Happy Thanksgiving! 

[his onesie says "I'm stuffed!" I love it!]

Hope everyone's Thanksgivings were great and full of family time. I slacked a little on my Gratitude Challenge there at the end so I'll catch up now. What better day than today? 

Day twenty-five: I'm grateful for date night. It was such a great weekend. 

Day twenty-six: I'm grateful for Jennifer coming over and helping me fold laundry today :)

Day twenty-seven: I'm grateful for my camera so I can capture all these wonderful pictures of H. 

Day twenty-eight: I'm grateful for Christmas. The holidays, really. It's such a wonderful time of the year. I especially love Christmas because I love picking out the perfect gift for people and being able to focus more on Christ.

Day twenty-nine: I'm grateful for baths. They are so relaxing.

Day THIRTY!: I'm grateful for all of the other blessings in my life that I didn't mention on this list. Allan and I were talking tonight about how blessed we are and it's hard to mention every single thing.

-Little Wife Power House

date weekend!!

So this weekend was nearly perfect. It was date weekend 2010! My amazing mom agreed to watch H Friday evening and Saturday afternoon so Allan & I could spend some time alone together. We haven't been on a date since H was born and I have a feeling that it will only happen a few times a year. Sad but true. We hadn't been to the temple since before H was born. We used to be great about it. We first started going every week [and that actually lasted longer than I thought it would], then it went to every month, then once H was born temple visits were non-existant. That was priority numero uno this weekend!

[the husband & I before going in]

I took a picture of the temple but none of them did it justice. The temple is just so beautiful! At about 9:30 I made the mistake of thinking about food and couldn't stop after that [breastfeeding moms - you know what I'm talking about]. The second we left, we stopped at the first Whataburger we could find and at the time I thought it was the best thing I had ever eaten. Allan says hunger is the best spice! The next morning, I woke up and made pumpkin pancakes for us [recipe courtesy of Lori]. Perfect fall breakfast! I'm definitely making them again. We sat by the fireplace on a blanket and ate picnic style. 

We lounged all morning and it was perfect. We haven't had such a relaxing weekend in a long time and we needed it. My mom came over and took the boy so we got to go see HARRY POTTER 7! I'm not going to ruin it for anyone, don't worry. Buuuut it was GREAT. Action packed, sad, and definitely darker than I was expecting. I only fell asleep for 15 minutes or so ;) We got pumpkin cheesecake [it's that time of year to take advantage!] from The Cheesecake Factory [SO YUMMY!] and headed home to relieve Mom so she could go out to Dallas. We ended the evening with putting up our Christmas tree and decorations. We had to take advantage of the free time because who knows when we will have another chance!

[we love christmas!]

[husband hard at work]

[Yes, that is Santa Mr. Potato head as our tree topper :P]

One last picture. We were given this adorable robe and I kept forgetting we had it and he's almost too big for it now [babies grow out of clothes too quickly] so I had to take a picture. Enjoy!

 -Little Wife Power House

homemade rice cereal

Lori & I were talking about rice cereal yesterday since H was at the age where I can introduce him to it (even though my pediatrician says 7-8 months...crazy!) We found a recipe on the internet for homemade rice cereal. Since I've been dying to make him some baby food it was the perfect opportunity! It was so easy. Ridiculously easy [THANK GOODNESS]. Here it is along with some pictures:


Ingredients: 
Short grain brown rice
Water
I used breast milk as well

Directions:
Blend rice into a powder [I finally got to use my Magic Bullet!]
Sift rice powder
Bring 3/4 c water to a boil
Add 1/4 c powdered rice
Whisk continually (while it simmers) for 10 minutes

Easy, right?! It's good in the fridge for up to three days and 3-4 months in the freezer. 

I found that it was VERY thick...especially since this was going to be his first go with rice cereal. After I put his portion in a separate bowl, I added breast milk to thin it out. He did pretty well! He wasn't too sure about the actual rice cereal but boy - exploring that spoon thing sure was fun! I had to use the bigger size spoon because I couldn't find the small ones but he loved chewing on it so it worked out anyways. Here are some pictures:

Next I will be using the ole MB to puree some fruits and veggies. Should be fun! I never would have pinned myself for a baby food making, cloth diaper using mom...just goes to show you can never predict what kind of a mom you'll be!


