The Knee-Walking Video!!!

I think I finally got the video to work!  This is a new video that I shot today.  It is of Carissa walking, then she falls down, and starts her knee-walking.  Then she loves on Eloise for a little bit.  She loves Eloise so much and Eloise loves her right back and is so gentle with her.  I think she's the best cat ever!

The Whole Family is Blog Worthy This Week!

I'm behind again on the blog.  Sorry!  But have a seat and relax because this is probably going to be a long one!  I have a lot to tell you.

I'll tell you about Jason first.  I don't blog much about him but I guess he is newsworthy this week.  : )  We are very excited that after 2 years and 9 months Jason is done working third shift and is now on second shift!  Yay!!  I can't tell you how happy I am about this.  He worked seconds a few years ago for a short time and I loved it!  And he liked it too.  It will be a little more challenging when Maleah starts school in the fall, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.  But in the meantime we are going to have a fantastic summer with a Daddy who is awake and rested and not grouchy.  Woo hoo!

Now let's move on to Carissa.  I told you last time that she started walking. What I forgot to tell you was that on the exact same day that she started walking (Saturday, May 15th) she also gave up her bottle.  It was difficult for her because she hated sippy cups so much.  They frustrated her but we finally found one that she really liked.  The seven dollar kind, but oh well.  I shouldn't expect anything less.  She is my daughter after all and we can't help it that we have expensive taste.  The two dollar ones and even the five dollar ones wouldn't work for her.  But the seven dollar ones really did the trick and as soon as I realized that she liked it I went out and bought a few more of them.  Then I threw away every last one of her Dr. Brown's bottles.  They were getting so gross and the vents in them actually looked black and moldy (I know, ewww!).  But no amount of bleaching and scrubbing would make that go away.  No one in their right mind would want to buy them at a rummage sale and so into the trash they went.  And let me just say (actually picture me standing on a mountain top with my arms up screaming this at the top of my lungs) I love not having to wash baby bottles anymore!!  I love it!  I love it!  I love it!!  In other Carissa news, she got another new tooth.  She now has seven (four on top, three on bottom). 

In Maleah news, she has been learning how to ride her bike without training wheels.  I am so proud of her.  She really wants to do it but she is still a little scared too.  She has the balance part down pretty good.  If I let go of her bike she can pedal along just fine without falling over but if she thinks she's going too fast, she stops pedaling.  And then she gets mad because she realizes that I haven't been holding on to her the whole time.  She wants to ride her bike, just very slowly.  Any speed at all causes her to freak out big time.  To say that she is not a risk-taker would be the understatement of the year.  I made her a deal that if she learns to ride her bike really good without the training wheels she can go pick out a brand new bike at Walmart.  She is excited about this because all of her bikes have been hand-me-downs and she has never gotten to pick out a new pink bike, which is what she wants.  I'll keep you posted about whether or not she gets to.

So, onto my news.  I participated in the Tour de Clay County this year and rode my bike 20 miles on Saturday in just over 2 hours.  This was the longest and hardest ride I have ever done.  It was hilly and it was hot.  I rode with my friend Cali who has just started riding.  She did great and didn't complain at all even though her bike seat was loose and we had to stop at Xenia and have it fixed.  In the above picture, I am the one with the pink helmet in the pink striped shirt and Cali is the one next to me with the black shorts and black helmet.  So anyway, I am very proud of both of us that we actually did it and finished.  My Mom did the 10 mile ride and did great.  I am very proud of you too Mom!  My brother is the awesome one though.  He rode 70 miles and probably didn't even break a sweat.  He and Nikki were the organizers of this year's event and that prevented him from getting to do the full ride.  In past years he has done the full ride of 106 miles to each corner of Clay County.  There were several that rode that far this year.  I can't even imagine how they do it.  Here is a picture of me before the race and a picture of my mom as she rolled back into town after her 10 mile ride. 

