My favorite pics from the past couple of weeks

I have been a picture taking slacker lately, but here are some pics I LOVE from the past couple of weeks...

Feta Stuffed Peppers

This is Thursdays nights dinner. I got the recipe from a friend and Corbin and James LOVE it.

Stuffed Peppers with Feta

1 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked Arborio rice (I just use plain old minute rice and it turns out fine. I have no idea what Arborio rice is, so if you know, please enlighten me lol)
2 red/orange/yellow bell peppers, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (here I use Italian dressing mix. It's a dry mix that comes in a packet. I already have a ton for another recipe and don't have Italian Seasonings, so I improvised)
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Place the peppers cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until tender and skin starts to brown.

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in the rice. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Heat oil in a medium skillet. Cook the onions, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato, and cook for 5 minutes. Spoon in the cooked rice, and stir until heated through. Remove from heat, mix in the feta cheese, and spoon the mixture into the pepper halves.

Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

What do Turtles say?

According to Corbin, turtles say "dude! Sweet!"

I think we may have watched Finding Nemo one too many times lately.

It's been a while since I've talked about what Corbin is up to lately...


~ He is talking so much! Everyday he learns a new word. Today he came up with "I want some cheese!" clear as day. Of course sometimes he says things we would rather him not say. Two days ago, he started yelling "stupid!" from his highchair. It was really funny, but of course we couldn't let him know that. Daddy let him know, in no uncertain terms, that if we heard that word again, Corbin would be spending some time in his corner.

~ Potty training is going great! Last Sunday, we let him wear underwear to Grandma's for dinner, and he had no accidents. Yesterday, we were out for over 2 hours and his diaper was dry when we got home. It's really starting to sink in and I think we will be out of diapers - at least while awake - very soon. He is taking his first trip to the store in underwear today, so we're praying for no accidents.

~ Corbin is currently addicted to Chocolate Milk. He asks for it all day long - "chocat malk! chocat malk!". If we give him regular milk, he walks to the fridge, points at the Hershey's Syrup and yells "Chocat Malk!!!!"

~ A moment ago, Corbin was crawling behind me, pushing a truck, saying "set! go!" A bug got him and he yelled "no! Tickle me!!!" and ran off quite upset that this big dared to tickle him!

~ Corbin's favorite time of day is when Daddy comes home. He loves his daddy. In fact, frequently during the day, he goes into our bedroom to see if daddy is "seeping" in there. It's pretty cute.

~ Corbin is also becoming quite good at soccer. If I can't kick the ball with him for some reason, he will kick it against the wall so it comes back to him and he can kick it again. He's deserted his truck and is doing this as I type.

Well, he has now realized that Mama isn't doing anything "important" and is pulling on me to come "kit da socar baw" with him....

Foto fun

Corbin is an artist...

friday foto fun

It's timeline time. Here is Corbin from birth to now:

1 day old



two days old and first Christmas



six months old



12 months old


18 months old


2nd birthday



a couple of weeks ago

my new thing

Lately I've been getting very into cooking. I never thought I would like it - in fact until recently I dreaded making dinner every night. Even with a meal plan, I didn't want to cook.

Well lately I have been bitten by the cooking bug. I have tried out several new recipes in the past couple weeks, all of which have been LOVED by James and Corbin. Cooking is actually a lot of fun.

In light of this change of heart towards my kitchen, I'm going to start posting a "recipe of the week". I'm going to pick out my favorite thing that I made that week and post it. It may not be my favorite thing to eat - I'm a picky eater and don't like a lot of what I cook. It's sad I know - sometimes it will be the one I enjoyed making the most.

So this week, we have Spinach Lasagna - and I got this recipe from an internet friend btw :)

10oz frozen spinach- thawed, drained
1 container of ricotta- lower fat is better
1 pkg of shredded moz cheese
1 egg
italian seasoning/salt/pepper
pasta/spaghetti sauce
lasagna noodles

mix spinach, ricotta, 1/2 the cheese, egg and seasoning together

start with sauce at the bottom of a 9x9 dish, then uncooked lasagna noodles, then 1/2 the cheese mixture. More sauce, noodles, the rest of the cheese, sauce and one more layer of noodles. put the other 1/2 of the moz cheese on top. Pour 1/2 c water over entire lasagna. cover with foil- bake 1 hr at 350 covered, then 15 more minutes uncovered until cheese is browned...

