happy new year!

the happiest of new year friends! 2011 was a great year. our little family was blessed so much this year. we are so thankful to put a great year to rest and so excited to see where 2012 takes us! we have lots of exciting plans already for this coming year, including in feb daddy and mommy are leaving bennet overnight for the first time. i am both excited and very, very scared. my mom is flying down to stay with her and i am thankful for that...but we are talking 5 nights away from my little baby! ugh i start tearing up just thinking about it. i have to remind myself how great it will be for us to have some alone time and reconnect but still....

in april we are flying to california for pete's brother's wedding. we are planning on going up to san francisco for a couple nights too. this should be a fun filled trip! including a trip to disney land!

bennet will be 2, pete will be 30, we will celebrate 4 years of marriage and maybe (if i can talk daddy into it) i will be pregnant by the end of the year. haha

lots to look forward to. thanks 2011 for a beautiful year!

lately...in instagram photos

i wasn't feeling very good and Bennet knew that baby cuddles would make it better

cuddle time!

relaxing!

after nap it is always snack and cuddle time while watching a show.

snuggling with mimi on christmas.

we took bennet to the grand ol' opry to see all the christmas lights.

santa brought a play kitchen!!

daddy took this...i am sure they were getting ready to snuggle with a show. ps that is not all she does...it is just a good time to snap pics cus she is sitting still for a minute.

my adorable sister and her handsome men on christmas!

bought her a new hat!

Merry Christmas...a few days late

From our family to yours

hope everyone's Christmas was lovely! ours was spent in st louis with my family. sadly my sister and her little girl were down with the stomach flu so this was the 2nd year in a row that sickness kept us from all being together. we missed them but were determined to celebrate. bennet loved ripping the wrapping paper off her gifts. it was the cutest. she was so intense. she got lots of toys...tons of food for her play kitchen and tons of baby stuff. her favorite though would have the be the little stuffed Blue from blue's clues we saw the night before christmas at a grocery store. haha of course the $4 gift is what she loves.

it was a good year, but we decided to stay home next year and make our own traditions. it will be good for us and i really want bennet to wake up in her own house on christmas morning. we will be sad and miss our family but this will def be good for us.

Have a happy new year!!!

a letter

dearest baby girl,

first, i have to say that i am so sorry i don't write on this more. i have this blog so i can easily write stories about your life so when your older you will have an amazing thing to look back on. plus i want to always remember all these little and big things you do and accomplish. i promise to change that. it is laziness and also when daddy is gone i kinda get in a funk...i hope it doesn't show to you but i know as you get older it will be something i have to watch. it is something i am working on and with God's help i will get better at.

you are 16 months and 5 days old. for the first time you walked across the living room today! you took so many steps that i lost count! this is such a huge step. for the past few months i have been like "okay any day now she is gonna do it!" we worked on it but i also reminded myself that it was OKAY that you hadn't. it really taught me not to compare and not to worry about such a small thing. i knew it was mostly due to your personality. you are a very cautious little girl. any little bump or fall you take great insult too...not by crying (unless of course it really hurt) but you just give a dirty look to anyone around like "what the heck!" it cracks us up! you have a very impressive furrow brow (which you get from daddy) it was so great to see you so proud of yourself as you walked back and forth! every time you sat down you clapped along with us. we are so proud of our little walker!

you have so many words it is crazy. some new ones are...NO!, yes, mimi, night night. you mimic lots of words too! so many i can't even remember. the other day i asked you if you were ready for night night and you said "NO night night!" haha! everything right now seems to be NO! along with your famous furrow brow but we are working on yes. you have to be reminded of that one a lot haha. you also know where your eyes and nose are and can say the words! you know where your ears are but can't really say that one yet. you know toes, belly, belly button, foot too!

