Craziness

I feel like my head is cluttered right now. It seems like each time I'm doing good at keeping up on my blog, something happens which holds me back from continuing. My laptop got a virus, yet again. I know, you probably don't even believe me now. Yes, I had virus protection and still, my computer was invaded. It's hopeless I decided. That laptop was doomed from the start. I loved it, but it was doomed. So after coming to this conclusion I decided to start researching new laptops. Luckily it's the holidays, and all the stores are starting to have awesome deals on their electronics. So as I'm researching & researching, I found it. At midnight. I was watching QVC. Yes, me, watching QVC! And there it was... "HP Pavilion with 4 years of McAfee virus protection, plus Over $700 in software including Photoshop Elements 10 for just $529"... WHAT???!! It was like some sort of divine intervention. Like someone, somewhere knew just what I wanted/needed, and practically placed it in my lap. I immediately ordered, and today it came...

Isn't she lovely?! And I must say, I see now why so many women get addicted to QVC, it's like window shopping in the comfort of your own home. And then suddenly, you see it, that one thing you just MUST have. And it's at a killer price. So you order it, and did you know it only takes a few days to be delivered. It's fantastic!

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So I think the craziness really started a couple weeks ago. Duke was going to be in town for Halloween, so we thought it would be a good idea to bless the baby on the 30th, the day before Halloween. It was something we've been wanting to do, but with Duke's crazy work schedule we hadn't been able to plan it out. It was just supposed to be a simple gathering of family and close friends, where after we would all meet up at my dad's for some refreshments and snacks.

It turned into much more than that.

We (I) decided we should actually feed everyone, since most everybody was coming a pretty long way to be there. I settled on ribs & chicken from Famous Dave's. I figured the sides such as potato salad, beans and dessert was something that could be homemade by myself and a few loving family members in order to save on cost. Well, I was right, but let me tell you, ribs & chicken for 60 people is NOT cheap!

I asked a few family members to make a few things, but since I'm not very good at delegating who should make what, and I always feel guilty asking for favors, I decided I would make the potato salad & cornbread myself. This was a big mistake. Not only was I making the potato salad and cornbread, but I decided I should make it the night before so it would be fresh for the following day. That's fine, except that I didn't get started until 8:30 at night. Duke and I ran errands all day trying to find an all white outfit to bless Tiuke in, (this was a hard enough task to begin with), and we also picked up a new crib for him that day. (Not something that needed to be done RIGHT THEN!) We also still had to go shopping to buy everything we needed to make, and all of the plates, napkins, plasticware, etc.

I made 20 lbs of potato salad.

I got done cooking at 1:15am.

Thank goodness Duke was there helping me clean & peel & cut  & boil and everything in between. It would have been much longer without his help. We were both exhausted, but that couldn't stop us, because we only had a few hours before we had to be up & getting ready for Tiuke's big day! So many people came to the blessing, and we felt so humbled. It was awesome seeing all the people who came to support our new baby. And we had even more people sending emails & text messages wishing us luck and congratulations from those who weren't able to be there. We are so thankful for all of the love that surrounds us and our beautiful family. It was a beautiful day, but I am so happy to have it over with!

(I'm a moron and forgot my camera that day with all the commotion. Don't worry though, we got lots of photos on my dad's camera, so I will be posting those pictures soon!)

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Halloween was awesome though! We were so tired that morning, and didn't feel much like doing anything. But we got it together about 5:30 and headed to Wal-Mart for some last minute costume necessities. Duke had no costume, so as we walked around the store searching for random accessories, silly shirts or shoes we found it, while wandering in the Christmas section. We stopped to admire the newest in "Santa Hat Technology", and then it happened. Duke picked up what looked like a camo hunting baseball cap with a pair of light-up antlers on it. It was HILARIOUS on him! I told him he had to get it!We took it with us and stopped over at the costume aisle just to see what they had, and it just so happened that they had a mullet wig on sale for $5. We couldn't pass it up! Duke already had a plaid coat at home and that was it!! He was a redneck hunter guy. It was AMAZING!! I went as the Sundrop girl. All it took was a Sundrop shirt from Wal Mart, some red leg warmers (which were actually socks because leg warmers are NOT easy to find!) and a $7 pair of "Mormon shorts" over my black leggings. Then Tiuke was a lime green Dragon! (I think I ordered his costume over a month in advance!!)

Luckily everyone was really understanding about us being too tired to travel across the whole valley just so they could see the baby in his costume, so we sent a photo to most everybody. We stopped over at Duke's sister's to see everyone there, but they were all out trick or treating, so then we headed over to Jocy's. She was so excited to see Tiuke in his costume, and they didn't have many trick or treaters so we were able to sit and visit for a while. Buddy was ready to get out of his costume and headed straight for the candy.

He wanted the candy so bad he was even willing to settle for the bowl instead.

And after realizing all he was going to get out of it was a candy wrapper to suck on and drool all over, he decided instead he would tell Aunt Jocy all the stories about his very first halloween.

He was so happy!

And we were lucky enough to sneak in a family photo really quick before Tiuke passed out from a long night of Trick-or-Treating!

It was so nice to have Duke home. In 9 weeks I had only seen him for 4 1/2 days, so it was great being able to have him here. I felt like the whole time we were busy though, and didn't get any time to just sit home and relax. Hopefully next time he's here we can just enjoy being couch potatoes for a couple days!

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There is one thing though that I've always noticed about the time when Duke is here. The week before he came home I cleaned & cleaned and scrubbed & scrubbed. I went through everything, piles of cd's, cleaned out cabinets, sifted through "junk drawers" and I threw out EVERYTHING!!!

