Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I would like some French Fries With Ketchup Please!

Every since that I could remember, I have a "love affair" with a really good batch of french fries. I even love it with lots of ketchup too! If my husband forgets to bring back some ketchup with our fries, I may send him back because I'm that serious! My mom told me when I was 1 year old, I would just lick off all the ketchup with just one piece of fries. Today, Conner had his first french fries...with ketchup of course! He is definitely a mama's boy! Yummy!

Give me some more french fries with ketchup please!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Growing Up!

Oh dear! Guess what happened tonight? It was so unexpectedly for me. While I was making dinner, my husband started to feed Conner some baby jar food. He asked me "should I try & see if Conner will feed himself?" I said "I don't know. He has never tried it yet." Without thinking about reaching for my ipod camera, Conner got the spoon and did it like it was the most normal thing to do. He spoon-fed himself!! Ahh! Of course, I ran to get my ipod and record it. *Dramatic mama's memories insert here* What's funny is that he made a couple of little spill on his shirt. Usually, he does not wear a shirt (or has a bib on) whenever he has his meal. This time we forgot to but hey, who says there is a perfect non-messy child? haha! I really can't believe Conner is growing up. He is only 10 months old for goodness sake! Ok...he is really almost 11 months old but don't remind me just yet. 
So thrilled for Conner to be growing up!--Mama! =)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

More about Picnik.com

Picnik.com is a fun site to edit your photos into something different. It is not hard to do. It's free and fun, especially for those who don't have Photoshop. Here are some tips on editing a picture or two. *Make sure you pick a clear picture.
*If you want words on it, pick a photo that has space for words. Or add an extra space for a 2nd photo but only use one photo.
*Don't be afraid to use the effects for your favorite looks. You can even apply more than one effects. *Play with different fonts and colors.

The key to creativity is to "play" around. It gave me a few fun ideas that I never thought of doing. Here are a few examples:


I used a photo that has space on the left side of my subject. Then I changed the effect to 1960's look. I adjust the contrast and light. Then I added my favorite song into different fonts/colors. Highlighting the words such as "sunshine".

I chose to use collage but only added one photo. So I can have extra space for words. Then I changed the contrast color to the picture.
I chose the 3-spaces for 3 pictures. Then I reduced the spacing size to join the pictures together. Then I auto-corrected the pictures. Also lighten the dark space so I can see the faces better. Then I added frame and wording with icons.

Hope these ideas help you get started on your fun editing time. Click here to check out the Picnik site!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A Blessed Heart

Today, I thought about how blessed am I. Of course, I am not rich in money, things, or even a house/car. I am rich in family. It's my son, my husband and my extended families. My heart is blessed as I watch my kid learned how to pick up his toys whenever they fall of the couch. He learned how to bang things together. He learned that he can throw cherrios on the floor but still go pick it up and eat it (or if my dog is lucky, she probably will get it first). He learned how to listen for his mama & dada's voices. He just makes me SMILE! Yes, like I said, my heart is blessed beyond than I could ever imagined!

*Thank you Lord for all the blessings that you have given to me. You are the Lord of lords and forever my God! I love you!*

Friday, August 19, 2011

Standing & Walking

The weekend of my anniversary, Conner had started to stand on his own for a few seconds. It surprised me so much that I was already having dreams about it. Such as Conner walked into the kitchen unexpectedly while I was cooking. Kinda scary but exciting at the same time. I think this event is making me realized how fast Conner is growing up to be a toddler soon. Today, Conner already could walk a few steps without falling down (only with a happy face). Seriously, whenever he tries to walk on his own, he has this big grin that makes his nose and eyes squish up. It's making me laugh on how much Conner tries with this silly face on. I am thankfully that he is willing to take a dare (in a good way) and learn how to do things on his own. Now if only I can get my dreams to calm me down. haha!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

2nd Year Wedding Anniversary!

Yesterday was my 2nd wedding anniversary of being married to McStud, (a.k.a. Brian). We had been married for 2 years. It doesn't seem that long but it sure feels like we had been married for years. Who would know the first time I met Brian in the dining hall at TTU would be my husband? He was wearing a fancy suit & tie outfit. He just got back from meeting George Bush, former president of USA. Pretty neat uh? He didn't know sign language. All he loves to talk about was football and have a political debate with his friends. haha! Eventually, God directed his heart toward mine. =) I glad to say, I'm pretty darn happy that he keep "chasing" me. Who knew that 4 years later we would have this healthy & happy 10 months old baby boy? My life is blessed!