you love animals and love all their sounds. you do a mean lion, monkey, cow, dog, snake, bear, bee, cat, and pig. you fav as of this moment is monkey you love scratching your arm pits and going ooh ahh ahh! you also have grown very attached to a baby monkey toy. it actually was the first toy you would smile at. we haven't played with it for like 8 months and you found it the other day and now you won't put it down. you also know that santa says HO HO HO! this is the cutest!
you love your stuffed animals! you feed them and kiss them and dance with them. it is so darling. you have really been getting into imaginary play with them.

as i sit here thinking about all this i am just so thankful. i am so thankful for your daddy. you have a good one. he is so in love with you. he also is very hands on. he wants to get you up in the morning. he wants to put you to bed. he wants to get on the floor and play with you and read you books. he misses you so much when he is on the road. and when he gets home he fills all the time he can loving on you. i also want you to know that he cooks, cleans, changes the grosses diapers, and always puts us first. one of my biggest prayers for you is that the man God has for you is like your daddy. we got a good one baby.

i love you baby girl. you have been so fun to watch grow and change and get this fiery, loving personality. you are so fun to be around and i am so thankful for you. i promise to write down more stories.

loves and kisses

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

hello lovelies! hope you all had a great thanksgiving! we had a great time up in st. louis with my side of the fam. bennet loved playing with all her cousin's cool toys! especially their play kitchen, which i believe she is asking santa for this year. she has been such a little sweet heart so i am sure she will have something extra special waiting for her under the tree. ;) speaking of santa...we went to see him today! bennet warmed up quick to him. she just sat there jibber jabbering to him. it was so cute. santa went on and on about how she reminds him of his little girl (santa and mrs. claus have babies ya'll) you could tell santa was very content to hold her and secretly didn't want her to go. i think the feeling was mutual ;)

oh and here is a flash back of last year....

same santa, same girl...even though she looks so different! it really is crazy to see how much she has changed. still the sweetest little thing though :)

my little family

i love my husband. i love my baby girl. i love our kitty.

i am so in love with my little family.

they mean everything to me. i am so thankful that God has blessed me with such a fun bunch.

but...

i wish my husband was home. the days we have to spend with each other are few and go by too quick. some days are so hard to get through. and most days don't go by fast enough. i could write on and on about how hard dealing with my husband's job is. how hard it is to see your little girl cry and knock on the front door after dada leaves...again.
this tour is almost over and then we will have some time in december to all be together. and then it starts all over again in january. he will be gone 4-5 days a week till april. yep.

today i was daydreaming about what it would be like to have him home on the weekends. what would that look like? would we snuggle in bed and watch cartoons with bennet? would be get up and make the most of our day? head to the farmers market? do brunch? go on random road trips? stay in pjs all day?

there are a few things i want to say...
-obviously it is hard. days are long.
-if he is gonna have to travel for a job, it is pretty cool that he gets to do something he loves.
-i am thankful he has a job.
-there are perks.
-there are downers.


all this to say, i just am missing him...so is bennet.

this is my baby

{photo by ethan luck}


i am one blessed mommy

lately...

{at the park}

{got her hair did ha}

i feel like bennet has been such a sponge the past couple months. she tries really hard to say words and mimics everything!
bennet's favorite words are:
cheese
turkey
cracker
kitty cat
bye
dada
mama

{slides!!}


she is constantly using her baby signs...more, eat, drink, thank you. those are just the main ones i taught her. she knows lots of words and knows what i mean when i say "are you ready for night night?" she crawls to her room. same with bath time. it is crazy how much she knows. i will ask something and she will totally know it. it def surprises me sometimes.

she knows some animals sounds too. right now her favorites are lions, bears, and snakes. she knows monkeys scratch their armpits haha. i would say reading books with animals is her favorite thing to do. she loves the flap books and constantly wants to read and lift the flap up.

{eating jeni's ice cream}

{at the pumpkinfest with her buddy addison}

she still won't walk by herself, but i think she is getting close. we will see.

did i mention she is gonna be a kitty cat for halloween?! isn't she the cutest!!

random memories...

