Thursday, March 13, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The creative & intelligent mind of Kaylea
Monday, March 10, 2008
God helped me pee pee!
Well she didn't this weekend, but it was an eventful weekend with Dumbi new in our home and all. Also we reorganized her room and I think its the cleanest its been in a LONG time! Her play tent actually fits in her room now! She had way too many toys - most that she never played with or were for babies. So, it was time to clean them out. Going through the toys in her closet I alone filled two garbage bags full of toys that she didn't need or play with, etc. Not even realizing there was a whole other basket on top of her closet shelf! We cleared out some of the clutter in her room (got rid of the TV stand and put the TV on her dresser) and her room is now spacious and clean. We also hung her Hannah Montana posters and all of her hats on the wall. She wants to play dress up all the time now! But her room is not only cleaner and less cluttered but a place she can play - and she has discovered so many toys that she forgot she had! As I put her to bed last night she said, "Mommy! What did you do to my room? Its so beautiful!!!"
So, onto the peeing in the potty. Today she is at Mimi's like every Monday and she had asked Mimi to play playdough with her. Mimi said, "OK but how about we try to go pee pee in the potty first." She agreed and they went in there and she sat on the potty for a second and said, "Mimi I tried but I can't go, but I try." So she tried some different techniques that I've heard about and tried to do - (putting kayleas hands in water.... etc.) None of them worked and Kaylea was ready to give up. Mimi said, "I know let's say a prayer to God for him to help you go pee pee." So Mimi prayed to God to help Kaylea go pee pee and as soon as they opened their eyes, Kaylea started pee peeing like no tomorrow! Alot! She was surprised herself and mom said her eyes got real big! Mimi said, "See God helped you!". Kaylea said, "Who God? Da King of Kings?" Mimi said, "Yep thats him!" and then they sang a song together (King of Kings).
God works in mysterious ways! :-) When I called Kaylea she told me, "Mommy, God helped me pee pee!"
Week 5 Diet Update
(Just a side note - if you are reading my blog and interested in going to the medi weight loss center - in Trinity, FL - tell them you were referred by me and I will get 50% off one week!) Its worth it even if you only have 30lbs to lose!
In other good news - the gym that is training me (that I have done their website for) said they would allow me to have a "free pass" to work out there till the end of the year (if I get the website exactly how they want it of course! lol) No prob... I'm workin' out till the end of the year. That is a GodSend because I wouldn't be able to afford it on my own. If your looking for a place that specializes in personal training check out www.clubfitonline.com!
Thanks for all your prayers, thoughts, support and words of encouragement. I've needed them and still do. Now I need your prayers that I can make enough money freelancing and ebaying to keep on the program! (If you know a small business that needs an affordable website feel free to recommend me! http://www.snowbirdy.com/designs) I can work from here in FL and do a website in any state. I have a client in California and Kentucky right now! OK enough self promo. Gotta work! Talk to you soon.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Meet Our New Family Member!

So, what kind of pet could we get that she wasn't terrified of, stayed in a cage not all over the house all the time, and the biggest concern I had was that it wouldn't bite. As far as the biting goes the pet store lady gave us two choices - mice (yuck) or a bunny rabbit. So I went with #2.

