Christmas... Part 2... Mashed Potato Mess

Okay, so Christmas lunch was over and most of the food was gone.  Deven ate so good- lots of veggies and turkey, but made a big mess in the process so we stripped her down to her diaper and the following video is what transpired as Mommy sat her on the kitchen table.

Here are a few pictures of the aftermath:

Somehow we both ended up with mashed potatoes on our faces!

Belated Merry Christmas Everyone! Part 1

Well, with all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I am a little late getting our Christmas pictures up.  Deven did not rip into presents as I had hoped, but she still had fun with all her new toys.  Tyler and I think we had said "No, No, No" to her a few too many times to keep her curious little hands out of the presents, that when it was finally time to open them, she thought, "I don't know about this!"  After a few presents, she was kinda overwhelmed so we even saved a few for the day after Christmas.  We had a great time though traveling to Charleston, MO to see Tyler's family and then spending the 26th at my Nana's and Papa's here in Jonesboro.  My favorite Christmas present was my clean house courtesy of my Mom who came to clean it after we left for MO.  Talk about a blessing.  That was the best.  Anyway, here are a few pictures of all the festivities:

Deven and Uncle Walker with her "big" present, a "Little People" nativity set.

Deven with her V-Smile from Nonni and Pop

Daddy and Deven opening presents

Fall Fun... A little (ok a lot) late

A few months ago, I thought my memory card on my camera was messed up. Turns out I had just saved the pictures/video on the internal memory instead of on the memory card. These were all taken late Oct/ Early November, but I thought I would share them anyway!

Deven after she finished eating lunch one day.  Watch her little lips at the end.  So cute!

  Deven sitting up in the high chair at Chickfil A like a big girl!

 Her playing with the baloon they brought her, after she pulled her headband out.  Sarah, how in the world do you get Lydia to keep her's in?  It is a constant battle with Deven!

I am going to try to post Christmas pictures and a pre-Christmas peek at all Deven's gifts.  We had so much fun picking them out this year.  I think it was more fun in the toy asiles picking them out than it ever was peeking under the tree Christmas morning!  I spread them all out when we got home just to see what her spread would look like Christmas morning!  So fun!

Meal Plan Monday

I am getting a jump start on my New Year's resolution this year- better meal planning and more meals at home. I feel like I have really gotten out of the habit of cooking and my husband and I both have the waistlines (or lack thereof) to prove it. I have been inspired by the ladies over at Grocery Cart Challenge she feeds a family of six on $60.00 per week!
I am going to try to use less processed foods in the coming year, but for the first few weeks, until I use up what we have and slowly replace it with healthier choices, you may see processed items on the list. Plus, we are big hamburger helper fans around here, so I am sure it will make its appearance here and there to. I am going to try and stick to a grocery (food items only) budget of $20.00 per week as I go shopping. We are pretty frugal and eat with family a few times a week, and eat out on occaison, so this should not be too diffucult.

Here is the plan for this week:

Monday
Lunch: Leftover chicken strips and broccoli cheese rice
Dinner: Chicken tortilla soup with tortilla chips

Tuesday
Lunch: Corn dogs
Dinner: With family

Wednesday
Lunch: Pizza Knots from an Auntie Ann's fundraiser
Dinner: Deersteak and Rice

Thursday
Lunch: Lunch date with Luke and Donna Moore (We are going to Ruby Tuesdays, one of our favorite places. They recently delivered coupons for $10.00 your total ticket, which means that Tyler and I can both eat, frugally, for around $12-15 dollars. That's exciting!)
Dinner: Breakfast for dinner, including sausage, biscuits, gravy, and eggs for four people as the Bennett's are coming over that night!

Friday
Lunch: Chili and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Dinner: Philly Cheesesteak Hamburger Helper

Saturday
Lunch: Pancakes and Bacon
Dinner: Hashbrown Potato Soup

Sunday
Lunch: With Family
Dinner: Out to eat

Grocery List
3lbs of cheap hamburger meat, plan to use rinse method found here
Milk
Bacon
Bread

I have everything else on hand. Not bad at all!

Okay, so there you have it, my first Meal Plan Monday Post!

