Just random stuff

**Just trying to get back in the groove after our emergency trip to Michigan. Brian's dad had a heart attack...well, a couple of heart attacks. They didn't think he was going to make it, but much to the amazement of everyone, including his doctors, he pulled through. It was a very stressful trip for us.


**I hate the weather. I hate that it is hot so early in the morning. I can not get my child to understand that we can't be outside all day long no matter how much she wants to be. And when I do take her out, she fights me on drinking water. We are meeting some friends at the Zoo tomorrow at 8 for member morning. I am hoping it won't be too hot and we can actually enjoy ourselves.


**Took my child to get a haircut this morning. It wasn't the usual screaming and crying that I am use to. But she did not want her hair "snip-snipped" as she calls it. You know, it really isn't even a haircut. All I get is her bangs trimmed. Brian would have a fit if I cut her hair. He is afraid that the curls will be gone if I cut it. And to be honest, I don't want to cut it. My mother cut my hair SHORT when I was little and I hated it. Little girls are suppose to have cute pigtails and bows.


**Going to see Sex & The City tomorrow night with one of my girlfriends. I can not wait. I really wanted to go out for Cosmos before the movie, but my friend is pregnant, so I don't think that would be fair to her.



**I want a new camera. There I said it. Brian told me not to even think about it, but it is all I can think about! I used a friend's 40D at a birthday party a couple of weekends ago and all I have to say is ...whoa. That camera ROCKS.

I've got other random stuff, but that will have to wait until I have more time. blog ya later!

One of those mommy moments

Today Miss K and I went to a "sing along" at the library close to our house. Miss Lynn, the lady who was leading the session started asking the kids questions like, "What do babies do? and Now that you are growing up, what else can you do?" Miss K turned to me and very seriously said, "Mommy, I don't want to grow up." I thought I was going to cry. I just hugged her really tight and told her I never wanted her to grow up. I can not believe that my baby is going to be 3 years old next month.

Here's a photo of my baby. This was taken at a party at Owl Creek Park on Sunday. And yes, that is sweat in her hair. My child sweats like crazy.

Lists, lists and more lists

At this point, I think I have a list of the lists that I need to make. How sad is that. I need to make a list for all the stuff to do for Miss K's birthday party. Need to make a list for stuff for our Chicago trip. Need to make a grocery list. And then I just have a million and one things that I need to do, that at the rate I am going, will never get done. I've got too many lists going and it's not working for me. I just don't know what to do. I swear, I am so unorganized. I start doing one thing and then get sidetracked

So, I am watching the hockey game and it is now in the 3rd overtime. Believe it or not, I actually wanted to go to bed early tonight because I am tired and Miss K and I are meeting some friends for storytime at the library in the morning. I don't want to be dragging in the morning like I usually am. I'm going to sit though the 3rd OT and then I am going to bed. This will give me a chance to at least get our menu made for the next two weeks and started on the grocery list. I so need to go shopping.

Blog ya later!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Today is Brian's birthday. We had a great day. He went golfing while Miss K and I went to a birthday party. We went out to dinner at Saltgrass, came home and had a Chocolate Caramel Nirvana cake from Coldstone. Oh my. Sinfully delicious! Then we spent a couple of hours hanging with our neighbors and playing with Brian's birthday present. I managed to find a Wii Fit for him. WE LOVE IT! Can't wait to spend some time figuring out all the stuff it offers. I will say this, you WILL get a workout on it.

Anyway...Happy Birthday my wonderful and amazing husband.

I know this is a goofy picture, but it is the most recent one I have of him! I so need to get better about photos this year. I don't know what happened, but I just haven't picked up the camera like I have in the past.

Betty Boop

I rescued this cutie from an awful lady on Pettus road four years ago. When she came to us, she looked like one large ball of mud, dirt and anything else you could imagine stuck in her fur. My original plan when I brought her home was to get her cleaned up and to find her a home. She ended up becoming a part of our family. She was always a quiet little dog, but she tended to be agressive. So, when we brought Miss K home from the hospital we were really concerned how she would handle it. We needed not worry because they became the best of friends. Last week Betty hurt her leg while we were visiting my inlaws in Michigan. I honestly think the leg was just one of the many things that was wrong with her. She hadn't been the same dog for the past six months. Brian was planning on taking her to the vet first thing Saturday morning because she had developed a sore of the inside of her leg. Betty passed away Saturday morning in her sleep before we were able to get her to the vet. We are devastated. How do you explain to an almost 3 year old that her puppy, her constant companion since she was a baby is not coming home? I am a very emotional person, so I've been crying on and off since Saturday morning. I went shopping with a friend and I was looking for new drapes for my dining room. I said that I didn't want to spend $100 on one panel because Betty Boop has a tendency to eat my curtains. Then I remembered that she wouldn't be chewing on my curtains anymore and I started crying in the middle of the store. I'm just very sad. I miss my puppy.

Alright my Vera Bradley loving friends... (and other ramblings)

I am headed to the big sale in Ft. Wayne this weekend. Brian and I went last year and I got some AWESOME deals. Most of the stuff that I bought was in the retired patterns, but heck...$10 for a $85 purse in a pattern that I liked worked for me. I ended up with a number of gifts. I am hoping that I am lucky enough to find the same deals this year as I did last.

So...here's the deal. I know a couple of you have asked me to get you a bag. I've got no problems with that. But I can not promise you that you will get the color you want or the bag you want. So, if you want me to pick you up a bag, email me and we will chat. We are headed out for Michigan on Thursday. We are spending the weekend with my inlaws. I actually told Brian that we could cancel the trip since the cost of gas is freaking outragous! Dang...that reminds me, I need an oil change.

I've been bad about blogging lately. I've got like 6 unpublished entries. I am going to try and post something every day in May. I am also challenging myself to take a photo every day. I seriously have taken maybe 10 photos in the last month. That is SO not like me. I've actually let a bunch of things go recently and I really need to get back on track with "life".

Let see...what else is new? I've been packing kits for J.J over at SISTV. I am really enjoying getting to meet some new friends by doing this. And getting to see the new kits before they come out is pretty cool too. I really need to get back into scrapbooking. I've got all these ideas in my head, but don't do anything with this. And let's face it....if I worked on just unfinished projects for 3 years, I probably still wouldn't get caught up! Why do I do this to myself???

Weight loss is still going well. Down almost 40 pounds now. I finally had to break down and buy a pair of shorts that fit. 3 sizes smaller than what I wore last summer. Go me! Sleep is still an issue. i am just going to have to break down and start taking the sleeping pills more often. I just hate who sluggish I feel in the morning and with Miss K and her current 'destroy the bathroom' tendencies, I need to have my wits about be at all times! That child is WILD. She is obsessed with the foamy pump soap. And the Kandoo wipes that I use for her when she goes potty. She calls them her "special box". I have no idea why. She does know that she is the only person that uses them. But she uses like 3 or 4 at a time and I usually have to go right behind her and wipe again. No pun intended there.

Well...here it is, 1:25am and I am not sleepy at all. Too late to take a sleeping pill. I think I am just going to read one of my romance novels. Yep...that's one of my guilty pleasures in life...I love to read romance novels. Thank God for the library. With the sleep issue, I've been reading one book a day some weeks. And we are trying to cut expenses, so I spend a lot of time at the library and not at the book store. Except for when it comes to Miss K. She wants to hear the same books every single night. I finally had to break down and by all the "If You Give A" books because I had checked them out from the library and renewed them the max amount of time that I could. Her favorite new book is Fancy Nancy. She calls it Fancy Fancy. I have a feeling that before long I will be buying all the books in this series too. I'm going to check them out at the library and she if she takes to them like she did this one.

Have I made this post long enough to make up for not blogging in forever and a day? Blog ya later!

Krazy Kid

So, this is the only place that my child will sit today while she is watching her "T.B" as she calls it. She has also decided that the desktop computer in the guest room is her "puter" and wants me to have the NickJr website pulled up at all time. She just likes to hear the music that is on the website. She does her "ballerina" stuff in the hallway while she listens to it. And the make believe play has really started. She was playing on her bed this morning with all her "dollies" and she was using a blanket as a gate and they all had to pass through the gate and close it when they were done. It was too funny! She's a hoot!

