Pics of Kaylea today!

Mom took these two pics this morning and they are just so cute I had to share!

Roses after 6 years!

So as we were driving back from Disneyworld and Kaylea was completely passed out asleep in the car a week or 2 ago, Eric decided to take advantage of the time and put on some music he liked to listen too. (He gets a little tired of Barney and Laurie Birkner - as for me I like the pretzel song!) Anyways he's flipping through his Sirius and a song comes on by some rock group called Buckcherry. I hadn't heard of them and for those of you who know my husband - you might think he hadn't either. But to my surprise he had and liked them and listened to them (when Kaylea is not in the car of course). As for me I was emotional - think I needed a B6 shot or something but I looked at him driving and said, "Who are you?! I don't even know you anymore!"

OK so yes I'm a bit dramatic and tend to take things to the extremes so they say. But, do you ever feel at some point in your relationship that so much time has gone by and you've been so busy with your own lives and work that you really don't know the other person anymore? OK thats a bit absurd in my case because when I'm not at work I'm around Eric but a little part of me thinks... wow we have a whole other life during the day that we don't really know about each other. (DANG HORMONES!) Eric was like, "Honey I'm the same as I've always been what's your problem are you on the white pills again?" (alluding to the last week of birth control pills when my moods swing hi and low!)

Anyways, it was silly and I quickly got over my emotional crisis.... once he went back to some normal R&B. And as Eric reminded me not only does he like Rap, Hip Hop, and R&B, but he has a secret country CD, and Matchbox 20 was the first concert we went to together. AND he even admitted to secretly watching Hannah Montana and proved it by singing the lyrics to her songs later. So I freaked out for nothing.

Luckily I have a wonderful hubby who puts up with my swings of emotion. Valentine's Day came and (I thought I might get flowers) and of course he pulled through. 18 beautiful red roses! But the best part was the card. Normally Eric spends a long time picking out a really good card, but never signs anything other than "Eric" or "Love, Eric". He's just not a writer, and thats why he picks out the cards forever - because they say what he wants to say. But this time HE WROTE!!! It was the best part of my valentine's day - getting a little short poem from Eric. It said:

"I always like rap, and I like rock.
I sometimes like country and even pop,
but most of all I love you!"

And that my folks made my day!

Colds, Hospitals and no fun at all!

Well I was hoping to update you on my diet progress - no worries - I haven't "cheated" just haven't been able to do the diet to the fullest as I cannot take any of the medication they gave me this week. It's been a rough week though as I have been really sick. I've actually been sick for about 3 weeks (cold stuff) then Kaylea and Eric got it. I sent them to the doctor and they got medicine and this third week I finally decided it was time I get medicine. So I went to the doctor.

Those of you who know me pretty well know that I am allergic to just about every antibiotic in the book... which is pretty much why they always prescribe me ZPacks cause I do ok with them. Bad thing is they are starting to lose their effectivness. So my doctor prescribed me a new drug that I haven't tried before - Avalox. Well I picked it up from the pharmacy on Wednesday night and took my first pill at approximately 6:30pm. Well by 6:45 I had big red welts all over my face and thats when I started to panic. Kaylea was in her nightgown and Eric was eating his sandwich and I told them they needed to get me to the hospital ASAP. I've been there done this before.

So forgetting that its cold outside we all left in a hurry with no jackets and headed for the hospital. On the 8 minute drive there my arms were starting to bubble up into welts as well and it was getting hard for me to breathe. My skin on my face felt numb and so did my mouth and tounge. I quickly ran into the ER and let them know I was having an allergic reaction to Avalox and was immediately taken into the ER and put in a bed while the nurse attempted to get an IV into my veins 3 TIMES! I have a 3 inch bruise to prove it! (And thats just one of the spots) My veins are bad, but even worse when someone is trying to hurry through getting the IV in. It was bad and now I hate IVs even more! Finally they got it to take hold on the top of my hand. Ugh not the best feeling place to have an IV.

At this point I started getting woozy - which was better than the panic attack I was in. All I know is that they shot me with 4 different things, but I zoned out after I heard the first two - predinizone (steroids) and benadryl. At any rate, mom and dad picked Kaylea up from the hospital and Eric stayed with me until they discharged me around 11pm.

