Great weekend

We had a great weekend! My dad and his wife, Jennifer came up from Oklahoma to visit us and we just had a relaxing, good time.

Saturday morning before they got here, the kids, Jeremy and I walked to the park to enjoy the cool weather {and Jeremy thought that hanging upside down from the monkey bars would help his ailing back}



Isn't he a trooper to let me take this photo and then post it on my blog?! When he asked if we wanted to go to the park so he could do this, I replied, "Of course I do. To photograph it and post it on my blog!" There wasn't much objection, so his back must have really been hurting!



Westynn seemed to enjoy his first trip to the park! He just slept right through it all. And I hate to admit it, but the hot weather and the pregnancy had kept the big kids from the park for far too long. It was quite obvious they were glad to be able to climb and slide again!





Besides our park escapade, we played dress up and P & C gave us a fashion show!

{This face is totally fake...it wasn't painful at all, she was being silly}


I just love this "DIVA" look on her face while she was walking down the runway!


A little blurry, but a great one of Preston rockin' the runway! His wife/kids will enjoy this one day!


Today we are just chillin' at the ranch. Well four of us are. Jeremy is working of course because he can only have one relaxing, good time day in about 5 years. But tomorrow it is back to school and back to our new routine. Can't wait to see what adventures we have this week.

For Mom

This post is for my mom...you are going to love all these pictures and just want to move into this house! Have fun looking around...

theoldpaintedcottage

Saving water = saving money

This is for Wayland...who swears you can save money by hand washing your dishes! I told you the dishwasher was the way to go!

Blog work in progress

I am working on my blog....please be patient in the meantime! My eyelids are not wanting to stay open, so for tonight I am calling it quits. Hopefully things will be back to normal tomorrow!

Check-Up Day!

Westynn and I had our Well Baby, Well Mom check up today and we passed with flying colors! I was pleasantly suprised to find I have already dropped 13 pounds...granted more than half I am still carrying around regularly, but it is much better to be able to snuggle and kiss this half!



Nurse Connie checked us both all over and she was so impressed with Westynn! He weighed 6 lbs 4 oz when we left the hospital on Friday and today he weighed 6 lbs 10.3 oz! A WHOLE oz more than his birth weight!!!

She thought he might look a little yellow still, but as good as he is eating and peeing and pooping, he should return to a normal color soon! And he isn't really all that yellow, just a tinge.



Cambree wasn't too sure what to think about the ordeal and she has become quite shy and subdued in public now. She stood and watched the whole thing in awe. But the cutest part of the whole day was when she climbed up on bed with Westynn while we were waiting.



We go back September 3rd for his 2 week check up...can't wait to see how much the little piggy weighs!

My Brag Book pages

Cover


Pg 1


Pg 2


Pg 3


Pg 4


Pg 5


Obviously there are a lot more pages that need to be done, but I just had to share what is done so far! I can't get enough of this little guy, snugglin' and kissin' and just everything about him! And I bet I look at the almost 200 pictures we have already on a daily basis! He is just perfect {I do realize I am biased, but I don't really care!!!}

Home & Doing well

Westynn, Jeremy and I got to come home on Friday morning. It was about 11:30 when we arrived home and while it was somewhat comforting to be home, it was also a little scary and a bit overwhelming at the same time.



It was like a HUGE reality check! Caring for 3 kids, every single day for the rest of my life! I am really capable of doing this? Guess I don't really have a choice, but it has sure been difficult for me to wrap my mind around.






Friday was a long, rough day for me. Besides the reality of our new life, my body was finally starting to feel the effects of labor and delivery, my milk was coming in and I just felt completely overwhelmed. I really think they should spend more time preparing you for the changes that come a day or two after you give birth. I think they are probably the hardest part of the whole ordeal. The hormonal changes are unreal and while I know they will eventually even out, it doesn't make it any easier to handle at the moment.



Westynn is handling the change extraordinarily well! He just eats and sleeps and is the perfect little guy! He is just too precious for words and I can't get enough of him. If I didn't have the rest of the family and myself to take care of I would just sit and hold him all day long. I have a feeling that this little boy is going to be spoiled rotten....by his momma!



I feel extremely blessed that God has given us another little one to raise and care for! Jeremy and I may not have "planned" to have Westynn in our lives, but I definitely can't imagine life without him now and I think God must have known all along what we needed to make our life and family complete!

