Mother's Day

Sorry I haven't posted in a while... been super busy catching up from vacation. So here is an update on what we did for Mother's Day. First we got up and got ready and headed to my mom's house to take "Mimi" to lunch at El Zarape Mexican restaurant. The mexican restaurant trip was part of my Mother's Day present from Eric and Kaylea and so I brought my mom along for the ride. Mother's Day was a great excuse for cheating on my diet! We had very yummy flan and Kaylea loved her fried ice cream as you can see in the picture!

After lunch we headed to Eric's mom's house to wish her a Happy Mother's Day and from there we al headed to eric's Uncle Tommy's house to plant a garden in honot of Eric's grandmother. Everyone brought a plant and/or seeds and I know Grandma was happy.

After planting the garden we hung out, ate dinner, and the kids swam. Look at this adorable couple pictured below! :-)

Sean-y, Courtney, and Kaylea
all enjoyed time in the swimming pool!

After dinner and after swimming Kaylea and everyone else ate some juicy watermelon (except me of course cause I don't like Watermelon).

It was a very Happy Mother's Day!

Back from the Bahamas

We are back and we have learned two things on this trip! The Bahamas are beautiful .... and never take a free (or close to free) offer for a cruise and not expect to pay something or go through a time share presentation! Luckily we got out of the presentation because our cruise had to board and they didn't have time to give us the presentation... not to mention we didn't know about it until after we had paid for the port fees etc.

Anyways, the cruise itself... well it wasn't Royal Carribean or Carnival, but Eric and I go with the flow so we still had fun. Its all what you make it. Many complained about the accomadations and the little boat and cheesy entertainment and bad food.... as for us... we were away from home for two days and that was good enough for us!

Kaylea had a blast and was so perfectly well behaved even we were in shock I think! I also think she was so excited to have her Daddy back after being in KY with out him, that she was extra sweet! She even had good table manners and was commented on many times by other cruisers as to how good and how cute she was. (Mommy is proud!)

The entertainment while cheesy ... still gave us a good laugh and so we enjoyed it. Kaylea loved the show, she loves music and dancing, and she couldn't keep the smile off her face! After the show they opened the floor for dancing so Kaylea boogied down and even danced with an older couple there. Then of course she had to dance with her daddy.

Each night we listened to the "Music under the stars". The girl who sang had a good voice, but a strong accent.... and she must have only known those certain songs because she definitely couldn't do requests and she sang the same songs the next night. But its ok because it put Kaylea peacefully to sleep each night.

Once we arrived in the Bahamas, we went on a shore excursion to Cable Beach Resort. It was absolutely the best part of the trip and so relaxing. They had a HUGE pool, a live band, and the most soft sandy beach I've ever been to. The water was so clear and blue. It was gorgeous! We both said we'd love to go stay there next time instead of going on a cruise! The other good thing is we got to eat at Cable Beach and their buffet was out of this world... we were so hungry because the food on board had been less than desirable, so when we got to that lunch buffet and it was so good, we filled up our plates! Yummy!

On the beach there were ladies selling purses and braiding hair, so we asked Kaylea if she wanted to get her hair braided and she did. She got to sit and pick out lots of pretty colored beads out of this big bag full of beads. I couldn't believe she sat so still! She won't sit still for 30 seconds for me to do her hair, but she sat still for 5-10 minutes for this Bahamian woman to do her hair! It looks really pretty.... Eric calls her our little Bo Derek LOL.

After cable beach we headed shopping downtown and went to the straw market. Kaylea had talked us into buying three things before we even left the first row of the straw market... so we didn't stay too long. She got a toy turtle handmade from coconuts and wood (that she already broke). She also got a toy flute that she won't stop playing, and a little straw purse handmade with a picture of Hello Kitty sewed in with straw and they sewed her name onto it so it says Kaylea on it!

Overall we had a great time... maybe not as good as other cruise liners.... and we probably won't take another promotional offer again, but we still had fun and had a chance to relaz together as a family. That said... we sure are happy to be home!

To see all of our pictures from the trip go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kayleasmom/Bahamas2008/photo#s5199088120988283218

A slideshow from our trip to KY

Kaylea's First Plane Ride

Kaylea took her first plane ride on Derby Day, May 3, 2008! She was very excited to go on her "adventure". On the plane ride to KY she was wonderful. No fussing except a little at the end she said her ears hurt. She enjoyed the plane and watched Alvin & the Chipmunks the whole way! We flew to Kentucky to visit with family and got a chance to see I think pretty much everyone. Wish we had more time and three generations of females traveling together is not always easy, but we made it through it and overall had a really great time. Here are some pictures from the plane!

Kaylea at take off!

Three generations on the same flight!

Alvin & the Chipmunks on DVD!

