Full of Gratitude Friday

I missed Thankful Thursday this week, so now we has Full of Gratitude Friday.  Hey, it's the best I could do... :)

• My dishwasher.  I've been running that thing ragged.  I cringe to think what it would be like not to have it. I'm pretty sure if I didn't have one, we would be keeping Chinet and Dixie Cups in business.
• My cell phone.  I have gotten so used to having one around, I feel a little panicked if I happen to leave it at home. 
• Our church cookbook.  I am a creature of habit.  I tend to make the same 20 meals over and over again.  At bunco this week, Alisha made 5 things - all recipes out of our church cookbook (that she so tirelessly put together).  I thought that was a fantastic idea, so I sat down Thursday morning and made a menu for the next two weeks and a grocery list to go along with it.  For the next 13 days, we are having recipes that I have never made before so we can get a little variety!!  (I made Kelly's Cranberry Chicken last night and it was easy and very good - Reed ate a whole chicken breast!)  Anyway, all that to say, it's nice to have a resource for good recipes that people will actually want to eat!
• Being well again!  I think I (or someone in my family) have/has been sick since the middle of December.  I'm glad that everyone is feeling back to normal. 
• My sweet husband and great kids.  I am thankful for having them every day.

First Birthday coming soon!!!

A while ago, a wrote a post about how I found invitation supplies on sale for Hudson's birthday.  This whole process was bitter sweet -  I love planning my kid's birthday parties and making the invitations are one of my favorite parts.  On the other hand, my baby is turning one.  Wow.  Well, before this post dissolves into more "I can't believe how big he is..." etc. an so on, I'll get to the point. 

Here are the fun invites:

I think they turned out super cute and what a deal for barely over a quarter each! 

When we get married...

Cami came over today so we could work on some baby shower invitations.  The kids were playing and as she and I stared at the computer screen trying to come up with the invitation wording, we heard the cutest thing.

Reed:  "Emory, do you know what I would do if I married you?"

Silence.  (Now remember that we aren't in the room, so we can't tell if she's listening to him or ignoring him completely).

R: "I would give you a ring.  A ring like my dad gave my mom. "  

It was VERY sweet!

The funniest part?  He's picking out his wife and she's already ignoring him.  :)

Sickness strikes again....

Just as Hudson was getting over his last bout of sickness, I woke up on Monday feeling not so great. Not awful, but not great either. On Tuesday morning, different story. With my pounding headache, pressure like none other right between my eyes and an itchy, sore throat - all I wanted to do was crawl between the sheets of my big 'ol bed with tissues stuck up my nostrils and sleep. The kicker is that I always get sick at the beginning of February. It has happened EVERY year for the last 5 or 6 years. Susan has opened my eyes to the evils of allergies and I think I finally have it figured out. There is something that comes out this time of year (Dr. Goodchild says mountain cedar) that I am allergic to. It starts out as allergy symptoms, turns into headaches and green snot from the devil (A.K.A a sinus infection) that works its way down into my chest and turns into bronchitis. I was going to try to keep from getting it, so on Susan's advice, I was taking Claritin daily. So despite all of my efforts to prevent it, I guess the mountain cedar decided to release some spores about a month early and here I am with the same February illness, only in January!! Anyway, Tuesday morning, I called the doctor and got an appointment as soon as I could. So, this begins my list of Thankful Thursday...a bit early.

• I am thankful that I got into the doctor quickly, got medicated and am feeling better this evening than I have since Sunday night!!
• I am thankful that my children have such awesome grandma's. Susan came and watched the boys for me while I went to the doctor. When I got back, she was planning on leaving to go exercise and I could tell that she didn't want to until Hudson was down for his nap so that I could rest. It was very sweet. Then my mom took the boys about lunchtime to spend the night with her. I think one of the major reasons that I feel better is that I've been able to sleep like crazy and not chase after two children! Anyway, don't know what I would do without Gammy & Mimi - I am VERY blessed.
• Antibiotics and cough medicine.
• Brian. Needless to say, over the last few days laundry has not been done and the kitchen looked like it belongs to a college frat house. When we got home from church tonight, Brian not only had loaded the dishwasher, but he was vacuuming. He very well could have come in from work (after a 10 hour day today) and sat down and watched TV. But instead, he chose to do something to help me out - without my asking - and little things like that mean the world to me.
• Reed and I read some of Charlotte's Web tonight before bed. I so enjoy the quiet time when he is calm and we can lay together and do something so simple and sweet as ready a story. I cherish these times so much - my boys are both getting so big and I am so thankful that God gave them to me.

Our internet wasn't working all day yesterday and some of this morning and I tell you what...I have felt so left out!  I didn't realize how used to jumping on the internet I was!  And e-mail...can you possibly know what's going on in the world without e-mail???  I think not!  Anyway, after realizing that I am very spoiled with the internet (and I am okay with that), I am back in the land of the living and ready to continue on...