That was our excitement for the week - if you could call it that. So, I decided to not go in at 7am the next day to do my workout and I had to stop my medication for the diet (just in case). Meanwhile I had to wait for yet another prescription for the "safe old" ZPack to start getting better. While waiting for that prescription the next few days I just got sicker and sicker. I have coughed so much that I have thrown up and my chest feels bruised (right along with my arms from the IV!)

But good news is I am on the mend! LOL I am not feeling 100% but I'd say 30% better! haha. Better enough to write this blog out at least! Keep us in your prayers. Also keep Kaylea in your prayers and help her to keep her 2-year-old-tude under control. I think she was stressed out the next day at school after being in the hospital the night before that she took it out at school. So we had another "Parent Teacher Talk". Ugh. So needless to say again... please PRAY for us! :)

This week's updates.

Well, Kaylea did not make the top ten finalist of the Regis and Kelly Beautiful Baby Search, but thats ok. She's still the prettiest to me! :-) The kids they did select - 1-2 of them were cute, but IMHO not as cute as Kaylea. But I'm sure every mom will think the same way about their own child. Anyways - Always next year!

Now today - I have reason to celebrate! I had my first weigh in at the Medi-Weightloss Clinic and my jaw dropped to the floor! First off at this clinic the most anyone's lost their first week is 11lbs. (at this particular office) I didn't even want to look at the scale.... I guess I always expect the worst. But I had stuck to my diet for the most part very strictly and worked out 3 days... plus I walked at Disneyworld all day Saturday, so I definitely got my workouts in. My downfall this week was I cheated and ate a Chili Cheese Dog no bun (but since it is protein I remained in Ketosis which was the most important thing.) I just had too much fat and calories with it probably. That was at Disney world. And the night before I had a McDonalds Filet of Fish no bun, no cheese, no sauce. Now I wonder what I would have lost without those?

So I stepped on the scale at the doctor's office and closed my eyes. I didn't even want to look. The nurse said, "Girl you better look at that scale!" WOW! I've lost 13.5 lbs in my first week! 13.5! Can you believe it! I'm their "Biggest Loser"! LOL 5.3 lbs of it was water. 6.2 lbs was pure fat, and 2 lbs was what they call fat free mass (not sure what that is?) But I can't beleive I lost 13.5 lbs..... oh and 3 inches in the waist! Crazy! So let's hope I can keep this energy going and do well this week!

Speaking of Disney world, we went to Disney on Saturday. We chose to go to 1 park - Magic Kingdom! We got lucky because Kaylea got to meet everyone she wanted to namely Cinderella and all the other princesses and the mice from cinderella too! It was a lot of fun. Click the picture below to see pics from our trip or go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kayleasmom/Disney

Kaylea's Prayer for Mommy

Yesterday my doctor's appointment was at 7am, so I had to leave the house before Kaylea and Eric woke up. Well later that day Eric told me the sweetest thing that happened.

Kaylea and Eric were snuggling watching cartoons (the Wiggles I think). Kaylea asked Eric, "Daddy, Where is Mommy right now?" and Eric said, "Mommy is at the doctor's office." Kaylea thought for a minute and then said, "Oh. Can we say a prayer for Mommy so she be ok?" Eric said, "Sure we can!" and they prayed for me together while I was at my appointment.

And thats why I'm going to try hard to lose weight - so I can be healthy and be around for Kaylea. (ok trying not to tear-up now)

My first workout!

Well its day TWO and I thought I'd update you on my progress. This morning I worked out with my personal trainer at 7am. I got nauseated and light headed.... who knew that 10 lunges would make my legs sore and that the Stair Climber machine would make me feel like throwing up! LOL Whew.... I'm going in tomorrow to do more cardio! And Thursday and Friday too!

