{ sentences }

where has the time gone?  seems as though everyone is too busy these days to blog.  a post here and there will do for now and who knows when the next one will be.  i have time.  i just don't know what to blog about.  i want it to be good.  not to bore anyone.  because i certainly want you to come back.  i digress ...

so, this isn't going to be award winning by no means.  i do have to announce though that my karsyn said her first sentence the other day.  she is 16 months old now and rambles and talks non stop.  her first sentence was "ju ju bye bye."  plainly communicating to us that our neighbor, julie, went bye bye.  it was the first time she put two words together though.

her favorite thing to point out right now is cows and that they go "moo".  as long as she keeps those to the pictures we see and not towards me like her infamous pig reference, we'll be ok.  at the hospital the other day, she was pointing to cows and saying "moo" and a nurse walked by and said "for a 2 year old to know what a cow is and what it says, she's very smart."  i proudly said back "she's only 16 months old."  i do admit that i think my child is the smartest in the world.  don't all moms think that of their own?

here's my einstein at her best.

{ weight loss }

i weighed in this morning.  another 2.8 pounds gone!  woo hoo!  that's a grand total of 8.6 pounds lost.  my goal for next week is to get over that 10 pound mark.  with our new workout plans, that should be pretty easy.  we'll see ...

{ truth of a child }

never.  never. never, i say.  never ask your child a question, especially if there is a slight possibility that you won't like the answer.  this is one of karsyn's favorite books ...

this morning, she brought me her book and i pointed to olivia (THE PIG) and asked "who is that?"  my sweet baby pointed back at olivia and said "mama!"  ugh.  if that doesn't make one want to get on the treadmill for 5 days straight, i don't know what will.  did i mention olivia is a PIG? 

my sweet child.  never again will i ask her about a pig, a cow, or any other animal that slightly resembles obesity or has any fat on it's body.  next time we'll shoot for a giraffe maybe?

{ 16 for 16 }

i am constantly humbled by the reality of how blessed I am to be a mother. to be able to carry and bring a child into this world is a blessing that i wouldn't trade for anything.  i am even more appreciative of my favorite man and that he works so hard so that i can be home with our beautiful child. she is my source of inspiration, the purpose behind each breathe i take, and all my dreams wound up into one adorable, energetic, and beautiful little life.  i am thankful for this little girl.  i am thankful for her health and her vibrance.  she is a sweet little baby, but has some "tiger" in her for sure, and i love that.

today i am reminded to realign my focus upon what is most important.  i will strive to keep my focus on my little angel and work to enjoy all the simple things i seem to let pass by me at times.  she is growing too fast.  oh, my sweet baby is 16 months old today!

here are 16 words she says and ones we hear quite frequently.

1. mama (of course,  THE most important!)

2. dada

3. baba (bottle)

4. bobie (colby - our dog)

5. nana, pawpaw, mimi, pop, mae mae, kev kev (grandparents, aunt, uncle)

6. ju ju (our neighbor, julie)

7. side (a long emphasis on the "s" ... meaning outside)

8. juice

9. pees (please ... as she signs it as well)

10. keys

11. kaka (tucker ... the neighbors dog)

12. bangie (blankie / blanket)

13. night night

14. bye bye / hi

15. ball

16. bir (bird)

oh how i long for the day to sit and hold a baby again.  she's so grown up.  these days at the hill house are quite entertaining and unending it seems.  she loves to play outside so we should all be pretty tan by the end of summer.  she's a picky eater, but loves to eat!  words cannot express what she means to me, as all you mothers know.

happy 16 months, mama's girl! 

{ when i grow up }

if you know me, you know that i absolutely, positively love a little change in my life.  if you know me more, you'll know that i changed my major in college three times, my "occupation" after college 4 times (not including being a mom), my "dream job" 3 times (not including a mom either), and now i'm changing it again.  one thing i lack in my life is a hobby.  a true passion.  something that i live for.  so ... i'm in search.  in search for my true love (besides my favorite man and my child).  something that when people think of me, they think "dang she's a good (fill in the blank)."

i have decided to pursue something that i love.  something that i do have a passion for and something that i live for.  photography.  i LOVE to take pictures.  i take pictures of karsyn just about every day.  every chance i get.  when i'm driving down the road, i think of pictures i could be taking of the things i'm passing by.  in the fall i will be taking a photography class and a photoshop class.  i'm so excited. 

although i do love to take pictures, i'm not the best.  i have a lot of work to do before i'll ever ask anyone to pay me, let's just put it that way.  i'm trying to develop my own style and trying to learn what i can about my camera.  hopefully to one day upgrade to a professional camera.  until then ... i'll just keep shooting.

i started myself a photography blog.  visit it.  critique me.  tell me your opinions, but don't be too harsh.  you don't want to be responsible for shattering my dreams now, do you?

{ short and sweet ... kind of }

2 quick things this beautiful saturday ...

1.  i lost 1.6 pounds this week.  not as good as i wanted, but it's a loss.  i need to work on my snacking still.  so hard with a toddler around.  so, my official weight loss for the past 2 weeks is ... 5.8 lbs!  whoop!

