A little Award

My friend in real life Brandi gave me this award a few weeks ago, and life has been crazy so I haven't passed it along until now. Thank you Brandi for the honor.

The rules are to list 10 things that make you happy and 10 bloggers who make you happy.

10 things that make me happy:

1. Austin's smiles
   
2. Austin's hugs and kisses
3. my handsome husband
   
4. playing on Facebook
   
5. eating yummy food
   
6. drinking good wine
   
7. getting a full uninterrupted night of sleep
   
8. having a deep belly laugh session
   
9. getting fun mail
   
10. my family
    

10 Bloggers...

So I decided to tag my WebMd parenting board bloggy friends:

1. Natalie's mommy at Beautiful Baby Girl
2. Amanda at Mize Times
3. Tamara at Our Little Life
4. Kelly at Surprised by Hope
5. Colton's Mommy at The Colton Chronicles
6. Tabatha at The Hancock Family Story
7. Roni at Tyler Jackson Henderson

I only have seven, but I love reading about all of your kiddos and sharing in the joy of parenting.

11 Months!

OMG Austin is 11 months old today! It's hard to believe, the time has flown by. Last Friday night was the community Christmas party for the Tribe I work for and I was thinking about how last year at the party I looked like I was about to pop and everyone kept telling me they thought I would have him within a week. Little did we all know that Mr. was determined to hold out a whole month more!

Last night in the bath tub he pulled himself up to the faucet to see his ducky faucet cover and he let go and stood there for about 3-4 seconds without holding on and balanced perfectly. He did not even fall he just grabbed the side of the tub when he was done. He will be walking soon!

Happy 11 months my baby love!

Santa Photos

We saw Santa at the Kaibab Paiute Community Christmas Party Friday night. Austin did great, he wasn't a bit upset! He saw him again on Saturday at the grocery store, and again was fine, but we didn't have a camera with us for that visit.

Aloha Friday

Here is my question:

What is your favorite Christmas/holiday song?

I have a couple of favorites. Since I am from Colorado I have to hear "Colorado Christmas" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band each year. I like "Away in a Manger" because when I was a kid in church choir I got to do a solo for the third verse in the Christmas Pageant. For silly songs I like "Leroy the Redneck Reindeer" by Joe Diffie, and a couple of years ago I listened to the Special X station on XM Satellite radio and they played a song called "Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey" that I thought was cute. I miss Special X and wish they would bring that station back.

Click here to participate in Aloha Friday and make new bloggy friends!

Aloha Friday

Here is my question:

Where is the best place that you have ever traveled too?

We are heading to Colorado this weekend, which will always be my favorite place since it is home! Other favorite places include Maui, St. John USVI, Sanibel Island FL (I must be missing the ocean!), Maine, San Antonio TX, the Grand Canyon, and Washington DC.

To participate in Aloha Friday this week click here

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

Big Week for Austin

This has been a big week for the little man. He started daycare on Monday. He LOVES it! They said he does really great there and the only issue is that they have to keep after him because he wants to crawl everywhere and get into everything, yeah now you know why Mommy decided it was time for daycare and not my office anymore! He will be going Monday through Thursday from 12:30 to 5:30, or whenever Dad picks him up earlier. So it's a nice little amount of social time and a break from Mommy.

The night before last he was really grumpy, and screamed at the top of his lungs for quite a while, which is not typical for him. I noticed that his gums on the bottom right had a nice big swollen area so I though it might be teething. Then last night sure enough I caught a glimpse of a tiny bit of white starting to poke up through the bump. These molars are horrible, and I wish that he would just get them all at once and get it over with! He was cranky on and off all day yesterday and cried hard last night again so I gave him some baby Motrin before bed. He slept until 2:00am, which is when the Motrin wore off. I gave him another dose and he went back to sleep until 7:00am. Poor baby!

We will be heading to Colorado on Sunday. We are going to stop in Meeker for the night to visit my brother and his family. Then Monday we will drive on to Denver to my Mom's. Dustin's parents are going to meet us there on Tuesday. I am really looking forward to going home again.

Baby Kisses

Austin is 9.5 months now and he is a rough baby! Instead of sweet baby kisses he comes at me mouth open, slobbery, and usually involves his eight teeth at some point. Today I was laying on the floor playing with him and he crawled over to me and came in for a kiss. Instead of my mouth though he covers my nose, bites down and rakes his teeth down my nose as he pulls away. It hurt so bad that tears filled my eyes. I love his baby kisses!

Aloha Friday

I know Friday is almost over, but here it is anyway:

What is the best/biggest thing you have ever won in a contest?