-Little Wife Power House 

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Twenty-Four

Day twenty-four:

I'm grateful for Pizza Friday.

[H can't wait till he can be included in the pizza portion of the evening. already trying to steal ours!]

Lately it's been Pizza whatever-day-we-can-fit-in-family-time. It doesn't really matter what day as long as we get yummy pizza, a movie, and hanging out. This past week it was Pizza Wednesday. I decided last minute to do it so I didn't have time to defrost the hamburger so we just did cheese pizza and watched Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It was really good, actually. I'm looking forward to keeping this tradition going for a long time :)

-Little Wife Power House

PS Our measuring cup dove off of the counter on Pizza Wednesday and crashed into a million pieces:

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Twenty-Three

Day twenty-three:

I'm grateful that Allan is such a wonderful father.

[ugh, can't get it up & down...will fix later]

You know, I remember having a conversation with another woman in the YW Presidency last year [who has 3 daughters] about how badly children [especially girls] need a strong father figure. We were thinking about young girls in general and realized that a lot of the girls who seriously struggle in their youth have an absent father in their lives. Now that isn't to say that boys don't need a strong father figure in their lives, they do. I just think it's different. I don't have any daughters [yet] but when I do, I'm grateful to know that Allan will be there 110% just as he is for H. 

I'm looking forward to Allan playing catch with H, teaching him about computers [he'll probably be a geek. like father like son], playing Mario Cart together, going camping, just playing together. It really doesn't matter what they do. I'm grateful I don't have to worry about him checking out of family time after a long day's work. I'm grateful he always puts his family first. I knew before I married him that he was going to be a great father and I was right [what's new, right Allan? :P] We love you [to the moon and back].

-Little Wife Power House

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Twenty-Two

Day twenty-two:

I'm grateful for my love for cooking. 

I fell in love with cooking in college. To be more accurate, I fell in love with the Food Network in college and that led to cooking. I started with Rachel Ray and her 30-minute meals [very few actually were worth cooking]...upgraded to Giada De Laurentiis [love her recipes!]...and now am picking up recipes from blogs, friends, and family ...basically anywhere I can find a good one! I'm open to try almost anything. Some of my recent adventures include beef stroganoff, sour cream cupcakes, pumpkin cheesecake muffins, and apple cake. I've found a killer banana bread recipe [from my sister's friend, Katie] and also the best lasagna I've had to date. I'm dying to find the perfect recipe card holder thing-a-ma-jig. I found really cute recipe cards at Anthropologie...but they are $14 for 12! That's just crazy to me. I have WAY more than 12 recipes! I'll even take a really cute recipe book where I can jot mine down [must be sturdy, though]. PLEASE tell me if any of you guys have found either one of those that I might like! 


Food Blogs I Love:
Cooking With My Kid
Bakerella
Rookie Cookie [even though she no longer posts]
Any other ones I need to check out?

-Little Wife Power House

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Twenty-One

Day twenty-one:

I'm grateful for my Grandparents.

[Gma and Gpa Tubb at the temple on our wedding day]

[Gpa Tubb, Gma Tubb, me, Allan. 08.08.08]

It's crazy how much has changed since the day these pictures were taken. We now have a 4 month old, we've bought a house, we've celebrated two wedding anniversaries, and the Grandpa you see in this picture is now under constant care. It's one of the most sad things I've ever experienced - seeing someone you love fade away. I can't even imagine what my Mom and Grandma are going through. The only thing that gives me comfort is that he'll be in a happier place and that families are forever. I'm grateful for the wonderful example they are to Allan & I. They've been together for 67 years and have an amazing love story. They were sealed in the temple and have always been active members of the church. I love them so much. I can't wait until I can be the blunt grandma like she is :P and Allan can tell his adventurous stories like he does. 

-Little Wife Power House

need a good laugh?

