teething!

*my heart melts*

we knew it was coming...we just didn't know when.

it started with lots of drool and a slightly cranky little boy, then all of a sudden *BAM* noah got his first tooth! (lower left central incisor)

then two days later another one broke through! (lower right central incisor)

heaven help us! the boy has teeth!! :) 

the hygienist inside me is so happy! i can't wait to clean his teeth someday! 

in other noah news, he is so talkative lately!! he just squeals and laughs and coos, especially when he is at a restaurant and it's really quiet (the kid LOVES the limelight!) he is rolling onto his belly and trying desperately to scoot or crawl or something like it :) jamie says we'll have him walking next week! ;) he is still such a happy little boy! sleeping so good and really hasn't been too cranky even though he's teething! we are so blessed!!

noah and roary the lion - they're best buds

blame it on the hormones

noah milton - october 21, 2008 (about 7 hours old)

what happened to this little boy?? where, oh where did he go?? when did my little 6 lb 13 oz bundle of wrinkles and cuteness turn into a whomping 16 lb chatty, chew toy obsessed, hair pulling kid??

noah milton - march 2009 - almost 5 months old

i'm in tears right now just thinking about these last 5 months...my life has changed so radically since little noah came into it. and i am SO thankful to God for bringing him to me! what a precious little miracle he is. every day he is learning (we're gonna start sign language soon!), and playing, and laughing...and he's so healthy! He is such a blessed baby!

i am so blessed to be home with him so much during the week, but i can't help but feel jealous of those moms who are home 24/7 with their kiddos. i know that everyday i am away from him i am missing perfect smiles, and new noises, and poopy diapers (of course i'm glad to leave that last one up to someone else...LOL!)  But i love my job...i love my career. i wouldn't trade it for the world and i know that by working i am making a better life for noah and our family. 

okay, sorry for that...sometimes i just get weepy...i'm still blaming it on pregnancy hormones. is that okay to do, even though i had my baby almost 5 months ago? haha...Beth Moore says that most women list hormones as the "hardest part about being a woman." (Esther: It's Hard Being a Woman Bible Study)

Thank you Jesus for giving me a healthy, happy baby boy! Thank you for blessing our family so abundantly!! Thank you for teaching me to be a good mommy. Help me to make the most of my time with him while he's a baby. Make our time together precious and special. Help me to not envy stay-at-home moms. Give me joy overflowing for the fact that You placed me in a job that I love!

The Ranch Part 3: "Can I get a picture with you?" and Cake POPS!

FYI: Pioneer Woman won the Best Webblog Award at the "Bloggies" this week!!!

the time had come to start making cake pops!! we were having such a blast and the excitement in the room was sky high!! we had just enough time to get pictures with Ree and Angie (aka Pioneer Woman and Bakerella...blog world superwomen!) 

me and Ree! :) could my smile be any bigger??! :)

me and Bakerella (Angie)!!...don't you love her hair!?! i wish my hair would do that!

me, Angie, and my momma!

me and Marlboro Man! (ps i know his really real name...but i'm not telling!!)

me, MM, and my momma!

...and now for the cake ball extravaganza!!

PW started us off by introducing Bakerella and we began by dividing up all of the yummy cakes they had made for us the day before... (btw do you see that awesome camera! total camera envy! i used my mom's Nikon for all of these pics..i'm still waiting for the right camera to come along so we can fall in love and make lots of pretty pictures together). 

p.s. you can visit Pioneer Woman or Bakerella's blogs to get the exact instructions for making cake pops!

i've got my tray...let's make some cake balls!

"rubbing" the cake to separate it...this is red velvet, but you can use any kind of cake...Bakerella suggests using boxed cake (she uses Duncan Hines)

oh my! crazy smile!! 

next you mix the icing into the cake...we used cream cheese icing (not whipped!)

mixing the icing and the cake together

once the cake and icing are mixed you have to roll them into little balls...it sounds much easier than it actually is (and it's REALLY messy!!)...most of mine ended up lumpy and square...i don't know exactly what i was doing wrong, but what you want ideally is small, uniform round balls

these are not ideal...

but i did my best!  now they're ready to go in the fridge so we can decorate 'em!

