It's Thursday Again!!

I love Thursday because that means the weekend is just around the corner...and I usually leave early on Friday so my weekend is even closer!! :) This Thursday I'm going to do my list on 13 things I want for Christmas...with a twist!!

1. This Christmas I want to start new traditions that we can carry on each year with the babies!
2. I want to give as much as possible to those less fortunate than myself
3. I want to see Alexa tearing into presents...last Christmas was pretty much a regular day to a 3 month old!
4. I want to find the perfect gift for everyone on my list
5. I want to spend as much time as I can with my family
6. I want our church to surpass our Lottie Moon goal
7. I want to make a new friend
8. I want to take a trip somewhere special...it doesn't have to be far away or cost a lot of money as long as it's special
9. I want everyone (myself included) to remember the reason for the season!
10. I want to celebrate in a way that glories God
11. I want to bake cookies with Alexa
12. I want snow!!
13. I want those around me to know how much I love and appreciate them!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm having a girls' night out tomorrow night...I can't wait! :) I'll try to post some pictures on Saturday!

Removed from my blacklist

On October 8th, Medicare went through an upgrade, and immediatly all of the 1500 claims began showing a new error in EDI (which is the application I mainly work in). This meant that Medicare was not accepting any claims from us electronically...and they never accept hardcopy claims. So, what does that mean? It means claims piling up left and right!

After talking to countless people at EDI, Medicare, and who knows where else the problem was resolved as of yesterday!! YEAH!!! Test claims were submitted yesterday and they were accepted...and this morning I edited some of the older claims and transmitted those and they have also been accepted!! I can't tell you how happy I am about this.

Up until October 8th I was working each workfile in EDI daily...at the end of the day my goal was to have 0 errors, and unless something unusual was going on I almost always met my goal. As of today I have 4000 Medicare claims waiting to be edited and processed. While this means I have a lot of editing to do...it also means that I'm going to get both workfiles down to 0 errors again, which really makes me happy!

Medicare has officially been removed from my blacklist! (of course that is contingent on all of these claims being paid and not coming back with some other error which would be my luck...LOL)

My Wednesday just got a little bit brighter!

Getting Crafty

Last night I got to work on something I have needed to do for a while. It was my first attempt at a homemade card. Well, my first unassisted attempt. I have made cards before...but it's usually at One Scrappy Chick when they give you everything you need plus a pattern. This time it was all me...and I'm not sure that was a good thing! I got to use my new Cuttlebug...which is a whole different story. Sometimes I think things out ahead of time...and then fail to carry them out. A perfect example of this would be that I was only going to emboss half of the cardstock...but when I got the Cuttlebug out I totally forgot that and embossed the whole thing. Now imagine me trying to write over the embossing!

Just a note to the recipient...yes, my handwriting is always bad...but the embossing made it worse, so if you can't read it, I won't be surprised. I hope you like my effort anyway!

Then I tried something I saw on Creating Keepsakes. Using beads to create a shape on your project. I recently found some beads that I had in high school...I'm supposing I made Jewelry with them, but I honestly don't remember. I was quickly reminded that with such beads it is important to have a very thin needle otherwise they won't fit over the eye...I had forgotten that I ran into that problem before!

Anyway, it turned out ok...not the spectacular vision I had (partially because most of the colored beads were too small) but all in all I think it was a good first attempt. I'll post a picture of the card after I'm sure the recipient has gotten it!

I have to say though, I had a lot of fun making it, and I think I'm going to make it a regular practice from now on. I have my scrapbook supplies, and I'm going to have to build up a card making supply of paper as well! :)

This years bragging rights!

I don't know how I forgot to write a post about bragging rights...especially after my Tigers pulled out the win. I have always thought a blowout was more painful for the losing team than losing by 2 or 3 points, but this weekend Anthony posed a different perspective which really made me think.