If you need a good laugh [possibly having a bad day] then you have come to the right blog. Just wait until you get to the end. I hope it makes you laugh just as hard as it made me laugh! 


Today has been a good day. A really good day. I woke up, nursed H, played, put him down for a nap, worked for a few hours, grocery shopped...and this was all before NOON. Oh yeah, did I mention I fit into another pair of my pre-baby jeans?! I'm getting there slowly but surely. Here we are at the table for a little snack:

[I couldn't get him to look at the camera. He must love me or something.]

[my snack in my cute new bowl! love target too much.]

[holden's snack. he sucks his thumb now. so cute.]

Now I believe I promised you a good laugh so here it is:

[hahahahahah. I love you, Holden!]

We're about to go to my sister's to have a feast. Ham, baked beans, macaroni and cheese (the gourmet kind), and other veggies I'm sure. They treat us well ;) Hope the picture brightened up your day a little!

-Little Wife Power House

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Twenty

Day twenty:

I'm grateful for my job

[at RTR's 10-year anniversary lunch]

I'm one of the lucky ones who gets to work from home. I wasn't expecting to be able to after I had Holden but it just worked out. I'm SO grateful for the opportunity I get to earn money for my family and still get to raise my son 24-7. I don't think I could stand to leave him every day...I would if I had to but thankfully, I don't. The owner of the company and everyone else involved in helping me do this have been amazing. I doubt any of them read this but if you do - you guys have been so great to our family so thank you...thank you...thank you! We appreciate everything. 


-Little Wife Power House

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Nineteen

Day nineteen:

I'm grateful for my health. 

It's days like this [when I'm sick] that I am especially grateful for my [usually] great health. I was around Allan for the past few weeks that he has been sick and nothing...you know who got me sick? A Sunbeam [one of the four-year-olds we teach at church] last Sunday. kids = crazy germs. I'm grateful that my family is lacking any major illnesses. I'm grateful we can all see [as long as I have my thick glasses on]. I'm grateful that we can all hear. I'm grateful that we can all walk and run [well obviously not H yet!] I'm grateful that [I believe thanks to H being breastfed] Holden hasn't caught what Allan or I had/have. I'm grateful for all of these things and more. 


-Little Wife Power House

what holden's been up to lately...

[as you can tell, I love tummy time pictures]

[chewing...]

[still chewing...]

[oh hey mom! cool camera!]

Just a few pictures of what Allan & I have been up to...my camera was missing for a few days so I don't have very many. It has been found though! 

[Hawaiian pizza for Pizza Friday..mmm]

[it's hot chocolate season! HUZZAH!]

Please share any good, warm, holiday-ish recipes you all have! I've been baking/cooking up a storm lately and I'm always dying to try new recipes. 

-Little Wife Power House


PS I haven't been updating my Gratitude Challenge so here it is for the last few days...short and sweet.


Day sixteen: I'm grateful for my Prius. I love it sooo much.
Day seventeen: I'm grateful for this blog. I love blogging a lot, actually. I love that it holds me accountable to writing down memories and that I can put pictures with those memories. I'm also grateful for other people's hard work on their blogs. I find so many great ideas/recipes on them!
Day eighteen: I'm grateful for food. Me and food have had a long affair and are quite fond of each other. I especially love pizza which is why I think Pizza Fridays are the BEST!!

Happy 4 Monthday, Holden!

Nicknames: Bubbles, Bubba, Holdenbear 
Temperament: You are really interactive now. You laugh and smile a lot when I kiss you and make fart noises [very mature of me] on your tummy. You laughed for the first time this month! You're still a little particular but I think you're getting better. You put a smile on everyone's faces when they see you. 
Things I Could Do Without: Lately you've been getting up 3+ times in the middle of the night (I think you're hitting a growth spurt). You started to clamp down during nursing! OUCHHHHH! I tell you "NO!" and you just smile at me. Urg. You started peeing in between diaper changes again...twice today. Your skin is still having issues and I worry every day about it. 
Item/Toy We Love The Most: Your alligator. I love to see you take it apart. You figured it out right away [ahem, baby genius]. 
Item/Toy You Love The Most: The newly discovered Pooh Bear book. It crinkles...it has teether parts...it has a handle...what's not to love? Oh, and your hands still. You actually prefer your hands over nursing now-a-days! 
Things I'm Loving Most Right Now: You hug me now when I'm holding you. You smile when I say "momma." Your laugh. Doing mini-Superman with you, tummy time [still], cuddles. I love how you follow me with your eyes when I walk out of a room. 
Things You're Loving Most Right Now: Standing. Sitting up. "Rockabye Baby." Rolling from your stomach to your back [multiple times a night]. Kicking in the bath. Talking [Dad had to leave a meeting we were having with the other Primary teachers because you just had so many opinions you wanted to share!] 