**********************************************************************************

One of my favorite pictures of the day. Ree was such a great hostess...she was making us all yummy yummy coffee while we were going crazy decorating cake pops!! isn't she pretty!!

The Ranch Part 2: She cooked for us!

our awesome hostess Ree just making us lunch! 

well, we finally arrived at The Ranch!  it is just breathtakingly beautiful - land as far as the eye can see and  smack dab in the middle of it all is Pioneer Woman Land! 

we were nearly an hour early, we really didn't know how long the drive would be so we figured better early than late. Ree was the perfect host and made us feel right at home! she is so humble, she really has no idea what a big deal she is! this just makes her an even bigger deal! :)

poor, cute little charlie...you know the basset hound that Pioneer Woman is in love with...well the poor thing got sprayed by a skunk! but i still got to meet him and stare into his big, brown eyes through the lodge door. he's such a sweetie!

we began the morning with a tour of the lodge!! It was all i had ever imagined!!  The lodge is amazing! mom and i walked around in awe at all of the cute little touches...i think we both wished we could just move in...the big, comfy beds seemed to call my name! of course i had to see the pantry! the sliding ladder is too cool!! i want it! i have to have it!! but that would mean that i would need a pantry first! LOL!

this sign, in the mud room, made me laugh so hard!

pardon the french.

then i saw this cute array of cowboy boots...pdubs daughter informed me that these are for guests who don't have their own!

the day only got better though. more and more guests arrived and we all stared in awe as we watched Ree making us lunch! beef tenderloin and her yummy yummy asian noodle salad! it was DELISH!!

we chowed down! the food was so good and the company was the best! 

mom really enjoyed herself too, she even had a glass of wine...i drank a coke, as usual :) 

when everyone was finished with their food, our lovely hostess served us all a delicious dessert! a bowl of fresh blueberries covered with a yummy yogurt mixture (plain yogurt, cream, and brown sugar)

...the blueberries would have been great by themselves, but there is just something about the way it was all put together that made it feel special and elegant. 

it was probably the brown sugar.

it's so much better than regular sugar. 

brown sugar kicks white sugar's butt!

after dessert, we got a special treat. Pioneer Woman's daughters, along with their friend, sang a beautiful song for us! these girls have ah-ma-za-zing voices!! perfect harmony and all the other music terms that mean good!  and they're so cute!

there is sooo much more to come!!!

cool tees!

so yesterday, at PDub's ranch, i had the pleasure of meeting two very special women...Stefanie and Colleen. not only are these gals awesome mamas and military wives, but they run a t-shirt company together!! it's called Wild Olive tees!!

their tshirts are all biblically inspired, with sayings like "Rooted" and "Transform your Mind!" and each one has a bible verse on the back! too cute!!

plus they're really soft and comfy!

so go check em out! (click on the button on the right side of the page!)

WILD OLIVE TEES ROCK!!!!

The Ranch Part 1: Getting There!

With anticipation in our hearts and gas in our car, we headed out to the Ranch.  little did we know what we would see along the way! we drove to Tulsa the night before and stayed with my sister in law, jenny. she was so sweet to watch noah for me so i could go on this awesome trip! tuesday morning we were up early, rearing to go at 8 am sharp! since we didn't know exactly how far it would be from jenny's we wanted to get an early start...you know in case of traffic or unforeseen problems along the way...

about an hour into our trip we stopped at a McDonald's to use the bathroom and grab a bite to eat (i was too nervous to eat at jennys!). it was here that we met "the crazy flag lady." while waiting on my order i happened to notice this woman siting at one of the booths crocheting a HUGE american flag! this thing was massive! mom and i talked with the woman for a few minutes, commenting on the amazing feat this woman had accomplished. when we asked her why she decided to do it she replied, "i had a dream that i was making it so i did it!" this woman, name unknown, has been sitting at the same booth, at the same McDonald's for a year now crocheting a very large american flag simply because she dreamt she had done it! 

we found it very amusing!! we both really wanted to get a picture of the crazy flag lady and her flag but i felt it might embarrass her and we wouldn't want that now would we?

after driving a while longer and seeing lots and lots of this....

we could barely contain ourselves!!

we were literally just moments away!

we were startled when we saw a suv come driving up behind us (there had only been one other car on the gravel road besides us the whole way!) until i saw who it was!

