a christmas giveaway

It's the Christmas Season and I couldn't be more excited.  I know Pearson doesn't really get what is going on this year, but I'm super excited to start lots of family traditions this year!!

Since Christmas is all about giving I want to do a little Christmas giveaway on my blog!!

My Mom has started a new line of Appliqued bibs and onesies at her Etsy Shop Tried and True Designs. 

 It's been fun having a little one this year because Pearson gets to be a model for all of my Mom's new designs.  She made him his super cute Thanksgiving onesie and now he has a little Rudolph onesie to sport this Christmas season!

 It's hard finding cute handmade stuff for boys without paying an arm and a leg, so I'm glad that my Mom has started making onesies so my little boy can have cute things to wear!!

So to celebrate that start of the Christmas Season, I will be giving away, ONE CHRISTMAS ONESIE WITH THE APPLIQUE OF YOUR CHOICE! 

{sizes available: Carter's newborn-18 month}

*Longsleeve is available in all sizes but newborn.

**You can also add a bow to Rudolph to make it girly!

Here's how you can enter to win......

{You have 4 chances to win. So make sure you leave 4 separate comments!} 

1.  Follow my blog, and leave me comment telling me that you do! 

*If you are already a follower, just let a comment saying "I follow!".

**If you are a new follower, I would love to know how you found my blog.

{You have to be an "official follower" through Google Friend Connect.  All you have to do is click Follow on the left hand side of my blog and log in! You will not be eligible to win if I don't see you as one of my followers.}

2.  Like Tried and True Designs on facebook here and leave a comment telling me you did!

3.  Leave a comment telling me which applique you would choose and what size you would want!
*This is basically your order if you win! 

4.  Facebook about it with a link to Tried and True Design's facebook page, and my blog, then leave me a comment telling me you did!

*You must link to both in your facebook post!

I'll be announcing the winner of the giveaway on

Thursday, December 1st at 8pm!!

{I'll ship it or give it to you December 2nd so you can have the whole Christmas season let your little one wear it!!}

Good Luck!!

And If you just can't wait until the giveaway is over you can always put in an order by e-mailing my Mom at triedandtruedesigns {at} yahoo {dot} com or you can order off Etsy. 

meal planning monday

Monday: Quesadillas & Rice

Tuesday: Mini Burgers & Hasbrowns

Wednesday: Pizza @ My Parents

Thursday: Tortilla Soup

Friday: 3rd Annual Dinner & Christmas Light w/ The Hoopers!

Saturday Breakfast: Pigs in a Blanket

Saturday Lunch: Matt @ Baylor game?

Saturday Dinner: ????

Sunday Lunch: BBQ Sandwiches

Sunday Dinner: Pizza Sunday

first taste of rice cereal

Pearson has been a little fussypants lately during the day.  I think it's mostly because he has decided he doesn't like to nap.  I'm lucky if I can get two 30-45 minute naps in.  So in an effort to give myself something to do with him during the day, I decided to give him some rice cereal today.  I was going to start at 6 months, but he just 3 weeks shy of that and he's really acting interested in our food, so I went ahead and started today!

 I think he liked it at first since it was practically breastmilk with a little rice cereal.  

 But after a few bites, he didn't really know what to think. 

 He was definitely more interested in holding the brightly colored spoon. 

 The last few bites just kind fell out of his mouth.

 We'll have to try it again tomorrow.

**On a side note:  I followed the directions on the package and it said 1 Tbsp of rice cereal to 4 Tbsp of breastmilk.  It was way more soupy than I thought it was going to be.  Did I do it right??  When do you start thickening it up?  You don't always serve it to them as rice cereal "soup", do you?

And since I will probably be moving on to real baby food when he turns 6 months I decided to go ahead and make some baby food today.  I made some zucchini, sweet potatoes, and green peas.  I used the Beaba Babycooks to make my food. It steams and purees it!!

If you make or made homemade babyfood for your baby, what do you use to make yours? And what were your favorite foods to make?  I would love to know, since I plan on making more food for Pearson. 

my little turkey

Like I said yesterday, this year I am SO thankful for my little turkey.

This little face brings us so much joy to our lives. 

I'm thankful he's healthy.

I'm thankful he's growing big and strong.

I'm thankful he's a good eater.

I'm thankful he's a great sleeper.  

{at night that is....we are still working on the naptime thing.}

I'm thankful he's easy going.

I'm thankful for the little dimple in his cheek.

I'm thankful for those beautiful blue eyes. 

I'm thankful he is ours!!

And Pearson says.....

thankfulness

We have so much to be thankful this year.  

Of course, I'm thankful for my husband, my family, my church, my salvation, my health, the roof on top of our heads, & Matt's job, but top on my list is our new little turkey.  He has been such a blessing to us this year.  We just can't imagine life without him.  We are so thankful that God has entrusted him to us.  

I had plans of taking some cute pictures of Pearson in his little turkey onesie Lolly made for him, but my camera battery died.  So I'll be posting some more pictures of my little turkey later even though we are moving on to the Christmas season!

daddy's home!

I love staying at home with my sweet baby boy.  I'm thankful that most days are not like today, because was just flat out rough.  Pearson was Mr. Fussypants today.  At the end of the day, I'm pretty sure Pearson was ready to see another face other than mine, so when Daddy got home he was super happy to see him!!