Today Hudson is 11 months old.  I am in a little bit of denial.  I CANNOT believe how fast this time has flown by.  It's bittersweet to me - knowing he is (hopefully) our last makes me sad to think that we'll never another tiny baby.  On the other hand, Hudson wasn't all that tiny anyway. But seriously, the newborn baby things - breastfeeding, missing sleep, lugging that awkard, heavy carseat around, etc. - will not be missed.  The boys are really beginning to play together and the stages that they are in now are really a lot of fun.  I feel like our family is complete and although it's hard for things to be going by so quickly,  I'm trying to enjoy each day and look forward to the fun things to come.

Good-Bye 2008...

I can't believe a new year is about to begin! So much has happened and it seems like it has all flown by in a nanosecond. I am finding that as I get older, each year goes by faster...uh-oh. :) In 2008, so many things happened! In just our immediate family -

• Reed became a big brother! Our second born son arrived weighing in at 9 pounds and 2 ounces. Hudson is such a sweet boy and I'm so glad God picked me for his mom.


• Reed turned 4.


• My cake "business" began.


• My sweet niece Grace was born!


• Brian turned 31, I turned 29 and we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary (12 years together!!)

I thank God for such a good year and hope that 2009 will bring much happiness, many blessings and joy to you all. Happy New Year!

Johnson Christmas

Yesterday we had our Christmas with my parents. I just realized that I didn't take a single picture all day!!! We had such a fun time. We had our Christmas lunch and just spent the day talking and visiting. We took the Wii and even made Uncle Brandon his own "Mii" (the characters on the Wii that you can choose to play your games with). The Mii is quite scary - just like the real Uncle Brandon! :) Last night we opened gifts and even though I was not supposed to have anything (my mom had already bought me the dining chairs for my new table) I got a new cake plate and some other fun things. One of my favorites? An atomic alarm clock that projects the time onto the ceiling! Am I the oldest 29 year old you know??? Probably so. It doesn't help that I'm married to the oldest 31 year old...

Our Christmas

Tonight we celebrated our Christmas. As any of you who are married know, you have at least 3 Christmas's (yours, your parents, their parents) and then possibly more (grandparents, and so on). So, our tradition is that we as a family (just the four of us) open our gifts on Christmas Eve and then spend the evening hanging out, playing with our new and fun things and then count down the minutes until Santa arrives. Today Reed and I went out to my mom and dad's to help my mom with the food prep for tomorrow. Pepaw watched the boys for me. He knows how to tire them out, too! Hudson loved the backpack Pepaw put him in and soon this:

turned to this:
After we came home, we made cookies for Santa, ate dinner together, opened gifts and enjoyed a fun family night of breaking in the Wii.

Blevins Christmas

We had such an awesome Christmas with Brian's parents today. After our large combined service at church, we went over to their house, snacked a little and then went through our stockings. (Who knew Santa made a stop at Gammy & DadDad's before Christmas? Hmmm...) We ate lunch and opened presents. Reed got the Bat Cave along with every Batman accessory available. Luckily Gammy is letting that toy (along with it's 500 small parts) stay at her house. We had a great day of visiting, eating and playing with the kids. Grace and Hudson are so much fun - next Christmas will be CRAZY with a 5 year old, a 22 month old and a 17 month old!!! Here are a few pictures from the day...

Reed & Dad playing with the Bat Cave
Hudson chillin' in the exersaucer (i.e. the only thing that would keep him contained!) :)

Sweet Grace in her Santa hat

DadDad took Reed outside to help him get Gammy's last present...

Here's Uncle Eric taking a turn...hope he doesn't fall in the pool!

If you don't like the weather...just wait a minute..

Three days ago, I wore a hat, lined pants, and my heavy jacket and I was still cold. It was about 29 degrees outside. Today, less than a week before Christmas, we went outside to play!

Evidently we decorated our ginger bread house a little too early in the season. We have had some issues over the last few days. The house went from looking like this:

to this:

I bet the gingerbread people are not very pleased with their builder. :)

On another note, I have to share something that happened this morning. We were watching Franklin on Noggin. It's a cute little cartoon about a turtle and his animal friends. Anyway, the episode was over and the cute music started while the credits rolled. As I watched, Hudson raised his chubby little arm to the TV and...waved bye-bye! Pretty cute!

Thankful Thursday

Things I am thankful for this week-

• Fireplaces and a firewood cuttin' hubby. If it's a chilly night, Brian always starts a fire in the fireplace. I made one in the middle of the day on Tuesday...BRRRR!



• Hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.



• Brian and I went Christmas shopping this morning. It was so much fun to peruse the aisles and aisles of toys and picking out things for the boys. I'm very exited about Christmas morning!



• Listening to Christmas music while wrapping presents.



• That God has richly blessed our family as a whole. I have been reading many other blogs lately and I am saddened by the amount of loss and pain that overwhelms many. Diseases, sickness, loss and heartache runs rampant. I am so, so thankful for not only my healthy family, but my very blessed life.