"Are ya'll lost??" said Missy, PDubs sister in law

"Nope!  We're going to Pioneer Woman's house!" said kacee (leaning out the window taking a picture of this sign!)

Missy simply laughed and pointed straight ahead!

We were in the middle of NOWHERE!!! surrounded by mile after mile of beautiful rolling hills and dotted by cows and wild mustangs, we couldn't wait for our adventure to begin.

i'm off to the ranch!

oh yes..yours truely is going to meet pioneer woman herself! i can't wait...i'm still as excited about it as i was on thursday night when i got my personal email from Ree!!! i even bought a new outfit! :)

good gravy this is gonna be fun!

we leave tonight and will be staying with my sweet sister in law, she's gonna watch the little bear for us on tuesday...then it's on to the ranch for lots and lots and lots of fun!!!

i'll put pictures up as soon as i get home!! :)

now for something funny to brighten your monday...

my poor hubby..just tried to escape at a family party and take a little snooze...little did he know that my cousins would bury him in a heap of pillows...it's kinda like when you fall asleep on the beach and get burried in the sand...only softer, and you won't find sand in your undies! :)

I'M MEETING P-DUB!

ok ok so i know i'm bordering on crazy for doing like 4 posts in one evening...but i have a good reason!!!

I WON PIONEER WOMAN'S CONTEST TO VISIT HER AND BAKERELLA AT HER RANCH IN OKLAHOMA!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my mother in law and i are going!! i am sooo sooo sooo excited! i got a personalized email from Ree herself! oh my gosh i just can't contain it! WOW!

i get to meet pioneer woman!!! 

i promise i'll get lots of pictures of us having fun at the lodge making lots of yummy treats, and maybe i'll get a picture with her dog charlie! he's a basset hound and he's precious!! oh and i have to see the mommy dog that i relate with all too well..oh and i have to meet her punks! haha..that's what she calls her kiddos!

oh my oh my oh my ... my thoughts are overflowing!

thank you God for the simple pleasures in life...

a sweet sound

hurry!! you have to visit this site! you'll be glad that you did!!!

PS. go to the "music" section and listen to #10 lullaby...it's my favorite! :)

"eat eat eat all day long, eat eat eat while i sing this song..."

"...eat eat eat cause it tastes real good,

eat eat eat...in your neighborhood!"

there is probably only one other person in the world who knows where the title from this post came from (it was a bonus track on some old NSYNC cd i think!)...she was my best friend in jr high...her name is katherine..it's sad, but i haven't seen her in several years, she lives in germany now with her hubby who is in the army!! hi katherine!!

just a little noah update...

he loves to eat! haha that is an understatement! he LOVES LOVES LOVES to eat!! so far we have tried sweet potatoes, green beans, peaches, and sweet peas! we're going slow, trying each food for about 4 days to make sure he's not allergic to anything and so far we've had great success!! 

except for green beans...green beans were baaaddddd!! and when i say bad i mean really bad! he spit them out...at me! and being a new mom, i didn't know what to do, so i kept shoveling in the green beans and he kept spitting them out...this lasted for a day. then my friend pattie said just try something different! that was too easy! ...we're planning on trying green beans again after the sweet peas. pray for us!

peaches and sweet potatoes are by far noah's faves! he also started grabbing for our food and cups just in the week or so...so i let him try to drink some apple juice out of my cup and by golly he did it!! then he wanted more! then he wouldn't stop! it's so cute though! he's the most precious thing ever!!!  

thank you God for giving me such a precious baby boy! thank you for making him strong and healthy and so smart! continue to watch over him and guide me in being a new mommy!