2010 in Review

This is mostly for me :)


This past year has been an incredible year. The best year of my life. Naomi from Rockstar Diaries did a "2010 in Review" post recently and I thought it was such a good idea. I get all of my good ideas from other people :) Imitation is sincerest form of flattery, right? Although I haven't been blogging all year and can't do the fun links for every month like she did, I'll do what I can!  


in january i was just over 3 months pregnant. I was starting to gain the tiniest bit of weight and was so happy to have made it through the first trimester with no morning sickness. we also started looking at houses in january! what a long process that turned out to be. i was in the young women's presidency and allan was scout master. i felt my first baby kick on january 28th and discovered etsy :)


in february i hit the half way mark! we found out we were having a boy and i immediately went crazy shopping. asher turned 1 year old and allan felt holden kick for the first time on february 10th. we spent our last valentine's day without children at a fancy hotel in frisco. we shopped, ate room service, and relaxed. 


in march we made a few offers on houses but nothing was working out. i was nervous because the $8,000 tax credit was about to run out. we started our Bradley classes [which ended up being a waste of $250 but whatever]. we looked at our current house for the first time on march 18th and fell in love. i also got to shake Dallin H. Oaks' hand TWICE on march 21st :). we made an offer on our wonderful home & [somehow] it was accepted!  


in april we honored allan at his Honor Student Ceremony on the 9th. he was chosen out of all the IT students! what a smartie i have. i continued to shop. and shop. and shop. we went to the denton arts&jazz festival on the 23rd and moved into our new casa on the 29th! 


in may lori, julie, casey, & cassandra threw my first baby shower! it was fabulous. we had our final sonogram & my work baby shower [it was amazing as well] on the 7th. i celebrated my first mother's day and we started teaching our wonderful sunbeams [i'm going to miss that calling and those kiddos]. 


in june i was considered full term. allan had his diapers&rootbeer party. we installed the car seat and were ready for our baby to arrive! i was done working [at the office] and just waiting for the h man...my due date came and went...


in july we made our first mortgage payment! hello adulthood! we celebrated lots of birthdays [jr's, robert's, holden's, steve's, and mine]. holden joined our family on the 13th and it was just the best day ever. holden had his first doctor's appointment on the 16th. 


in august i started this blog! i never thought i would love it like i do but i do. we also celebrated holden's 1 monthday, i realized holden was a stomach sleeper, and i got pooped on for the first time. we celebrated our two year anniversary [obviously at home this year].


in september holden got his first shots [on the 17th]. we went to the arboretum and holden experienced his first plane ride to meet grandma&grandpa tubb. i went back to work [from home]. 


in october we dressed holden up as a skeleton and a bear. he started sitting up assisted. i made cinnamon rolls by myself for the first time and am addicted now. i started the gratitude challenge. we went to our ward's trunk or treat & the Guerrero's Pancake Breakfast! holden rolled from his belly to his back for the first time. 


in november we celebrated our first thanksgiving at Allan's parents house [sick] and had our first major date night since the baby! holden turned four months old and tried rice cereal for the first time. 


in december we had our annual ugly christmas sweater party, made gingerbread houses, and attended sallie's bridal shower. holden got his first chucks, made his first road trip [here and here], and celebrated his first christmas [here and here]. i also am doing my first giveaway [check in tomorrow for the winner]! sallie&garrett got married and holden rolled from his back to his belly for the first time! we ended the year celebrating allan's birthday with some bowling & video games. it sure was a fun day. 


Phew, that was long. thanks to anyone who stuck with me to read it...


-Little Wife Power House

looking back on 2010

Well, 2010 was kind of crazy for our family.


We bought a house...

We had a baby...

We survived our first road trip with Holden...

We lost someone we love...

But got to catch up with a lot of family...

We celebrated a lot of "firsts"...[including Christmas!]

So happy that I get to spend 2011 [and forever] with these studs...

Goals for 2011:

• attend the temple once a month
• exercise once a week [i hate working out]
• read our scriptures daily [this way harder than it may seem]
• get my life organized again
• read 2 nonfiction LDS books
• cook four times a week

We hope everyone has a safe & happy New Years!


The giveaway ends at midnight tonight. Go here to enter! 


-Little Wife Power House

holden starts with green beans!

On Christmas we went over to the Guerrero's and had a fancy schmancy meal. It was gourmet! Martha Jr. [aka Lori] made beef tenderloin with potatoes, green beans, rolls, gourmet mushrooms, etc. It was amazing. Holden is almost 6 months so we decided it was time to start him on some green veggies! Green beans were there [and are usually around] so we are starting with those this week. He's naked because he had blown out of his diaper and I only had one back up outfit and I thought he would be a lot messier than he was! 