Happy Easter

We were lucky enough to spend the day with some of our wonderful friends. We met them for brunch at one of our favorite places, Maggiano's. Afterwards we went over to their house and let the girls hunt eggs. They had such a good time. These two are only 2.5 months apart in age, but Miss K looks so much bigger than Miss L! And she outweighs her by about 10 pounds!

One thing I hate about living in Tennessee is the weather! Growing up in Texas, every Easter I had a cute little Easter dress and a new pair of white shoes with ruffle socks. My child had to wear a freaking parka to hunt eggs today!

So, for the rest of the day we are being lazy. Miss K is watching her Dora video that the Easter Bunny brought her. I am reading the end of the Other Boleyn Girl. If you haven't read this book, you NEED to. A million times better than the movie! I've

got to do laundry so that I can get Miss K packed for her trip. She is going to stay the week with her grandparents in Michigan. I'm glad that she gets a chance to spend time with them, but I really do miss her when she is not here. My little "shadow" is gone. We will have a surprise for her when she gets home. Brian bought a new big TV for the bonus room. She's going to love her Dora videos on a big screen!

Blog ya later!

Can't think of a title

I've been neglecting a lot of things lately. My blog just being one minor thing. I'll try to get better about it. I've been doing a lot of reading lately and that has taken up any free time I have when I am not being a wife and mommy. So, that means I am reading late at night/early in the morning since I can't sleep still without the aid of sleeping pills.

I had my weigh in this past week. I am now down a total of 35 pounds. I have got to start exercising. I'm just being lazy. I keep telling myself I'll go walking tomorrow. Apparently tomorrow isn't here yet. Dang it.

I really need to get to bed. We are taking Miss K to the Zoo tomorrow for the Bunny Breakfast and the Easter egg hunt. I wasted my money on the breakfast because Miss K told me in a very loud and firm voice that she does NOT want to see the Easter Bunny. She likes to keep a 50 feet distance between her and then bunny when we see him at the mall. Apparently I got the stroller a little to close to him the other day when we were at the mall and she let me know really fast she wasn't happy!

Well, it's really late and I need to finish some laundry and get to bed. I will try and update tomorrow with some photos from the egg hunt. From what I've heard, it's going to be a mad house. They expect 7,000-9,000 people to attend the hunt. That's just nuts!

Blog ya later!

The Other Boelyn Girl

So, my mom's group went to the movies tonight and we saw the Other Boleyn Girl. I have never had a movie give me this much anxiety before. I have no idea why it did. I have so many questions after watching the movie. We are also reading this book for our book club, so I need to read it, but seriously....I think it is going to cause me more anxiety! What is up with that!? I guess I just can not imagine my life being anything like that. No regard for marriage or women. And a woman who was so power hungry that she ruined her entire family. Men using female members of their family to better their "station" in life. It was disgusting. Jeez...the more I talk about it, the more anxiety I get! CRAP!

So, I am not really great at history so I have no idea how much of the book is actually true. Guess I am going to have to do a little history homework on this crazy Queen. The whole situation is mind boggling!

We are almost diaper free!

Today has been a good day. I've not had to ask her once if she needs to go potty. She just goes! When she got up from her nap, I did tell her to go potty. She wore her big girl Little Mermaid panties while she napped and we had NO ACCIDENTS! I am having some issues with her wearing the pull ups though. It's like she doesn't get it. She thinks they are still diapers. So, we keep her in panties until we put her down for the evening. Then we put her in a diaper. She has not woken up with a dry diaper yet. Now, the challenge will be leaving the house in panties! She seems to have issues using the potty in public places. She actually threw herself down on the floor at the Zoo because she didn't want to sit on the potty. It was quite odd. I need to get one of those "travel potty inserts" that I can put on the big potty when we are out and about. I seem to remember one that folds up. I can keep it in Kennedy's bag when we are out. I think that might help.

Spring Break has not started out well for us. I am not sleeping. In the last 24 hours, I have had less than 1 hour of sleep. I am going to have to give in tonight and take the sleeping pills that the doctor gave me. I even tried to take a nap when Kennedy did this afternoon and all I could do was stare at the ceiling. Couldn't fall alseep for anything! It's killing me! If these sleeping pills do not help, I am going to have to come off the medications that I am using for the study I am in. ARG! Just talking about it makes me mad. I WANT TO SLEEP! And, on top of the sleeping issue, Kennedy and I are both sick. I have a bad sore throat and Kennedy's nose is running like a leaky facuet.

Okay...I've got some lists to make. Blog ya later!

Today Miss K had an Easter Egg hunt at school. She was funny. Every egg she picked up, she wanted to open it right then. That resulted in her not getting 12 eggs like she was suppose to. Oh well. We still have an egg hunt with our mom's group, a neighborhood one, the Zoo one and then Easter Sunday. I think she will get plenty of eggs full of candy that she doesn't need. It was funny to watch her. Her best friend is in her class, so she was constantly looking for her and yelling for her to come and see what she had in her basket.

Potty training is going. Not great, but not awful. I think K just gets too involved in whatever she is doing at the moment and doesn't want to be bothered with going to the potty. I set a timer and that was going well, but she started getting mad that I was making her sit on the potty every 20 minutes.

Okay...I am off to watch the last part of AI. Just wants to see who gets booted off.

Random stuff

I've not blogged in forever. Here are some random things going on in our lives....

*potty training a 2 year old is hard work. I'll be steam cleaning my carpet and sofa tomorrow.

*time out and standing in the corner is more effective then spanking in our house. Even if you make her stand in the corner in a department store in the mall. Yes, I did that.

*31 pounds gone. Still have a long way to go

*I've been reading books like crazy. Sometimes one a day. This has to do with the fact that I am averaging about 4 hours of sleep a day. It sucks. Reading is something I can do and not disturbe the entire house. The library is our friend. Although, my book club picked a 600 page book this month....with small font. That is going to take me a couple of days. Geesh!

*heartbroken over family drama that I got dragged into when I specifically asked NOT to be.

*LAUNDRY

*visiting the Zoo once a week for our ZooTwos class which is awesome! Where else will your 2 year old get to pet a sloth?

*music has become something that K loves. I can hear her singing in the mornings before I go and get her out of bed. We do the hokey pokey a lot in our house too.

*K's favorite books right now are If You Give A Pig A Party and If You Give A Moose A Muffin. She likes to read the pig one herself and it's funny because I think she has memorized some of it and will recite it on the correct page.

*Brian working MAJOR amounts of overtime.

*Feeling guilty because I've not taken a photo in over a month. What's wrong with me?


I know that there has been a ton more stuff going on in our lives, but I just can't think of all of it right now. Okay, I can't think of anything else. Blog ya later!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Best purchase

Last Monday Miss K had a playdate with one of her little friends. This friend got a My First Dollhouse for Christmas. She played with that dollhouse almost the entire time we were there. (Although, she referred to it as a "doghouse"...there is a dog in the family as well.) She talked about that house on the drive home and asked me if we could go back to her friend's house tomorrow so that she could play with the "doghouse" again. I told her we would see. Then came the question, "Mommy, you get me a doghouse, please?" Now, Miss K has never come out and asked me for a toy before. Yes, she will throw a fit over a toy she sees in Target, but she has never asked me for a toy without being in the store. I told her that we would talk to Daddy about it and we would see. In my head I knew that we really didn't need another toy, but in my heart, I knew she really wanted that house and she did say please. I mentioned it to Brian that night and he didn't even think about it...he said no. Now, in Brian's defense, our house is totally overrun with toys right now. And only 1/3 of the toys she has are actually in the house. We have a garage full of toys that never made it back into the house when we moved back. Anyway...back to the house. All evening she talked about the house. I finally told her she needed to ask her daddy. He just gave me the "look". He finally said that if I could find room for it, she could have it. No problem! There are no toys in her room, so the "doghouse" can go in her room. So, I went to Target the next day in search of the much wanted doghouse. Nothing. So, Thursday night my inlaws came into town. On Friday afternoon we headed over to Franklin to have lunch and do a little shopping. Off we headed to Toys R Us. I was on a mission. I needed to get that house for Miss K. She asked me every single day if I would get her a doghouse. I honestly thought she would eventually forget about it. Nope.

