And for today's post.... some videos!

I was supposed to post this yesterday, but didn't, so here it is!

I just took some videos while Alex was eating that I thought would be fun to share!


Eating a peanut butter sandwich. I especially love the look he has on his face when he's holding the knife at the beginning.





dipping his peanut butter sandwich in more peanut butter...







I will post some pictures later tonight (and retry a video that isn't working)


here are some pictures! (a lot of them of course!)

hmm... dumping out my bowl of puffs is interesting...



OOO!



what a cute face!



look at that grin!



I see you mom!



mmm... peanut butter!



it's fun to dump my drink into my food (this is why they make spill proof sippy cups)



OOO! There is peanut butter on my finger and it is going in my mouth!



mmm... now this is the way to eat peanut butter!



better take a closer look



Sticking out my tongue is funny!



more cute grins!




and more silly looks playing with mama!




what a funny boy




This is how Alex gets my attention. All day. Isn't it nice?



this one reminds me of Uncle Brent



see my tongue?



putting together Alex's Valentine's present



reading Mr. Messy



Thanks for sticking out that long post of pictures and I hope you enjoyed them!

making up for yesterday by talking about yesterday!

So after Alex's nap yesterday, we headed over to our friends, Kenn and Amy's house to prepare a fancy dinner together for our husbands. We figured that making a nice dinner together would be much less work and stress than trying to do one ourselves.
I do have to say that it turned out fabulously!

We made spinich honey mustard salad, lemon honey cornish hens, a delicious carrots, lemon, and apple recipe from The Lion House, onion rosemary potatoes, and whipped cream Valentine cake.
Everything went so well together and it could not have been better!

And the best part? Tonight I get to sit at home and do nothing for dinner since we are ordering pizza. Not having to cook dinner? Now THAT is a good valentine!

Now to finish throwing together my gifts for Jon and think about cleaning up the house a little and my day will be complete!

oh ya... charlie bit me!

My friend Michelle gave me this link to a funny you tube video and I have watched it over and over because I think it's so funny.
So go watch it and laugh!

"and that really hurt, Charlie! And it's still hurting."

Mr. Happy

So Alex LOVES Mr. Happy. As in the Mr. Men and Little Miss books by Roger Hargreaves.
We had a ton of these books growing up and a few Christmases ago, my parents gave each of us 4 of the many books, so we have Mr. Happy (Brent), Mr. Nosy (Mathis), Mr. Messy (Carrie), and Little Miss Chatterbox (Cindy).
It's not too big of a surprise that Alex also loves these books.

He also has a bump soother that he gets really excited about when we get him out of the fridge. He puts it on his head and everything.




I started drawing Mr. Happy (well within everyone's skill range!) for Alex and he LOVES it. We draw him on his magna doodle, Alex laughs, I erase it, and then repeat the process a few times. This has been working out GREAT for church entertainment!

And I keep finding Mr. Happy stuff!
The other day at Target I nearly bought him a Mr. Happy t-shirt.
I also happened to find a Mr. Happy bath mitt and almost bought that too.
Of course when I showed Alex both items he was all smiles and laughs. Who can resist that?! I did, but I'm not so sure I can do it again.

So today I decided to see what stuff they had online. I figured there had to be some cool stuff somewhere if Target had toddler's shirts and bath mitts.
I didn't find much because I got stuck on the main website for the Mr. Men. CLICK HERE to go see it! Apparently there is a show on Cartoon Network! SWEET!

Anyway, they have coloring pages you can print for each of the characters. You can also watch a little clip of each character and then play a game involving each one.
Alex LOVED playing the Mr. Happy game (you click to poke him and he talks and laughs). He was entertained by that for at least 15 minutes, which is always good in my book.

I plan on printing a few Mr. Happy's out for his coloring enjoyment this week!

He eats vegetables!

After going on a vegetable strike for oh... a few months, Alex finally decided to give them a chance last night!!! WOO HOO! The parents have gained a point in the parents vs. child competition!

I gave him frozen peas a couple of days ago (which I had been doing pretty much every day since they used to be fail proof) and he flat out refused to eat them, so I decided to stop trying.
Imagine my surprise when I, on a whim, cooked him up a frozen veggie medley (corn, green beans, peas, and carrots) and served them with BBQ chicken and some extra BBQ sauce for dipping with a new Ikea fork and he actually ATE THEM!!!!
He was really into dipping the bean in the BBQ sauce and, of course, just sucking it off. But he did like stabbing chicken and veggies with his fork and eating them all by his self!
So hooray for dipping and hooray for Ikea plastic utensils!