Corbin has not tried this yet, so I don't know his opinion, but James loved loved loved it. And it wasn't too hard to make either. Definitely a keeper.

Friday Foto Fun - 5 days too late lol

I am so bad about getting pics off the camera LOL Here are last weeks fave pictures:

Corbin loves to line his trucks up like this. And once they are how he wants them, you better not touch them lol:

Corbin was totally fascinated with this balloon.

Bath time:

a boy and his blankie

14 reasons I like my hubby

In honor of Valentine's day, I'm gonna go a little sappy for you guys (I sorta stole the idea FYI)

1. He just walked in here and tried to kick me (joking of course).

2. He plays guitar.

3. He has explained football to me about 100 times and would do it again if I asked him to.

4. He supports me in working out and getting healthy.

5. On our first real date, he pulled the E-brake in the rain while we were turning into the movie theater. Scared me to death, but was also pretty funny.

6. Also on our first date he went cow tipping with me. Of course we both got scared and ran off before we tipped any cows, but it was fun.

7. He just smiles and nods when I burst out with the theme song for Yay Me!!! Starring London Tipton off The Suite Life of Zach and Cody on Disney Channel.

8. After Corbin goes to bed, we'll catch ourselves watching Suite Life or Hannah Montana on Disney and actually getting into it.

9. He doesn't even suggest seeing scary or overly suspenseful movies in theater. He waits until the come out and then lets me squeeze the crap out of his hands and hide behind the couch pillows while watching them.

10. He's always willing to stay home with Corbin so I can go out.

11. He gives me piggy back rides in the parking lot.

12. He makes me take cold meds and then lets me sleep all day when I'm sick b/c he knows it will make me feel better and I won't do it if he doesn't make me.

13. He tried to teach me to play Halo and didn't laugh when I sucked.

14. He thinks it's hilarious to hold me down and tickle me until I'm yelling "I'm gonna pee myself" so loudly the whole neighborhood can probably hear me.

Happy Valentine's Day baby! I love you!

Friday Foto Fun

Love these pics from last week:

On Tuesday, I made pizza. Corbin loved it.

Corbin's fave movie right now is Finding Nemo. This is him totally sucked into the movie. He was supposed to be going to the potty, but obviously got distracted on the way there.

It's Friday - picture time!

I love these pictures of Corbin. He was fresh and clean out the bath on Wednesday night. My original goal was to get a pic of his curls:
I love them, especially when he's had his hair washed and his detangler (sour apples!) put in. So soft and sweet.
Corbin had other plans though. He loves the camera. The second I turn it on (and he can hear it from a mile away lol) he's all over me yelling "cheese!". Then after I take the picture, he asks "see baby?" He doesn't quite get that HE is the "baby" in the pictures. Cracks me up.
So here are my 3 favorites from Wednesday night. Enjoy!

Who loves you most??

Since Corbin was born, at bedtime we always told him who loves him - mama, daddy, aunts Jessica and Rachel, uncles Kevin and Jon, grandma, grandpa, and meemaw and pop-pop. We would by telling him Jesus loved him the most of all.
About 6 months ago he would try to repeat when we said Jesus. We would ask at bedtime "Corbin do you know who loves you most?" He would babble something and we would say "Jesus loves Corbin the most!" Then he would say "cheese!" trying to say Jesus. Very funny, we made him say it for everyone.
Last week, at bedtime, I asked him who loved him most. He said, clear as day, "Jesus!!". The next day at nap, I laid him down and said "I love you" He got all excited and shouted "Jesus love most!" It was so sweet.
Now every time someone asks him who loves him, he says "Jesus!" It melts my heart every time. It's so precious to see him grasp the truth of Jesus' love for him.
I love my monkey and I love seeing him grow. I pray someday he will love Jesus and grow in Him.

so true

http://badmommymoments.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/mime-attachment.jpeg

kinda sad

I cloth diaper. I have done so since Corbin was 8 months old. I love it. I've sold my stash twice and rebuilt it. Over the summer I switched to good old fashioned prefolds, fitteds, and covers. It was great.