In our little area the local weekly newspaper has a contest called pigskin predictions. Each week during football they list 10 games for you to try to pick the winner. The person who picks the most correct wins a $50 gift certificate to a local business. It goes for 10 weeks and in the end there are cash prizes for the top three seasonal efforts, first place is $300. My husband and I have been playing for the last four years and we have never won a certificate yet. We have tied for first, but always lost the tiebreaker which is guessing the total score for all the teams in all the games. In the paper this week they listed the current standings as of week 7 (This weekend is week 9). The lead guy has 48 points and my husband is tied for third with 46 points. I was also listed as tied for sixth with 44 points. So there is a chance that if we do well this week and next that we might place for one of the final cash prizes.

To participate in Aloha Friday click here

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

Time for Daycare

As of Monday Nov. 16 Austin will be going to daycare. He is all over my office and into everything these days so daycare will be safer and will give him more socialization with kids. We went yesterday to look the place over and it was great. I also found out today that two of the tribal members took their kids there, so that makes four people we know who have or have had their kids there and they all have great things to say about the family who runs it. I know it will taking Mommy some getting used to, but it will be the best thing for my baby boy.

Catching up!

I am more behind on my blog than caught up!

Here is a brief summary of what's up here in Fredonia:

* Austin is all over the place. He is super fast at crawling and loves to cruise. He still hasn't let go and taken those first independent steps yet. He LOVES the bath more than ever and gets borderline crazy in there now, he splashes around rolls from front to back and back to front, stands up and cruises around the tub, flops back in the water. At least he seems to have a good sense about keeping his face out of the water. Scares me to death though! Oh and I can't forget that he loves the little silver thing at the bottom on the tub, so Mom is constantly telling him "No, you'll let the water out and your bath will be over!"

* We are going to tour a daycare today. He gets into everything at my office and is always bored so I think it's time for him to go and play with other babies. Then I can focus on my work more too. I'm sure it will take some getting used to, but will be the best situation in the end. And I will still be part time so I will focus on spending good quality time with him when we are together.

* We are getting ready to head back to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We are going to attend the Border War football game in Fort Collins, Colorado State (my Alma Mater) vs. U of Wyoming (my husbands Alma Mater).

* My in-laws think they will be coming for a visit, but can't decide when. They were supposed to come at the end of September/beginning of October to see the aspen leaves turning, but kept postponing, then my F-I-L got busy helping his uncle with the corn and soybean harvest, and they are still busy with that. They think they may come the weekend before Thanksgiving, so we will push our Colorado trip back a couple of days.

*I'm starting to think about the big first birthday party, now that I have the little birthday ticker on my blog it's been motivating me. My Mom gave me a couple of Wilton cake pans in Bert and Ernie shape and Austin love Sesame Street, so I think that will be our theme. I'm going to start looking into acquiring all the party favors and stuff for it. I'm thinking about creating invites with Murray and Ovejita on them.

* Dustin is working on a fence around our front yard. It won't fully keep Austin in the yard, but it will slow down his escape. And it will be nice for Christmas decorations.

* I am working on Austin's curtains and quilt again. Someday I will have them finished! I will post photos when I do get them done. This weekend we removed the old blinds from Austin's room and installed a pull down shade. I guess the cords from blinds can be very dangerous for babies, so we just took them out of there.

Halloween Fun!

We had a great time on Saturday. Austin went "Trick or Hugging" to a few of our neighbors who are friends. Then we went to one of Daddy's co-workers for a party. He got a balloon treat at the grocery store that morning, but he popped it before we got to the car. I hope you had a good one!

Our newer truck

I have been meaning to post these pictures. They are of our newer 2005 F150 that we purchased on Oct. 10. It's a pretty sweet ride and my husband has a lot of plans to modify it to make it his dream truck. I enjoyed being able to watch the Notebook as we drove home from Colorado on the DVD player!

Growing up!

So the last week has been tiring for me. Austin is apparently starting to teeth his molars, or cuspids if he is going out of order and has been waking up several times at night. I can't really detect any bumps in the molar area, but there is a pretty good bump where his top right cuspid will be. Yesterday at about 3am he woke up and when I checked him he was toasty so I took his temp, and sure enough it was about 101. I kept checking him all day and the temp went away, but his little nose just pored. Since I wasn't completely sure that is was teething and not something contagious I stayed home from work with him. (I normally take him to work with me for four hours) This morning his nose is less runny and he ate a piece of toast and some Cheerios. He hasn't eaten any solid foods in two days, so that was a great sign. We went to work for two hours today and he was just bored.

Since he woke up several times last night I was in no big hurry to go to work this morning and let him take his morning nap at home in his crib. I heard him make a noise so I went to get him. As I got to the door I could hear the music from his mobile. I figured he rocked the crib and triggered the mechanism, but when I opened the door he was standing in the crib turning the dial to wind up the mobile! Oh my baby is growing so fast!