Christmas Cards

I finally got my Christmas cards out! I was late making a picture appointment this year, therefore late in ordering and late in sending. If you are thinking that mid-December isn't late, you are incorrect. I like for my Christmas cards to grace friends and families' mailboxes as soon as you flip your calendar over to December! It just seems to help mark the start of the Christmas season and as we all know, I LOVE the Christmas season! Anyhow, here is our 2008 card - good lookin' boys, eh?

Thankful Thursday

• Being well again! I'm finally feeling normal again - YAY! I spent all day yesterday getting the house back in order (8 loads of laundry, 2 loads in the dishwasher and lots of picking up) and was so pleased I finally had the energy to actually do it.


• I'm finished with Christmas gifts! I laid on the couch on Sunday with the laptop and finished out the rest of my shopping. Sweet!


• Hudson has yet to get "the ick" and hopefully has somehow escaped it's grasp!


• My boys. On a side note, I have a little story about something Reed did today that I know some of you will enjoy. We were over at Gammy & DadDad's house visiting with one of Brian's cousins and her baby (who, by the way, is the fastest walking 9 month old I have ever seen). To make a VERY long story short, Reed wanted more candy and hadn't eaten enough "good" food. I told him no and he argued with me. I said no again and he argued with me. I looked at him and said "Reed - listen to me!" and the child put his hands over his ears! I can hear a collective laugh from you people, and I'm glad you can enjoy it. I'm not there yet. Ilooked at that kid and I was livid. Earlier Hudson had fallen asleep in my arms and it's a good thing because if I had free hands at that very moment, I might have pinched Reed's head off. Mike took Hudson from me and I gave Reed a spanking and time out in the bathroom. He hates the bathroom when he's in trouble..it's "boring" and there's "nothing to do in there". Well, except unroll the toilet paper in a big pile on the floor and that has certainly happened in the past. So, after that story, you may be asking "Why am I thankful?" He may be a mess, he may be a smartmouth, but he's my kid and I love him to pieces.
  
• My last thing I am thankful for this week? "Boring" bathrooms. :)

The Ick

I think we might be done...with "the ick", that is. We have been having a grand old time here at the Blevins household. Most of last week my throat had been sore and Thursday I was especially not feeling well. Hudson wasn't up to his normal self either, so my mom offered to take Reed to her house. I woke up on Friday feeling pretty decent, so after a leisurely morning of getting ready, I went to pick Reed up about lunchtime. At about 2:00, he started asking for something to eat and he got that super whiny tone in his voice. He told me he didn't feel good and I asked if he thought he was going to throw up and he said no. I made sure to tell him that if he did feel like he needed to, that he should try to get to the bathroom as quickly as possible. Only a few minutes later, I heard him start into the room with the whiny voice, then a very quick retreat out of the room and the splat of liquid hitting the floor. Eeewwwwww. So, my sweet mother cleaned up the yuck and Reed was acting like he felt better. I didn't know if he was actually sick or if he just ate too much junk (hey, he was at Mimi's house - you never know what goes on there) In about 20 minutes, he puked again, but at least he made it to the toilet. So, I packed him and Hudson up and got out of there, hopefully not to get my parents sick. We made it home (2 pukes on the way) and I called Brian to go get me some Gatorade for Reed. Brian came home with the goods and went back to the shop to finish up some things for the day. Just so it's understood, my poor kid is throwing up every 20-25 minutes and has been since the fiasco started. Granted there was nothing left by the third puke, but his little body was trying to get rid of EVERYTHING. So, about 6:30, I noticed I was feeling kinda ick. Yep, you got it! My first Christmas present this year? The Gift of Ick. I called Brian at 7:00 and told him he had to come home because something was happening to me. Something bad. Thank goodness he's only about 5 minutes from the house. I had some side effects that Reed was able to escape - if I say anything more, it will simply be too much information. I finally did get "the pukes" around 9:00. I think the culmination of the day was about 10:00 when Reed and I were both throwing up. The kicker - Reed MISSED his puke bucket. Brian corralled Hudson, came in and put our pillows on the floor so we could both lay back down. He cleaned up the mess, washed puke buckets, changed our sheets, put us both back in bed and gathered up the ick laundry to wash. I guess we were on a bit of a "puke schedule" at this point, because as Brian was leaving the room, he said "See you guys again in about an hour!" If I would've had any bit of humor in me, I would've cracked up laughing. All that kept running through my head was "HOW to single parents do this? HOW?" The next morning Reed was as good as new, but somehow I felt as though someone had beat me up with a 2 X 4!
In the end, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news? It evidently was a 24 hour thing. I'm feeling very close to normal again and Hudson and Brian are showing no signs of the devil's sickness. The bad news? My mom ended up catching it from us.
So, if you have learned anything from this story, people, it would be to wash your hands and wash them often. Also, don't hold your children unless you have to - they carry diseases. :)