I weighed before my workout this morning and the scale said I'd lost 4 lbs! (All water weight of course) but still cool! After my workout I lost another 2 lbs! LOL

So far everything is going good and I have alot of energy! I feel great! Best of all Eric is really helping me along the way. Those of you who think you have the best husband out there... sorry you haven't met Eric. Last night he went to the grocery store for me and took my suggested meals list and bought some stuff that I could eat. Then he got out the George Foreman (which we haven't used in years) and made me a grill chicken breast. He sprayed it with an Asian Spice spray that he found and it only has 10 calories and then grilled it. Then he cut it in half and weighed my portions on our ebay scale LOL. I could eat half a chicken breast and a serving of cottage cheese. He arranged it all on a plate for me and brought me my dinner. YES, I know... I owe him big time! And I don't know if it was just the fact that I was so hungry, but a half a chicken breast never tasted sooooo good! It was juicy it had flavor and it was gone within 5 minutes! haha!

So I am very optimistic today! Now I know its not good to weigh every day... I just wanted to weigh the first day after I'd been on the diet. After I weighed this morning after my workout, Eric took the scale and hid it from me. This way I can only weigh myself when I go to the doctor's office on Mondays. It will be much more encouraging then! Keep those prayers coming!

Let the fat burning begin!

Well I started at the Medical Weight Loss Clinic today. Wow its pretty intense! I spent two hours in the doctor's office. I had bloodwork done, an EKG, and a urinalysis. I spent time talking with the doctors about the diet and the foods I can eat as well as all of the medications I will be taking. First off the diet.

I am allowed only 500 Calories per day in lean meats. This includes fish, chicken, seafood, lunch meats, cottage cheese, beef, egg whites, tuna, etc. Now none of it can be cooked with the skin on, nor can I eat the skin. Nor can it be cooked with butter or any other sauce for that matter. So, this should be fun! The first week this is all I can eat. No veggies no fruit, nothing other than the 500 calories per day of protein. Is that healthy and how is it humanly possible?

Yes because I also got two shots in my hip of vitamins B12, B6, Amino acids, and other forms of Vitamin B. and will be getting these twice a week for energy. Also I have vitamin supplement pills I am taking every day along with a fat burner, a colon cleanser and Phendimetrazine (the appetite suppressant). The neat thing is that the appetite suppresant basically goes to your brain and tells it not to send off the signals to my body that I am hungry, and therefore I don't feel hungry. So this should help me keep to 500 cals. a day.

I am optimistic! And I know I need this more than ever now after seeing my results from all the tests! Wow. Its amazing how many pounds of fat someone's body can be made up of! I never would have guessed mine had as much as it did!

So thats it! Thats my first day. Tomorrow I have my first personal training (workout) session with the meanest polish trainer in the industry! Great - at 7am too! I go back to the doctor for another vitamin packed shot on Wednesday and then my next appointment is at 8am on Monday. I will update you on my results after my Monday appointment! :-)

Oh and did I mention I also have to drink 128 ounces of water a day - I think thats like 1 gallon!

An Interview with Kaylea

And so my diet begins Monday...

Yeah thats what they all say I know! But really, I am starting the Medi Weight Loss Center on Monday (at 7am to be exact ugh). It is a medically supervised diet (namely low calorie, low carb, low fat). I know what the heck am I supposed to eat?! The first appointment they do an EKG and blood work. Now I thought that getting bloodwork done always called for a McDonalds Sausage Biscuit afterwards.... but I guess I'm being told no. Hmm... I'll have to google that law!

Also in the first appointment they give you (I think it is) a B12 shot and vitamin supplements as well as prescription appetite suppressants. I'm a little nervous but excited as well. I would never be able to afford this on my own so Thank God I have skills! I am trading some Graphic Design and Website work for a 6-week program. It will also include 2 personal training sessions a week at the gym I am doing the work for and I can come in on my days off to work out on my own as well for 6 weeks. Why am I working on a website just so I can work my butt off in the gym? Sounds a little crazy, but I really need to lose weight.... for my health... and for Kaylea. She needs her Mommy around ya know!

So please be in prayer for me during the next 6 weeks that I remain healthy and stick to the diet and that this is beneficial for me! I will keep you all posted on my progress each week! But most of all I need your prayers (you know how much I love my food!) :-)

Jesus has Big Muscles!

Kaylea informed Eric and I yesterday that "Jesus has really big muscles because da song says, 'we are weak and he is strong' "

A Breakdancin' Family!

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Playdough is Fun!

The other night Kaylea, Eric and myself were playing with playdough. Kaylea wanted to make snowmen. We had a great time.... I think Eric and I were having more fun than she was! Here are the snowmen we made. The pink one is the one Kaylea made and the teal one is the one we made!