I am definitely a fan of a blowout...like Clemson's 63-17 victory over USC several years ago, but the truth is, Anthony is right! I'm sure it was much more painful for Carolina fans Saturday as their hopes of a win were dashed as the kick was up and good as time expired. Just as we danced around the den excited about our win. It was suspensful, and much more exciting than a 63-17 victory. I have always said a win is a win...whether it's by 1 point or 100, but I have changed my mind and I really think a 1 point victory is definitely more painful than 100!

So, Clemson has once again reclaimed the bragging rights for the year, and I'm super glad they did! I will always bleed orange, regardless of the outcome, but victory certainly is sweet! :) The Carolina fans in my office are awfully quiet today...hehehe...and I'm going to leave it at that. There is no need to rub it in, they are well aware of the final score!

All I can say is GO TIGERS!! It wasn't your best game ever, but it's still a W on the schedule, and ultimately that's all that matters!

And the Winner is...

ALEXA!!!

Over the past week or so, Alexa has developed a rash on her chin...I'm not exactly sure what caused it, but I'm fairly certain that her paci has exacerbated the situation because the area is constantly wet. So, yesterday Pop suggested that we try and keep paci away from her in hopes that it would help the rash dry up.

We are officially 24 hours paci free!!! I can't tell you how excited I am. Yesterday she didn't even act like she missed paci, but I was still a little bit worried about it. I wasn't sure how we were going to get through the night without it.

At bedtime we simply went about our routine just like we always do, and she went down without a problem. It was really cute because after 15 or 20 minutes we could hear her in the other room talking and singing to herself. She never offered to cry though! I decided that I would put her paci in my room in case she woke up so I could take it with me and potentially soothe her back to sleep with it, man was I shocked when I awoke to the sound of my alarm and not the sound on Alexa!

I am SO SO SO proud of her...it's a really big deal to give up her paci without a fight. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we have won this battle yet, but we are definitely well on our way! She didn't even fuss in the car on the way to daycare this morning...once again, she surprised me!

I told her teacher at daycare that her backup was still in her bag, but that we wanted to try and not give it to her! We will see how she does today, but regardless I am still proud that she has now gone over 24 hours without her paci. My baby is growing up way too fast!

Conjunctivitis

Yesterday after spending some time with Anthony and his family I went with mama to Greenville to get her hair done. We had a great time visiting with Matt! On our way home my eye really started bothering me.

Earlier in the day Gabe (the cat) jumped up in my lap, and typically if I touch him it makes my allergies flare up. I try to be really careful and if I do touch him I wash my hands immediately. I honestly can't remember if I did yesterday or not...but I digress.

I really thought my eye was bothering me because of the cat so I didn't think much of it. After we got back from Greenville Anthony and I went to Spartanburg to take the camera back and to buy a Cuttlebug. Michael's had a 50% off coupon and with my gift card that meant it wasn't going to cost me much so I decided to get one. We went to Best Buy first, and then to Michael's. Due to the fact that I went through so many sale papers on Thursday night to figure out what our game plan was going to be, I didn't realize the 50% off coupon wasn't good until noon today.

So, we left there and went to Wild Wing and ate...the whole time my eye kept getting worse and worse. By the time we got in the car to come home it was really swollen and irritated. We came home and I took some benadryl and ibuprofen and went to sleep...hoping it would be all better in the morning. No such luck!

This morning my eye was matted and swollen shut. It also looked awful. I got to spend my morning at Doctor's Care getting a prescription. The doctor said it's the worse case of pink eye he has ever seen! He gave me drops, ointment, and pills. I really do look AWFUL! Hopefully it will be much better in the morning, but who knows.

It certainly wasn't my ideal Saturday...but I can be thankful that it wasn't any worse and that overall I'm in good health.

Fun Filled Holiday

We had a great day yesterday. In the morning Alexa and I went to Wal-Mart to get some extra stuff for supper, and then we went to visit her Aunt Tamara and cousin Eno who just got into town for the weekend. After we spent some time playing with them we came back home and started cooking. We made a broccoli casserole and a ham...both turned out super yummy! Mama and Daddy were at the church for the Thanksgiving Feast there...they were over the food part of it this year, so we helped by getting our food ready.