On that note, I got to surprise Brian with few adventures & a dinner date. I kept warning Brian not to eat too much homecoming meal at church that morning. I hope he listened. haha! We dropped our boy off at Mimi & Opa's house for the night. Boy! I was so excited for this surprise trip for Brian. He had no clue what we were doing. I had him drive to our 1st destination. Ice skating! It was so cold in the building. I had forgot to bring my hoodies. We had fun despite of being way out of shape. Lucky for us, we didn't fall down and hurt our booty. lol!
at the ice skating rink!

pre-snack. No this didn't make us full because we were skating so much!



2nd destination: We went miniature putt-putt golf at the Pirate's Cove. I really like the decor'! I'm a fan of pirates even though I know they are dangerous and stinks! I loss my ball in some random creek on the 16th par. oops! I was here to win but left a loser. Yay for BG for finally beating me at a round of golf.

this is how I golf. JK!



3rd: since we had more time to burn off, we went to the Gwinnet Mall. Needless to say, it's a nice mall compare to what it looks like outside. Never judge a book by it's cover. =)

4th: Yes, Brian was impressed that I made reservations for the 1st time. I took him to the Melting Pot. It's pretty much everything dipped in your own bowl of fondue. It's the BEST FOOD EVER! So romantic and the food was amazing! I just want to have another fondue cheese bowl to take home!

The best place for awesome fondue!

He was really excited about cheese on bread

Amazing plate of goodies!


Then we stopped by a beautiful hill with a huge oak tree on top. We watched the sunset for a little bit. Then we went home because we were so tired from having such a busy day. Brian was nice enough to let me watch the finale of "The Next Food Network Star!". Jeff Mauro, the sandwich king won! I wanted Vic to win but Jeff is pretty good and I cant wait to see the pilot of his very 1st show. The next day, BG surprised me with breakfast in bed from McDonald's & the prettiest set of flowers! We watched a movie, "Peggy Sue Got Married".  Then we went to pick up Conner. Man I miss his so much! He had a lot of fun at Mimi & Opa's house. He seems to have grown so much overnight considering he is already starting to stand up on his own. SCARY! It's a great process for Conner!


Then we had to do our food shopping but what was nice is we shop in the middle of the day. Usually, we go after BG gets home from work in the evening. So it was nice and quiet at Krogers. Later, we went to the library because I have been wanting to check out a couple of books to read. Also we took Conner to the park for his 1st experience in the baby swing. So much fun! I didn't want the weekend to ended but we both were blessed to have special time together without having some chaos in our life. Last year, we didn't have that great of anniversary. We had to throw away our cake topper a week before our anniversary because we had to move away. In the middle of all that, we didn't have time to just have a good weekend together. It's ok, we still love each other ;) haha!

Giggles & Handprint Art

Last Saturday was such a fun day! Pinterest had inspired me to do this hand prints art on a couple of canvas. If you hadn't check out Pinterest.com, you should! It is full of inspiring ideas, cool recipes, random photos and so many countless things on the website. The handprint art was something I wanted to do. Yes it was messy but super fun! Brian, Conner and I had much fun because we just made memories. =)

And oh you gotta check this video out. Conner was such a silly boy that day. He thinks that everything is funny and he is so ticklish!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Our Lil Bug's 100th post---the best gross story ever!

This is really a really gross story. So don't say I didn't warn ya!
AHHH! Tonight turn out to be one of my first many gross stories that I will have to face with raising a baby boy. I was busy doing something and had my back to Conner for a few minutes. Those few minutes turn out to be a really quiet. Too quiet. I wonder why so I turned around and saw my innocent swet baby boy sitting among dog POOP! He was playing with it like a play-doh and I hate to say it...he was EATING it!! AHH! That freak me out. If you know me, I don't like to handle poop. I gagged at the smell of it. As a mommy, I must take a stand and make a quick move. I hurried & grab Conner up and yelled for BG (who was in bed, sleeping). BG woke up suddenly because he thought something bad had happened. Well, duh yeah! This is a disaster and I need HELP! He quickly got up half -asleep and saw the poopy mess on my living room floor. He said "Oh whoa!" I told him " no not that, LOOK AT CONNER!" BG was shocked! He ran to grab some baby wipes and cleaned out Conner's mouth as much as he could. He struggled with cleaning Conner's hands because Conner was too excited. Conner tried to get away from us to play with some more unmentionables. BLAH! The poop was getting everywhere. It was on Conner's legs, BG's arms and my hands. Lord have mercy! Life does gets messy!

