Fried Okra Salad

2 lb. pkg. frozen breaded okra
10 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
6 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. sugar
2 T. vinegar

Fry okra according to package directions; drain. Combine okra, bacon, tomatoes and green onions; set aside. Mix together remaining ingredients; pour dressing over okra mixture. Best served at room temperature. Serve immediately. Serves 8.

Delicious! Enjoy!

Everything Happens in Stages and Phases

I've learned that with a baby everything happens in phases and stages. And this is a bittersweet realization. For instance, if you are going through a phase where you aren't getting very much sleep, you will come out of it eventually and everybody will sleep like a baby. And there is nothing better than coming out of that phase. But I had a stage that went away and I was heartbroken. Trey decided a month or two ago that he did not want me to rock him to sleep. He would squirm and worm his way out of my grasp until i had to just lay him in his bed, pat his back a little, and let him fall asleep on his own. This lasted a few weeks, but as a result, he started sleeping better; sometimes going 8+ hours without waking up. (Trey has never really been a good sleeper until recently. His max would be around 5+ hours.) So I embraced the new phase and got used to not rocking him to sleep. About a week ago, he started either falling asleep while I nursed him, or actually letting me rock him to sleep again. I was in love all over. It is such a sweet and special time for a mother. I was scared that he would go back to his old sleep routine, but actually he started sleeping even longer! Now he's up to 12+ hours of unblemished sleep. (Which since he goes to bed at 7ish, gives mommy 8+ hours of sleep.) It took my body some getting used to it, but I slept 8 hours straight the other night for the first time since I was pregnant. Hallelujah!

Another phase he is going through is so funny! He sucks his top lip in to where it completely disappears and it looks hilarious. It mostly happens when he's eating but I find him doing it every so often and he makes me laugh. When I do it back to him, to try and get him to mimic me, he doesn't understand. He just laughs at my silly face. Can't you tell we have fun together?

As of about a week ago, Trey can officially stand up on his own. Before, he would have to crawl over to a wall or something steady and pull himself up to walk. Now he bends over in the downward dog yoga position and lifts up. I am so proud of him! And it is absolutely adorable!

When I hold my arms out to Trey and tell him to "come here" he gets this huge smile on his face, shrieks with excitement, puts his head slightly down and almost runs to me. I grab him in a big bear hug and smother him with kisses. It is precious and one of my favorite things we do.

I have been on a reading FRENZY lately. I guess I'm averaging about a book a week or so. Especially when I'm really into it. I started this new series called The Luxe by Anna Godbersen. It has been a wonderful break from the Rick Riordan books I've read recently with all the monsters and magical powers and whatnot. Which are great in their own way, but I wanted something different. It is a young adult romance set in 1899. The fashion and history about what life was like back then has captivated me. It is told from the perspective of 5 different people, all from different backgrounds and social statuses. There is mystery and scandal and sweet love. I haven't read a plain old romance in a while and it's like a breath of fresh air. There are 4 books in the series. Book 1 was addictive and wonderful. I started book 2 last night and it is just as good. Reading is my way of escaping from everyday life. I'm so thankful for it.

Funny Little Guy

Sometimes Trey does the funniest stuff and totally cracks me up. It is amazing how a 10 month old can already have so much personality. Now that he's walking all over the place, he can sometimes get out of my sight. Lately he's been wandering down the hall, trying to find something to get into. One morning I hear the door slam and I go to see what's going on. He has gone into the office and has shut the door on his own and is giggling inside. I knock on the door and slowly walk in. He puts his head to the floor and is laughing at himself as if he's discovered a secret I don't know about. I sit down on the futon and watch quietly. He is getting such a kick out of opening and shutting the door. (The door isn't closing all the way because our doors are jacked up, the latch never catches.) He is able to use those chubby little fingers to pry it back open, watch it swing out and then slam it shut again. He now does this to all the doors in the house. He especially likes to do this with the pantry door, along with pulling everything in sight off the shelf.

In our guest bathroom there are three drawers and in the bottom drawer are a bunch of old shower curtain hooks. Trey loves to open and shut drawers, but especially this one. The hooks clank around and make lots of noise. There is a particular gold hook with a big gold ball on the end. He searches until he finds this hook and then walks around with it until I find him with it and take it away. He loves that gold hook.