So, we get to TRU. I located the much desired toy. There was a small problem, but after searching, I located the correct house. And of course it would be too easy to include everything you need with the house, so I had to purchase 4 accessory packs as well. (There are 5, but they were out of it, so I had to order that one on line.) So, now we have a family. The family consist of a daddy, a mommy, a big sister, a baby sister, a grandma and a dog. (I have no idea why FP decided to leave the grandpa out.)

Miss K has been playing with her house non-stop since we got it home. She had both of her grandparents playing with her and the house pretty much all weekend. Right now as I type this, the family must be on a family outing because they are in the Little People Learning Zoo. The entire family is in the tree house...that does include the dog. Seriously....best toy purchase I've made in a long time. And the doghouse? It's sitting in the middle of my family room.

My weigh in

So, I weighed in on Wednesday. I knew I had lost some weight, but I wasn't sure how much. I will be honest, I was a little disappointed. I really thought I lost more. I've lost 11.2 pounds since December 28th. So, I've lost a total of 16.2 pounds. (I lost the first 5 the week of Christmas....go figure!)

I really need to get more exercise. I just need to get motivated to do it. I joined a walking group, but they only walk on Saturdays. No problem...I'll walk. But I hate to walk alone and it has been so freaking cold outside. Does me dragging my daugther and mother in law around Opry Mills all day Sunday count as exercise?

Speaking of Opry Mills....I need to go back. I found an outfit for Miss K that I really liked at Hartstrings. My MIL did not like the outfit and was quick to tell me. So, I put it back. I loved the outfit. I'm going back this week to get it. I hope it is still there. It was 80% off. I love Hartstrings. I also stopped by Strasburg while I was there. Love that place, but it tends to be a tad bit out of my price range. Okay...WAY out of my price range. I found the cutest Christmas outfit for Miss K. I got the outfit and hair bow for $30. The outfit was originally $80 and the bow was originally $20. Love it. It's a pant outfit, but it is so cute. It totally looks like something I would put her in. And while we are on the subject of clothes...can I tell you something? I get so pissed off when someone makes a comment about how much money I must spend on Miss K's clothes. Honestly, it isnt' really of your business, but it you must know, I am a bargain shopper. I don't buy anything full price. If I can't get it on sale, I don't need it. Thus, the Christmas outfit purchased in January. I am also lucky enough to have a friend who has an "in" with a lady who owns a boutique in Texas. At the end of every season, before she sells her "excess inventory" for next to nothing, she calls my friend in to shop and gives her basically 90% off. This is where a bunch of K's dressy dresses come from. We just got a package today in the mail with two beautiful smocked dresses and an adorable capri outfit. Retails for almost $250. There is no way in the world I would pay that much for 3 outfits for a 2 1/2 year old. Okay...end of rant. Sorry about that.

I've got to get some sleep. Blog ya later!

I am so excited I could SCREAM!

So, Miss K is in this awesome MDO program. Love it. Can't say enough good things about it. Downside...no 3 year old class. It's a new program. The church is small, so even if they wanted to add a 3 year old class, there is no room for it. So, Hollye, yes ME, comes up with a great idea! Have the original 2 classes Monday/Wednesday as before and add a 3 year old and preschool class on Tuesday/Thursday! THEY ARE DOING IT! They made the decision on Saturday. Well....just a 3 year old class right now. Maybe they will consider adding the preschool the following year.

I am just beside myself with glee. Over a MDO program you ask? YES! The teachers and director of this program are awesome. The director is a certified Kindermusik teacher, so she does that with the kids during school and has added an after school class that starts next week.

I know..it sounds silly, but you would not believe how hard it is to get into a program in Nashville. My neighbor has had her daughter on a waiting list since she was 6 months old at their church and she hasn't gotten in...she's 3! I lucked out finding out about this program because a mom in my mom's group mentioned and I call the lady that day. There is now a long waiting list for the program.

Eyebrows, Wing Stop, and a funny pet peeve

Okay...let's talk about eyebrows first. I have been needing to get mine waxed for quite some time now. I just keep putting it off. My main problem is, I don't like to tweeze at all. HATE it. I'd rather go to the dentist then pluck my eyebrows. So, Wednesday after I dropped Miss K off at school and took care of my expired registration (which I got a ticket for), I headed to one of those chain places to get my brows done. I've been there before and have never had any complaints. Now, when I get mine done, I don't do them thin or narrow...whatever you want to call it. I usually just have them follow the natural arch of my brow and clean them up. And I told the girl that. She must not have listened. She waxed each brow twice. Next thing I know, she is trimming them with scissors! HELLO??? They don't look bad, they are just not what I am use to. And then I noticed when I got home, they aren't totally even. You wouldn't notice it unless you were staring at my face for 30 minutes like I did when I got home. It just feels odd to me and I keep touching them to see if they really are as short as I think they are!


Now onto Wing Stop... I sorta fell off the wagon today. I think I've been a little over cautious with my calorie intake and I am not eating enough. I told Brian this afternoon that I needed to eat something without obsessing about it. I ate a low cal breakfast and lunch so that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Originally we were going to go out for dinner, but Miss K took a 3 hour nap and it looks like she is getting a cold, so I didn't want to take her out. Brian offered to pick up dinner on the way home. So, Wing Stop sounded good. Do you know, I ate 4 wings, a couple of fries and I was full, but I was also starting to feel SICK. I'm fairly certain that I didn't go over my "alloted" calories for the day. I even had him get me a sweet tea. I could't even drink half of it. Maybe I'll never enjoy food again? Maybe the pills are what is making me sick when I eat? Who knows. I am having some of the side effects that they said I would have and I will be honest....it sucks.

And now...the funny pet peeve. I know this is going to sound silly. I don't even know how to explain it. Blinds. I have an issue with blinds in people's houses. I hate driving by people's houses and seeing their blinds messed up or broken. My neighbor across the street..her blinds drive me NUTS. They are always messed up and I want to go over there and fix them. I am in no way an obsessive compulsive person, so the fact that this bothers me is strange! If I opend the blinds in my house on one window, I have to open all of the blinds in the house. If I put Miss K down for a nap and close her blind in her room...I have to go back and close all the blinds again. I check my blinds a couple of time a day to make sure that Miss K or the dogs hasn't messed them up. I'm so strange. I even catch myself looking at people's blinds when I drive past houses. So, any of you laughing at me right now? I probably need to be medicated or something!

Losing weight has made me sick...

So, Saturday I met up with my walking group. The plan was to walk 4 miles that day. We started out with the early group at 8:45am. We started out together, but 3 of us were moving a bit faster than the rest of the group. The "leader" told us to walk ahead if we wanted to. That was all she said. So, the three of us walked. And walked some more. And walked more. We lost the entire group. And there were no markers, so we didn't know how far we had walked....until we got to the end of the trail, 2.9 miles later! Oops. On our way back, one of the ladies from the group caught up to us and told us we missed the 2 mile marker. You think? There was no marker, just a "landmark". So, instead of 4 miles, I walked 5.8 miles. I struggled at one part that was all up hill. But, I was motivated by the two ladies walking with me. One of them kept telling me..."Come on Hollye, you can do it." over and over. Thank goodness for her. I felt great when it was done. Until I got home. Major headache that lasted all day Saturday and all day Sunday. I went to bed at like 7ish Sunday. I did not drink enough water. I know that is what happened. Need to make sure I MAKE myself drink more water.

As for my weight...I still have no idea how much I have lost. I know that I can now take my favorite pants off without unbuttoning them. I do not go back to the doctor until the 23rd, so I will find out then if all this has paid off. I'm stuggling with the food and counting calories right now. I think I am so worried that I am going to go over my 1400 calories that I am not eating enough. I really need to work on that.

And, because I was sick, I missed two days of my 365. I am so mad at myself. So, I am starting over....on Feb. 1st.

Went to a crop on Friday night. Got one project almost completed. I just need to print out a couple more photos and it will be done. It turned out really cute. I still have a lot to do to complete all my goals for this month. Need to get working on that!

blog ya later.

I got a late Christmas present today...

