Saturday Sweetness

How could you not LOVE this sweet little face?!!! i could just eat him up, even when he looks sad & pouts that adorable little lip! Being his mommy is such a joy! i love him!

Show Us Your Wedding Dress

Kelly's Korner is hosting the "Show Us Your Life Tour". this week the theme is wedding dresses. i absolutely LOVED my dress. i got it at Low's in Brinkley, AR. the best wedding dress store, ever. i wore my dress & a veil with bright blue flip flops as my something blue! our wedding was so much fun & i'm excited to share parts of it with you!!! my dress was ivory and it was covered in beads. it had a sweetheart neckline. the back of my dress was my favorite part. it made a "V" down the back with beads lining it all the way down. the best thing about our wedding was i got to wear my dress twice! once for the wedding in FL & then again for our big reception at The Peabody in Memphis. i loved getting all dressed up in both times! so fun!

it looks so pretty hanging there!



steaming my dress

the back, my fave part



i was soo happy to be a bride!!



me & the sweetest groom, EVER! i love him.

Cheesy Chicken Burritos

i wanted to share one of my fave recipes of all time. i got some inspiration for it from a lady at my old church, but i have since tweaked it a lot & made it my own. i would love to be the kind of cook that can just walk in the kitchen & throw something amazing together without a recipe. this is my first step in that direction. we eat this pretty often, my hubby loves it! it's quick, easy, cheap & super duper yummy! let me know if you try it!

Ingredients:



* 8 oz sour cream
* 2 cans of chicken breast. drained.
* 1 can cream of chicken soup
* 8-10 soft taco size tortillas
* 1 cup shredded cheddar + you will need an 8 oz bag of shredded cheddar (topping)
* 3 tbsp milk
* 2 tbsp Pancho's green dressing

this is the canned chicken i use. i can't remember the size in ounces of the can. i believe its 10.5 oz.


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. grease a 9x13 pan.
*in a large bowl combine the sour cream & chicken soup. take 1 tbsp of this mixture & place it in a small bowl. (this is for your topping) add 3 tbsp of milk to the 1 tbsp of soup mixture in the small bowl. mix well.





add 1 cup of shredded cheddar, 2 tbsp of green dressing & 2 cans of chicken breast to the soup mixture. mix well.





spread some of the soup mixture over a tortilla. there is no exact measurement you should use, just cover the tortilla as pictured below. there is plenty of soup mix to be generous with each tortilla. you should be able to fill 8-10 of them.





place tortillas seam down in a 9x13 pan. pour the milk & soup mix from the small bowl & evenly distribute it over the tortillas. it should be a runny liquid, you may need to use a spoon to evenly cover the tortillas. (no picture of the liquid over the tortillas, i figured its pretty self explanatory!)





evenly cover the burritos with the 8 oz bag of shredded cheese







cook burritos at 350 for 25-30 minutes. cheese should be bubbly!





i serve this dish with spanish rice. i use the walmart brand. its delish. it takes less than 15 minutes to prepare.










and the finished product! such a super yummy meal! it would also be great with black beans on the side! hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!!

I'm Craving Christmas

to some of you this post will be ridiculous. but to the few, who may be like me, this makes perfect sense. let me explain. every year, at about this time, i start craving christmas. like really craving it. i know its a little silly, but i can't help it. i mean, christmas is THE best time of year. hands down. it makes me excited about every other time of year.

for example. i'm enjoying my summer. i really am. i love the traveling & lazy days. i love that my hubby is out of school & has more time to be at home with us. i love the longer days. i do not love the weather. i enjoy it for a few weeks. but if you live in memphis, or the surrounding areas, then you know how un-enjoyable the weather can be. i mean the humidity is out of control. by july, i'm ready for cooler days.

spring is always nice because everything is new again. i enjoy seeing the trees & flowers bloom. i even like the rain showers that come along. and of course, it gets everyone super excited about the impending summer & all its glorious freedoms.

