{ goals }

i started weight watchers on saturday.  i officially weigh in at (drum roll, please) 195.4!  YIKES!  let's keep that between us, ok?  i've done good so far.  and am really concentrating on drinking my allocated water for the day.  we all know how that goes, don't we ladies?  this time, i'm sticking to it though.  hold me to it.  i have at least 46 pounds to lose. i'll let you know saturday morning how i did this week when i weigh in again.

another goal for this week is to get pictures up from our oklahoma trip, more easter pics, and to finish karsyn's baby book.  oops, did i say that out loud?  yes, my first child is 15 months old and i have yet to finish her baby book.  such a bad mom.  i hate to admit it.  i'm lacking motivation in a lot of areas of my life right now and creativity is one of them. 

{ i can't imagine }

i found a blog the other day.  it was a cute, normal, baby blog that a mom started to tell the world about her little bundle.  she was so proud.  so in love.  at just 4 months old, the Lord called that baby to be with Him.  she went down for a nap that afternoon just last week and never woke up.  her mom wrote her last post to her baby girl just days after her unexplained death.  can you imagine the heartbreak?  it brings me to tears thinking of my life without karsyn.  please pray for the family of little Lilly as they seek God for strength and comfort, which they are doing so faithfullly. 

also, i found out today that a sweet friend from church was just diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer.  although i don't know many details, i ask that you pray for her and her family as well.  she has 3 children and is only in her late 30's herself.  it was totally unexpected as well and has hit everyone with such shock.  please pray that God simply comforts her and allows her to live her counted days praising Him, as hard as that may be. 

prayers.  please.  i cannot imagine my life in either situation.  can you?

{ split personality }

i have come to the conclusion that my first born and i are going to have more than a handful of come-to-Jesus meetings before she even turns two.  she is very dramatic.  very stubborn.  very sweet.  very head strong.  very strong, period.  very funny.  and very predictable, all at the same time.  and boy does she know what "no" means and boy does she hate to hear it.  it's almost like she has a split personality.  she starts out as this sweet, angelic, giving-mommy-hugs, and playing so well, cute little girl (we'll refer to as sweety-mcgoody-karsyn) ... and turns into (within seconds, i might add) this teeth thrashing, gnarling, rabid  beast from the backwoods.  it's quite scarey. 

picture #1 - sweety-mcgoody-karsyn

picture #2 - rabid beast

(note: those pictures were literally taken within minutes of each other.)

karsyn adds so much dimension and personality to our little family. even at 15 months, she demands an audience. the sweety-mcgoody-karsyn greets me in the morning with her large, baby blue eyes, dimpled smile, and a “BABA!" although fiercely independent, she still delights in company – her audience. as I watch her practice new ways to move her eyes or body to further express herself, i anticipate that she will provide a wealth of stories and entertainment as she matures into the world of spoken language. for now, her body language communicates enough. the minute your attention is turned away, the beast is unleashed within her: AHHHH!!  MAMAMAMA!!  (See photo 2) i can’t even begin to describe the decibel of noise that her tiny body produces. the second all eyes are on her, she reverts from beast, back to sweety-mcgoody-karsyn and all is well in the world once again. 

{ country easter }

what do you do when you live in the c.o.u.n.t.r.y. and have two toddlers to entertain?  by entertain, i mean, keep them from running through the garden, stepping on the cat, swimming in the tank, or chasing the cows off.

that's right folks.  you hitch up the john deer and sucker the aunt to sit with them as they make countless circles around the field.  and i thank God for not allowing babies to remember their childhood.  karsyn would be fast asleep out of pure boredom with the tales of her life so far.

