Christmas is almost here!

I can't believe that it's less than a week away from Christmas. Time sure has flown yet again this year. CRAZY! What I have an even harder time believing is that exactly 2 weeks from today I will have a 3 yr old. Did I just type 3 YEAR OLD? Goodness gracious these last 3 yrs have flown by. This year was Lexie's first year to participate in her her preschool's Christmas Program. Can I tell you how proud I am of my little girl? She was a perfect angel and not only stayed in her place but also sang all of her songs. We were so proud of her!





After her program they did their class parties. Since I was not working this year at Christmas I was able to pick up Mimi and take her with me to see Lexie's party. Daddy also took the morning off so he could come to her performance and her party. I love being able to do these little things with her!













She is currently out on "Christmas break" for 2 weeks and I couldn't be more excited. Tomorrow we are going to spend the day with my parents and some other family and then do a gift exchange on Tues afternoon with my best friend and her daughters. Ryan only has to work 1/2 day on Wed so he will be off for 1/2 day Wed, all day Thurs and Friday. We are so excited!

After her Christmas break she will go back to daycare full time. I say full time b/c I will be going back to school but I fully intend on picking her up early on the days that I don't have afternoon/night classes. Right now I have 2 night classes so Ryan will be the one to pick her up, feed her, bathe her and get her ready for bed. We have spent alot of time talking about Daddy being the one to do things for her at night b/c she is so attached to mommy that sometimes she refuses to let Ryan do ANYTHING for her! It can get very frustrating. I am super excited about going back to school but so thankful to have been at home with her for the last 6 months. I love being with this little girl!

Weight loss

I mainly try and stick to blogging about our family and all the fun stuff that we do as a group. Today I wanted to blog about something that has been very important to me over the last 3 yrs. Weight loss. Oh how I hate that term. I just really don't like the term "weight" at all. Before I became pregnant with Lexie I was in the gym literally every day. I mean why not? I worked from 8-4:30pm and had plenty of time in the afternoons and on the weekends to work out so I took full advantage of that opportunity.

While I was pregnant with Lexie I was unable to function must less work out at any given time. I think I maybe went to the gym 3-4x over a 10 month period. If I was able to get through the day WITHOUT throwing up, I felt like a super star. Pregnancy was very hard on my body.

After I had Lexie I INTENDED to get back in the gym as soon as I was cleared from the Dr. Well that didn't quiet happen. Let's face it, I was nursing a newborn every 3-4 hours in the dead of winter and while she was an EXCELLENT baby by the time Ryan walked in the door at 6pm I just wanted to lay down and rest for a couple of hours. I know that people say you should "sleep when the baby sleeps" but I have NEVER been able to sleep during the middle of the day. I just can't do it!! Anyway, I slowly worked myself back into the gym around 10-12 weeks and I do mean slowly. It was hit or miss for me for several months. Between working, pumping (at least 3-4x a day), nursing at home and trying to keep up with life in general, the gym just wasn't happening. It didn't help that while I was breastfeeding I was starving (or so I thought) so not only did I gain all my weight back after delivery (roughly 12 lbs or so) but I gained an additional 10 pounds nursing. This put me at a weight I was NOT proud of. I stopped pumping at 10 1/2 months but I had enough breast milk stored up (b/c I was a nazi about breast milk) to keep giving her breastmilk until she turned a year old. For that I am VERY PROUD.

By the time that I stopped pumping at 10 1/2 months I was at my all time high of 165 pounds. It pains me to even THINK about it must let type it. I had reached an all time low in my self esteem because let's face it, 165 will work for someone who is 5"10 or so but not for someone who is barely 5'2. I was determined to get the weight off and got very serious about working out and eating better. This was still a struggle b/c when you work 9 hrs and come home to a toddler, you sometimes just want to say "forget it" to the healthy eating and load up on the carbs. Add working out to that and you are just tired thinking about it.

Over the last 2 yrs I have spent a good amount of time working out and attempting to eat healthy. Let's face it, I LOVE FOOD. There I said it. Eating healthy and not over eating is very hard for me and something I struggle with on a daily basis. A couple of months ago I was in the bathroom getting ready and I heard Lexie come in behind me. I look over and she is standing on the scale. I asked her what she was doing and she replied "I see my numbers mommy. Just like you". Can I tell you that it just broke my heart to hear her say that? My daughter is PERFECT and I realized at that moment that I don't want her to EVER think that "numbers on a scale" should determine your self worth. For me that was a turning point. I decided that I would continue to eat healthy and to go to the gym but I WOULD NOT weigh myself every day (4-5x a day) like I have done in the past. I would learn to love myself and see a beautiful person in the mirror in the mornings instead of someone I thought "could stand to lose 5-10 more pounds". I am proud to say that I have been successful with that venture. NEVER do I weigh myself when Lexie is around and I have gotten to where I weigh myself 1x a week and sometimes 1x every week and a half.

I am learning to love myself for who I am. Yeah, I may not look EXACTLY like I did before I got pregnant with Lexie but WHO CARES. I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter to share life with. I want my daughter to grow up and love herself and not struggle with the right "weight". I guess my whole point in this post is that I don't normally put my thoughts on my blog and try and keep it a little more light. It amazing that a small sentence spoken by a child can change the way you look at yourself and life as a whole.

I am for my own reference going to post 2 pictures. One is in October 2008 right before I stopped pumping (the 1st one). The 2nd one was taken a couple of weeks ago before we went to church. I am learning to love my body now even though it's quite different AFTER I had Lexie and I wish I would have learned to love my body back when I was heavier. Oh well, life is all about learning.