fall is my 2nd fave time of year. lately, we've been having some cooler days & it is much appreciated. its made my longing for fall even stronger. i love it. i love the cooler days. i enjoy the fact that it gets darker earlier. and the much coveted extra hour of sleep is delish. i love that it brings football season. (yeah, your read that right. don't tell my hubby!) i love the changing colors, the harvest festivals, the hayrides, the pumpkins, dressing up silly and of course the treat of turkey day. so i can stuff my face without feeling bad about it! but my favorite part of fall: it comes right before winter & of course that means CHRISTMAS!!!

growing up, my parents always made the holiday season nothing short of incredible. we would start with black friday. the crazy shopping day after thanksgiving. my mom & i would get up early & hit the madness. we'd shop until our feet fell off. it was so fun. then that weekend we'd all pile in the car & go pick out THE tree. we'd take it home & decorate it that night. it was a staple in our family. that started our holiday season. my mom would set out a christmas advent calendar & every night before bed we'd fill the daily slot in the calendar, reminding us we were one day closer to christmas day. we'd have christmas parties & do more christmas shopping. we would visit with family, spend the evenings drinking hot chocolate & watching the christmas specials on tv. we always went driving around looking at christmas lights & of course, we were listening to christmas on the river in the car!!! my sisters & i would spend many a night in my dad's office, with a stereo playing christmas carols as we wrapped presents. we loved getting to decorate the house & seeing all the store christmas displays. we usually tried to make it to the enchanted forest or the singing christmas tree. but the week of christmas was always the best. each day was filled with something fun & exciting. which usually included us girls going out with daddy to shop for mom, last minute. just like a man! we NEVER took our tree down before mid-january. we just had to savor every last minute of the christmas spirit. i mean, it only comes once a year!

so. my parents are the reason that my sisters and I are addicted to christmas. now, don't think we got lost in the hype & we never knew the true meaning of the day. we did. every year, my dad would share the christmas story & as a family we would discuss the meaning of christmas & the season, JESUS. we would celebrate at church & at home the blessed birth of Christ, our Savior. as a christian i know that He is the reason that christmas is so very exciting! its because of the hope that we have in Him that we can celebrate all the other aspects of the holiday.

now that i'm married & blessed with Jack & this little one on the way, christmas is even more special. i love the little traditions that ben & i have already created for our family. i love that he & i make a date day out of black friday. some people call us mental, but we love getting out & shopping with the masses. we love stuffing stockings for each other, watching christmas movies & wrapping presents. we make starbucks a regular. but only for the one season. we love the caramel apple cider! my hubby has embraced my christmas spirit & he has so much fun with it. we love spending christmas eve with his family as we travel with them to all their friends houses & drop off christmas cookies! and we love spending christmas day with my family as we all gather to open presents, eat & watch christmas movies. we are especially excited about this year b/c jack will be 14 months old & so much fun. we can't wait to spend that time with him.

we've already discussed how we want christmas to be such a special & fun time for our kids. this doesn't mean we want to buy them 1000 presents but that we want them to enjoy the season & all that it represents. (not that they won't get plenty of toys, i'm sure!) we can't wait to teach them about Jesus & what He's done for us. we are looking forward to reading the christmas story with them. we want to teach them about why we as christians have so much to celebrate this time of year. but we're also looking forward to the silly things like: taking them to visit santa, leaving santa some cookies & getting up christmas morning super excited to see what santa brought them.

so i'm ready. already. i'm ready to celebrate Jesus. ( we should be doing this everyday anyways!) i'm ready to read the christmas story & praise God for the gift of Christ. i'm ready to spend time with family as we remember the reason for the season. but i'm also ready to sing christmas carols, look for the jingle bell rock ( a tradition i share with my sisters). i'm ready to shop (which i'll begin doing in october b/c my family is huge!) i'm ready to bake cookies, eat like crazy, look for christmas lights, visit santa, decorate the tree & my house, go to christmas parties, watch holiday movies (gotta love christmas vacation with the griswolds!!!!) & enjoy the splendor that is christmas!!!! i'm so glad that my sisters get just as excited as me! most of my other friends think i'm crazy. i don't wish away the time. i'm thankful for everyday that the Lord gives me. every season of the year is fun & they have their own advantages. my best friend growing up, always thought i was nuts! she covets the summer time but i crave winter & christmas!!!

so you may be thinking "come on audrey. you're ridiculous. christmas is forever away. stop thinking about it" but i say to you. "check out my ticker at the top of my blog! it's only 157 days away!!!!! so get excited people!" Merry Christmas!!! (in july!)

