Weekend +Randoms

Technically this all happened last weekend and I am just now getting around to it.

On Saturday evening we had our first real NFL fantasy draft party. This is our second year playing and I think it is fun. Of course, I don't really do anything, Chad manages both teams because let's face it I know nothing. But it makes watching all those games Thurs through Monday more fun when you can root someone on!

Chad making sure we get the best players.

Chad and I went to our first date movie {Sunday matinee} since Micah was born 7.5 months ago. Wow. I miss going to movies big time. We saw Crazy Stupid Love. And I thought it was phenomenal and well worth the ticket price. I love walking away from a well done movie that makes you feel good, but stays true to life. Go see it.


Now as for Micah. He is so much more fun and happier as of late. I have no idea if the no dairy thing even matters at this point, but I refuse to give into dairy just on the off chance it is the problem. I have opened myself up to eating most foods again and not being so rigorous about it and I plan to slowly add back in the obvious sources over the next several months. I have also given up my beloved PB. I eat PB every.single.day for lunch. When I cut that out I also noticed an improvement?! Maybe just maybe that is the allergy?! {We didn't get him tested for that because it was such a struggle just to get enough blood for the dairy test.} Of course I pray it isn't because a peanut allergy is NEVER out grown. Who knows everything could just be coincidental too. He still spits up a ton, but I feel that is more related to a loosey gooesy tummy sphincter than an intolerance {to dairy?!} or allergy {to peanuts?!} Either way I am just beyond grateful to have a happy baby for once and if giving up PB and dairy equals that then I am more than obliged, this may be a good thing for me. HA! Now if we could just get him to sleep through the night we would be golden...

See the doorstop? That is seriously MW's favorite toy. Sit him down in front of it and he plays for quite sometime! BOING!!!! Cracks me up every.time.

Mommy School. I am trying to be more intentional with Lo and teaching her things. I am not going full on pre-K with her or even lesson planning, I wouldn't even know where to start, but I am trying to make more of an effort during Micah's morning nap to sit down and go over letters, numbers, colors, sign language, or just reading to her. I am more about learning through play than structure. We call it Mommy School. She really just loves it when I come up with crafts for her to do.

She loves to wear her backpack around and go to "kin-garden"

We are currently working on a bird feeder for our backyard.
We have lots of pretty birds back there, so she wants to feed them.

Boring yes, but that is what is going on in our lives. Sometime {sooner rather than later} I want to do a week in the life. Just to remember how my days went with two littles.

Great Date 2

Wow, we are little behind on the dating thing. Amazing how a little person can completely change your life AND priorities. :)

We usually do our "Great Dates" on the first Wednesday of every month, however in April we were stricken with the "Great Stomach 'Flu' of 2010" which threw a wrench in those plans. Bummer. I really look forward to these dates.

Anyway, date #2 was a progressive dinner date. I have always wanted to do that and was excited for it, but nothing sounded good as an appetizer place :( so we just went onto dinner at Granite City. Yum.

Again, they provided us with a list of questions, which I think is so great! Helps us talk about fun things, instead of Lo all the time! It is funny how we answer fairly similarly on things we have never discussed before. I suppose that is a good thing!

After dinner we decided to take a walk around a lake and just talk some more. I really enjoyed a nice leisurely walk that didn't involved two dogs and a stroller! HA!


Then we headed to Target to buy a $2 gift for one another, that was so hard, so we gave up. I don't like just to buy junk, but we had fun showing each other what we would have gotten. Way better. :)

Finally we ended the evening at our favorite dessert place, Freddy's! All and all another great date!

I think it is so important to keep dating even after you have kids. We have to keep our relationship strong, so our family unit stays strong!

Hope you all are joining in and have some "Great Dates" too! If you don't know what I am referring to click HERE!

The Great Date #1

On Wednesday the hubs and I went on our FIRST Great Date. If you don't know what I am referring to you can read about it HERE.

Note: The church I linked you to in the aforementioned post did a different 1st great date then the one we did, because I printed it off from another church site, don't ask me why...

We were lacking on the picture taking during the date,
so I added a nice old engagement picture.

We chose Johnny Carino's for dinner. You are suppose to have the waitress choose your dinner for you with only ONE stipulation, but Chad wasn't up for that, he didn't want to put the waitress on the spot. HA! I was ok with it because I am an EXTREMELY picky eater, and we don't go out much any more, so I didn't want to spend $15 on a meal I would hate. (Even though I did, but at least it was my fault not hers. HA!) But the bread and oil was delightful...pretty sure I ate my weight in that! Yum!


During this time we asked each other a list of questions. My favorite was "If you had to get a tattoo that summed up why you love your spouse it would be_______" For me I would get a court jester because my hubby is such a clown and makes me laugh all the time. For him he said the word Loyal because I am super loyal to those I love.

Next up we were to go somewhere and ask more questions and talk. We chose to drive around and go to the mall (mostly because someone, ahem Chad, wanted to look at shoes). To bad it wasn't nicer out so we could have walked around outside. :(

Finally we were instructed to go to the grocery store, split up and spend $2 each purchasing a dessert for one another...well, since we clearly love to follow directions :) we decided we would rather go to Freddy's for a turtle concrete!! YUM! Grand total $4.15! Perfect. :) Hey, it is about being together not being a rule nazi.


Then it was homeward bound!

Overall, it WAS a Great Date! It was fun and I felt like I got to learn a little more about Chad and hopefully him about me!
I love you Chad and can't wait to do the next 5 dates!!



P.S. It isn't too late to join in on all the FUN!

