16 months

16 months already.  Happy day to our little love bug.

He is SUCH a mama's boy right now.  Some days I love it, some days it proves to be a bit overwhelming!  Owen is turning into quite the chatterbox, always jabbering on and really becoming quite clear in his speech {mommy, car, ge-ge (Chinese for older brother), daddy, treat, tree, cookie, cracker, gung (part of Taiwanese for grandpa), ah-ma (Taiwanese for grandma), pea, moo, baa, moon and more that I probably can't think off!}, loves reading, stepping up and down on things, playing with his trains/cars, eating {he is a total grazer, eating all day long.  Already out-eats his brother}.   His thing lately is that he runs and runs, but often trips and falls.  Most of the time, he does NOT put his hands out to break his fall, so we've had quite a number of fat, bloody lips and noses!

Holiday Ham

You HAVE to try this ham.  Super moist, delicious, and ridiculously easy!  I cut the recipe in half, and made an 8lb ham for our Christmas dinner with family.  Even the my brother-in-law, who generally doesn't say much, commented on how good it was! :) 

• 15 lbs whole bone-in ham (I prefer Cooks SuperTrim brand)
• 1 lb brown sugar
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard
• aluminum foil

1. In a medium size mixing bowl, mix yellow mustard and brown sugar until you have a thick"paste.:
2. Take all wrappers off of ham and trim away excess fat.
3. Line baking pan with Aluminum foil.  Place an EXTRA lining underneath the foil that you will place the ham on, because the paste/juices WILL leak out.  Clean up is a breeze! :)
4. Place ham on foil and spread brown sugar/mustard paste on top.
5. Fold and seal foil.
6. Do not open again until ham is done.
7. Bake at 350° for 4 hours.
8. Let set for about 1 hr then carve.
9. One of the best tasting hams you will ever have!

Blessed Christmas

Hope you all had a safe, peaceful {if you don't have kids running around!}, and enjoyable holiday surrounded by those you love.  I wouldn't have it any other way.


Thanks to Pinterest for the Christmas card idea! :)

Another milestone

With every little milestone, it's so obvious that Owen is growing up, and not my little baby anymore!  Today was his first hair cut!  He's had trims before, but this was his first official cut.  He did so well.  Sat in the chair, and just absorbed it, until his hair stylist went to answer the phone.  How DARE we make him wait! :)  I'm sure going to miss his full head of little curls in the back, though.  Boo hoo......at least HE was happy about the cut.....

Thursday Deals 12/15/11

1.  Get a USB Sync and Charging cable (for iPhone users only) for only $0.65 SHIPPED on Amazon right now.  List price is $12.60, so go QUICK!

2. Ladies, get a FREE sample of Poise Hourglass Shape here.

3. Use this coupon for $1.00 off Duck Brand tape, then head to Wal-mart where they sell Duck brand packing tape for around $1.00.  You could get a FREE roll of packing tape!

4. Tomorrow, Dec. 16, is FREE SHIPPING DAY.  Go here to see a list of participating merchants.

5. FREE Fries at Burger King tomorrow.  Details here.

6. FREE sample of Lanacane Anti-Chaffing Gel here.

Window paint

What a great way to occupy my boys....it bought me enough time to do a quick clean up without them following close behind and un-doing all of it. :)  Put some finger paint in a ziploc bag, tape it a window, Voila!  Not messy either! :)  {Thanks to Pinterest for the idea!}

Concussion

A week ago, I got my first ever concussion.....From a 15 month old!!  I was laying on the floor playing with the boys as usual.  Owen sat on my back, and then leaned down to hug me, but banged his head into mine.  He was fine.  I was concussed. Glad Blake was home when it happened, but since he had to go back to work, I ended up calling my mom over and canceling all of my piano lessons for the afternoon.  Crazy!

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

Seriously, you all have to jump on this band wagon.  Save your health AND your pocket book.  Blake even says it's pretty good {and he is a true junk food lover!}!

Plain old brown paper lunch bag {I actually asked for them at our local grocery store, and they didn't have any to SELL me, so they just gave me a bunch at the counter!  Score!}

1/2 c. popcorn kernels

Place popcorn kernels in brown paper bag.  Fold top of bag over twice to seal.  Place bag UPRIGHT in microwave.  Microwave on high about 3 minutes.  Stop the microwave when popping slows to 1-2 pops per second.  I melted a tablespoon of butter and poured it over top.  Shake it up, add some salt.  Voila!  Delicious!

15 Months

Owen turned 15 months old yesterday.  15 months!  Before I know it, he'll be 15 YEARS.  Much will change by then, I'm sure.  He won't want to hug me every second of the day {and he's the best hugger!} and I'm sure he'll have a much larger vocabulary.  He loves to jibber jabber now, but is really starting to put together a lot of words!  In the past couple of days, he has been using MILK a lot.  I think that's his new one. He'll often mock us when we speak, so we're getting closer!  I imagine Owen will be bigger than his brother some day, so Isaac takes advantage of that by just pushing and shoving him around right now.  Owen is tough though.  It rarely phases him!  He is up to 9 teeth now {Maybe 10, he does NOT let me put my fingers in his mouth to feel his gums!), one of his canines poked through on Nov. 22ish.  Almost half way to a full mouth of baby teeth!  I hope Owen never loses his love for making things go.  He is so content to push around his tractors, or "drive" his cars.  When he's driving on a learner's permit at 15....I'll probably wish he didn't want to go!   I wish for him to always remain inquisitive.  He likes to figure things out.  Puzzles, magnets on the Thomas the Tank Engine Trains, fitting one block inside another, playing with his ball popper/ball and hammer/ball and boat toys.  I hope he keeps that up! 

One thing I do hope he loses....his fascination with the television.  This kid will turn the TV ON...and so, I politely ask for him to turn it OFF, which he does very happily for now.  Someday, that won't be the case!

He's our short-tempered, happy-go-lucky, love bug.  He's our world {Isaac's too!}.  Happy 15 months big-guy.

Thursday Deals - 12/1/11

1.  Use this Kohl's coupon for  an extra 20% off your purchase!  Expires 12/5.

2. FREE sample of Breathe Right Extra here, plus you get a coupon! :)

3. FREE 2012 Tribute to America Calendar.  Get yours here.

4. FREE sample of John Frieda Full Body Shampoo and Conditioner here.

5. FREE Fries at Burger King on Dec. 16.  Details here.

6. Grab this coupon for Sears photo studio.  Good for a FREE photo shoot and custom wall portrait, plus 20% off the rest of your order.  Perfect for holiday photos!

7. FREE printable holiday and gift tags here.

8. Get a FREE CD of Sesame Street Songs and Stories here.