On the left... got my coupon book all organized and updated. And the picture on the right, well that's just a little craft I threw together in the middle of cleaning made out of random nik naks I found in the junk drawer!

And yet somehow, after all that cleaning and de-junking, my house still ends up looking like a hurricane came through after the week Duke is home. I don't know if it's me not wanting to spend the time cleaning while he's home, or maybe he just really is extra messy when he comes home, but there has to be some sort of explanation for why my house always seems to become a complete disaster by the time he goes back to work! Luckily though, my house is now back to normal, and will hopeful stay clean at least for the next few weeks until he's home again!!

October went by so fast and I can't believe we're already 9 days into November. I've been looking for a wreath or something to hang on the door for Thanksgiving, but it is not easy finding something that doesn't have pilgrims and turkeys all over it. But I finally found it today. I think it was made just for me.

Oh ya... it's got feathers! Feathers everywhere! It's such a cute, chic wreath. Just what I was looking for. I've got the most fashionable door on the block people!

And just as a goodbye note... I will leave you with these pictures. I'm spoiling my baby. Don't judge me. I got a popsicle out the other day, and he followed my every move from the second I pulled it out of the freezer. He kept looking at me with these adorable eyes that said "why can't I have any mom? Don't you love me?" Yes, yes I do. So I gave in. Don't judge me.

He's so big he thought he should hold it himself!

Happy Wednesday everybody!

Overload

 I think this is the only thing I could name this post because it is going to be an overload of photos and activities since my last post! My laptop got a virus, (that will teach me a lesson not to renew my virus protection!), so I'll be pretty much dumping a whole bunch of stuff into this post!



Big boy outfit for the aquarium!



We took buddy to the aquarium for his first time! I was really excited, but was prepared for him not being able to really enjoy it, I mean lets be honest, at only a few months old he had no idea what was going on! But I was pleasantly surprised when we got there, and realized that there are tons of bright colors and neon lights everywhere. He actually loved looking at everything and discovering all the new things he had never seen before!

Buddy on the froggy... and can you spot the bull frog??!!

I can't lie, it was nice for Duke and I to be able to get out of the house and do something out of the ordinary also! We really had a great time together, and it was fun seeing all the new attractions they had there. Especially the penguins! We also watched an anaconda eat a guinhea pig. It was interesting for about 2 seconds, then I was ready to go! I think Duke really enjoyed it though. (That must be a dude thing!)

Alligators, sting rays, electric eels & driving the "boat"!

I can't wait for him to be big enough to run around the aquarium grinning from ear to ear, unable to contain his excitement for each new creature & critter he discovers there! But for now, I will enjoy every moment of him being a little baby, and I'll love his excitement for colors and bright lights, and my heart will be full being able to have these moments with my boys!

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ATTENTION: The following is yet another "first" and a milestone in our litte buddy's life! His first time eating cereal!! It was hilarious... and a mess!



He was NOT happy at first!



We learned our lesson... we were going to have to feed him his cereal, before he thought he was going to waste away! It took a few minutes before he realized that what he was eating was food. Once he realized that, he just wanted to eat it as fast as possible. This posed a problem for him, though... he had no idea what the blue plastic thing was that we kept putting in his mouth. And he would move his little tongue in and out of his mouth, which ended up pushing more food out, than shoveling it in! It sure made for some really cute pictures though...

Bottom right... sexy face!

Oh I just love this one!

Okay, I promise that's it for the eating photos... I just couldn't choose!!

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 Tiuke is rolling over and cooing, and is getting closer and closer every day to crawling. He's just over 4 months old. I can't believe how quickly they grow up. I'm so thankful to be able to be a stay-at-home mom so I don't have to miss a single moment of my little buddy growing up!

The beginning of the "firsts"!

I know I'm going to have a million and one opportunities for blogs starting with "Tiuke's first......." but I really don't want to sound repetetive every other post, so I promise to attempt to think of clever titles for all of the "first accomplishments" of my child!! This one we will call the beginning!

It's Tiuke's first bath! At first I was just going to let Duke go in alone & give the baby his bath while I recovered in my room, but when the time came, and they told Duke that he could go bathe our little man, I decided I just couldn't miss it! I didn't want to miss any moment in my sweet baby boy's life! And I especially didn't want to miss any moments that were full of photo ops! So I decided to go with, only to take pictures though, because I knew this was an important moment for Daddy!




As you can see, Tiuke did NOT like his bath! He screamed the entire time, and he was bright red. I have never seen him so red since! Poor little buddy. After scrubbing down that tiny little body the nurse asked Duke if he wanted to wash baby's hair. I know, that seems silly and like such an easy thing, but trust me it is a very intimidating task! Just looking at such a tiny baby, and then trying to figure out how you're going to stabalize his neck and hold his body and scrub his hair, it's pretty nerve racking. So Duke handed the baby over to the nurse and let the nurse show him her tricks of the trade, but not because he was nervous, no, that was DEFINITELY not why! He just wanted to see how the pros did it!




Luckily he loves bathtime now, and dad does a GREAT job washing his hair!!! Oh.... and I MUST post this picture...

This pregnancy we unfortunately had multiple overnight stays in the hospital, and every time, Duke always made a trip to the nursery to go see the babies. Then he would come back to our room and talk about how he just couldn't wait to be able to go look through those windows and see his baby on the other side. I'm so glad I was able to get a picture of this moment. He is such a proud pappa!