PRESENTING

WESTYNN COLE STAPLETON

BORN 8.19.09

11:04 A.M.

6 LBS 9 OZ

19.5 INCHES

Preston & Cambree just ADORE him! Preston doesn't want to ever go back to school and they both wanted to take him home yesterday!


The PERFECT addition to our family! We are now complete and we are so happy to have him here! Welcome to the family precious boy!

What we did today

On our first Friday without school, here's what we did!

I managed to finish up my part of the kitchen project!!! I can't tell you how happy this makes me!

I finished up painting the remaning three doors and all the drawer fronts. All that's left is to put the hinges and knobs on the doors and hang them and put the handles on the drawers. I will do the handles tomorrow and the rest is up to Jeremy!


Here I am working away in the kitchen! Can you believe I am posting this picture?! At least you can't see my belly hanging out of my too-small t-shirt (but in my defense I didn't want to get paint on another shirt).




I worked on some craft projects (scroll down) and Cambree worked on some creativity of her own!


Preston read to me all the different names of rattlesnakes from his zoobook. Thank goodness Grandma Janis saved all of dad's zoobooks for the last 25 years!



Celebrating our first page sent home from school! So fun to see what he is capable of. We went to parent's night last night and it sounds like P is going to have a great kindergarten year with Mrs. Jackson.

A little project to go with someone's birthday treats next week!

This to welcome our baby brother home and a little something for the Grandma's, but I can't post any pics because that would give away the precious secret of W's full name!

I admired these long lashes! Why oh why can't I have lashes like these?!


Then Jeremy came home from work and took the twirps to the ranch. They went as a football player and a cheerleader. There was a big game going to take place there this evening...so I am told! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Quick, Good meal

I just got a new cookbook and tried a really simple recipe tonight. It was basically sloppy joes, but you know how cookbooks can't just call them that!

If you don't know, I LOVE cookbooks....not sure why, but I love to look through them and read them. I don't always try all the recipes I want to, but I enjoy them nonetheless!

I have tried several sloppy joe recipes over the years and none of them were worth the time and lengthy ingredient list. This list was short and simple and I thought "Why not, I need something simple tonight and I have all the ingredients already."

So here it is:

1 lb hamburger
1 onion, chopped {I just added a couple handfuls of onion/green peppers I had already chopped in the freezer}
1 cup catsup
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons worchestershire
salt and pepper

cook HB and onion, drain. Add catsup, worchestershire, water and salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes.

I have to say that I will never buy another sloppy joe mix. This was better than any already prepared sauce you can buy at the store and you will almost always be guaranteed to have these ingredients on hand!

Try it and let me know what you think!

1st day of school

I can't believe it has come and gone already! {Today was a short day, so we just got home from picking Preston up}

It really started to hit me last night as I was tucking Preston in bed and he said,
"Mom, I hope I don't get in trouble on the first day of kindergarten, because I don't know the kindergarten rules."



At least he was thinking about the rules! I was probably more nervous about his first day than he was. He was just looking forward to seeing his buddies and having fun and I was more concerned about him learning a new routine and things like lunch and p.e.



This morning we had a great conversation at breakfast.

Mom: What do you think your favorite part of kindergarten will be?
P: I already told you.
Mom: Well I forgot so please tell me again.
P: Having two recesses!
Mom: Do you think you will like gym and music class?
P: Probably
Mom: Are you excited to see your friends?
P: Yeah
Mom: Did you remember Jasper will be in your class this year?
P: (with huge grin) Oh yeah! (Then puts his hand up) Wait just a minute. I think Tucker and Jasper are best friends because they were just playing together at the park.
Mom: Well, you will get to see Kirsten and she's your best friend isn't she?
P: Yes!

So, then we proceeded to finish getting ready and taking the obligatory 1st day of school pictures. Then headed off to the high school to get on the bus. We still didn't know what bus Preston was riding, so I went in with him to get it sorted out and that's when he started to get a little bit nervous. He didn't really remember that part from his first year of preschool and there were a lot of big kids there that he didn't know.

And I felt bad for him because he kept telling me, "I feel stupid carrying this pillow around." (Yes, a pillow was part of the school supply list.) The time finally came when they called his bus and he was clearly nervous about heading out on his own, so I walked with him.



