Pfffffewww- Updated

I've finalized the menu for Bret's party and now I'm so not stressed out!! I love cooking so everything will be homemade (except for the chips). YUMMY!

• Pulled pork sandwiches
• Chicken bites (for the kids)
• Mac 'N cheese (for the kids)
• Napa cabbage salad
• Spinach and artichoke dip (with homemade garlic pita chips)
• Cold veggie pizza
• Fall fruit salad (made with Golden delicious apples, Bosc pears and green grapes)
• Tortilla pinwheels (turkey and ham)
• Chips

Dessert will be yellow and chocolate cupcakes frosted and decorated with fall-colored sprinkles. I'm going to be way too busy to cut cake so guests are getting cupcakes (plus less clean up and *hopefully* less leftovers). I'm going to make Bret's cake - a recipe I found made out of semi-sweet chocolate and chick peas (instead of flour). He needs the fiber anyway. LOL! I've tried it and it tastes like a "regular" chocolate cake to me. He won't know the difference. The cake will be lightly frosted with white frosting and decorated to look like a baseball.

To wash everything down we'll have:

• Soda
• Bottled water
• Coffee / tea
• Milk or juice (for the kiddies) - HEAD: where did you get the small milk containers?

Let's see - now what can I stress out about?! LMAO

11 months old!!

Hooray!! You're almost a year old!! You've made our lives so much richer and fulfilling. We love you so much, Bret.

He's got 4 teeth, almost 6. Bret is still light on the hair department but that's not surprising since Jason and I didn't really get hair until we were about 1-1/2 to 2 years old. He wave 'bye' and almost claps but not quite. He likes it when I clap his hands for him. Cruising is his preferred method of motion. Gets into lots of things and keeps Jason and me on our toes every day!!

Halloween spoiler

Ok, I can not wait 'til Halloween to show you Bret's costume. I love it and think that it suits him perfectly. He looks so damn cute!! It's a size 9 months and it fits him well, but I may have to exchange it for 12 months. I took back the ladybug costume that Jason's mom bought him (God love her). I hope I don't hurt her feelings but he looked too much like a girl in the costume and I don't want people to say "oh SHE looks so cute." Ya know?! So, we have this one instead.

In other news - I think that I may have to find a part time job. For the past two months, we've been taking money out of our savings to get us through some expenses (taxes, etc). Today was the last straw....I kind of freaked out and got frustated, which led to me snapping at Jason this AM. We went to turn on our furnace last night and it didn't turn on. Something is wrong with it. It's 65 degrees in my house right now and Bret didn't sleep very well last night. Needless to say, it's not Jason's fault - he unfortunately is the one that takes the brunt of my rantings. So that's another expense that we have to take money out of savings for. If this keeps up we'll be out of savings by this time next year. *SIGH*

Kid-friendly menu

I've been obsessing over Bret's birthday party lately. My biggest dilemma is what kind of food to serve that will satisfy both adults and kids. Any suggestions?

The dreaded bridesmaid diet

Well, I was totally dreading this but I have to start getting serious about my exercise plan and sticking to a nutritious diet. Jason's brother is getting married in March and I'm in the wedding. This is the bridesmaid dress. Gorgeous, huh?! Exactly. Which means that I have to look as good as that dress. The area that I need to target is my arms. They're not fat, just flabby. I have to admit that I haven't lifted weights since Bret has been born. That's my mistake. Now I have a bit of work to do in order for my arms not to flap in the wind.

How do you stay fit during winter months???

I'll let you know how I'm doing.....

Friends

Last week Bret and I visited Alanna and G for a few hours. It was super nice out so we took a walk and Alanna got to listen to Bret's temper!! LOL - he wasn't too bad, just sick of sitting in a car seat and then in a stroller. We had a lot of fun. G is so big and he can sit up on his own!! Such a big boy!! This was my favorite picture with the two boys - even though G wouldn't sit still!!! Watch out Alanna, he is ready to move!!!

Belated - Happy 10th months / fall plans

Sorry, Bret - Happy 10 months old!! I've been trying to find our stupid camera since Labor Day. We did the Mackinac Bridge walk and it was awesome! The weather was perfect and the walk went really quickly (kind of to my disappointment). I wanted to walk longer!! Bret did really well, he slept about 3/4 of the way across.

Um, updates:

No new stuff to say about Bret. I'm starting to think about his birthday party (YAY!!!). I can't wait!!! I'm also obsessed with cider mills and getting Bret to see animals and hay rides this fall. Maybe everyone in the Detroit area should go together!!! I think the cider mills north of Detroit are much better than the ones in OH. Blake's anyone?! Let me know which weekends you have available and let's get together!!! Even if you don't have kids, you're welcome to have fun with us!

I'll post again when I can find the stinkin' camera.