Recall...

I am so sad. The other day my friend Misti was over at our house and we had the pack n play out in the living room. She said she had heard that it was recalled. So sure enough I went online and it has been recalled. It is the Fisher-Price Rain Forest play yard. All I had to do was go online and register that I had one and they emailed me a mailing label and I have to cut out the sides and mail that back to them! Weird huh? Then they will mail us a check. Pretty easy, except I am sad that now all of our stuff won't match. :( I guess I will get over it. Here are some before and after pictures of the pack n play.

Before:

After:

Also, I got permission from AJ's mom to post pictures of him! Here is Ian and AJ dressed in there monkey outfits. We did not plan this at all. Ian was already dressed in his when they got here! So cute!

Laundry, dishes and Ian, Oh My!

So much to blog about today! I should have been blogging a little each day so that I wouldn't have such a long post. So here goes...

The cookies that I won came in the mail on Thursday! How cute are these? Well let me tell you that they are so cute they were gone by Sunday night ;)

After our trip to the zoo with no hat for Ian, I decided to buy him some that fit. The one in the picture above is a dinosaur! How cute is he? And the one below has soccer balls, footballs and basketballs on it.

This is the big blizzard we had in OKC. :) I guess the weather guys over estimated what we would get. But evidentaly other parts of the state did get an actual blizzard, so I will give them that much.


Kylie and Kaitlynn spent Saturday night with Nana and Pawpaw. So Justin and I went over to hang out with them as well. We had fun making meatballs for dinner and cookies for dessert! The girls did most of the work. It was fun to watch them cook. And they are so sweet with Ian. I love to watch them with him. (picture above is Kaitlynn, picture below is Kylie)
Uncle David playing with Ian. Ian loved it!Daddy playing with Ian while us girls were in the kitchen making cookies and dinner.
I tried to give Ian a bath in my mom's sink. He did not like this at all. So we quickly got him out and forgot about the bath for that night. :)

So those are all of the pictures I am going to post for now. I want to check with AJ's mom first to see if it is ok that I post pictures of AJ on my blog. He is so cute and is a very good baby.

This weekend we were pretty busy. We started out early on Saturday morning (well early because we got up early we didn't leave the house until about 10) so we could get to the tag agency before they closed, only to find them closed because of the "blizzard" we got. So now I am going to go today to get our new tags and Justin will have to take off work a little early to get his drivers liscense renewed tomorrow. I guess that is what we get when we wait until the very last possible time to do this stuff! I will take the blame though, Justin has been mentioning it for a while now.

After the tag agency we headed to Mardel and bought Ian a bedtime story Bible. I can't wait to start reading it to him! Then we had lunch at Johnnies (mmm). We had more plans for the day, but since I didn't want to wash bottles the night before we needed to head home so I could wash bottles for Ian for the rest of the weekend. Then we headed back out in the snowy weather and went to Bass Pro Shop. Justin won a gift card as a door prize the other day.

After BPS we went to my parents where we spent the rest of the day. By the time we got home I was ready to crash. But of course we ended up staying up for a while.

Then on Sunday we went to Portland Avenue Baptist Church for their 75th anniversary celebration. It was neat to see the people that my grandparents new and to learn more about the history of the church. I even got to see some people that I actually new! So good times were had this weekend.

I took a break from my "job duties" this weekend. I figured everyone needs a break. But I am starting back today! Laundry, dishes and Ian. Oh my! It seems to be a never ending story, but one I want to always read!

My makeover...

Ok, just a quick note about this fun website I found! You can do a FREE virtual makeover at Good House Keeping's website. It is so much fun. Here is my before and after! Let me know what you think, I might just get it done this way. :)

Day 4...

Day 4 of saving money is going well! I haven't had the TV on in the mornings all week and we have left the lights off until needed in the evening!