Turkey Time... and Deven's first ear infection

Well, Tyler and I have been on "Fall Break" this week, but it has really felt like no break at all. The both of us has been swamped with school projects and worse of all, our sweet baby girl has been sick. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Tyler worked full days on campus and then on Thursday we had lunch at Papa Starks (my 92 year old grandpa's). It seems the crowd gets smaller every year. It was particularly sad this year because his health has really gone down hill a ton in the last year. He didn't really interact with anyone that was there too much, just ate and slept in his recliner, bless his heart. That evening, we had dinner with Pat and Justin Register and Justin's Mom and Dad, who were visiting from Alabama. It was a nice change of pace and it was good to see them.

On Friday I worked a split shift in The Children's Place in the mall. 6am-11am and then 5pm-10pm. I did manage to squeeze in a lunch date with my Aunt Pam, Uncle Bill, their two girls and Uncle Rob and Aunt Rhonda and their daughter as well as my Nana, Papa Rascal, and my sister Lyndsey. We ate at Mazzio's pizza which seems like no big deal to most people, but my Nana and Papa probably eat out once a year and it's almost always at Coltons so for them to go to a pizza place is one of the most unlikely things ever. On Saturday, we made the trip from Jonesboro to Hardy to visit with some of Tyler's dad's family. They have a "family house" up there just across the highway from the Spring River. It is honestly one of my favorite places to go. It is not much to look at, just an old house with a wood burning stove and not even air conditioning, but I know when I am there with family there is nowhere else I would rather be. Here are some pictures from the day:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

On Sunday morning during church Deven began to get extremely fussy and her fever spiked at a 103.5 at Nana's that afternoon. She refused to eat and just screamed constantly. Sunday night and all day to today was pretty much no better. She didn't want to eat, sleep or anything- just be held. The Lord was faithful and the only opening her clinic had open for the afternoon was with her pediatrician. Come to find out she has an ear infection in her left ear. We have her on ear drops, antibiotics, and Tylenol now so hopefully she will feel better soon. I know her daddy and I both are glad she is sleeping tonight!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and if you're like me, you can hardly wait until Christmas!

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE ISBELL HOUSE!

Well, maybe not so "breaking" but we are finally filling everyone in on what we've known for awhile...

WE ARE EXPECTING!

We are so thrilled to be eleven weeks pregnant!  I am due on June 23, 2008.  We go to the doctor again on Monday November 24.  

We are excited to be parents again and Deven is excited (we hope) to be a big sister. Tyler and I would love to have a whole house full, so I guess we are on our way! 

Please pray that we will have a healthy, happy nine months and more importantly that we can survive and thrive with two under two!  We are excited and nervous all over again, but that just comes with the territory.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving planned.  We are going to be staying in Jonesboro and hanging out with my family this year. But on Saturday we are going to Hardy to see Tyler's family on his dad's side.  Hopefully I can get lots of fun pictures!

It's incredible how much changes in a month....

When you have a baby at home!!

I cannot believe some how I have not posted an update in almost a month. Deven is getting so stinkin big. She weighs in at 18lbs and is 281/2 inches long. She has really gotten taller, I guess you would say, in the last few weeks. She is crawling all over the place and is getting really fast. It is so funny to watch her. Tyler and I tease and say we are going to make her sponges with rubber bands on them and put them on her hands and knees because even though the floors look clean, her little knees get dirty when she crawls around. I guess that's part of the problem of having an apartment with almost zero carpet! Oh well, not much we can do about that I suppose.

She is clapping, laughing out loud and her two top teeth are almost in... that would bring the count to four! She is eating all kinds of things including Cheerios, fruit loops... when her daddy sneaks them to her, crackers and lots of yummy baby food, of course. She also loves to feed herself and is getting really good with that too. We are also working on the sippy cup. Some days she will do fine with it and other days she will act like she doesn't know what to do with it. Weird.

She was a flower for Halloween and it was so cute. Tyler and I were a doctor and a nurse. Here are some pictures from our church Fall Festival.





Tyler and I are staying busy with school and so glad to see the finish line in sight. I have two more weeks with my internship in West Memphis and then I am done until January. Then, I will be interning in Jonesboro next semester, so I am excited about that. But all in all we are counting down the days til May 9th.