10 weeks

Baby Bean is 10 weeks old today!!! hooray! only 2 more weeks till i'm out of this dreaded 1st trimester. i'm very ready. the 2nd trimester is the best & most enjoyable. i'm ready to feel all the kicking & moving, & we're really looking forward to finding out the sex of the baby in mid September!!! i get so excited thinking about this baby. i can't wait to hold him/her & see how much he/she does or doesn't look like Jack!!! Jack is getting to be so big, so i'm excited about having a tiny baby around the house again! yay! here is what baby bean is up to this week:

i'm basically just copy/paste this info from babycenter.com its way easier than typing it all out!!!

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

In other developments:
*Your baby's limbs can bend now.
*His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body.
*The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord.
*Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body.
*From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

sweet little bean: praise the Lord for all the growth you've done up till now! we're praying that you continue to grow & develop into a healthy & thriving little baby! we can't wait to meet you! we love you so much!!! love: mommy, daddy & jack!

Happy Birthday Katie!!!!

today is Katie's 20th birthday!!! i can't believe she is already married & starting her 20's. craziness. Katie is such a fun, creative & sweet sister. She, Lindsay & I have grown so close over the years. They were my playmates as a little girl & they are 2 of my best friends now that we're all 3 grown & married.

Katie, you are a breath of fresh air!! I'm so thankful for how much you love the Lord. He is using you in such neat ways. I'm so glad that He blessed you with a wonderful hubby this year & i'm excited to watch you grow as a wife & one day a mommy! You are a blessing to my heart & i praise the Lord for you everyday! I'm so excited about the 3 of us growing older as sisters & raising our families together! i love you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE BUG!!





Katie, me & Lindsay on my wedding day!!!



Me & Mrs Katie Kubler on her wedding day!!!!



katie & her fave little boy!



katie, lindsay, jack, me & momma!

Lindsay's Wedding

so. i'm a little behind posting about the girls weddings. i don't really have an excuse. i apologize. time just got away from me & other things came up that i wanted to blog about. so i decided to go ahead & focus on Lindsay's for today.


Lindsay & Ryan were married Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 5 p.m. at The Montrose in Holly Springs, MS. it was a beautiful day & truly one of the sweetest weddings i have ever attended. it was personal, intimate & the Holy Spirit was definitely there. the only part i didn't like was that Jack couldn't be there. the night before the wedding at 3 a.m. he came down with 103.2 fever. so he had to stay with ben's parents. we all missed him at the wedding & we were most sad that he wasn't in any of the pictures but it was definitely best for him to stay behind.

More Vacay Pics

scroll down for the 1st vacay post with pictures......

Vacay 09!!!

so our trip to FL was incredible. we were so sad when it was over. it was so nice & relaxing to get out of town with no responsibilities of places to be or things to do. we were able to relax and unwind from the craziness of everyday life. we spent time together as a family, which is my favorite thing to do! jack was a great traveler & he really did so much better this time then when we went back in march. i think it was just because he's a little older now. he napped better & slept better at night. he was great during the day as we were bustling around ft. myers. he really is such a good baby. ben's family enjoyed him so much.

Jack & I spent a lot of time together at the pool. he loved it. he splashed, giggled & squealed in the water. we also went to the beach one day which was really fun. Jack was a little scared of the waves crashing against the shore. but once he got in the water, he did great. he was fascinated by the sand & all the people walking around on the beach. on saturday the 4th we grilled out and made butterfinger home made ice cream. so yummy. every other night of the week we went out to eat, which was a lot of fun. we went a few days at the different malls in ft. myers. ben, his brother & dad played golf 3 of the days we were there. we also just spent some time relaxing and napping at the condo. ben & i are so thankful for his parents & their generosity to us during the trip. the pedicure, golf expeditions, shopping sprees, dinners out & free travel was just such a blessing to us & very much a treat. not that things & gifts are important, they aren't. we always enjoy just getting to spend time with them. but its always fun to get a little spoiled. we never want to take them for granted. if they never do for us again, it won't matter to us, we love them & are so thankful that we have such a great family.


so here are a few pics from our trip. in random order.