He started trying to pull himself up a week or so ago, but really mastered it about two days ago. Now he pulls up on the furniture, the crib, the bathtub, where ever! I'm sure he will be taking those first independent steps soon. And he crawls all over the place. You can't take your eye off of him for a second because he will be gone.

And he has started to clap. One of the tribal members that I work for was teaching him that last week and he clapped on his own on Monday. I am going to try to get a video of it later and will post it.

Wordless Wednesday

Austin on the move!

Aloha Friday

Ah, fall is in the air!

My question:

What is your favorite fall/holiday recipe?

I really love this apple cider recipe from my Mother in Law

6 cups apple cider
3 cups cranberry juice
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 TBSP whole cloves
6 cinnamon sticks

Mix all the ingredients and warm them up. If serving over a period of time you can keep it simmering on low in a slow cooker.

I think this year that I am going to get a tea strainer to put the cloves in so they don't end up in someones cup.


For more Aloha Fridays, go to An island Life. Don't forget to read the rules, then post your question and visit other bloggers! It's a great way to make blogging friends!

On the move

Ok, so I haven't blogged in a week, I'm bad!

But we have been on the move. We went to Colorado last weekend for a whirlwind trip to celebrate my 31st birthday, fourth wedding anniversary, visit family and buy a truck. We accomplished it all, but man was it exhausting!

I would have posted pictures of our new truck, but my husband drove it to work so I can't take a picture of it at the moment. I will try to get one tonight and post it later. We bought a 2005 F150 Lariat edition, red over tan. It's already a sweet truck and my husband is already planning all the modifications to make it his dream truck.

Oh, and I can't forget to mention that Austin is on the move! He started crawling on October 1. At first it was all slow and poky and he didn't get very far, but now you put him down and he's gone. I can't leave him in his room to play while I shower any more because we haven't totally child proofed his room yet. That is on the agenda for this weekend. I still think he will probably walk soon too because he loves to cruise, but he can definitely get to where he wants to go by crawling so for now he is happy as can be to roam on his own.

He also started saying "dad" really good while we were in Colorado. It's so fun to hear him speak, and he is so proud of himself when he masters a new word.

31 Years

In honor of my 31st birthday here are the top 31 things I love about my life:

I love my relationship with God. I'm not trying to get preachy or push my faith, but I have many, many blessings in my life and it would not be right to not give this #1.

I love my husband. He is truly my best friend and I really enjoy spending time with him. We have many things in common, and yet also have our own interests and individuality in the relationship.

I love my baby boy. He is so wonderful, I can not even begin to describe my love for him, or how I feel when he smiles at me. I love his baby scent and wish that I could bottle it up so that I can pour it on him when he is a smelly teenager.

I love my Mom. My Mom is such a strong person, she has come through such adversity in her life and yet has such a positive outlook and deep faith.

I love my siblings. Being that they are all quite a bit older than me they have all looked after me and at times were more like parents. I miss that we don't still live closer so that we can all get together to see each other more often.

I love my nephews and nieces. They are all great kids and because their parents allowed me to practice with them I am a better mother to my son.

I love my health. At times I think we all really take this for granted until we get sick. My heart breaks for those who have chronic or terminal illness and know that they will never again enjoy a day of good health.

I love to garden. I am very proud that I was able to put in a garden this year and provide home grown vegetables for my sons first foods.

I love that I have been able to breast feed my son for 8 and a half months and still going. I think that breast feeding is such a great gift for a mother to give her child and encourage every mother to give it a try.

I love that having a baby actually helped me lose weight. I don't mean to offend anyone who has battled the pregnancy weight, but I was about 168 pre-pregnancy. I think I was 197 at my largest official weigh in during pregnancy. I came home from the hospital at about my pre-pregnancy weight and now 8 and a half months later I am 142 and I haven't really actually tried to lose weight.

I love to walk and hike. We live in a really beautiful area of the country and there are a lot of nice places to explore, and we typically have perfect weather.

I love to go on Facebook. I shouldn't spend so much time, but it is such a great way to stay in touch with old friends and family who are far away.

I love that I finished my engineering degree. It wasn't easy and I almost changed majors, but stuck it through and will always have that accomplishment.

I love to travel. Although lately it is more of a challenge with the baby. I have been to thirty four states, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. I hope to continue to travel and introduce my son to the world.

I love to cook. I like to think I'm a pretty good cook and like to try new recipes.

I love to decorate cakes. I think a homemade cake is so much better than a store bought cake and I have enjoyed crafting many cakes for special occasions.

