Serious...

My new resolution this year to myself, the MacBook and the world wide web is to keep up with my blog. I know, I've said this over and over many times but I need to buckle down and just take two min to type and upload pics. :)

Last night I watched Julie & Julia, which actually turned out to be a cute movie (if you like cooking), and it really motivated me to want to blog more. I'm such a dork, I know. It also made me want to cook more but that will never happen and it's ok because I've come to terms with that. Especially when Reese and I went to the store today and I can recall picking up taco dinner mix, corky's bbq (for nachos), ground beef, 2 frozen pizzas and some lean cuisines. Aren't I the greatest wife ever? LOL! Just not in the mood to cook. I need to get hooked back on watching Rachael Ray or get out the cookbooks my family gave me last year for Christmas and make some more of those recipes. I get interested in making them when there aren't 135 ingredients that go along in the meal. Maybe kraft.com will keep me motivated. Who knows.

Anywho, Happy New Year to all or anyone whoever reads my blog. I hope to have more news, stories, or exciting events to share with everyone to come with the new year here on blogspot.com. :) LOVE TO ALL!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

No real reason to write today but just thought I should since I haven't in awhile. Poor Reese has had a nasty cold/ sinus infection for about a week now. It's just so pitiful to watch your sweet baby sit there as their noses run, they are coughing and are whining just because they don't feel good. Hopefully with this antibiotic he'll be up and running around like his usual silly self.
Only 5 more days of work and I am off for 2 weeks, I am so blessed to be able to get all of that time off to spend with my family! I remember this time last year it was a count down until I had to go back to work from maternity leave :(

Here are a few pictures of what our family has been up to lately...













Last Saturday we went downtown to support my mom and congratulate her on her huge successful run at the St. Jude 1/2 Marathon. Wow, how I'd love to be able to run a 1/2 marathon one day! I think I need to start with running a mile first. LOL!


* The past two Sunday nights we've gotten together with the Clays for a random dinner, slice-n-bake cookies, and some fun for the kids. We have really enjoyed getting to hang out with them, such a sweet, fun family!







Yes, Rhett really threw him this high and no he's not attached to the ceiling. ha!


















* Reese had no idea the bow was on his head. He hates things on his head...he's gonna have a rude awakening when he has to wear hats! ha!







































*My big helper! He loves to help unload stuff from the dishwasher to hand to me to put up, only this time he wanted to do it himself...as you can see, he was only trying to help. :)

My poor little buddy wasn't feeling good. He only got the passy because I felt sorry for him. We are now down to bedtime and naptime with it. Hopefully it will be gone soon!








Getting a good picture together was out of the question!

BEWARE: Super long post!

Boy did we have a busy Thanksgiving!! I must start off with my fun tid bit...we finally invested in a nice new Canon Rebel camera and I am TOTALLY addicted!!! It was an early Christmas present from Rhett (only he let me pick it out) and I am still like a little kid on Christmas, taking pictures all over the place. I have been taking pictures all over, trying out new settings and trying to figure out all of the 15 million buttons and options on it. I just LOVE it!!

Turkey day was a busy day for us! It began with Rhett deep frying a turkey which was DELICIOUS!!!

Then we packed up our stuff and went down to Tunica to spend time with Rhett's side of the family (his 3 uncles, 2 aunts, cousins, parents, and grandmothers) at his grandmother's house, which we always enjoy doing. Then by 3 we were off to my mom's to visit with my family and see my brother who came into town. I was so excited to finally see him after him being gone for a few months. I miss being around him, he ALWAYS makes me laugh! I think after we left my mom's around 8 it made for a long day and I decided that maybe next year we will stay home and anyone who wants to come eat with us can come on over. :)

Rhett's sweet grandmother's house down in Tunica, MS.

Rhett, Reese, Nana & Grandma Butler












Daddy and Reese throwing rocks.























Reese loves Catherine!!!












Last night I had my dad, brother and sister over for a Thanksgiving dinner. Long time since we've had a picture like this taken together...












I'm tellin ya...Reese loves Catherine and he loves to play with her. I'm so thankful that she likes to play with him too :) She swears she's never having kids...that's what my mom says I use to say.