~i stopped nursing bennet completely while in st louis on oct 4. i was just feeding her in the morning but i could see she wasn't really caring about it. so i just stopped. she hasn't seemed to miss it. as much as i was longing for this day, i was super sad the next couple days...she is such a big girl now.

~bennet knows what a lion says. anytime you ask her she growls the cutest growl. she has also mooed when asked what a cow says but prefers to growl. she pretty much thinks every animal growls since learning about lions. i took her to the zoo while in st louis and when we saw the lions she just sat there forever growling at them. ha

~bennet has such a personality and likes to have all the attention. she still has no stranger danger and says HI! to everyone she sees.

~you went to your 3rd sanctus real show and saw dada play. while watching him you kept saying dada! dada! and clapping. you dance so much to music it is hilarious.

~you have 6 teeth right now and some more trying to get through. you are officially the slowest at getting teeth. sorry baby.

~you think its awesome to pull petty's hair out by the handfuls. he still hasn't scratched you. seriously the sweetest cat. and he adores you.

~you refuse to keep socks and shoes on. i am on the hunt to find one that you can't take off. so frustrating as it is colder out and you NEED something on your feet.

~after seeing your daddy for the 1st time after being away from him for that horrible 24 days, you lite up. i will never forget your smiling face and how excited you were for him. he won't either...you made his day. :)

(us last night at daddy's show)

Happy Birthday dada!

today is pete's birthday! we sent him this little video today to wish him a happy one!

Untitled from melissa prevost on Vimeo.

we are hanging in there! and only have 6 more days to get through till we are all together again! it has been hard...very hard. but i am thankful pete has had some fun (including meeting/hanging out with DJ Tanner!!?!) and bennet & i have been hanging with family in st louis. it has helped the time go by faster but still...24 days SUCKS!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETE! your girls love you and can't wait to give you lots of hugs and kisses!

~m

weekend update

i didn't mention last week that pete left for the road on thursday. it will be a whole 24 days till we see him again. you guys, that is long. a very long time. this will be the longest we have been apart since before we were married. and now you add a baby to this and it just makes it so much harder.
i feel sad for him. i know he misses me so much but i can't imagine the level he must feel by missing bennet. it already has been hard on him and its only been a couple days.

i am going to try really hard to not feel sorry for myself. yes being alone with bennet caring for her for 24/7 for 24 days is going to be hard and tiring. i love being her momma and doing all the things that goes along with that but then you add in the errands, the laundry, the cleaning, taking out the trash...doing all that on top of momma duties is tough. yes i want pete here with me to help with all of this but more importantly i want him here for cuddles, dadda play time, eating dinner together, etc. all the special moments that are simple everyday life events. it is gonna be lonely. it is already lonely.

i deal all the time with jealousy that other people don't ever have to have their spouse away from them. it is hard to not feel all those emotions. i just hope and pray that i can put all that aside and focus on bennet. i hope i stay patient, have energy to keep up with her. and i hope i don't show her how lonely i am because i have her with me and she is the best company. as much as i can feel sorry for myself and take that out on pete, i have to remember how hard this is on him too. we both are not phone people and both get annoyed easily with it being our primary communication. have i mentioned this is gonna be hard.

please pray for us. i really hope it goes by fast.

oh also, bennet has a cold and is teething so already i feel worn out by the past few days. hopefully it passes soon. i feel so sorry for my stopped up little snotty nose baby. she is so sweet even when she is feeling down.

~m

black bean taco mix

this is one of our favorite dinners. it is so easy and so yummy! i got it from shutterbean it is one of my favorite sites to get recipes from. seriously go look you will want to make EVERYTHING.

