Slacker!!!

Yes that term describes me when it comes to the blog...however, not when it comes to life in general. I've been sewing up a strom. Playing with the new WALKER that I call my Bear, and overall just enjoying our life. In less than 2 weeks the little Bear will be 1. I can't believe I just typed that. It seems that not to long ago i was just posting a 2 months post, or a 5 months post...and I'm fixing to have to type a 12 month post....

She is more amazing every single day. And I am so blessed to have her as my daughter...this is short and sweet I know, but here is a couple of pictures, so you can see how amazing she is for yourself....love to you all...

Happy Tuesday... :)

One of these days I will be able to keep up with this...*sigh* I have so much to write about, but never seem to have much time to get it all out there.

I just posted a post that I had written almost a month ago. I'm sure at the time there was more to say, but hey I got out what I could. Right now the Bear is asleep so I thought I'd see what I could share with everyone now...

My dad is officially moved in. We have found him a place to build his boat. It's only about 5 miles from our house so that's nice. We have moved some of our things out there for storage just so we could have some extra room :) It has been so much fun having my dad around. He is retired, so he doesn't have to go to work. It makes my days seem less lonely at home. We get to do simple things together, like go to Costco, and the grocery store...and he'll run errands with me so I don't have to take the baby out all the time.

It's been a bit different trying to adjust, but we are really getting the hang of it. Dad doesn't take up much space, and he is just using the guest room and the guest bath. Which we weren't using anyways. He does his fair share around the house. We don't expect anything but he does LOVE to cook, so he usually cooks 3-4 meals a week for us, and I cook the rest of the time. It sure has saved on our "going out to eat" bill. He does the dishes most nights which is nice. But most of all it's just nice to have him there. I know he's safe...not like he can't take care of himself, but I worry. He's had a quintuple bypass almost 10 years ago, and several shunts put in in recent years. So it's nice to have him close in case he needs something. He also is suffering from the results of getting red mold...so the breathing isn't the best...but he does really well. He has slowly improved over the years :)

Tori is loving having Grandpa there. He gets down on the floor with her and plays...she pulls on his shorts while he's on the couch to tempt him to "tickle" her. It's so much fun to watch!!! I'm just glad he's here :)

Now on to the Bear...she's getting SOOOOOOOOO BIG!!! She'll be 10 months in 4 days. So hard to believe. She crawls like there is no tomorrow, pulls up on everything, stands by herself, and is cruising around holding on to the wall and the couches. I foresee her walking before she is 1 or by the time she is 1. She's got 2 months to get there. She's got a mouthful of teeth, and knows how to use them. She's eating tiny pieces of meat, all veggies, yogurt (her absolute favorite food), cheese cubes, all fruit that is not citrus, and loves to "share" Grandpa's ice cream. She is self feeding snacks. But I refuse to turn her loose with the spoon just yet. I did once and we had mashed potatoes in her hair, eyelids, my hair, the floor, the wall, you name it, there was potatoes. So for now, we stick with the diced foods... She says "da da", "ma ma", and "hi". She knows who we are and will call to us with her arms up. She waves and says "hi" to people when you ask her too. She's really starting to love books. She loves books with shapes and animals. She can handle "story time" for about 15 mins now. Then she looses her focus...For simple words, we are teaching her the Spanish version has well. Slowly I think I am learning them too. I have my list that Vic has written down for me. And I go by it. We just keep adding to it. And I repeat everything in English then Spanish...or sometimes Spanish then English. Daddy is better at it than me, but I'm trying :)

Other than that, things are really going great. We pulled the carpet out of the living room and hallway. Laid tile down. I bought new curtains that are hung, but I still need to hem them :( In a couple of weeks we will be pulling out the vinyl in the kitchen and putting new tile down in there as well. It's a lot of fun, but a lot of hard work too. I'm still on the prowl for rugs for my living room. I had bought some, but they have since been returned, they just didn't "do it" for me. :( Oh well, such is life.

Well that's all for now...here are a couple of pictures of Bear....

My Bear….

Just of the Bear….she amazes me every single day….and she’s getting so big and trying to be independent!!!! 

She’s already scheming against us!!!!

Now we all know that there is absolutely NO reason to SLEEP!!!

This picture is one of my favorites…I know she looks a little washed out, but there’s just something about it…makes my heart just melt…..

Better Late Than Never….