[This is my favorite picture of the bunch. I love the Christmas tree in the background.]

He probably ate 2-3 mashed green beans. The travelling food mill is a must! This week at home I will be using the Magic Bullet to blend green beans and will be using the same containers as I did with the rice cereal to freeze some for future use. It's exciting. My baby boy is growing up! 


-Little Wife Power House


PS Don't forget about the giveaway! You only have until Friday at midnight to enter!

more Christmas fun!

I told you...FOUR Christmases! It's just been so much fun to stretch out Christmas. Luckily we have enough family that we might get away with this every year. muahahah :) 


We went over to my Mom's tonight. Emily, Steve, John, and Chris all came down from Utah and Julie made the trip from Dallas. What a wonderful family we have. We opened presents first since the amazingly tasty chicken pies took a while to cook. Here are a few pictures of the shenanigans that ensued.

100th Post Christmas Giveaway! - closed

I'm so excited for this giveaway! I love Christmas so much. One of the biggest reasons I love Christmas is because I love giving gifts. I love finding that perfect present. So instead of giving away one big present, I decided to split the dinero and give away three prizes so more people could win! I've thought a lot about what I wanted to do. I tossed around a lot of ideas but in the end I wanted to give away items I fully endorse & own. Here we go!  

PRIZE #1:

This prize has already been won. We decided to use a portion of the money I set aside for this giveaway to pick a name off of the angel tree at church. 

PRIZE #2:

Remember the Bento Box? Allan loves his Bento Box and I just think it's the coolest lunchbox I've ever seen! It comes with two larger boxes, two smaller boxes, a small dipping sauce container, silverware, and carrying case. 

PRIZE #3:

This prize is a bundle and you get these wonderful items: 

1) The Lower Lights//A Hymn Revival CD: These musicians are amazing. It's beautiful and a fresh take on the classic hymns. 

2) Anthropology Apron: I've mentioned my love for Anthropology before. I got myself one for Christmas. I love that their aprons are functional and fashionable! 

[sorry for the terrible pic. allan published the post on accident and I don't have time to re-take a better pic but it's super cute!]

3) 101 Things To Do Before Your Kids Leave Home: 

I picked this up in Anthropology when I was picking out the apron. Wouldn't it be fun to complete every activity in the book? It has things like thank a soldier, build a birdhouse and wait for them to come, and organize a search for teddy bears in the dark. Even if you don't have kids now, you probably will one day and you'll have all kinds of wonderful ideas! 

How To Win?!

1) US & Canada only
2) You must be a follower of Little Wife Power House [click the "follow" link on my sidebar]
3) Leave a comment telling me your name, email [so I can let you know if you win], and which Prize # you would like to win & why
4) You can receive one extra entry for posting about this on facebook [leave an extra comment], twitter [post the url your extra comment], or your blog [post the link in your extra comment]. 

5) You have until 11:59 PM cst Friday, December 31st to enter!

6) Winner will be announced on Saturday, January 1, 2011

Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

-Little Wife Power House

christmas lights around the neighborhood

After Christmas at Allan's parents we drove around our neighborhood to look at the lights before they are all taken down. We were seriously impressed with some of them! We better step up our game next year. We are going to do our usual after Christmas run to get some awesome outside decorations [at 50% off :P] for next year. Here were some of the best.

The last one won "Best Decorations" for the neighborhood. We agree! It was so beautiful. We just sat there for a few minutes looking at the house. 

I'm making cinnamon rolls to bake in the morning and Allan is wrapping some presents for me :) And yes, we are wearing our sexy PJs. 


Check in tomorrow for my 100th Post Christmas Giveaway!!

-Little Wife Power House

Christmas with the Anderson[s]

What a fun day! I love having so much family. That means Christmas seems to last a bit longer. We get to have FOUR Christmases this year [didn't they make a movie about that??] Two on my side, one on Allan's, then the most important one...OUR LITTLE FAMILY! 


We did Christmas today with Dad, Elizabeth, and Robin. First we went to Kobe's for lunch. That is only our favorite restaurant ever. I could eat it every day...It started out a little rocky with the H man:

Luckily he quickly shifted gears...

Let me tell you, they spoiled us. Especially little Holden. That's part of being a grandparent right? Spoiling your grandchildren. It was santaholden's first go at unwrapping presents and he did better than I thought he would! He loved playing with the paper [it crinkles. should have expected that.] He even ripped some! 

where did the time go?

I've been thinking this morning about how fast time has been flying lately. Everyone always says "They grow up too fast" but I never realized just how fast he would. It seems like time goes by especially fast during the holidays, doesn't it? He's about to be six months already! It really seems like a few weeks ago that we brought him home so perfect and tiny. Now he can almost sit up on his own, roll both ways, and loves talking. 

