Getting excited...

I am completely finished with one wall in Tayler's nursery! It is completely painted and I even have the chair rail put up on it also. I am sooo excited to finish the rest! I have the brown painted on 2 other walls so I am getting there. Below is a picture of the wall that is completely finished.

I think I am going to be ready for her 3 months before she is even here! (Well, aside from having a mattress and bedding for her crib.) We are supposed to be taking some stuff to storage tomorrow so hopefully I can bring back the baby furniture! I am getting sooo excited for her to be here, I don't know what I am going to do when I am all done and still have a few months left!

When Colton was born, we were living in an apartment so I couldn't do much decorating and never really did much with his room once we moved into the house, so I think once I finish Tayler's room I am going to redo Colton's room! It is so much fun and I get such a warm feeling when I walk in and see it all decorated. Speaking of Colton, here are a couple of pictures taken this week of my precious little boy.

Well, off to do more cleaning and decorating! We never got around to decorating much so now I am enjoying it, and I have also noticed that I like keeping the house clean when I am proud of the way it looks.

You all gave me the motivation that I needed!!

The weather is absolutely BEAUTIFUL today!! I can't let it go to a waist, so I have decided to start walking today. After reading my mom's blog about how she started walking, Mrs. Fonda's blog how she goes to the gym regularly with a trainer, seeing Valerie's comments on MySpace how she is ALWAYS at the gym (and she is pregnant also!) and Jenn Crouse's blog how she just ran a half marathon (13.1 miles - you go girl!!!) I think I have gotten jealous and gotten the motivation that I have been needing!

When I was pregnant with Colton, I gained about 65 pounds.... I said "If I am going to get fat, I might as well enjoy it." This pregnancy, I have had the complete opposite attitude. I have been eating very healthy and really watching my weight gain. It was soo hard losing all that weight after Colton was born, and I never completely lost all of it, so I have less weight gain to work with this time. I set my max. goal to not gain more than 25 pounds this time. So far I have gained about 15. Although I may go over that goal a tad bit, I am doing A LOT better this time around! It is really easy to eat healthy because I try to be a good influence for Colton, and he wants to eat everything that I eat! Kyle is not a big fruit or vegetable person, so I make sure Colton gets lots of exposures to these foods with me.

But, after eating pretty healthy, I am started to feel the weight gain.... I can see my arms getting plump, my face getting plump, my thighs getting plump, etc and it is making me feel sad. They say you can't lose weight until you are actually mentally ready to lose weight. Well, I am ready! I can't wait for Tayler to get here so I can finally get back in shape! So, why not jump start the process now so it's that much less fat I have to burn later? So, since it is such a beautiful day today, I have decided that Colton and I are going to start going on regular daily walks and bike rides. (I am also hoping this will help with my low energy levels!) One day I hope I can be a mama of 2 running those marathons like Jenn Crouse!! :)

Wish me luck and hopefully I can report in a week how I have stuck to it! :)

Feeling Motivated

So today I decided to try and tackle Kyle's "junk room," as I like to call it. This is our 3rd bedroom that will soon become Tayler's bedroom, but WAS being used for all Kyle's junk. (Keyword: WAS) Well, to my amazement, the room actually has a floor now!!! When I started I had to sit on top of stuff because there was no where for me to sit and sort. Now, the room is completely clean. All I have to do now is move out the eliptical and desk and it will be ready for a nursery. Now that it is clean, I can start painting whenever I feel like it! Now that her room is cleared out, I feel motivated to try to get the rest of the house in order. Since I started with a room that I was actually excited about cleaning, it has motivated me to try and get the rest of the house clean. 4 months and counting until our little girl arrives! It seems like I have so much time left to get things done, but with taking 7 college courses (most of which I have to self-teach myself,) I don't get much time for anything other than school work. Hopefully I can stay motivated!

Wedding Photos!

We finally got the proofs in for Kyle's & I wedding photos. I was able to load some of them on my computer in order to make my mom a CD, but in the meantime, my computer froze because it could not handle all 500 pics! So, here are a few that I was actually able to get saved.

Toddler Independence...

