30 Pounds!

Big shout out to myself (LOL) that I met another weight loss goal! I'm down 30 pounds now!!




Oh and if anyone is interested (I think some of you requested a while back and I misplaced your emails) you can still join in on the weight-loss blog at any time! We're doing Motivate-Me-Mondays over there where readers can share their weight loss journey and we cheer them on! Just shoot me an email at kristi_michelle@hotmail.com and I'll invite you to the blog. ;o)

High Expectations

Kadence is always telling us about how she would like to visit Hawaii someday. We have no idea where this came from- just one day she started daydreaming about visiting Hawaii. (sometimes she even says Kauai) She's never been specific on when she would like to go, just the details. A direct quote from Kadence, "I just want to sit in a chair by the ocean and drink fruity drinks out of a coconut and just relax."

So tonight she brought up Hawaii again, and I said, "You really want to go to Hawaii someday don't you?"

"Yes," she replied, "I would love to go there on my first date. That would be wonderful."


:p

Loveys

My kids love their loveys.




Kadence grew attached to "blue blankie" when she was just a baby. She still sleeps with it to this day. She had a binky when she was a baby too, but hasn't had it since she was about 2. She also must have a stuffed animal to sleep with every night- though it doesn't matter which one as long as she can "snuggle with it". This picture is a few years old, but going through my archives of pictures, I thought this one was too cute not to share. :) Look how little she was. ^_^






Rowan has grown very attached to a fleece puzzle blanket- which incidentally was the blanket given to Joey by the hospital when he was in the NICU. They were all given their own blanket (Rowan's was pink and had flowers on it, Elijah's was white and had Winnie the Pooh on it), but they never grew attached to them. One night Joey's puzzle blanket got tossed into Rowan's crib and she hasn't let it go since. She throws it over her neck like a shawl and carries it around with her everywhere. She also sucks her thumb, and has to have something to tickle her nose. One of her favorite nose ticklers is this dolls hair. But she's also been known to search the living room for something as small as a 1/4" piece of paper to hold while she sucks her thumb. She's not too picky. ;o)





Joey has been a binky baby since he was first born. He likes to have it at nap time and bed time, but doesn't ask for it any other time of the day. Also in the past couple of months he grew very attached to this bunny that my cousins bought for Kadence. Kadence was a total sweetheart and let him have it because "he loves it so much, he can have it Mom, I don't mind!" He also loves sleeping with this green blanket that Aunt Missy made him before he was born.





Elijah is VERY attached to his lovey. It's this little blue lovey with a lion on it. Often times I can't even get a shirt on him because he absolutely refuses to let his lovey go. I have to pry it out of his hands and put it in his other hand so I can get his free arm through the sleeve. :) Out of all of my kids, Elijah has definitely attached to a lovey the most. Oh, and he also sucks his thumb and tickles his nose with the tag on his lovey.






At night while I'm getting them ready for bed, I'll say, "Elijah where's your blankey? Joey where's your binky?" And Rowan, such a little sweetheart, will get awfully concerned, and will search all over their bedroom until she finds their loveys. And when she does, she will hand Elijah his lovey, and will place Joey's binky in his mouth ever so gently. My heart almost explodes every time I see her do this. ^_^

Inspired

I was doing some laundry today while the babies were napping, and happened to glance out the window at my husband working on his latest project. I grabbed my camera, put on my boots and winter coat, and went down to see what he was up to.

My husband amazes me. Things that he finds so simple, like making parts out of 1" thick steel to attach a snow plow to his truck(that's what he's doing in these pictures), or building a storage shed, or roofing a house, or running diagnostic tests on vehicles, or creating, from scratch, a hydraulic-pump system so his flat bed is now a dump bed...all of these things and more... just never cease to amaze me.

And I think about all that he has to teach our children. It's like they have their very own Bob the Builder as their Daddy. :) I can already picture the boys following him around this summer and, and as they grow. "What's that Daddy? Will you teach me how to do that?" And Kadence and Rowan will be teaching the boys in their class how to change their oil, or how to reload shotgun shells. ;o)

He just has this gigantic book of knowledge tucked away in his head, and he's just so humble about it.


And I love that about him.


So that's what inspired my pictures today. My handsome, rugged, manly-man of a husband. :)

Come on Spring...

So I am starting to feel the winter blues I believe. Being stuck in this house (though with the people I love the most in the world) is starting to take it's toll on me- emotionally anyway. Physically I'm great, about to reach my next weight-loss goal actually. But emotionally, I'm drained. I'm feeling overwhelmed. And exhausted. And honestly, I think that some sunshine and warmer weather would make me feel much better.

I'm running out of ideas to keep these kiddos entertained, and they are getting grouchier and grouchier by the day because they are bored out of their little minds. I can't blame them. I'm bored too. We've been stuck indoors since November. Thank God winter is almost over...come on Spring!

Anyone else feeling the winter blues?