I love cloth diapering. We've saved so much money - I've spent about $300 on everything, including Corbin's cloth wipes and two wet bags. That's it. We still use disposables at night and for church, but the bug box from Costco lasts several months.

It's also very good for the environment. You really don't do that much extra laundry. I do two extra loads a week. So not wasting that much water. And you don't have diapers sitting in a landfill doing whatever it is they do there.

I keep my diapers in the laundry room and we never have a poopy diaper smell. This is b/c we rinse all the yuckies off and they don't sit in the diaper in your diaper pail or trash can, stinking up the house.

Cloth diapers don't have a funky smell when peed in. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but sposies have a weird smell to them. I never noticed until I switced to cloth, but I hate the smell of sposies now.

Cloth diapers have also done wonders for my monkey boy's skin. When we first switched he had horrible excema on his bottom. He's not had any on his bottom since we switched. He does still get it on his legs and tummy though.

But despite of all the good things, we are selling the diapers one last time. Corbin is half way potty trained - he always goes on the potty if he's naked. Also I am returning to work fulltime next week and James works and is in school. Corbin will be staying with his grandma while I work. She uses sposies on him. Since I will be out of the house 3-5 days a week, we won't be using them as much. I don't want to have 2 extra loads of laundry to do on top of everything else.

So it's bye bye cloth diapers. And I'm sad. I don't like rinsing diapers, I don't enjoy laundry, but I love my diapers. It's an odd attachment lol.

Favorite pic time

Here are my favorite pics from last week:

SHH! Wnat's that sound?

That would be the sound of SILENCE. Sweet sweet silence.

I don't know why I resist alone time at home so much. I fight it though. I always think I'm going to be lonely and bored. And I'm always wrong.

Tonight James and I were invited to a bonfire. I turned them down b/c Corbin is staying with his grandparents tomorrow night and I didn't want to leave him with a sitter two nights in a row. And I didn't want to bring him with and put him to bed over there. Just wasn't feeling it tonight. So I told James he could go. No reason for him to stay home too. He doesn't go out that often and he's really good about making sure that he's spending enough time with me. I like time - it makes me feel loved.

He left about 45 minutes ago. I took a hot shower, put a pizza in the oven, grabbed a coke, and here I sit. Gooey yummy pizza next to me waiting to cool. Life is good. I like this alone stuff. I'm watching what I want on TV. I don't have to worry about neglecting James for the laptop. I'm very happy with this lol. Life is good tonight.

Of course, I'll be super thrilled when the hubby gets home in a couple hours, but for now, I'm gonna enjoy the quiet.

Fave photo friday

So my sister - http://yatesblogspot.blogspot.com/ - does this thing on Fridays where she posts her favorite pics. It's all themed and cutesy. She got the idea from another blog she reads. It's really cute and really fun to see the pictures she uses to go with her theme. My sis is really good at the whole blogging thing.

Anyways, I've decided to sorta borrow the idea, only I'm gonna do it slightly different. At some point over the weekend, I'm going to post my favorite pics from the week before. No themes, b/c I'm not so good with them lol.
So here are my favorite pics from this week:
I like how in this one, Corbin and I are making the same face. He cracks me up. He's my favorite person to take pictures with.
This is our first family photo in a VERY long time. We're not too good at all being together around a camera. James took this one for us. It took 3 tries, but we finally got it right.
This is from last night at our bonfire. These are my friends Kat, Harmony, and Erin. We had a blast last night.

Tag...you're it

This should be interesting...

The RULES:
1.) Go to where you store your digital photos and open the 4Th folder.


2.) Go to the 4Th picture and post it.


3.) Explain the picture.