Last weekend Maleah and Carissa were in the Patriotic Prince and Princess Contest at Louisville.  It was a fundraiser for Shop with a Cop.  It was a little stressful for me because I ordered these adorable matching outfits off of etsy.com for them to wear in it.  The seller promised me that they would be here in plenty of time for the pageant.  I ordered them a month in advance and kept checking back in with her.  Each time she would tell me not to worry they would be here.  Well, guess what?  They weren't here in time!  She overnighted them on Thursday from California and said that FedEx gave her a guarantee that they would be here by 2 p.m. on Friday.  Luckily I was in Evansville shopping on Friday when Jason called me and said "they're still not here, you better start shopping for something else".  So, I was scrambling around for red, white, and blue outfits at the last minute.  I am expecting my money back from that seller on etsy but so far it hasn't happened.  I found some cute tutus at Claire's that I bought.  They were Carissa's size but had a stretchy waistband so I squeezed Maleah into one of them and then just tied more red and blue tulle to it that I found at Hobby Lobby.  It worked.  They both looked cute and had fun I think.   Maleah won Best Smile, Personality Plus, and got a runner-up award.  Everyone that participated got a runner-up award except for the Queen in each age group.  I was proud of her because she actually got a little nervous up there but did great anyway.  Carissa also got a runner-up award and each girl got a goody bag full of stuff and a tiara.  It was fun but I am definitely not a "pageant mom" and there probably won't be anymore in our future.  During intermission Maleah danced with her Das-zle dance class.  She did great and it was a cute performance.  Here are some pics from last Saturday.

This weekend we went to some fun cookouts.  One of them was at Jason's Aunt Loretta and Uncle John's house over by Kell.  It was good to see the Weaver side of his family and there were lots of kids for Maleah to play with.  They had sack races, three-footed races, and played hot potato.  Maleah had a ball.  We missed Melisa, Jonathon, Sawyer, and Daisy though!   On Sunday we had a little cookout at Uncle Craig and Aunt LuAnn's and celebrated their first wedding anniversary.  Maleah and Carissa swam in the pool with their Daddy and some of the guys played wiffle ball. We all had a good time.  Thanks for having us over LuAnn and Craig!  Here are some pictures from the Weaver cookout.

If the rest of the summer is as busy as the past couple of weeks, you're going to have a lot to read about on this blog! 

Guess what??

Okay.  I know.  I missed a week.  I'm sorry!  But here are my excuses:  I was busy, didn't have much to report on, and I couldn't get the promised knee-walking video to work.  But, guess what?  No more excuses.   I have something to report.  Intrigued?  Read on...

First of all, I can NOT get the stupid video to work.  It has been making me very angry.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong but it will not show up on here.  In order to preserve my sanity, I have quit trying.  Sorry. 

Last Friday night we went to a carnival they were having downtown.  They had the street closed off  and rides set up.  Maleah loved it!  This was the first time that we went to something like that and she wasn't scared of the rides.  We bought her an armband and she rode the same rides over and over.  Her favorite ride was the dragon rollercoaster.  She loved it!  I bet she rode that thing at least 12 times.  I would've been sicker than a dog if I would've rode it once and she managed to do it over and over.  Carissa was a little less thrilled to be there.  She was tired and it was past her bedtime.  But she looked cute as a bug and hung in there for the duration.  She practiced walking that night but wouldn't let go of my finger for anything.

Carissa wore a pretty pink flower and headband to the carnival.  She did not like it, not one bit.  She does not like to wear things in her hair.  I am trying to get her used to having something on her head by forcing her to wear headbands and bows.  Aren't I awful?  So Friday night her and I went round and round about the headband.  I would put it on, she would take it off.  After like the tenth time of putting it back on her, I walked into the other room for just a minute and when I came back the headband was gone.  I looked all over for it.  It was nowhere near her.  Guess where I finally found it?  In the trash can in the kitchen!!  That little stinker!  She took it off, took it into the kitchen, threw it away, went back into the living room right where she had been, and sat there with an innocent look on her face and acting like she hadn't even moved while I had been in the bedroom.  Sneakkky!!  I won though because I put it right back on her and she wore it the rest of the night. 

On Saturday the girls and I went to Fairfield (where I bought an awesome new camera!) and on the way home we stopped at Grandma Sherrel and Grandpa Clarence's house in Cisne.  And guess what happened there?  Carissa decided to start walking!  She was standing next to me and just decided to walk across the living room to see Grandma.  Can you believe that?  Just like that.  She just decided to do it and off she went.  It was so sweet!  So she has been walking ever since.  BUT, she still prefers to knee-walk!  I guess because she's faster and more coordinated doing that but each day I think she walks a little bit more.  At least I know she can do it now!

On Saturday night we had a girl's sleepover at my Mom's house.  My Dad and Jason were out of town on a fishing trip, so us girls decided to get together.  My good friend (and my brother's girlfriend) Nikki came over with her two girls, Madison and Sophia, and then there was me, Maleah, Carissa, and my Mom.  We had a good time.  We ordered pizza for the kids but we adults had steak and baked potatoes.  It was delicious!  Then the girls made hot fudge sundaes and banana splits.  They had a lot of fun playing together and watched a movie for like five minutes.  It was a good time but I think we all kind of missed our own beds when it came to be bedtime.