We went to my Aunt Marian's around 5, and the whole family was there. All of my aunts and uncles and cousins with their kids, it was a huge group and lots of fun. We had a great meal and then just hung out for a while catching up on everybody. It was so nice to see everybody, I can't remember the last time we saw Michael or Matt.

After supper we came home and visited with Josh and Brenda a bit more before they went home. Then Anthony and I spent a little while looking at sales papers to find a deal on a digital camera. We bought one last weekend, and so far I have not been impressed. We decided to get another one and give it a try. After much looking we decided to try an Olympus. Mama has had two different ones and liked both of them. She still has the original digital camera she bought, and it takes great pictures, so I'm looking forward to trying it out. I'll let you know how it goes.

Anthony was super sweet and was at Radio Shack at 6am this morning to make sure I got the camera I wanted at the best price. Who could ask for more??

Here are some picture I took last night after dinner while everyone was sitting around talking. I hope you all had a great holiday and got to relax and enjoy spending time with family like we did. Enjoy this great weather God has given us! I know I am super thankful for all of the blessings He has given me!

Our gracious hostess and host...my Aunt Marian and Uncle Phil

Daddy, Mama, and Uncle Jerry

Grace, Grandpa, and Anthony

Dean and Uncle JT

Aunt Marian and Lexa

Davis and Alexa

Courtney and her mom

Brad, Jodi, Josh and Peanut (Josh and Brenda's new dog) and Christine

Walker and Alexa playing with a compass...the strangest things attract children!

It's Official

Last night I was looking at Alexa's mouth, and you can definitely see both of her top front teeth coming in. The right one has actually broken through her gum, but the left one hasn't yet. I would post a picture except it's impossible to get her to show them to you. I had to hold her mouth open last night so mama could look. LOL! Any other time she will open her mouth so wide, but if I want to look at her teeth then she shuts it! I hope they hurry up and come in, she's been kind of under the weather and irritable because of it. I'm excited though, and I will post a picture when they come through a bit more and you can really see them!!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

New Scrapbook Pages

My three most recent scrapbook pages...I've been so busy lately that I have all these great pictures and no time to get them on paper. I finally got back in business last weekend and these are the results. Linds let me know what you think. You should be super proud of me that my book is coming along so nicely...in fact it's almost full!! :) Can't wait to start the next one!!

This is the pumpkin patch spread...all of the pictures were taken at Niven's Apple Farm. I know we will be going back next year, it was a blast! Both of the big pumpkins were cut with the cricut, as well as the stacked pumpkin man which is one piece 10" long, and then "Punkins" spelled out on top of the pumpkin. There are little circle letters on top of the pumpkin man...but those were punch outs. All in all I was very pleased with how it turned out.

This two page layout is of Alexa and Uncle Jerry. I'm not sure which one loves the other one more...but you can tell by the look on both of their faces when the other walks in the room. They just light up! It's so sweet! The cricut did all of the hearts, and tags on this page along with the letters. Then on the second page the different circle, the heart, and the balloons. The present was also done on the cricut...using two different layers of it, I have a bunch more presents and balloons cut out for her birthday spread! I hope I'm going to get to work on that this weekend. Let me know what you think!

New Addition

Everyone please welcome the newest addition to my Little Traverler's Family!! Her name is Wrigley, and she is a ballerina! Leigh-Ann, you are just awesome!! Thank you so much!

Wonderful Weekend

We had a busy, but great weekend! Friday night Jodi and I spent the night playing with the cricut. I love it more everytime I get to work with it! I finally got my pumpkin patch spread finished, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I also cut out some new birthday presents and balloons for her birthday spread, and Jodi is going to embroider a cupcake just like the one on her birthday dress to go on it as well. Walker spent the night with us on Friday night.

