Goats, Birds, Gymanstics and Visiting. That covers it!

This past weekend we decided to take a short overnight trip to Tyler, TX. Saturday we visited the Tyler Zoo and had a great time. As you can see, these goats were LOVING the attention from everyone. I'm not sure who enjoyed them more, Lexie or Ryan. LOL.





After looking around we decided to feed the birds. Lexie and Ryan have done this before but this was my first time. I loved it! This bird was slightly heavy and just really fidgety hence my facial expression.



Sunday morning we got up and went to The Villages Waterpark. Lexie enjoyed it but Ryan and I thought it was pretty lame. Entirely too small for an indoor waterpark. Oh well, at least we tried it and we had free tickets so we weren't out any money.

Silly girl resting before we left! She loved that big bed. Made for a princess!



On Tuesday I decided to take a couple of pictures of her during gymnastics. I STILL haven't figured out how to get good pictures with my camera in the gym lighting so this was the best I could do. I'm so proud of her! When she first started she was very leary of the beam. Now she LOVES it. She really does thrive at gymnastics and will be moving up to the next class in the summer. While I'm glad she is doing so well, it makes me sad to think how much she is growing!



When we arrived on Tuesday, our friend Brody was just finishing up his lesson. I snapped a cute picture of him, Lexie and Mrs Lora. Lexie LOVES Lora and she is so awesome with those kiddos! So grateful to have her teaching Lexie. :)



Yesterday Mimi came to visit us. I picked her up shortly after getting Lexie from preschool and we went to Walmart and did some shopping. We came back home and she spent the afternoon with us. They had such a good time. Lexie loved laying on the couch and cuddling with Mimi. I'm so grateful for mom's health and that she is able to watch this baby grow up!

Almost Summer Time!

I promised I would update (for those of you that keep up with us) and so here I am. The last 5 months have been relatively CRAZY. I was in school full time, Lexie was in daycare full time and Ryan was working full time. Busy times!

Easter Fun
The weekend before Easter weekend we went to the Alexandria Zoo for "Earth day". Lexie had a blast and when we left we stopped by the mall. They had a studio that was doing Easter pictures with live bunnies. I couldn't pass up the opportunity so while Lexie played in the kiddie area (under Ryan's supervision) I scrambled through JCPenny's and a bow boutique to find her an outfit. Those pictures turned out so cute! Yes, we have a rabbit at home. NO, he would NOT take a picture with her like this.



Easter weekend we actually went to the Boardwalk for their annual Easter Egg hung. Lexie had a blast. We came home, took a nap and then decided to dye eggs. She was so excited when she got up from her nap to dye eggs. :)




This last one is one of my favorites. I went to her school one day to watch her and her friends hunt eggs. They were in the chapel singing songs while the eggs were being hidden. I peeked in and she was sitting so quietly on the 1st row. She looked over, gave me a smile and went back to singing.


I am so proud of the little girl that she has become. While she does have her "rough" times, overall, she is such a blessing. She is very kind hearted and truly WANTS to do what is right and thrives on positive praise. So thankful that God gave me this sweet spirit.

School is officially out and I have about 3 weeks of "free time" before summer school starts up. Physiology over a 6 week period. Anyone want to join in on that fun? I have officially finished my 1st semester back in school and so far pulled of A's in both Anatomy and Nursing. I'm still waiting on my Chemistry grade but I went into that final with a 98 average so I'm pretty sure that's going to be an A. I have taken my Tease test and sent in my application for clinicals. Now we just wait and see. I HOPE to get in, but if not, it's not the end of the world. I enjoyed my semester and I proved to myself that I could excel in subjects that 2 yrs ago I would have looked at and said "NO WAY".

Advocare Results!

I promise to do a blog post in the next couple of days with updates on us and pictures of the little girl who is the most awesome kid in the world. For now, I'm about to head out to school so I just wanted to do a quick post about my Advocare experience. I had alot of people ask me to let them know how it worked for me and if I liked it or no. Well the answer is YES!

