Baby [Evie] it’s cold outside

Well, it *was* cold back when we went to see our little friend play football. I started babysitting him when he was about 6 weeks old (I was in the 6th grade) and now here we are at his high school football game. UNBELIEVABLE.

Anyway, we bundled up and headed out.

Ohhhhhhh, how we can’t wait to get this girl out on the slopes!! Ya know, gloves really limit your ability to rip your toboggan off. THANK GOODNESS. I think it was like 12 degrees (kidding, of course, this IS Alabama).

Flash back. This was EB’s first “big” snow back in the spring. She is no first-timer when it comes to cold weather.
Runny noses were had by all and GK ended up having a great game that night…. Again, started keeping her when she was tee-tiny and now she's EVERY bit of 13. Wow, time sure does fly!

Seriously?! You're gonna stand there and NOT help a sister out with this head contraption?

Busy FIRST Halloween weekend and 11 (!) month chair pics all coming soon.

I made it!

I’m SO far behind. Life is UBER busy these days (that comment always turns folks off. Oh well, it's true. SORRY). A few days ago I saw these ghosts here and here. I saw the magic word “HOT GLUE,” so I decided to take on the project- when I could find a little window of time. I already confessed my non-domesticated self earlier, so let me go ahead and tell you I can’t sew. I can’t even sew on a button. SO, there is NO WAY IN HECK I can make all of the fancy stuff you other creative people make. Hot glue? I can do some hot glue.

SO…. almost three hours and three PAINFUL hot glue blisters later…VOILA! Should it have taken three hours? Well, of course not, but remember who you are talking to reading. Should it have cost me three blisters? Probably not, but I am the clumsiest person you will EVER meet. Oh well, she was happy with her momma’s hot glue gun skills so it was WORTH it. Do her eyes look weepy to you? Yeah, well, that’s because we have ANOTHER ear infection. She has FINALLY passed the “quota” to get tubes and we are going for a consultation appointment tomorrow! This is a blessing, no doubt.

EB approved

So, if you know me at all, you know that I.RARELY.COOK.PERIOD. As a matter of fact, I hate to cook. By the time we get home at the end of the day, cook dinner, eat and clean up, it’s bed time. SO…. to remedy that… I rarely cook. I KNOW! I KNOW! I’m slightly ashamed of it. If I enjoyed it, it wouldn’t be so bad, but I don’t. All that to say, when I DO cook (did I mention that’s rare?), I do have a few favorite things…and well..stipulations. First of all, I’m horrible at math, so don’t give me any INSANE measurements b/c I can’t do the math. Also, there needs to be like 5 or less ingredients. Lastly, don’t give me anything that requires me to visit something other than the normal grocery store. I don’t have the time or the patience for all of that business, ya see. I know this is breaking some hearts… I’m sorry.

This is one of my favorite things. Some of you “healthy people” are about to pass clean out in your chair. I mean, it’s Paula Deen and that probably says enough (it doesn't appear to meet one of my stipulations, but it does b/c most of this stuff you have at home,right, surely we aren't THAT unhealthy):

Twice baked potato casserole:
8 medium baking potatoes - about 4 pounds
1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick of softened butter
1 pint of sour cream
2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (divided use)
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 cup of chopped chives, for garnish
6 slices of bacon, cooked crisp, drained and crumbled for a garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Pierce potatoes and place on baking pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until very soft.
Peel and mash potatoes in a large bowl with a potato masher or the back of a fork. Add cream cheese, butter, sour cream and 1 cup of cheddar. Stir well. Add garlic, salt and pepper, and stir again.
Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place potato mixture in dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate casserole until ready to bake.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, remove plastic wrap and bake casserole for 30-35 minutes, until hot. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheddar over casserole and return to oven for about five minutes, until cheese melts. Garnish with chopped chives and crumbled bacon before serving. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

It's so darn good that you start off with manners, but you really just want to get down and dirty with it.
This is high on my list of “favorites” that I cook. It’s kid tested, mother approved kid approved, may be a better slogan. I think it’s safe to say that it would give you your dairy intake for the ENTIRE day…..well, maybe carbs too. It will also give you melt downs when you take it away.

Tutu MUCH!