Then on Saturday we had lunch with Grandpa and Grace who just got back from Florida, and then we did a little shopping. We got Alexa some cute new turtleneck onesies on sale at Target, and then we got my camera at Best Buy. I am super excited about my new camera...let me know what you think about the pictures I've taken so far.

Last night we ate supper at home and then watched the Clemson game...I was super disappointed, but 8-3 still isn't a bad record. Not to mention that as long as we beat USC next week it is a successful season!! GO TIGERS!

Today we went to church, and then Anthony, Alexa, and I had lunch at City Range. It was super yummy as always! Then we came home and had a relaxing afternoon before choir practice and church tonight. It was a great weekend of fun with family. I am looking forward to this short week, but more than that to Thanksgiving! I can't wait to spend time with my family, and to see Alexa for her "first" Thanksgiving...I mean last year she was there, but it's just different this year!!

I hope you all have a great week, and Happy Thanksgiving! Remember to thank God for all the many blessings in your life...not only on Thursday, but every day.

Enjoy the pictures from this weekend.

This is the picture of Alexa giving Gabe a hug that I referenced in this week's addition of Thursday Thirteen...I finally got it uploaded yesterday...he doesn't look too happy that she is giving him a hug!

Alexa and Walker at breakfast Saturday morning. They were both so cute!



Playing with Alexa's car after breakfast


Pop playing with Walker and Lexa...they were all three in the floor laughing

Alexa and Daddy before the game!

Uncle Jerry giving Alexa some popcorn...I think she ate more of it than he did!

How many pieces can I fit in my mouth at one time?

Such a silly girl!

Yummy popcorn

What a sweet girl sharing a bite with Uncle Jerry!

My New Toy!!!

For a while now I have been wanting a new digital camera. I looked at several online, and I thought I had one picked out. It was an HP with a 3.6" touch screen. Today we went to Best Buy to look at it because it was on a really good sale, I was slightly less than impressed. The touch screen didn't seem to work very well, and it only had 8 megapixels. So...then we started looking at the Fujifilm FinePix F50 with 12 megapixels and face detection. After careful consideration we decided to give it a shot, so here is a pic of my new toy!!

I have already taken some really cute pictures of Alexa with it that I will post tomorrow. Hope the weekend is going well for everyone!

GO TIGERS!!

Thursday Thirteen

I had a hard time thinking of something different to do for Thursday Thirteen, but I just couldn't come up with anything...so I'm going to post 13 pics of Alexa!

Alexa the day she was born...my Grandpa spoke to her and she smiled at him!

Alexa's Halloween outfit last year...she was so cute!

Alexa in her Clemson outfit last winter, she loves her Tigers!

Happy girl opening her Easter present from Aunt Sibby

Sleeping in Pop's arms

Having a little snack

Smiling at my mommy

I love my hats!

I'm a silly girl!

Eating breakfast Sunday morning before church with Pop

Happy Birthday Girl!

Alexa playing with her pumpkin

Talking to Elmo on the great phone Uncle Josh and Aunt Brenda gave her for her birthday

Recent Fascination

Alexa is almost 14 months old, and she has been the best baby any mother could ask for. She rarely cried as a baby, and slept very well. A few months ago we graduated from crying herself to sleep to lying down awake and going to sleep on her own with no fuss. To me, this was almost better than sleeping through the night. I honestly have no complaints, but something has been happening recently and it’s really made me wonder.

Alexa was exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months, and 3 days! On Walker’s 6 month birthday we had a rice cereal party and gave both babies their first taste of real food. As you can tell from this picture, Alexa was all about it! For a few weeks before that time they had both started really eyeballing anyone with food around them, and always followed the fork from your plate to your mouth. It was very tempting to start them on solids earlier, but with the risk of food allergies, we made the decision that it was best to wait until 6 months. After that we were off and running, they both are great eaters! Alexa continued to nurse in the morning and at night, and took bottles 3 bottles of breast milk to daycare with her. For those of you who have pumped, you know how time consuming and frustrating it can be. At the end I was pumping 6 times a day and not even getting enough for the next day…I made up the extra on the weekends. As a result I was very anxious for her first birthday!! Not because I am ready for her to grow up, but because that meant she could have cow’s milk!! What a wonderful day, when I didn’t have to carry that heavy pump to work with me EVER AGAIN!

