An update on life...

So it's been a while since I updated this. Ok, it's been a long time, oops. I will try to do better, but really I make you no promises ;)

Benjamin was born on May 25 at 5:11 am. My labor was about 12 hours long start to finish. Thursday late afternoon I had to go into the hospital because my blood pressure has shot up and they suspected pre-e, and since I was already 1 week 5 days past my due date and having mild contractions they kept me there and gave me some pitocin to jump start my labor. Around 11pm I woke up to a POP and gush, my water had broke! I pushed for all of about 20 minutes and had a completely drug free labor! He was 9lbs 4 oz and 22 1/4 inches.

Hard to believe this Saturday he will be 3 months old! He is just growing so fast! Overall I think Johnny likes being a big brother, he has even started wanting to share everything with Ben, melts my heart. The first two months Johnny called Ben "baby" I think he was hoping if we didn't name it, we didn't have to keep it ;)

We recently took Johnny to the zoo for the first time! It was so much fun, and I'm so glad PawPaw, Grammie and Aunt Marie came with us! Johnny had a great day seeing all the animals and riding the zoo train, pretty sure that was his favorite part since he is obsessed with trains!


I love my two boys so incredibly much and am so blessed to be their mommy!!!

Aunt Marie and Johnny reading a book

My mom and me <3

Pawpaw and Johnny playing

My two boys

Snapshots of life <3

Thoughts, Ideas and Ramblings...

I need a waterproof laptop, I pretty much come up with everything I want to say in the shower. :-) I am sure it is because those are my moments of peace and quiet and thats when I can let my mind wander.... The real trick is remember what I was thinking about once I am out and life is going 100mph again.  So here, I shall  try do my best.

First of all, I realize I am long over due for an update on Johnny's shoulder.  We appreciate all the prayers for fast healing because let me tell you, he is back to 100% normal rough and tumble little boy.  You would never ever guess that he had a broken shoulder merely a month ago.  We are so thankful that God watched over us and healed him, and protected him!!!! So incredibly thankful.

So growing up my parents would always share these cute little stories about their "BK Days" (Before Kids) and it accrued to me that Peter and I now have our own BK Days.  OK yes I am a little slow on the uptake somedays ;)  We had a great life before Johnny,  went on a lot of fun date nights, took weekend trips... but looking back it seems so empty, and well a little boring ;)  I don't think I could have ever guessed in a 100 years all the joy and wonderful things having a child will bring to our life.  Don't get my wrong, we had a great first four years of marriage as a couple and I think it was very important we had that time together, just us before we became parents.  I am so excited with this new chapter of our lives together, being parents and raising two wonderful boys that God has blessed us with! Cant wait to see Johnny with his little brother...

Oh sure, we have our hard days were we crawl into bed exhausted, I am pretty sure both of us has physically aged about ten years in the past 18 months... I wouldn't trade it for the world... Every day I try to find one highlight of day, something that made time stand still and everything else fade.  I think its important to do this because, well if you are a parent, you know how exhausting, physically, and emotionally draining it can be rearing these little humans into the people we want them to become.  Here is a list of some of my moments I have taken in these past few weeks-

• Johnny running to the door and squealing "Daddy!" when Peter walks in the door.
• Kisses for milk at night
• Finding 50+ picture of Johnny on my phone
• Standing in the door way, listing to Peter do all the different voices to the characters in whatever book they are reading that night
• Peter has this way he can tickle Johnny and just gets this biggest belly laugh out of him- I simply ADORE this. 
• Having a special lunch date, just me and Johnny.
• Johnny walking down the hallway butt-naked with Peter socks pulled on up to his thighs.
• Giving me kisses every time he wanted a sip of my water.
• When Johnny says "Uh-oh" (Yes it usually means a mess for me to clean up, but I love hearing his little uh-oh's)
• The giggles and splashes I hear coming from the bathroom at bath time
• Praying with Johnny every night before bed. 

Homemade Cinnabons, yum yum!

So I must share this recipe I tired recently, seriously such a wonderful treat on a weekend morning!

Clone of a Cinnabons
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Filling
2 cup brown sugar, packed
4 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (or more, I didn't measure it out, I just dumped it in ;) )
2/3 cup butter, softened

Frosting
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
A good pour of vanilla extract

Directions
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan(I used two smaller pans). Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes (At this point I covered mine and put in the fridge for over night)Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, make the frosting Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Delicious! 

New Year Goals...

So I don't like the idea of a new years resolution, they always seem so daunting and half the time they never last. So instead, each month this year I am going to set a list of goals that I want to turn into good habits, small obtainable goals.

:: January 2012 ::

• Read my Bible every day
• Exercise 5 times a week
• Stay caught up on laundry
• Organize pantry since hurricane Johnny attacked ;)
• Menu planning & make a household binder
• Work on office makeover, goal is to get it half done, I have lots I want to do :) 

Maybe I'll even put up before and after pictures of the office...