beads 'n bliss - new items

Interchangeable charm necklace! Wear it with any outfit!


Add bliss to any book with these bookmarks!


Doll up your little angel with my new binki clips!

Ethan's 2nd Birthday Party!

Ethan had a fantastic birthday! He danced and screamed with excitement after opening each gift!

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa A for the cute outfit, shoes, and socks! They were desperately needed!

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa T for the drum set. I'm sure we'll have many headaches as Ethan learns to be a fabulous drummer!

We gave Ethan a tricycle and a Thomas the train! I also made Ethan's Elmo cake! It was quite the ordeal! The cake stuck to the pan the first 2 tries, so we went through several mixes, lots of eggs, and oil before a suitable cake came from the mold! :) Turned out okay though!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

I wanted to say happy birthday to my baby Ethan! Guess I can't say that anymore now that he is 2 years old! It's hard to believe how fast time goes. We'll post pictures of the party tomorrow, but I just wanted to make a list of all the cute things about my little guy!
1. We call him our little Turkey, because he is so silly
2. When he has an audience, he hams it up for them! He is totally going to be the class clown
3. He LOVES fruit snacks, and fruit roll ups!
4. He asks for ice cream for breakfast on a regular basis! I NEVER give in! Don't worry
5. He tells you whatever is on his mind, and has been known to tell people to shut up, and even that they have a fat belly! Nice huh?
6. His duckie blanket that Missy gave for him is still the favorite, but is now called the Duckster, instead of duckie!
7. His favorite foods are broccoli and asparagus! If we have either with our dinner, he will eat nothing but the veggies!
8. He hates to go to bed, but LOVES to sleep in. In fact, when I wake him up to leave for work, he points back at the crib and tells me "nap mommy, nap."
9. His favorite movie is Wall-E. It sounds like he says Wad-E. Too cute
10. Andy likes to tickle and tease him, and when Ethan's had enough his says stop it daddy, love you daddy! Like that will end it all :)
11. We went to the doctor the other day, and when she got done examining him, without any prompting from us, he said "sank you doctor!" Too cute!!!
12. Please, thanks you (sank you), and welcome are very regular words these days!
13. When we drove by the movie theater the other day, he pointed and said "the Princess and the Frog?" We took him to that movie over Christmas break, and it either traumatized him, or he liked it since he knows where he watched it at!
14. When Andy was getting in the shower the other day, Ethan slapped his naked butt and laughed!
15. When he farts, he smiles and says "I farted"
16. He loves to hug, tease, and feed Norma
17. He pointed to the moon the other night and told me he wanted to hold the moon as we walked from the grocery store
18. He still calls both Grandpa's honey
19. Grandma & Grandpa T have a golf club pen that Ethan loves to hit balls with at their house. He even holds the club correctly when he hits everything!
20. He loves to be outside playing, but the other day I asked him if he wanted to go out, and he told me it was "too cold mommy"
21. He loves to go to nursery on Sundays, and asks to go to church on a regular basis. He loves to play with other kids
22. He gives great kisses, and still will cuddle!
23. He doesn't like to play with his toys, he just likes to get them all out and make a HUGE mess. Hope this ends soon!
24. He adores Thomas the Train! He has several different thomas engines, and he carts them around with him everywhere.


There are so many other great things about my little guy, but this is a pretty good list! He is a joy, and besides the few tantrums that we've had lately, he's very pleasant to be around. We adore him, and are so happy to have him in our family! Couldn't ask for a cuter little guy!

12 weeks and counting!

We are excited to announce that baby #2 is on its way! We are 12 weeks along, and due in early August! This is going to be one EXTREMELY hot summer! I was sleeping with the windows open, and no covers when I was prego with Ethan, and that was in January! Can you imagine what June, July, and August are going to be like? I'm not looking forward to that part, but can't wait to welcome a new little addition to our home!

Jewelry Open House

A new past time, (when Andy is on graveyards, and Ethan is in bed) is to make jewelry! Anyone is more than welcome to attend! It will be at my place from 1-5 on Saturday Jan. 23rd! I've made watchbands, charms, bracelets, necklaces, baby bracelets, earrings, and also a few little things that you could buy to give away as little valentine presents, like valentine tins, and cute scrapbook covered candy bars!

If you're interested in attending, and need my address, just e-mail me and I'll send you the address and directions!

lesallen916@gmail.com!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was so much fun! Ethan was a ball, and loved everything he got! He asked Santa for a train, and the popup tent has been a big hit! He also loves his tool bench, and has been hammering away at it non stop!