After that, I washed Conner's hands with soap and water. Lucky, Conner loves water so he didn't fight with me. Ugh...I still smell his poopy breath. This is NOT good! Again, I washed his mouth with wet paper towels and brushed his teeth/gums. Then got his bath set up. I let him play with the bubbles as much as he could. There! He is all cleaned, so squeaky clean and smelling fresh like a sweet smelling baby. My hubby went back to sleep after he helped clean off the floor. I read Conner some books, fed him and put him to bed. He went right to sleep with no problems. Only because the night was so much fun and worn him out. Ugh! Now I think about it, I'm not sure that I like the idea of feeding Conner some milk after he tasted dog poop. I need a shower after this eventful night. Story of my life of raising an active baby boy! I hope I will never again will have to face something like that but who knows...this is only the beginning.

*Oh by the way, happy 100th post on "Our Lil' Bug" blog! What an awesome post, uh? =)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Calender Dates

I'm sure a lot of us have our own special calender dates. It can be birthdays, anniversary, back-to-school dates, when you lost your 1st tooth, the day you got engaged, graduation, your first child's birth, your salvation date or whatever it is. It all means something special to us. I made this little picture with 4 dates that meant something to my family. It was fun to create this. Hopefully, I can get a enlargement and hang them up in my house. =)

06/03/1984---Brian Green was born!
04/28/1985---Erica Vance was born!
08/15/2009---BG & EV got married!
10/15/2010---Conner Vance Green was born!


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Ipod pictures

I just cant help it! I love to share my family pictures. Here are some from my ipod touch. We were all dressed up for my friend's wedding in Chattanooga.

just woke up from a long nap

I love the stone wall!

my handsome prince & me!


My favorite boys!


being silly

hanging out at starbucks!


LOVE

A secret pathway to a very romantic spot!

Eating his own bag of cherrios

"I love you"

Cracker Barrel

This morning, my mom skyped me and asked if I want to go to Cracker Barrel with her and my dad. YEAH! I LOVE Cracker Barrel, especially their cute lil' general store. I even remember going to Cracker Barrel on my honeymoon trip. They have awesome good ol' southern sweet tea and country meal. It always seems to hit the spot whenever I crave for them. Yum! Blessing: My mom wanted to buy some cute baby outfits for Conner and my niece, Amira. They have Summer clothes on sale so it's a good opportunity to snatch up a deal! We were able to buy two outfits with the gift cards since my parents' pastor paid for their meal unexpectedly. So it was really nice to have a little blessing to make our day even more special! I think we will have a picture day with the babies soon. =)

Tummy full of goodness!---Erica

Amira's pretty sundress

Conner's summer outfit

Welcome to Lowell, Michigan!

If you ever heard of "Pure Michigan", it's all true. It is a very beautiful state! Brian and I hope to live there someday. So what about the town of Lowell, Michigan? BG was born in Grand Rapids & grew up in Lowell, MI. It's about 20 minutes east of Grand Rapids. When I first visited Lowell for Thanksgiving, I thought it was such a cute little town. I was smiling for ear to ear when my friend (now my husband) showed me around. He showed me his school, intro me to his families, places where he hangs out with his childhood friends, his church and we can't forget that super store Meijier. I was told by my Michigan friends that its better than Walmart. I like it. haha! They do have their own little pharmacy store. They have the best candies, especially sea foam! I want some now!

Lowell has a wonderful character, lots of cute charms and a warm personality. The people knew each other by name. The locals are a big fan of Red Arrow Lowell's high school football team. When I said "big fan", I mean they are really a BIG FAN of them! Football is a top favorite sports. There a river that cuts into town. They even have their own showboat and a local train track nearby. In the Fall, the maple trees change into a vibrant bold colors of red, orange and yellow! It only lasts a week or two before the leaves fall to the ground. Their snow is so light & beautiful but firm enough to go sledding. The river sometimes freeze hard enough to walk on it. There is more to Lowell than it meets the eye. I hope one day, my kid(s) will come to love visiting their grandparents in Lowell, MI.!

Fallasburg Covered Bridge near Lowell, Michigan

Downtown Lowell, MI

Lowell High school, the home of the Red Arrows

Fall colors
showboat

Only in Michigan, you can get the best sea foam candy!

Brian & me in Lowell, MI.!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Submission

Yesterday, while I was giving my dog a bath, my husband had wrote a long note on submission & posted it on Facebook. Sure this topic can be touchy among ladies. He wanted to share his thoughts with me and his friends/family. I thought this was well written. It made me appreicate my husband even more of how he respects our marriage. I want to share this with my readers. --Erica =)
"Submission"

Buckle up! Time to make all the women mad and the men jump up in a hearty AMEN!!! Ok, Ok calm down crowd. It's not time to talk about women's rights, or men's rights, or kid's rights or dog's rights. It is time to brag on my wife. Is this note more of an apology to my wife for being such a lousy husband so often? Perhaps. More than anything though it is a chance to show you how my wife, beautiful Erica, shows me Christ on a daily basis.