Friday, March 7, 2008
My Ballerina Princess
Tuesday night Kaylea had her first ballet class. It was actually a trial class from one of "The Little Gyms". (Doesn't she look like me as a kid in this pic?) This class is called "Jazzy Bugs" and it is girls 3-4 years old. It was really cute all the girls were pretty much the same size and all adorable. They did 15 minutes of Tap and then 15 minutes of Ballet and then they did 30 minutes of tumbling and gymnastics. Kaylea really was catching on in tap and ballet even though it was only her first time. I was quite surprised! She kept making sure she was in the front of the class right next to the teacher though - that was funny! If she ended up in the back somehow she would run right up to the front of the class! She seemed to be making friends with some of the other girls in the class and was having a great time! When it got to tumbling she really wanted to play, but she listened better than I thought she would and tried all the moves they showed her with the jump rope and bean bag. Then she did two somersalts down a matted ramp (teacher assisted of course) and she even walked across the balance beam! She loved it so much she didn't want to leave - and we had to carry her out crying of course. Since this was a trial class we could signup for it full time if we wanted. However, we decided to wait on this particular semester and sign her up instead for the summer semester. Every semester is 20 weeks and at the end they do a recital with costumes and everything - really cute. Well if we signed her up now, her recital would fall right in the middle of my trip to Chicago for work - and there is no way Mama is missing her first recital! Also, during the summer she doesn't have as much going on during the day since school is out so it would give her something to do and a chance to socialize with other kids during the summer. But she definitely enjoyed it and we did to!
The cool thing is The Little Gym does a "parents night out" once a month for 3 hours. They do activities, crafts, gym time etc while we get a chance to go to a movie together or have dinner with peace and quiet! It's only $30 and you'd have to pay a babysitter that! So we are excited to try that out!
By the way folks - you can leave a comment on here... they do work! I know you are reading the page but I never hear from anyone! I'd like to hear from you every once in a while and whats going on with you all! :-)
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Kaylea Loves Books
Well today I read a really great review of some books called "Bob Books" on Thingamababy.com (one of my favorite blogs to read). The writer of this blog has a 3 and a half year old daughter and she is much like Kaylea and enjoys reading. They started teaching her to read with these Bob Books and she is already reading at a first grade level. Kaylea is very smart (not biased or anything) and I truly think she will be reading early because she shows such an interest in it. So, I figured since her birthday was coming up and some of you might need some ideas, I think the "Bob Books for Beginners" would be an affordable and wonderful idea for a birthday present! (They are available on Amazon.com but also at your local big box bookstores) hint hint ;-)
And if you get a chance check out the post on Thingamababy (click here) In this post he shares about some various Montesorri teaching methods which I never knew and I found to be really interesting. For instance - teaching the alphabet phonetically (ahh, buhh, cuh) and breaking up words to make it easier to pronounce and then putting them together again. Also he mentions "sight words". I have thought about this for both numbers and words. Just this weekend I was looking at flashcards for 3 year olds to help them learn words and numbers. (Also a great birthday idea!)
I really want to start working with Kaylea on a daily basis with reading and learning numbers etc. One of her favorite things to do when she gets home is sit with me and do a Preschool Workbook. You would be amazed. It shows her three pictures and it says circle the one that doesn't belong - and she does! She is counting perfectly now (at least to 10 or 12) and can draw really good circles! I'm definitely a proud mama if you can't tell!
Here is a picture of Kaylea and her "Me-Maw" (my grandma on my mom's side) reading together. This is from this summer when we went to Kentucky. I was very happy that Kaylea got to meet "Me-Maw". It was one of the highlights of the trip. I love you Grandma!
Monday, March 3, 2008
My Diet Report This Week
Prayer Requests & Our Weekend Adventure!
1.) Eric's Grandmother had a heartattack this weekend. They first thought it was a seizure, and she was taken in an ambulance to the hospital. Since they didn't know if she was breathing on her own well they started to put a tube down her lungs and she woke up not knowing what was going on and started fighting them (as anyone would if they woke up with tubes shoving down their throat!) Well it ripped her lung, but the update so far is that her lung looks like it will be ok. The seizure was actually a heart attack. She is doing a little better and might get her own room at the hospital tomorrow. But they don't know exactly what caused everything so please be in prayer for her. She is in a big hospital (I think in Owensboro or Louisville - don't know the name) but they don't have any relatives up there for support - its just Grandma and Papa Pete. Its Eric's only living Grandma left and he's been pretty upset about it.
2.) Lil' Miss Kaylea is sick yet again! She started having a fever yesterday (actually Friday she felt warm) and then the runny nose started - and last night she was miserable. Please pray for her!
We had 2 Kaylea and Mommy days this weekend so we filled it with lots of fun and activities. Saturday Kaylea accompanied me to the gym I am doing a website for and acted as my photography assistant while I got a few pictures of their staff. Here is a pic of Kaylea at the gym!
At Wall Springs there is a neat little "bending tree" that we found and Kaylea wanted to stop and rest there and take a nap on the tree. She soon figured out it might be hard to take a nap on the tree, so we took pictures instead! When we reached the tower we had a picnic at the top of the tower with the chicken nuggets we brought with us from McDonald's. I had to get some pictures of the tower for the gym as well because they will be doing some training out there. Along our walk Kaylea got to pet a big siberian husky - "the wolf from the three little pigs" of course. And we got to see lots of birds and little fish swimming in the water.
By the end of the day we were very tired! We made one more stop at Wal-Mart to buy a leotard and ballet shoes for an upcoming class Kaylea is taking and then we headed home. It was a day full of fun and adventure! Enjoy some of our pictures!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Happy Anniversary Mimi and Gada