Embarassing Before & After Pics

Many of you have asked for some full body before and after pics. Well now that I am halfway to my goal I think I can do that for you! I've lost 40 lbs and I still have 40 lbs. to go to get to the finish line! I started out at a size 22. (Yeah I know can you believe it!) Now I am wearing 16s comfortable and some 14s! Thats a total of 5 pant sizes down! Below are my before and then my after pics that I had someone take this morning at work. Keep in mind today I have no makeup on and a baggy t-shirt so they aren't the most flattering but I still look amazing compared to my before! I'm not gonna stop here though... I'm gonna keep working hard! I'm starting to see the finish line after all! Let my success be an inspiration to you!

Halfway to my goal!

Well today is the start of a brand new week! I have one more week of work and then vacation! Finally! Whew! Good news this week: I weighed in this morning for another 2 lb. loss. My grand total is now 40 lbs I've lost since I started on 2/4/08. Thats 40 lbs in 12 weeks! Not bad if I do say so myself! My initial goal was 80 lbs so today I made my halfway mark! I'm pretty proud of myself but not ready to stop yet!

On Saturday my mom and I went shopping at "Avenue" a store like Lane Bryant that serves women 14 and up. Unbelievably almost nothing fit me in the store! I finally settled on some items that we size 14! I was speechless! I will have to post pictures soon, but just wanted to share my excitement. Next week I'm headed to Kentucky to visit with my family. I'm going with Kaylea and my mom. I wonder if anyone will recognize me since the weight loss? LOL

Then, Eric and I will be going on a short 3 day cruise to the Bahamas! I'm pretty excited about that! 3 days is good... long enough to let me cheat a little on the diet... but not so long I gain 10 pounds!

As for an update on Kaylea she is growing up faster than ever. Her favorite cartoon to watch right now is an old 90s DVD of Alvin & the Chipmunks. One of the episodes is the chipmunks reenactment of the movie "BIG" and the other episode is a reenactment of the movie Back to the Future". So Kaylea has a huge imagination lately. She has lots of imaginary friends and plays pretend all the time. The chipmunks (Alvin, Simon and Theodore) go with us everywhere we go. This weekend Kaylea built a time machine to transport her to work and make copies of "paypal" (little note cards she was playing with at Kinkos). Then she grew up big into a grownup and became a mommy. Then she said she was upset cause she really wanted to be a kid againl. I can't wait to see what this week brings!

Life is too short. Tell them I love you

Sometimes life hits you hard and you realize that every moment in your life needs to be lived to the fullest and not taken for granted. I know in my life (as much as it hurts my pride to admit it) I take my parents for granted. I've realized this week that life brings unexpected turns and we may not be around forever.... we won't actually... its just a hard reality to face.

MOM: I want you to know I really do love you. And as much as we argue, its probably because we are alot alike (again as much as it hurts my pride to admit it). Mom you have been there for me throughout my life. You gave up your desires to take me and Corey and move with dad to a foreign country. I don't give you enough credit. Yeah as you've gotten older you are as paranoid as ever, but moving to South America to become a missionary - thats an Indiana Jones move and much more brave than what I have done in my life. You definitely deserve props for that. (I'll explain what props means later) You are always there when I need you even if I've hurt your feelings. You really are selfless and I'm sure its hard when you are raising and living with 3 people who might think about themselves too much (me, dad and brother of course). After having Kaylea you have sacrificed all of your time to help me raise her while I go to work. I wouldn't have it any other way and I don't tell you I appreciate you enough. So today I want to tell you I love you. And I do mean it. Even though we will probably argue today about something as trivial as Dancing with the Stars.

DAD: I love you too. We are alot alike in so many ways. You've put up with a lot in this life... and continue to do so. You've touched so many people in their lives. When I hear the song "Thank You" by Ray Boltz it reminds me of you. You are just one of those people who can make people feel better no matter what they are going through. God speaks through you like I've never seen him speak through anyone. I'm proud of you dad. I don't think anyone could have a better dad than you. I love you.

This has been a tough week for Eric and our family. I don't want to go into all the details on here but we lost someone close to our hearts. When something like this happens all of a sudden it really shakes up your world. I'm going to Kentucky to visit my family and my grandma on my mom's side soon as a mini vacation. I'm more thankful than ever this week that I can go visit them. I haven't spoken much to my grandma over the years but now I want to give her a big hug and let her know how much I love her and I wish I could take those years back.

Life is too short. I encourage you to tell those close to you in your life that you love them today. And give them a hug. Make every day important because it may be the last time you have to do so. Please say a prayer for us and for Eric's family as well.

Orlando Magic Playoffs!

