Christmas

Today I decided to be proactive! I made a Christmas list for all of the people we buy gifts for and ideas for all of them. It is only October. I'm one of those people who normally leaves this until after Thanksgiving. Having two kids must be catching up with my organizational skills :)

My Husband Rocks!

So, the reason Gerad rocks this week, really happened last week, but I'm getting excited. He found out he get the time off for the Weekend to Remember Conference put on by Family Life Today. It's at the Coeur d' Alene Resort. I'm so excited that my husband finds our marriage so important that he takes time off work to invest in us! It'll be fun to get "away" from life for a few days to learn how to make our marriage stronger. We know that the minute we become complacent in our marriage it'll begin to fail.
Besides that, I like to remind him that the Bible says, "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD" Proverbs 18:22 ;) I'm so blessed to be married to him!

Life!

We have been so busy. I realized that it has been a whole month since I've posted anything on my blog. So much has happened since then.

We took a trip to WY for Jaime and Caleb's wedding! It was gorgeous. You can find pictures here and here. (If you like the pics go here and you can see all of our photos from Gerad's Photography)

Nothing like a 10 hour car drive with kids 2 yrs old and 3 months. On the way we left at 8 pm and arrived in Jackson Hole at 9am our time the next day - Talk about exciting. We were exhausted!!!! On the way home we were much smarter and stayed in Bozeman, MT after going through Yellowstone National Park. We got to see Old Faithful, which I'd never seen before but I must say, the weather was so yucky (snowing), it was just ok. We saw beautiful elk, amazing hot spring things and some gorgeous falls. I'd love to go again and see more of Yellowstone, preferable without the snow. Someday . . .

Then, Gerad's sister came home for the weekend! It was so great! She got to meet her neice for the first time and we even went pumpkin hunting (post to come soon!). She's back to reality now finishing her rotations for Medical School, but we were all so glad to have a little time with her!

Now, we are buried in photo work and have wedding and senior shoots calling our names! Someday we'll catch up ... I hope.

My Husband Rocks!

So I'm a few weeks behind. I didn't post why Gerad rocks last week because we got up early on Friday and worked until late redoing our kitchen floor. We laid some oak laminate and it looks so great. He took off 6 days of work and we did our floor on Friday and finished putting the kitchen back together on Saturday. On Sunday we left for a three day "vacation" just the two of us and it was sweet! We went to Keith Urban concert on Monday and rocked out with Kath and Lo - we had so much fun, just laughing and joking all night. We're still talking about our trip and how we can't wait until we escape for a weekend again! I'm so glad I married him - we have so much fun together and can get through everything in life together!

So here's why he rocks - because He love me! He cares enough to get me away from "life" so that I can come back totally refreshed and recharged and be a better wife to him and mom to the kids. He's so smart and I appreciate it so much!

More pics of the kids

I took some more pictures of the kids yesterday. Corbynn was laying still (mostly) Ben on the other hand would not hold still. Every shot I got of him was blurry cause he was on the move. Here's some of my favorites.

My Husband Rocks!

So I have a sad story for my husband rocks this week. Today, Gerad sold his motorcycle. He's had it for about 5 years and all of our married life. We've had so much fun on it. We've taken it to Warriors Games, Hot August Nights, Wallowa and just some sweet rides around town. The reason this makes him rock is because this was his decision completely. He decided it would be best for our family and that makes him rock. He loves us so much he gave it up for us (kinda reminds me of the sacrifice Jesus made - giving something you love up for those you love knowing in the end it's all worth it). He's so great! I know it'll be different and take some time to get used to having an empty space in the garage, but in 25 years we'll have our Corvette to park there :)

Baby Food

Before Ben was born I really wanted to purchase a vita mix. They are a serious blending machine and do so much more - anyway. It was definitely out of the picture so I made baby food in my food processor (it worked ok). Then for our 3rd anniversary Gerad got me a vita mix - YAY! Yesterday I made my first batch of baby food in it and it was incredible. Since peaches are in season I decided I should stock up on peach baby food (hopefully she likes it (: ). I used 8 peaches and got 60 ice cubes of peaches! I'm so excited because it took like no time at all - maybe 20 minutes! If anyone has any fabulous baby food recipes send them my way!