I Heart Reba

Those of you who know me well, know how I love Reba! I grew up on her. I knew all the words to all her songs by the time I was 5. She "taught" me how to sing. Some of my best memories as a child is sitting in the car with my mom belting out Reba tunes. Reba is a family affair too. My mom, aunt, sisters and cousin all heart Reba too...so I am sure they are only slightly jealous of my night, although we all have been to our fair share of Reba concerts!! I have been to 3. Now if I could only meet her my life would be complete.

Ok enough gushing. Last night we went with some friends to the George Strait and Reba concert!! It was awesome and can't believe I almost passed up this opportunity. Reba probably put on one of the best shows I have seen yet. George, well he is George Strait. He sings. He is amazing, but he will never be Reba!

Shutting up now...on to the pictures!

LeAnn Wolmack opened.

Reba sang lots of her old and new hits!
Favorite: The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

Duet with LeAnn: Does He Love You
Amazing!!!

For those Reba show fans you will recognize Melissa Peterman.
She is super funny. She was on the Kelly Clarkson/Reba tour 2 years ago (which I also went too!) and was so excited to see her back!

They did a "duet" of the show's theme song "Survivor."

At the end of her set Reba left the stage...my friends were disappointed she didn't do "Fancy." I assured them it was always one of her final songs and she HAD to do it! Well, she did and it is THE best I have ever seen it done! The screens showed the music video intro and the audience erupted. The next thing you see is this:

A cab bringing Reba back.
(It is part of the music video, in case you are unaware of her signature song/video).

Then she stepped out in her red dress.
(also a huge piece of the song).

Goodnight Reba! Until next time...

Now for George Strait!

This is what George does, sing and play guitar. He doesn't put on a "show." It was great to see him, but let's be honest why I was really there...

I will be putting up ALL the zillion pics I took on my shutterfly site.

The Great Date Experiment

I will be the first to admit that this blog is mostly all about Leighton and very little not about "Us," but it is time to change that starting with The Great Date Experiment.

Have you heard of this? If not you should definitely check it out HERE.
Our church, is participating, along with several other churches in the country, and I am really excited about it! This is a really a great way to get out of that dating rut. Chad and I need some fun ideas to do other than just dinner and a movie. I am hoping this will deepen our relationship, especially since our relationship has been put on the back burner since Lo joined our world.
Like I said you can click on the link above and check it out and do it for yourselves, even if your church isn't participating! Go on do it, I'll wait..

See it looks like fun! Anyway, we plan on doing it, it is 2-fold really; 1. It will (hopefully) improve our relationship and 2. give me something to blog about other than Leighton.
I am excited and hope you all join us!
Happy Dating!!

P.S. This is for the young and old...you are NEVER too old to "date" your hubby or wife!

Valentines 2009

Yes, I know it is 2010.
Last year though I was pregnant.
Not just pregnant, 38 weeks pregnant.
I was not feeling hot, sexy or attractive. More like a beached beluga whale.
I was also angry because I DESPERATELY wanted a Valentine's day baby. (yes, I realize I still had 2 weeks to go...technically, but I wanted what I wanted.)

I am remembering a lot about last year at this time. I remember after our last pre-baby date getting up for one of my many trips to the bathroom, not really sure why I just didn't move in there, anyway I looked at the clock it was 11:30p. I remember being really annoyed then. "Well, I guess I am NOT getting a Valentine's day baby." At this point I was convinced she would NEVER EVER come. (Please note I had been having on and off again STRONG contractions for the last 2 weeks, thus my desperation). So I went to bed.

As irony would have it, I went into labor FINALLY the next day the 15th and at 11:27pm she was here. A mere 24 hours after my internal melt-down.
God does have a sense of humor people. And HE does know what He is doing. Looking back I am so glad she came after V-day, this way Valentine's day can be Valentine's day and NOT just her birthday. Although, it will make her future husband's life a whole lot easier. Kills two birds with one stone. :)
This year I am just feeling so full of love for my whole family. I just feel so beyond blessed.
Yep, this is the BEST Valentine's Day ever!

Baby Steps

This weekend was a big weekend for me. I left Lo in the care of her Grandma Rachel while I attended a movie! It was so hard for me to leave her. I haven't been away from her ever for longer than maybe 45 minutes while I ran to the store. Plus, she still refuses a bottle so I really feel tied to her. I was secretly hoping that she would take a bottle while I was gone but no such luck. However, it was fun to be baby free for those few short hours with my husband! I really needed that time even though most of it I spent worrying and torn...but remember baby steps!
Then on Sunday I put her in our church nursery so for once I could be apart of church. Usually once the "light show" and music is over, Lo is done! And then I spend the rest of it out in the lobby! Plus, there was no where for me to go to nurse her except the bathroom and quite frankly I was tired of dragging a chair into the handicap stall with my arms full of a baby and diaper bag! Again dropping her off was hard, but I knew I was just a few feet away if they needed me! I was hoping that maybe they could be successful in getting her to take a bottle, but again no such luck and at the very end of service my number flashed up on the screen! But at least they have an area back there for me to nurse in...no more going to the bathroom! Honestly this was my whole purpose in taking her to the nursery! Re-con! I am fairly new to this church and don't know all the ins and outs yet!
So while it was tough to leave her it is important to my sanity to get out WITH my husband! (or grown-ups).

I have also discovered this book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and while it is wordy and has a lot of scientific facts in it, it is helping understand how important her sleep is (it is NOT FOR THE WEAK) and how to reclaim it! So I am currently on a mission to get her to sleep better! So far it is going well. I have managed to get her to take naps (short ones) outside of her swing!!! That is a HUGE achievement in itself! So again baby steps!

Sadly these are seriously the ONLY pics I have of her sleeping!!
Why? B/c she NEVER IS SLEEPING!

Nothing is more precious than a baby sleeping! I shall keep you posted on how it goes, and I am ALWAYS open to suggestions!