[always loved that tongue]

[just a little guy]

[this was after a 6-hour cry fest. I don't miss that :)]


Now look at my not so little guy!

[still loves that tongue]

I've gotta figure out a way to slow time down...

-Little Wife Power House

I just think this photo is hilarious and wanted to share! 

This was when Holden was two days overdue [July 1, 2010]. He didn't decide to come out until almost two weeks later. Thanks, buddy! 


-Little Wife Power House

Road Trip from West Texas

Yesterday morning we packed the truck full of all of our luggage, 3 boys under the age of 5, and 2 adults. Needless to say, we were crammed. 

About five minutes into the trip, we hear JR say, "Are we there yet?" Then there was a breakdown. We got a little nervous. 

["Mom, I'm SO tired!"]

Aunt Gwynne & Uncle Wayne bought the boys Christmas gifts and we had to open them before we even got to Big Spring. Luckily, things vastly improved after that. Holden fell asleep for a few hours and Asher & JR were having fun playing with their cars. 

[We stopped at Whataburger for some lunch. Holden is officially a ham for the camera!]

The other two boys had breakdowns later in the trip. Asher's was very minor. Holden's breakdown didn't involve many tears - just "I WANT OUT OF THIS CAR SEAT" screams. Who would want to be strapped in for that long though? I wouldn't! 

I think Holden improved from the trip there. He cried for an hour total but I would say 30 minutes was fussing and 30 minutes was serious crying. We thought we would stop for a few minutes to nurse H thinking he might go back to sleep. There I was nursing him in a gas station parking lot when I hear him filling up his diaper. I knew it was a blowout and Lori confirmed it. Ew. Luckily Lori was nice enough to deal with it :) 

We made good time...even if I did take a detour through Las Colinas on accident :P All in all the boys were amazing on the trip and I had fun chatting with Lori for a few hours! 

We also got to go to the temple for Sallie last night. It was really special and I'm glad we made it back in time for it. Allan & I have set a goal to set aside a night each month to go to the temple...get back in the groove of things. 

-Little Wife Power House

Road Trip to West TX

The trip to West Texas was suprisingly pleasant. My theory is that you go into things like these expecting the worst and you always come out the other end pleasantly surprised. We started the trip off on a good note...that was until we hit Fort Worth and got stuck in traffic for about an hour. Three wrecks within ten miles. Just our luck. We got through that and the rest of the drive was smooth sailing. Holden cried for about and hour and a half [when we told my mom this, she said "That's a good trip?"] Yes, mom! It was a good trip. Here's why:

• Holden slept about half of the trip
• We got pulled over on the highway and got out of a ticket :P
• I got a Blizzard from DQ that I had been craving!
• We arrived earlier than expected

Doesn't this break your heart?

The upside to him being in his car seat for so long was that he was extra, super snuggly when I would get him out. I had a hard time putting him back in! Here he is when we took one of our breaks:

Christmas is so close! I can't wait!

-Little Wife Power House

Grandpa's Ties

As you all know, we have been in Midland the last few days for T.C. Tubb's funeral. It's been a really good weekend - being able to hear stories about his life, hearing people share how much they loved and admired him, and being with family. We've really been able to focus on the good and celebrate his life.

After the funeral, we all went back to the house and Grandma got out a few of Grandpa's ties for the boys. Each boy got to choose a few [even Holden!] It was really special because each of us got to take something to remember a great man by - and we can even have a piece of him with us at church. I chose Grandpa's temple tie for Holden [all white]. I chose it so Holden can wear it when he goes through the temple for his first time in preparation for his mission. He'll be able to have his Great Grandpa with him on that day and I know that will add even more to it. 

Here is a picture of all the men with Grandpa's ties:

[notice H displaying his tie with pride]

Lori & I decided to stay until Tuesday morning so we could be with our Grandma while we're here. We don't have a chance to come out here very often so we want to take advantage! Allan & Robert [the husbands] left today and we miss them but it will be nice to have some girl time. 

I have to embarrass Allan really quick before I end the post :) I picked up some fun Christmas PJs for me & Allan at Target a few days ago. We will basically be living in these until Christmas is over :P Aren't we hot?

When we came out to show them off my Grandma's response was, "These two sure are screwballs!" Gotta love her :)

-Little Wife Power House

baby's first road trip

As I said yesterday, we will be trekking to Midland this afternoon. This will be Holden's first road trip and I'm scared because he just started liking his car seat. This might reverse it! Nooooooo! A friend suggested stopping every 90 minutes. I think that's a good idea. It's a long enough stretch of time that we will get there before the sun rises and short enough that we will have plenty of stops for nursing, diaper changes, to stretch our legs. Thanks for the tip, Stephanie! Does anyone else have tips for road tripping it with a little one?