My Husband Rocks!

I must tell you that my husband ROCKS! For the last two nights he has allowed me to sleep and he gets up with Corbynn at 4am for her only night time feeding (Yay!). He has to get up at 5 for work and still gets us an hour before his alarm so I can sleep. He can definitely tell when I NEED some extra sleep! Thanks so much honey, I love you!

More pics of kids FINALLY!

He really wants to hold his sissy and then he does and plays with his fingers in his mouth! Too funny!

While Benjamin was holding Corbynn I couldn't help but see the size difference in their feet. I love this next shot because he has such a loving caring look on his face.

Today

So I realize I'm a total slacker and haven't blogged in over a week - sorry :(

Today definitely deserves me blogging about it though!

Twice this morning Corbynn spit up on herself and not just a little spit up - a lot of spit up. Once at sometime between 4:15 and 5 (because that was the last time I checked on her after her 3 am feeding) and at about 7:15. Each time I had to change her and get her new blankets etc. - It was BAD! Then at about 8:00 I told Ben mommy was going potty. He then joins me in the bathroom and says diety off {(diaper off) now when I left him about 45 seconds earlier he was fully clothed with pajama bottoms and his diaper on.} I asked him if he needed to potty to which he always responds, No! Then in a stroke of mom genius I told him to go sit on the kitchen floor and mommy would be right there. Not 30 seconds later he comes back, "Potty mommy, potty." At this point I can hardly believe what I am hearing.
I said, "You went potty?"
"Yeah"
"Where?" I said.
"In the Kitchen"
So, he peed on kitchen floor - all of this before 8:15 and if that was it that'd be fine but the day was just beginning.

Benjamin decided he didn't need a nap today - I'm not sure why because he was exhausted but you know . . . So I heard him knocking on his bedroom door - an abnormal thing because he can open it and get out (what he usually does). I went into his room and he had lotion all over the floor AGAIN! (Two weeks ago he got his lotion out before he got up in the morning and had it all over his bed and a black eye too!) I couldn't keep him in his bed so, after and hour of fighting I let him get up. At a little after 5 as I was getting ready to cook dinner with Gerad I noticed he had almost fallen asleep playing - I said, "Benjamin Wayne, you wake up." He just curled up more so I made him dance with me and then help daddy BBQ dinner. He cried about everything - everything so when I got to leave to go to coffee with Kath I was feeling very lucky! And when I came home I felt refreshed and I'm ready to handle tomorrow - lotion and all!

My Husband Rocks!

The reason Gerad rocks today, I've been saving since like Tuesday to share with you all. Before he leaves for work he does the dishes. There's usually the random dishes from the night before (ice cream spoons etc) and lots of bottles along with breakfast dishes. When I get up (I try to sleep in as much as possible) the sink is always empty - its such a blessing to me not to have to worry about it! Thanks hon - I love you so much!

Birthday Dinner

Last night Gerad and I celebrated my birthday. We went to "Sycamore Street Grill" for dinner and as soon as we were served our bread I knew I had to blog about it! It was probably one of the best meals we've ever eaten!

With our bread we received olive tapenade with olive oil. The olive oil had a very fruity note that complimented the saltiness of the olives perfectly.

On to our appetizer. We had the Shrimp Crostini. The presentation was beautiful with one piece of shrimp "standing" on each piece of bread. There was a rich, creamy, thick feta sauce with sundried tomatoes and roasted red peppers. I would have told you on Thursday that I didn't like feta, but it was wonderful in a sauce. The shrimp were cooked perfectly and the four pieces we got wasn't quite enough!

We both had soup with our dinner, minestrone. It was delicious. The flavors were deep, it tasted as if it had been simmering ALL day! The carrots, celery and summer squash were cooked to the perfect soup consistancy. The broth was just incredible, it had a fire roasted quality with just a hint of herbs.

