that make sense? Oh who cares if it does or doesn't it works for me :) I have one last thing to organize...my recipes so off I go to my little slice of heaven.

Cookie Mania

I think I set a record this year for the most cookies I have ever baked in a Christmas season. I think I (and my sister) baked somewhere in the vicinity of 25 dozen cookies. About 10 different varieties and to add to the list we made fudge, buckeyes and chocolate covered cherries. I have been  baking for four days. I'm glad I got finished but I gotta say I enjoyed every minute of it. I found some amazing new recipes this year that I'm going to post in a day or two. So Christmas season is in full swing and before we know it it will be long gone for another year. I'm 99% finished shopping (I'm positive I'll find some last minute goodies that I can't live without) we (Mat and I) ventured to Cincinnati on Sunday and we had a great day. I have never been there specifically for shopping but it's my new favorite place to shop. I love there, much better than Columbus. IKEA is my new favorite house store. It took us about three hours to make it through their showroom, shopping area and of course their cafe. They even provide child care at that store. I got some super cool gifts this year and I'm so excited to give them. Know what I mean. I'm just really excited to see peoples surprise when they open them. Now that Rees is old enough to enjoy it I'm super excited about Christmas again!!! Off to package some cookies, I'll be back soon with the yummy recipes.

Santa Baby

Tonight was the night our family ventured to the mall to visit St.Nick. I wasn't so sure how all this was gonna go down due to the horror stories that I've heard then standing in line almost every child that sat on his lap went bonkers and screamed. So I was talking Rees up in line trying to get him hyped up about Santa while I was hoping and praying he would just sit there for a moment so I could get one good picture and guess what... HE DID. Not only did I get one good picture but I got 4. He crawled right up on his lap and smiled away. He didn't have a fear in the world. It made me so happy, I know that your probably thinking how trivial that is, but these little moments are things that I obsess about. It didn't even bother me (at that moment, now I'm kinda p'd off about it) that they totally ripped me off when I bought the extremely overpriced photos. All in all it was a good evening out with just the three of us. We ran into some family at the mall and Rees played in the new kid area with his two cousins for a while, that let me release some steam. I don't have a scanner or I would share my Santa pics with you but I had to share how well it all went.

A new addition to our family

Meet Mr. BoJingles our new kitty cat.

I really wanted to get Rees a pet that he would enjoy and on our way home from Columbus I just got a whim to stop by Petland in Chillicothe and there he was. Perfectly sweet and ready for a new home. I love cats Mat hates cats so this was definitely a compromise for Mat but I think he's okay with it because of how much Rees loves him. He is an inside kitty and he is definitely Rees' new best buddy.

I just hope the poor cat makes it. Rees tugs him around everywhere. He plays on all of Rees' toys with him. He sits when Rees sits and he runs when Rees runs. LOL, it's so cute!

happy Birthday Day

Today, December 5th is always a great day for me. Two of the most important people in my life celebrate their day of birth. My sister and husband. I am so thankful to have such amazing people in my life and today is the day to let them know it. My sister and I have a very special day planned together (just the two of us, I can't remember the last time we've gotten to do that) and Mat has his own special day planned (it is deer season people.) I would just like to tell them both how much I love them and they are both my very best friends in the whole world. You two are the best!!!

Now, on to the beautiful site out the window this morning. 

It's bad for business, it forces me to stay at home (I don't drive with Rees in the snow if I can avoid it), and sometimes we lose our power but with all that said I still pray for the big snow storm to come like I did when I was 10 praying that school would be canceled. I don't think this is supposed to amount to much but it makes it feel more like winter.


Now for more big news. Can you believe it? It has finally happened. I can't tell you what I had to promise and how much I had to beg and plead but it happened and that's all that matters. You all might not think this is wall worthy but I am in love with it. It is the perfect description of my little man. Such a turd and so ornery but adorable and sweet at the same time. He is the perfect  mixture and I think this picture represents ALL of that. So this is getting enlarged and is going on my wall. This was the 7th photo session that him and I have had this month. It only took about 3 total hours to get this picture. LOL, I think I might have just worn him down, but it doesn't matter how just that I got it. Isn't he adorable?  

Now I'm off the the bath and I'm going to get ready for a long over due day out with my fabulous sister.

So overwhelmed today

Reason I want to go home and crawl into bed
1. I can't hardly see over my stack of To-do's on my desk
2. I can't seem to get caught up
3. When I get one thing done, two more come at me
4. Everyone seems to be having a "trying" day here today
5. I miss Rees
6. My mind is racing of things I needed to get done at home this week, but didn't.
7. Tomorrow is Mat and Abby's Birthday so I have some stuff that needs to be done for them too (not really a reason to get in bed, but still overwhelming my brain)
8. Christmas is stressing me now, the shopping part is getting hard now to finish everyone up.
9. I still haven't gotten my tree to my house yet!!!
10. I'm just needing a nap!

Okay now that the pitty party is over I guess I need to get back to work. Just wanted to vent for a minute!

All my goodies arrived today

Every thing I ordered on Black Friday came today or I at least I think, LOL it was all kind of a blur since it was so late but I think I got everything today. How great is that? I shopped in my jammies, got all the great deals, didn't wait in line and it came to me without me having to make a hundred trips outside to the car. I will never go out on black friday again. I'm so into the internet shopping this year. It's been a lot easier this year because we're all making cutbacks this year (which is great) and I thought it might make things hard, but it has actually been easier and I have put more thought into the gifts. I'm about half done and I think Abby and I are going to do a sister trip to Cincinnati at some point during December so I hope I can finish up during that trip. I am seriously immersed in the Christmas spirit. I spruced up my tree today, I can't stop adding ornaments it's like I'm addicted to decorating it. So you can't see much green on it anymore but I'm finally satisfied! I plan on taking Rees to go see some Christmas lights soon! Oh I just love this time of year. If only it would snow I would be in heaven.