{ here i am }

long time no see.  literally.  we've not been busy, just away.  it was good.  much needed.  i have those times often it seems.  karsyn spent a whole week with my parents, sister, and brother in law.  every time she comes back she's even more spoiled.  i never thought it could get any worse.  but it does.

i was with her for some of those days though.  and my favorite man joined us on friday.  we celebrated easter with my family and had so much fun.  i put a slide show together of some pictures of karsyn in her easter dress, hunting eggs.  she was cute.  she acted like she knew what she was doing, for the most part and insisted on carrying her easter basket like a purse.  it worked for her.  go with it girl. 

some of the pictures didn't rotate, but if you tilt your head just right, you can see them so good. 

we are extremely excited to be home and to get back on some kind of schedule.  it rocks our world to be away for so long, even though we really enjoy it all.  anyways.  glad to be back in the real world.  i have so many pictures and stories to tell.  bear with me. 

{ taking a break }

our life right now is ... meh.  nothing exciting.  nothing bad. 

so, i'm taking a little break.  we'll be BACK soon.

{ are you kidding me? }

we're sick.  AGAIN.

can you believe it?  same stuff.  bronchitis.  for me and karsyn.  AGAIN.  this makes 2 for her. 4 for me.  we can't seem to shake it for good.  i took karsyn to the doctor yesterday and she has bronchitis and an ear infection.  got some antibiotics.  the kind that she has to eat with.  my child is one who does not eat when she doesn't feel well.  it's been fun.  lots of throwing up.  little sleep.  and lots of tears.

if the stinkin' weather would decide what it wants to do, we might feel well for a little while at least.  so, please, please pray for our health.  and pray that this is the last time we're sick for a LONG while.

{ home again, home again }

yes, we're home.  finally.  it takes forever to get out from under the texas sky.  it goes on forever and ever.  we made it home this afternoon and are happy to be here, but we miss our sweet friends so badly already.  we had a blast and can't wait to go back. 

more pictures (ADORABLE PICTURES) and memories to come ... i'm tired.

{it was, anyways }

my last post, life's grand in oklahoma, has rang so true for the days we've been here.  and ... as unplanned as it is, we are STILL here.  we planned on leaving last night (tuesday) and as of wednesday noon we are still here.  we thought we'd attempt driving for 8 hours during the day with our 14 month old who has some strong dislike for being in the car for any given period of time.  after a good night's sleep and some dr. pepper, we decided we'd better wait till tonight to make the trek back to the lone star state.

the main reason for this decision is because karsyn is getting bronchitis again, i'm afraid.  bummer.  now the score is 2 for her, 3 for me.  why have we had this so much this winter?  and why is it still winter in the middle of march?  so, as life with a sick toddler who is as far off her normal routine as she can be may not be GRAND, our vacation is still going great. 

we should arrive back in BCS at approximately as-soon-as-we-can-get-there-withouth-stopping tomorrow AM.

{ life's grand in oklahoma }

that's where we are!  sorry, no pictures yet.

my favorite man is on spring break right now, so we ventured up to oklahoma to visit our sweet friends that we miss so dearly.  as you know, most of our trip was through texas, but us smart parents traveled at night so the little one would sleep.  these special friends came to visit us when baby karsyn was only 3 days old.  they had a baby this past fall and we haven't yet seen him in person.  he's too cute, by the way.  such a personality and makes me want a baby boy for myself.

today we had such an adventure at the oklahoma city zoo.  need i say more?

we'll be home wednesday or thursday.  we are having so much fun we can't decide when to make the it-takes-a-million-years trip back through texas.  why on earth is that state so big?

any-hoo ... more posts and pictures upon arrival back to our own home.  sweet oklahoma. 

{ melts my heart }

i missed this face today and it just melted my heart.

today karsyn was sick.  again.  seems to be the story of our life this winter.  is it winter?  or is it spring?  i can't seem to tell these days with this ever-changing texas weather.  what is normally an energetic, wear-mommy-out-before-lunch, 14 month old was nowhere to be found.  she took a 3 1/2 hour nap and woke up feeling like she was on fire.  her temp was 103.5

it was so sad.  she didn't want to harrass the dog.  she didn't want to constantly tug my leg to go outside.  she didn't want to raid the frig in order to eat all the strawberries by noon.  all she wanted was to be held and to sleep.  it broke my heart to see her that way.

this lasted quite a while.  i had to wait to give her more tylenol, but when i did, we took a cool bath and waited, and waited.  all but 15 minutes and she was feeling much better, running circles around the house.  SHE'S BACK!  my heart smiled instantly.  i knew she was feeling better when she repeatedly said "uh oh" after every move she made.  it's so cute, and new, but never ends.

i love her and i'm glad she's back.