I ordered one of the evening's specials. A dinner salad with a roasted duck breast. I'd never had duck and thought why not try it. This salad was incredible. It was a mix of spring greens with mushrooms, radishes, tomatoes, jicama (the texture of an apple), cucumber and a raspberry vinaigrette. Now, when I think of a vinaigrette I think of a dressing somewhat thin - this was thick and yummy. There were pieces of raspberry in it along with the seeds. It had the perfect acidity level to match some of the stronger flavored greens. The duck was amazing. It was exquisitely cooked (as far as I know), it has such a rich deep flavor because of the fattiness of it. The flavor is a mix between chicken and pork but with more richness - it tastes fancy ;)

Gerad ordered the potato wrapped salmon(Wild Chinook) on top of balsamic cucumbers and onions with pink peppercorns. There was a balsamic drizzle on top of all of that. For his vegetable he had a mixture of carrots, zuchinni and summer squash matchsticks gently sauteed. The salmon was absolutely beautiful. They shoestring the potatoes and then wrap the salmon in it before pan frying. (It must have been really good because I didn't even get a taste!) The cucumbers were really good, kind of like the cucumbers my mom used to make when I was a kid. A cucumber in white vinegar with onions to do a quick pickle, except they used balsamic which made them really tie in to the salmon (so Gerad said!).

We didn't get desert because we were going to a movie, (Julie and Julia - which was really good, but had a few too many inuendos in it) but I'm sure it would have been delicious.

The perfect evening - (dinner and a movie) revolving around really good food ;)

My Husband Rocks! Friday

So I've joined a group of ladies who have decided that every Friday we're going to blog about why our husband rocks!

My husband rocks because he is so willing to put me before himself. On Wednesday night he sent me to bed and slept in the living room with Corbynn so I could sleep, completely uninterupted. I got almost 9 hours of sleep! It was so great! He had to work the next day, so I know it wasn't an easy task!

I love you hon!

Lovin' His Sister!

Here's some pics of Ben holding Corbynn. He likes to hold her, but not for too long or if she starts to make any sounds, then he's all done and I'm diving for her before he forgets he has to wait for mommy to get sister before he can get out of the chair!

Here's a picture of the little man. He's in deep thought watching Auntie Kathy count his cars in German! (He's such a smartie!)


Here's Corbynn sleeping - she's next to impossible to get pictures of with her eyes open, today was another failed attempt.

Due Date

Today, August 3, 2009 is Corbynn's Due Date. She has been with us 5 weeks today and I am so glad! I love that we have gotten just a little extra time with her. I've really noticed in the last few days her little cheeks are getting chubby. I can't imagine not having her the last 5 weeks, we've been to events with her that I'm glad she was at.

My prayer for her is that she grows up to be an amazing woman of God, that she loves her family and her husband with all of her heart, that she will have amazing dreams and desires placed in her heart by God. I pray she affects her friends and the others who surround her as much as she has affected our family in these last 5 weeks. The love and joy she has brought to our lives is too great for words.

Here's some new pictures of Corbynn!

One Month

This morning at 1:00am (while up feeding Corbynn) I realized I should have posted this yesterday. Better late than never!

Yesterday our beautiful Corbynn was one month old. It's incredible how much she has changed in such a short time. She was so tiny (could have been that she was 5 weeks early!)

6/29/09
5lbs 8.5oz
19.5 inches

Today
7lbs 6.5 oz
20.75 inches

What makes you happy?

So I had the cutest conversation with Ben the other day, it went like this:

Me: What makes you sad Ben?
Ben: cry
Me: You cry when you are sad?
Ben: Yeah
Me: What makes you happy?
Ben: Daddy

Is that not the most precious thing ever? Totally made my heart melt when he told me that! Spending time with daddy makes him happy, it makes mommy happy too!

My First Post

So I decided to take the plunge and start a blog. You may all have to be patient with me as I learn how to do this. I'm excited to tell you the cute things my kids say and do as well as share photos and recipes with you. I can't promise a new post everyday because of life and the kids but I'll do my best.