And it's a good one!Since Miss K is obsessed with Dora, we call everything "Dora XXX" Like, you want some Dora rice? Look K, Dora peas! I even put them in a Dora bowl or on a Dora plate and give her a Dora fork or spoon. Sometimes it works, but mostly....it doesn't. So, I am going to try some recipes out of this nifty little cook book that one of my very dear friends gave me for Christmas. This will be a great way for all of us to get some veggies without the constant fighting. And hey, let's be honest here. I don't eat enough veggies either. I am going to try out at least once recipe this weekend, so I will let you know how it goes!

So, here is my day #3 photo. This wasn't the picture I was going for, but this is what I got. I am having some camera issues right now. I am 99% sure that it is all operator error. I am shooting in program mode with my 50mm lens. No flash. EVERYTHING is coming out grainy. I'm getting irritated. Well, it is WAY past my bedtime and I have to be at the park tomorrow morning to meet with my walking group for our 3 mile walk. I'm going to be dragging! Blog ya later!

Something new for me

So, most of you who have known me for a couple of years know that I struggle with my weight. Well, let's be honest, I don't take care of myself. So, right before Thanksgiving I got a phone call about a weight loss study. I was accepted into the study and started 3 days after Christmas. (I'm not 100% sure I am suppose to say what it actually is, so I will read my paperwork first before I go into details.) One of the things with this study is counting calories. Man. This has really been an eye opener for me. Let's just say, I think twice before I eat something these days. That cheesecake I love so much at the Cheesecake Factory? One slice is 1300 calories! OMG! I am only suppose to have 1400 calories a day. And all those salads I've eaten thinking it was better for me than something else. Ummm...nope. Some of those salads are 1100 calories. Oh my. So, I carry my trusty little calorie counter with me when I leave the house. If I know where we are going to eat, I will go online to a couple of websites I use and will check out some of the menu items and what the calorie count is. This way I am prepared for when we go out. It's been a huge change for me. I am use to just eating whatever I want and not even thinking twice about it. Well, I should have been thinking about it! So, that is where I am. I am not ready just yet to put my weight out there for all to "see". I will share how much I lose as I go along. My goal for the month of January is to lose at least 10 pounds. My problem right now is exercising. Since we've all been sick and then it got so cold, I've not had to chance to walk. I don't belong to a gym and a gym membership isn't something that I want to commit to right now. I joined a walking group, so I will be walking with them every Saturday. I am going to start another walking group for my Mom's group, so I hope to do that at least once a week. Then I need to walk 3 other days/night on my own. So...enough about that.

I am on my second day of the 365 Challenge. I am doing a kids challenge. 365 days of photos of Miss K. Thankfully she has decided that having her picture taken isn't too bad and will actually smile for the camera. So, here is my Day #2

Could it be any colder outside?

What is up with this weather? It's too cold to go outside and all Miss K wanted to do was "go outside" and "Mommy, we go bye-bye. Let's go shopping." Hmmm...maybe we shop too much. Anyway, tomorrow is suppose to be freakishly cold. I have a couple of errands I need to run, but I am going to wait until later in the afternoon when it has warmed up a little bit. I need to run to Gymboree and replace a pair of pants. A pair that I just bought right before Christmas. Brian and my dad took K to the playground and she got her seat and the cuff all dirty. I've tried everything and I can not get the dirt out. If you have any laundry tips, I would greatly appreciate you passing them on! I would love to save the pants instead of replacing them. Speaking of Gymboree, I misplaced my Gymbuck. That's gonna stink if I can't find it before redepmtion time!

So, this evening Miss K decided to pull out dress up box I made for her. It was a hoot. She has a hard time putting the clothes on herself, so I dressed her. It was so funny. Normally she will only wear pieces for a few minutes and then pull them off, but tonight I told her I wanted to take her picture and she said okay. It was so cute. She had on three different pieces to three different costumes. I love it. She was so it to it. Too bad it was almost 10pm and WAY past her bedtime. I promised her that tomorrow we would play dress up all day.

So, I wanted to start the 365 challenge. I decided to do it at like 11:30pm on the 1st, so my challenge will run January 2, 2008 to January 1, 2009. Oh my! Doesn't that sound strange? I thought about setting up a different blog for the challenge, but honestly, I don't want to maintain that.

Happy New Year!

I hope that your new year has started off right. New Year's Eve in our house was very low key this year. The three of us have been sick since before Christmas, so we decided to just hang out at home. We ordered pizza and played Wii. (We got the game system from Brian's parents for Christmas...total surprise!) Miss K thought she was bowling whenever it was Brian's turn, so she was dancing around in front of the TV. It was a site. New Year's Eve is also the first night that Miss K slept in a big girl bed. Yep. My baby is not a baby anymore. (This makes me very sad.) Brian converted her bed early in the afternoon, so she took a nap in it. It didn't go too bad. She got out of the bed four different times, but the minute I opened the door, she would jump back in her bed. Except the last time...she was in her closet looking out the window. But when it came time for her to go to bed last night, she went straight to bed and never got out once. She loves her big girl bed.

So...a new year. It's like a do over. Lord knows I need a do over. I make resolutions and never keep them. I start projects that I never complete. So, I am going to try things a little different this year. Instead of a resolution for the year, I am going to make a resolution for each month. This is something that I can do and not be overwhelmed.

So, I am still thinking about what I want to acheive this month. I have some scrapbooking goals already, so I will share those. I'll share my other goals later this week.

So, my scrappy goals for the month of January are:

*complete Jennie's cleaning challenge (that means...clean my scrapbook room)

*complete 2 gifts albums - 14 pages in each album (this is almost done! I just need to print some stuff out and that's it!)

*complete 5 layouts (2 of these are done, I just need to date them!)

*complete 10 cards

*complete 5 digital layouts

*backup all of the 2007 photos

*print beach vacation photos and put in albums for family (I've narrowed down the photos that I want to print, now I need to upload them and order them.)

This blog will return to it's regularly schedule program on New Years.

I am going to take the rest of the year off. I've got some cleaning to do and I've got a house full of sick people. (Jenny, I'm sorry you got sick!!!)

Hope your Christmas rocked....our's did!

Christmas Card

Well, I only ordered 50 cards this year, so that is all I am sending out. I decided I wanted to do something different this year. Last year I just ordered photo cards from Costco and they were great. But, I wanted something with more photos. So, I found a digital kit and came up with this. I really like it. (No Sherri and Michelle...I do NOT need an intervention!)

Well...

I now have one ornament on my tree. I took the others off so that I could start decorating the tree. Then the photographer called and said she was on her way over to drop off the CD, so I forgot about the tree and spent some time going over and over the photos. I love action shots and with a 2 year old...that's pretty much all you are going to get. There were a couple of posed ones, but very few. I spent some time working on my Christmas card. I decided instead of going to Costco route this year, I was going to do it myself. (Well...sorta. I bought a digital kit on line.) I am having one printed at Walgreen's to see how it looks. If it looks okay, I will go ahead and order them and have that out of the way. Here is another photo from Sunday. Can I just say, I am married to an amazing man? I probably don't tell him enough, but I crazy in love with him. (I know he reads this blog, so I hope this makes him smile.) He's the world's greatest dad too. Miss K is pretty crazy about him too.

I need to get to bed. It's like 2:30 in the morning. The last time I did this, I woke up feeling like I had a hangover and I hadn't even been drinking!

Blog ya later!

Family Photos

We had photos taken this weekend. This is just one of the couple hundred or so that she took. The photographer is Jennifer Dunaway. She was super sweet.

Where is it?

Have you seen my holiday spirit? I'm not sure it has arrived yet. I don't know what to do. I've got a million and one things to do, but I can not get motivated to do any of it. I have a cookie excahnge that I am attending on Saturday, but I've not even picked out a recipe. I have another exchange for my mom's group the following Tuesday and my house is a disaster area. My dining room is trashed. Can't even see the top of the table. The tree has been up for over a week. It had maybe 4 ornaments on it. I need to take them off and really decorate the tree.

(Looking at the photos I took with the point n' shoot makes me think that it is ruined. It got left outside in the seat compartment of Miss's K wagon for days...in the rain.)

I think I am depressed. I honestly think it has to do with babies. It seems like a lot of my friends who have kids Miss K's age are pregnant with their second child. Did we make the wrong decision? Should we have tried one more time? If we do decide to actually adopt a baby, how long will that take? It just makes me a little sad. My neighbor recently had a baby girl, so I get some new baby smell when I need it.

