Breathe.......

I am in a raw mood today, so no post's I am just going to take a few and breathe........... I am stressed from all that we have going on. So do like me and just sit back and try and think about 10 positive things even if you are not stressed. I will make your day.
Breathe in........
Breathe out.......

Family

My Brother and Sister-in-law

My Shining Star
Old picture from Christmas that Nanna sent to me
Katie and me
Our New Year's Eve Party

I love family!

What a good life....

Sweet Beesley...





Some of what we have been doing. I just know you have been dying to see!

Seriously?

Ok, first off, still no pictures. I have not taken any but my dad took some of Mason when he went for the weekend to my parents house. As soon as I can get them back and sort through them, I will post them... Posts are normally not any fun with out pictures of the cute little ones.... I do not actually think you read what I write....

Next to my funny key story... This might be long, not so sure until it is all down...

Last night when Curt left for work, he took the Volvo... I thought this is weird but he has been driving it a lot lately becasue we are selling our other car... But I did not think too much of it, Brothers and Sisters was on and I was way too into it... So, this morning after I dressed and fed Mason it was time to warm the car, so I went looking for the keys. When I drive, the keys are always put right back into my purse, becasue that is a good place for keys- more on that later... Anyways back to the story... I could not find the keys, anywhere. I drove Curt's car to work on Friday and I knew we did not take it anywhere all weekend... So, I called Curt and he started giving me the 3rd degree about misplacing stuff, which (sorry hunny) is him, not me. I am always the one who finds the stuff that is misplaced. I knew they were not anywhere in the house becasue I went on a cleaning rampage on Sunday and definatley would have found them and put them in the right place, my purse... He was giving me tips on where to look and how I should always put stuff back where it goes and then I can find it.... ( I now find this conversation comical) Well, he then tells me that he might have used them on Saturday when he was moving around the cars to get the camaro out of the garage... Ding, Ding, Ding.... I knew I did not have them last and instantly felt better, but I still had no keys and 5 minuites to go until I had to be at work.... Well after moving the cars on Saturday he also went dirt bike riding with Brian... He starts telling me to look in the pants he wore but I know the keys are not in there because I washed them and they would have come out in the dryer... No keys in the dryer. We get off the phone becasue the sitter is at the house and I need to get her settled before I get more frusterated becasue I still have no keys... He calls back and lets me know that he talked with Brian and the keys are in Brian's surburban.. What? how could this happen, you always put stuff right back into the right place, I ask??? He says, well I put them into the tool box which is a really safe, good place for keys to be if you are out in the woods bike riding.... Seriously?

I love you honey I hope you are not mad about this post.. It is all in good fun, and only to show that I am right- sometimes...

More official.....

So, it is getting pretty official around here... I am really going to leave my job- FOR REAL! I put in my notice with my boss last Tuesday and we decided that the end of March will be good for everyone... Ok, whatever, I can make that work.... At the time I was excited to leave, still am... But, I have always worked... Since I was 15, so this is new for me. I have not always loved working, and I do not particuarly love my job now, but it is mine.... Not to say that my new job- at home with Mason- will not be even better. I am just embarking on a new part of my life, one I have been starving for since Mason was born... Do not get me wrong, I am just realizing that change will come a bit harder than I had originally anticipated... Why am I posting this? Well, today we hired my replacement, that made it permenant. She starts training ASAP! I do not have an easy job, it may seem that way becasue I enjoy blogging and shopping for fun stuff on-line and e-mailing Kacey all day. I am just way better at time management than most of you know... Ha, I got one up on you! So, I am buying a day planner, a new one. I have one for work, but that is work. I want one with a fresh start so I can plan out meals, cleaning schedules and errands and what-not... I love to plan, that it what I am almost always doing at work- planning out my day, week and anything else I can think of... So, If you know of any cute, efficent kinds of planner that will have spaces big enough for what I want and still not cost a ton and it still has to be cute too, let me know. I am definately excited about making the change even more official with a new planner. Am I a total dork?
Yes, I know that this was random and it definately needed to be devided into different paragraphs for different thoughts... this is just how my brain is working today!!!