2.  i can feel bronchitis setting in again.  no "whoop" for this one.  this would make the 5th time this winter/spring.  i'm cleaning my house today in hopes that i'll feel better being dust free.

ta ta for now. 

{ pickin' wildflowers }

we say: "let's go take pictures in the bluebonnets!"

she hears: "let's go run through a field, illegally pick the state flower, and try to eat it!"

i guess it's a rule that everyone must take bluebonnet pictures every year.  it's a fun tradition, but an extremely difficult one to do with a toddler, to say the least.  i did manage to get a few good ones.  i thought to take one of her chairs from home to sit on since miss priss doesn't like to sit on the ground.  a few shots, a couple of quick bites of flower, some spitting, and she was ready to go.   

AND, if anyone knows how to get my pictures to not rotate when i add them to the slide, that'd be great!  they aren't like that on my computer!  argh!

{ i AM a loser }

although i failed at the biggest loser contest i attempted with some friends ...  wait, wait, wait ... let me rephrase that.  although i wasn't motivated, therefore i quit because i wasn't winning (that's more accurate) ...

on with the story ... i'm now doing weight watchers.  last week was my first week actually following it and after weighing in on saturday (drumroll please) i am down 4.2 lbs!  whoop!  (follow my little ticker on the right side to see where i go from here)

{ her pick }

this is what karsyn is picking these days.

here's how it went down. 

as of today, i have officially become "that" mother. you know the one i'm talking about ... the one whose baby, despite the cool temperatures, is wearing no socks or jacket and is throwing a huge hissy fit in the store. the mother whose hair is haphazardly tossed about on her head, has drool stains on her t-shirt and gives her huge-hissy-fit-throwin' child ANYTHING to silence the deafening roar (cell phone? yup. sun glasses? yup. $10 spatula that she later "neglects" to purchase? yup.)

the one who ilicits both looks of disgust and empathy while she carries her 25-pounder in the crook of her left arm, while navigating the shopping cart with her right, all the while praying that her arm doesn't give out, that she doesn't ram into yet another rack of clothes and that the shopping cart that said 25-pounder REFUSES to sit in doesn't knock anything over, or she doesn't actually toss the diaper bag that she's holding over the edge because it would scatter its contents to every far corner of the store (half-full sippy cup ... chewed-up sun glasses covered in teeth marks and baby spit ... unzipped, overflowing (not with money) wallet ... keys and an assortment of other products).

yup. i am "that" mother. it didn't really sink in until i pulled into the 20-items-or-less lane and out of sheer exhaustion, plopped my no-socks, no-jacket wearing toddler onto the conveyor belt in an effort to a.) get some feeling back in my arm, b.) empty my cart, c.) put her socks and jacket BACK on for the third time since entering the store and d.) provide some mild amusement for the throng of my fellow shoppers.

this is where all the picking began.  i was flustered.  ready to get out of there.  she sweetly looked up at me with her big blue eyes and so lovingly ... picked her nose!  what?  NOOOOOOO!  she's not supposed to start that already is she?  nastiness.

life with a toddler.  boy am i tired.

{ did you know? }

not only is it the happiest, it's also my FAVORITE!  i guess i'm obsessed with this too.  that's right folks.  absolutely, positively.  a self-proclaimed aggie fan, but not a true aggie.  so it's ok for orange to be my favorite color.  it hasn't always been my favorite though.  yellow use to be until my sweetest friend, jasey, introduced orange to me.  you see, orange is her favorite color too.  i copied her, you could say. 

thanks to her, i now have an orange diaper bag.  orange wallet.  orange keychains.  orange T-SHIRT.  orange flowers from our wedding.  and i'm sure i have more orange around here, but those are the only things within eye sight here.  hubby wasn't too fond of the color.  you see, he's an even bigger aggie fan than i.  i did talk him into some orange oakleys though. 

hi, my name is erin.  i like orange.

{ tshirt - a - holic }

that's me.  in (kind of) one word.  i  L.O.V.E  t-shirts.  i wear them pretty much every day.  my closet has more of them than any other clothing item.  i can't live without them.  not only are they comfortable, the "right size" ones cover my rolls.  i really like sporty t-shirts.  one of my favorites is one that david wore when he played little dribblers basketball way back in the day.  hey, it fits.  i wear it.

here's my problem.  i'm running out of t-shirts.  they are either too small b/c i'm too fat.  too big b/c i have actually lost SOME weight.  too old.  too tattered.  too stained.  or just too "not me".  and where can you buy good t-shirts.  that are cute.  not too common.  comfortable. 

here's where you come in.  if you decide on a whim to clean out your closet, send your t-shirts my way.  i like any and all t-shirts.  from anywhere.  anytime.  even if you don't know me and don't live here, i'll give you my address.  that's how much i  L.O.V.E  t-shirts.  and i need more.  i'll even take a picture of me in the t-shirts you gave and post them for the whole world to see. 

any takers?  (oh, i wear a size M-L)  how desperate can i be?