Can it be? NKOTB?!

You heard it right! NKOTB also known as New Kids on the Block are going back on tour! I had to share this because I was one of those crazy NKOTB fans! I had the scrapbook and everything. At night I used to go to sleep to with their cassette tape playing in my boom box and dream about marrying Joey! LOL In fact the very first concert I ever attended was to see New Kids on the Block and believe it or not my big brother Corey took me! Decked out in my vest and black hat I thought I was the coolest thing getting to go and being taken by my big brother! Even cooler I thought... my brother let me go with him to McDonald's to eat afterwards. That's one of my favorite memories I have of my brother and I growing up.

Well they are going on tour again so it seems and will be announcing it in the next few weeks. (Yes I totally want to go!) LOL its going to be hilarious seeing a bunch of 30-something women going crazy over a bunch of 40 year old men re-enacting their boy band moves! Hahaha Hahaha! Too funny!

For more info on this reunion:

http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,EntPeopleTax:NewKidsontheBlock,00.html

Obsessive Compulsive 2-Year-Old!

I've heard that all toddlers have some form of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I believe that to some extent but I think Kaylea might have it a little extreme. That doesn't come as a surprise to me as IMHO (in my humble opinion) my mother and brother are borderline OCD. See growing up as a child I took after my father... and like him I believe in keeping things in an "organized mess". When we were kids, my brother's room was always neat and tidy, so much so I think his closet was color coordinated and his hangers hung exactly 1 inch apart. (ok maybe I'm exaggerating a little). My room on the other hand was comparable to a war zone. Either that or a dumpster? It was like a bomb of clothes had exploded all over the floor. But, despite the mess, to me it was serenity at its best! Eric has a great saying that we've tried to teach Kaylea, "God Made Dirt, and Dirt Don't Hurt!" She's not buying it though!

She really is the funniest kid I know. She has to have everything a certain way. When we put her to bed her pillows have to be layed out a certain way and her stuffed animal fluffy has to be on her right side, teddy on her left with her water bottle both laying on her "rabbit pillow". Her and fluffy (or who Eric calls, "Big Fluff Dawg") lay on her pillow. If it is out of order in any way, she can't sleep. And when you sing to her she wants you to sing the right words... if you change them she corrects you!

Well last night was the funniest OCD experience of all! See she loves Cheetos, but she gets really frustrated eating them because her hands get "all Cheeto-ie". So as we do every dinner time we gave her a paper towel, so she could wipe her hands in between bites. I even gave her one wet paper towel and one dry one because Cheetos are extra messy. (She usually asks for the wet paper towel with extra messy food like chocolate.... yes I know... and yes she is only 2 and half!) Well it wasn't enough for her last night. She requested that I "feed" the Cheetos to her. I told her I was not going to do that and that she was a big girl. This frustrated her, but, being the smart little girl she is, she came up with her own plan. She used the paper towel to wrap around the Cheetos like a burrito or banana peel and held the napkin that was holding the Cheeto and took a bite. Not your "normal" 2 year old! LOL I had to take a picture!

Kaylea Sings "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Here is a cute video clip of Kaylea singing Itsy Bitsy Spider in my office at work yesterday.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

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New Car! Less Gas! Whew!

For those of you who don't know, we bought a new car last weekend! We finally traded in the good 'ol 2000 Ford Ranger and we got a 2007 Dodge Caliber! Its basically Eric's car (as I have my brother's old "soccer mom van") but its great. We've been needing a new car for a while.... a carseat in the front seat of a truck is not the safest and the truck was getting old and needing repairs too often... not to mention it was a gas guzzler since Eric commutes 45 minutes to an hour to and from work every day. So, in the long run it will definitely save us money!

Its a really cool little car too! Check the pics out below (not our actual car pictured, but close enough!) It is actually considered an SUV, but its more like the cross between a hatchback and a station wagon. The good thing is it was only $36 to fill up on gas! We'd always stop at $40 on the truck so who knows how much it took to actually fill up. I know my van takes $50 to get it to 3/4 a tank! Ouch!

Some cool features:

- The back seats fold down so you can haul stuff.