Gotta snap out of it.

Miss K has been a little sickly lately. Nothing that every other kid in town doesn't already have. Constant runny nose. Thankfully, she has learned to blow her nose and she thinks it's funny to do it, so that works. I would hate the thought of trying to actually hold her down and suction it out!

I gotta run. Blog ya later!

Potty Progress?

It probably won't be major to mom's who have potty trained in the past, but this is a big deal to me. Miss K hates the potty. She would sit on it fully clothed, but take her clothes off and she would freak. I thought it was the little potty that she hated, so I bought one of those inserts that you put into your regular toilet seat. She freaked at that too. We decided not to push it. We took the potty with us to Michigan and it basically just took up space. It came home and had just been sitting downstairs collecting dust...lots of dust. We are trying to get the house ready for all our Christmas company, so I cleaned the potty all up and brought it upstairs. It made it as far as the hallway, but not to the bathroom. So, this evening, I see Miss K carrying it down into the bonus room. She leave it at the bottom of the stairs, runs over and asks me to take her shirt off. I take if off. "Now pants, Mommy. I do diaper." She takes the diaper off and runs for the potty! She sat on it for a long time. Then she got up and acted like she was flushing it. She sat on it a couple of times before she decided she wanted her diaper back on. Now, she didn't go in the potty, but I think she is getting the idea. Brian and decided that we weren't going to push it and were going to wait until the first of the year to actively start trying to get her to use the potty. Yeah! The day before Thanksgiving I told Miss K, "All Mommy wants for Christmas is for you to use the big girl potty." "No Mommy!" "Mommy will even buy you Dora big girl panties." "Okay Mommy!" I need to find that potty training book I bought this summer and start getting ready!

I'm a big baby

So, I had my second dentist appointment this week yesterday. I really like my dentist. She's a hoot. Anyway, I have a bunch of dental work, all minor, that needs to be done. I am trying to max out my insurance for the year. I had two appointments this week and then I have another one in a week or so. That's the big "let's block two hours out" appointment. I know you are thinking...OMG! Hollye has rotten teeth. Not the case! I guess you could call this "proactive dental work". She just wants to treat small places before they become rotten teeth. Am I explaining this very well? ANYWAY. So, I went in on Wednesday. Sit down. They give me the numbing gel. The dentist comes over, turns the gas (I love the gas)on and then gives me like 5 shots in my gums. I felt it. It hurt. Ouch. So, she goes off to treat another patient while I am getting good and numb. I sit there. And sit there. I'm freezing. I'm still sitting. She finally comes back, apologizes for taking so long and starts drilling. I about came out of my skin. She could tell by the look of horror on my face that I felt every single bit of the drilling. She poked my lip and asked me if I could feel it. YES!!!! She cranked the gas back up and gave me about 5 more shots. Let's just say...I couldn't feel the left side of my face for HOURS.

So, today is my day to stay home. No running around or anything like that. Well, I thought. I forgot the I made a playdate with one of K's little friends for later this afternoon. I hate to cancel because she has been talking about this friend all day when she heard me on the phone talking to hr friend's mom. Maybe we will go and stay for an hour. Luckily, they live less than a mile from us. Maybe I can get a few things done before we head over there. I NEED to get my cookie recipe picked our for all the cookie exchanges that I am in. I've got so much to do!

Blog ya later!

I can't even think of a title...

I am so glad Thanksgiving is over. Family stresses me out sometimes and this was one of those times. I also want to use this blog post to announce my retirement from party planning. I will not throw a shower of any kind, birthday or retirement party for anyone other than my husband or child. At least I know that they are thankful.
So, today I took Miss K to the Stingray Reef at Opry Mills. Those little suckers are creepy, but cool. A lot of the kids that we went with were really into touching them. The mommies...not so much. But, it's a great deal Tuesdays are buy one get one free. Admission is $3.95 for all day! And hey...kids 2 and under are FREE! So, my friend and I got in for $4 and change and our 3 kids got in free. We bought shrimp to feed the rays. Those were BOGO too. But, this mommy was scared of the rays and just threw the shrimp in. I did TRY to feed them by hand, but I chickened out. K kept telling me...Feed them Mommy! There were also seahorses that K loved and kept
asking if we could ride them. The best thing...the carousel. You can ride it all you want...for free with admission! We just stayed on it and rode it about 10 times in a row. Then we went and had lunch...came back and rode some more. Also got two more Christmas gifts bought. Oh...make that three! I am almost done. Brian has given me a couple of ideas, but I need to wait for payday to finish my shopping. Can't wait to be done. I've got a LOT of stuff to do between now and Christmas. My brother and his family are coming for the holidays and I can not wait! We are going to have such a blast. But before they get here, I have THREE cookie exchanges to attend, one of which I am hosting. I also have two more dentist appointment and a bunch of other things. I really need to work on my calendar this week to make sure I don't overbook myself like I usually do.

Okay, I have to get to bed. My child has school tomorrow and get to spend my second day this week at the dentist office. Trying to max that dental insurance out!

Blog ya later!

And so the holidays begin....

We are in Michigan to start our Thanksgiving holidays with the inlaws. Thanksgiving on Thursday. Shopping on Friday. Baby shower on Saturday. Family Christmas party on Saturday. Yes...family Christmas party before December even gets here. Don't get me started on that whole situation. I've already had a heated discussion with my inlaws and Brian about it this evening. It ended with all of us laughing because we all agree that this party is stupid. All because a couple of family members thinks that they can not have a Christmas party without the ENTIRE family in attendance. If it wasn't for the shower, we would pack up and be out of here first thing Saturday morning. My husband's extended family is wacky. And wacky is a nice word compared to what I REALLY want to say!

What a dummy

Yep...talking about myself. Miss K has school photos today. (How cute is a class picture of 2 & 3 year olds going to be???) She's all dressed in one of her cutie dresses from Gymboree. (Yep...another Gymboree outfit. It's an addiction. I need a 12-step program.) She looked so adorable and was swishing the dress around and laughing about it. She even thought the bow looked cute this morning. I took her outside and she let me take some pictures of her and it was so sweet. I get home. Pull the camera out. NO MEMORY CARD.

Dummy. Dummy. Dummy.

Miss K got her first haicut....

and it did NOT go well at all!

My funny child.

My child is too funny. She is watching the Wonder Pets in our room while Brian and I flip between the football game and some movie in the living room. She keeps running out into the hallway and giving us an update on her show. "The camel is thristy!" "Tuck help him." It's crazy all the stuff she is learning and what she remembers. If you tell her something, she will remind you about it later. And she will tell you what she is doing....even if it is something she isn't suppose to be doing. (Like coloring her hands with markers.)

She just came out here to ask us to open a tub of play-doh. Brian informed her it was time to go to bed and she took off running and yelling, "I watch Wonder Pets!"

On the scrapbooking front, I actually made cards this weekend. I am in a card swap at the local scrapbook store and I had cards I needed to turn in on Saturday. I made there Sunday morning. Luckily, I wasn't the only late one! So, tomorrow I have a meeting at Starbucks with my mom's group. I plan on getting there a bit early, taking the laptop and sorting photos. I need to place a LARGE order for photos. I've got a couple of gifts I need to complete and one of those includes about 200 photos of our vacation early this summer to Texas to see my parents when they were back in town. I've also got a couple of baby albums that need to be finished. I've got all the paper cut for them, I just need to print out some stuff, put the albums together and give them to the person I am making them for. Reminds me, I need to email her for some information...

I'm watching the Colts/Chargers game and I am so sad. I'm Peyton's biggest fan and I am so bummed that this will be 2 losses in a row for him. The poor guy threw 5 interceptions this game. Poor Vinitari.

My goal for this week is to have a photo with every blog entry. Blog ya later.