What I don't want:

What I do want:

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! The real test of patience will be Monday when [still not set in stone] Lori & I drive back with a 4-year-old, an almost 2-year-old, and a 5-month-old. Will we make it back with our sanity in tack? Stay tuned...


-Little Wife Power House

baby's first chucks

This is a momentous occasion. We purchased Holden his first pair of baby chuck taylors. I'm in love. 

Here he is showcasing those bad boys.

Here he is saying loud & proud "My Dad's a Geek!"

We will be out in Midland for my Grandpa's funeral this weekend. Blogging will be on the back burner so if I don't hit my 100th post by Christmas...who cares! I'm still doing the giveaway! 

-Little Wife Power House

holden shopping

So I mentioned before that I have a holden shopping problem, right? Well this time it's okay because I haven't been able to think of things that I want for Christmas. I've been able to think of plenty of things I want to buy mr. h for Christmas. Perfect solution! Get the H man [too many nicknames in one post?] Christmas presents instead of me! Here is what I got: 

I saw the Zzzoolight [the elephant lamp] in People magazine a few months ago and I've been wanting to get it ever since. I found all of these items here. It was either spend $20 on shipping or spend $20 more shopping and get free shipping. I chose the latter. That's how they getcha! I love the items though. Isn't the T-Rex Teether cute? 

Merry Christmas to me!

-Little Wife Power House

PS Holden just rolled from his back to his stomach for me!! Proud momma moment!!!

Happy 5 Monthday, Holden!

Nicknames: TW, TroubleYou, BooBoo, santaholden
Temperament: You are so loving and affectionate! You kind of give "kisses" now [in your own way]. You snuggle into me and reach for me [makes me so happy]. You are funny too...you crack Dad & I up every day [for example, you were making fart noises into my elbow over and over again last week and I was crying laughing so hard]. 
Things I Could Do Without: This past week you've had 3 MAJOR blowouts. In store parking lots. Ew. You've been pretty amazing these last few weeks so I'm having a hard time thinking of things I don't like right now! You are such a good baby. 
Item/Toy We Love The Most: Any stuffed animal. You've started to hug them, chew on them, smile at them. It's adorable. [see previous post for picture]
Item/Toy You Love The Most: Your crib piano. You will stay in your crib for 30+ minutes in the morning just kicking it and listening to the music. Thanks for giving Mom and extra 30 minutes rest some mornings! It helps! 
Things I'm Loving Most Right Now: You are wonderful in your car seat and stroller!! HALLELUJAH! I took you on a walk in the Joovy yesterday and you loved it. Finally I can use our amazing stroller [thanks RTR]! I'm loving you reaching for me. You really do know I'm your momma now.  You have the adorable gummy smile now. 
Things You're Loving Most Right Now: You know, I'm reading from last month and you love the same things but times a million now. You loved the bath before but now you are a wild man in there! You splash, kick, squeal, get water all over mommy's glasses. I loved bath time before but seeing you in there now is way funner! "Rockabye Baby" is the song that calms you down most when you're upset still. You can stand for a really long time!
Milestones: You can sit up on your own for a bit if you're on my lap. You tried rice cereal for the first time this month. We bought your first pair of Chucks yesterday! And your first bow tie. You're basically a stud.


We didn't end up going to Rosa's for your birthday because we lost a great man yesterday, your Great Grandpa. I'm glad you got to meet him. He was such a loving man. He loved babies and I know you brought a lot of joy into his life when you visited him. He was always there for people - always serving someone. He was such a hard worker and dedicated to his family. I hope you inherit those traits from him. It's times like these that the Gospel brings us the comfort that we need: that he's in a better place, that he's free from pain, that he's with Heavenly Father, and that we'll see him again because we are all sealed together as a family. He's probably up in heaven watching WWF on a recliner :) We love you, Grandpa. 

-Little Wife Power House 

lovefest.

Finally got some proof! They love each other. 

PS Happy 5 Monthday to Holden! We will be celebrating low key at Rosa's tonight. Mom is tired from the party on Saturday and the house isn't clean to have people over anyways. It will be so fun! I love Rosa's Monday. 

[i love this picture because it looks like he's pulling a silly face]

PPS I decided what I'm doing for the giveaway. Keep your eyes peeled for my 100th post!


PPPS I finally bought all of the frames for our "frame wall" at the end of our stairs. I got to order holden's newborn pictures this morning! I can't wait to put everything together...have I mentioned lately how lucky I am to have an interior designer for a sister? She is amazing. My house would not look like it does without her! 


-Little Wife Power House