Pay if Forward, Win a Prize

Several weeks ago, I partictipated in a Pay it Forward contest on my friend Devin's blog. I won a beautiful new Christmas CD (thanks Devin)!

Now it is my turn to "pay it forward." What am I talking about, you ask? I am paying it forward with a premeditated act of kindness. Would you like to receive a fun gift and then give a gift in return? THE RULES: The focus of this is to do an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will, in their turn, pass the kindness along and "pay it forward." I will send a small, fun gift to the first 3 bloggers who post a comment on this entry. In turn, those three will post this information and pick 3 people they want to send something to and then the game will continue!! The little something you send can be something you made, bought, were given or found, anything you want!! Just a gift that will make the person's day!! If you are interested in participating, be one of the first 3 bloggers to leave a comment!! You have to promise that you will then post about this on your blog, link back to me, and then send something to the first three people who sign up to play along through your blog. Doesn't this sound like fun!!?? All of you lurkers out there who never comment, now is your chance to prove to me that you read my blog. :) Let the games begin! Good luck!

Thanksgiving Fun

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was good---crazy as usual. We always go to both of our family's Thanksgiving dinners which, unfortunately, is always a tiring and stressful feat. We thought it was going to go smoothly this year because the times started out different. That soon changed and we ended up having two places to be at once. We did our best and made it to both. The kids were very tired by the end of the day! I think out all that food, all Brady had to eat was a pb&j and "punkie pie". Jack, on the other hand, had no problem eating his dinner! Then, on Saturday we went to Inola for my Dad's family's Thanksgiving. Jack finally took his first few steps. It was fun having the whole family there to witness it!

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of Thanksgiving this year. I left my camera at home like a dingbat!

Here's a recipe I wanted to share. It's what I always take to Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is easy and very yummy!

Corn Casserole

1 stick of butter, melted
1- 8.5 oz pkg Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs, beaten
1-15 oz can of sweet cream-style corn
1-15 oz can of whole kernel sweet corn, partially drained
8 oz sour cream

Combine butter, corn muffin mix, eggs, corn and sour cream
Spoon into a lightly greased 9X9 or other smaller casserole dish
Bake @ 350 degrees for 45 min or until top is golden

This can be double and baked in a 13X9

Enjoy!

Some things to note about Jack...

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I don't really have much time right now, but did want to share a few things. Within the past week or two, Jack has finally begun to wave bye-bye and claps for himself now. He is just at such a precious age! He is still having a lot of trouble sleeping, though! That's not so precious! He has been spending most of the night in our bed lately. That makes for a great night's sleep! He did sleep all night long on the other night---12 hours, actually! It was so unusual that Brandon and I kept checking in on him all night long to make sure he was still breathing. He also says what sounds like "thank you" now! He'll hand you something and say "ta too"!!! So cute!!! He's also a dancer---like brother---and loves to move & groove any time he hears music. Let's hope he gets his sleep schedule normalized soon. He needs to take a que from Brady, who has been sleeping 12 hours a night since he was 6 months old!

Reality Check...

I've been depressed and overwhelmed all day today. I don't know if it's the cold, rainy weather, or what. I feel like my life is so out of control. I can't ever seem to get anything done around the house---it's constantly utter chaos; Jack won't let me out of his sight; Brady will not obey ONE THING I say and, in fact, defies my every word; I feel like I never see my husband anymore, although I know that's probably not completely true. To say the least, I was having quite the pity-party! I'm still pretty dissatisfied with the way things are going right now, but a phone call from my mom helped to quickly snap me back into the reality of my precious life. She called to tell me that my sweet OBGYN's 19-year-old son who was going to school at OU had decided to kill himself last Thursday. Obviously, I was quite shaken. It's sad any time you hear about a young person's untimely death, but for this to have happened to Dr. W, such a kind, caring and hard-working man, really upset me. I immediately wanted to grab my boys up, kiss and hug them, and tell them how much I love them (and I did)! Those two boys make my life worth living. My world revolves around them and I don't know what I would do if I ever lost one of them. I can't even begin to imagine that. Despite the chaos that is my life right now, I am so blessed and I am grateful for all that I have. Thank you so much God! I will be praying dilligently for Dr. W. I hope he is able to deal with this unimaginable loss, and come out of his grief stronger and more thankful for all that he does have. I'm sure it will be a long process...

Off to comfort a screaming Jack...

Today was quite a busy and exciting day! I took Brady to preschool as usual, then went to vote. I couldn't believe that it took 45 minutes! I've never seen the polls so crowded. It was both exciting and nerve-wracking! I found myself praying several times today for God's will to be done in this election. Whatever the outcome, I know He is in control.

We had Jack's 1-year-old pictures taken today by Betsy Gregory. She was so great! I'm really excited to see how they turned out and I'm afraid I'll be buying a ton of pictures! Even though Jack still wasn't quite feeling or acting like himself, he did a great job and managed some beautiful smiles! He is such a precious boy! I'm so in love with him! He clapped for the first time today. My baby is growing up way too fast!

After we picked Brady up from school, we stopped for a late lunch at Taco Bueno. Brady couldn't get enough of the "Sprawberry Pot" (strawberry pop!) and kept calling it "Spaucy" (spicy!). Some of the things he says are so cute! He has really turned into a "big boy" lately. I can't believe he's almost 3!

Right now I'm watching the election coverage and wondering what's next...

Tomorrow's a new day...

First Blog

Well here it is, my first blog! I'm so excited to finally start recording the precious moments of my everyday life that I will someday forget. Let's hope I can keep up with it!

Today was a pretty normal day: brunch with the hubby & boys (oh, and Uncle Alex came along too), a little shopping at Target, playtime and naptime (not for me, unfortunately). Jack has been a pill, though! He started getting sick last Friday and he's still quite the cranky boy today. Tonight, he just screamed and cried. Nothing I did was right. I hope he sleeps well tonight because I could really use a good night's sleep! We're still trying to adjust to Daddy's new work schedule. He's working 3-11 now. It's definitely different! I sure hope it works out for us in the end, because it's sure hard on mama! Now, off to bed...