Grandma and Grandpa A gave Ethan a buzz light year! He LOVES buzz! Grandma and Grandpa T gave Ethan a really neat video game to play! He jumps on his mat while we play the Wii, and then he thinks he's playing right along! Grandma T pulled out her old costumes while we were there for Christmas and Ethan found the Super man cape! He wouldn't take it off, and had a great time flying around the basement!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we went to the annual Bateman family Christmas party! We always have a fabulous dinner, then have the kids act out the Christmas nativity, and then open Christmas presents from Grandma & Grandpa and the drawing. This is Cayman, "playing" with the toy that Ethan got, and below, Ethan playing with the toy that Cayman got. He wouldn't put it down!



Andy and his brothers would always make a fort to sleep in during the Christmas break. This is our version of the Christmas eve tent! We had a great time1

Yikes!

my pictures won't load today for some reason! Cute Christmas pics and details on the way as soon as this little bug is fixed!

Santa Pictures!

Santa paid a visit to the International Association of Machinist Christmas Party! Ethan LOVED santa and didn't want to leave his side to let other people get pictures. You can't tell by his facial expressions though. It is like pulling teeth to get this child to smile in a picture! I think he must get this from his dad!

Ethan & Julia

Colby, Suzanne, and Julia were in town this last week for their Christmas visit. Ethan & Julia had a great time playing with each other. I think that they older they get, the more they'll enjoy each other! We had a fun time going shopping, visiting Santa Claus, riding the train, enjoying Christmas dinner, and presents, etc.

Ethan, Elmo, & Shrek

So, first, notice the stinkin' cute pajamas! Andy bought them, and we call them his incredible jammies, since they look a little superhero-ish! For quite some time, he REFUSED to wear them. Then one night when he was just about asleep, because we got home late, I put the jammies on him without him knowing, and when he woke up in the morning, he decided he LOVED them, and REFUSED to take them off!

I finally got the jammies off, but them he REFUSED to put his pants on! Needless to say, my boy is picky when it comes to his clothes! Excuse the unmade bed, but this is what he did as I got ready for the day. He gave elmo some "gasses" and some "shoes"! He was quite proud of himself, adn happy to sit in with Elmo for a picture!Shrek is also another of his "buddies"! He likes to play pretend with Shrek and Elmo, and cuddle them, and feed them! So, he insisted this day that Shrek was hungry and needed a ba-ba! Super adorable huh?

Ethan & Honey

Ethan loves his Grandpa! He lovingly refers to him as "honey"!

My Birthday

This year, Colby and Suzanne were in town for Christmas on my birthday, so we had a great Christmas dinner, a fantastic birthday cake, birthday presents, AND Christmas presents! It was a fun day!

Bye Bye!

The new phrase of the month from Ethan . . .

bye bye, see you in a minute! Oh my goodness it is adorable!! He says it to EVERYTHING! Now that I'm a mom, I realize that the bathroom is no longer a private place. Ethan has to be in there with me, and he makes sure that he waves at the toilet as it flushes and says bye bye pee pee, see you in a minute!

Beaded Bliss Design

Lately I've been trying my hand at making jewelry, and have really come to quite enjoy it! Several people have asked me to make them items, so I've started a jewelry blog. Beaded Bliss Design by Leslie!
www.beadedblissbyleslie.blogspot.com

I have watch bands, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, lanyards, bookmarks, baby bracelets, and more to come!

Eventually, I'm going to shoot for online payment/shipping options, but for now, if you see something you'd like, email me at lesallen916@gmail.com and we'll work something out! Here is a little preview . . .

Ward Halloween Party

I had to borrow these pics from Candace! Thanks!

Andy's Birthday

Happy Birthday babe! We LOVE you!

Notice sneaky McGee over there inching toward the cake! He kept saying yummy cake over and over again. I had to keep telling him that it was daddy's cake and we had to wait for him to come home to eat it. It's amazing that the cake actually lasted until dad came home!

Happy Halloween

Delicious and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

12 cups water

1 chicken boullion cube

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 packets of country gravy mix

5 carrots sliced

1 onion cubed

1/2 lb. chicken cubed and cooked

1/2 package of Country Past homemade style egg pasta noodles

Add all together, mix, and simmer for an hour!

Pumpkin Patch

Here is our little guy in his halloween costume! Andy picked it out for him this year! :)

Ethan loved driving the tractor at the pumpkin patch! In fact, he had to drive EVERY single tractor that there was!