Tag- I'm it!

Kacey sent this to me and I thought it was cute. She sent it in e-mail, but I thought I would extend it to my blog, becasue I love blogging and I un-love working!

Four things about me that you may or may not know; in no particular order:

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Manager at Apartments
2. Mommy
3. Gap Inc.
4. Nanny

Four movies I would watch over and over - if I had time:
1. The Notebook
2. The Holiday
3. Fried Green Tomatoes
4. Baby Einstein- Mason told me to put this one on here, they are his most favorite!

Four places I have lived:
1. Tullahoma, TN
2. DalMurfreesboro, Tn
3. that is it! I am pretty stationary...
4.

Four TV Shows that I watch:
1. Lost
2. Brother's & Sisters
3. Desperate Housewives.
4. Cashmere Mafia

Four Places I Have Been
1. Oregon
2. Florida
3. Arizona
4. Texas- not for very long.....

Four People Who Email Regularly
1. Kacey- like 5 times a day on the regular....
2. Mom
3. Amanda- not so much now that we have the blogs.... It keeps us up to date
4. Can I count all of my blogging buddies?

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Japaneese
2. Italian
3. Ice Cream
4. Apple Pie

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. With Curt and Mason- they are my inner circle...
2. The beach with the inner circle
3. At Cocoa Mocha with the girls on girls night, RIP Cocoa Mocha, RIP...
4. I would rather be doing anything than pretending I am working and trying to sneak in my blogging time... I love how sneaky I am...

Four people I think will respond:
1. Amanda
2. Katie
3. Amy- Amanda's super cool family, I know they read my blog...
4. Nicole, you are super cool too, I know you are reading....

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Satying at home with Mason
2. Starting the Etsy store with Kacey
3. My baby sisters Wedding in May....
4. Mason's 2nd Birthday!
5. My 1 year anniversary with Curt....

If you took the time to read this, you have the time to re-post this... Consider yourself TAGGED!

Happy Late Valentine's Day

To those of you who I did not speak to yesterday, Happy Valentine's Day from the Phillips Family! I made card's for Curt and Mason and Mason picked Curts card out at Target... He is still a little too young to make one. He did help me write his name though- too cute! I got Curt a few little love gifts that we exchanged last night after he woke up. Mason got a book called, "Never too little to Love." I love it, such a cute book. He really enjoyed it last night at story time... I got Jack Johnson- not really Jack, but his CD! It is lovely I am rocking out at my desk today and enjoying life. Curt had an extreemly long few days at work and not sleeping too well, so I took off yesterday and enjoyed Valentine's Day with Mason. We ran errands, worked around the house and cooked our traditional spaghetti. I must say, it gets better every year! I really do cook spaghetti more than once a year, maybe 2 times a year, Ha! Curt brought me a Strawberry Sunday, it was delightful.

Tonight is the real treat we are headed on a date to Nashville with out our little man, so sad, but so fun! He is going to stay with my parents for the night. I love that kiddo but a nice dinner as a couple is so rewarding and relaxing- love it! I am just now to the point where I can actually enjoy a nice dinner with Curt with out Mason and not feel bad about it.

New Developments....

So here is the news I have been hanging over your heads for a few days.....
Drum roll please.......
Starting around the 3rd week in March, I will start sating home with Mason.... YAY!!!!!!!! This may not be such big news to other people, but to US, it is HUGE! First of all I have always wanted ot be a stay at home Mom... I think it is a job that some can do and others may prefer to be at work. We have had such a very hard time with childcare since the daycare incident that we decided taht Mason will never go back to Daycare until he is old enough to talk to us and tell us what is going on.... I am also going to take some classes to finish up my teaching degree. I am so close, 20 hours and student teaching... I can almost taste it. I am not wanting to teach anytime soon, right now I want to have babies and raise them, that is my job for now.... But when they go to school, I will be heading in the door with them. This will truely be FUN!

Well, so much fro rambeling. I am sure the news is not what you thought it might be, but it sure is exciting new for us and Mason. He seems like such a happier child when we are with him then when I call home and he is crying. Now that will rip your heart right out of your chest....