As promised here are a couple of pictures that I took at my cousin Rick’s wedding…..Enjoy….

This is my little sister, Amanda, and her significant other, Nick.

Tori, with her Great Uncle Larry

Tori, with her Great Aunt Karen

This is the groom, my cousin Rick

The groom (far left), and the groomsmen.  The gentleman 3rd from the left is Rick’s brother, TJ

Nicole getting ready to walk the isle

Nicole and her Dad walking in…

  Joy, Rick’s mom, reading a passage…

Mr.. & Mrs.. Rick Dyer, Jr.

This is my favorite picture of all…..I love it!!!

There are more pictures, but blogspot is being a pain, and it’s not letting me upload…grr!!!!

Monday Once Again...

Well once again it is Monday, and here I sit....Last week was not to shabby. Not to much happened. It was actually pretty quiet in our house.

Tori is now pulling herself up on the side of her crib. She can go from laying down on her back , to flipping over, grabbing the side of the crib, to arched back position, to up on her knees, to a 1/2 stand. So yeah, I'm in for a rude awakening pretty quickly. *mental note, must find child coral* She still doesn't have any teeth yet, but I know in good time they will come in. Every child is different.

This weekend we drove to Graham. It's 300 miles one way. It was my Aunt's 60th birthday. She was totally surprise to see us there. We stayed for the party, and then started our trip back home. Roughly 11 hours in a car is way to long for one day. But to see the look on her face, it was priceless!!!!

The weight loss journey is going GREAT!!! I weighed in this morning, and I lost 2.8lbs this week. So in 3 weeks, my total is 7.6lbs. I'm very happy with those results. I'm really trying to get the processed foods out of diets. The only thing processed that is still left is bread, lunch meat and cereal. I'm not going to count yogurt or cheese, because well I can't make cheese, and yogurt is yogurt. I buy the plain stuff w/ no sugar or anything and just add chopped fruit to it. We are really limiting our going out to eat as well. Unfortunately there's not that many healthy restaurants around. However yesterday for lunch we did go to Panera Bakery. OMG it was wonderful. I had the 1/2 + 1/2 combo. I had the Strawberry Poppy seed salad, and a cup of their Vegetarian Black Bean soup. Was light, but very filling, and was just a great experience and I felt good about my dining experience.

We are really getting into an exercise routine over here. The only bad thing is that we have to go REALLY early, or LATE at night. Unfortunately we are having triple digits days and it's not conducive to having a baby out in it, or for that matter an adult. Last week the baby and I walked over 21 miles for the week. (Monday to Sunday evening) I'm really happy with it. She loves being out in the stroller and looking at the trees and the people. We wind through a neighborhood and end up on a great road. One side is a sidewalk, and the other is a wide strip of asphalt for jogging strollers, bikes, skates ect. It's lit all the way up. And on top of it, there are some hills to climb on it. So it's not just flat land!!!!

Here's to another week. I have pictures to upload, so I'll do that sometime this week....

Yes I'm a Slacker :|

Well hello everyone!!! I know long time know update. My apologies. We have all been good. Babybear turned 6 months old on the 12th of this month. I totally can't believe that she is that old. I wonder where the time has gone.

The Bear is doing wonderfully. She now rolls over and over and over...she sits up by herself. She talks like there is no tomorrow (must get that from Nana), she love to play in the water. She now LOVES to be on her tummy, she will spend hours in her Exersaucer and Baby Einstein Jumper, she eats solids twice a day and loves them, she loves all of her vegetables (thank you Lord), she enjoys standing up on her legs and bouncing, overall, she's just AMAZING!!! God has blessed me with an amazing child to call mine....

In other news, my nephew turned 1 on April 23rd, Victor and I celebrated 4 years of marriage on the same day. I can't believe it's been that long, seems just like a couple of months. I'm very fortunate to have a supportive, kind, caring and loving husband/father for my child. I've been working at the sign shop 2 days a week. I take Bear with me, then at lunch time I zoom over to my sister's and drop her off. She likes being with her cousins. And it gives me some time to get other work done that can't be done at the computer. I'm learning the sign program and it is really cool. I've done a couple of quotes, weeded vinyl, designed a door sign, and some other odds & ends. Once again thank God I have a wonderful friend.

Well anyways, here's a couple of pictures to pass the time through

Tori outside in her exersaucer, the 2nd one is what happens when Daddy gets home from work...she's all smiles.