I've always been very skeptical of any type of "system" that promotes weight loss, increased energy and just an all around "good" feeling about yourself. About a month ago I decided to buy the Herbal Cleanse system from my best friend from home (Tiffany Horton! Look her up on FB!). It came within 2 days. I will admit that the "fiber" drink was kind of rough the first day but the 2nd days I added more water and it was just "pulpy". The system calls for drinking a "fiber" drink on days 1,2,3 and 8,9,10. It also comes with a "vitamin" cleanse type pill that you take at night days 1-7 and a "good bacteria" pill (name is skipping my mind right now!) days 1-8 (I think). Anyway, it worked out fabulous. Yes, it is a "cleanse" system but not a "keep you in the bathroom all day long" system. I felt full after the fiber drink and really didn't feel "hungry" all day. In fact, several days I had to remind myself to eat lunch. I changed my eating habits (no whites, lots of veggies, fruit etc) and went with it.

I am currently down 6lbs in the last months. UNBELIEVABLE, as I'm not a person that loses weight easily. Hence the reason it took me so long to lose all my baby weight. After the cleanse I invested in Catalyst which is like an amino acids pill. Totally natural but really good for working out. I haven't tried to Spark yet but I've heard it awesome!

Overall, I LOVE advocare and would HIGHLY recommend the system. Feel free to contact Tiffany Horton from FB if you are interested in the system or if you have any questions!!

A lonnnng overdue update.

It has been so long since I updated. I can't believe it's already March!! Just to catch everyone up (I'm sure you are all updated through FB), Snuggies is much better. He is fully recovered from his episode of pneumonia and is doing great. NOW, yesterday he peed on my when I tried to change his cage so he's treading on thin ice around here. Just kidding!

We have been so busy these last couple of months. One of several things we did in the month of February was a parade. We headed out early on Saturday morning to West Monroe to spend the day and enjoy the parade with my parent's and family. We had a blast! Lexie loved getting so much stuff and we were at a great spot at the beginning of the parade. We were able to get out without too much of a hassle and head back home. We all had a great time!! This was a few pics I took before we left. I am too cheap to buy Mardi Gras stuff but this shirt was on clearance at the local kids consignment earlier this year for about a buck. Can't beat a buck!

The faces she makes now adays!





Two weekends ago we went to a birthday party of one of my old coworkers. I still keep in touch with this awesome group of ladies and it was so nice to be able to catch up with them and Lexie enjoy time with the kiddos. This was her 1st time skating and she had a blast. Of course now a days you can pay 3 bucks for what we referred to as a "walker". She loved it!



I love this picture even though it shows a spot where she spilled TEA all over her in the truck.



We have also been doing alot of this...



She is supervised of course but she is LOVING to go around the neighborhood in her police car, 4 wheeler or tricycle. It's good exercise for us and she loves it and is really good. She doesn't get tired or anything!!

School is going pretty good. I am about to take my 2nd round of test. I get my 1st Chemistry test back tomorrow (took 2 weeks to grade it) but I'm thinking I got either an A or a B on it. Hoping for an A. I made a 101 on my Anatomy test and I made a 92 on my nursing test so the 1st round of tests went pretty good. Now it's just time to finish the next couple of rounds and take my TEAS test. I pretty much spend all my time studying b/c I am just trying to absorb alot of information!! Ryan and Lexie are doing wonderful and Lexie loves being back at school with all her friends all the time. :)

Our Sick Bunny

What a long day. Ryan and I noticed yesterday that Snuggies was not acting like himself. He was somewhat lathargic and had some nasal discharge going on. Seeing as how it was Sunday, there wasn't much we could do other than clean his nose and watch him really well. Today I made an appointment with the only vet in town that sees "exotic" animals. I guess rabbits are considered exotic.

We got there and they took us in immediately. When she first saw him she said she could hear him "wheezing". She looked him over and listened to his heart and lungs and said that he most definately had a case of pneumonia. She put him on a 10 day round of antibiotic injections. She was a super doctor and even walked me through giving him his first injection. Rabbits have very tough skin so it didn't hurt him at all. He didn't even flinch. She advised us to keep him inside for the next 2 weeks and to feed him what is considered "treat foods". Lots of apples, carrots, and grass. So far tonight he is eating okay but is not acting like himself. He is very lathargic. :( I sure hope he pulls through!! Here is a picture of him today at the vet.

Silly Girl

I have decided I have the silliest 3 yr old that I know. This girl is just too funny. Lexie has been asking for a "baby sisser" for about 6 months now. Two of her classmates have new babies in their houses so I think "babies" are all the rage these days. :) It's been a couple of days since she mentioned that she wanted a baby "sisser" so I was starting to think that was out of her mind. Well it was until last night.