So tired

I am so tired. I was suppose to go to my friend Sherri's house tonight to hang out, but I woke up with the worst headache ever. I've been going non stop for weeks now. I need a break. Today I wanted to stay home and just veg, but that didn't happen. I had made a committment to my mom's group to be at the Pottery Barn Sing-Along. I hate to disappoint people, so Miss K and I headed out to Green Hills and met up with our friends. We had a good time. (That's Cowboy Joel in the photo.) She wasn't into like last time, but I think that was because I wouldn't sit on the floor with her. I was snapping photos. So, if Mommy wasn't going to sit, she wasn't either. She decided to play with all the stuff in the store. Can I just tell you...I love Pottery Barn Kids. I could do some serious financial damage in that store! Tomorrow is a busy day. We have GOT to get our house cleaned. It's a wreck. I would be embarassed for anyone to walk in my house right now. So, with that being said, I am headed to bed so that I can get up at a decent hour and start cleaning. Well, I need to turn a load of laundry. I hate laundry. It mocks me.

I'm pissed. Yes, I said pissed!

Okay, we had a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. We had a couple of large Little Tikes toys for sale. I was thinking of donating them to the school, but I thought Kennedy would have some issues with them being "hers", so we decided to sell them at the yard sale. A guy pulled up in a truck, asked us what we wanted for a couple of the toys, we told him. He asked if we had anything else. Brian told him we had a tunnel with a slide attached in the backyard. He wanted that too. He specifically told us he was buying stuff for a needy family. Okay, so Brian gave him several things in additional to the big stuff for WAY cheap. I mean, it was going to a good cause...WE THOUGHT!

Today I head to this consignment store that some told me had easel's. K likes to paint and they use them at school. I went by yesterday, but they were closed. They had 3. I was going to buy all 3 of them and donate two of them to K's school. I get there and there is a guy sitting out front. He works there....looks familiar. I see the woman, she looks familiar, but I have no idea why. I tell them I want the easels. They only have two left. I look around some more and they have a lot of stuff. I see the guy back a truck up and it hits me! THEY WERE MY "It's for the needy" PEOPLE!. More like, It's for the GREEDY! So, I went in to pay for the easels. I asked the lady if she could give me a deal since I was buying two of them, ,and "they were for the needy". She looked at me kind of strange. Then told me no, she couldn't discount them. I should have just walked out, but I've been looking everywhere for the dang easel since new, it is almost $80. I called Brian as soon as I got in the truck and told him about it. He was pretty pissed off to. If they hadn't said anything about it being for the needy, I wouldn't be mad. It's people like this who are the reason that a lot of people do not donate to charities or volunteer for things.

If you live in the local Nashville area and you want to know where this was, email me and I will let you know. I wish now I had not bought the easel's from them. I won't ever buy anything from them again.

Like I don't have enough stuff to do....

Remember last year when I decided make the Advent calendar? Well, I told myself I was not going to take on any projects during the holidays again. I was even thinking of skipping my hot chocolate cones this year. But Brian helped me make the decision that we were going to make them. (That reminds me...I need to order the bags today!) I am attending not one, not two, but at least 3 cookie exchanges this year. So, I need to start looking for a cookie recipe.

Anyway..to get back to the point of my post. I checked out Stacey Kingman's blog yesterday and dang it....if there isn't something on there I want to make. Dang it! Looks a LOT easier than the button trees that were the rage last year. I have to head over to Hermitage to pick up an easel that I want to get for Kennedy. She likes to paint. I also have to stop at Hobby Lobby and return some party supplies since I decided to add another color to the theme for my SIL's baby shower. So, I guess I will pick up some cones while I am there. I mean...how long do you think it will really take to make these? And the fact that I already have 8 beaded cone trees doesn't seem to make a difference. I still feel the need to make these! Why do I do this to myself?

Piano girl

Lately I've been hanging out with a mom that I really enjoy spending time with. We enjoy some of the same things...shopping for our kids, going on fun outings with our kids, going out for drinks after the kiddos are asleep and daddy's are in charge. Another thing we have in common is our girls. They like each other...for the most part and are the same age. They also attend the same MDO program, so they are excited when we get together to play. One of the places that we went to was the Discovery Center in M'boro. Miss K found the piano and she was LOVING it!

A Happy-Sad Day

My neighbor across the street had her baby girl today. I was so excited for her. We picked her son up from school and took him to the hospital to see her. Miss K and I stayed around to see the new baby and she kept saying "I get baby sister?" I wanted to cry. I am so happy for my friend, but I am so sad for me and Brian and Miss K. If things had gone the way they should have for us, I would be just about ready to have a baby myself.

Okay...I'll blog ya later. I don't want to get all sad.

Just a test!

Trying to see if I can upload photos

Today was a lazy day.

We didn't even leave the house. (I did have class tonight, but the weather was awful, so I made the decision not to drive.) I got a little bit of laundry done, some events scheduled and I actually watched a movie that didn't have any cartoon characters in it! (I know...aren't you shocked?) I even got a little bit of Christmas shopping done. Gotta love Amazon and the free shipping. For those of you who know Miss K, you also know that she has an unnatural obsession with Dora the Explorer, Diego and Max & Ruby. (As I type this at 10pm, my child is sitting on the sofa watching Diego. Yes, it is 10pm and she is still up...don't judge me. She napped until almost 6pm.) Anyway...I saw this Dora dance pad thing and knew that she would love it, so I ordered it along with a musical tea set. (I'm trying to upload photos, but blogger won't let me. This is the first time this has ever happened to me. Oh well.)

Okay...blog ya later when I actually have time to really post.

Recipe?

I am looking for a really good recipe for red beans and rice. I use to HATE when my mother would make this stuff for us when we were kids. She would make a big pot and I swear we would eat that stuff for a month. (Well, it seemed like a month!) So, if you have a really good recipe for red beans and rice...SHARE!

I've got like 3 blog posts that I am working on that I've got to complete and get posted. I've signed up for this thing where I am suppose to blog everyday during the month of November. Good gravy. Like I don't have enough stuff to do.

Blog ya later....with photos.

Do X-rays make you cry?

I am sure that is what the dental assistant at the dentist office thought yesterday. I had a rough day with Miss K. She was just defying me on everything. Well, as much as a 2 year old can. I had to meet Brian at the dentist office so he could pick up Miss K and I could get my teeth clean. True to form...he pushes it on the time. He arrived at 2 on the dot. I like to be early to doctor's appointments. I guess I shouldn't complain...at least he wasn't late like he usually is. So, I sit on in the chair and the first thing the hygenist tells me is, "okay Hollye, we are going to do a full set of x-rays on you and a panoramic x-ray as well." I just busted out crying. Right away she is asking me if I am okay. I started mumbling something about my wild two year old and my never on time husband...all between sobs. I am sure she thought she had met the nuttiest patient she had ever seen. I told her I was fine and we got on about the business of x-rays and cleaning teeth. I was embarassed as hell, but oh well. I get to see the assistant 4 more time in the next 4 weeks, so I better get over it now!

So, last night I went with my mom's group to see the movie, Gone Baby Gone. I was looking for a chick flick, but there wasn't anything out that sounded good. This movie was pretty good, not great. The ending wasn't something I expected. It really left you thinking, "if I was in that position, would I do the same thing?" After the movie we headed over to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. My friend Michelle ended up with this cake thing that was HUGE. We all laughed when they brought it out. I think she tooke 2/3 of it home with her, minus the ice cream.

I wish I could say that this was a slow weekend for us, but it isn't. We are playing cards with our neighbors across the street later tonight. She is headed to the hospital on Tuesday for a schedule c-section. So, we wanted to play cards again before the baby came. Saturday I've got to do the usual house work stuff that has been seriously neglected this month. Sunday is a birthday party and a class. I think I need to get more sleep. Siz hours a night is not working for me.

Okay...I'll share some photos later. I've got to get going. Blog ya later!

Halloween

Halloween for us was not just Trick or Treating. We had so much to do for Halloween. It started with a party for one of our mom's groups. Good time. A couple of trips to the pumpkin patch. Another party with another mom's group. A pumpkin carving party and a Halloween Parade. A party at school and FINALLY trick or treating. Miss K walked almost our entire little neighborhood and TorT'ed with the big kids for TWO HOURS. She was not shy about asking for more candy either. She told one neighbor, "I need chocolate!" My crazy child.

We are still busy....

It was pointed out to me Friday night that I hadn't blogged since October 9th. Thought I should do some updating. Lots has happened since I last blogged. Miss K got croup and ended up getting a ride from the doctor office in an ambulance to the ER. Because her breathing was still bad, we got to spend the night at Vandy. She finally got over the croup, but was still a little sick. Then Brian and I both got sick. (I finally went to the Minute Clinic at CVS today to get some meds because I was STILL sick.) Let's see...since I've blogged we've done the following:

*rode in an ambulance

*spent the day in the ER

*spent the night on the hospital

*got sick

*had a garage sale (we made $300!)

