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.