- It has a little chill zone in the glove compartment for drinks

- The drink holders light up and glow

- Good on Gas!

A Self Portrait by Kaylea

I really believe Kaylea has the gift of being an artist... much like my mom and myself (as a graphic artist). She is always very observant and she notices the tiniest little details. Example, my mother had gotten a calndar from a chinese restaurant and hung it on the wall. Kayle acame over the next day and it was the first thing she noticed. But she didn't just notice the calendar. She also said, "Look, Pandas!" oh and wait for it.... "and bamboo trees!" What two year old notices stuff like that? Really? I don't think I knew what a bamboo tree was when I was two?

So my little Picasso came into the bathroom the other morning to show us the self-portrait she had drawn on her little Dora Magnetic Sketch toy. She said, "Look Daddy I draw Kaylea!" I kid you not there is two eyes a nose and a mouth! She's only two years old people! I think that is observant, amazing, and incredible! Once again she has me totally in awe!

You may want to start collecting some of her artwork now - I'm sure it will be worth more as she gets older! :-)

Kaylea is on Regis and Kelly's Website

OMG! I am totally freaking out here! I went to Regis and Kelly's website and looked at their baby gallery for the contest and Kaylea is there! I've entered her two years in a row and she never made the gallery! There are like over 150,000 pictures submitted so to make it even to the gallery is soooo cool! I am so excited! This doesn't mean she is a finalist, but it does mean her picture was at least noticed and looked at! Click below to see it! Everyone please pray that she can be one of the top ten finalist! (If its God's will of course!) .... and pray that its God's Will lol JK. This is the pic my mom liked best!

http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/regisandkelly/contests/beautifulbabies2008/gallery.html

Kaylea Got her Leapster Back!

Just to give you an update... Kaylea did much better at school today, and first thing apologized to Emily. I think she learned her lesson. So... she got her leapster back and her "treats". :-)

My cute tempermental little red head!

It is amazing to me how red Kaylea's hair looks in different lights? Its not surprising as there are quite a few red heads on my mom's side of the family - Amber & Cody to name a few (Although Amber is now blonde - she was a bright red head as a child) She definitely fits the bill when it comes to the red head's temper. Lately she has gotten very tempermental and I think its the result of the terrible twos mixed with the red head temper... and she is spoiled. She gets upset when she doesn't get what she wants and she doesn't know how to express it except for crying or screaming or whining or recently biting!

On Thursday I had to pick her up from school because she had bitten the arm of a little girl in her class. So, I took off work and went to pick her up and this time she was going to realize she can't get away with it. So I brought her home and took her to her room. She didn't like that at all. Also, we took away all "sweet treats" like chocolate and candy as well as her new favorite toy - her leapster! She has been very apologetic ever since and every day tells me she will be good at school and she is sorry for biting Emily. (She is so sweet when she says this I feel like a big mean mama for punishing her, but I know its the right thing to do.) See lately she will say she is sorry and that she won't do it again, and then she turns around and does it again. So this is why we had to take stuff away.

So tomorrow is the real test. She goes back to school. I told her I was going to ask her teacher how she acted in class and if she tells me she was good, then Kaylea can have a chocolate cookie after school and get her leapster back. My fingers are crossed and I hope she's good but there is part of me that is worried we might get another dreaded call. Let's hope not... I think she has learned her lesson... like most women, she loves her chocolate way too much to keep it away for long!

PS - I'm adding on to this after I wrote the above. We've been working with her all weekend on how to play nice. Putting Kaylea to sleep we asked her, "Tomorrow at school if you want to play with a toy what do you do?" and she responded, "you ask". We followed up with, "And if they say no you can't play with it I'm playing with it, then what do you do?" To which she gave the right answer that we taught her, "You play with another toy!" Good girl, mommy has always lived by, "Some will, Some won't, So What, Next!" The same "sales pitch" applies to kids and sharing toys! LOL She then proceeded to say, "and then I get my chocolate cookie and my leapster back!"

She is also getting inspiration from Princess Jasmine from a movie that we bought her about princess stories. Princess Jasmine ended the movie saying, "Be Strong, and Never Give Up". As I layed her in her bed she was chanting to herself under her breath, "Be Stong, An' Neber Gib Up!" Told you she wanted that chocolate back!