*went to a Halloween party at CEC

*went to the Bounce Factory

*made a black and orange tutu for Miss K

*made invitations for a baby shower

*lost my cell phone

*went to another Halloween party

*went to school a couple of days

*found my cell phone

*went to a sing along at Pottery Barn Kids

*shopped Gymboree

*took a garland class from Julie

*went to a pumpkin carving party at a friend's house

*shopped Gymboree...again, with a trip to Costco thrown in

*went to a Halloween parade and cook out in our neighborhood

*uploaded a ton of photos

I know I've missed a ton of things, but needless to say, we have been busy here. I leave you with a photo of Miss K in her Halloween costume. It's called Sweet Pumpkin Pie. I got it from Gymboree. I love this costume.

Blog ya later!

I've been busy!

I think I got bit by the "busy" bug recently. Monday I dropped Miss K off at school and headed home to clean. The only thing I really got done was a quick trip to Target and cleaning my upstairs hallway carpet. Let me first say...I have 4 animals. Two cats, two dogs. I need to vacuum everyday, but I don't. I need to do my floors everyday, but I don't. So, my first step in cleaning the carpet was to vacuum. I won't admit to how many times I had to empty the cannister. I do think though, that the Hoover is about to bite the dust. I really want a Dyson Animal, but we can not afford to spend $500 on a new vacuum right now. (I started an envelop to save for it. ) Then the steam cleaning. I am glad that we decided to buy that thing instead of renting one the first time we needed on. Best $350 we ever spent. (Bought it 5 years ago when we had money and no child.) Anyway, my mom watched our dogs while we were out of town and let's just say....she didn't watch them closely and didn't clean up. So, did a LOT of spot cleaning and steam cleaning and more vacuuming.... I think we are going to have to get new carpet pretty soon. But remember...no money for new vacuum, so no money for new carpet. Pick Miss K up from school at 1, bring her home and put her straight down for a nap. Then I started cleaning the stairs. My stairs are hardwood and they show everything. So, I took water and Pine o' Pine and wiped down the baseboards and the facing of the stairs. I removed all the scuff marks on the facing with my handy Magic Eraser. (Love those things.) Then I cleaned each step with wood floor cleaner....by hand. All of the chemicals I was using, you would have thought I would have remembered to put my nice yellow gloves on. Nope, I forgot. Anyway, I noticed during all of this...my walls need to be painted. Gross. Ain't gonna happen right now. Anyway, the stairs look so good.

Tuesday was another busy day. We get up and head to Lowe's. On my list...new drawer pulls for Miss K's bathroom and a new rag for my hardwood floor mop. I got the drawer pulls, no rag, 2 mums, potting soil, stakes for my rubber tree and twine. Then a quick stop at the mall for lunch. I was going to buy Miss K some Converse high tops, but she did not like them being up so high on her ankle and kept stomping around the store trying to get it off her foot. We ended up with Dora hair clips instead. That's Miss K's latest obsession...Dora. She calls her Dory though. I only have one video and I can recite it word for word now. We are teaching K to say some of the words in Spanish. My parents (dad and stepmom) thinks that is neat. It's hilarious to hear her yelling "Hola!" Anyway, Miss K goes down for a nap and I get to work outside this time! Clean the front porch off, pot the mums, sweep up the HUGE mess I made, pull up some funky tomato looking plants that are growing in my beds, dig in the garage until I FINALLY kind my pumpkin door mat. (K calls it a punkin.) 2:15, drag K out of bed with a promise of seeing her friend "L", get dressed and head to the pumpkin patch. Awesome place. I was very impressed. So impressed that we are going back again this week with some more friends and then probably again on Saturday morning so Daddy can enjoy it too.

Wednesday will be busy too, I just haven't decided what I am going to do yet. I know that I need to drop off a donation to Goodwill, go by the bank, wrap some gifts, get packages ready to mail and run to the post office. Okay...it's late and I need to get to bed. Miss K has school tomorrow, so I have to get up in the morning and get her stuff ready. I love Mother's Day Out!

Only my child...

So, we are still on vacation. LOVING it. All we do is swim at the pool, try the beach out for about 30 minutes while Miss K screams. We've read a lot of books. Miss K has become CRAZY for Dora. It's been a lazy vacation. I told Brian that this has to be one my favorite vacations. (New Orleans with the C's was awesome too.)

Anyway...Miss K has been sleeping in a big girl bed. Last night apparently, she came into our room at some point. She didn't get in the bed though. Best we can figure out, here's what happened.... We wake up to this SCREAMING, but it sounds really muffled. Brian jumps out of bed and finds Miss K...UNDER THE BED IN OUR ROOM! We assume she came into the room sometime in the night and went to sleep on the floor at the foot of the bed. Because she is a WILD sleeper, she must have rolled under the bed or something. Brian said all that was her foot. Her entire little body was under our bed. It really freaked her out because it took her quite a while to calm down. I mean, it would have freaked me out too. That was at like 5 in the morning. When I woke up, I asked Brian if she was really under the bed and he said yes. I started laughing. It makes me laugh every time I think about it.

Hello from beautiful Destin!

We spent most of Saturday driving, but it wasn't a bad drive at all. Miss K was on her best behavior for most of the drive. About the last 30 minutes she was mad. And to be honest, I was too. I was ready to get out of the car. Miss K actually slept in Sunday morning. And, she is sleeping in a big girl bed while we are here. She had been talking non-stop about "go to beach" since we left Nashville. So, our first stop this morning was to the beach. She did NOT like the beach. She walked maybe 5 steps in the sand and started screaming. I, on the other hand LOVED the beach. This is my very first trip ever to Florida, so I had no idea what to expect. I grew up in the Houston area, so the beach to me was Galveston Island. I don't think I can ever go back to Galveston and enjoy myself again. Destin is amazing. The sand is so fine and so white. And the water. It's AMAZING! It's so clear. I am not normally one to get into the water at the beach more than up to my knees. I actually wanted to go swimming in this water. It was so beautiful.

So, we are going to keep trying the beach every day with Miss K. Thankfully, she does like the pool. The pool here is zero entry, so she can walk in and not have to cling to me or Brian while in the water. There is also a small ledge that runs around the pool and she like to sit on that as well. I think we will be spending most of our time at the pool. And yes, she more those sunglasses pretty much the entire day....everywhere we went.

So glad....

that the GM strike is over. No, my husband isn't a union worker, but it affects him just like it does every employee at all the plants and and all the suppliers....and so on.

The day the strike started, I got no less than 5 phone calls asking me if Brian still had a job. Talk about stressing me out. But then again....I stress out over every little thing.

Can I just tell you....I am so ready for my beach vacation.

Ponies

I remember My Little Pony from YEARS ago. Imagine my surprise when I found out they were still around. My daughter is the very proud owner of about 9 of them. She loves them. My good friend Margie gave Miss K her first pony for her 2nd birthday. My child is crazy about those silly ponies. Many times when Miss K goes to bed at night, she has 2 or 3 ponies in bed with her. (Those are in addition to the monkey, the bear, and two babies.)

So, Miss K started school last week. It's been great. Monday was her first day. It was kind of like an "open house". They only attended 9-11 while the director went over the handbook. She made an apple tree and was so proud of it. She showed it to everyone in Target. She napped for 2 1/2 hours. Tuesday we went to the Jump Zone. She went crazy on those slides. She worked up a big sweat. She napped for 3 hours. School on Wednesday. Napped for 2 1/2 hours. Thursday we went to the Adventure Science Center. That place is great. It reminds me of the Children's Museum in Houston, but a much small scale. She had a blast. She napped for 3 1/2 hours. So, needless to say, I've run my child ragged the past week. We've got another busy week planned and then we are headed out of town on vacation. I'm really looking forward to the beach. I did ask Miss K if she wanted to go to the beach. She said no....