I decided that I would let Alexa continue to nurse in the morning and at night until she was ready to wean herself, or until my supply dried up. This arrangement has been working rather well, I enjoy the time we get to spend together, mostly because any other time she doesn’t want to sit still. Actually, even then she doesn’t sit still, she squirms all over me and changes positions multiple times during the event. It’s pretty hysterical to watch!

About a week or so ago, she started wanting to nurse more frequently, which I thought was strange. It really made me wonder if she can tell my supply is getting ready to dry up and therefore wanted to make it last a little bit longer. I’m really not sure, but now she has started pulling at the neck of my shirt anytime I pick her up. She pulls on it and says “uuhhh!! uuhhh!!” like mama, give me some yum yums! She does it all the time, regardless of where we are, what we are doing, or when she has eaten last. I don’t know what to do about it, don’t know how to stop it or even have any thoughts on the matter, except that it’s driving me crazy!

I’m sure she isn’t the first child to do this…I think part of it may be that she has finally realized that is where her milk is coming from, and that they are still there even when mommy has a shirt on! I just don’t know where this sudden fascination with nursing has come from.

New Arrival

Yesterday when I got home from school I had a package...Little Traveler Alexa has arrived! Today she came to work with me so she could see the budding metropolis of Spartanburg. LOL! Leigh-Ann still has others available if you would like to purchase one of your own. It's such a great cause, and it's not expensive at all!

The Office Fridge

When you work in an office of any size and you have a break room you share with lots of co-workers, it can be a problem. I'm sure many of you who work in offices know exactly what I'm talking about. For the most part the fridge isn't an issue for me, because I try to stay out of the office drama!

Well, there is one thing that has been driving me crazy!! As it is getting colder I like to drink coffee in the morning, it warms me up (because this office is always FREEZING!). I also love the different flavored cream they have for coffee...especially right now with all the holiday varieties! As with most things, I don't mind sharing...but there is a catch. Number one, it's polite to ask someone before you share. Number two, if you are going to help yourself please clean up any mess you might make.

Whoever has been helping themselves to my cream ends up with it all over the bottle, and it makes a sticky mess! It's driving me crazy! I know, I shouldn't let little stuff like this bother me, but it really does. This morning when I fixed my coffee I cleaned it up again...and I'm sure when I get some tomorrow morning it will be the same way! AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

OK, I'm done with my rant now!

What do you think??

I finally found a template I like...and after some tweaking I am happy with it. What do all of my blog readers think about it?

I played with the HTML a little bit, but I still can't figure out how to get the widgets on my sidebar closer together. Oh well, life goes on! I hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Working on it!

Ok, obviously I'm working on my template...and of course it deleted all of my widgets when I changed the HTML. I'll hopefully get them all back by the end of the night, if not definitely by tomorrow! Let me know what you think of the new template! I think I kind of like it! :)

I wonder...

I often find myself thinking about Alexa and what she will be like as she gets older. I love the little personality she is forming, even when she tells me no or shakes her head it's really cute. It's also super hard not to laugh at her when she is doing something she shouldn't do. I love her more and more every day, and it breaks my heart when she does something she shouldn't do and she gets in trouble.

It is truly a feeling you can only understand once you have a child. I only want the best for her, and hopefully she will be able to learn from some of the mistakes I have made.

As I sit here I think back on some of the things I've done, and what pain it must have caused my parents. It certainly wasn't my intention, but it's so hard to see that until you're on this side of it. I'm sure there are going to be many times in the future when it's that way with Alexa, I hope I will do as good a job of handling those situations as my parents have.

I see so much of her in myself...when she grins and giggles at me when I say no. It's so something I would've done! Probably still do. I hope she has some of my good qualities too.

