Useful iPhone Apps

Bryan got me and iPhone for my birthday a few months ago and I have to say that it has proved to be one of the coolest gifts EVER. I was pretty content with just having my old razor phone but when Bryan gave me this multi-purpose gadget, it really opened the eyes to a whole new world for this mom-on-the-go. If you have an iPhone (or are thinking of getting an iPhone) and have kiddos, or have an iPhone and are thinking of having kiddos, you may want to at least check out my suggestions. If you are not thinking of having an iPhone OR kiddos then you may stop reading this post now and play solitaire on your PC.
Baby Monitor has been one of the most useful apps to me as a mom. I have used it many times after putting one of my kids to sleep at one of my relatives houses or while on vacation. It helps me to feel secure that my baby is sleeping safe and sound. I simply forward my calls to a phone of someone I am with (usually my husbands phone), start the baby monitor, set it next to your sleeping baby - when the baby starts crying or makes a noise, your phone calls the number you have designated for it to call. I love it!! Especially when I go to my moms and put Pete upstairs where it would be hard to hear him if he woke up.

Bryan introduced me to the Ambiance app. I was just using a "white noise" app but this has a wide variety of noises for your listening pleasures. It is great to help a baby stay asleep and drowned out other noises or to help an adult go to sleep and drowned out baby noises. ;)

Since I have had the Grocery IQ, I have not put a pen to paper when planning out my grocery run. I go to my pantry and bust out my iPhone and start planning. I love that I just put an item in my phone when I randomly think of it since my phone it always with me. It also has a "favorites" list you can add so you can easily add your personal staples. (side note: among our top 3 favorites are regular Cheerios, milk & coffee) This application has more! It will sort your list by category/aisle and will save your history just in case you would like to include that to your favorites or grocery list. This is a must have in my book.

...and while we are on the food topic, here is one I haven't used much yet but I can see how it will be quite handy in the future. It is the Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner You can easily browse through recipes by specifying what dish type (Appetizers, beverages, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, ect.) then specify an ingredient you might want in it (chicken, pork, pasta, ect.) and it will even search for recipes by time frames you designate (such as under 20 min, 45 min or less, an hour plus, ect.) I am really excited about this one. It will give you recipe options within your specifications along with their nutritional facts and some reviews as well.

Sketches is great for adults and kids. Aubrey uses it all the time so it is obviously a kid pleasure. I really enjoy creating masterpieces on it as well. I can just doodle, pull up fun clipart or pull photos from my album and add text, clipart, ect.

So these are apps I feel could be useful to most every mom on the go who has an iPhone. Take my suggestions or leave them. I know this post is not in vain!! One of you will find this post useful right? Let me know if you have any suggestions for me. I am always looking for something fun and new (when it comes to apps that is)

Here are a few of my other, personal favorites not mentioned above:







NOTE: did you know that friend, Drew Corbitt, helped to create the "Pitch Pipe" application? It has really been useful to me.

Introducing - Charlie Butler

Amy was 9 days past her due date and finally had her baby just 1 day before her scheduled induction. It was pretty awesome that Charlie came on his own.
I just wanted you to see our sweet nephew, Charlie Emerson Butler. He was born Sunday, January 18 at 1:45pm. He was 9 lbs 3oz and was 21 3/4 inches long. We are so proud!! Congratulations Butlers!You have a beautiful family.

The 6th day past due

I came to Bossier City on Tuesday with the kids and we are still here awaiting Amy's baby (baby Charlie) to be born. She was due on the 9th but hasn't shown any signs of labor just yet. I am hoping Charlie will come soon while we are here. It has been nice because the kids are having so much fun together plus Amy and I have enjoyed this time together. She was with me when I was a week late with Pete and it made the time pass so hopefully we are helping this time pass for her too. I am sure my next post will have a picture of our sweet Charlie on it. Amy will be induced on Monday if he doesn't come before that.

For Pete's sake

This is Pete's 9 month post. Yes, we still love him and still want to keep him ;)
I am just blown away by his cuteness and growth every day. We love to see his little personality, to play games with him, watch him crawl, pull up and eat more and more different kinds of food. I haven't taken him for a 9 month appointment but I weighed him the other day and he weighed a little over 20 lbs., he also has 6 teeth!
We will have to see how tall he is at the Dr. office. God has truly blessed us with a sweet boy and we enjoy every day with him.

I pay tribute to his nine months by sharing recent pictures of him:
Here are a couple of pictures of Pete with friends, Jaiden & Cole.


My friend, Jessi, posted some pictures of Pete and his buddy Lars on her blog.

I love this picture of Pete and cousin, Lysie, playing.


Here is a sweet one of Pete with cousin, Jack, around Christmas time while wearing their Peanut shirts. (Note: for those of you who are wondering - my sister has not had Charlie just yet)
And of course, his proud sister, Aubrey, just adores him even more than when they first started hanging out.

Zippaty Due Date!!

Well, I just wanted to make this post all about my little sister.
SHE IS DUE TODAY! She has really been through a lot with a big move while taking care of her 3 yrs old and 1 1/2 yr old and finding a new Dr and all. Her family moved to Shreveport (really Bossier City, Jill) from Casper, Wyoming which has been pretty awesome for all of us. Jeremy (my brother-in-law) works for Halliburton and was able to transfer closer to us! We have got to see them a lot more now that they are near and loved being with them over the holidays.
Our kids can all hang out together now and be close (something I have always dreamed of) and now we will be able to go over there when Amy has her bouncing baby boy, Charlie, when he is born - I can't wait!

NOTE TO AMY: Hang in there little sis, it won't be long now!

Christmas in Tyler

The time we had in Tyler with our family was fun. It is really fun when 4 of my 5 nieces, my nephew and two kids are there. If you want me to add that up for you, that makes 7 kids 3 years of age and younger 7! not to mention that my sister is due TOMORROW! with my second nephew (her third child)...CRAZY!!! My Memaw was able to be there as well which I treasure so much. A good time was had. The kids sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and we had a wonderful Christmas feast. Drew bought and prepared the turkey for Christmas which was delicious! We actually got everything off to a late start (which is not unusual for my side of the family) so by the time we got to open presents, the kids were pretty tired. We let them open their presents, put them all down for naps, then we enjoyed our time drinking eggnog coffee (don't knock it til you try it), opening presents and fellowship. It actually worked out better that way, I enjoyed the peace and quiet for 30 minutes or so.

Christmas in Longview

We had a Silverthorne/Bussey/Robertson Christmas in the early part of the Christmas week and had a great time. We enjoyed Mexican food (which was so delicious) and lots of family fun and presents.