So this week I read in one of my education books for school a chapter based on Autonomy-seeking toddlers. It was about how toddlers are searching for independence. It was really interesting and gave me insight into some of Colton's behaviors. It explains how them saying "No" is simply a way of them making a choice, and has to deal with them becoming independent. It also explains why Colton wants to do everything on his own lately! Everything is "My turn." He picks out which diaper he wants to wear "Car" (the pull ups) or "My gow" (that means Mickey Mouse. lol. the regular diapers.) He will not let you put on his diaper if it is not the one he picks out. He also tries to put it on and likes to help wipe himself. He has been trying to do a lot of things on his own and "My Turn" is his favorite phrase.

As for independence, he is doing really good in another field.. potty training. I started the introduction of the potty and what it is and all that when he was about 1 1/2. They say it is hard for boys to potty train and most aren't even trained by three. Well, he took to it very well. For the longest time, he would go to the potty but by the time he got there, it was too late. Well, lately, he has been telling me before he gets to the potty. Two times today, he told me "poo poo" but there was nothing in his pants. So we RAN to the potty. He got up on it and went right away. It was awesome!! He always does good with pee-pee but always poopies in his pants. It was so great not having to clean it up. LOL! I was really hoping to only have one kid in diapers and it looks like that may atually happen! Tayler will be here in about 4 months so I think if we work hard on it, he can be completely potty trained by the time she is born.

On another note, I introduced time out and the naughty seat today for the first time. Sometimes Colton gets very demanding. I understand the need to be independent, but I can only allow it to go to a certain extent. He is always telling me what to do and not listening to me, and I guess I just had enough. He kept hurting the dogs today (poking their eyes, hitting, pulling their legs etc.) He knows he is not supposed to do this because Kyle and I always get onto him about being mean. Well, he kept hurting them, and it's always when they are sleeping! I told him if he did not leave them alone and be nice then he was going to time out. He would get near them and I would aks him "You want to go to time out?" and he would say "No" so, he knows time out is bad. Well he kept testing me and I read children will keep testing you to see what is actually a boundary and what isn't. Well, he tested me too many times and hurt the dogs too many times, so he got put in a naughty seat in the hallway in time out. He did not like it.... He was crying so hard. He kept laying on the floor but I kept picking him up and putting him back on it (as I always see on Super Nanny) and eventually he stayed. I made him sit there for about 2 minutes and asked him if he was going to be nice and he said yes. So, I let him up and told him if he is mean, he is going to time out. Well, he ran over to the dogs, pet them and gave them both a kiss. So, I think he knew he did bad because he went over to them and was nice! We have been popping his booty, but he just doesn't seem to care, so I decided to try a new approach. Hopefully this one will work. Sometimes I feel so stressed out because he feels so out of control at times, so hopefully this discipline approach will work!!

This pregnancy just isn't the same..

With Colton, I was hardly ever sick and had a fairly good pregnancy, other than high blood pressure. This time, it is absolutely awful. After 4 1/2 months of being naucious ALL the time, I was finally beginning to feel normal... until the tummy pain started. I have been in soo much pain the past week. My lower abdomen has been hurting soo bad. Yesterday I went to the dr. and he said because I am carrying very low (she is always below my belly button) it is causing the ligaments in my lower abdomen to stretch a lot and very quickly. I went to Babies R Us and bought a maternity support. It actually really helps, although looks quite odd. I also treated myself to a nice big comfy pregnancy pillow. Last night was the best night of sleep I have had in quite some time. I just hope the pain slows down! This pregnancy has just been so awful so far. I know it will be worth it in the end when my little girl arrives, but man, I just want it to hurry up and get to that point!

A few more pics...

The newest addition to our family: Daisy. She is a dalmation/collie mix.

Colton and Daddy

Colton playing in the dog cage...

My Precious Little Boy

Colton is currently in a phase were he likes posing for pictures and says "Cute!" after you take his picture. Below are some recent pictures of Colton, taken within the past week.

LEFT: Colton posing.

RIGHT: Mommy & her baby

LEFT: Colton watching tv, laying with the pups.

RIGHT: Colton posing again. :)

The weather has been soooo nice lately so I have been trying to take Colton out more. He LOVES the outdoors, it's just hard to take him outside because I have to fight nails and teeth to get him back inside!

LEFT: Playing in the backyard.

RIGHT: Colton LOVES to swing!