I am praising the Lord because Trey has slept 12 STRAIGHT hours the past two nights. It is so wonderful. He has gradually made his way here after 10 months. He used to get up every four hours, but slept 12 hours. Then he started sleeping 8 hours, woke up to eat, then went back to sleep for another 4 hours. But 2 nights ago was the first night EVER he slept 12 hours straight. I couldn't believe he did it again last night. Of course, my boobs don't exactly know what to think, but we will learn to deal because this is a gift from God!

10 Months

My little man is 10 months old as of yesterday. He is such a mess. He is walking so well now and is into everything, I mean EVERYTHING. One of his favorite things to get into is Maggie's dog food. We have found him sitting by her bowl with food in his hands (once in his mouth, eww!) several times. What is the appeal here? Probably the fact that I tell him no every time he goes near it. But life is changing by the day as he is finding new and exciting things to explore. Like Mommy's bookcase. Which I let him pull all the books off of - I don't want to stifle every curiosity! He follows me around the house like my shadow. It is so adorable to be so adored. Sometimes he gets a certain object in his hand (like a bag of buns, my chapstick, my iPod, etc.) and walks around with it, and will NOT put it down. This could go on for a while and is so funny to watch. He is determined to hang on to it. I'm figuring out that learning to walk is dangerous! He has so many bumps and bruises, especially on his face. I need a tshirt for him that says "life's tough. get a helmet."I still can't believe he is walking. He's too little to walk! Where did my little infant go? I told Bruce we now have a TODDLER in the house! It's unbelievable.

He still crawls sometimes to get where he is going, maybe it's easier and faster. He has started crawling with his head down, almost like it will make him go faster. Aerodynamic. It is so funny. He bumps into things all the time because he's not watching where he's going. Once again, a helmet would be nice.

He is eating some table food, but since he has no teeth we stick mainly to baby food. He LOVES bread of all kinds; especially biscuits from Cracker Barrel. I gave him some pasta the other night with some red sauce and cheese and a little meat. He really liked it. I try and give him little bites of the things we eat and he will eat just about anything.

He is quite the jabber monkey lately, but no new words that I know of. He was saying "mama" at 5 months, but I haven't heard it in a while. Still no "dada." He constantly makes the sound "unk" with a hard k sound at the end. Who knows what that is supposed to be!?

He has been sleeping great lately. I love it! He sleeps for 8 hours, wakes up to eat then goes back to sleep for another 4-5 hours. He also takes 2 naps during the day, which range in how long they are. He still loves to take his naps in his swing.

Bruce will be deploying 11 Jan for 4 months to Bagram in Afghanistan. He has volunteered 5 times and was finally chosen. I can see how truly excited and thrilled he is, which makes me happy for him. He is a true patriot. Deploying means so much to him and I fully support his dreams. He has talked about deploying several times and we thought he was going to deploy this December, so I've had some time to get used to the idea. Four months is actually a really short deployment compared to others. However, I know it will be difficult to be apart for so long, so I have decided to go home to Alabama for a few months while he's away. I am excited about the opportunity to spend time with friends and family. Martha and Kyle are expecting John Asher around 10 Apr and hopefully we will be able to see the little man. Being in Utah has kept us from several family events; I am glad to be there for such a big one.

We are all going to Alabama for Christmas on 23 Dec - 4 Jan, and I am thankful we will get to spend the holidays together. I am so blessed to be with my family this Christmas. It will be Trey's first Christmas (yay!) so I know it will be super special. I can't wait!

Man Cub

I don't want to jinx anything, but Trey has been sleeping like a rockstar lately! He has been sleeping up to 8 hours straight, eating then going back to sleep for another 4 or so hours. Plus, he takes 2 naps during the day. It has been amazing!! Momma is finally getting some sleep. Granted, he's almost 10 months so it's about time! But I will take what I can get! I love the little bugger. His walking has improved in the past week and he's walking across the whole living room now. Standing up and walking on is own is becoming easier and we can hardly keep up with him. It's crazy that he is walking already!! I just can't believe it.

9 Months

Getting Around
I guess this is the area where Trey has made leaps and bounds in the past month. You can definitely say Trey is ahead of the game when it comes to cruising/crawling/walking. I chase this boy around all day!

I kindof wanted to do a progression chart that shows how Trey got to where he is today. As of yesterday he took his first steps. I knew it was coming soon. He was starting to balance on his own for a long time without holding onto anything. The only thing left was for him to get the guts up to take a few steps. It finally happened yesterday and Bruce and I were both there to watch. It was very exciting to say the least.

