Thank God for Sisters!

My sister, Brittany, has come to visit and meet her newest nephew. I am so excited! She just called and safely made it to Las Vegas. She has some business to do there tomorrow and should be down here tomorrow evening. I can't wait!

We are planning a trip to San Diego/Oceanside for the weekend. We decided to take the boys to the zoo and the aquarium. And I can't wait to show her around the Camp Pendleton area and hopefully what will be our new home. :) This will also be a great way to spend the last weekend with Robert before he goes to school and we head to AR for a visit.

I am excited to show her more of the "California life" (other than 29 Palms!) in hopes that she will keep coming back! ;) I love the San Diego area! It is so much fun! Tons to do and the most absolute gorgeous scenary. Who wouldn't love that?!

Tuesday morning we are leaving 29 Palms en route to NW Arkansas! And I can't wait!! I haven't been home since the 1st week of October and I am so anxious for everyone to meet Brycen. He is starting to become more alert and is developing his personality.

Even though I am so ready to go to AR, I know that there is SO much to do here. I have to get ready for the move!!! :) :) :) :) So excited!

It will probably be a few days before I check in, but I promise to have pictures when I come back!

Yummy!!

Well, today I finally got to start cooking again! :) I had bought some ground turkey the other day and needed to use it. So, I looked allrecipes.com and found a GREAT turkey chili (and it is supposed to be figure friendly!).

 Here is the recipe if you would like to try it out.

I also made some BBQ pork shoulder in the crock pot. I LOVE this McCormick seasoning packet!

It makes people think that you actually know how to cook REALLY good pork!

Brycen and I went to the doctor to get some more medicine. We have both been battling with thrush and it is not fun! Hopefully this medicine will knock it out! Oh, and big boy gained 2 more ounces in the past 2 days! He is now 7lbs 7 ounces!

I almost forgot to mention... or maybe was I just trying to forget. Anyways... the nosy person that I am, I started snooping on the internet to find out information about the big Bachelor scandal that took place on Monday night. Well, I ran across a bit of information that I am not too happy with. Wanna know?? Well, apparently there is this guy named Reality Steve or something who apparently has a very reliable source with ABC. He has predicted exact things that have happened over the past 3 seasons. And Steve revealed the bachelorette who gets picked in the end! What! Not kidding. I am going to put the girl's name in white so you can scroll over it if you want to know. Vienna!!! Not kidding! And I really wish I were! I just don't see it. The girl seems nuts to me and she is very young. Who knows... Love is blind, right?! I am going to go ahead and watch the rest of the season. 

Here are some pictures of the boys from last night and tonight!

Happy 1 Month Brycen!

I can't believe it... my baby boy is 1 month old today!

Brycen is weighing 7 lbs 5 ounces.

He is 21 inches long and is still wearing a Newborn size diaper.

His clothes are mostly Newborn size, but he can fit into some 3 months for the length.

He eats every 2-3 hours and right now, he is waking up about twice at night.

He loves the sunshine and just gets so quiet when I sit him in front of the window.

His big brother, Thompson, absolutely adores him. They love to have their picture made together.

Brycen's favorite toys right now are his swing and chair. He loves to lay on a blanket in the floor, so I will probably be bring out his gym mat before too long.

He is definitely a Momma's boy! He loves to lay on my chest and sleep.

We have had a wonderful first month with our boy. Brycen has got to meet his Nana and we look forward to meeting the rest of the family next week!

Is this face not pitiful!

Happy 1 Month Birthday Baby Boy, we love you!

My Husband-- The Chef!

I NEVER thought I would mutter those words, EVER!

But, my husband proves to be even better than I thought!

He Cooks!!

I think I might have mentioned before, but my parents got us a new grill for Christmas. Robert has always said that when we get a grill that he wants to learn to cook. And like everything else he says to me, it went in one ear and out the other! I kid. I kid! :)

So, one day we had cooking/grilling 101. I showed him some of "the basics" and let him at it. Surprisingly, he is REALLY GOOD! He is kinda funny too. He wouldn't even let me mix up the marinade. He just had to do it himself. He kept telling me to go sit down. Who am I to argue with that??

I would say that BBQ chicken is my fave. Does that not look yummy?!

Tonight he wanted to make BBQ chicken nachos. And like everything else he does-- he gives 110%. So when he told me that he wants to make everything himself, I try not to butt in.

Here is my personal chef getting the meal ready!

And here is the final product

I don't exactly know how healthy this is for me, but I'll take it.

And here are some more pictures of my other boys.

Who Me??

Yes, ME!!!

My mom called yesterday with the awesome news that I made the University's Chancellor's List!!

I know, I know... many people make a 4.0 all the time. But I was so proud to be acknowledged for it, especially for my last semester.

At one point in my lovely college career I wasn't doing so hot. I didn't make the best grades and unfortunately, I only hurt myself. But in the past two years I have worked so hard to bring up my GPA to something that I would look back on and be proud of. I had a goal of a 3.0, but it looks like I will be settling for a 2.99. I guess I will take it.

Ok, enough with that!!

Brycen has definitely been developing  a little personality (Well, as much as a 1 month old can) and is really starting to smile! You never realize how those gummy little smiles can melt your heart! :)

Thompson has been so great with his brother! He is acting out in other ways, but he is so good to Brycen. He is wanting to help me change his diaper, help put on his clothes, lay beside him, and give him sugars (kisses)! I am so thankful for this and it always makes me proud!

I spent the entire day watching a Law & Order: SVU marathon! Love that show! And Robert went golfing with one of his buddies. (I have a special post for Robert tomorrow!)