I love to take pictures. I have always enjoyed photography of many different subjects. I just need to have more motivation to catch up on preserving my work in albums instead of throwing them in my picture box.

I love to quilt. I made a quilt for each of my nieces and nephews and am currently working on one for Austin. I have not been very good at making time for quilting, but am hoping now that Austin is becoming more independant that I will have more time.

I love to follow football. I was a football manager/trainer from 8th grade through high school. I love both college and the pros. I am always sad after the superbowl and wish that football was played year round.

I love my job. It has really given me the chance to learn and use my knowledge to develop the program from scratch. I really enjoy the people I work with and for.

I love chocolate. Enough said!

I love to enjoy a glass of wine. My favorite is Pinot Noir.

I love that I have a few really good friends that I can count on.

I love working with children. My new career goal is to get my teaching certificate someday.

I love hosting parties. Both at home and planning large events at work, I'm really good at details.

I love eating crab legs. Definitely my favorite food and would eat them all the time if they were available and less expensive.

I love competition. I am very competitive and love playing any and all games.

I love rock music. I can't really pick a favorite singer, band, or song, but I love most rock.

I loved being a volunteer firefighter. I resigned when I got pregnant, but I was able to cut the door off of a wrecked car so the EMTs could get the victim out. It was a pretty incredible experience.

I love to swim. I was on swim team in high school and love to splash around with Austin now.

I love my home. We have a pretty nice house, it's fun to have the freedom to personalize it, and it is great to not have all the headaches of being a renter.

As you can see, I REALLY LOVE MY LIFE!!! I am definitely living the life that I always dreamed about when I was young.

Wordless Wednesday

Aloha Friday

My question for today is:

What kind of car do you drive, and what do you think about it?

We are going to fly to the Denver area next weekend to go truck shopping. My hubby wants a 2005-2008 F150 King Ranch edition. He would settle for a Lariat edition, but prefers the King Ranch.

I drive a 2007 Nissan Xterra. I love it, but I wish it would seat one more person. It's way fun to drive and we haven't had a problem with it.

Go on over to An Island Life to play along!

4 Years!

Yesterday was our fourth wedding anniversary. It hardly seems like it has been that many years, the time really flies. After Austin went to bed we had candlelight dinner with champagne. We used the candles that we had at our wedding. The photo is of my gift. One side is yellow gold and the other white gold which Dustin said symbolizes us and the garnet in the middle is Austin's birthstone.

Aloha Friday

Today is National Indian Day and I work for the Kaibab Paiute Indian Tribe so I have the day off! (And we're having Indian tacos for dinner to celebrate!)

My question is:

If you could designate a new National holiday, what would it be?

First of all I think it would be excellent if everyone honored National Indian Day since they are the foundation of our country and it would be great for all Americans to learn more about Native American culture and history. I don't understand why we celebrate Columbus Day, he discovered Central America, so why not change it to National Indian Day? On that note, the Tribe recognizes all Federal holidays and even recognizes that day as a holiday, but we call it Kaibab Paiute Heritage Day. We also get a holiday on June 11 for Tribal Establishment Day. Oh, and the Tribe gives each employee a day off on their birthday!

I think that some existing holidays should be elevated to receive a day off. Easter comes to mind first since it is such an important day, in my opinion even more significant than Christmas. I love St. Patrick's Day, so personally I would honor that too.

I am an avid football fan so I would make a holiday for the Super Bowl. I think it should be the Monday after super bowl so everyone has a day to recover from the celebration.

And I can't forget to mention that there are just some days that totally make sense to make a day off like the day after Thanksgiving. With the exception of retail sales don't most people take that day off anyway? And wouldn't it help boost our economy if everyone got the day off to go black Friday shopping and spend the money they are making for doing nothing?


For more Aloha Fridays, go to An island Life. Don't forget to read the rules, then post your question and visit other bloggers! It's a great way to make blogging friends!

8 Months!

Today Austin is 8 months old! He commemorated the day by breaking his eighth tooth. He is such a great baby, well now pretty much little boy since he is quickly transforming from a baby. He started army crawling and cruising along the couch this week. Here are our baby pictures, Dustin and Austin at 6 months, Sarah at 5 months, along with his so you can see who you think he takes after.

Aloha Friday

I'm borrowing this from my friend Brandi to get my blog going.

Since I'm new to blogging my question is:

How do you decide what to write about and keep it interesting for others to read?

I blogged a tiny bit on MySpace, but I have totally lost interest in that and it was just once in a while when something big was going on in my life like when we got pregnant and all the following baby updates, when we bought our car, when my Dad died and that type of stuff.

Thanks!

For more Aloha Fridays, go to An island Life. Don't forget to read the rules, then post your question and visit other bloggers! It's a great way to make blogging friends!