OH....I failed to mention that we spent most of the morning yesterday putting out all of our Christmas decorations. I stayed in with Reese and put up the tree while Rhett went outside to do his light decorations (pictures of those have yet to be taken). Meanwhile, Reese was inside "helping" me put ornaments on the tree (his version of putting them on is throwing them into the tree). It was funny at first then not so funny when they started breaking. Oh, did I fail to mention the ornament he crushed while sitting behind the tree when I went in the kitchen to get some hooks? Yeah...here is proof of the damage (one of my fav's at that)...
So sad. But thankfully he didn't hurt himself. I can't even begin to describe what that ornament was made of..definitely not plastic or glass.









Rhett showing Reese the lights on the house

















Just for fun :)
Now that I'm motivated to take more pictures...can you think about that? More pictures?! I know! My computer may not even hold all of the ones I have after awhile! I hope to become blogging more often...we'll see how that goes!

Growing Up

Oh how funny this was but I had to hide the laughter behind closed doors. Literally behind closed doors...Reese was in his room playing, or so I thought he was. I walked in and he was getting things out of his dresser. The forbidden drawer of his dresser that has diapers, wipes, dirty diaper garbage bags, powder, lotion, etc. He had his powder in his hand and it opened and powder was shooting out all over him and his feet. We got that all cleaned up no big deal. I told him no, not to get in the drawer and began to walk out of the room. I stood in his doorway and told him if he got into it again he would go to time out. He proceeded to do the unthinkable. He grabbed the door and proceeded to shut me out of his room. I let him shut the door and sat there for a min. He literally went back to the drawer and began digging through the stuff. I NEVER in a million years thought would do this at this age. WOW, do they learn fast or what!? I'm gonna have to bolt the door to where it will stay wide open. LOL! Oh and turn the knob to where the lock is on the outside. The other day he was in the room with me and he shut the door and began pushing on the lock. He didn't know what he was doing, he just thought it was a button and he should push it. What a smart little boy he has grown to be! All of these new milestones are amazing and I'm loving every one we hit (love to see it for the first time, not when he repeatedly does what he's not supposed to do). Anywho, just thought I'd share our interesting moment for the day. Here are some pictures...enjoy. HAHA!


Bye bye mom! Get out of my room "Peeeez" (please)
And since he loves to pretend to wipe and clean the furniture, walls, himself, the carpet, his toys, etc....why not let him clean it all with his bottle brush he got out of another cabinet. LOL! This was after he was swinging it like a bat. Daddy teaches him well. :)

Thankful for...

At school Kristi and I were discussing projects/ bulletin boards to make for November and it made me start to think about things we are all thankful for. Of course we are going to make the traditional paper turkey and all write what we are thankful for on it.
So you can guess what this blog is going to be about, yup...what I am most thankful for in my life! I am going to try to include pictures as well...

1. My Savior who died upon the cross so that I, a sinner who does not deserve any of the blessings I've been given, could have life.

2. My sweet little family (and of course my mom, dad, john, sharon, jt, catherine and brooks!)
3. The ability to carry & have a sweet baby boy who we adore and love with all of our hearts!
4. My job! Well, I can't exactly post any pictures from there.

5. Friends who have been there for me through thick and thin!!!

6. The ability to paint and create art projects for people.
7. Our home...even though we are trying to sell it. :)

8. Sweet Melissa who takes such good care of Reese while I'm at work. He loves her, her kids: Ally & Chase, and their house (including their backyard, dogs, & toys LOL!) We LOVE their entire family!!! Most days I wish that I could just stay and play too!
(This picture is of the kids with their "pumpkin" bats they all painted and made with Melissa's help. See picture below too) Just had to post these! I was so impressed!
9. A healthy life & a healthy family.