Also, I have been doing well on my duties as a wife and mother. Yesterday I did laundry all day and I folded or hung it up and put it away! Ok, most of it is put away, I am looking at the couch and there is still 3 pairs of shorts and a towel, but hey that is still pretty good. I have even cooked dinner every night (oh shoot, what am I going to do for dinner tonight?). I have had lunch at home everyday as well. I even had friends over who offered to bring something and I refused! I even offered for them to make a sandwich here and they thought that was a good idea! I heard someone say this week (sorry I can't remember who said it or I would give them props) that a wife is the CEO of her house. I like that! So from now on when someone asks me what I do I will say I am the CEO of Calvarese Inc! :)

As far as my duties as a mother go, I have done well. Each morning (when we would usually have the TV on) we will read books, look at flash cards and sing songs! Ian loves it. You can really tell that the extra attention wears him out because he goes right down for his naps where as before he would cry for a while. This morning I started to do things out of a book called "Slow And Steady Get Me Ready". It has 260 weekly developmental activities from birth to age 5! Today we made a sock ball and I threw it a few times and then let Ian play with it. He didn't exactly throw it, but he put it to the side of his chair. :) I would say that is good for now. We will do this game everyday and the move on to a new activity next week. Here are a few pictures of our activities from today. The first one is Ian holding the sock ball the second one is him holding one of the books we read today.

Having a purpose...

Going from being a working wife to a stay at home mom (SAHM) is a hard transition. Please don't get me wrong. I love staying at home and taking care of Ian everyday. However, I realized recently that I feel as though I have lost my sense of purpose. You see when I worked I brought home money to contribute to the bills, food, and fun. But now, I don't. Yes, I know that part of my purpose is to keep the house clean and help Ian grow into a Godly young man, but it has taken me over a year to figure out that there is much more to my new job as a SAHM.

One of things I have realized over the last few days is that helping our family save money is one of the things I can do as a SAHM. So yesterday I decided to do what I could, you know the little things. So instead of sitting in a house with lights on and blinds closed I opened the blinds and let the sun in and turned off the inside lights! It was actually really nice. I also didn't turn on the TV (except for a breif 5 minutes so I could watch the last few minutes of Friday's episode of Gilmore Girls) until 2:45! Not only did this save on electricity but it also opened up time for me to play with Ian and AJ (AJ is my friends son who I am watching for the next 10 weeks). It was really nice. I also think it may have worn Ian out which allowed him to go straight to sleep when I put him down for his nap. No fussing or anything!

With this new found sense of purpose I also felt energized to finish the laundry that had been in the basket for days and not only fold it but put it away! I cleaned the kitchen, only to have it messed up by the time Justin got home, I am not sure how that happens but it does.

I also felt good knowing that by watching AJ I am contributing to our money again! It is amazing how loosing ones purpose can affect your whole attitude. I hope that I can continue to learn what my purpose as a SAHM is.

Are you a SAHM or maybe a new wife or perhaps living the single life? What is your purpose in the stage you are in right now? I would love to hear what you have to say! Leave me a comment sharing your story with me. (you can also link up at the musing of a housewife blog)

Root Beer cookies...

Today I made root beer cookies! I got the recipe here. They looked fun to make, so I did. :) I think they tasted good. Perhaps a little too much root beer flavor. I think that eating one was fine, but eating two would be too much! Which I guess that is good in a cookie, that way you don't over eat. I think I am going to bring some to the nursery workers tomorrow at church. I also think I might try making them again and instead of putting icing on them make ice cream sandwiches out of them! How yummy would that be? Here is a picture of the cookies. I put a glass of milk in the picture, but to be honest milk doesn't really go with these cookies. :)

Busy, busy, busy!

Warning: This is a very long entry!

March 18th Ian had his 6 month wellness check at the doctor. He is doing very good. He weighed 15 pounds 4.5 ounces and was 27 1/2 inches long! He is still in the 10-25% for his weight and head size, but jumped up to the 75% in his length! His doctor was surprised at the jump in length. We might have a basketball player, hmm, or a very tall computer tech! :) This was the first appointment that I have been to by myself. It was harder than I thought. Usually someone has been there with me to hold down Ian's hands while he gets his shots, giving me the opportunity to take pictures. Not the case this time. It was horrible seeing him cry so hard. I think he even cried harder this time!

Ian and his monthly picture with George. I love comparing these pictures each month to the last one taken and then to the first one taken! He is getting so big!

I also had lunch with my friends (former co-workers from AccuHealth) on Wednesday. It is so nice because they work so close to me now! All but two of my former co-workers are there. (here's hoping they get hired on soon!) Ian likes Billy and eventually warmed up to work Jennifer. And of course he likes Holly, I mean look at all of the jewelry he can try to grab at!