Maleah is officially on summer vacation now.  Her last day of school was Friday.  She is already missing it like crazy.  She misses her friends and her teachers.  She asked me today (day 2 of summer break) "how long until fall?".  If it would warm up and quit raining she might enjoy her summer more.  Hopefully that happens soon!!!

Here are some other things that have happened around here lately.  Maleah asked if we could put Carissa on eBay.  Grandma Debby told her no, that it was illegal, and besides that, we loved Carissa, so why would we want to sell her?  I don't think Maleah answered her.  Teaching Maleah to dust the living room and clean the storm door window was the smartest thing I think I have ever done.  Since she started doing this about a month ago, she has earned this little pink couch with princesses on it.  She wanted it so badly at Walmart but I wouldn't let her get it until she had worked for it.  She is so proud of that thing!  She loves it.  The only problem is that her sister loves it too.  Carissa sits real still on it and watches tv.  I have never seen her be so still but it's like she knows that is just what you do on a couch.  Too cute! 

Maleah and Carissa will both be competing in a local pageant this weekend.  It is a fundraiser for a local charity and should be lots of fun.  So I should have lots of new pictures next week.  Here are some pictures from the carnival on Friday night.

A Million Thank-You's (or Dank-Doo's)

So what's new with us this week?  Well, I'll tell you one thing.  A certain someone is still not walking!!  I really felt like it was going to be any day this week but that child is stubborn (she gets that from her Dad, not me).  She really likes walking on her knees.  That's just her thing.  It's cute but her poor little knees are bruised and calloused.  Plus, by the end of the day they're dirty and that's just gross.  I try to keep my floors clean but apparently I'm not doing that great of a job in that department.  Blogger is not letting me post a video of her walking on her knees for all of you out there who have never seen a baby do that before.  And that's probably all of you.  I have yet to meet anyone who has ever known of a baby who did that.  Anyway, I'll try to post that video again later.

I went on a shopping trip with the sorority girls to Evansville this past weekend.  It was a lot of fun!  We all got pedicures and manicures and ate at The Olive Garden.  Yum!  We got our shopping done and had a great time!  I came home that night but the other girls all spent the night in a nice chalet in Burdette Park.  Sometime during the night the storm sirens went off and they all had to run to a nearby storm shelter.  I am so glad I missed that part and was home all safe and sound in my bed and under the same roof as my babies. 

Sunday morning I woke up with a cold.  I know, I know.  You are thinking "you guys are always sick!" and it has certainly seemed like that lately.  I am better now and no one else has caught it.  I am praying that they don't.  We have had enough sicknesses!! 

Maleah only has one week of school left!  Yay!!  I am excited about that!  It will be so nice when our days are not interrupted by pre-k.  I take her to school each day and in the blink of an eye it's time to go back and get her.  It just gets old.  I think that I'm going to love it when she is in Kindergarten next year.  I hope she loves it too!!  She is pretty nervous about it and is convinced that she is going to hate it, have a teacher not near as nice as the one she has now,  that she will have to take a nap at school, that she is going to have to ride a bus, and the list goes on.  She is a kid that really thinks about things.  She'll probably fret about it all summer.  I wish she wouldn't but I bet she will...

I have been thanked more this week than I have in my entire life I think.  What for, you ask?  Everything!!  It's Carissa's favorite thing to say right now.  So she is constantly handing me things and saying "Dank Doo!".  She hasn't quite grasped the concept of saying it when you give her something - sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't.  But she always says it if she hands you something.  Sometimes she just looks up at me and smiles great big and says "Dank Doooo!!!"  I have no idea what she is thanking me for but I like to think that it is for being a great mom and taking such good care of her.  But who knows!?  I wish I could know what she was thinking.  She is probably just thanking me for sending Maleah to school for two hours a day. 

Oh, and she also said "french fry" this week.  It was so cute!  She is turning into quite the little talker.

So, I am proud to announce that I have now lost over 30 pounds! Woo hoo!  Yay for me!  I have only five more pounds to lose until I meet my goal.  It hasn't been easy, that's for sure but I'm so glad that I've done it.  I feel so much better.  Weight Watchers definitely works and it has showed me a healthier way to live.  I really look at it as a  lifestyle change and not a diet.  Their plan is so easy and I'm so glad that I decided to give it a try.  I think Maurice's is really glad I decided to do it too.   The sales lady even sent me a personal, handwritten thank-you note.  Wow!  What does that tell you?  Losing weight and buying new clothes that fit is definitely not cheap. 

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week.  I will post some new ones next week!  Hopefully one of Miss Riss walking!