4.) Tag 4 additional people (I don't have 4 people to tag - IDK who reads this and blogs, but I would say probably 4 people. So if you read this - you're tagged lol)

This is my sweet monkey, Corbin, at around 4 months old. He's hanging out in one of his favorite places - the Boppy. In fact - the Boppy is still in his bed on occasion even now. He's wearing a really cute outfit that James Aunt Karen sent him and his favorite teething toy is hanging out with him. I can't believe how small he was!

10lbs down and other good stuff

I'm sitting here on the couch next to Corbin. He's not feeling 100%, so he's wanting to snuggle more than normal. He keeps reaching over to rub my head the way we rub his. So sweet...

So this morning I jump on the scale. I am down 10lbs since I started dieting 3.5 weeks ago.

Also today, I had a job interview for a home health agency. They're waiting on my background and reference checks to come back, but most likely I have the job. If you could pray that everything will come together there, we would appreciate it.

Tonight we're having friends over for a bonfire. So all in all it's a good Friday at the Murphy's house.

No more naps

It seems that this week Corbin has decided he is too old for naps. He's not, but convincing him of that is nearly impossible. He has not napped since last Saturday. He's currently laying in bed, talking to his blankey and Pooh Bear, not even acting tired.

The good thing is - now he is going to be earlier and sleeping later. That's a nice change from the waking at 6am he was doing 2 weeks ago. Mama can't take the early morning wake up call - I'm so not a morning person.

I'll continue to lay him down after lunch in hopes that he'll nap one day. He's a little grumpy in the evenings when he doesn't sleep. But apart from drugging him, which really I try to avoid lol, there's not much I can do to make him nap. Maybe someday he'll figure out that mama does know what's best for him. Probably not anytime soon though.

Just for kicks - a recent pic of my monkey:

buhgeh buhgeh buhgeh

Corbin can spot a McDonalds from 10 miles away. I swear he can! And the second he sees those arches, he starts yelling "buhgeh buhgeh buhgeh" (his way of saying "burger")
Yesterday on the way home from church, he saw one of those food signs on the highway. It showed several different restaurants, including McDonald's. Corbin goes nuts. Honestly, I don't know when he became so attached to McDonald's.

Corbin has always been a great eater. He'll eat everything. Recently though, he's gotten slightly more picky. Veggies and ketchup belong together. It's difficult to convince him otherwise. But as long as he can dip it, he will eat anything and everything. We've been out of ketchup for a couple days now. He's decided mustard is an acceptable replacement.

Two is such a fun age. I love the little quirks that Corbin is developing. I love watching his little personality come out. He's testing boundaries and pushing limits as well, so it's also a very challenging age. But everyday brings new joys with him and I certainly wouldn't trade him for anything - even on the worst days.

Corbin's tummy troubles and more stuff

In November, Corbin had blood in his poop. Of course, being a typical worrying mother, I had him in the pediatrician's office that afternoon. They ordered an x-ray and did some tests on his poop. The tests all came back clear, the x-ray showed a "large amount of stool in the intestines" Since Corbin has always gone 2-4 days b/t bowel movements and b/c he had just had one the morning of the xray, they started him on a laxative. It helped for a week and then he was back to every 3 days. So the pediatrician decided Corbin is quite literally anal retentive. It hurt a couple times to go poop, so now he doesn't go until he absolutely can't wait any longer.
He had 2 more incidents of blood in his stool, so I asked for a gastroenterologist referral. Today was our appointment with him. He thinks that Corbin is anal retentive also. He thinks that Corbin is only pooping as little at a time as he can, so everything's not getting cleaned out of him. He also thinks he has some internal hemmoroids.
He decided to start Corbin on a new stool softner - miralax. We're gonna try that for several weeks and then in 8-12 weeks, we follow up with the GI. If he has blood in his stool again or things don't get better, we'll do additional testing.
I'll keep you guys updated as we deal with Corbin's tummy.

On another note - Corbin's GI is in St. Petersburg, about 2 hours from us. Today, on the way home, our car started making a funky noise. I checked the oil and it was way low. Corbin and I found a Wal*mart and bought some oil. I filled in back up and we were on our way. Well the noise got worse and then the car started letting off some awful scent. So our car is broken in some way. Tomorrow we're taking it to the shop, hopefully it's nothing serious.

