Christmas Cards

I am so excited about the offer Shutterfly is doing for the free Christmas Cards.

There are WAY too many options and I'm having a hard time narrowing it down to just one. I wonder if I could get two...hhmmm. :)

Here are my favorites:

I love the sherbet green color and the three different fonts. I also like the way our photos fit on this card.

This card is so playful. It's got the traditional red and green but is also fun and modern with the design. And the main photo we've chosen for this year's card looks great on it.

This card is adorable. And if I decide to put just Josh on the card I have the perfect photo picked out. I wish you could change the message on all of the cards. (Like 'holiday' to 'Christmas', etc)

This one is one of the first we picked out. I like all the colors and it only clashes with the photos in our photo a little. ;) But it looks good all together.

This is one of my favorites (I know...I keep saying that). I'm diggin' those polka dots and my two favorite photos from this year's Christmas photo session work perfectly on this card. It's a VERY strong contender.

I may have to pick from a hat....seriously. :)

I'm also considering the calendar they offer. I'm thinking I'd rather look at that at work than the vintage car calendar that's currently hanging. ;)

I'll be glad to have the Christmas card decision made. And I've been looking at Shutterfly's birthday cards since Josh will be 2 in less than 6 months!

If you have a blog and want to get 50 Christmas cards FREE!!! check out this link for the info.

Splash

Best $2 I ever spent!

Patiently waiting

Josh and I are patiently waiting for our tomatoes to ripen!

(David's not because he doesn't like tomatoes.)

I have 4 plants. One is over 5 feet tall!!

Next year I'm hoping I can plant a raised bed.

Hurry up!

Ripen already...I have big plans for you!

Fake Sneezes

Josh was eating dinner last night (and having great fun making a great mess!) and all of a sudden he sneezed! He finds all sneezes amusing and when I fake sneezed, he copied me! Before I got the camera he did perfect fake sneezes four or five times in a row. Once the camera was on....only once. That's okay, I was there live and in person and won't forget it. :) Sorry you all had to miss it!

Stuck

I feel stuck. I can't seem to get ahead! It's not just one area of my life...it's several. I feel cast out, left behind, alone. I KNOW I'm not. I KNOW I have lots of friends and family who love me. But right now, it doesn't feel like I do.

I got some good news at work a few weeks ago. A lady who works there quit. She works on commission and the work just wasn't there so she wasn't making money. It's the risk you take when you work for commission. That meant I got somewhat of a promotion. The promise of more hours a week, a little heavier work load, an office of my own (instead of the front room of our offices), and a possible pay raise. I was excited. I was proud. I felt like I had shown my work ethic and it had been rewarded. Then....my co-worker "renegotiated" her hours and is now working 1 day a week. She keeps her office....I don't get the promise of 20 hrs a week, we're now taking it "week by week" to see how it goes. I'm supposedly still getting a pay raise but don't know how much it will be. Anything would help I suppose. I have my 60 day review this Wed (unless that changes for the 3rd time!) ;) and will talk about when I'll be working, how much I'll make, etc, etc, etc. We talked today about going from 3 short days (10-4) to two long days (8-5) so I still get at least the 15 hours I NEED and can afford to pay my sitter!

I don't like to be stuck in the middle of things. I want them to start and then finish. Not be just hanging out in between. It's stressful and I don't do stressful very well.

Just as a side note: I STILL can't get blogger to keep me signed in with my suddenlink e-mail and my gmail logged in at the same time. When I sign in to blogger it logs me out of gmail every time. I can't change my current blogger e-mail address (suddenlink) w/out deleting my current blog and everything on it to change it to my gmail address. *sigh* Why must everything be so hard?!

11 months old!

Joshua is 11 months old today! I can hardly believe he's almost a year old already. It's amazing to see how much he's learned and grown over the past 11 months.

He "says" stop (sounds like "bop") and points when he is protesting a noise or something he doesn't want done.

He walks like a pro behind his walker toy...or a laundry basket, or patio chair, or anything else that he can push around. He still won't even stand on his own. We just think he's being lazy about it.

He crawls SUPER fast! Sometimes he crawls like Mowgli from The Jungle Book. Especially on grass or tile floor.

He's really into feeding himself. He tries it with a spoon but usually ends up going back to using his hands. He loves green beans, fruit (he likes the sweet stuff!), oatmeal, LOVES bread and ham and will eat most anything we put in front of him. He's not a big fan of potatoes though.

He loves his Daddy and sometimes prefers to be with him instead of me. Mostly in the mornings.

He gives kisses to his stuffed animals, Dixie (Daddy & Mama's dog) and to Grammy. Sometimes David gets some but I have to steal mine. :( I did get quite a few yesterday evening though.

He likes to "talk" on the phone. He holds it to his ear and looks very serious.

He sings when we do. Especially during church. He also sings while riding in his wagon.

He still loves being outside. It's never too hot or cold or rainy for him. He's an outside boy!

He has started waving hi and bye.

He started blowing kisses last weekend. He looks so proud when he learns a new thing.

He started signing "please" just yesterday. He doesn't use it much but we'll keep practicing and will add "thank you" as well. He still won't sign "more" and just squawks at us when we sign it to him. ;)

He stood for a good 10 seconds last night before bedtime. When you don't stand on your own very well, 10 seconds is a long time!

He still sleeps all night and usually takes 2 naps during the day.

He loves to be in his own bed. He does alright in the crib at Mama's or the pack-n-play but we definitely see a difference when he's in his bed at home. I don't blame him!

He loves animals. He likes to watch them on TV and pet them in real life. He isn't a bit afraid of Dixie and she's very passive so they're a good match. He's even petted a cow with NO hesitation!!

I can't imagine my life without that sweet little Monster of mine. He was so worth all the waiting and tears. I love him so much it hurts sometimes. My heart swells with pride and affection every time I look at him. He's quite simply AMAZING!

Patches

I am fond of sock monkeys. Luckily, they've been making a come back in popularity and I'm enjoying it. :)



This is a sock monkey I made during a week of VBS when I was in elementary school. He doesn't have a name. I'm not sure that I ever gave him one. He now belongs to Josh and he seems to like this little monkey very much. Over the years this cute monkey has grown 2 small holes. :( Instead of "darning" him (haha!) I decided to patch him up. I think it adds to his charm.

Please pray!

Please pray for our friends, Dave and Jennifer. They have a very important meeting at 4 pm today!

In other bloggy news: When I signed up for blogger, I didn't have a gmail account. Now that I do, it logs me out of gmail whenever I sign in to blogger w/my other e-mail account. How do I stop this?! It's driving me crazy!

Oreos

The slogan for Oreo is that it's "Milk's Favorite Cookie." Why wouldn't it be?! They're delicious and a family favorite. We love oreos! We eat them dipped in milk, dipped in white chocolate, in ice cream, crumbled on top of oreo ice cream, or even by themselves! They're considered a staple item at our house....like milk, sugar, eggs, etc. :)

I'd hate to be one of those mean Mamas who eat Oreos in front of their helpless baby and doesn't share. So I shared:


He was a little unsure at first.


He kept making this face. Maybe it was too sweet?


Look at that sweet belly!


He's got the hang of it now!


Oreo - Josh's favorite cookie :)