The Things Alex Says

I know I just posted, but I wanted to do a list of the words that Alex says and thought other people who read this may want to know too!

we all know he has uhh ohh down.

he also knows

1. dog
2. woof
3. moo
4. bock
5. gobble
6. ooo ooo (monkey)
7. frog
8. ribbit ribbit
   
9. ssss (snake)
10. rrrr rrr rrrr(bear. I have to find a video of him doing this. It's so funny!)
11. mow (cat)
12. baa (sheep)
13. heeeee (horse)
14. naked (said like nay)
15. button (said like buuu)
16. ball (ba)
17. up
18. dada
19. mama
20. eat
21. milk (miiilll)
22. more (mo)
23. bean (bee)
24. bee
25. cheese (chee)
26. baby (bee)
27. stinky (stee)
28. mess
29. hat
30. hot (hhhha)
31. truck
32. brr
33. mmmmm
34. lacrosse (oss)
35. football
36. apple
37. applesauce (babababa)
38. bread (brebrebre!)
39. chair (chhh)
40. tree (tee)
41. blankie
    
42. binkie
43. book
    
44. bath (baa)
45. ya
46. uh huh
47. grandpa (pa)
48. grandma (ma)
49. pea
50. wash
51. banana (nana)
52. pretty (pre)
    

It's amazing how much he knows. He understands what we are saying to him and knows what things are, even if he can't say them himself. Most of the time he tries to say stuff after I do and usually does a pretty good job.

Some other cute things he's been doing:
brings me books to read to him
grabs my hand to put something in them and then loves it when I give it back to him
always goes over to the toy closet after eating breakfast in excitement
shakes his hands off after washing
shakes his little music maker maracas
shakes his head just to be silly
shakes his head to say no
constantly sits and stands repeatedly in his little rocking chair. This is often accommponied by his many ups
will say up repeatedly until I get him up on the couch
likes to lean back on the couch like mom and dad do
talking on the phone (he walks around in circles and says "uh huh" and "ya")
when we ask him if he wants a bath, he runs over to the gate saying baa and tries to get the gate open or climb over it
loves throwing balls back and forth. He recently learned to kick them too.
will grab my hand if he wants me to go somewhere or if he's sitting on my lap he'll grab me and grunt like he's trying to pull me up.
loves to close the gate when we come downstairs in the morning
loves watching daddy's basketball games
has recently found out how fun being chased by mom is. He giggles and screams and tries to run away and it's so funny!


I know there's probably more that he does and says, but this is all I can think of for now! I have such a cute little boy!

Random things I want to talk about today

Things I love!


Whirly Pop anyone who knows me also knows how much I love popcorn. Microwave popcorn is good, but not quite as tasty as freshly popped popcorn. We got a whirly pop for Christmas and it gets used several times a week. YUM! It's the perfect thing to go along with our new Netflix subscription!


While at Sam's club a couple of weeks ago, we happened upon some of the greatest stuff ever! Popcorn Seasoning!
I no longer have to melt and painstakingly pour butter a little at a time, stirring after each addition. (I am a master popcorn maker. Ask my sister.) This wonderful stuff is butter flavoring and salt all in one. We simply put it in with the oil and kernels in our Whirly Pop and it comes out ready to go and tasting delicious! I highly recommend both the seasoning and the Whirly Pop!




Our TV!
Jon was able to find us an awesome deal on a refurb and we used the $300 from work toward it, so it was an even better deal. Watching movies is MUCH better on it than on our little 27" (not that that was bad, it's just that this is better!).
And after 2 days in a row of Alex pulling the DVDs off of the shelf, we finally got the glass door put on and it is wonderful. Hooray for good deals at Ikea! (which reminds me... the baskets on our TV stand... another thing I love. 3 for $10!)





The bike trailer!
This thing is AWESOME! We've actually had it since November, but didn't have a bike to pull it with. Small detail. We found a bike for me on clearance at Wal Mart (hooray for clearance!) and got the trailer hooked up last week. Alex did not want to get strapped in at first, but after we got going, he was in love. When I ask him if he wants to go on a ride, he runs to the back door and will bang on it until I open it and we go out to the garage. We've been able to see a lot of the neighborhood and everyone loves seeing us ride around. Now to get a softer seat for the bike. I'm sure that will be the next thing added to my list of things I love!






Pouch Slings!
I love that when we're out I don't have to get a cart if we're in a store just to wander. I also love having it on hand when we're using the stroller. Without fail, babies always get sick of the stroller, so it's nice to have a change. Alex LOVES riding with mama in the sling!
(Here is a picture of 9 month old Alex using the hip hold. This is how I still carry him. I need to expand to a back carry!)




Clearance sales!
I think I get this from my mom. I love the feeling of getting a good deal. This isn't always a good thing, but I have gotten some wonderfully sweet deals on things! (read: the bike trailer above and my fun new sewing machine below).

