Less than 2 weeks and our little guy turns ONE!

     I still can't believe how fast time is going. It doesn't seem that it is possible for Jordan to be turning one in eleven days. I have everything ready for his party and can't wait to see how cute the whole Monster Theme is going to be. Sometimes I feel like I get a little to excited planning my kids parties,but I just can't help myself. I want them to have a great party and have lots of fun. I still can't believe how blessed I am to have 2 children now. Jordan is still a wonderful baby. I get so many people that say to me "He is such a good baby." He is usually smiling and laughing. He does have his moments where he cries because he is tired, but somehow this usually only happens at home. I pray that Jordan will keep his laid back happy personality through the years as he grows up.
     Two years ago when I was announcing that I was leaving my job, someone looked at me and said "By this time next year you will have another kid."(By the way this women ended up pregnant the next year also and had a boy just three days after I had Jordan.) I said "yeah right, it took me six years to get pregnant with Jaelyn and I just really don't think I will be able to have anymore kids." Well, I am glad that God surprised me and showed me how things you think are impossible are indeed always possible. 
    I  have been trying to have a different look on life lately and I have realized just how blessed I am in this life. I have a loving husband (don't get me wrong we have our little moments too) who believes in communication between a husband and wife. I have a very inquisitive and entertaining little girl. ( who at times can be a major drama Queen, but only at times.) I have an adventurous and entertaining little boy (who again, when tired can be a handful.) I have a home that the whole family loves and I am able to live my dream as a stay at home mom and wife.
      Jordan is now more mobile than ever. He can stand all by himself, and at times will attempt to take one foot and try to step. Usually after that he slowly bends his knees and plops down on his bottom. He can pretty much run on his knees. He is walking while holding onto the furniture or his Push/riding toys. Jordan still only has one tooth, but tries to eat table food when he can. He loves to swing outside. We got him a new swing to go on the big swing set for his birthday. He is finally able to go for a ride in the wagon, because he can now seat in the wagon seat and be buckled up like a big boy. He also attempts to put everything in his mouth. I still can't believe this little guy will be turning ONE in less than two weeks.

               

                                   Visiting with Great Grandma Haggard in Missouri,

                                                   This little boy loves to swing.

                               sitting in the wagon like a Big Boy!
                   

Little man is already 10 months old!

Where does the time go?  Two months from today our little man will be one year old. I can't believe it has went by so fast.  Last week was a big week for him. He started crawling last Wednesday and started clapping last Thursday.  Sunday night he started "dancing"(moving the top of his body side to side) to the Bubble Guppies theme song. Also last week he started trying to pull himself up on his little car. While doing that for the first time, he flipped over the car and scared the tar out of me. So, our little man has been very busy learning and discovering this last month.

Who is your favorite Chef?

       Tonight while I was trying a new recipe out of my Pioneer Woman Cookbook, I had a funny memory. I remembered my Grandma and my Mom watching  Emeril Live  (a.k.a. the BAM guy) and laughing and saying ooh I would like to try that. They loved that show and as a teenager I could not understand why.

      Now 15 years later, I get it! Cooking shows (some of them) are not only entertaining but they are very relaxing to watch. I found this out when I had our Little Man last March.  I was feeding him in the living room one morning and turned the t.v. onto the  Food Network channel. I watched an episode of Paula Deen (whom I was obsessed with for many, many years) and watched her cook with some celebrity.  I left it on that channel and watched the next show that came on. After a couple of days of this, I realized that I would relax so much when I would listen to these chefs' talk. There voice always stayed calm.  I then got hooked on cooking shows. 

     So, Now I'll get back to when I was cooking tonight and I thought about all of this. It also led me to think of how every few years there is a new chef that is very popular. Back in the 90's it was Bobby Flay and Emeril Laggase. Then in the the early 2000's it was Paula Deen and Rachel Ray. Now it is the Pioneer Woman.  Oh how I love to watch the Pioneer Woman. I attempted her Meat loaf tonight and I must say it was Fabulous!!  

 Here are some pics of the Great Meat Loaf I made with her recipe. Meat Loaf with bacon on top, plus a sweet and tangy ketchup sauce on top of that.

          

     One more thing is on my mind. Why when ever we (we being in general) want a snack and there is not one in the house; we go and stand with cabinet door or fridge door open starring in? Do we really think that the food is going to magically appear? This is what Drama Queen did while I was cooking dinner tonight. So I snapped a pic of it.  Gotta love it!

Realizing how blessed our family has become.