That's when mom started to get a little emotional about the whole going to kindergarten thing. I thought I would be fine since he has been to preschool for 2 years, but there is just something different about going to "real" school!



When we picked him up after school and he told me that his first day was, "good."
Then he told me that I lied! WHAT?! I immediately set out to find out just what I had lied about....turns out it was lunch!

The menu for today said cheeseburgers and Preston doesn't like cheeseburgers, but he does like hamburgers. So I told him that the cheese probably came on the side and that he wouldn't have to eat it if he didn't want to. And that he could take the bun off also. Apparently, they don't put the cheese on the side and it was too stuck on for him to take off. He did say that he ate about half of it....this mom is proud of him for just going for it and doing something outside his comfort zone. I can promise you that he would NOT have done such a thing at home!

Overall I would say it was a successful first day! Now, hopefully the rest of the week will play out the same way!

Back 2 school party

I started this tradition 2 years ago when Preston started Pre-school after reading an article in a magazine about back-2-school traditions. I want my kids to know that school is important and fun and that going back is a special time of year. What better way than to have your grandma's and papa's come over for a meal and to get to pick the menu yourself!





This was so cute, because I already had the Kindergarten 2009-2010 written on the chalkboard when Preston came home and asked, "Mom, do you want me to write my name on the chalkboard for you?" I hadn't even thought of that....what a creative kid I have!


Preston also wanted to know why his shoes were on the table. My thoughts were "why not use his school supplies as table decorations?" They were already purchased and they were the perfect solution to a school themed table!



Our Menu was MEXICAN FIESTA! Preston chose chimichangas for the main dish and I supplemented it with my families favorite mexican corn, chips and salsa and some greens! Oh, and the mini chocolate cupcakes with stars on top!




It was a great evening and I think it got everyone, including me, in the mood for school to start. I am just NOT looking forward to having to be ready to go before 7:30 a.m.! Preston is in for one long day, but I am sure he will handle it just fine!

Good Luck in Kindergarten Mr. P! I still can't believe I have a boy old enough for kindergarten! Stop growing up so fast!

Next on the list....meet baby brother!

Heavy Photo Post

This post is to get some of the things I have been meaning to get done, DONE!







The next set of pictures are of W's crib bedding. Melissa bought it from Pottery barn on clearance and I got it from her for a steal! I paired it with Wal-mart sheets and you can't even tell the difference!



A vintage twist on the photo...just me goofing around with Photoshop!







Now, you remember back in the spring when I wrote that I was working on my first quilt and that it was going to be a baby quilt for W to use. And then I didn't take any pictures of the process or the top before it was quilted....I am regretting not taking the time to do that now. Anyways, I sent it to my Grandma Cornelius and she HAND-QUILTED it for us! It is just fantastic. I don't know if W will like it or not, but I envision him carrying it around and snuggling with it for many years to come!

The entire quilt


Look at this Amazing hand stitching!! I really need to take time to have Grandma Betty teach me how to do this...it is a fading art and it is something I can remember my Great-Grandmother and Maw-Maw doing while I played at their houses!



I can't wait for him to get here and be on this quilt on my floor {with his big sister hovering over him I'm sure!}


Kitchen Project!
Here's a really terrible picture of the cabinets that are done in the kitchen. The lights were casting an orange glow and it was too dark with the light off to take without the flash. So, here is one of only 5 pictures taken with a flash in the last 9 months!



I have come to accept that this project is NOT going to be finished before I give birth, but this little portion that is complete makes me feel so good. I just wish I had the drawers painted and then the entire west side of the kitchen would be done! I can tell that I am going to LOVE it though!

And Finally...

The Allen clan got together last Sunday as the Grand Finale to the Come On Home to Coldwater celebration. We never take a group picture....this year it was time for a change.



I am sure that mom has some more pictures of people up on her facebook page, so if you are on facebook check her out. If she doesn't have any up, send her a note and ask her what's up!

Whew! I feel better getting all that off my chest and now hopefully everyone will see that indeed I haven't been just sitting in the chair hour after hour, even though that's what it seems!

Our big Back-2-School party with the granparents is tonight, so look for pictures and stories tomorrow!