Christmas Shopping

Christmas shopping has been very different this year then any other year. Mainly because I have to think about what to do with Mr. Jeremiah. He's still pretty oblivious, so I can buy his presents with him there. But it's a handful to shop with a toddler!

We went to an outlet mall to get a few gifts yesterday. As we walk into the first store he found a stick he wanted to carry around. No big deal, until I made him leave it outside. Thankfully, our first stop was a quick one. He was reunited with his stick in no time.

The next store we needed to go to was at the other end of the outlet mall. It's an out door one, so I thought walking would be fun. It was... at first. We had to stop and pick up every leaf, look at every planter and try to get into every kiddy ride. Nothing major, just taking a lot longer then I was hoping. We finally make it to the store. The boy lost it when I made him leave the stick outside. The whole time we were in the store he would cry and say "stick! side!" I hurried and grabbed the gifts I needed.

We walk outside and the stick is gone! Jeremiah was glad to be able to walk and be outside that he didn't notice. That lasted a few minutes. It wasn't enough to pick up the leaf, he wanted to sit and play with it. He just couldn't hold it together. So I picked him up and carried him. He was not pleased, crying, yelling, arching his back. We got a lot of interesting looks, a lot of sympathetic one from grandparents. We finally made it back to the car and life was good again.

I had wanted to go to one more store that was on the way home and would be a fast stop. The whole time I was driving I was going back and forth on what to do. I asked Jeremiah if he was up for one more stop. He promptly told me "No." I decided to go for it. As I was turning into the parking lot I told him it would be really fast. He answered, "No, no, no." Not in a mean way, in "please, no more Momma!". He was a super trooper in the last store and we were in and out in 10 minutes. And got shopping done for 6 people! Wohoo!

So now I only take him Christmas shopping with me if I'm going to a store that has a buggy, or just wait till Matt's home.

Blogging Machine

I've been blogging like crazy this morning! Here are the links to all of the ones from today.

Happy Turkey Day

Turkey Shirt

Company

Not for the Weak of Stomach

Happy Turkey Day!

Turkey Shirt

Jeremiah and I made a turkey hand print shirt with some of his cousins. I'm so glad there were several other mom's there to help because Jeremiah did not want to have any part of making a shirt! I had to hold one of his arms down and the other one out so we could paint on it. Crystal held his hand open and put the paint on. She got the brown paint on and he was still trying to get away! We put that on his shirt and then let him go play. My fingers are the feathers. It was a team effort for sure, but turned out so cute!

Company

Earlier this month my sister, Shannon and my mom came to visit. I hadn't seen either of them since July so it was a great time of catching up. I'm so thankful to have a family that's willing to make the effort to be a part of my life and Jeremiah's. Of course Matt's too. :-) Here are my favorite pictures of them with Jeremiah from their time here.

Shannon and I took Jeremiah to the aquarium. Checking out the Beluga whales.

Jeremiah and Mom playing peek-a-boo under the blanket.

Not for the weak of stomach

Jeremiah loves to eat! He's big enough now that he can reach thing in the pantry. If I don't get him a snack when he wants one, he'll often coming running out of the kitchen with the huge box of Goldfish. He also does this with the trash can. I'll hear the lid close and then "Food! Mmmm..." Gross, I know. But that isn't even the grossest part!

Tonks, our dog, has a bad habit of throwing up when she wants to go outside. Nothing gets her in the back yard faster then her gaging.

The other night I was making dinner while Matt and Jeremiah were playing. I saw the dog by the back door but didn't think anything of it. Matt and I were talking when we hear "Food! Mmmm!" Never a good sign so Matt goes to check it out. Next thing I know he's yelling at the dog and telling Jeremiah how yucky that is. The dog had thrown up and Jeremiah was eating it!
Oh yuck! It's making me gag just thinking about it! I comfort myself by saying, "He's just building his immune system!" Oh the joys of having a little boy. :-)

Turkey Potpie

I love the traditional Thanksgiving meal. The turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and gravy on top of all of it! Yummy! I love eating it for the weeks after Thanksgiving too. Sandwiches, turkey and noddle soup, and one of my new favorites turkey potpie.

With my love for all food Thanksgiving, while my mom was here two weeks ago she made turkey for us. She told me about this delicious recipe!

I can't take credit for this beautiful picture. But I'm not going to lie, my potpie was pretty darn tasty! So with Thanksgiving a few days away, I thought ya'll might enjoy an alternative to a turkey sandwich.

One tip I'll give. Make sure you really pinch the pie crust around the dish. I did not do that well. The filling of the potpie ended up spilling out onto the bottom of the oven. I smelt something, but didn't worry about it. But it got stronger. Matt and I both looked in the kitchen to see smoke coming out of the oven. Thankfully, it was just the filling at the bottom of the oven and not the potpie! That would have been a disaster!

Christmas Card

It’s that time of year again; time to think about family Christmas cards. Every year, I base my decision on who has the style I want at the best price. I’m going with Shutterfly this year.

I like the fun, nontraditional Christmas cards. Typically, I have an easy time picking my card because there are one or two options I like. Not with Shutterfly! After spending a few minutes looking though some of their cards, I’ve found many that I’m want to use. This year I’m going to struggle to pick one.

Here are two that I love!

If the nontraditional style isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Shutter has hundreds of other options. There are traditional, funny, and simple. Cards for one photo all the way to eight! They have over 800 Christmas cards to choose from, I’m sure you’ll be able to find the right one for your family!

While at their website, take a look at the calendars. I’ve ordered a calendar before and it turned out awesome! You pick the picture or pictures you want for the month and you can also mark birthdays and anniversaries with a picture of the person on the actual date! Makes a great gift.

They have many other gift ideas, like the mouse pad. Perfect gift for people with limited desk space.



If you’re a fellow blogger, checkout how you cab get 50 Cards for Free by blogging about Shutterfly.

5 Years...

Ago today Matt and I started dating. We had come close to dating several times over the 15 months we knew each other. We would sit down and have the DTR (define the relationship) talk and always have reasons why we shouldn't date. One of the main ones was we didn't want to risk ruining our friendship. The night Matt asked me out we decided no matter what happened between us, we would always be in each other's life. I think we both had a pretty good guess as to where our relationship was headed and weren't worried about not being in each other's life. :-)

Our relationship moved pretty quickly once we were officially a couple. We had dealt with most of the big issues couples deal with even before we had started dating. So we were full steam ahead!

9 months after we started dating we were engaged. 10 months after that we were married. We would have gotten married much faster if I wasn't in my final year of college and if we lived in the same state. Good thing God's timing is perfect. 3 months after getting married we added to our family by buying a dog. 8 months after getting Tonks we bought a house. 11 months after getting the house we had Jeremiah. 10 months after having Jeremiah we found out we were pregnant again. Sadly we lost that child. But now we are expecting again!

Our relationship has been full of highs and low, joy and sorrows. but I wouldn't change any of it! Well... Most of it. :-) I'm so thankful that God, in His perfect timing, brought Matt and I both the Belhaven, ordained for us started dating, be married and start a family. God has blessed me beyond belief!

I love you, Matthew and look forward to the numerous years we'll have together!

Our first date, Christmas Formal 2005

Catch up

I've been a blogger slacker lately. Shocking, I know! Here are the highlights in pictures...

Dressed up for the Fall Festival at Brenda and Ricky's church. My sweet dragon.

Pumpkin patch! Jeremiah was not impressed with the pumpkins but loves finding sticks.


Our newest cutie! This was a week ago (13 weeks). Baby's doing great! Has it's hand up by it's face, wonder if I'll have another thumb sucker.