its all about fashion

I want a swaggerwaggon now.... just because of this!

meet charlie!

are you in love yet? cause i am!

kristi, you are amazing! kristi and jr made it to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, 15 minutes later charles made his debut. jr's lucky he didn't have to deliver him in the car! we are so excited for this new little buddy! congrats you guys!

confession about the pw

i tried to resist, i really did. My mother tried and tried to get me to check out this blog, but i wouldn't because i thought it would be just like every other cooking blog i have come across.
i was wrong
i cant believe i waited this long, but now its official i, like the millions of other followers out there, have completely fallen for the Pioneer Woman.
Oh Ree how you have completed my life
i have had a desire to meal plan for the longest time and once i became a stay at home mommy i thought "hey now i will have the time to figure things out" little did i know i had just been employed by the most demanding of the sort, Oliver. i sit down with a blank page and just don't understand where to start... yes, i am pleading for any advice or direction on how to do a meal plan!
i grew up in a home with magnificent culinary magicians. i was spoiled by plain old good food. when time was short my parents would combine their genius and my belly would always be full and happy!
Unfortunately, Curtis has not had this luxury. There have been many nights of hamburger helper, grilled cheese, bean and cheese burritos and lasagna. occasionally i would feel adventurous and the meal would turn out just ok.
and then i caved, and i couldn't have been more happier about it. MOM YOU WERE RIGHT!
i find myself making many Pioneer Woman recipes and they turn out oh so tasty. and yes i have a happy belly once again. She makes cooking simple and fun. Even the most complex recipes. She takes you step by step, with PICTURES! so you cant go astray and to top it all off she is such a great writer and adds a lot of humor to her posts.
if you need an intervention in your cooking habits, ok actually not just cooking she does everything cooking, gardening, photography, homeschooling and i'm sure much more, anyways check her out
http://thepioneerwoman.com/

or you can refuse for now but trust me, you will/should cave eventually and will be so happy you did!

Poor baby

This has been the face that has been looking at me all week. He has been miserable. Between teething, a cold and loosing his bink (mommy and daddy are so mean!) My poor BABY!

Oh momma!

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, my very first as an actual momma. My first since having a child and watching him discover his world. Since learning what it meant to be exhausted beyond measure and so full of energy to be ready at beck and call. Since feeling my heart burst at first sight of my miniature Curtis. Since feeling my heart ache at his first booboo and every one from that time on. Since feeling how proud I get every time he hits a new milestone or accomplishes a new feat. Since the shock of realizing that ‘no’ is just a teasing word to him, and to get back at me he will shake his head and say ‘nnao’. Since having my little one follow me around and pull on my pant leg. Since comprehending that motherhood was nothing I could have been prepared for. Since feeling so grateful to have been raised by such a mother that I want to pattern myself after. Since knowing I would do ANYTHING for my child.

Motherhood is, well it’s my life. I couldn’t do it without an amazing partner in crime/teammate. Oliver you are rambunctious, you are wild, you are sometimes hard to please, but I love your personality. Thank you for teaching/continually teaching me how to be your mother.

transformation

oli is no longer a baby but has now entered toddlerhood. this didn't happen overnight but has been a long time coming. little o has always been independent, curious and alert of his surroundings. he always has this inquisitive look on his face when he is trying to figure something out. he loves exploring his world and i am so thankful to be able to help him understand it. i love being home with him, he brings so much joy to our lives. i find myself getting really excited at bed time to see what fun we will have the next day. granted i am not a morning person, but regardless of how tired i may be there is nothing better to wake up to than my beloved holding my oh so HAPPY oli, and our gus' body tensing up and shaking in excitement to see me! BLISS!
curtis and i really have our hands full with this busy body and get a full work out, hopefully someday it will show!

what has this 9 month marker brought in milestones for our little O... hmmmm
weighing in at 18+ lbs (20th %) and 29.2 inches tall (80th%) our little man is tall and skinny, just how we like em in the brinkerhoff home.

oli has really started eating quite the variety of foods and we love the ease of the snacks, ok i admit i also think the puff snacks are pretty tasty!

oli is so close to walking, he cruises around on everything and will use anything to help with support. oliver wants fair reign of the house and when he realized he doesn't he will throw a little tantrum!

his favorite part of the house is his bathtub, this is the place he is always trying to escape to. he will cruise right up the stairs, to the tub and then just start shaking and shrieking in excitement hoping he can have a bubble bath, and yes he will throw another tantrum when it is time to get out of the tub.

i love that he really knows who curtis and i are, when he is with me all he will say is mommmamamamommma and around curtis its dadddadadaaaadd. when i am leading the music in church, he and curtis sit on the side in the front row and oli is such a distraction cause he will just laugh at me and clap oh and try to copy me leading music, it is SO hard not to laugh at him!

Oli is an independent eater, he really enjoys feeding himself. if we are feeding him baby food with lots of chunks in it, he will scrape it off of his tongue and refeed it to himself. on occasion he will throw a fit during food time so one day curtis and i decided to try to just let him do it himself... this is what we got!

despite the mess.... i think it has been a good solution to his tantrums so we have done it a couple of times

these are the men in my life, they are my everything. i cant wait to spend eternity with them