Lost-
Lost is our favorite show, for those of you who do not watch it, is ROCKS. Last night was pretty good too! I just cannot get enough. I am hoping that since the writers strike is over, maybe they will get inspired and write another season... I will really be very sad when Lost is over.... But for now, I am loving it!

ps- my spell check is still not working, so if you run across any mispelled words, just laugh and go on. I am a horrible speller, plus I am a really fast typer, this is a bad combo!

Can you read????

Ok, so I cannot even spell my last name. I was looking over my blog and I realized that I spelled my last name wrong. "Philllips 101?" My name only has 2 l's.... I am such a funny girl... I guess it will have to stay that way until I have time to fix it!

Updates....

So, you might be wanting to know, "What in the heck has happened to us...?" Well, to be honest, I was holding out to try and make an inspiring post for #100... Well, I keep putting it off and now I am having blogger withdrawls.... So, I am going to update you on the Phillips family instead of some list of 100 things that you are not going to read anyhow....

We have had a bit of the nasties at our house. First the babysitter brought it over, then Mason came down with it, then me and now Curt.... At least it is not the flu. Everyone has been vaccinated this year except form me, so we are riding it out, so far so good!

Last week the babysitter was gone the whole week tending to her sick munchkin, so we ran around like crazy chickens trying to get Mason taken care of during the day while I am working and Curt is sleeping.... What a week, I probably saw Curt 1.5 hours for the whole week total.... YUCK, so needless to say, I was so happy to see the weeknd on its way... Well, then we all got sick. So we stayed in most of the weekend trying to get some strenght back. I was mostly sick all day Saturday. Lets just say that things really fall apart when Mom gets sick. I think God gives Mommies special graces and special germ fighting agents so they can get better soon and the Daddy's and the babies can have someone to take care of them... Thank goodness.

Mason is talking so much now. Some new Mason-isms:
sish (fish)
mmmlo (marshmello)
diddle, diddle, diddle ( a new song that Mason sings to anything he likes)
Out
Down
ni nite
eeeys (keys)
cat (he got this from Curt one day when he was yelling at the cat)
baba (bottle)- yes, I know I should have weened him before he figures out where we put them and what goes in them
His table manners are getting much better now that we are making a very good effort to eat at home, at the table at least 5 nites a week!
He loves to stack things and then knock them down.
If he wants something, he will come and get your hand and lead you to whatever it is that he needs...
He is such a little climber. I was doing laundry yesterday and I caught him on top of the dog cage, we have a pretty big dog which = a big cage. He pushed his Little Tykes table over to the cage to gain access ot the top. I was pretty sacred, but not so scared that I got it on video first....
And, he can pretty much open any door in the house except fot he fridge... Thank goodness, it is only a matter of time though!
Curt and I have some new developments on the horizon, post on that soon to come- No, it is not a baby! Yes, it does have to do with my job.... Amanda, I might be coming earlier than May, never know. I am still looking for tickets though!
Oh, and I will post pictures on my new blog win from Mommy Doodles when it arrives. How I love to win stuff and now I am addicted to entering blogger contests!

PS- The spell check is messed up and I am a horrible speller, so if you get some mis-spelled words, nevermind me I went with band instead of spelling class- BAD idea!

I won, I won, I won!!!!!!!!

I won the .:Mommy : Doodles:. give away for the handmade door signs. I am so excited. This is the first time in my life I have ever won something! Thanks to .:Mommy : Doodles:. for having FABULOUS giveaways- YoU RoCk!!!! If you are a Mommy or even thinking about becoming one someday, you should go to Mommy Doodles and see what this blog is all about! They also give great discounts to the items placed on the site! Yay for prizes! Check out Mommy Doodles on my side bar.
Also a big thanks to Jenny Vanover, Doodle Design Shop
www.doodledesignshop.com for donating this great giveaway! Go and visit her site too!

