Happy 1st Birthday Austin!

It was just after 10 pm one year ago that you were born and it was one of the best days of our lives! We can't begin to describe the amount of joy and love you have brought to our lives and continue to bring each day. You make us laugh, smile, cry, ponder and reflect upon our past and future, and you make us better people. Happy birthday to our little man! Love, Your Parents

Today I took Austin to daycare with cupcakes and balloons in tow. All the kids were excited that it was Austin's first birthday so they could have a party! Here's a picture of Austin with his caregiver, Peggy. He loves her and she loves him. A good combination. When I picked him up after work he was all smiles and Peggy was please to report that he had a great day.

We had a big celebration for Austin with family and friends on Saturday and I will post those pictures shortly.

3 Cheer-ios to General Mills!

Goodbye plain 'ol Cheerios, Honey Nut, and all the rest. Hello Banana Nut! You just made breakfast a whole lot better. Pure deliciousness! Give them a try and you won't be dissapointed...if you like bananas of course. :)

Nice work General Mills! Keep 'em coming!

Easter Recipes

Here are my Easter recipes this year. I really enjoyed them so I'm sharing.

Cheesy Ham and Hash Brown Casserole
1 (32 oz) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
8 ozs cooked, diced ham (or more)
2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed cream of potato soup
1 (16 oz) container sour cream
1 (4 oz) can green chilis (optional)
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix hash browns, ham cream of potato soup, sour cream, green chilis and Cheddar cheese. Spread evenly into baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
3. Bake 1 hour or until bubbly and lightly brown. Serve immediately.

*This is not the lowest calorie casserole, but it's delicious! I added the green chilis to give it some kick and extra ham and it was perfect! You can make this ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator until your ready to bake it.


Angel Cake Surprise
1 (10 inch tube) angel food cake
1 (.3 0z) package strawberry flavored gelatin
1 (16 0z) package fresh strawberries
3 bananas
1 (5 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Break angel food cake into bite sized pieces. Put in 9x13 inch pan, preferably glass.
2. Dissolve strawberry gelatin in 1 cup water and pour over cake pieces. Slice strawberries and place on top of gelatin. Slice bananas and place on top of strawberries.
3. Prepare instant pudding according to instructions on box and spread evenly over fruit.
4. Spread whipped topping on top of pudding. Try to keep the layers separate. Garnish with a sliced strawberry.
5. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

*This is a pretty light dessert if you don't eat half the pan like I did! Love the strawberries and bananas in the Spring!

Easter 2009

We continued our tradition of a low-key Easter this year. We usually do a simple meal and lounge around all afternoon and watch The Masters, one of the four major men's golf tournaments of the year. This year was no different, which was a good thing. Austin got his first major sickness and needed less activity verses more. I made a simple potato and ham casserole (very delicious and I will post the recipe) and a light angel food cake dessert. The Easter Bunny brought Austin a basket with some plastic eggs, which he couldn't get enough of. He loved taking them apart and putting them back together again. It's the simple things this kid loves! Grandma Mary and Rich came over to spend the afternoon with us. It's always nice to have them visit.

Austin seems to be feeling better but was pretty sick since last Wednesday, complete with fever, rash and not-so-good stuff in the diaper...over and over! Poor kid was miserable for the first few days but is better every day. His appetite isn't quite up to normal but he seems to be happier and is enjoying more activity.

Here's Austin with his Easter eggs. Oh, and he maybe, just maybe, might consider crawling soon!

Teething Stinks...but still a happy baby!

Austin has three teeth and is getting two more on top. They just popped through the gums yesterday! He's been a trooper even though I know he's been in pain. But he keeps smiling and being a happy baby most of the time.

Some recent developments:

He loves to share a toy with you and then immediately take it back. But then he'll give it to you again just to take it back again...again and again and again!

He's discovered that he can drop stuff through the slats of his crib. He loves to drop his binkies and in the morning we find them all over the floor and under his crib!

He's becoming very sensitive and partial to mommy these days. I can't get too far away or he freaks out and gets upset. It melts my heart and makes me feel so needed, but could cause some issues. (Last night I had my first "girls night out" since he was born and I had to leave him crying in grandma's arms. Sniff, sniff)

We just installed baby gates because he's quite the mover these days, not crawling, just rolling and scooting wherever he wants to go! I'm learning that babies do things on their own time when they're ready. Crawling? He don't need no stinkin' crawling!

Here's some recent photos!

A new way to sport the binkie!
Peek-a-boo under the blankie. He loves to put blankets over his head. He's done this since he was born.
Bath time fun!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

It was all green at our house today!

Conference in San Diego

I just got back from a four-day Credit Union Marketing and Business Development Council conference in San Diego, CA. It was my first big adventure away since Austin was born. It was definitely hard to be gone and stepping off the plane in Idaho Falls never felt so good! However, I did enjoy my conference, the friends I made while I was there, and the sunshine in the sky. Here are some pictures of the highlights!

Here's the view from my room at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. I was on the 25th floor. The one thing that's nice about conferences is that they are usually held in some really nice hotels! My props go out to the concierges.

Most of you are probably familiar with the "Evolution of Dance" on You Tube. It's the most watched video on the site to date. Our keynote address at the conference was from the evolution of dance guy and motivational speaker, Judson Laipply. He shared some great inspirational stories and of course he did the dance. It was great! Here I am with him at his book signing!

A conference wouldn't be much fun without a little free time to explore! Here we are at Pacific Beach! I met two really great gals the first day of the conference and we hung out the remainder of our stay. The brunette is Lauri from Baltimore, MD and the blonde is Morgan from Des Moines, IA. They are both credit union marketing gurus as well!

The conference always concludes with an annual awards presentation. This year my credit union was honored with a diamond award for best community/PR program in 2008. For 20 years East Idaho Credit Union has been raising funds for shoes for underpriviledged children in the communities we serve. We had a record fundraising year in 2008 and raised over $19,000 for shoes. I was so excited to win this award for our credit union and pleased to know that hard work pays off in more ways than one.

Oh, funny thing was all the awards were shipped to the conference sight but never arrived. Apparently there was huge issues with the shipper. Oh well, award show goes on and we will all get our plaques at a later date.