It's definitely been a great weekend so far!

Mid-Week Recap!

I haven't updated since Brycen had his appointments. Looks like we will be having to go out in town to an audiologist to have a more thorough test. His left ear never would pass the tests, but his right ear would after trying about 4 different times. I am PRAYING that his ears are just little and that is why the probe thing was not working. Who knows? This is so minor, so I am not worrying too much about it. I am just lucky that I have an overall healthy child who is here with me. If he does have a problem, then we can hopefully have surgery later on to correct what needs to be fixed!

As for his weight gain, he was weighing 6 pounds 14.6 ounces! This is a whole 6 ounces more than the week before. They said it was awesome. They are going to do one more check next Monday to make sure he keeps it up! Hopefully he will.

Tonight we headed to Yucca Valley-- the somewhat sense of civilization minus all of the Desert Yetties :) We went to Applebees to eat dinner, stopped by this Mexican market to grab some carne asada to grill on Friday (thinking of you Mrs.Christina!), and went to Wal-Mart. I hit up the 75% off holiday section and bought Christmas ornaments, lots of ornaments. Next year I am going to do a red & gold tree! I am already wanting to put it up, lol. I think I got 8 boxes of ornaments for $10. Pretty good, huh? And then I found some cute tree picks that I can hopefully use.

I am also having a pretty good week. A lot of my tv shows have come back on, so I am excited for that. One show that I haven't watched the past few episodes, I decided to get back into...

The Bachelor

Oh, yes! The Bachelor. I stopped watching after the season where Jason dumped Melissa ON NATIONAL TELEVISION and then proposed to Molly! I would have been calling him a lot worse names than the ones we saw Melissa mouthing... I'm just saying. Anyways, this season does not look like it will disappoint. Although, I must admit (and it seems like a lot of other people agree) that the girls are definitely not as pretty as they used to be. Seriously, there aren't ANY better looking girls that ABC could dig up??

This season's bachelor is a pilot named Jake. He is from Texas and seems like a very wholesome guy.

Here is a mini-recap of Monday's show, well atleast the girls that I remember.

Ashley- Didn't really care for this girl OR her flight attendent halloween costume

Channy- WHOA! When she first met him, she quoted off this in Cambodian "You can land your plane on my landing strip anytime" Can we say desperate?? Thank goodness her and her bad one-liners did not receive a rose.

Corrie- Didn't really see much of her, but I thought she was really cute and nice. I think she might have a shot.

Elizabeth from Nebraska- I don't know what to think about her, but I think that the Bachelor really liked her. I see her in the top 5 for sure if not the final 2!

Ella- This chick is crazy!!! I swear she has some voodoo dolls or some "Jake" shrine.

Michelle- This girl is crazy too!! She cried and I thought she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Tenley- Definitely my FAVE!! She is cute and seems like a genuine girl. She will definitely be in the top 2!

I am also excited about the new season of "The Biggest Loser". I love watching the show and it always gives me an extra bit of motivation when I am dieting. My favorite part of the show is definitely the finale-- I love seeing the transformations that the contestants have made. Maybe I need to do a before shot since I just started my diet. Hmmm... maybe I can go back to looking like this before too long...

Finally Sunday!

Am I the only one that has been feeling like it was Sunday for about 3 days now?? Not that I am wishing the weekend away, its just that the holidays have been messing with my brain... or it could be the lack of sleep. Anyways :) we had a wonderful Sunday! We woke up and went down to Palm Desert to eat at the Olive Garden for lunch. It was YUMMY!! Then we headed over to Target and to the Mall to browse and walk around. I never knew how much I would appreciate just getting out of my house. The other day I practically begged Robert to let me go to the grocery store just to get out. :P We are glad to be home, but enjoyed our day!

Here is about the only thing we bought today.

Brycen got a new blankie!

So soft and cuddly.

Here are some pictures from this morning with the boys

Thompson wanted to have his picture made with brother, but Brycen wasn't having it.

And this is Brycen chilling out on the boppy pillow.

-Thanks Ahni for the outfit :)

Tomorrow Brycen goes for his hearing test and weight check-up. Please pray that he passes all of the tests this time. I know that it won't be the end of the world if he has some hearing issues, but I really just pray that he is 100% healthy. Also, I am hoping for a significant weight gain too! Fingers crossed!

I am also preparing for my trip back to Arkansas. My wonderful sister, Brittany, is coming out here on the 14th to visit and then help me drive back. We plan on staying for atleast a month while Robert is in school. We are hoping to move to Pendleton around the last week of March. I just hope everything falls into place. We'll see! :)

Well I will report back in tomorrow with some updates! Also, tomorrow is my official start to my diet. I REALLY need the prayers on this one! Ha!

Good way to end the season!

We ACTUALLY won a bowl game!!! I was shocked to see that we have only won 3 bowl games in the past 25 years!
Whoa!

I am proud to say that my alma mater has made me proud to be a HOG tonight!

Whooo Pig Sooiee! Go Hogs!!

Happy New Years!!!

I rang in the new year in the comfort of my recliner! Ha! Brycen and I fell asleep at 11 and woke up around 1. I asked Robert why hadn't he woke me up and he said that he had tried but I wasn't budging. Lol. I must have been really out of it.

We have been enjoying our new grill and I have cooked on it already like 3 times. Today, I grilled some bbq chicken. Yum! Tonight, we are going to eat some ribs that I have been cooking in the oven all day! And of course we are watching the Bowl games.

That's about it for us. Exciting, huh? :)

I hope everyone has an amazing year! I know that I am looking forward to 2010 and all of the great things it will (hopefully) bring!