Love Actually Is All Around

Yes, the title of this post is taken from the movie Love Actually (one of my favs). The reasoning behind that is because I love the message that the movie portrays...people start to focus on the hate and violence that is definitely a part of this world but that doesn't mean that we should deny the love that actually does surround us. So to remind myself of this little thing called love, I wanted to write a list of a few things that makes me remember the love that God has placed in my life. Then I thought I would share! So here goes...

*These are not in order*
1) Waking up to already made coffee...reminds me of what a good hubby I have. :)
2) My baby's laugh, definitely contagious.
3) The sound of my hubby's truck pulling up in the driveway.
4) Sunday night dinners with the fam.
5) Conversations with my nephews.
6) Holding a sleeping baby, mine in particular. :)
7) Breakfast with my girlies.
8) Thinking of and remembering my grandparents.
9) The smell of my baby boy...sounds kinda weird but other mommies you know what I'm talking about!
10) Realizing that how much I love my family is how much (and more) that God loves His children.
*There are so many more things in life that I could list, but these ten are a just a glimpse of how blessed I am.

Now, since Valentine's Day was this month and the saying goes that to get to a man's heart, you go through his stomach - I decided to try out a special dinner for my valentine.  Without even knowing if I was a fan of eggplant, I went with a stuffed eggplant recipe. And guess what? I am a fan! It turned out so good that it will definitely be a recurring dinner in our house.  Healthy, somewhat easy and delish! Check out Rachael Ray's website for the recipe if you already know your're an eggplant fan or if you're willing to find out!

reading is one of his favorite things to do...like his mama!

Also, this month by baby boy turned 9 months old (he's almost ten months, now).  It's just absolutely insane how fast little sleeping babies grow into babbling, crawling, chewing on everything infants! How I admire those with more than one little one at home because, man, this one keeps me busy. He is now realizing that he's a big boy and getting braver by the minute, trying to walk, finding his vocal cords, reading the many books around the house and eating just about everything he get his little pincher fingers on....including dirt on the floor, which is my new motivation for keeping a clean house. Here are a few recent pictures of my ever-growing baby boy in action.

he also loves being outside...that he gets from his dada!

another favorite pastime, eating!