Eric and were lucky enough to score some Magic Playoff tickets! They pretty much just fell into our laps! A friend of mine stopped by on Saturday who had 4 Lower Bowl Orlando Magic Playoff tickets for Sunday's 12:30pm game and couldnt go. His son had won all of his baseball games that day which meant he had more games on Sunday... lol I think he'd been hoping his sone had lost so they could go to the game lol. But lucky for us he won! So yesterday we drove to Orlando and had a great time. Here are a few pictures of our trip!

No words... Its a sad day.

We could really use your prayers. Its a really sad day today....

"My Daddy"

Sometimes you never know if what you are telling your little toddler makes any sense at all. A month or two ago I was trying to explain that God is our father just like Eric is her father. Only, Eric is her father on earth, and God is her father in heaven. She looked confused, but said, "Oh." And nothing has been said about it since.

Until last night. Eric and I were saying our prayer with her as we do every night before bedtime. After we prayed and Kaylea was giving Eric a hug goodnight, Kaylea was talking about praying to God and she said looking at Eric, "You are my daddy in here and God is my daddy in heaven!"

It was a really tender moment and one I wish I could capture on video but it will have to stay captured in my memory instead.

Matthew 18:3
"And he said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.' "

Fun in the Sun!

This Saturday Kaylea and I took her bunny "Dumbo" to get his nails clipped and then enjoyed some fun in the sun at Mimi and Gada's swimming pool. Take a look at the pictures below... Notice Kaylea has become a "master" at rolling her tongue to make a funny face!

Kaylea Says the Darndest Things!

News Alert: Summer lost 5.4 lbs this week for a grand total of 35.7 - and she has on size 16 pants today! Woooo hooooo! Now on to the blog:

Kaylea was driving in the car with us this weekend and said, "Mommy, look at your hair. Its Black.... (she hesitated)... and Gray! Yeah your hair is Gray just like Gada's!"
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On Friday I received an email from my mom. She watches Kaylea during the day and will share some funny moments with me via email. Here was the email:

"ROFLMAO - She just had one side of her diaper (pull-up) opened up and was trying to put water (from her sippy cup) in it. I asked her what she was doing. Her response: "I'm waterin' my butt so it can grow bigger - and bigger - and BIGGER - like my Mommy and Daddy!""
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Kaylea's vocabulary is really growing. Last week it was the use of the word, "interesting". This week she used the word "interrupting". Kaylea was humming a tune and Eric started talking to me. She said, "Daddy, I was trying to sing a song about Kaylea Jade, and you were interrupting me!"
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News Alert #2: Kaylea successfully pee pee'd and poo poo'd in the potty friday, saturday and sunday! We are on a roll folks! Wooo hoooo!

Here is also a picture of Kaylea's newest dress design. What do you think? Fashionista in the making?

Sweet little cousins!

This weekend my brother Corey and his wife Robyn and my two nephews Tyler and Jake flew to Florida to visit us! We had a great time. They got to stay right on the beach and we all got to spend two days swimming and enjoying the great Florida sunshine. Although the forecast said there might be rain we didn't get any!

Kaylea was so excited to see Tyler and Jake. It makes me sad we don't live closer. Over the weekend we ate, ate and ate lots of good food and of course florida seafood! On Friday we went to a place called Red Fish Blue Fish where they play live reggae music outside. We sat right by the band outside (quite loud) but even though we really couldn't hear each other we had a great time! The kids wanted to get up and dance but just were afraid to make the move on their own, so I took the liberty of getting up and dancing first and it took them not even a second to follow. What was really funny is Kaylea was pulling the boys on the dance floor like crazy! LOL Guess she's alot like her mama! Haha!

Then on Saturday we went to my uncle's house and cooked out some big honkin' hot dogs and yummy hamburgers out on the grill. My aunt also made the best baked beans in the world! We had a blast although the pool was really too cold to go swimming! Jake said, "You'll never get used to this water its too cold!" But he said that while he was in the water! The kids worked on chasing lizards and picking oranges from the trees and we all had a great time! After my uncle's house we headed to my brother's hotel on Sand Key Beach and went to the pool and the beach! That was a lot of fun. Then we met up with Eric after he got out of work and went to PJ's (a local place thats really well known for its seafood and a 45 minute wait)!

Sunday we woke up and did it all over again! (The hotel swimming pool and beach part anyways.) We had a blast and got lots of sun! I didn't put sunblock on myself so I got burnt. Kaylea on the other hand didn't - which is a good thing! After a second trip to PJ's on Sunday we had Ice Cream at TJ's House of Sweets. Sadly enough we had to say our goodbyes. Kaylea was all smiles and surprisingly did not cry. (Not sure she understood she wouldn't see them for a while)

But after we drove off I told Kaylea we should say a prayer for Jake and Tyler and Corey and Robyn to be safe. So I prayed. Then Kaylea prayed out loud in a soft little voice (she has laryngitis from screaming so much in excitement while they were here). She said, "Dear God, pease help me be good and safe, and pease.... oh pease... keep Tyler an Jakey safe oh pease God. Tank you. Amen! Oh Pease!"