     I was eating dinner with my family tonight and I was hit with a great wave of happiness. I realized how blessed my family is. I made the choice almost two years ago to become a stay at home mom. I was tired of only seeing Jae for a couple of hours each night Monday through Saturday. I  usually only had Sundays to really spend time with her. Lonnie had went to working weekends back in 2011, so we didn't have to have a sitter anymore and he spent the majority of time with Jae. When Jae was about two and a half years old she started begging me to stay home with her and crying every morning when I left the house. I was always so exhausted from working 48-58 hours a week and having a 35 min. commute each day that I felt as though I was felling a Mother. All I had ever wanted in life was to be married and have a child. I wanted to cry every day, because I had my child and I couldn't even be there for her. So, Making the decision to quit my job ( and I had a very good paying job) was a GREAT decision for my family!  Lonnie and I are both able to spend quality with  both kids. Jordan has never had to be left at the baby sitters or had to be left with someone over night due to me working late one night and being back at work at 4:45 am the next morning. I had to do that with Jae when she was about 5 months old. I cried when I picked her up the next  day after work. That was the first time she held out her arms for me to pick her up.  My kids don't have to worry about daddy being gone all the time due to work either. They both know daddy is at work Sat, Sun, and Monday. On Tuesday they are both ready to see him and do stuff with him. Jordan is usually saying Dada, Dada and Jae is usually asking if she can watch something with him or if he can fix something for her. He is known as Mr. Fix it around here. We may not have a whole lot of money because of the choices we have made; but we have a lot of time with each other. Something that me and Lonnie never got to experience with either one of our dads until we were much older. My dad was always gone working, fishing or hunting. Lonnie's dad was always on the road as a truck driver. It is the greatest feeling knowing that we will be able to be a close family. We do everything as a family from grocery shopping to going to sporting events. I realize not every family is the same, and what works for our family my not work for yours. Every family is different and functions in their own way. But I must say that the way we live now for the most part is less stressful,and I feel like a much better mother. I am liking living more simplified.

       Now, I need to get back to my family and watch our Duck Dynasty Marathon we have going on.

                                           Me and my lil man at Mt. Nebo

                                             Me and my lil Drama Queen at Mt. Nebo.

                                             Daddy lets Jae "do" his hair.

                                             Daddy with his lil Man.

                               Our family enjoying the first snow of December 2013

                                   Drama Queen and Lil Man enjoying the snow.

                                 Drama Queen and I went out for some girls time in the snow.

                              Drama Queen talked daddy into getting her an icicle down.

Jordan's 9 months old

Jordan turned 9 months old on December 14th. With Christmas and all the running around we had to do, I didn't get his check up scheduled until December 31st. The doctor said he is a super laid back little guy. That is just his personality. He was not crawling or pulling up yet when we took him.  But Dr. P said he is plenty strong enough and able. He had gained 2 lbs and grew about a 1/4 of an inch. Jordan is now in the 25% for height and weight. Dr. P  said that would probably put Jordan at growing to about 5ft 7in. We shall see. All in all though Our little guy is super healthy!


Jordan is now:
weighs 16lbs 13oz
26 1/4 inches long
drinks about 20- 24oz a day
drinks some goats milk
eats 1.5 oz of rice cereal daily
eats 1oz of protein daily
eats 2oz of fruit daily
eats 2 oz of veggies daily
gets up on all fours and rocks
can say nae nae(for paci) dada, mama,jae jae, bye bye
waving as of 12/31/13
laying on his belly and pushing himself backwards everywhere.
goes to bed around 11pm and sleeps until 10am or 11am
takes about 2 naps a day. 1 short and 1 long nap

He still has not had any teeth come in . The two front ones are very close. They swell up and go back down and Dr. P said it should be pretty soon when they come in.

                                          He loves to play with this train

                                        This is his balancing act he does pretty often

    Practicing his duck calling for when his Poppy and Uncle Boots take him duck hunting

                                 trying to ride on his mailbox dog he got for Christmas

Coming up with gift ideas.

     Are you a happy, jolly person this time of year or are you the Bah Humbug type?  I am both. I love the thought of Christmas time.  I absolutely love watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, decorating the tree, and making Christmas cookies with Jae. That being said I dread the part of trying to find gifts for people. Gifts are hard enough to buy when you are on a tight budget, but throw in the fact that 90 percent of the people on your list are either ungrateful or expect you to spend tons of money on them makes for a stressful situation. I truly hate the thought of going Christmas shopping (except for shopping for my children) because of this. I have pondered and pondered on what to get these people for Christmas this year. I have even thought along the lines of making certain foods for them. But, every person on my list can't have this or that  or the majority of them don't like sweets. So, if I do decide to make food items then I have to make so many different foods, that it cost more than if I just bought them something. I LOVE to give gifts,but I get stressed just thinking about this. 
     What do you buy for the guy who already has what they want and if they don't have it they can buy it for their self.  What do you buy for the woman who does not want anything for the kitchen and does not want anything bath and body related.  What do you buy the guy or girl that does not have a hobby or favorite thing to do? I have ran out of ideas (at least ideas within my budget) for these people.
      I am sure there are tons of other people out there that are in the same place as me. If you have any ideas for gifts for male or female gifts for teenagers (preteens too) or adults please let me know . I am in desperate need of ideas! Feel free to leave a comment below.



  

Time for change on this blog

      I have to admit, that I haven't been that dedicated to this blog. It crosses my mind a lot, but I just don't post on here but maybe once a month. So, I decided it was time for a change. I gave the Blog a new name and a Fresh new look. I am hoping this will inspire me to write more. For a couple of months now I have had the recurring idea of starting up a whole new blog. It sounds weird but when I had the other name on this blog I felt as though I could only blog about my family. Now with the name House of Haggard; I feel like I have more freedom to blog about recipes, organizing, current events, and my family all in one blog. 




So here's to happy blogging!!