ZACHARY COLTON, in action!

Here's Ryan with the big announcement! ZACHARY IS HERE!!!!
Please note: The videos were short because the camera battery was dying. Oops! Also, the crazy filming at the end was me trying to grab my stuff as quick as possible so I could grab every precious second with ZACHARY!!

Next up, here he is!!!! Checking out his family for the first time :)


Enjoy!



...a wink and a smile...

ZACHARY COLTON

HERE HE IS!!!!!!!!!! The sweetest little baby boy...

In his Mommy's arms...
Look at those little feetsies...oh dear heavens I'm in love
Proud Daddy, have you ever seen him happier???
The new Grandmas! This little boy will most certainly be overwhelmed with love!
Introducing Gimmie... and the legend continues :)
Hello happy boy!! Do you know how much I love you???? I've been praying for you for SO, SO, SO long, and I will continue to pray for you little man. You are and will continue to be an absolute blessing in all of our lives! And just wait!! We're going to have so much fun together! I think I should teach you how to play sports, I tend to be better in that area than your daddy, hehe! Just kidding! ;)
Oh my goodness, you're little faces melt my heart....
This is your....hmmm...yet-to-be named grandpa. Oh, but don't call him grandpa, he's not a fan. I think you should call him Pop, or Popples, perhaps PopPop D (like PopPopR, for those who may not have caught on too quickly)....both legends in the family :)
This is your family little man!!! Your mommy and daddy! They will pray for you, love you, put kisses and bandaids on your cuts and scrapes, hug you every day, hurt when you hurt, smile when you smile, and love you with a love that will amaze you for the rest of your life! You can count on them for anything and everything....as well as your aunt Shane! :) Most importantly, they, with the help of everyone else, will introduce you and encourage you to embrace the greatest love of all!!!

The happy family!! The first family picture! :)
Look at that smile! Girl finally got some food, unfortunately vending machine food, but she wasn't complaining!
Little man gets his first checkup! His legs were going absolutely crazy! Definitely need Jared to teach Zachary how to kick a football!

Those feet, they're tiny, I love them, it makes me happy.
Definitely NOT the end! Videos to come...



...a wink and a smile...

BAAAAAABBBYYYYY TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!!!!!

That's "Baby Time" for you folks who do not enjoy shouting/singing (ok more shouting) in excitement at the top of your lungs! My favorite brother called me this morning to announce that today was the day. Kellie is at the hospital all ready to go and we are literally now hours away from Wiggles Patrick making his/her debut!!! I'm thrilled beyond belief and can't wait to see this little nugget! I planned to get a lot done today, but I'm sure my excitement will overtake me and I'll be one useless sack of potatoes. I'll just do laundry, try to conquer the cardio module, and sit like a ninja waiting for updates. Yea, I have no idea what it means to sit like a ninja, but it popped in my head and was typed out.

Daydreaming about babies....

Pretty sure Charlie is going to receive an insane amount of lovin' today! He's my baby for now. Since no pictures of baby P just yet, here's B taking a cruise in the fire truck! Look closely, he's waving at you!!Sorry folks, no baby from me for a LOOOOOOONNNGG time. Just means all my lovin' to my nieces and nephews!! Woohooo!!

And that's the way the cookie crumbles! (Name that movie)



...a wink and a smile...

Lovin' the Lake

About time for an update, why not Memorial Day weekend! It was a phenomenal weekend at the lake. Mom had a good weekend relaxing to the absolute max, if you currently know what's going on then you'll know what I mean. Dad actually had part of a weekend to take a break from his insane schedule. Me, well I took a break from school and enjoyed the grass between my toes, the amazing rain showers, and fishing! Look at this view... Just gorgeous! It really was a lovely weekend, and I can't wait to get back up there! Next time we may be packing it up. Now that will be interesting, and quite a task. Oh dear. We'd need a garage sale on steroids for that house. Oh and welcome to hurricane season friends! Can't mention the lake without thinking about hurricane season. Hunker down!!! Ha! I'm so sorry but if you were here in Houston during the last hurricane season then you should be laughing with me right now. That's pretty much the only advice they had for us, HUNKER DOWN! If I told you who used that phrase over and over and over again, I might get lost on a different topic, so I'll refrain.

Next up, fishing. How I have loved this pastime/sport. Actually, it may have been before then. I was such a little boy growing up. With a name like Shane I guess it was inevitable. I loved playing in the dirt, collecting little frogs in the ditch behind the baseball fields, I cried when they told me I couldn't play baseball with the boys, I loved summer trips to Alabama and roughing it outside with my two cousins (both boys), and of course, fishing. Fishing will always have great memories attached to it. I fished with Pop and can remember begging him go out with me. We'd sit out on the bridge or anywhere, and the world as I knew it was absolutely perfect. Also, fishing trips with Gimmie pretty much every weekend we could make a run down to Galveston. That was probably the only time I didn't mind waking up early. [Not to brag or anything, (knock on wood) but I've never been seasick in my life. Gim was pretty good about that as well but one time I can remember it was me and three other people at the front of the boat, hanging on as the boat would rise up and then crash back down, while everyone else was inside laying on the floor and in the bathroom. And let's just say, they weren't enjoying themselves.] Anyway, fishing contests, trips, lakes, whatever it was all fun!! This was me in my happy place over the holiday weekend. Oh it wasn't just me fishing! There might have been an audience as well... notice the little guy too, it's like Where's Waldo. A lovely weekend and a perfect way to welcome summer 2010! Next post, food! I've tried a TON of new recipes but keep forgetting to take pictures and type up some updates. Hopefully I'll get better!


...a wink and a smile...

Birthdays and Business

Fancy meeting you on here!

Time for an update, but first I must apologize on the food promise. Here's the funny thing, I've been trying out a TON of new recipes but I always forget to take a picture. I'd like to blame it on my taste-tester. For him, when food is ready, it must be eaten, no time for pictures. I'm going to work on being better at the picture part, but the new recipe challenge has been a blast. Back to updates, Dad celebrated a big birthday where mom and I so cleverly decorated it black and yellow and stuck with a corvette theme. Dad longingly dreams of owning a corvette one day, and after his birthday he will still have to continue to dream. Sorry Dad! He did get a yellow corvette cake though! If you didn't hear about our cake fiasco, well then consider yourself lucky. What an ordeal for that cake, but it was very much worth it! An absolutely wonderful day with family and friends to celebrate DAD! Here's a picture of Gig helping with the decorations, she was crucial to the entire process and I couldn't resist snapping a picture of her in action. Don't you love the decorations?? I personally feel Sandra Lee from Semi-Homemade would love my tablescape :) Next up, trip to NYC for Dad's interview on the Huckabee show! Who so graciously offered to accompany him on his trip, ME! It was an unforgettable father-daughter trip, and I will treasure those memories forever! We packed so much into the trip including a Yankees game, yummy deli food, trip to the top of the Empire state building, a nice dinner before our Broadway play, and of course the Huckabee show! I hope you all were able to see the interview. I was so proud of Dad, he really knocked this one out of the park! Not that I doubted it for one second! If you want to check out what Dad's been up to lately, click here! Love you all!


...a wink and a smile...

Charlie Barnum

Some of Barnum's latest pictures! I'm partial to pictures when I read blogs so I'll keep the words limited and let the pictures do the talking. Let's start off with some Charlie Bear in his cabana wear! My little man loves to enjoy the great outdoors with me! (We're both not really "outdoor dogs" but we love back porches and laying out by pools! Ha!) Doesn't that make you want to grab an umbrella drink, run outside, and wiggle your toes in the sunshine!! MmmmHmmm... Do you just love that picture? Me too! Want another one? Ok! Hahaha! Thanks for the laughs Charlie Barnum, you have just made our day! Oh no, I can't seem to stop, my poor dog has more embarrassing pictures and for some reason I feel the need to post them. Here's the story behind the next picture: Charlie loves long walks and there just happens to be a Starbucks relatively close to the house. Mom, Charlie, and I somehow feel the need to walk to Starbucks when the weather is exceptionally stunning. Twice now, we have made the walk, and each time mom and I get a green tea and charlie geta a small sample cup of water. Want to see how much Charlie loves Starbucks water?? Ok! No animals were harmed in the filming of this episode. HaHa! Charlie is so loved and completely spoiled rotten! However, his mother is more than willing to let him play with other people, please contact me if you need a dog for the day. :)





...a wink and a smile...

Scrumdiddlyumptious!

Oops, this was an old post that apparently saved to my drafts and was never posted. I have no excuse, I'll just plead stupidity and distraction on this one. Ha! So enjoy!!

Just me and the kitchen. No worries or stress, just tasty treats of all kinds! I started off the day with plans to attack a some recipes I have been wanting to try for weeks. But before I could begin, I had some juicing to do! Thanks to Ryan and Kellie (Wiggles was with us too), I was able to sneak a peak inside of Costco. I have serious issues with discount warehouse retailers. I can't walk in one and be practical. It's like having a huge coupon. I convince myself it's such a bargain that I MUST buy it at once. Needless to say, I walked out with enough oranges to refuel and entire little league!
Here's just a portion of them getting all ready to be juiced...yum!! Once the juicing began, I proceeded to empty the refrigerator of anything that had even the tiny bit of juice. Red bell peppers, oh you'd be surprised. They're tasty little beasts! They taste rather scrumptious mixed with fresh apple juice, frozen into cubes, and blended in one of my favorite spinach smoothies!! Oh..my..yum!! But I can't fool you, juicing was not a very clean kitchen adventure. Let's just say, the kitchen ended up like an IHOP...STICKY EVERYWHERE!!! Totally worth it though. Another thing I learned, my juice has some serious spitting issues, and this is how I solved that problem. Rather ingenious, if I do say so myself. Kitchen towel bib. Sexy, yeah?? Oh wait, you need a better close up of the sludge that ended up on my bib. There you go, and I didn't think of this fantastic idea until I had finished the oranges and was juicing the apples and peppers. I'll know better next time!! After juicing it was time to make some bread! Oh yes, I love carbohydrates! Why deprive yourself of such delicious treats? Just make it healthier! So I decided I wanted to make some Honey Whole Wheat bread which was absolutely divine. It was was actually used to make french toast the next morning! We had a lovely guest over. :) Wink Wink! I decided I was going to put my beloved KitchenAid to the challenge. Could he (yes, my KitchenAid mixer is a he, he's big and manly) take on the task of bread dough even though he's injured?? Yep, poor guy can't lift his bowl up, so I use magazine stuffed under the bowl to keep it propped up. Seems to be working!! Must make a trip up to Fort Worth to get the bugger fixed. To make a long story short, here's the product and boy was it yummy! All whole wheat flour, no sugar, great taste!! That recipe will definitely go into the SAVE file! The camera angle doesn't do it justice, but let me tell you it was divine! That's about it so far, will be back soon for more updates!!



...a wink and a smile...

Baking soothes my soul

Yes, yes it does. If I'm frustrated or angry or sad or happy or giddy or..(insert just about any emotion), I'm probably feeling the need to be in the kitchen. I have no idea why. It's comforting in there. I like it. I like food. So here's the deal, I'm going to start with at least one recipe every week. Now, I may make two in one week, or maybe five, and that might have to cover me for a while. Hopefully it averages out to 52 new recipes tried by the end of the year. That's what I'm going for. It could be anything!! If you have any suggestions, feel free to shoot them my way! I will post successes and failures. Before I get started, I must show you my dearest mother's last adventure in the kitchen. Being the loving lady that she is, she decided to make Daddy-O some shrimp dip. If you are a part of this family then you know about this magnificent creation. Holy yum!! Let me tell you though, she spent FOREVER in the kitchen. She was exhausted by the time she finished it, but boy was the labor of love appreciated by all!! May I post some pictures of her during her great cooking adventures?? Ok, thanks!
She's one well prepared chef! More ingredients than she knows what to do with are sitting out on that counter. Oops!! Lesson learned, make sure it's not on before you plug it in! A little bit of shrimp dip may have decided to fly out of the bowl and all over the kitchen. Live and learn. (Don't worry, I was there to capture every moment!) Now that is a determined woman! Look at her go, but keep your distance. She's fierce in the kitchen. She prefers to stay as far away from the cooking scene as possible. It's why we work so well together.

Hope you guys had a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!! I ate an obscene amount of chocolate covered strawberries courtesy of Mom and Dad! Yummm!!!


...a wink and a smile...

Meant for a small town...

It seems to me that I was truly meant to live in a small town. Alright, I know it may seem odd to some of you but ask good 'ol mom and dad. I'm sure they're already wondering what small town they'll be visiting and sending Christmas cards to in the future. Do you like small towns? I think they're magical. Like Disney World. My experiences with small towns have been down right amazing!! Cute schools that aren't swarming with thousands of kids packed in classes that are bigger than most I attended in college. The post offices smell of happiness and cheer! (Ok, so it was a little post office outside of Montgomery, but it smelled of cinnamon and the lady call me honey.) It's a completely different vibe, so relaxed and laid back for the most part. Word might get around fast in a small town, but shoot, you already know everyone elses business anyway.

Did I mention I want a cow and pig one day? No, not a heard of cattle, simply one cow. Surely someone is going to tell me that you can't have just one cow because it will become lonely or something. Anyway, my cow and pig are going to be the best of friends. I'll post pictures of their blossoming friendship in the future. Ahhh, I can just see it now. Oh, and I'd like one of those cows with a toupe. Aren't they fabulous! Yes, I have so much to learn. I guess the only hope I have of living in a small town with a plot of land is if I marry someone that knows how to take care of the land. Gentlemen?? Anyone?? Hmm...

I can also take my nursing skills out to the country. Yay!! By that time, I might be interested in home health. What better way to get to know your neighbors!! I'm loving this idea more and more. Perhaps it's all just a wonderful dream in my head, but I'm OK with that. Makes me smile.

Other than my dreams of small town livin', I don't have much else to report. I'm currently in CC studying and reading like a crazy woman, and I hope to go up to the lab tomorrow to practice! As for now, I should go back to reading. Sorry for the lack of pretty pictures to entertain your eyes, I'll post some tomorrow! :)