One last thing - tomorrow I have an interview at the hospital. This job would really help us out, so keep your finger's crossed and say a prayer that I get it :)

Thanks for reading!

For my sister lol

As I've mentioned before, we are potty training. This is Corbin enjoying sometime on his potty. We recently decided to watch less tv, as Corbin was getting way too into it. So, now, one of the only times he gets to have TV on is when he's on the potty. Hence the distracted face.

And here is Corbin enjoying making Christmas cookies. More frosting got on my counter and chairs and him than on the cookies, but he enjoyed it.

Here is Corbin hanging out in a laundry basket. This is one of his favorite places to sit. He was actually eating lunch in there that day.

Corbin all ready to be shipped off.

Corbin's Christmas gifts. The trucks are his favorite, with puzzles being a close second.

And Corbin learning to skate.

Cute Corbin stuff

- Over Christmas, Corbin called lights and trees and all other Christmas decorations, "pwitties"

- When Corbin is doing something worthy of a spanking and I call him over and ask him to stop, I say "Corbin, you need to stop _______ or mommy will have to spank you." His eyes get huge and he grabs his tushy and says "on my bottom?"

- He also calls belly buttons "butts". We were in Publix the other day checking out and he saw the magazine's with the half naked people on them and started yelling "butt! butt!".

- When I took him into Victoria's Secret on Black Friday, he saw all the belly buttons on the posters and spent the entire time we were in there showing everyone his "butt".

- James was worried about Corbin's speech - like when some kids say "truck" it sounds like the "f" word. So he taught Corbin that trucks start with the letter "T". Now every time Corbin sees a truck, he says "T - truck!!"

- The other night I was cooking dinner and it was late, so he was hungry. He was standing under my feet yelling "hungee!! Hungee!!!" I told him dinner would be ready soon and he said "Hungee!! I dying!!" I should probably be a little less dramatic around him.

national body challenge week 2

James and I both were slack about the gym last week. As in, we didn't go at all lol. We're lame, we know. This week we're gonna try to get on track and work out.
That said we both did very well with our eating, and while I don't know what James lost b/c I forgot to ask him, I did quite well. As of this morning, I was down 5lbs. Yay me!!

Also this week, James is starting classes at Florida Gulf Coast University. I am so proud of him for going back to school. Although it won't be easy for him to be in school and working, with a family at home, I know he can do it.

Our Anniversary

Three years ago today, James and I eloped.
I'm not too good at sappy, lovey stuff, so we're gonna skip all that.
Things have not always been easy, but we love each other. We're working through things, we're learning about ourselves and each other, and we're becoming stronger as a couple every day. Even with the hard times, I wouldn't trade him for anything.
Love you baby!

uh-oh

So last night James and I experienced one of the most horrible things you can experience as a parent. Corbin's special blankey was lost at bedtime.
Corbin has slept with this blanket almost every night since he came home from the hospital. In recent months he has become quite attached - to the point he asks to take it places and has to have it at night. Blankey is not allowed to leave the house except if Corbin will be away for a nap or bedtime. You see, blankey is irreplaceable. I can't go to the store and stock up on more in case we lose it. There is only one blankey.
When I was nearing the end of my pregnancy, my bff showed up one night with this cute blanket. She had made it for Corbin. To make it even more special, she had asked James to go to the fabric store and pick out all the fabric she used to make the blanket. It was my favorite blanket, so I used it for Corbin all the time. Eventually, he became attached to it and that leads us back to last night.
James was laying him down, when Corbin asked for blankey. And that was when we realized we had no clue where blankey was. I started tearing the house apart looking for it, while James began showing Corbin all his other blankets. James would hold one up and Corbin would say "no! blankey?" Clearly, no substitutes would be accepted.
Finally, after about 5 minutes of searching, I found blankey on our bed. Corbin was so happy to have it back and went to sleep with no problems. And James and I were very relieved to have found it.
You know you're parents when a missing blanket can send your entire house into a panic.