 And now we get Daddy home for four days in a row!!

jumperoo

We busted out the Jumperoo about a month ago.  We are super lucky and got it as a hand-me-down from Pearson's cousin, Ethan.  These suckers are expensive and they only use them for such a short time.  I'm glad we didn't have to fork out the big bucks for one!!

He's liked it ever since we got it out, but he's really started enjoying it more this past week.  

 He will play and jump in it for a good 30 minutes or so a few times a day. 

 He can grab all the toys now and completely spin himself around to get to all the other toys.  

 I just love his serious little face.  He concentrates so hard when he's trying to get a toy in his mouth. 

I'm really loving this stage right now.  He's totally noticing everything around him.  It's so neat to see him discover everything for the first time.  

Now I've got to figure out where I'm going to move this gigantic toy because its sitting right where my Christmas tree goes.  We are putting up our Christmas tree tonight. When do you put yours up? 

meal planning monday

Monday: Pulled Pork Tacos, Rice & Beans

Tuesday: Pasta w/ Meat Sauce, Garlic Toast, & Fresh Veggies

Wednesday: Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, Scalloped Potatoes, Fresh Veggies, & Rolls

Thursday: Thanksgiving w/ My Family

Friday: KITCHEN CLOSED

Saturday Breakfast: Muffins

Saturday Lunch: BBQ Sandwiches, Chips, & Fruit

Saturday Dinner: Date Night w/ Friday's or Chuy's Giftcard

Sunday Lunch: Last Sunday Lunch w/ our ABF

Sunday Dinner: Pizza Sunday

baylor buds

Last night we hung out with two of Matt's college roommates, their wives and sweet baby Wade.  We went to a Sport Bar & Grill and watched the Baylor/OU game.  I was the only Aggie watching the game with 5 Baylor fans.  Fun huh?  I will give it to the Bears though.  They had a great game that resulted in a huge victory for them!!

{Matt, Jason, Justin, Pearson, & Wade}

{The Daddies and their boys}

{Johanna, Amber, Me, Wade & Pearson} 

We watched most of the first half at the restaurant, but Pearson lost it so we had to go back to the Henry's house for the rest of the game.  Pearson normally goes to bed around 7 or 7:30, so he actually did really good staying up late. I fed him at their house, put him in his PJ's and he was out.  

We realized that we hadn't gotten any pictures of the babies so I had to wake him up to take some pictures.

As you can see he was not that interested in taking pictures.  

 Wade on the other hand saw the camera and instantly started smiling!! They have him trained well.

 We did get a little smile when Pearson saw his Daddy, but of course he wasn't looking at the camera.

You would think Pearson would start smiling automatically too with the amount of pictures I take of him!!

 I can't wait to see our sweet boys grow up together.  

Even if they do end up being Baylor buds just like their Daddies. 

roadtrippin'

This past Tuesday Matt and I headed Southbound 35 to Austin.

{I took a bunch of picture of Pearson in this suitcase and of course my favorite one is the low quality iPhone picture.  Figures, huh?}

This was Pearson's first road trip that was longer than our drive to Grammy & Grandaddy's.

Matt had a work conference, so me and Pearson tagged along. 

We all stayed with my good college friends, The Rocks, who live right outside of Austin!!

While Matt was at his conference on Wednesday and Thursday Gina, her sweet little 11 months old Sawyer, Pearson and I hung out.  I had such a good time catching up with Gina.  

I sure do wish we lived closer so our little boys could be buddies and we could deal shop together!!

Sadly our little trip ended with Matt getting sick in the middle of the night.  Thankfully we were already home and he didn't get sick at their house.  Unfortunately,  I found out this morning that Ian and Gina had gotten sick too.  I sure hate that they all got sick, but I'm so glad that me and Pearson didn't catch the bug.

I quarantined Matt to the bedroom and me and Pearson spent most of the day out of the house.  

Pearson was so good for me today, but at the end of the day, it sure did make me super thankful that I have some help in the evenings.  I can't imagine raising Pearson on my own.

I'm so thankful to be raising this sweet boy with Matt and I am so glad that he is finally feeling better this evening.

Thanks Ian & Gina for letting us stay with you guys.  Sorry it ended with almost everyone getting the stomach bug.  

should i splurge??

Okay, so if you know me at all, you know I LOVE a good deal.  

It's SO hard for me to splurge on things for myself, so I make Matt splurge on me!! HaHa!! I usually ask him for my "splurge" items for Christmas or my birthday. It makes shopping easy for him because it's just one gift and he's done!!

So I have decided that this year I want a new watch. 

I have been eyeing this Michael Kors watch for quite some time.  I would never pay $195 for a watch, but there is a Macy's Friends & Family 25% off coupon that I can use to get 25% off, so it would be $146.25 plus tax. Not too bad!!

But while looking at the Michael Kors watch at Macy's, I found this  Fossil watch for only $105. So with the coupon I could get it for $78.75 plus tax.  That's about a $70 difference from the Michael Kors watch.  

So what should I ask for??

  Should I splurge on the Michael Kors watch I originally wanted or should I go for the cheaper Fossil watch because it's a better deal?