Walking, Talking, Loving Life

Baby Girl is 14 months old today! How would I describe her at 14 months?

Here are 14 ways...
- brown eyed beauty
- sweet spirited
- a rambling talker
- a Frankenstein walker
- big, huge, kissable cheeks
- my NON picky eater, Hallelujah!!!
- lash-a-licious
- snuggle bunny
- belly laugher
- bottle-lover
- 6 toothed smiler
- collector of all things small
- baby doll hugger
- momma's girl, through and through!

Sweet baby girl, I hope that you will look at me through the years as you do this day...with complete trust, powerful love, and joyful smiles.

Hugs and Sugars!

Mommy

Conversations with a 4 year old...

Me- Oh no, the trains derailed, who can we get to help them?

Cade- Ummmmm let's see. How about FATMAN!

Me- Who?

Cade- This guy Mommy, FATMAN...look he can fly and everything...

Me- Maybe NOT with those extra Christmas pounds he's lugging around son...Guess Batman needs to make some New Years Resolutions along with the rest of us!

In all fairness he just got the Batman figurine for his birthday from a friend and he's never heard of this dude before, but we're working on getting it right! Also, if you need more comic relief Cade insists that "Robin" is NOT a boy name and calls him "Robby" instead....most kids play with Batman and Robin, but not us we have the dynamic duo of Fatman and Robby...aye, yi, yi...criminals of Gotham you've been warned!

Fun Fridays...my favorite things

I turned on Good Morning America the other day, a RARE occasion for me, and caught the daily installment of a series entitled Dermatologist Secrets Revealed or something to that affect. The female dermatologist on the show that day proceeded to give various tips on what else????

Skincare.

Guess what her TOP "secret" tip was? Slather your face in layers of cold cream every night and pray hard....well not quite although that was my guess! The "top tip" from the expert herself was to wear moisturizer containing sunscreen everyday. She recommended choosing a 15+ SPF product. Even if your one of those people who says, "I never see the light of day except for walking to my car and back because I sit at a computer screen for 10 hours" either because that's your job or because you don't want to face the mountain of laundry, dishes in your sink, unmade beds, or little folks wreaking havoc in the playroom...she still insisted that even for the few moments you are outdoors the best long term gift you can give your skin is protection.

Of all the fancy schmancey moisturizer products on the market, I am still loyal to my college stand-by. An old drugstore find made by Johnson & Johnson called Purpose. It is oil-free, fragrance free, and has the Good Morning America's seal of approval 15 SPF all wrapped up in an 8 dollar bottle! What more could a girl ask for? Oh don't get me wrong, I'm sure one day I'll be on the cold cream and prayer regime, but for now I'll stick to Purpose!

Now it's your turn, leave me a note and share your favorite moisturizer, skin cream, or TOP SECRET beauty regime...

Happy Oil Free Friday

Wordless Wednesday...from the backporch lookin' in

Menu Monday

Go get yourself some stuffin'!! Here's a super yummy recipe that's a sure fire winner with the hubby, the picky kid and the "I'll eat anything you stick in front of me" toddler in your house! Well at least that's how it breaks down at mine...

Pepperidge Farm Chicken

6 boneless, skinless Chicken breasts

1/2 C. Mayonnaise

1 Stick Butter, melted

3 T. Dijon Mustard

1- 8 oz. pkg. Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing Mix, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix mayo, mustard and butter together. Dip each chicken breast into the mixture and roll in the crushed stuffing mix to coat well. Place in a PAM sprayed baking dish. IMPORTANT STEP, if you have any stuffing remaining mix it with the remaining dip mixture and sprinkle around the chicken and pile it on top of the chicken!!! Don't under any circumstances throw all that goodness down the drain people. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes or until browned.

Thanks to my friend Jennifer L. for sharing this recipe in our church cookbook, and Darlene W. who the recipe originated from.

Great is thy Faithfulness...

Please join me in praying for my blog friend Kelly Stamps, her husband Scott and their newborn daughter Harper. After struggling with infertility for several years, Kelly became pregnant on her own and has been anxiously awaiting the birth of their daughter.


Harper Brown Stamps was born yesterday at 7:03 PM weighing 9 lbs. and 12 oz, however she was rushed to the NICU for heart and respiratory problems shortly after birth. The prognosis was very grim last night as the doctor did not give them much hope due to the fact that Harper's heart and lungs were filled with fluid. Harper was flown to St. Francis Children's Hospital in Tulsa Oklahoma shortly after midnight last night/early this morning and since then has made significant improvements! Her sweet family continues to give God all the glory for this quick turn of events...so if you feel the spirit move you, please lift up their names to the Lord's ear this evening! He is faithful, I believe God's will will never move us outside of His grace...



If you'd like to read more about Kelly, Scott and baby Harper you can click HERE to visit her blog!

Bring Your "A" game!!!

"Coach" Alaniz and I fielded up a fun time at Cade's Sports' themed 4th Birthday party! We invited all 7 of his friends from church and celebrated numero 4 in a big way. Steve set up sports centers in the backyard complete with soccer goals, a football throw, (made out of a huge Bassett box) and a basketball toss! Despite the cold weather, the kids were excited to get out there and try everything out! I was really happy to see both the boys and girls getting into the spirit!

After talking about his party all week, it definitely lived up to all his expectations. Cade proudly sported his Mavs jersey from the game he and Steve went to with Aunt Manda, Uncle Cody and Papa. I think Cade was the first one to go outside and play games and the last one to come in. I swear that kid could live outdoors and just come inside for meals :)

Sugar Coma
We snacked on chips and dips, pecan cream cheese strawberries, chex mix and pigs in a blanket with all the dippin's! I whipped up some sports cupcakes for the kiddos! I must say piping grass icing is an experience, about half way through my hand pooped out on me and I had to take a break!!!! But luckily my kitchen side-kick Cade was cheering me on to finish them up and placing all the footballs, baseball guys, and field goals into place on top for me! I couldn't have done it without you little man :) I made a little sports themed table cloth out of a piece of kelly green felt, grosgrain ribbon a.k.a. yard lines, and iron on varsity numbers! I plan on re-using it for Super Bowl parties in the future!

Happy 4th Birthday Cade!

You make each and every day a slam dunk :)

Wordless Wednesday

Blogging so FINE in 2 DOUBLE 0-0-9

THANK YOU to my sweet friend Kristi who designed a new look to go with our new family picture for '09!

If your blog is needing some New Year love or if you've been thinking of joining us here in blogland, you can visit Kristi at http://www.kristiskringles.blogspot.com/. She's wonderful to work with and offers some of the best rates on the net! Happy Blogging in 2009!



I'm looking forward to seeing my new blog everyday...well, maybe every other day...errr, every two days....okay, who am I kidding....whenever I can steal a few precious moments away from the kiddos to type an update! Let's just be honest here.

Ice, Ice Baby

Okay kids...I know we live in Texas, BUT 80 degrees and air conditioning on Saturday and 2 days later 30 degrees and I-C-E on my front tree limbs!!!!?!?? Proof...

So what are all of y'all doing on this cold icy day?

Jot me a comment and let us know!!