1. Pulling up on things. The coffee table, the couch, drawers, the dishwasher, walls, toys and my legs. Pretty much anything that's sturdy.
2. Cruising. The coffee table is definitely his favorite, but he cruises along pretty much anything. Usually patting his way along.
3. Moving from object to object while standing. If 2 toys are close enough, he will hold onto one while reaching for the other and make his way over.
4. Walking with his toy that he pushes around to help him balance/walk. Really wobbly but getting the hang of it.
5. Balancing while standing, but not holding on to anything. This started happening a couple of weeks ago. He would be holding a toy while standing up, let go of the couch/coffee table and just stand there on his own, rocking back and forth between his toes and heels. This is when I knew he was close to walking.
6. RUNNING with his toys that he pushes around. Dude man can fly!
7. Walking from object to object taking 1 or 2 steps. This started last week. He would be holding on to the coffe table and reeeeach out while concentrating really hard on the couch. Then take the 1 step in between the two to get to the other. He walks from coffee table to couch to end table and then drops to the floor to crawl around. He knows how to get where he wants to go.
8. Taking his first steps on his own. He did it! So proud!!!

(Trey started crawling right at 8 months, but I didn't add it because it doesn't really have anything to do with walking.)

Sleeping
His sleeping habits are pretty much identical to last month. Due to sickness, we've had a couple of bad nights where he wakes up 3-4 times in one night, but he usually only wakes up once to eat. I'm hoping we get back on that schedule REAL soon! Momma needs her sleep.

Eating
This area hasn't changed much either. I am starting to give him more of the food I eat, like mashed potatoes or bread or veggies. He was eating sweet potato fries at MacCool's last night. Yummo! He eats baby food 2-3 times a day and is breastfed mostly. He is much better at putting food into his mouth and actually swallowing it. Like the puffs; he doesn't gag anymore. He loves crackers but has a hard time gumming them enough before he tries to swallow, resulting in some choking. We're going to have to break it into pieces or lay off for a while. He still struggles with the sippy cup. He cant figure out how to get anything out. We're still working on it.

Talking
No new words this month. Just alot of jibber jabber. He doesn't really way "mama" anymore, and "burp" has turned into more of a "up", but everything is "up." He's starting to make more sounds, which is fun to hear. It sounds like he has his own language that makes no sense. I love it.

Playing
Trey will play with his toys for a bit, but most of his time is spent crawling around and getting into things. I cannot get him interested in books. I have tried to read to him but he is way too much of a wiggle worm to sit still for it. We have a couple of musical activity centers where Trey will stand there and play with them while pressing buttons, playing piano keys, or flipping things back and forth. He has a couple of cars that he pushes around while walking behind them, and like I said before, he is FAST! The Hills let us borrow a big toy that has a door that swings open, mailbox, light with a switch, and doorbell among a few other things. It talks and tells you what you are doing like "light on" or "goodbye" when you shut the door. Fun stuff!!

Quirks and Special Notes
Trey is still going through that phase where he has to have his momma. When he's fussy he even cries when I leave the room. Bruce is trying really hard to break that trend, but it's a challenge. Even though he seems uninterested in daddy right now, his face lights up when Bruce walks in the room. It's precious.

Trey can wave, clap and give a high five on occasion. All are absolutely adorable.

He still loves to take naps in his swing. This is a lifesaver!

He still cries and gets very upset when I use the hairdryer, vacuum or blender. It makes me laugh even though he seems traumatized.

At his 9 month well-baby check up he weighed 9 lbs 5 oz and was 28.5 inches long. He is still in 9 months clothes but fits some 12 months. Still size 3 diapers.

Bath time way very well be his favorite time. He KNOWS whats happening when we go in there and start running the water. Last night I turned on the water and started taking his clothes off when I realized he had a poopie diaper. So I turned the water off and walked to his room to clean him up. You would have thought the world was ending! He started screaming and crying! I told him we're going right back, but he wasn't happy until we were back in there with the water back on. He looked at me with the biggest smile on his face and started bouncing up and down. He couldn't WAIT to get in the tub! Such a funny baby.

The Best Blondie Brownies!

This recipe is AMAZING! For an extra-special dessert, serve each square topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce...delicious!! Hope you enjoy!

1 c. butter, melted
2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, beaten
2 t. vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. white chocolate chips
3/4 c. toffee or caramel baking bits

Spray 9"X13" baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla until mixture is smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt; mix in pecans, white chocolate chips and baking bits. Pour into pan and spread evenly. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 min or until set in the middle. Allow to cool in pan before cutting into squares. Makes one dozen.