Being green!
No... not my skin color. I love doing things that I feel are helping the environment. I know... that makes me a little weird. I just love the feeling I get when I use reusable cloth bags (picked up some great ones for $1 at Garden Ridge!), cloth diapers, recycling, and using low amounts of energy (making do with lower/higher temps... using ceiling fans and dimmers, turning off the lights etc.). One day I hope to build a house from sustainable materials... complete with solar panels! I'm also hoping to one day get motivated enough to plant a small garden and thanks to Amanda, may actually try out doing compost instead of sending out garbage.





Netflix!
I love getting a movie in the mail, watching it that night, and then sending it out the next morning. After going over a year without really renting or going to movies, I'm excited to get caught up on the many that I have missed.


and of course... my little family!
what can I say? They are wonderful! Everyday I get to watch my little boy learn something new. He is constantly making me laugh with all of the cute and silly things he does. Jon is always so supportive and I love watching him with Alex. He puts him to bed every night and gives him baths. He even changes his cloth diapers! What a great husband!

A weekend with friends!

My friend Liz, her husband Dan, and their little girl Anna came up to visit from Houston for the weekend. After babies napping, we didn't have a lot of time to do stuff (darn those babies!), but we still did get to enjoy the LBJ museum, the state capitol building, and looking out over Town Lake before they headed out. Oh, and of course, Rudy's!

Really, we just had fun getting together with them and having them over at our house. It was a short visit, but we enjoyed having them!

Pictures to come later when I feel like getting the card out of the camera.

Liz, Dan, and Anna

Me and Jon in the elevator being silly

the babies LOVED the fountain outside of the LBJ Library/Museum

Me and Alex

Liz and Anna

It must be love, love, love (Anna really wanted to hold Alex's hand... Alex wasn't having any of that.)


I love all of the Texas stars at the capitol building. Notice what the lady (Justice? Peace?) is holding...

The door handles have stars in them. I also really liked the door hinges. They said Texas and probably also had a star on them.


Of course the beautiful rotunda has a star in the very middle top.


And the floor in the rotunda is centered around 2 stars. Hooray for the Republic of Texas!


Jon loves all the memorials honoring the Confederate Dead. He gets a kick out of them.


Us in front of the capitol. I need to do some photoshopping so you can actually see us, but the lighting on the capitol is beautiful!


And Liz, Dan, and Anna in front of the capitol.

just showing off some craftiness!

So tonight I whipped up some photo valentines to send out. They turned out really well and only took me a few hours, which is progress for me!
If you want an actual physical valentine from us, please let me know! Otherwise, this is your valentine from us!






And my wonderful SIL sent me some pictures of the tutu that I made for my niece for Christmas, so here I am showing that off as well. And you get to see my cute niece as an added bonus!

enrichment committee and a book I love!

I just got a call yesterday to be on the enrichment committee. I'm actually pretty excited about it because it gives me more of an opportunity to be involved in Relief Society since I am in the Primary (I teach the Sunbeams).
And speaking of Sunbeams, I just got the Primary Partners book and I am SO excited to use it! It has really cute little coloring pictures/cut out things that will be wonderful for filling up time (ALWAYS important when teaching Sunbeams!) and keeping the kids happy. It also helps the parents to know what we learned in class.

Goodbye Stitches! Hello Hobby Lobby!

The stitches have been removed. And, surprise, Alex was NOT happy about it. Jon and I held him down and a nurse held his head while the Dr. ever so carefully got the 4 little stitches out. She said she was worried about nicking him because he's so strong that he would still move a little and the stitches were so small. So way to go to our Dr. for being so great and getting those stitches out!

So to remedy such a FUN experience at the Dr.'s office, Alex and I went to Hobby Lobby. That always makes mommy happy. It made me even more happy that they were having a great clearance sale! I got things to finish decorating my bathroom, so I'm excited to get that done.
My house is all clean, the boy is in bed, it's crafty time! YAY!


And, to show that I really was being crafty tonight, I am adding a picture of what I made!

I got this wreath for about $5 at Hobby Lobby a while ago. I had it hanging just plain, but then found some berries from Christmas for 90% off at Garden Ridge. Of course, I immediately thought of my bare heart wreath and bought them up literally, for pennies on the dollar! I put them on the wreath tonight and it is going out on the door first thing tomorrow. Just in time for Valentine's Day!

We love our Alex!

So I took a cute video doing his very cute "uhh ohh" today. When I went to post that, I found another fun video and some pictures. So today's post is an Alex highlight!


Alex decided the diapers, and really, anything on the shelves that he could reach, were not folded to his standards. In evil stepmother style, he pulled everything he could off with glee and left it for his cinderella to clean up. Thank you baby for making such a fun mess for mommy to put away!