Ryan and I were sitting on the floor of the playroom while she went "grocy shopping" with her baby in her shopping cart. Now Lexie's idea of "grocy shopping" is to put all sorts of ANYTHING in her basket. This includes doll accessories, play foods, legos etc. We just laughed at her. Anyway, Ryan and I were discussing school. I attended my 1st nursing class on Monday and the instructor told us they had roughly 70 spots open for Clincals for the Fall 2011 session. They have close to 200 people that they expect to apply. Needless to say, alot of people are NOT getting spots. I mentioned to Ryan that I was doing the best I could this semester and I would give it a shot. If I didn't get in, then at least I know I did my best. I also mentioned that if I DID NOT get in I would not be reapplying for the Spring. We then started talking about if that was the case we may start TTC in the late summer.

Sometimes I totally forget that my 3 yr old has the eyes of a hawk and the ears of some spectacular animal that can hear EVERYTHING! She all of a sudden walks over and says "Yeah! Let's have 3 babies. One for me, one for daddy and one for you". Ryan and I just started laughing. We proceeded to ask her where these babies would sleep. Here is the conversation:

Lexie: in the crib!
Me: We don't have a crib.
Lexie: My bed is a crib (we have talked about her bed being made from a crib to a big girl bed)
Me: So where are you going to sleep?
She pauses for about 10 seconds and it's one of those times you can literally SEE her wheels turning.
Lexie: Nevermind. I don't want a baby!

She realized if she gave up her bed she wouldn't have a bed. We have laughed and laughed over that. This is one silly girl!! Who knows, her wish may come true. :)

I took this picture this morning with my cell phone. I was brushing her hair for preschool and she was "brushing" her baby dolls hair. She informed me "Mommy, if you have one of these, I pwomise I will help you with it, Ok?". She is so sweet!

Birthday Parties and School!!

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I last blogged. I intended to keep up blogging a little better. Oh well, too much going on here. Last Saturday we had Lexie's 3rd birthday party. Before the party we met up with our family at the Boardwalk for some Build a Bear fun. My cousin (who is 16 months younger than me!) met us with her mom and daughter. My sister, niece, brother in law, step-mom and dad also met us. IT was a full house. My aunt had decided that since Lexie's birthday is in January, Bri's is in February and Aimee's is in March, it would be fun to let them all three build a bear for their birthdays together.

They had a blast! Brianna and Aimee are very familiar with Build a Bear. Lexie has only built a rabbit and up until last Saturday had NO IDEA that all those clothes were for buying! She picked out the cutest little outfit. All 3 of them stuffed the bears and we attempted a picture!



After we did that we all went to Buffalo Wild Wings for a quick bite to eat before the party. I was impressed. They seated 11 people and got us our food in about 20 min. Then we headed to Lexie's party. We had a blast! Lexie had so many little friends. I think I counted 16 kids all together and the adults had a great time chatting. She really enjoyed her birthday party and I'm so glad that we were able to do this for her!

The cake!


Notice we had a similar cake last year? Yep, she picked Jill's Gymnastics for the party place last year and this year. We went to pick out a cake and she HAD to have a Mickey Mouse cake. Thankfully, we got a different one than last year. Silly girl!

Blowing out her candle.


I thought this picture was hilarious. I asked her to take a picture with Daddy and this was her reaction. Typical silly girl!


This was taken before her party. I love this shirt and I got it on clearance for 4 bucks at the end of the summer. Doesn't she look so big??


School is going good. This is my 2nd week in school and I have spent majority of my days making flashcards, recopying notes, doing chemistry problems, reading/highlighting key points in my books etc. I have a schedule sort of worked out and the days that I get out of class early (Mon) and the days I don't have class (Tues and Friday) I go and get Lexie right about 2:00pm when she gets up from her nap. This allows me to have some time with her before Ryan gets home and we start on supper and our nightly routine. I started to think that I'm taking the 2 hardest classes together (Chemistry and Human Anatomy) but they have gotten progressively easier to understand over the last 2 weeks. I go to my 1st "nursing" class on Monday. :) School is very time consuming but I love it!!