March 19 Justin took off work to go to the zoo with Ian and me! A group from our new FLOCK at church went to the zoo, so we joined in the fun. This was Ian's first trip to the zoo, so Justin wanted to join us for this adventure. It was SOOOOO cold that morning. Being the unprepared mom that I am I did not have a hat, jacket or anything for Ian. I did happen to have a small blanket in the van, so we were able to wrap him up in it and keep him warm. At one point Justin took off his jacket and we put it over the stroller to try and keep the wind from getting on him. By lunch time though we were so cold we ended up leaving. Of course by the time we got home the sun was coming out and it started to warm up a little bit. Oh well, there will be lots of zoo trips to look forward to in the future!

One of the ladies who was with us had a hat with her and she let us borrow it while we were feeding Ian!

Isn't this an awesome picture that Justin took of Ian. The lighting looks professional.

March 20 Ian and I had lunch with our friends Liesl and Lindsey. They both happen to work at the same place! We ate at the restaurant that is on the campus of Chesapeake. It was so yummy. I even made smart choices. I had steak soft taco's (yes I could have left off the sour cream and the guacamole, but come on) with a side of squash and zucchini and for desert I had fruit! It was yummy. I tried a bite of Lindsey's asparagus and YUCK! I did not like it. I am glad that I tried it though because I have been wanting to make it but was hesitant because I didn't know if I would like it. Now I know!

This is my post asparagus face! Oh it was so nasty. :( Blah!

Ok, this was funny. I was feeding Ian and some how he managed to squirt it off of the spoon and onto the top of his head and stroller! Of course before I cleaned him up I had to take a picture. :)

I made some yummy brownies today. I used regular brownie mix. On the back of the box it had a way to make the brownies more cake like so I followed those directions. Then I added cherry pie filling! MMMM, I thought they were so good. I gave most of them away to others because I know that Justin doesn't like cherry pie filling (I know, don't get me started). I did save some so he could try it and I was right, it wasn't his cup of tea. But at least I liked it and I know that at least two of the people I gave them to like it too!



Well I think that is about all. We have had a busy, busy week. Next week we will start having my friends baby, AJ, staying with us during the day. His mom has to go back to work for the next 10 weeks until school is out. We are looking forward to having the company during the day. I like it when Ian has other baby's to explore things with. His friend Calvin comes over a lot and he goes over to his house too.

Video of my little cutie!

I won!!!!!!!

So every so often I will enter a blog give away. Of course so many others enter them that I figure I will never win. Well I finally won one!!! I am so excited. Here is the link to the give away that I won: http://www.wearethatfamily.com/2009/03/bake-at-350-spring-cookie-giveaway.html

My sweet boy

This is the cuteness that I wake up to every morning! He doesn't cry, he just talks to himself and looks in the mirror Nana got him for Christmas. You can tell at the end of the video that he spotted me!

It's not easy being green...especially when you spit up on the green outfit mom picked out for you.

We go to the library every Tuesday for lapsit time. They read a book and play with toys and sing silly songs. It is a lot of fun. Today at the library Ian sat up all by himself for like a minute! How cool is that. I got a couple of pictures and then had my friend take one too. Of course he eventually ended up back on his tummy, which is fine. He is cute either way!

I had him in his St. Patrick's day outfit and as soon as we walked into the library he spit up all over it and some on me too! At least I got a good picture of him before we left!

Penny auctions and sippy cups

Today I was inspired! I guess that God gave me a burst of energy, because when Ian took his afternoon nap I got my butt off the couch and put a load of laundry in, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, cleaned the counters, put the cans in the recycle bin and read a chapter in Bringing up boys! Notice I could have said cleaned the kitchen, but it sounds like I did more when I break it up like I did. :) Then when Ian woke up he sat in his bouncy chair in the kitchen with me and I made some brownies! Now Ian is sleeping on the floor. Poor kid, I guess he got worn out. I am going to just let him sleep there, rather than putting him in the crib though.

I tried giving a sippy cup to Ian today! Not sure why I thought to do that, but I did. He did ok at first but after a while he wouldn't drink from it, so I switched him back to the bottle. I figure we can slowly work him to it. It would be nice if he would take it because it has handles and he can hold it himself.