Dear Mason,

I wanted you to know that you are my shining star. I love you more than you will ever know, every time I look at you my heart just melts away. I am so excited to see you grow into the strong, smart and handsome young man that I know you will be. Today when I was spending my lunch time with you, you learned something new... You dropped you sippie cup and I looked at you and said, "uh-oh." You looked at me and then pointed to your sippie cup and said, "uh, oh." I was so excited! A little while later right before I left you took my hand lead me into the living room and pointed at the t.v. I turned on your video and you sat so contently and watched it. It was exactly what you wanted and you knew just how to ask for it! Little things like this will not mean much to you when you are old enough to read this, but they sure mean a lot to Mommy.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
love,
Mom

It's The Little Things

So, recently I came across a blog that I absolutely love. Lisa Leonard, is a very talented artist and a very genuine person. I get all of this from her blog, I do not know her from Adam. The way she presents her jewelry and writes about her life always makes me feel so inspired. You should check out her blog. I hope you find as many neat jewelry pieces to buy as I have. I have not purchased any yet, I am saving up for the holidays holidays...... Mother's Day--- Hint, Hint!

http://www.lisaleonard.blogspot.com/

Picnik.com

This is my FAVORITE!!!! I am proud of myself for this one!
This is before I played with it... Pretty plane, but still stinkin cute!

This is my Nana when she was a little girl- before
After- I think it looks better anyways...

So I purchased a year's membership to picnik.com. This is what I have been doing with my spare time. I love this stuff. I do not have an Apple, so I do not get the fun iPhoto, like some of you.... But this is the next best thing. It is super fun, I just cannot stop!

Chicken Pot Pie

Ok, so Marie Callender has nothing on me... I made the most kick-butt chicken pot pie the other night. My sister-in-law gave me the recipe which I tweaked a bit, sorry Carrie, it is in the genetics. My Mom is always adding stuff and taking away stuff from recipes. I am pretty armature, but I have to toot my own horn, it was amazing...

What you need:
2 chicken breasts
1/2 bag of frozen mixed veggies
1 bar of Fat free cream cheese *
1/2 c of shredded cheese *
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 can of cream of mushroom soup *
1 1/2- 2 cans of crescent rolls

*- is all of the stuff I added. So, if you want to try the original recipe, it is very easy...

• Place the cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, shredded cheese and cream cheese into a bowl and mix well until lumps are all gone...
• Then add the vegetables and stir in. You can use as much or as many as you like depending on your families preference.
• After boiling the chicken cut into small pieces and add into mixture.
• Use a 9" pan (I think that is what I used- mine was round) and place the crescent rolls on the bottom for the crust. Place the mixture in the middle and then place the remaining pieces on top.
• Bake for about 30-40 minutes on 375. I started it on 350, but bumped it to 375 because the middle was not cooking very well.

This is creamy and yummy and it was great because I cooked it on a cold night and the re-heats were even really good!

Enjoy! Let me know if you make this yummy meal and if you liked it or not.

top 100

I got hip with the times and updated my blog to this cute V-day page.... In return, I lost all of my page links.... So, please leave me a message so that I may add you back to my blog and look at your blogs also...... PLEASE and THANKS.

I am also almost to 100 posts.... YAY! I am going to post my 100 most favorite blogs. So, if you have a favorite other than your own--- let me know and I might add it!

Oh, how I love Jack

FYI- All of you who love Jack Johnson..... His new album is coming out in February 2008! I cannot wait! His music is my secret love affair. I get in the car all by myself and I "ROCK OUT!" I will keep you posted as to which date, unless you know already, I would love to know...

I eat {BuBbLeS} becasue I think they taste ~yummy~

I love these pictures of my little monkey in the bath... We have been taking bubble baths lately and he loves it! So much that he eats the bubbles. He puts them on his hand and licks them off. Once he even sucked them up his nose. I do not think that went over as well as licking them... He is too cute!

The Chucky head came from Chuck Cheese 2 weeks ago. That thing is still flying high. mason love it. Hayden's Mommy had to buy him one for home because he loves Mason's so much. The best part, it will not bust into a million tiny pieces that will get stuck in the throat. Trust me, I tried already!