October 2008


December 2010

Disney on Ice (Princess Wishes)

Last week I started looking at some free tickets that Ryan won off the radio for Disney's Princess Wishes on Ice. Turns out they were only good for one performance which was that Thursday night. I had already made plans to go to GNO with some of my old coworkers who I haven't seen in such a long time. Ryan said it was no big deal, he would take her. Therefore, she went on her first Daddy/Daughter date. She had such a good time. Of course as I was packing her snacks I asked her what she wanted. Her reply? "Nothing. My daddy buy me some cotton candy". Yep, he sure did! They had a great time and while I was sad to miss it with them, I enjoyed my "girl time" and I know they had a wonderful date!

Getting ready to go meet daddy!


She's a future programmer


She loves her daddy!


Her favorite people were there!




My all time favorite picture of her so far! I LOVE IT!

Thanksgiving 2010

I know this post is several weeks late but we have been busy around here. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. For the 1st time in about 8 yrs we have had lunch on TIME and nothing was messed up in the making. I think alot of that had to do with the fact that for the 1st time in 8 yrs I was HOME all day the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so I had plenty of time to do "food prep".

Ryan got up early Thursday morning and started cooking (yep, he's a good one!) while Lexie and I went to get Mimi and bring her to our house. Once we got back it was almost time for lunch. My parent's came over and brought my step-sister and her family. We had such a good time. It was so nice and breezy outside and Lexie LOVED playing with their little boy Nicholas. I'm so glad they were in town and able to come and enjoy Thanksgiving with us. :)

Thanksgiving Feast!

Today was Lexie's Thanksgiving program at preschool. She was so excited to go this morning and we were just as excited to see her perform. Last year she was a turkey and this year she was a pilgrim. The play was wonderful and the children did such a great job. It was very obvious that they had been working very hard on this program.

The cutest little Pilgrim!


Peeking out!


What a cute little girl!


The biggest blue eyes!


Mimi and her pilgrim. (Caught Mimi off guard)


After the play we had a wonderful "feast". Mrs. Barbara makes the BEST soup and we were so excited to be able to enjoy it again this year. I just love this preschool/daycare. Lexie has learned so much and they love her just like she is their own.

This is a comparison pic below.

Last year before her play:


This year before her play:

Birthday parties and updates!

What a busy weekend! Yesterday we celebrated my mom's 70th birthday at Texas Roadhouse. Mom originally was feeling slightly under the weather and wanted to "take a raincheck" on lunch but I told her it wasn't possible. I went ahead and told her that my sister and niece were coming for lunch. Imagine her surprise when she showed up and her 2 sisters, great niece, and my dad and stepmom were there to celebrate her birthday! She has such a wonderful time and we had a great time visiting with family we don't get to see often. I have said this before but I am so proud of my mom. She has adjusted so well over the last couple of years and is doing so good at her new home in Bossier.

Happy Birthday Mom! (Her actual birthday is Tues but we celebrated early!)


Mom and her girls


Mom and her sisters and great niece


We are getting ready for the holidays around here. Lexie's Thanksgiving play is on Thursday and she is so excited. She knows all the songs by heart and I can't wait to see her "perform". Let's hope she follows through with singing and doesn't "freeze up" on us!

On Friday I finalized my classes for the Spring Semester. I will be taking a Chemistry, Human Anatomy and Nursing History/Trends. I registered online but went ahead and met with an adviser to make sure I had what I needed. After talking in great length with her I feel very confident in the next semester. Hopefully I will have good enough grades to apply and get into clinicals in the fall. If so, I will be taking one or two Biology classes (Microbiology and Physiology) over the summer so that I only have actual nursing classes during clinicals. I am looking so forward to returning back to school. I can't wait!

Weekend fun with visits and parties!

Last weekend was a busy one for us. Okay, well when is the weekend NOT busy for us. Lexie didn't sleep all that great on Friday night. I have NO IDEA why but she just didn't. I was a little worried Saturday b/c I knew we had alot going on and I was scared that if she didn't get a nap she would be in complete meltdown mode by the end of the night. Surprisingly enough she wasn't. She had NO NAP at all on Saturday and did wonderful. She slept great on Saturday night.

Saturday we met my parents for lunch at Joe's Crabshack. It was the PERFECT day to sit outside and eat. Plus sitting outside meant that we were close to the little playground and Lexie could play until her little heart was content. She played so hard that by the time our food came, she was ready to eat.

Papaw, Kaki and Lexie (a great picture!)



Love the bib Dad!


Riding the carousel


After we left the Boardwalk we came back to our house and Cathy, Lexie and I chatted and dad and Ryan put the mailbox back where it goes (Long story there!). After they left we thought about putting her down for a nap but at that point it would have been an hour nap max and she tends to be grumpy if she doesn't get a long enough nap. So, we decided to head out and run some errands before we went to a double birthday party. One of the stops was a haircut for Lexie (picture below). After running a couple of errands we headed over to Jill's gymnastics for a birthday party for two of Lexie's friends. To say she had a blast was an understatement. This child LOVE the gymnastics place and would happily play on the trampoline for hours and hours and hours!

Jumping!


As you can see in the next picture, Lexie has NO FEAR. They have this bar that goes across the "foam pit". Lexie saw all the other boys doing it and thought she would give it a try. Of course she took daddy up there with her. I love this next picture b/c even though you can't see her FACE you can tell how high he threw her and she loved it. She repeated this several times!



Sunday morning was the usual. We got up and headed to church and then to LG Sunday night. As you can tell, we got a good bit cut off her hair. It was just so long and caused tears anytime I got NEAR it with a brush. Much easier to manage now.





We are loving this little girl so much. Some times are very trying but for the most part she is still very easygoing, loveable and super smart. This is one proud mommy and daddy!