Over at Nana's house....this is a swing that is a hammock. It's AWESOME. And the baby loves it as you can see.

On our way to the mall...I bought her a new umbrella stroller. She really enjoys it...and like the bright colors to boot. :)

And last but not least, this is the Birthday Cake I made for my nephew Brandon... It's all home made, from the cake batter to the butter cream icing, and hand piped by yours truly :)

Happy Monday :)

I hope that everyone had a great Easter.  Our weekend was spent with friends and family.  Good times were had by all.

On Friday the hubby and I didn’t do much.  We stayed at home and just relaxed.  Not to eventful.  But it’s a good way to wind down after a hectic week.

On Saturday, the morning was spent finishing up lose ends.  But that night we went over to Steve & Sandy’s house for dinner.  It was so much fun.  Sandy fixed a wonderful dinner (stuffed chicken breasts with pasta alfredo & brocoli).  I was so glad that they got to see the baby.  They hadn’t seen her in a while.  She got good cuddles from her uncle Steve, and lots of hugs from cousin Summer.  (They are not related to us by blood or marriage, they are just amazing people.  To the point that if something was to ever happen to Vic and I, they are the ones we have asked to take care of Tori.)  It was just so nice to spend time with such wonderful friends.

On Easter, it was up at the crack of dawn and to church.  Then afterwards we went out to brunch, then over to my mom’s house.  It was a really nice time.  Here is a picture of my mom and the girls.

The yellow you see behind them is so beautiful…I thought it was honeysuckle but I’m not sure.  It smells wonderful as well.

Here’s a picture of just the girls together. We tried to get a picture of all 3 of them together, however PB (Brandon) wanted nothing to do with it.  So that was a missed shot.

And here’s a picture of me and my gorgeous Angelbear.  Ugg, I love the picture but goodness I need to start exercising again :(

Well I couldn’t post picture w/o posting one of my PB.  Here he is with his Nana (my mom)  I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!

Well that was out weekend….but I do have some good news to share, that we (hubby and I) are really excited about.  I am so blessed to have the friends that I do.  God is so good to us.  And this opportunity could not have come at a better time.

On Saturday night, while over at Steve & Sandy’s, they inform us, that one of our friends had left the business.  She answered the phones, did paperwork, invoiced for him, things of that nature.  I was really sad to hear that she had left.  Steve knows my background, and knows what I am capable of doing, and asked if I would be interested in working 2 days a week.  At first I thought he was joking.  But he wasn’t, he was for real.  The best part about it though,  I can take Tori to work with me!!! I will not have to leave her in a daycare.  I can take the swing and pack-n-play and set up shop.  I had been wanting to find a pt job, but did not want to put the baby in daycare.  And I can’t say I wanted to work on the weekends, because that is our family time.  This works out so perfectly.  God is so good.  I am so blessed with the people that I have in my life….

So as of tomorrow, I will be back to work.  I can wear jeans and a t-shirt, tennis shoes, I can take my child with me, what more could I ask for….oh, and the pay is good too :)

I’ll report tomorrow night how it all went….until then….  

Easter Dresses…

They are finished…over and done with.  That’s all she wrote.  I put the final stitch in the dresses this morning.  Yes I know I was procrastinating, but they are done and that is all that matters.  They turned out cute.  I let Ali pick out the fabric.  Not something I would have chosen for an Easter dress but she liked it.  I was hoping she would have picked something softer so I could have made dresses with big white collars and lace.  But it’s just as well that she didn’t.  These were fun to sew. 

Tori’s took me about 4 hours.  That’s cutting and sewing.  And about 30 minutes for the hem.  It was nice not to have to under stitch the bodice.  Hers was a simple finish with single fold bias-tape. 

Ali’s…well hers is a different story all together.  Ali is like a bean pole.  Same measurement all the way down.  Needless to say because she is so tall I have to make a longer skirt.  But then she also need the bigger bodice because she needs the length in that too, but a smaller size for around her bodice.  Needless to say, there were a lot of alterations.  But the finished outcome is simple and pretty.  And it looks cute on her. 

Here a couple of pictures of the dresses.  I’ll post updated ones tomorrow when the girls have them on.

 

 

Ali’s dress.  There’s a zipper in the back and the ribbon ties in a bow in the back.  

 

 

 

 

 

Tori’s Dress has a zipper in the back.  She’ll wear hers with a white sweater.

