the christening

Reese was christened in LaGrange yesterday. It was a very special day for us, for Reese, and for our family. We were surrounded by people who are near and dear to our hearts, and we felt honored that Dr. Decelle, the pastor who married us, agreed to baptize our little man. As Dr. Decelle said at lunch yesterday, "He is honored we chose him to do our work."

Reese did unbelievably well considering he had no nap. He was such a little trooper. Lucky for us he LOVES him some organ music. It lulled him through most of the service.

Our part was at the beginning and Dr. Decelle had asked prior to starting if he could hold Reese. Lofton and I laughed and told him we could try. Surprising both Lofton and I, Reese allowed Dr. Decelle to hold him, sprinkle him, and even carry him down the aisle for all the church to see. It was priceless! Reese is quite the ham {and he totally gets that from Lofton}.

A few of my favorite pictures from the day--

Big Rice and little Reese, the best of buds.

Can we get this show on the road?

Best friends, wonderful Godparents.

Best shot of the three of us-- it didn't come easy.

Man of the hour.

so ready

TGIF, friends. T!G!I!F!

We are so ready for a weekend. And a long one at that.

I am fighting a sinus infection and an ear infection, but went to school anyway today. {Side note: I got a steroid shot at the doctor yesterday. I love those things. They make you feel super-human.}

Only to then fight off a student whose was welding textbooks and a chair. No I'm not kidding. Trust me when I say:: It has been a day.

Luckily, goofy lives right in this very house.

How can you not laugh? He is hysterical.

We are anticipating lots of family arriving tomorrow. Little man is being christened Sunday in Lagrange. It's a really special day to us, and we appreciate so much that most of our family is making the drive to be with us.

Reese is going to be a stud in his outfit. Pictures and post to come later ...

pig out

We are "phase" eaters in our house. As in we latch on to one food for long periods of time before tiring of it and moving on.

For example, the hubs eats a bowl of raisin bran crunch every weekday morning for breakfast. Every weekday morning. I, on the other hand, eat a Luna bar every weekday morning. I have expanded my palate to include varieties other than Peanut Butter Cookie {delish}, but I do not stray from my routine.

It should not then surprise us that Reese is much the same. {Does anyone need to be reminded of his love for mandarin oranges?}

Tonight, my Martha-self cooked breakfast for dinner. Eggs, biscuits with honey butter, and bacon. Bacon is not one of my favorite things. I like it okay. The smell really makes me feel sick.

My lukewarm feeling towards bacon is in direct opposition to my long haired sibling. He considers this form of pig a separate food group all together. Whole meals to him are made of bacon. Six, eight, twelve pieces-- no joke. We kid he could be the skinniest person ever to die from high cholesterol.

After dinner tonight I am convinced we have another baconator on our hands.

This is the porkster. He shunned every other food on his place BUT the bacon. I tried explaining that I didn't feel bacon would sustain him til morning, but he didn't heed my advice. In fact, he took to destroying the remaining food on his plate. This led to quite the smack down from his father. Hence the unhappy expression. {Sorry about the picture quality-- it's from my camera.}

I found the whole situation very comical. It probably won't be so comical at two in the morning when Reese wakes up starving. But for now, I'm laughing.

action plan

We were up all night last night. Okay, not all night. But basically from the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. we were awake. And Reese was screaming. Hysterically. And then from 2:00 a.m. until 5:30 a.m. he was whimpering while lying on Lofton.

You see, we are now on ear infection number four. Or maybe it is still infection number one that never really went away. Who knows? Regardless, my sweet child has had two ears full of fluid for going on seven weeks.

Miserable.

However, we now are armed with a plan. My type A self does love a plan.

Reese has been referred to a local ENT for tubes. I'm a little scared, as my only child will have to be sedated, but also optimistic that this might provide him with some relief. Seeing your child in pain is unbearable.

My mildly paranoid self is also mildly concerned about Reese's speech {or lack there of}. IF {big if}, the fluid is causing a hearing issue {which could then cause a speech issue} the tubes will help alleviate some of that.

Tubes it is then. And I think our plan is just tubular.

In other news:: It is a wee bit chilly round here. Last night I bathed the little stinker in our bathroom. We have a circa 1970's fan in our bathroom that also has a heater. I filled the tub full of vapor bubbles and Reese went to town. He loves bubbles. As do I. I was fanatical about Mr. Bubbles when I was younger.

Here is Mr. Bubbles in the flesh:

He is going to hunker down in the house tomorrow with his Mimi so I can run some errands. I think the high tomorrow is twenty something. Clearly Jack Frost missed a turn somewhere and accidentally headed south. This weather is torture.

Bundle up, stay warm, and make some chili this weekend. I compiled a bunch of chili recipes and came up with the recipe below. It is delish.

Beef Chili Recipe

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef
1 tsp minced garlic
½ large onion, chopped
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp. pepper
One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes {one can was Rotel the other was petite diced}
1 can pinto beans, drained {optional}
1 can kidney beans, drained {optional}
shredded cheese (for serving)

Directions

Brown the ground beef in a large pot with the onions and the garlic. Drain. Add back to pot. Stir in seasonings, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes. Stir. If it looks too thick, add one can of water {or a little chicken broth}. I just filled one of the empty diced tomato cans. Bring to a boil and then cover. Turn heat to low. Simmer for thirty minutes. {If you would like to add beans, do so now}. Stir. Assess thickness. If too thick and a little more water.

*******

I didn’t use my crockpot, but I feel certain you could brown the meat and then add all the ingredients to the crock pot and turn it on low for 6-8 hours.

little things

I hope his feet always look this adorable.

twilight

Darn my sister in law. She is 100% to blame for the lack of blog posts over Christmas vacay. You see, she convinced me to read the Twilight series.

I had avoided it like the plague.

Vampires?
Teenage romance?
Werewolves?

Yuck. Not for me.

But she swore I'd love 'em-- and she was right. I bought the first book the Monday before Christmas. I read it and the second book, New Moon, before Christmas Day. I took a break for the holidays, but plowed through books three and four finishing before the new year. {Patting myself on the back as I squint at the computer with my strained eyes!}

There were many hours of chore ignoring and many hours of neglecting my husband. Lofton compares my reading to smoking crack or shooting heroin. {No really. He does.} He said he would support my habit if I could do it casually, not obsessively. But, I'm just that kind of manic reader. I become consumed.

Last night he indulged me and we watched Twilight {the movie}. It was okay. I much prefer to come up with the scenes and images in my mind.

Truthfully, I am glad it's over. I was sad when I turned the last page, but happy to be a part of experiencing what has consumed pop culture since 2008.

Now if I could only figure out how to tweet from school.

{Just kidding! Twitter is dumb. }

back to life

The real world is fast approaching-- it's back to work TOMORROW. Bummer.

In anticipation, we have been doing lots of laundry--

lots of playing with the pups--

and lots of snuggling and just hanging out together.

Have I mentioned that when I ask Reese to snuggle he puts his head on my shoulder and pats my back? Too sweet.

This is a sad and bittersweet day for me. This time last year we were gearing up for Reese's first day of daycare. I can hardly believe it's been a year!

We are excited about the changes and plans we have for 2010. Lofton has lots of exciting projects in the works, and I am eager to support and encourage him.
I'm not so much one for resolutions, but if I had to make one, I'd resolve to be a nicer wife, a better mama, and a more dedicated and thoughtful daughter and friend.

Happy 2010! Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts and keep up with our boisterous baby boy.