You will need:
*a glug of olive oil
*1 med yellow onion, diced
*1 tsp ground cumin
*1/2 tsp dried oregano
*1/2 tsp mexican style hot sauce
*1 small clove garlic, pressed
*1 can black bean
*1/4 tsp salt
*flour tortillas (depending on the size of what you buy we use anywhere from 4 or 6)

1. drain black beans.

2. pour a glug of olive oil in saucepan and warm over med. heat.

3. add onion, increase heat to med-high and cook. stir occasionally till onions are translucent.

4. feed your baby some peas cus she is crazy and won't let you do anything.

5. add ground cumin & oregano and stir.

6. add the hot sauce and stir.

7.add garlic and black beans. reduce heat to med-low and cook till beans are soft. add salt as needed.

8. we heat up our tortillas but you don't have to. fill them up with the bean mixture and add whatever toppings you like. we use cilantro, sour cream, and more hot sauce.

serve it with tomato and avocado salad. just chop both up add salt & pepper and some lime juice.

so yummy! enjoy!!!

~m

disney world!

{all ready for magic kingdom}

{1st time at the park}

{with daddy}

we had such a great time at disney! we had to wake up really early for our flight so by the time we got to the hotel we decided to all take naps. we stayed at the polynesian resort and it was so beautiful. we didn't take a long nap though because i was so excited :) we went straight to magic kingdom. staying at the resort was so easy and nice for getting to the different parks. we got there so fast. as soon as we walked in we met mary poppins. then we went to ride some rides. she was in love with small world. she was pointing at everything, dancing, and clapping. it was hilarious. we rode dumbo, pirates, and jungle cruise. she loved them all. we took her to meet the princesses which she love for the most part. she met my favorite sleeping beauty first who she loved. next was belle...this is where she started losing it. belle sits on the floor for the pics and as soon as b got close to the floor she just wanted to crawl around and be free. so by the time we got to cinderella she was over it. cinderella said "maybe she had too much magic" haha

{with mary poppins}

{castle}

{castle}

{watching the mickey show}

the next day we went to animal kingdom. that tree is beyond awesome! our favorite thing about this park is the safari ride. it was so cool. the animals were so close. the lion was only a few yards away and we heard him roar! so crazy. bennet loved it and seeing all the animals. we both thought that the rest of the park was like a cool zoo. we didn't do too much else there but loved the shade and jungle of it. next we went to epcot. by this time though pete and i were tired and hot. so we just walked around the worlds and ate in "germany" then left. i wish we had more time there but we both agreed this was the "older people park" ha. we would've loved to take our time eating and drinking at every nation but with a baby we didn't have that much time. we went back to the hotel and bennet and pete both napped while i went to the pool. i found a hammock were secluded from everyone so i fell asleep there. it was lovely. we went back to magic kingdom that night for the band's show. while pete was preparing for the show i took b to meet mickey and minnie. as soon as she saw them she ripped her binky out and pointed at them and said "hi! hi! hi!" over and over again! it was hilarious. she loved them so much.

{animal kingdom}

{animal kingdom}

{epcot}

{playing before daddy's show}

{meeting the prinesses}

{with belle}

{with cinderella}

{with sleeping beauty}

{my favorite princess aurora}

{meeting mickey!}

{she was in love}

{mickey & minnie}

we had such a good time! don't get me wrong, i love disney movies and mickey mouse. and i loved disney world when i went in the past but i was never that person who would want to take a vacation there. now i totally would. seeing it through your kids eyes is the most amazing thing. it is so baby friendly (i mean she could do so much!!) i can't wait to take bennet back there. you never know we might need to make it a yearly thing. if you have stayed at the other resorts tell me about them. i am curious about them. i would love to have a full kitchen and be at a resort so we are close to everything but would love to save money by getting groceries. i love ya disney but your prices are insane!

~m

disney

we leave tomorrow for disney world. pete is playing there on saturday night. it should be a great, short family trip. besides having to get up tomorrow at 4ish to catch our flight. ehhh.

hope you all have a good weekend! i will be back next week with pics :)

~m