Another vacation

We are getting ready to go on another vacation. To the beach...again. We are going to Destin this time. We looked for a place to stay for a long time. We needed a pool that had a zero entry for Miss K. We finally found one that was actually available. And, it was an awesome price. Most of the stuff we saw was like $1200 a week. We got ours for almost half that. Can't wait!

On another note....my husband could use some prayers if you think about it. Just some stuff at work. Nothing bad at all...just some possibilities that we didn't think would happen right away couple possibly be happening a lot sooner. It's a little stressful for me.

Okay...it is a BEAUITFUL day out. I am running to take my BAD dogs to the groomers and then K and I are going to hit the park for a bit. I have a photography asssignment for my class, so I want to try and get that done today. So, maybe I will have some photos to share tomorrow!

Blog ya later!

Halloween Costume, new cars? and a photography class

So, I bought Miss K a Halloween costume this summer. She likes JoJo Circus and I found the costume on the Disney website, so I bought it. One problem...she won't wear the hat part and that is where the hair is. So, it looks goofy without the hat. I went in search of some cute costumes. I did great her first two years, so I wanted something just as cute as the flower and the Heffalump. I found a monkey, but I wasn't in love with it. Then I found this cutie costume from Gymboree. (You know how much I LOVE Gymboree!) It's called Sweet Pumpkin Pie. I put the head piece on her at the store and she smiled and said, "I'm so pretty Mommy!" She thinks the shoes are a hoot too.

So....today when I picked Brian up from his doctor's appointment (the Bob Barker treatment, Renee!) we drive by the Saturn dealership and he makes a comment on the new Saturn Vue. Then he surprises me and says that he is looking at trading BOTH of our current cars in and getting us both something new. I am perfectly happy with my Trailblazer, but he pointed out that it is our "family car", the one we use the majority of the time and it no longer has a warranty. We haven't made any kind of decision and probably won't until the end of the year. Maybe there were will some better rebates out by then.

I finally did something I've wanted to do for a long time. I signed up for a photography class. It is every Monday from 6-9. I am really looking forward to it. One of my friends is also taking the class. I am so looking forward to learning more about my camera.

Okay...gotta run. Blog ya later!

Something I never thought I would say....

I am beginning to think that people need to be screened before they are allowed to reproduce. I honestly think that there are some people in the world who should never have kids. Who in the world thinks that it is okay to take your 2 year old daughter to a brothel...leave her strapped in her carseat INSIDE the HOT freaking car for TWO HOURS while you and your buddies attend a "private function" in a house full of prostitutes? Well, some stupid dad did. He did manage to leave the windows cracked, so that is how the security guard was able to hear her crying. It was 95 degrees outside that day. Don't you wonder how hot it was in that car? STUPID. STUPID. STUPID. Someone needs to strap is stupid ass into a car seat and leave him in a hot car with NO SHADE for two hours and see how much he likes it.

Okay...off my soap box.

Yeah Me!

Have you ever done something in your house and then just been so pleased with yourself? That's me today. Well...I actually did it on Monday. I cleaned my laundry room. Big deal you say? HA! It's a big deal for me! It's where clothes enter, but never leave. So...LONG ago, (honestly...it's been so long I can't remember when it was.) I saw some super cute Rubbermaid baskets on kellidarrsuperstar's blog. Loved them. Ran out and bought like 5 sets. I was DETERMINED to get my laundry room in order. Well, like most (umm...all) of my projects, I bought the stuff and just let it clutter up my house. So, now that we are back home, I have decided I've GOT to do something. I am living in a house full of clutter that would qualify me for Clean Sweep. (I wish they would come to my house.)

So...Monday I got the BUG. My entire house needs to be purged, but it is all so overwhelming that I start in one place and get so sidetracked that it never gets done. The laundry room is small, so I decided to tackle it. The first thing I did was clean the floor up. So much CRAP on the floor. Stuff that didn't even belong in there. I got all the clothes into two hampers. Then I cleaned off the dryer. Why do I stack stuff on there? Well, because it is easy and there isn't any place else to stack stuff in there. Then I tackled the monster. Monster=clothes. I don't know what my issue is about clothes. I've got LOTS of them and don't wear 1/4 of them. So, I went through and took out what I wanted to keep and folded what was going to Goodwill. Then I took the extra hanging rod out of the room. If it is there, I will use it. Then I tackled the shelf. Again...more crap just stacked. This is where my lovely baskets come in. My entire shelf is now BASKETIZED! It's awesome. The only clothes that are in there are the dirty ones in the hamper and a basket full of towels and sheets that need to be folded. I was so excited about how awesome it looked, I ran out Monday night and bought a new ironing board cover. Brian still needs to rehang my storage thingy that holds my ironing board and iron, but he needs to patch the wall where it pulled out a while ago (that means several years....) Then...I went BACK through the clothes that I said I was going to keep and decided all but one thing could go to GW. I was so freaking pleased with myself. I kept telling Brian to come look at it. Even Miss K thinks it's "pretty". She even helped me with the laundry yesterday. I usually don't let her in there because it is so cluttered. Now, she can go in there anytime she wants! No photos. I need to find my thingy to download my photos with. Then I will post of photo. Brian told me I should have taken a before photo. I know I should have, but honestly...I would be too embarassed to actually show it. In the end, I had two large trash bags of clothes for Goodwill, a half trashbag full of trash and one old broken hamper full of wire hangers.

Here is a question..... Do you clean your washer and dryer? I wiped the outside of everything off with my bleach/eater mixture, but what about the insides? I mean, I clean my lint trap on my dryer after every load, but nothing to the washer. Any suggestions?

HOME!

Praise Jesus!

It was so freaking cute!

Today was the day I've been waiting for since the ultrasound technician told me I was having a girl. Today was the first day I put pigtails in Miss K's hair. I giggled the entire time I did it. She was not happy with me, so they look really wonky. But...they were there. And they looked so cute. And she wore them for FIVE hours! I'm still giggling thinking about how cute and grown up she looked. She looked like a "big girl". She's not a baby anymore and that makes me oh so very sad. But seeing those cute pigtails cheers me up!

Packing again....

Miss K is leaving for her own little mini vacation today and I am sad. She is actually going to stay with Brian's parent's for the rest of the week. Brian and I will use this time to PACK OUR BELONGINGS!!! We are moving HOME! Can you tell I am a little on the excited side?


Okay...I've got to get K's bags packed, lunch for both of us, naps and then a quick Target run before we head out to meet Brian's parents for dinner and to drop K and the doggies off.

And, because I need to post more photos, here is a cute one of Miss K from our week at the beach. Oh...speaking of the beach, we are going to Destin in October. Yes, I am going to subject my child to the beach all over again. We really want to go on a family vacation with just the 3 of us. We've been talking about Destin since before K was born. Now, we are going. I've found a condo, I am just waiting to hear back from the owners about the contract. As soon as I get the final approval, I will post the condo. It's really nice.

Oh...and this is how Miss K felt about the beach

Used my SIL's awesome big 'ol lense for this one. I really need that lense. I LOVED using it! Click on the photo to see the huge tears on her cheeks.

Beach Photos

I mentioned that we hired a photographer, Amy Bly, to come out and take some photos of my family on the beach. (If you are ever in Galveston and need a photographer, I highly recommend her.) This was the first time in a LONG time that we have all been in the same place at once. Granted...my youngest brother showed up about 30 minutes into the photo shoot. But, at least he was there.


Here are a couple of my favorites from that day. (She took over 350 photos.)

My super cutie pie, Miss K

My hubby, Miss K and Big L. I think they were playing with a sand crab or something.

The whole dang family
My niece Miss T, my younger brother Frank, who tried to DROWN me, Big L and me. Yep...we got REALLY wet, but it was so much fun.

End of my rope

I've never been so ready for a vacation to be over. I am so stressed out. One little thing happened today and it snowballed and pushed me over the edge. Needless to say, I WAY over reacted, but at that point, I was so over the whole thing that I just lost it. I should be hanging my head in shame over the way I acted today, but my head hurts so bad from all the crying. I turn my rental car in at 9 am tomorrow morning and head to the airport. I am so ready to go home.

And to my wonderful sister-in-law, Jenny. Thank you for being Switzerland. Thank you for being the calm one. Thank you for opening your home to me. Thank you for being you. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful sister. I am glad that we got to spend more time together this visit. I do look forward to spending more time with you.