Benjamin's Bump It

This is what my son looked like this morning. That's some serious bed head. It looks like he's trying real hard to rock the bump it! Is it wrong that I'm jealous? I've spend a ton of time trying to recreate the trendy bump and it's always an epic fail!

And just so you can see how awesome his "bump" actually is...here's a side shot :)

In the Kitchen

Here are a few new recipes I've tried lately.

Crock Pot Lasagna.

It's actually a Weight Watchers recipe. It was AMAZING!!!

http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeId=135321

And here's another weight watchers recipe. It was pretty simple, just 1 cup halved brussel sprouts simmered in 1 cup fat free chicken or beef broth for about 8 min. Add 1/2 cup cooked whole wheat shell noodles and top with 1 piece of crumbled bacon. I sprinkled a little parm. cheese for a little extra :)

And last but not least...baked pumpkin spice donut holes. I made a goal to make a new pumpkin recipe every week until the end of October. Can you tell I've become slightly obsessed with pumpkin this year! I think I'm going to try pumpkin truffles this weekend...YUM!

Yay for long naps

Benjamin was wiped out from a Birthday party we went to this afternoon followed by some shopping so I took advantage of his long nap and made some YUMMY veggie soup. It's actually a weight watchers recipe. I tweaked it a little bit and added spicy V8 juice and red pepper flakes because I love a little kick :)

And then I made this for the spare bedroom.

I found the frame at Home Goods for $7.99 and the stickers were a gift. I cut out the stickers and slightly folded them in half and glued the body of the butterfly to the frame so it created sort of a 3D effect. So I now have some pretty fabulous artwork for the spare room for under $10-not too shabby :)

Family Pictures

We had pictures taken on Saturday by the lovely Cheryl McDonald. She was amazing! More details to come but here's a sneak peak :)

Benjamin's First Birthday Party

Wow...yesterday was one crazy day :) Lots of hard work over the past couple of months finally paid off and we gave Benjamin an amazing Birthday party filled with family and friends.
Benjamin also got to show off his new walking skills to everyone.

A few detail shots...

Sign for the front door


















Entry Way Table with favors (push pop containers with mini cupcakes) and Monkey Frame














Tissue Paper Poms hanging from the ceiling














Benjamin's Birthday Banner














Treat Table














Kitchen














Drink Table














Benjamin's weekly pictures (had to wait until the party was over for this shot, the lighting was too bad during the day so please excuse the mess)














And here are a few pictures of present and cake time :)

Great Grandma Zacher made Benjamin a sock monkey! How stinkin adorable!!!!














Someone sure did get pick up on the present concept pretty quickly :)




























Great Grandma Zacher made Benjamin's "1" t-shirt














YUMMMMM


















Family Picture :)

First Family Vacation Recap

To say that our vacation was an experience is a bit of an under statement. Nothing and I mean NOTHING went the way I expected. We originally booked a two bedroom condo in Destin Fl. What did we end up with? A one bedroom condo in Hilton Head SC. Apparently Mother Nature decided to mess with us and stir up a tropical storm in the Gulf forcing us to move our vacation else where.
We left around 11pm Thursday night and arrived in Hilton Head SC around 5pm Friday evening. Let's just say the car ride with Benjamin was interesting and leave it at that.
It was a rough evening Friday, Benjamin did not want to go to bed which is pretty rare for him. He loves his sleep and normally doesn't mind new places and will sleep just about anywhere. I guess he was on Mother Natures side and also wanted to mess with us :(
Saturday we woke up with a fresh attitude and took Benjamin straight out to the beach which he absolutely LOVED! We could barely keep him out of the water. He was definitely born for the beach!
Unfortunately our attitudes took a turn for the worse Saturday evening because we had another rough night trying to get Benjamin to bed and also discovered we had major car problems. That, along with a few other factors drove us to the decision that it was time to leave earlier than anticipated. We ended up driving home Sunday. I don't have any ill feelings about it anymore, therefore I feel I can finally talk about it. We turned our vacation into a staycation and took Benjamin to the Zoo on Tuesday and to pick apples on Wednesday. So at least we still had fun as a family on our time off.
Anyway...without further adieu here are some pictures from our short lived time in Hilton Head SC





















































































































David Digging a hole














And Benjamin Falling into that hole :)

HOLY MOLY!!!!

More details to come on Benjamin's first Birthday...I just couldn't wait any longer to post this amazing video :)

Sayonara Suckers!

We're headed off to FL tonight :)

I can't wait to be on the beach and see the look on Benjamin's face when he sees the ocean for the very first time.

Here's a picture of David and I on our very first FL vacation...almost 9 years ago! Crazy how much has changed since then :)