This weekend was fun. Friday our new FLOCK (aka: Sunday School) had a penny auction. People brought things they no longer needed but was still in good condition and we bid on them with penny's! It was great Justin and I came back home with great stuff. A lego table, with the lego's, a nice silver serving bowl, eye make-up remover, coasters that you put pictures in and several other little things. All for under $6! The only bad thing is that we came back with the stuff we brought too (a vacuum and a coat rack), I guess no one needed that stuff. But no worries, I am sure Goodwill can take them. :)

I just love it when my guys dress alike! Here they are in there Eskimo Joe's get up. How cute are they? Justin and I also got to go on a walk on Sunday! It was so nice out side. I sure wish the weather would be consitant. I am sick of the cold and hot weather going back and forth. One day it snows and few days later we will be hanging out outside, then a few days later we will be in the storm shelter for tornado's! Oh well. I guess it makes life fun. :)

Lovin the little one!

When Justin's parents were here right after Ian was born they took a day trip to Tulsa. While there they visited Kathleen's Kids, a children's boutique store that his mom makes bows for. Anyway, they gave her a few items to give to Ian. This overall out fit is one of the things they gave to him. He is so cute in this out fit! I love it. They also gave him some shoes, similar to these (the only difference is that his are brown, but they have the same lion on them) http://www.kathleenskids.com/item_detail.jsp?item=86568

Would you like chocolate with that?

This week I made some cake truffles! They are so very yummy and pretty easy to make, although time consuming. I used Bakers chocolate first and that was good, but I think I like using Wilton's candy melts even better. They were more candy like with the Wilton's candy melts.

All you have to do is bake a cake, then scrape it into a bowl and break it up into pieces, mix in your choice of frosting (I used chocolate, of course). Now then I was having some trouble mixing the cake and frosting so I put a little bit of it in a mixer and added a little milk. I think that helped make it a little more moist and easier to mix together. I then poured the mixer stuff into the bowl with the rest of the cake and frosting and mixed together well. Then roll them into little balls (trust me when I say "little" because they are very sweet). Refrigerate or freeze for at least a few hours, this makes them easier to cover in the chocolate. Using the candy melts (you can buy these at Walmart Super Center in the wedding/craft area) cover each ball in chocolate. I just melt the chocolate in a bowl and then use two forks to stir the truffle and it also allows the exess chocolate to fall off through the fork prongs. Here are some pictures of the truffles! Enjoy! For more chocolate go to Stop and Smell the Chocolates!

Pictures are worth a thousand words...

So cute!

Congrats to my friend Lucy, she had her baby yesterday. She is so cute and has a head full of hair!

Works for Me at my other blog!

Come visit what works for me at my other blog http://calvarese2.blogspot.com/

It has been a while...

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever! I think in the blog world 8 days is forever. :)

Here are some pictures of Ian over the past few days. He is just continually getting bigger! He rolls around all of over the place. Exhibit A: Ian rolled off the blanket I had him on, spit up on the carpet rolled around in the spit up then rolled back on to his back! Here he is with spit up all over his face!

This Sunday my friend Lucy had a baby shower! Here is Holly, Jennifer (aka work Jennifer), Lucy, Ian and me. It was fun to see the girls again (well minus Angie, wish she was there).

Lucy's mom took this picture of Ian and me. I just loved the look that Ian has that I couldn't resist posting this picture!

Ok, so I am always wanting to try new recipes and I got this recipe off of the Bake at 350 blog. Mine did not so much turn out as good looking as her's did. It looks like I put ground beef on top! The good news is that they were still very yummy. Check out how they should look here. I will try to make them again and hopefully perfect them!

Calvin and Ian, believe it or not they are friends! It looks like they are fighting in this picture! Misti and I had so much taking pictures of these two. They are so funny together.
Paula (former roommate) came over for a visit and to set up her own blog! That was fun helping her get that started.

Ian is starting hold his bottle really well. He generally will hold it for about half the time it takes for him to finish eating!

Spring is in the air, well in Oklahoma it comes and goes! I think there is a chance of snow this week and right now we are under a tornado watch. Look at this picture that my husband took. It is of the blossoms on the tree in our front yard. It was a cool picture so I thought I would post it. Good job Justin!