And his very cute uhh ohh taken this afternoon (and yes, he was in his jammies ALL day today!)





And some pictures from the super bowl last night!


me and alex chillin' on the pillows watching the superbowl.





Eating chips and dip, just like mommy!








Alex and Daddy chillin on the pillows watching the superbowl (haha.. like father, like son)


and Alex eating some pineapple and LOVING it. He ate most of the core too!

Nursery Woes

Jon and I both have callings in the primary. And Alex is 15 months old. We took him to nursery for the first time last week and he did pretty well until the end and was brought into my class screaming. Today went a LOT worse. About 5 minutes after leaving him there, the nursery leader brought him into me in primary screaming. Poor guy (both Alex and the nursery leader)! I think that his traumatizing experience in the ER has had a little bit of an effect on him. He is much more reluctant to be without Jon or I and things that remind him of the ER make him cry.
When we went to Jon's work on Friday, we were walking down a hall that has the tile floors and plain walls and Alex started to whimper and cry. I figure he thought we were taking him to "The Bad Place" again. He did the same thing at the Dr.'s office when we went into the little room.
When we went into the nursery today he cried and then just wanted to stay and have me hold him.
I think he is going through a little attachment phase (he cries when Jon leaves for work or anytime he walks out the front door), which I think the ER experience didn't help.
I think we'll be taking him to class with us for a few weeks and then try the nursery thing again. Hopefully he can see how fun nursery is, but Jon or I may have to stay in there with him for a week or two until he gets used to it. Oh the joys of nursery!

Sweet Saturdays!

Saturdays are our favorite days!
Today we got our house all clean, complete with mopping and vacuuming. We are going to hang things on the walls that we have been putting off. We are also going to go to Ikea to look for a stand for our TV. And Jon got the bike trailer all hooked up to my new bike and it is a BEAUTIFUL day (it's sunny and 73 degrees!) here, so we are going to take Alex on his first bike ride as soon as he wakes up from his LONG nap.
I love having all day to do things together. I wish every day were Saturday!

A cool way to give to charity without costing you anything!

One of my friend's mentioned www.goodsearch.com in one of her blog posts and I thought it was pretty cool, so I'm blogging about it too.
Goodsearch. com is a search engine just like yahoo or google (it's actually powered by yahoo) that gives 50% of it's profits to the charity of your choice. You can also set it up to donate to a school.
(pssst... mom... your school should set this as their default search engine).

We just set it up as our default search engine and I'm excited to be doing something good just by doing the same thing we do every day. I'm almost tempted to just start searching randomly just to be searching. ; )

Horizontal position changes, eclair cake, and basketball!

Today I took Jon and his coworkers eclair cake (SO delicious) to celebrate his horizontal move to AE Specialist. No, that's not American Eagle. He's definitely NOT a specialist in that field. Applications Engineer Specialist. This is a specialized team that just writes proof of concepts and occasionally calls customers back instead of fielding calls from customers on an assigned phone shift. He is really excited because he no longer has to take calls! After a year and a half of doing so, he is ready to be done with it. We were hoping for a sales job and were bummed to have to be here another year with Jon on the phones the whole time, so this is really a blessing for us. It means we can stay and Jon can like his job.
And for those that must have it, the recipe for eclair cake. It's so easy, anyone can make it. Just plan ahead at least 8 hours before you plan on eating it.

1 package french vanilla pudding
1 package vanilla pudding
3. cups of milk
1 8 oz container of cool whip
2-3 packages of graham crackers
1 container milk chocolate cake frosting

mix the 2 packages of pudding and the milk together. Fold in the cool whip. Put a layer of graham crackers on the bottom of an 8x10 pan. Put half of the pudding mixture on top of the graham crackers. Put another layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding, and then the 2nd half of the pudding mixture on top of those. Top the pudding with a final layer of graham crackers and then spread the container of frosting on top (I usually warm my frosting so it's easier to spread). Refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours so that the graham crackers soften.


Everyone at Jon's work LOVED the eclair cake. Whenever I make it for our family, I send leftovers over there and it has become almost a legend. People don't realize the deliciousness of it until they taste it and then they just melt. They don't realize it's so easy to make!

After work, we went to the ward basketball game. Jon did really well, after a not so great start (he missed warming up). He had some great shots and a basket. Alex loved watching the game and had a smile on his face the whole time.

My turn at the Dr.

I went in to get some moles on my back looked at this morning. Three were removed for biopsy, so we'll hear how that goes in about a week. It was a really easy procedure except now I feel like I have scrapes on my back, which is a little uncomfortable.
I think I am ready to be done with Dr. appointments for a while after the past 3 days!