Ugh..... (and Happy Memorial Day)

Has anyone ever had a day when you just feel like crap?!? I mean, not even the whole day, but it's like all of a sudden, out of nowhere, everything just sucks (sorry Mom) stinks?

I feel like I'm pregnant all over again. I was in a perfectly good mood earlier, we had a great time grilling out with my parents today, we got home and after I bathed Clark and got him in the bed, I just sat down and felt like crying!

Maybe it's the fact that Clark was Mr. Crabby Pants all day, and he really just wore me out, but now it's time for a very large glass (or three) of wine, and some horrible reality TV to make me feel better.

Days like this sure do make me wish some of my girls were closer, because let's face it, Evans does not understand!


On another note: A BIG thank-you to all members of the United States Military, past and present, for all the sacrifices you have made/are making for our country. Along with that thank-you, goes one to all their families as well. Because of the sacrifices you all have made, my family was able to be together today and enjoy spending time with each other. I can't thank you enough for all the freedoms we have because of your willingness to serve. My thoughts and prayers are with you daily!

A new creation

I absolutely ADORE doing creative things. I love making all sorts of things. Clark ran out of gift tags recently, so I decided to play around and create some of my own. Here are a few pictures of the ones I made for him (obviously, the ones I made for him have his name on them, but you get the idea)!

A new crockpot recipe

I mentioned a while back how difficult it is now cook dinner in the afternoon, since Clark isn't really willing to stand beside me and wait patiently while I cook. Well, I have finally gotten off my tushie and found some new crock pot recipes to try so that my family doesn't have to eat take-out, or dinner-from-a-box meals.

I knew before that it was cheaper to buy a whole chicken, rather than buying b/s chicken breasts. But.....I didn't really want to deal with cooking a whole chicken. I came across the recipe that I'm going to share with you today, and decided that it seemed pretty easy.

Today is the 2nd time I'm using the recipe, but I'm not using the whole chicken as my dinner. I'm just cooking it to use the meat in other recipes. I should have enough for my chicken-pot-pie tonight, some chicken salad for lunches for the rest of the week, and possibly a buffalo chicken ranch dip for this weekend.

I found the recipe in a crock pot cookbook, but have changed it to suit myself, so please feel free to do so if you like!


Crock Pot Chicken

4-5 lb. whole frying chicken
1/2 onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 can chicken broth
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp. dried basil

Unwrap the chicken, and pull the giblets out (Clark was a little confused as I showed him this part! Then I made the chicken "dance" on the counter like my Dad used to do, and he LOVED that part!)
Sprinkle the poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper inside the chicken. Fill the chicken with the onions and celery, then tie the legs together.
Lay the chicken in the crock pot, and sprinkle with a little salt, pepper, and the dried basil.
Pour the chicken broth around the chicken, and you're done!

I cook mine for 4 hours on high, and then another hour or 2 on low. Your cook time may vary depending on how fast/slow your crock pot cooks, just keep checking on it! This makes it super easy to get this part out of the way in the morning, then I can throw the rest of it together during nap time, and voila!

Hope you enjoy! If anyone tries it, let me know what you think!

Here's how it's looking now, still a few hours to go!

"Enjoy them while they're little, before you know it, he'll be off to college!"

I hear this ALL THE TIME! While I know it's true, and it's hard to believe how fast he is growing, it still surprises me sometimes.

This morning, I needed to take a quick shower, and since Clark has learned how to climb out of the pack-n-play, my choices are to put him in the shower with me (don't judge, sometimes you do whatever you have to. It's not likes he's starting saying "BOOBIES" or anything), or let him play on the bathroom floor while I shower.

I opted for choice #2, and put some toys on the floor for him and hopped in the shower. I was talking to him and listening to him play away, and would peek my head out the door every minute or so just to make sure he wasn't using my flat iron (again, don't judge. It wasn't plugged in or anything!)

All of a sudden I hear him say "bye bye!" I thought he was just being cute, but I opened the door and he was headed out of the bathroom, waving at me as he left.

"WHAT!?! When did you learn how to open the door!?!" He stuck his head back in the bathroom and looked at me like, "You're so slow Mommy, I learned that a whole hour ago!"