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Kaylea's Quote of the Week!
Daddy said, "Of course I love you! Do you love me?"
Kaylea said, "Yes! But, I wanna know if you love me backwards?"
My first blackout!
Then, when I got off that I started seeing spots and the room was spinning and even though my eyes were open - everything went black and I couldn't see anything. Next thing I know I feel myself falling and hitting the equipment and the floor. My trainer broke my fall I was told but I was out. Then he woke me up I guess and brought me a diet coke and a piece of a soy bar to get some sugar into my body. It was crazy - weirdest feeling I ever had. My trainer said, "Are you ok?" and I responded in a dizzy daze, "I don't think I feel too good!" Haha, ya think?!
Good news is I didn't throw up because I hadn't eaten. So my trainer brought me a diet coke and gave me a chunk of a chocolate soy protein bar. I've never liked those things and never been able to swallow a bite of one. But, today that one little piece of soy bar tasted like a snickers to me.
The reason I blacked out was because my sugar dropped too low and I had pushed myself too hard. (I had taken it upon myself to push myself to 5 minutes on the pig when I was ready to stop at 3.) But all was good after the coke and soy bar and I feel great today. I'll be back at the gym tomorrow!
Monday, February 25, 2008
19.5 Pounds Down!
I'll keep you posted on my progress! Keep those prayers coming! I might actually lose 30 lbs before my 30th birthday! :-)
Sunday, February 24, 2008
What a Mighty Good Man!
So, I had scheduled myself a masssage at Massage Envy for 7pm last night. I was cashing in my gift certificate Eric got me for Christmas. I had already told Eric I'd give Kaylea a bath when I got home - cause I knew he would be tired - and he warned me he definitely was not going to have the energy to do that.
So Eric got home, and Kaylea had just woken up from her nap - a cranky one. All she wanted was her mommy. Unfortunately I had that appointment, so I had to leave Eric with Kaylea in tears while he tried to watch his Orlando Magic Game. I felt bad - but hey I wanted that massage! :-)
Well after my massage I called Eric - it was 8pm. Kaylea answered the phone, "Hi Mommy! I'm in da bathtub!". As tired as Eric was from work and even though there was an Orlando Magic Game on, he put aside his plans for a relaxing night and gave Kaylea a bath and had her all ready for bed when I got home.
What a man, What a man, What a man, What a mighty Good man!
(Sorry had to sing a throwback to the 1990s and Salt-N-Pepa!)
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Our Diva Day!

So we left the movie theatre only to run through pouring down rain because we didn't have an umbrella! Then after leaving the movie we were on a quest to find my purse. I had been missing it since the night before. So we drove to my work (cause I hadn't been anywhere else) and still couldn't find it. But, I needed my blood pressure medicine so we went back home to look for it. Still no purse. Called work. They looked and they found it! Perhaps my luck was turning around!
So, now that I had my purse, the rain had stopped and tires were fixed, I decided to try and start our Kaylea and Mommy day over again. So we went to the mall. And you know what we had a ball! There is a little playground area inside our mall that Kaylea loves to play at. Its right across from Dunkin Donuts - so I got a coffee and I got Kaylea some donut holes and we spent about an hour to an hour and a half there. Kaylea made a few friends and they played chase for a long time.
Then we found this really cool store called "Divas and Dudes". Its a store for kids, and you can pay $22 to get a Diva Makeover! Kaylea went around and got to pick out some accessories to her outfit - her choice was a blue tutu, , sunglasses, a lady bug necklace, a princess purse, a blue hair extension piece, and a toy zebra, oh and rock star gloves. Then a stylist sits them down at their own "Diva Vanity chair and mirror and they do their hair with glitter gel and sparkles and give them lip gloss etc. She looked totally Diva and so cute! So much so that every where we went in the mall people stopped and said how cute she was and asked where she had it done.

Also while we were there we road the choo choo train and some other little rides, before stopping at the Disney store to pick up a princess shirt. Wallet empty and Kaylea tired - we stopped by the smoothie shop to meet my parents for a smoothie. Then we headed home listening to Laurie Birkner singing about the three little pigs in the car. So all in all the day didn't turn out so bad. We had a blast, Kaylea got to be a diva, she didn't take a nap, and now we can go to bed early! :-)
All I had was my camera phone, so the pics aren't great, but here is some shots from our fun day!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Bird Watching with Mommy
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Roses after 6 years!
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!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Colds, Hospitals and no fun at all!
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! :)
Monday, February 11, 2008
This week's updates.

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