Mason and Hayden

These pictures are of Mason and Hayden. Hayden is Mason's newest friend. Hayden's Mommy has been keeping Mason on the days that Curt cannot. They have a ton of fun together. These pictures are from a cupcake adventure they had together. On my girls night out, we went to a bakery and we all got our little munchkins a surprise. I got Hayden one too, I could not leave him out! I think it is funny that his name is Hayden, that is the name I wanted to name Mason, but Curt won!

Bring your kid to work day!

This morning Curt had to work a little longer, so I took Mason to my work. I love to spend time with him, so any excuse to get more time is wonderful.... Well, not bringing him to work. My camera died, so I only got pictures from the very beginning of his trip to College Grove. It was way worse by the time he left. I could only laugh though because he had a ball. Lets just say that after he left, i had to vacuum and clean my office and put it back together for like 30 minutes.

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as my little man enjoyed the tape dispenser!

And, a BIG shout out to spell check on BLOGGER! Apparently I have the worst spelling on earth! No matter how long my message usually is, I am always correcting words. So, If you ever happen upon a horribly spelled post, it is most likely because I forgot to spell check!

Teething and Shots

Yuck, Mason is teething right now. We have been battling this with Tylenol and Highlands Teething tablets. He has only had 8 teeth for a very long time. He got increasingly irritable last weekend. So, I pried his little chompers open to see his 15 month molars poking right through the skin. That is when we started medicating. I have some friends who's kiddos do not have any problem with teething, but Mason has a very sensitive mouth. He has been overly whiny, but it is nothing we cannot handle. He is still a little charmer most of the time. He makes a new girlfriend most everywhere we go... I guess I had better keep my eye on him...
We also went for his 15 month check up. I almost forgot until I saw Amanda's post. So, I called and got our appointment, thank goodness for cancellations. And, thank goodness for Amanda. I thought our next appointment was 18 months... Our little man is not so little anymore. He is growing like a weed. He is in the 95% for his age in height. Which I think is amazing. Except for the fact that we cannot keep him in pants. He is 34 inches tall and 26 lbs and 14 oz. He is in the 75% in weight. Our sweet little man is growing up. The doctor got on to me because Curt and I still have not taken Mason off of the bottle. I know, it is pretty bad. He only takes it once of twice a day, so to me it did not seem like it was causing too much harm. But the Doc said otherwise, so after MLK day, Mason is coming off of the bottle. This will be a sad, sad day for me as well, I love my "baby" Mason time. It is so sweet when he cuddles up to me and takes that bottle. It is like moving back in time 6 months. Yes, I know I am sad, so I will stop talking about this. I will post some new pictures soon. We have been way too busy to take any lately.

Falalalalalala....

This is a ranting, raving, negative post.... So, if you are not interested, please do not read.

I work with this girl, she has been mentioned in previous blogs. Well, she is doing much better now on her time management and doing her job a lot better.... I am so happy for her.
What she is not doing well----- SINGING!
Every song that comes on, she sings out loud. No matter who is in the office. She is really bad, like smashed cat, Phoebe on Friends kind of bad. Every time she opens her mouth I think of a hippie, Gypsy all chilled out on drugs... I think the thing that comes to mind came from a movie, but I am not sure which one! I just want to tell her- please stop! It is so bad that every time a slow song comes on, I "cringe." I am at work right now and "When a man loves a woman" is on and it is like nails on a chalk board. AHHHHHH!
I am not trying to down people that cannot sing, I am vocally challenged myself. The only time I serenade anyone is when I am singing to Mason or my poor husband hearing me take a shower.
Part of me wants to help her, but then I think, "what if it is me? What if my hearing is messed up and she really sounds great? Maybe that is why no one is complaining..." Naaaah! Pretty sure I am right.
Maybe Monday I will change the station to rap, I do not think she will be able to keep up with that!
Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to ME, right...?