** My list could keep going but I may run out of room to type. I am also very thankful for the quiet time right now to sit and write this blog. :)

Goodbyes are never easy

Wow! How in the world did time move to September already?! I was excited for one reason, my birthday. Which the night before was the scariest time ever. I took Reese to the ED (emergency dept) at Germantown Methodist for his labored breathing. I picked him up Monday after work and he was breathing at an incredibly fast rate and sounded like he was struggling to breathe. I called the nurse and she told me to take him to the ER. So off we went (scared out of my mind wondering if he was going to quit breathing on the way there). When we got to the hospital his temp had risen to 103 in the matter of minutes and his oxygen levels were low. He was given Motrin and we waited to see the dr. When we first got in the room he was coughing and the nurse said, "oh yeah, that's definitely croup". Lovely, huh? Luckily his oxygen levels were at an excellent rate by the time he had a steriod shot and got a breathing treatment...no oxygen was necessary and we were out of there by 11. (when all the sickly folks started pouring in with masks on their faces) I am so glad we did not catch anything from being in that place!

Ok, on to my reason for this blog. My brother came to visit me on Tuesday, my birthday, to basically say good-bye. I wish he could've stayed longer or visited more often but he was pressed for time. Why is it that when we stop to think about the ones we love we just want to spend as much time with them as possible but struggle to find the time? How is that? One day I'll understand why life is always so busy. I don't think I have ever been so sad to see my brother leave my house. I cried and cried after he left...what a wonderful brother he has been. We have been through quite some times together, weren't that close at others, and now I miss him more than ever. Maybe it's because I can't get in my car and go visit him or spend a weekend with him whenever I want...I can't quite wrap my finger around it but I do know that he is missed now more than ever. JT, we may not have been bff's growing up but here's to your sweet, loving, caring, HUGE heart...I miss you and love you more than words can say. You are going to do a fabulous job up there at your new job and you will create a life for yourself that you will one day be proud of!
Here are a few memories we have shared together throughout the 24 yrs of our lives! I <3 you!

**Welcome to our world John Taylor!



**We always did a great job taking turns at playing with each others toys :)










**See, I think we loved each other!




**I need to be sure to ask mom and dad what they were thinking this Halloween...

Elmo Live & Elmo the couch

Yes, we have officially become huge Elmo fans at our house. Last weekend we took Reese to see Sesame Street Live. We were wondering how he would take to this new show but he sat still, absolutely amazed and watched the entire show!! It was worth the money, that's for sure! Since he was so good we bought him an Elmo "baooon" (balloon), I guess it was worth the $8 (yes, I said eight dollars) we paid for it. He is in love with Elmo and balloons these days so it makes for great toy/ punching bag. :)
































This weekend Reese and I went and got him his first couch and of course it is covered in Sesame Street characters. Me being the plain/ modern person I am wanted a couch Reese's size that would sit in our living room and he could pull it out to lay on and it be normal colors and "semi match". Nope, we got the redest (that's not even a word) couch with a huge "Mo" and "Biiiig" (elmo and big bird) on it and he is in love. That's really all that matters is that he is in love with it, not me. Gotta get over the cheesiness of the whole thing and just adore the fact that it's his and he likes it. I am going to post a video at the bottom of this to let you all see what his new "gross motor" skill is for the week. He has NEVER, I repeat NEVER climbed on the couch or chairs ever in his life. This couch/ pull out bed has brought on a whole new adventure for him and he's thoroughly enjoing every minute of it! Needless to say his couch won't be parked up next to our chairs ever again if I have anything to do with it...until he starts to climb on them all by himself.

We REALLY need a bigger backyard...or even a backyard would be nice :)

Yup, as you have probably guess Rhett is teaching Reese how to play baseball...seein how he's already got a bat and ball, he's all ready! For Reese's first birthday he got a T-ball set from his "Aunt Kd" and we've been saving it until he was "ready" to play with it. Last night we pulled it out because Reese has been walking around our house whacking at ANY type of ball laying on the floor (his bat serves as not only a bat but a golf club as well). It's more or less golf that he's playing in doors. haha! But outdoors...once we got the tee set up he was ready to roll. He LOVED playing with the new bat that came with the set. He really can hit the ball, well the tee, and he LOVES it! Rhett kept trying to get him to hit it right handed but he kept batting left. It's too early to tell now which side he'll be so we shall see. Rhett was proud of the "left handedness".

Oh you know I had to get the video camera and camera out for this special event. I'm sure Rhett has been waiting for this day for ummm...pretty much since he was in my belly. :)