We started Holden's 4 Monthday Celebrato with a cranky H. I passed him off to Uncle Robert [who apparently moonlights as a baby whisperer] and his usual birthday pattern followed...

falling asleep before the party begins!

Allan took a break from his 5 day homework binge for a little family time:

H loves Daddy time!

We had burgers, fries, and pumpkin cheesecake muffins [click on that link for the recipe...it is soooo tasty! PeRfeCt for the holiday season.] 

[Happy Birthday to Holden...]

Look how good he has gotten at sitting up! I'm so proud of him! We ended the night with some Mario Cart and H played with the Tesla app on my iPad...addicted already! :)

We always love having the Guerrero's over to our house. We're lucky to have such great family! I got to see my good friend, Sallie, today. I love her. She's so much fun, so sweet, and one of my good friend's future wife. He is lucky to have found a girl like her...and that he somehow got her ;) JK GARRETT! We also took some family pictures this morning with Allan's side. 18 people total! It went a lot smoother than I imagined. Everyone did exactly what the photographer asked of them so it was over very quickly! I'm excited to see them. Our little family took some pictures alone with some goofy props...hello Christmas card picture! 

[sweet picture of H and grandpa]

All in all it was another successful birthday celebration. I know some of you might think it silly to celebrate monthly but I love it. It's an excuse to get together with family, cook a yummy meal, and play games. What's better than that?! 

-Little Wife Power House

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Fifteen

HALFWAY THERE!

Day fifteen: 

I'm grateful for Koda. 

I've had Koda since I was 17 [so 6 years now]. She was my little baby before I had my little baby. She's really fun to snuggle with, protective [good and bad...] and it's so fun coming home to her wagging her tail like crazy and jumping on my legs. She's still a spaz. She's still skiddish, scared, and neurotic but she's my skiddish, scared, neurotic little dog. I do have to admit that she doesn't have as big of a hold on my heart as she once did [pre-Holden days] but I still love her dearly. Even if she does pee on our carpet when she's mad at us - spiteful little thing...

-Little Wife Power House

can I get a day off?

Being sick while being a stay-at-home mom/working-from-home mom is pretty bad. I give it two thumbs down. Can I get a day off?  Unfortunately that's not how it works. As a Mom, I'm on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I can't call in sick to mommyhood. I know if I just had a day where I could sleep it off and rest I would get over this quickly but it just won't happen. And to start off my morning guess what happened. Holden had an explosion...and not just a little one either. A SIX WIPE explosion. Hey, at least I'm not throwing up. Silver lining. 


I'm also going to start combining my gratitude challenge posts so I'm not only doing that every day. Posting it every day is such a good way to keep me on track but I can see how it would get boring. This way I can make sure I do both! 

Day fourteen:

I'm grateful for cute little baby feet & hands.

There's nothing like a little baby hand clutching your finger or playing with tiny baby feet. It's crazy to think we were all once that small and it's sad to think Holden's feet & hands won't be that small in such a short time. Although, they'll still be MY baby's cute feet and hands forever :). 


-Little Wife Power House

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Thirteen

Day thirteen:

I'm grateful to live in the USA.

I'm very grateful to live in the United States of America. I'm grateful to live in a country where I can practice my religion freely, where going to college isn't just an unattainable dream, where I have countless luxuries, and where I'm happy. I'm grateful to live where my son can chew on his hand all day long ;)

[hehe..]