Last night Curt and I celebrated my birthday, even though it is today, at Cheesecake Factory in Green Hills. We took Mason along, because we thought it would be fun. Well, I guess I forgot that it takes FOREVER there because they want you to relax and not rush, at least that is what the waiter referred to the delay as... Well, Mason got cranky because he can only sit in a highchair for so long. I do not blame him, I would have it too. So, we finally got out food. Curt and I split a huge burrito that was about the size of my arm. Well we only ate half of it together, the other half is in the fridge. Mason had already eaten, but he wanted something to eat as well. Since the burrito was spicy, I gave him a granola bar from his diaper bag. Good idea many would think, well.... my little munchkin eats very fast. He sated choking and coughing. We let me work it out because we did not want to scare him by digging our fingers down his throat. All the while there is a young couple, most likely in college- no kids, sitting across from us with a very good view of the whole ordeal. Mind you, this is not a quite episode, it is very loud... So, Mason keeps coughing and just as soon as I am about to get him out of his chair he throws up all over himself and the table and the floor. I felt so bad for him. So, I took him to the bathroom to clean him up, he missed most of the cute little outfit I put on him and really only got the pants. Well, I had not spare pants because he has not had an episode like this in forever. I guess I will always have extra pants in the diaper bag from now on. We wiped off and headed back to the table. I could not eat anymore and Mason had defiantly had it, he was ready to get out of there. So, we went out and waited on Curt to pay. No cheesecake, not that I really needed it. I guess Mason helped me carve about 450 calories off of my dinner, thanks Mason!!! Next we were going to go to Tiffany's because there is a necklace there that matches the bracelet that Santa brought me and Curt was going to get it for me for my lovely 26th. But I decided to pass it up for the time being because there are so many other stores I "might" want something from. So, we walked around, I got a couple of small things, fully intending to return to Tiffany's for my necklace. We got back around to it and it was CLoSED! Apparently Tiffany's closes at 6pm during the week. Oh, well. It was a great night because I got to spend ti with my super hunky husband and my sweet puke smelling little boy. We had fun and Mason was very good overall. The car ride home was even enjoyable, that's pretty good for it being past bedtime. Tonight is girls night and I am sure we will have some fun! Happy Birthday to me!

New Mason Stuff

1. Everything is "hot" right now. It sounds like, "sssHot". I love it. Every bite of food we give him is HOT! He thinks it is very funny too. Normally he is right, but lately I have been leaving the big front door open to expose the glass door. It has been very cold outside, so the glass gets cold. He touches it and say, "sss hot!" I just love new things.
2. Kitty! He loves the new kitty! He follows her around and says "eeee kitty, kitty." It even sounds right. He even meows like her. For a kitten she is very tolerable of him. She is even brave enough to lay beside him in his chair.
3. Words Mason can say; Dada, Mama, Gaey (gabby), kitty, hot, no, this, that, boon (balloon), gran (Curt's Mom), Nana (my grandmother), nanna (bananna)... I think these are all for right now, that I can remember anyways. We are working on; Nonnie (my Mom), please, Grandpa (my Dad) and thank you!
4. Mason is still obsessed with light fixtures, he points to them no matter where we are and says, "this, or that" He wants to to tell him what it is. He is trying to say light, it sounds like "liiiiiii."

Well, that is it for now...

Beesley Bell

Kitty has a name, finally... Beesley Bell Phillips. I do not know where I got Beesley from, it just came to me, and Bell came from the bell that was tied around her neck when she showed up. I must say, I think she really loves it. Now we just have to adjust form calling her kitty.

A time to remember! Good-bye 2007

Rachel, Kari. Carrie, Katie, and Me...

Katie and Jeremy, how cute are they? They are getting married on 5/24/2008!
OK, I knew we should not have gotten these two together. This is my brother and Chris (one of Curt's friends). I am pretty sure this is the running man dance they are doing.

Not really sure what we are doing here, look at those CrAzY EyEs....
My family, aren't we so cute. Mom, Dad and Mason were in T-town ringing in the new year together...

We had a New Year's party at our house this year. It was a really fun time and very interesting to say the least. I have some pictures to post and I will be posting more as soon as everyone gets me the pictures from there cameras!