I am so thankful that I serve a God of second chances! I am also thankful that He gave me wonderful Godly earthly parents who have given me more second chances than I can count! I don't deserve any of them, but that's how amazing He is. As we approach this Thanksgiving holiday that is what I'm thankful for this year...second chances! We all need them, and don't deserve them, but He gives them to us anyway. What an AWESOME God!

Survey Says...

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's answers to this survey, so I've finally decided to post myself.

I give you money and send you into the grocery store to pick up 5 items. You can only pick one thing from the following departments.. what is it?

1. Produce: apples
2. Bakery: cheddar rolls
3. Meat: probably tilapia or salmon
4. Frozen: Kashi dinners for work
5. Dry goods: cream for my coffee at work...I prefer the liquid...but some is better than none!

Let's say we're heading out for a weekend getaway. You're only allowed to bring 3 articles of clothing with you. So, what's in your bag?(besides under garments, right?)
1. my new brown shirt from Jones New York
2. my fav jeans
3. brown danskos

If I was to listen in on one of your conversations throughout the day, what 5 phrases or words would I be most likely to hear?

1. "I hate Med B"
2. "Alexa NO"
3. "mommy loves the nanner bug"
4. "I hate Cisco"
5. "I think somebody is sleepy"

So, what 3 things do you find yourself doing every single day, and if you didn't get to do, you'd probably be in a pretty irritable/bad mood?

1. playing with Alexa
2. reading blogs
3. talking to my mom

What are 3 things that you have in your room that have been with you for the longest amount of time?

1. I have no idea...most of my stuff is boxed up...I would probably say the only things in my room right now that have been there for a long time are my shoes! Everything else either isn't mine, or it's in a box downstairs.

If you were only allowed to listen to 5 of your CDs for the rest of your life, never adding anything else, which 5 could you listen to & be content with?

1. Casting Crowns
2. Chris Tomlin
3. Scott Krippayne
4. Experiencing God the musical
5. Any of my new mixes

You're driving down the road, and suddenly you're hit with this sense of road rage. What 3 factors probably contributed to it?
1. Someone in the left lane going slower than me!
2. When people are just rude and won't get out of my way! :)
3. Someone talking on their phone and ignoring the way they are driving!

Sweet, you just scored a whole afternoon to yourself. We're talking a 3 hour block with nobody around. What 5 activities might we find you doing?
1. working on Alexa's scrapbook
2. organizing my room
3. taking a nap
4. trying to relax any way I can
5. cleaning up

We're going to the zoo. But, it looks like it could start storming, so it'll have to be a quick visit. What 3 exhibits do we have to get to?

1. tigers
2. elephants
3. giraffes

You're hungry for ice cream. I'll give you a triple dipper ice cream cone. What 3 flavors can I pile on for ya?(These are just my favorite, I could not imagine them all together)
1. heath bar crunch
2. birthday cake
3. turtle

Somebody stole your purse/wallet…in order to get it back, you have to name 5 things you know are inside to claim it. So, what's in there?
1. my black LV wallet
2. keys to my car
3. two different checkbooks
4. my tax papers
5. a deposit slip for the check I got from my landlord!! Yippee!

If you could go back and talk to the old you, when you were in high school, and inform yourself of 6 things that you should or should not do what would it be?

1. Leave that loser alone!!
2. Don't go to Clemson (I know you are shocked b/c I love my Tigers!!) you won't be happy there...go to a liberal arts school, you will do much better!
3. Plan to rush...you will have a great time and meet lots of awesome girls!
4. Don't give up on something just because it gets hard
5. Go to prom with a friend instead of your boyfriend...it's way more fun!
6. Some friends aren't worth it...and some are...learn to tell the difference!

They Won!!

What a great day...the Tigers won their game!! They played a great game against Wake Forest, let's just hope they keep it up next week against Boston College! Everybody have a great night and a wonderful day tomorrow!

GO TIGERS!!