I think sometimes we take little things for granted. Hot water. Drinkable water. Air conditioning. I'm grateful for all of those things that make my day-to-day much simpler. I'm grateful for the President. I know not everyone agrees with everything he does but hey, you try to run a country of over 300 million people and make everyone happy! I'm grateful for the soldiers who serve and who have served our country. I look up to you men and women so much. Thank you for being more brave than I will ever be. I love the USA! :P


-Little Wife Power House

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Twelve

Day twelve:

I'm grateful for music.

Whether it be The Blood Brothers or Hymns, I love music. Music can bring you back in time. It can make you feel peace, happiness, sadness, anger, nostalgia, every emotion known to man. Some people in my life who love music to the max are Steve & Emily (my brother and his wife). They are dedicated. They still make time to go to shows often. They are always finding new bands and sharing them with others. It's something fun that they get to share together and they always will. I think Steve has turned me on to a lot of the bands I listen to. Some of my favorite bands include: The Spill Canvas, Deathcab for Cutie, Postal Service, Journey, Jimmy Eat World, The Good Life, really - any 80's music (ask Allan, he hates it!), the list goes on. I also really love Hymns. H loves them too! When he was a new newborn, he would mostly only go to sleep if someone sang to him. I always sang hymns to him. They are peaceful, calming, and beautiful. I wish I knew all of the words to every hymn like my wonderful husband (and I mean every hymn...it's impressive!) ...maybe one day. I hope that we can share our love for all music with Holden as he grows up. 


-Little Wife Power House


P.S. Steve & Emily - if you have any new bands to share, please do! I completely trust your taste :P

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Eleven

Day eleven:

I'm grateful for my new rolling pin.

You read it right. My new rolling pin. When you've lived for years without a rolling pin and instead used a big, plastic water bottle to roll out anything from cinnamon rolls to pizza dough, you are grateful for a real one. I didn't know what I had been missing!! I ordered one from Anthropologie. I had never wanted to drop the cash for one since I felt the water bottle technique was working just fine. When I saw this one though, I couldn't resist. Also, since we're doing Pizza Friday every week, I am rolling quite a bit more. I think I've talked about my weakness to anything Anthropologie before...I also got new oven mits, a platter, and a cookie jar. I have to wait until Christmas to get those from my Dad though. Can't wait! Next? These bowls. Anyways, back to the rolling pin. This one is AWESOME. I couldn't believe how easy it was! This baby's got some heft to it. It's bone china so I better never drop it...I'll never go back to the water bottle. I can promise you that! 


-Little Wife Power House

"The world will teach our children if we do not."

-Rosemary M. Wixom

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Ten

Day ten:

I'm grateful for fall.

Ah, fall. I only get to see you for such a short time of the year but I love you nonetheless. I love your cool weather, your beautiful colors, Allan's break from school, your clothes, your holiday season, your decorations. Basically I love everything about you. I wish I got to spend more time with you besides the little break between our blistering summers & (in my wimpy opinion) freezing winters! I'll enjoy you while you last...

-Little Wife Power House

The Gratitude Challenge: Day Nine

Day nine:

I'm grateful for my friends.

This is Garrett & Sallie. They're special. I actually had a picture of them both with funny faces but I didn't have the flash on so it's not great...at least Sallie looks pretty :). These two are perfect for each other. Ahem, Allan & I take credit for setting them up, I might add! They stood in line for hours to win free wings for a year from Buffalo Wild Wings and we got to eat the fruits of their labor a few weeks ago. Man, I don't even like wings and I wanted more! They're getting married December 28th (having wings at their reception, love it) and we couldn't be happier for them. Now if only Garrett wasn't stealing Sallie away to Lubbock! 


We are so lucky to be blessed with such great friends: Mindy, Levi, and their boy Aiden, Ephraim (AKA George), Sallie & Garrett (above), our siblings (it's the best when you're friends AND related, eh!?), Bill, Blair, Jackie, the list goes on...I love you all! I didn't write down all of our friends (thought that would get boring) so if you're not on the list...we love you!!


-Little Wife Power House