I convinced him to come back into the bathroom and shut the door behind him until I could quickly finish.

I guess my only option now is to get up super-early and shower before he gets up, since he doesn't nap until mid-afternoon, and this nappy hair cannot wait until mid-afternoon to be washed.

Oh well, who knows what he'll get into next. I'm just waiting to turn around and see him pulling out of the driveway in my car! He really is growing up too fast!

Having a sick baby stinks :(

Clark woke up from his nap yesterday running a 101.5 fever.He was congested, had a runny nose, and his eyes were watering. Now, this isn't the first time he's been sick, but it literally breaks my heart everytime.

I'm assuming that's common among Mommy's. The whole, wishing-I-could-be-sick-for-him thing.I hated seeing him try so hard to sleep last night, and then everytime he got comfortable, he couldn't breathe. I ended up spending most of the night holding him in the chair in his room so he could sleep sitting up.

It took me back to those newborn days of being up all night, and it's catching up to me this morning as I'm drinking every form of caffeine I can find!

On a side note: I was also reminded why my husband and I didn't talk during the night when we were exhausted with a newborn. (It's best to just keep your mouth closed sometimes:))

Well, here's to hoping for a better day today. Otherwise I'll be at Dr. Taylor's as soon as he opens the door tomorrow!

I'm ready for my husband to be home...

Evans has been gone to Vegas this week for his sales meeting. He usually only has to travel every once-in-a-while for work, and he’s not usually gone more than a night or two a month.

We are a couple who really likes to spend time together, so this week has been kinda tough. I mean, I know there are people out there whose husbands travel a lot for work, and those super-tough military wives who deal with their husbands being gone on long deployments. This week has been really tough for me, since I’m not used to being away from him.

I have literally felt like a part of me has been missing this week. I have been thinking a lot about our relationship, how much I miss him, and the things I love about him.

Here are a few reasons I love my husband:
1. Since the first time I met him, he has always been one of the nicest people I have EVER met. He truly cares about everyone, and wants the best for them, even if they have done him wrong.
2. He is very protective of me, even about things that happened long before we were together.
3. He is such a hard worker. He always has been. I can remember him working in college, even in high school, as hard as he needed to in order to pay for things he needed or wanted.
4. He is willing to do anything it takes to help me live out my dream of being a stay-at-home Mommy.
5. He is absolutely the most handsome man I know.
6. He reminds me of my Dad.
7. He is such an amazing Daddy. He took half of the night shifts when Clark was a newborn, and doesn’t mind changing stinky diapers.
8. He is so incredibly talented. He has an absolute gift when it comes to public speaking!
9. Even though we are totally different people, he balances me out!
10. He truly is my soul mate. I knew since we first started dating, that we were supposed to spend the rest of our lives together.

Love you Ev, can’t wait to see you soon!

Seriously? Y'all sound like a bunch of girls!

So yesterday, Mom, Clark, and I went exploring. We went to look for some new cool places to take Clark this summer, and ended up in Cayce. We ate at the Kingsman since we hadn't been there in a while, and soon after we were seated, a group of well-dressed business men, probably in their lates 40's or so, came in and sat at the table beside us.

I was listening to their converstaion (yes, I LOVE to eavesdrop), and realized they were talking about baseball. The more I listened, it didn't really seem to make sense. They were talking about some guy that was only batting .200 (I think that's how you write that!)and how he pulled the guy out of the game. Now, I knew it wasn't Ray Tanner, but I thought maybe they were high school coaches, but high school baseball is almost done for the season. Then I realized they were all sharing stats that they were reading off their blackberry's.

Are you kidding!?! These grown men were in such a deep discussion about their FANTASTY baseball teams! I really don't have a problem with fantasty baseball or football or whatever, it just cracked me up how intense these men were about trading their players, and what their plans were for the rest of the season. They were still talking about it 45 minutes later when we got up to leave!

My husband doesn't understand how women can talk about shoes, handbags, and celebrities for hours on end. I; however, don't understand how men can talk about FANTASTY baseball for hours.

To each his own...