It was just the sweetest thing in the world if you could have only heard it. The whole weekend was so sweet... Jake and Kaylea were like two peas in a pod ... Kaylea said they were "best friends". And Tyler was quite the entertainer.... you could never be bored around them! Kaylea, Eric and I will really miss them.

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A Cute Picture of Kaylea

Just a cute picture of Kaylea in her Raggedy Ann outfit Mimi and Gada got her for her birthday.

Before and After Face Pic

OK. Some of you have been bugging me about before and after pics. Here is a great before and after of my face. You can see the difference - at least I can! (Yes I did the typical no makeup in the before and makeup in the after lol)

Easter Has Come & Gone

Easter has come and gone. This is the first easter (I think) in my life that I did not go to church. Felt kinda weird, but, we did get a chance to have some quality family time together. On Saturday night we colored easter eggs (I hardly remember doing that much as a kid). Then Sunday morning Kaylea woke us up and I told Kaylea after walking into the living room that her easter eggs were all gone! She said, "Gone Gone! I can't believe it!" Then when she found the first egg you would have thought she struck gold she was so excited. It was really fun. The easter bunny hid one of the eggs in her bag of diapers and she thought that was the silliest thing in the world!

After our egg hunt, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast together. We had fun playing little games, eating yummy food and making funny faces! And of course we rocked in the chairs afterwards (a Kaylea ritual). Below are pictures of all of the easter eggs we colored. Kaylea wanted me to take pictures of each one LOL.

...Now don't get me wrong, I do think its important to go to church, especially for Kaylea. But more important to me is that we teach her about Jesus ourselves in addition to all of the silly fun time of easter eggs and bunnies. Last week we did go to church and Kaylea learned the word "Hosanna" which means "Save Us" or "Help Us". She also can recount about Jesus walking into the city and "people waving leaves at him".

Lately we've been having trouble with getting Kaylea to listen... and obey not just us but her teachers at school. See Kaylea is a super bright kid (IMHO). She talks alot (like her momma) and can carry on a pretty legthy discussion with you. Just the other day she was listening to a song about "15 miles on the Erie Canal...from Albany to Buffalo...." and so on. She put her pointer finger to her chin and said very seriously, "Hmmm... this song is really int'resting. Mommy you said buffalo is a city. I think its kinda like a pig or a cow. Hmmm... this is really int'resting."

She is very observant. She knows right from wrong. She knows if you put her in time out that if she says, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry and I won't do it again." that it will get her out of time out. Trouble is she is just saying words and will continue to do whatever it was she was doing. Alot of times its her just being silly and twirling around the room dancing and screeching and ignoring us or her teachers when we talk to her. She knows she is having fun and just probably knows that what we are saying would stop that! LOL. Anyways on to Easter.

I explained to Kaylea that Easter is about Jesus on the cross. That when people tell her the story about Jesus dying on the cross and then coming back to life that the reason he did that is for us. I tried to put it in simple terms: "Kaylea, when you do bad things, God loves you so much that he doesn't want you to have to stand in the corner or get a spankin. So he stands in the corner for you and takes the spankin' for you. He does this because he loves you and he wants you to do good things so that you don't have to get punished." Not sure if she got it, but it was worth a try. I'm just afraid that now she's gonna tell me that she doesn't have to go stand in the corner cause Jesus is standing there for her LOL.

More Birthday Celebration!

On Saturday, it was time for Kaylea's Birthday Party #2 at the park with Grandma and Grandpa Martin, Courtney, Jessica and Mando (Armando). Kaylea was really looking forward to going to the park - she loves the big playground they have there. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and it rained quite a bit by the time we got to the playground. So, we didn't get to play much there, but we did have a fun birthday party under the shelter.

Also, we brought Dumbo our Bunny along for the party! We even got him a leash! He is such a cute bunny he really is, but he hasn't mastered walking on a leash just yet! Once again we had chocolate cake - Kaylea's favorite! (And yes I cheated on my diet and ate some! Did on her birthday too. Cheated on Easter too... lol.... at least I got it all done in one week!) Kaylea was ready from the get go to open presents (she knows the drill now). She made out once again and got clothes, board games, concentration, little dolls for her dollhouse, a my little pony, preschool workbooks (a fav of hers), candy, chocolate, oh and chocolate candy (that was the biggest hit!)

Grandma Martin made her a little Easter basket with eggs and chocolate candy and chocolate bunnies, etc. That was Kaylea's favorite thing - chocolate lol. It was a fun time and we hung out and took lots of pics. Kaylea got to play with her Aunt Courtney and we got to see Eric's cousin Jessica who we haven't seen since our wedding! Here are some more pics of the day: