William's birthday party

Last night we headed to my in-laws house to celebrate my nephew William's first birthday! Here are the pictures...











Here's the birthday boy!

Play time with William, cupcake, and pigtails

Some sweet pictures I borrowed from Mary's facebook page :)
Betsy and Cousin William in matching pajamas.





I'm pretty sure she enjoyed this cupcake

check out these pigtails

Project Betsy Closet

Yesterday was my 'off day' from working out. I enjoyed reading a book on my lunch break and having dinner at my in-laws house. When Ben and I came home he bathed and got Betsy ready for bed and I cleaned out her closet and drawers. It's MUCH more organized. Betsy finally hit a growth spurt and has grown out of some size 12 month clothes. She's fitting into some 18 months clothing.

Clothes I need to sort, to be consigned, to be donated to the daycare, to be kept (mostly personalized stuff for Betsy), to be passed on to friends.

Cleaned out closet

Short sleeves, long sleeves, PJ tops

Dresses and coats

Shoes that fit now

Clothes to grow into

Here's the sweet girl this morning in her adorable piggy PJs.

Over the last 14 months...

Last year we had a rough year. I referenced the blog to see what we were going through. I heard my mother say more times than I can remember "You can't catch a break, can you sweetie?" It never seemed overwhelming, however me getting sick so often is what made me decide to start exercising and change my eating habits. How does one strengthen their immune system? (vitamins and fresh fruits and veggies). I'm 6 weeks into 2010 and the lifestyle change is going strong and I feel great :)

December 2008:

Shannon had Betsy
Shannon got put back in the hospital with preeclampsia
Shannon picked up a stomach bug in the hospital
Ben got the stomach bug

2009:

Ben got a sinus infection
Shannon got a sinus infection
Ben went to the hospital because he had a piece of metal in his eye
Betsy went to the plastic surgeon to have her hemangioma checked
Shannon had a stomach virus, led to hospitalization
Betsy got that stomach virus from Shannon
Ben had corrective eye surgery
Shannon cut finger, went to the hospital for stitches
Shannon got sick with stomach virus
Shannon got sick with stomach virus again (this time in Atlanta)
Betsy had bronchitis
Betsy had double ear infections
Betsy double ear infections (second time)
Betsy double ear infections (third time)
Betsy had a chest cold
Shannon had a sinus infection for 10 days
Betsy had an ear infection while in FL over Christmas (fourth time)
Betsy had double ear infections (fifth time, she's still on antibiotics).

This is just documenting illness, injury and surgery. This doesn't factor in all Betsy's well-baby doctor appointments, all the parties we threw, all the trips we took, the home improvement projects, and work responsibilities (namely Cross Country and Soccer tournaments). It's been a busy time for our family!

I'm praying for a healthy, safe year to come.

Weekend Update, 2/6-2/7

We did lots of fun stuff this weekend! Saturday morning Betsy and I slept until almost 10 am! We woke up, got dressed and headed to Round Rock to meet Uncle JD for lunch and shopping at the outlet mall. Ben bought two pairs of tennis shoes on sale at the Nike outlet. I got several things for Bets at the Carter's outlet. We headed home, got organized and met our friends the Osborns for Italian food and the Belton HS musical (Seussical!).

Sunday Bets and I slept almost until 10 again (who is this child?!). We got up, I worked out for an hour and a half. Betsy played in the playroom. Ben went grocery shopping. When he got home I went shopping for some Valentine goodies and to pick up pictures. The Osborns came over so the kids could play with Betsy and John could watch the Super Bowl with Ben. I baked cupcakes and watched the game too!

Here are pictures from Sunday's projects.

Valentines for Betsy's classmates. Boxes of animal cookies with Jungle themed Valentine cards.



I bought this little jumper for Betsy at Walmart for $6. I added the heart and her name to it and I think she should wear this on Friday to her school Valentine party. Pretty cute for $6!


I baked four dozen cupcakes (I split them between my work, and friends of ours that Ben works with). I boxed them in Tupperware and attached valentines to the top for Ben to take to work this morning.


Betsy taking a short break from playing

Valentine assembly line

Quick project

I bought these jumpers at the Carter's Outlet today for Betsy and her new cousin Abigail! We'll be visiting Abby and her parents in a couple weeks and I thought it would be fun to dress them in matching outfits for pictures. Plus anytime I see pink and brown polka dots I think of Abby because that's how her nursery is decorated. And I'm a sucker for babies in polka dots!

Backyard photo shoot!

I let the sweet girl run around the backyard and I tried to take a cute picture here and there when I could get her to pay attention to me!







WHEE!





Swing time with Mommy.




After all that fun, snack time!