Fabulous Friday

Just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a wonderful weekend!! It's almost 1:30 and I'm getting ready to leave work...I so enjoy getting off early on Fridays! I hope I'm going to get to spend some time scrapbooking today, but most of all I'm looking forward to relaxing and spending time with Alexa. I hope everyone has a great weekend, and that it doesn't go by too fast.

Thirteen words Alexa can say

1. Mama - she usually says this when I'm not around, I think it's because she misses her mama...and when she gets started she repeats it constantly! LOL Sometimes she does actually say it to me
2. Dada - she runs up to Anthony anytime he comes over and says it
3. Hey - she says hey really quick
4. Hi - she makes me laugh in the morning, if she is in a good mood she will take her paci out and smile up at me and say hi...well it's more like hiiii!
5. Bye bye - she says this all the time...but usually not when I want her to! Sometimes she tells me bye bye when neither one of us is going anywhere...maybe she wishes one of us was! :)
6. No - not only does she say no, but she shakes her head no...and if she is doing something she knows she isn't supposed to she will say no, no...no, no...but shaking her head is super funny. I'll try to give her a bite of food and she will close her mouth and shake her head like "yeah right lady, I'm done with the chicken!"
7. Please - of course there is no L in her version, but we are working with her so instead of pointing and going uuhh!! she now says "peeaase"
8. Thank you - this one is a little slurred as well, and sometimes it's more clear than others...I'm still working on it though
9. Duck - she has a rubber duckie, so we talk about the duck when she is in the tub
10. Gabe - is our cat...and he is SOOOOOOOOOO nice to her!! She tries to hug him and give him kisses and "pet" (which really means pull out) his fur. She knows his name though
11. Dog - she also calls Gabe "dog"...I'm working on that one too! She usually points to him and says dog...and then tries to catch him as he frantically looks for a hiding place. She also tries to back up and sit down on top of him! We got a picture of her giving him a hug this morning. I'll try to post it if I can get the camera hooked up to the computer.
12. Mimi - I think this is her most recent addition to her vocab...and I know Mimi is just super excited! :) Of course that's who she runs to when mommy says NO!
13. Pop pop - We want her to call my daddy Pop, but she usually repeats it...which she does with most things. Nobody minds though, because it's still super cute! She loves her Pop pop!

Today's Word of Encouragement

As reflected by the previous post I am on a mission to live a healthier life. I am combining my efforts to eat better, drink more water, and exercise. Once again this morning I took a nice brisk walk with a co-worker, and it was rather nice! I feel so much better already! At this point I think it's more psychological than physical, but I know that is soon to follow.

I want to encourage all of you in blog land to get some form of exercise today, no matter what kind you get, any is better than none! I am going to continue to walk during our morning and afternoon breaks...and I have promised Damaris that I will start walking at lunch in 2 weeks. I want to give myself time to work up to that!

I have to say I'm so excited that I'm actually following through with my lifestyle change (for once!) and I am extremely happy with it! I hope you will all get outside today and take in the beautiful day that God has given us while getting some exercise too!

New Template??

I'm looking for a new template, and so far this is one that I like...what do you think??? I'm not really sure why my older posts are cut off, but I figure it doesn't really matter anyway. LOL! Let me know what you think!

**UPDATE** ok it really does bother me that it's cutting the older posts off on the left side, so I'm trying to find something else!

Well...I looked at a bunch of different stuff and changed my template a few times, but ultimately wasn't happy. It's too bad I haven't taken my html class yet or I would be able to do an original one. Maybe I'll try and work on that... :)

Stay Focused

It's something every new mother experiences...feeling like she needs to lose weight! Obviously I was no different! After Alexa was born I had no appetite. She had been on top of my stomach for the last couple months of my pregnancy, and therefore I had no space to put food. When my milk production began to suffer I took a serious look at what I was eating...basically nothing...and decided that had to change. I quickly began to head in the opposite direction of my goal.

Then Josh and Brenda set a wedding date and I realized just how fat I was going to look in my bridesmaids dress and decided it was time to make a change. Mama and I set out on the low carb trail together. We didn't just focus on low carb though; we also looked at calories and fat. Most low carb diets tell you to eat whatever fat you want to, but we all know that really isn't healthy for you, and so we watched fat and calories too. The weight began to melt off!!! What a wonderful feeling. I have said that the only thing better than new clothes are clothes that you haven't been able to fit into!

As is true with any diet, after a few months you begin to lose focus, and you aren't quite as disciplined. Then you start or should I say stop losing like you were before. I have seen this happen! After losing a little over 30 pounds I am STUCK! Why you ask? Simple, because I have lost my focus!

Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about my weight loss, and how I would like to lose about 10 more pounds, but the bigger issue for me is that I want to eat healthier in general. I look at Alexa and think that I want her to have good eating habits. So she doesn’t crave candy and sweets, and she loves healthy food. I have also realized that while it's easy for me to tell her these things, if I'm not doing them then it makes it harder for both of us. Perfect example...soft drinks! I don't let her have anything to drink but water, milk, and occasionally juice, and what does she always point to?? You guessed it! PEPSI! How can I expect her not to drink/want Pepsi when I drink some form of diet soda all the time?

So, I have made the decision that starting today I am making a concerted effort to eat healthier! I am starting my focus by looking at my water intake...previously little to none...and I am going to stop drinking so much soda, diet or otherwise! I am also considering trying to go organic. I did a speech on organic eating for my public speaking class, and I really think there are benefits to having an organic lifestyle. There are also a lot more options for organic eating than there have been in the past.

I am also going to start exercising! Starting tonight I am going to do the elliptical at least 3 times a week. I'm going to stop making excuses, and I'm going to get these last ten pounds off. It's really about more than that; it's about giving my daughter the benefit of a healthy lifestyle! I am committed to making a change in my life starting now! I've already had one bottle of water this morning! :)

There is a hole in my checkbook

I am happy to report that my root canal went much better than expected! I didn't feel a thing...in fact I almost fell asleep while he was doing it. LOL! Anyway, thank you for all of your prayers; I know they helped make the process less painful. My checkbook is now in recovery, I think for the most part it's still in shock! :) I am so thankful that God has blessed me so much, and that I was able to pay for the procedure without any trouble. I certainly could've found many other uses for that money, but I'm glad I had it. It could've been so much worse! What a blessing, it wasn't painful, and now it's over!

Sometimes it's hard to keep things in perspective, but in the scheme of things this was so minor compared to the problems other people have. I am so thankful for all of the blessings God has given me; I know I don't say that enough!

The Ladybug, the Dinosaur, and other random stuff

I finally got the computer to accept pictures today, so I can actually post them. I did slideshows because there were so many I wanted to post, and it would've been way too long! :) Some of them may be a bit old (2 weeks in baby time seems old!) but I wanted to post them anyway because they are just too cute!

We went to Trunk or Treat last night, I hope everyone had a great time...I know the ladybug and the dinosaur did! Jodi and Brad brought Walker over and Brad's mom got to come too. Josh and Brenda also made the trip, and then the usual crowd was there...Mimi, Pop, and Uncle Jerry. Alexa and Walker both had the best time running all over the place...neither one was at all concerned with candy! I think it's a bit early for the concept! :) Oh well, maybe next year, although I'm not trying to encourage eating candy!

The first slideshow is from 2 weekends ago when we took them to Niven's Apple Farm. They both had a great time! Alexa loved the pumpkin and carried a little one around most of the time...of course we bought it for her! Walker on the other hand was more concerned with the steps he found...lol...and then the wheelbarrow ride was fun too.

Then the last slideshow is just basically random pictures, but I have been wanting to post them for a while, so I decided to encorporate them all into one post.

I hope you all have a great weekend in case I don't get to post again. I'm going for my root canal today at 2:30 so say a quick prayer for me that it's not too painful! Enjoy the pictures!!

**HINT** if you click on the slideshows the pictures have captions!