{ designs }

i LOVE to design new blog headers.  i know people design whole blogs for a living and maybe i'll venture to that someday, but i haven't quite figured it all out yet.  i just did us a new one.  i'm experimenting, so i say.  if you'd like me to "experiment" and do a blog header for you, let me know.  it's easy!  i have photoshop and it's so much fun to play with.

{ there IS a difference }

a mom blogger or a bloggin' mama?

Congratulations! You're a mom blogger!

You have a blog, but you have a good sense of priorities in your life. Good for you. How I envy you.

Wanna know what you are (a mom blogger or a bloggin' mama)??  Just click HERE!

{ karsyn these days }

my sweet baby is growing up so fast. she's busy these days, pushing her shopping cart, rocking her babies, eating strawberries, chasing colby, smelling flowers, splashing in the bath tub, laughing, smiling, screaming, talking, walking, running, and so much more.

she says mama, dada, bye bye, hiiiiii, bee (colby), ba (blankie, ba ba), side (outside), shoe, papa, nana, pa (pop), no, & bad.  she's always full of words.

seems like yesterday i was endlessly holding her. i can barely catch her long enough to get a hug now.

the pictures in the slide are from the past few days ... the days it was actually warm outside.

{ baby's got her blue jeans on }

me, that is.  well, karsyn has hers on today too, but that's not what i'm blogging about.  but this is ...

my favorite jeans.

do you have some?  are they your all-time favorite article of clothing?  mine are! 

oh, how i love my favorite jeans.  they go with me just about everywhere, everyday if they are clean.  which, lately, they NEVER are.  here's the story of my jeans.

i bought them on sale at target, which, by the way, i wouldn't recommend because i had to buy 2 sizes bigger than my "normal" size just so they wouldn't be squeezing my eyeballs out while i wore them.  not cool to buy 2 sizes BIGGER, but i needed them and they were cute.  you see, i LOVE jeans.  i wear them every day.  i have several pair, so don't think i'm a dirty girl and always wear the same jeans day after day.  BUT if they are clean, these are the first to be put on. 

they are slowly becoming my "fat jeans" too.  which is good and is bad.  good because that means i'm losing weight (or inches, so my scale reads).  bad because if they get TOO big, i won't be able to wear them.  so sad. 

lately i've worn several pair of jeans each day.  one time, karsyn had eaten a rice krispie treat and sat on my lap.  little did i know she was saving some for later, which ended up stuck to my favorite jeans.  i didn't get to wear them long that day.  and several times they have been thrown up on. 

poor jeans.  they've had such a rough life.  i'm not ready to give up on them just yet though.  they still have a lot of miles left.  i'm not wearing them today because they got puked on by a girl with a cough that leads her to said vomiting.  they need washed.  i miss them already.

you DO have favorite jeans, right? 

{ good thing ends }

well, the eagles lost in the regional final game against new waverly saturday night.  it was a good game.  hearne was winning most of the game and lost it at the end of the 3rd quarter.  they played well and fought hard.  new waverly advanced to the state tournament this coming weekend and hearne went home.  hubby was sad.  now he gets to plan a track meet for this friday and root those distance runners on.  he can hardly contain his excitement.  if you listen carefully you can hear him hootin' and hollerin' all over the brazos valley.  ok, so that's a small stretch.  he's still trying to figure out how to coach kids to run long distances.  to me, you either run or you don't.  me?  i don't.  believe me, i've tried.  we'll see how hubby does this weekend.  good thing he's not the one competing.  then you might really hear some hootin' and hollerin'.

{ the big 2-7 }

ok, so that doesn't have a nice little ring to it as saying "the big 3-0", but we're not there just yet. 

my favorite man turns the big 2-7 today.  march 1st.  1981. 

we're so proud of him and so honored to call him ours.  happy birthday, my favorite man.  we love you.