 

 

 

And just a parting shot.  Here’s a pic of Miss Thing as I surprised her with the camera, and then got down on her level.  Drool and all, she’s an amazing little girl!!!

 

 

 

 

 

On a Happier Note

Okay so now that I’ve got my feelings out there, I need to post something happier :) Tori tried her homemade applesauce last night, and loved it. Daddy couldn’t get the spoon to her fast enough. She only got about 1.5T along with 1T of rice cereal, but she was a happy girl. Personally I think my homemade applesauce taste 10x’s better than the stuff you buy in the grocery store. I love to eat oatmeal with applesauce mixed in with a little bit of cinnamon. It truly tastes like you’re eating apple pie, so from now on, I’m making my own applesauce too :)

As some of you know, our little miss will be 5 months on Easter. Which in my mind is absolutely crazy, there’s no way on earth I had her 5 months ago, but unforutnately the calender says otherwise. For the past 2 weeks she’s been rolling over from her back to her tummy, and sometimes from tummy to back. However, daddy and I have not been able to catch her in the act. She does it when we’re not looking, or when we try and record her, she stares at the camera and just giggles at us. So this morning, with her in her pack-and-play, and me nesteled into the edge of the couch out of sight….I CAUGHT HER!!!! The video is short, but I thought ya’ll might enjoy seeing my little one in action…so here she is!!!!

Tori’s Feeding Table

Week	Food	Date Started	Mix-ins
1	Rice Cereal	3/16/09	Breastmilk
2	Bananas	3/27/09	w/cereal
3	Carrots	4/2/09	just carrots
4	Applesauce	4/6/09	just apples
5	Sweet Pots	4/09/09
6	Squash	4/14/09
7	Pearsauce	4/18/09
8	Green Beans	4/22/09
9	Peas	4/26/09
10	Prunes	4/30/09

So for now, this is the feeding chart that I plan to follow.  According to all documentation that I’ve read, she needs to have 3 servings of the food before a new one can be introduced.  This is to make sure that there is no food allergy.  I’m doing 4 days instead of the 3.  For those wondering, this IS NOT taking the place of a meal.  She only gets about 2 Tablespoons of solids a day, if that.  Before solids are offered for the day, she is nursed.  Breastmilk is still her Main source of nourishment.  All of her food is homemade.  There is no store bought food, except for the rice cereal.  I do have a homemade recipe for that too, however I wanted the DHA enhanced, so I succumbed and bought it. 

Some people may think I’m being prudish, and not wanting to spend the money ect.  However, fresh vegetables and fruit taste 500 times better than the store bought ones.  I’m not diss’ing on anyone who buys the ones at the store, it’s just not for me.  I was fortunate and my mom made all of my baby food.  Fresh from right out of the garden.  My daughter deserves the same.  Granite I don’t have a garden, but her fruits and veggies are organic and they are steamed, so that no nutrients are lost.  And they are not steamed in the microwave, they are steamed on the stove top.  So for now, that is the best that I can offer her.  This might be my only child, so I am holding nothing back.  Besides, food made with love always taste better.  :)

I’ll update the chart as she progresses through the foods….

1 Year Ago Today

The title says it all…One year ago today, my alarm went off at 4:00am.  I was supposed to be getting ready to meet my mom at the gym for a spin class at 5:30.  I awoke as normal.  Nothing to different there.  The few days before this day I hadn’t been feeling all to well, but I thought it was just me getting a little run down.  However, for some insane reason, I thought I’d take a “test”.  I had one in the cabinet and it was only collecting dust.  So blurry eyed I did the deed and waited my two minutes.  When I walked back over to the test, I wasn’t expecting anything.  We had been let down too many times before.  I haphazardly picked it up and here it was.  2 pink lines.   I didn’t believe what I was seeing.  But there it was.  The proof.  God had answered my prayers.  I was finally pregnant after several years of trying. 

Victor was sound asleep all snug in the bed.  I grabbed his foot and was jumping up and down squealing.  The poor guy thought something had happened.  He didn’t know what my deal was. I handed it over and he was dumbfounded as well.  What a blessing we were looking at.

We ended up telling my mom too.  We told her we were coming over that evening.  We stopped and bought a jar a baby food.  When we got to her house Victor took it out of his pocket and handed to her.  It took her a couple of minutes to put it all together, but when she finally did…she started crying right along with me.