Oh they make me laugh :)

People often ask me, "how do you do it?" And it's hard, I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. Some days I wonder how I can possibly continue to juggle the kids, the housework, my husband, my sanity...

But it's little moments like this- just silly little moments during my day- that make me laugh. That make me smile. And when I'm having a tough day, remind me that this is all totally worth it. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

(Do we look sleepy? It was after midnight, hahaha)

Davey and I celebrated Valentine's Day by going out to dinner with our friends Shelby and Matt, and then going to a movie (where I almost peed my pants several times...we saw Friday the 13th, and I'm a big baby LOL) And Davey got me a gift certificate to a salon for a massage. I can't wait to use it!

I was boring and didn't do anything artsy with the kids on Valentine's Day. Kadence has been cutting out and coloring hearts like a mad woman though the last week. ;o)

First Stroller Ride 2009

It was almost 70 degrees here yesterday, so we braved the mud and took the kids for a walk. They were so excited. After being stuck inside this house since November, the poor things have just been itching to get outside. I wish they could have gotten down to play (well, Kadence enjoyed running around in her boots) but it was just too muddy.

They had fun watching the outside kitties, and got a kick out of it when one of the outside doggies would come up and lick one of their faces. Rowan loves playing with the tire on the stroller, and at one point Ashley looked down and Rowan was eating the mud off of the tire. NICE.

Can't wait for Spring to get here so we can start going for walks every day, and so I can turn this bunch loose outside for a few hours a day. Still haven't figured out how that's going to work yet...with them all running 90 miles an hour I fear that I'll be chasing them the entire time we're out there. Oh well. We'll all be ready for bed around 7. ;o)

Congrats to my Hubby

Davey has moved up again at Caterpillar!! He is moving from Electrical Analyst to Electrical Maintainance (which means instead of working on the big trucks, now he'll work on the machines that make the parts) This couldn't come at a better time, because just last week Cat laid off 1100 people at the Decatur plant alone. Davey was within 300 people of being laid off. Now that he's moved to a skilled trade, he shouldn't be bumped back down to being a welder. (the fact that they laid off 1100 people...they've got to run the plant somehow. So they will start taking people out of their positions and moving them to a position they once held) But he's pretty safe in a skilled trade, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

A lot of Davey's friends got their papers last week (PERMANENT layoff), and they all have families and it's just so sad. I pray that they're all able to find work- I know it's not easy right now though.


Congratulations on your new job sweetie, We're so PROUD of you!!

Dress Up

This week, the babies have discovered the fun in playing dress-up. They've always enjoyed hats, but slippers? Dresses? They've entered a whole new world of fun!

Daddy, on the other hand, is not too thrilled with the newest pasttime at our house. What's a dad to do when his son brings him a Cinderella dress and wants him to help put it on? Surprisingly, Daddy has been a good sport about it and laughs, but you can tell he'd rather them be playing with army men or parachuting off the couch. ;o)


"Oh no you don't Mom!! Don't take my picture! Crap! You will NOT put this in the newspaper when I turn 16. Please Mom." (Elijah)



Ooh a wand! (Eli)


Eli and Rowan picking out their pretty dresses


Joey hasn't put on a dress yet, but he loves the wands and the shoes and the hats. ;o)


Princess Rowan

Inspired

Walking home from Gaga's house- with a bag of cookies, and her best walking buddy, Nick.

Shout Out to a Birthday Boy

My favorite little man Collin turned 1 this week! Davey, Kadence and I were able to go to the party and celebrate, and we had lots of fun watching Collin open his presents and dig into his cake. ;o) (the trips couldn't come...darned RSV season anyway...)

So Happy 1st Birthday Collin! Aunt Kristi loves you!


He thought his cake was preeeetty yummy. :)





Kay Kay helped Collin open his presents, she thought that was the neatest thing.



Ok so she's not really my sister, but might as well be! I'm still his Aunt Kristi dangit. ;o) Me and my best friend Shelby, and of course, Collin. :)

Inspired

My camera and I used to be best friends. We used to go everywhere together. Where ever I was, my camera was right there by my side...er, around my neck. But over the last year, my camera and I have drifted apart. I'm not really sure why... maybe I just got too busy. Or maybe with this crazy hectic life I live, I stopped being able to see those simple little things in life that make it so spectacular.

I needed to take a deep breath and look at the world around me... and let something inspire me.


So today I picked up my trusty old friend. It had been sitting for so long it actually needed dusted off. I felt bad for my friend, but I promised him we'd start spending more time together.


So from now on, whenever you see a blog post titled "Inspired", you'll know something has inspired me enough to photograph it. They probably won't be award winning photographs. My subjects will most likely be my kids, or something outdoors. And it will most likely be something very simple. Things we usually take for granted in our busy lives. I may just share one photo, or sometimes more. Just depends on the day, and what inspired me.


Today, pink toenails and balloons inspired me. And, my beautiful little girl Kadence was more than happy to play along. Photo shoots make her feel like a model. :)