If you went to school and had to dress up for “Orange and Black Day” what would you wear? EB opted for her Halloween tutu. Halloween is getting tutu close and we have to get some good wear out of it. I can assure you her attitude wasn’t tutu passive this morning either. She knew that we wanted to cover her in kisses and eat her little tutu’d self alive.

CHEEEEEESE!

A few weeks ago we got to spend some time with Laine Williams. She has photographed EB for us since she was a TEEE-TINY five-day old baby. She did a fun little recap on her blog, and I'd thought I'd share. Enjoy! Laine is so talented and we really enjoyed spending time with her, but also feel privileged that she photographed EB for us at such a fun age!

Thanks Laine!!

The power of a ruffle

Today is Spirit Day at school. EB went donned in some SU attire. I LOVE her in a T-shirt, but she gets mistaken for a boy- you just wait until that child has hair long enough for a bow!!! So, to ward off any naysayers, I pulled out her red RUFFLED cords. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a RUFFLE, people….or a little Samford Bulldog!
It's cold outside, y'all. LOVE IT!

Spider shirt day

EB’s teachers are ridiculously creative (I say that b/c there isn’t a creative bone in me) and they made these cute shirts at school. They wear them every Thursday leading up to Halloween. Of course, my child no longer likes to be photographed…..

Unless Jason comes around!

I haven't decided if it's frightening or cute seeing all of their little orange selves coming at ya!

Old tricks

EB is back to her old tricks…. she has SUCCESSFULLY, mind you, passed around a stomach bug to our ENTIRE family- after she got it from school and it wiped out her whole class. Prior to that, she had her 6th ear infection, while Jason decided to bring home the flu. SO……. There ya have it. I’m starting to think we weren’t born with immune systems. I’m told this is normal in the first year…really? REALLY is it normal? I’m gonna call a negative on that, but maybe it is. Our next stop….tubes!

Regardless of her “predicament” at the moment…. she’s still her busy little self.

As of lately, she is dangerously flirting with walking (stressing me out). She’ll stand up, take a step and plummet to a NICE face plant. SIGH.

Life couldn’t be anymore fun. We laugh and laugh and laugh at this clown.

10 months cont.

The world of parenting has already proven to be challenging at times. We moms can set such high expectations that don’t always come to fruition. It isn’t like I wanted Sweet-E (get it? sweetie/sweet-E…har har har.This is her new nickname) doing equations by her first birthday….
When I dreamt of doing chair pics every month, I didn’t factor in “what if I have a WILD child?”

As far as “new tricks” we are setting the goal high. In the next month, we’ll be working on behaving lady-like!
I generally have a happy baby….UNTIL she doesn’t want to be happy, which is ALWAYS when I NEED her to be. For example, she had REAL pics with a REAL camera this past weekend. I think she smiled TWICE!
I don’t always deal well with STUBBORNNESS (just ask Jason Black)!
Until…. I look at this face and my heart overflows for this little girl that was entrusted to me to care for and love.

WE.LOVE.THIS.BABY.GIRL.Finally..... our 10 month chair pic!

In the past month (or few weeks since my update was so late last month), her braveness far outweighs her balance at this point. She tries SO hard to be big, but can’t quite swing it yet. I do think we will have a “walker” by her first birthday, but she also beats to her own drum. WE SHALL SEE!

She has done SO well on solids. We really don’t hold anything back anymore and she seems to handle it all very well. She did have her first cupcake recently at school and I don’t think “devour” is a strong enough word to describe her act of consuming it.

As you can see, we are indeed teething. She now has five teeth that she puts to “GOOD” use. Needless to say, she has also mastered the word “NO!” We use it occasionally often.

Oh what a HAPPY 10 months it has been!!

TWO WHOLE HAND FULLS!!!

(no pun intended) Well, today we entered the double digits (in months, of course) for EB. How in the WORLD has 10 months gone by so quickly? WHERE in the world has 10 months gone? Geeeeez! It has been the BEST 10 months EVER!!We’ll get chair pics up soon. I’ve been out of town this week and just enjoyed being back with the fam last night and playing outside. We LOVE being outside and we LOVE fall even more. So does EB!! Well, maybe she just enjoys eating grass and leaves.

We love you like crazy little EB! You are SUCH a true joy!!