Let me start by saying, Erica and I are Christians. We love God (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We strive our best to serve Him. We fall short so often, only Brandon Inge's batting average is worse than our ability for doing things for God's glory. The meager success we do have has everything to do with my wife. I understand not everybody reading this will agree with our stance on God and His idea of a family, but we do and I just wanna show how my wife is a great example for all you ladies out there.

The Green women are strong willed. I'm not gonna hide it. I'm not going to beat around the bush. If a Green woman wants something, she is going to get it. At the same time the Green men tend to be opposite. This leads them to marry strong willed women. It is an interesting, entertaining cycle. Being strong willed is not a bad thing, and I am not an exception to the other Green men. When I chased Erica she denied me 3 times. I had given up on her and she then decided she wanted me. Then she got me. She is strong willed. However, when we got married, something amazingly beautiful, overwhelmingly challenging, and downright scary happened. She gave her will to me.

Stop. Right. There.

When i was growing up I told my sister Robin I would never marry a strong willed girl. I was gonna marry someone who depended on me. My male chauvinist was running wild, and all of my dreams were going to be the dreams our family sought. I don't know why Robin never smacked me, but I am so happy God directed me to Erica, because what she did when she slipped that ring on her finger, was something that was as beautiful as heaven. She gave her will to me to give to God.

Allow me to say that again, and when I do allow the brevity and weight of this sentence sink into your heart. "She gave her will to me to give to God." Do you understand how much my head spins when I think of that? I wet my pants almost every time I think about how I am responsible for this family. It's a nervousness I am learning to embrace to grow our family spiritually. But enough about me, how nervous was Erica? She says to this guy, here ya go. Here are my dreams, my thoughts, my desires, and says its in your hands. She could have said, "you pursue your dreams, Ill pursue mine, we will come home and share the same bed, but I want my life too." That is the growing trend in the home and in the church, and also, I think, the reason we have weak men in our church who cant lead.

When Erica gave me her will, she forced me to lead. If I fail, having to take back her will would break her heart beyond repair. I must succeed in order for her to fully be used by God. If I pick the wrong use of money, or pick the wrong living condition, or pick the wrong church, she has and will forgive(n) me. But if I pick laziness in these areas, I will show her she picked the wrong man to give her will to. It is my goal everyday to please her. To make her dreams come true.

She does still help me with decisions, just because she gave her will, does not mean she is without opinion. We bounce ideas off each other. We discuss the future with each other. We are spontaneous with each other. I wish we were a perfect example, but we will settle for trying really hard.

So ladies, when you are thinking about your will, remember submission is a gift and a choice. Jesus submitted to God. He gave his will to God. And guys when you are given your wife's will, remember, you were just given the most beautiful gift in marriage. You were just shown Jesus. Thank you Erica for your heart, your soul, and your will. Every time we bow our heads to pray, and you slip your hand in mine, I imagine you are asking me to lead you to Jesus.

A very humble Husband.

(and yes I changed my wet pants)

Brian Green

Friday, August 5, 2011

More!

Conner finally learned another ASL word! *insert a little happy dance here* I got it on video! He is signing "more" to get some more bananas! I was hoping that he will learn how to sign "more" before he turns 10 months old. Voila! Here it is! It's going to make my life so much easier if he is still hungry without screaming in my ears. Wel...maybe. haha!
-Erica

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

"Take My Blood"

I came across this random youtube link posted on my friend's facebook wall. This is from Thai and also has a Deaf-mute man doing some sign language. Please take a few moment to see what it is about.


Man! I dont' know about you but that video left me speechless. I never thought that a commerical could be so deep! *shedding a few tears here* It's a life insurance commerical for goodness sake!

This video had made me think about my relationship with Conner. Yes, I am Deaf but that shouldn't stop me from loving my son. I want Conner to feel that he can commuicate with me anytime. I want him to be happy in our home. Just like any parents, I want the best for him. If he does not feel happy with who his mom is, I will still love him no matter what. This video also reminded me of how Christ's love is for us. Too often, we feel that we can't commuicate with our savior. I cannot understand God's power and hear him. Yet, Christ had gave up his own life for us. The man in the video said "Take my blood"...that gave me goosebumps. Wow! This dad wants to save his only daughter even if that meant to give up his own home and everything that he has. Jesus did the same. And I love him for that!

Thank you Lord for loving me even when I have failed you! ---your daughter, Erica