The journey to his day in 2008 was a long one.  A lot of tears.  A lot of prayers.  God answers prayers in His time, not ours.  The road from that day on was a bumpy one, but we made it through…and on 11-12-2008 @ 6:33pm, my amazing little girl entered this world.  Miracles happen every day.  And she is mine. 

It's been way to long!!!

Wow....I've been gone awhile...well not really gone, just not writing much. A lot has been going on these past several weeks.

The baby turned 4 months on March 12. On Easter she'll be 5 months and it blows my mind. I can't believe she is getting so big. She is such a blessing to have and be around. She's changing so much every day.

On March 16, we took her for her 4month shots and check-up. She's growing like a weed!!!! She was 14.5lbs and 25.5 inches. She's perfect in all aspects!!! The doctor was very pleased with her growth and development. Nothing to worry about in the least. She's still a breastfeed baby. No formula, and the doctor was glad for that. We got the go ahead for her rice cereal. Surprisingly she was really good with the spoon. No messiness at all really. Her shots were fine and just a couple of seconds worth of crying. She's so brave!!!!

So after a great appointment, our day turned BAD. My mom needed a ride home from work Monday afternoon 'cause her car was in the shop. We left the house and all was good, then when we were in the exit lane, we got hit by a truck. It scared the baby and she got a bump on her head. Victor got a sprained back. But the worse part was my poor little box...Over 5K worth of damage!!!! I'm just so thankful that the other part will be picking up the tab beings it was his fault. God is good!!!! He saved us from any major hurts and my car is being fixed.

The other awesome thing that happened was my dad came in from Alabama!!!! I hadn't seen him in several years. He stayed with my little sister for a smidge over a week and with me about 4 nights. It was so glad to have him here. I miss him so very much, and wish he was closer. Tori loved seeing her Grandpa. He would make these funny noises (whistling kind of) at her and she would just smile at him. (think CHEEZWHIZ smile). We had fun times while he was here, and so sad to see him have to go back to Alabama. Hopefully he can come back soon.

While my dad was here, we went and visited my grandmother (Dad's mom) up in Austin. It was neat to have 4 generations in the same room. We were able to take some amazing pictures as well. Here are a couple so you can see us all.

Four Generations (Bottom Row: Grandma, Ali, Amanda (my sister), Brandon Top Row: Me, Tori, my Dad)

Family Picture: Everyone from above, plus my Husband (left) Victor, my Aunt Lavon, and Nick (my sister's significant other) (not pictured, my Uncle Lee, he was the photographer)

This is my Grandma, my Aunt Lavon, and my Uncle Lee

Other than that things are pretty much the same....oh Tori has gotten her first real taste of big girl food. On Friday I mashed (read pureed) a banana in my mini chopper, and mixed it with her cereal. OMG I could not get the spoon to her mouth fast enough. SHE LOVED IT. I mixed 1.5T of rice cereal with my milk to make a good consistency, then added about .5T of banana. It was so funny to watch her eat it. Here's a picture for you to see her cuteness!!!

For some reason, she thanks she needs to stare at the spoon all the way to her mouth

Well that's really all for now. Must get to work on some sewing...

Precious Moments

On Friday night, Victor and I went out looking for Babybear a new dress for her pictures that we had scheduled for Saturday morning. Ali was with us, because we had tried to have a picnic (the wind was horrible so it was a waste) and we were taking her home after we found a dress. We went to JCPenny's where we normally buy Tori's clothes at. I looked and couldn't find anything. Well I did but I just couldn't bring myself to pay $20 bucks for a tiny little dress. At that was the SALE price. So Vic decided we should go to Sears and see if they had anything. I never shop at Sears but what the hell, I'll give it a try. We walked in the door, and THERE IT WAS!! The perfect dress, in the perfect size, in the perfect color, and the perfect price. I grabbed it in a heart beat. Victor happened to turn around and boom, there it was, a size 4T. The exact same dress, in the perfect size, and the perfect price, for Ali. I decided to get the dress for her too. Then we decided we would pic Ali up in the morning and take her to shoot pictures with her cousin. The proofs are in, and I wanted to share....The love of that these two little girls share is AMAZING!!!!

The picture above is my FAVORITE of the two girls

My peanut has gotten so big!!!!

All smiles for the camera

The sassy girl that she is...love you Monkey!!!

The picture of innocence...