If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again

We just knew that Hampton would like his Baby Einstein toy, but he had other ideas. We think it's a stimulating toy with so much to do and see, so we were determined for him to enjoy learning with it. So we just kept sticking him under it until one day he didn't cry when playing with it! Now his face lights up and he kicks and swings his arms at the lights and music. He still won't play with it for long periods, but we've definitely made progress. That's the power of perseverance, baby!

Eat From The Pantry Challenge

Inspired by Tanner's favorite blog, we decided that January was going to be "eat what you've got" month. It's so easy to buy stuff that you think you'll eat and then it just sits in your pantry taking up space forever. So we decided that we'd just eat what we already had from our pantry & freezer, and the only things we were allowed to add to the mix was fresh produce, dairy, and meat. It was quite an adventure coming up with recipes with only what we had at home! **

The most creative ingredient that we worked with was 2 pounds of vanilla yogurt that was left over from the big family get-together. We don't like vanilla yogurt, but we were determined to find something to do with it! We tried 3 different recipes....yogurt brownies, orange crumb cake, and waffles. The brownies were TERRIBLE! You know it's bad when sweet-toothed Bo votes to throw them out. The orange crumb cake was quite good, and we made several substitutions to that recipe. The best thing we made, though, were the waffles. They were delicious! Plus, we made Paula Deen's yummy praline syrup to go with it, so we were loving it!

We also had tons of potatoes to use, so we fried potatoes for the first time, and we came up with a taco potato recipe that was awesome. We also made an interesting version of potato soup that had us throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the pot, including a homemade roux at the end to thicken it up. We didn't think the soup was going to be able to be salvaged, but it ended up delicious!

The Eat From The Pantry Challenge was not nearly as tough as we thought it would be, and we came up with some new and interesting recipes that we'll use throughout the year. We actually are looking forward to doing this challenge again in a few months!

the delicious yogurt waffles with praline syrup

**By the way...if you're wondering what about all the bargain groceries we've recently bought, they're sitting in our guest-room closet waiting until February to be used!

Who Lives In A Pineapple Under The Sea?

Oh, yeah. That's right....Spongebob Squarepants. Grandi introduced Hampton to this wonderful new world, and he is infatuated. All you have to do is turn it on and he'll sit mesmerized by the bright colors. Of course, we do NOT want him to be raised by the television, but it is nice to be able to get some things done while Spongebob acts silly on the TV. The major downside? The theme song gets stuck in our heads for the rest of the day!!

watching the show intently

Raining Buckets

Since it rained all day here yesterday, we took the opportunity to start organizing the garage & Hampton's closet. We pulled out all of the clothes he's already outgrown to store, and Hampton decided he wanted to help!

"Look at this one, mommy! I think it still might fit!"

"I'll hold the divider while you do the work"

"Whew! I'm tired of all this work. Let's take a nap!"

Shake, Rattle, and Roll!

We're so excited that Hampton is reaching some big milestones! He can now finally play with a rattle! He can grasp it and sort of shake it. Of course, he eventually tires of it and drops it, but hey, we're just glad that he's going to be able to play with his toys! As for the rolling part, he can roll over on one side. He actually rolled all the way over the other day, but judging by his reaction, we don't think he enjoyed it that much!

Cute Cousins

We hadn't seen this super-cute picture of Mira and her cousin "Hampy", as she calls him. We just couldn't resist stealing this picture from their blog & sharing it with you!

Weekend Fun with P&J

This weekend, P&J (Bo's parents, or Grandma & Grandpa as they're now called!) visited from TN. Jan had a long weekend due to MLK, Jr day, so they decided to trek down here to visit us....oh, who's kidding? They came to see Hampton!

We had a great weekend visiting, roaming the county, and grilling out. We especially loved being off of diaper duty! Luckily, President's Day is coming up, so Hampton will get to see Grandma & Grandpa again very soon!

Couponing 101

It may be dorky, but we've really gotten into this couponing thing. We love a challenge, and who doesn't love saving money??? It takes a while to get the hang of, but it's really quite addictive! With the combination of Publix deals, coupons, and informative blogs, we're really saving a bunch on things we actually use. We promise we won't bore you every week with our coupon adventures (and trust us, it really IS an adventure!), but we're excited that we're slowly turning into the Coupon Queen & King!

Recent Publix Trip

Total before coupons = $91.60

Total after coupons = $20.00!!!

It Don't Matter If You're Black Or White...

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and in remembrance of the King of Pop, we proudly give you this....

This NEVER happens!!! :)

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

We've mentioned before that Hampton LOVES his crib mobile. We don't know if it's the bright colors, the silly faces looking down on him, or what, but he could just watch it spin for hours. It's a very simple one, though, so we have to stand and spin it ourselves! Our arms are definitely getting a workout, and you should see us spin it and run!

Happy Birthday, Alyson!!!

We hope you have a wonderful birthday today!!!

Guess who got stuck under the crib and couldn't get out?

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's been so cold here recently, and we definitely don't want Hampton's little cold getting any worse. Luckily, Tanner's cousin Jeff gave Hampton the cutest fleece outfit to keep warm. Now we don't mind the cold weather, since we can go out in style!

Family Get-Together, Part Two

More photos from the family reunion!

Bo & his mom at the beach
Grandpa Paul & the grandkids

Boba & Mira hamming it up

Grandma & Grandpa with the 2 babies

Mira & Bo working on a sandcastle

Ben enjoying the beautiful beach weather

Grandma, Grandpa, & Mira

Family Get-Together, Part One

Bo's family came down the week after Christmas to spend some much-needed time together. They rented a house in Fort Morgan, and we spent most of our time just catching up. It was great to see everyone, and now we'd like to bore you with LOTS of photos of our fun-ness!

Bo's sister & nephew suited up for a beach outing

taking in the view from the back deck

Andy, decorated in stickers provided by our 7-year-old niece, Mira

Bo's sister Alyson channeling her inner chef while making yummy guacamole

The Whole Gang

Tanner, Hampton, Andy, Alyson, Susie, Mira, Leigh,

Paul, Megan, Ben, Renee, Bo, Mrs. Slater, and Jan

Hampton's 2-Month Birthday!

Hampton is quite the growing boy! We had our 2-month well baby checkup today, and he's a whopping 13 lbs and 15 oz, and 23.25 inches long.

Current 2-month-old likes:

• his swing


• being held


• bathtime


• his crib mobile


• falling asleep to the sound of the shower

Current 2-month-old dislikes:

• his Baby Einstein toy (oh, well...maybe later)


• tummy time


• waking up


• when the car stops


• sleeping anywhere besides his carseat!

Christmas, Part Two

Christmas at the Henson house is anything but boring! This year everyone was there, making for even more excitement in the house. As always, we had a delicious meal of tenderloin, breakfast casseroles, and homemade biscuits, just to name a few. Plus, we snacked on homemade fudge and pecan pralines beforehand, so we were stuffed! It was a blast opening gifts, especially the kids' gifts, and watching all the guys open (and then play with) their marshmallow guns. Some birds had a delicious holiday meal, too, since there were marshmallows all over Grandmother's yard!

Here are a few of our favorite photos from a very fun and memorable day.....

John & Bo taking advantage of the gifts that are supposed to be for their sons!

Family photos with Tanner's brother John, his wife Amy, their son Jack, and us!

Ben taking aim with his marshmallow gun.

First cousins Hampton & Jack meeting for the first time. Aren't they just precious?

Hampton learning lots of life lessons from his Great Grandaddy!

Christmas, Part One

Now that all the family has gone home, we can pick up where we've left off with photos from all the holiday festivities. We didn't want you to think we had forgotten to take pictures of all the fun!

Christmas morning began at Paul & Jan's house. We ate a light breakfast and exchanged gifts before heading to Fayetteville, TN, for the Henson Christmas brunch. It was a great way to start the holiday!

showing off our Christmas pjs

hanging out with Grandpa

Happy 2010!

We hope everyone has a wonderful New Year filled with bundles of joy!