LEFT: He also LOVES his bubble mower!

Our Honeymoon

I just figured out how to load pictures off of my new camera to my computer, so here are a few pictures from our honeymoon....

We took a 7 day cruise to Jamaica, They Cayman Islands and Cozumel.

LEFT: This is when we arrived at the cruise terminal in Galveston they day after we were married.

RIGHT: This is our room. My mom ordered honeymoon decorations for our room.

Newly Weds!!

LEFT: Jamaica. The beach was gorgeous and the sand was soo nice. However, this beach is the only public beach and was only about 100 feet wide.

RIGHT: Kyle really enjoyed playing with the parrot in the Cayman Islands...

Baby Registry

I know it's early, but I couldn't help myself... I have started, and finished, our baby registry at Babies R Us for Tayler! :) Not only is it the things that we need, but the things that we also want (such as decorative items.) I am sure I won't get all of it so it was also created as a reminder for myself of the things that I need to get before she arrives.

I am soo excited to start decorating the nursery that I can hardly wait! I am still debating on doing school work today or cleaning that room out and convincing Kyle to go to Home Depot with me when he gets home to purchase paint! When we were growing up, we were only allowed to have white walls, so now that I have my own home, I take full advantage of them being MY walls that I can do ANYTHING with! ha!

I am already halfway through the pregnancy, which has flown by, so she will be here before we know it! I guess I am starting my "nesting" phase sooner than I expected. :)

A little about me...

Married Life
On Jan. 3, 2009 I married my soul mate. Kyle and I first started dating in 2003 when I was 18. We were together for 3 years, 2 of which we were engaged and the last of which we had our son Colton. Kyle and I grew apart and were separated for nearly a year, as most people know. We were able to work through everything and realized we were more in love than ever. Thus, in August 2008 we became re-engaged and were married on Jan. 3, 2009. A lot of people were very skeptical about around reconciled relationship, but that is the thing, it was (and is) our relationship. Only the two of us truly know how happy or bad things are. However, things are better now than ever! I am soo happy and so glad that we were able to become a family again! Our relationship is stronger than ever and I feel so blessed. I feel that I am married to my soul mate and I cannot wait to spend a lifetime together. Kyle has become a great father and is an amazing provider.


My Children
I have a son, Colton, who turned 2 in November. His birth was a blessing disguise! I love him so much and he has really helped shape the person that I am today. He is amazing little boy and so smart! Even though he has his "terrible two" moments, he is such a sweet little boy! We just have to learn what difference between me and and nice is! ;)

I am currently 20 weeks pregnant with our second child. Yesterday we found out the we will be having a little girl! I am due June 25, 2009. (Half way there!) Her name will be Tayler. We are spelling it with an "er" instead of the typical "or" to make it different, but also to make it a little more girly. Below are a couple of pictures from yesterday's ultrasound. They said she is measuring right at 20 weeks and she is 12 ounces in weight.





Education
I was previously enrolled in nursing school. However, after having Colton, I found it difficult to succeed in the rigorous nursing program and raise my child. I felt like I had to decide between nursing school or being there for my son, so I chose my son. It was extremely difficult giving up nursing school because I had worked so hard to get in, and had gotten in to one of the best schools in the state, but it was a sacrifice worth taking to be a good mother. This semester, I am no longer working. Kyle is working a lot to support us so that I can be home every day with Colton and focus on finishing school. Last semester I took a few business courses because I wanted to get my degree in Healthcare Administration, but after taking those courses, I decided it just was not for me! I have decided to major in Elementary Education, something I had originally wanted to do while in high school. I am currently taking 7 classes, 3 of which are completely online and 4 of which are 1/2 online and 1/2 in class. It is very overwhelming but it will all be worth it in the end! Kyle is now working as a police officer for the school district so it will be great having the same schedule, nights, weekends, holidays, and the summer off! I am going to talk to an adivsor next week but after this semester I should have about a year left. I will be getting my degree through UH -Victoria but pretty much all of my classes will be done online, other than my student teaching my last semester. Taking online classes is rigorous and very time consuming because you have to teach yourself everything, but it is great in the aspect that I don't have to worrk about day care or finding a sitter. I will be taking the summer session off to adjust to having 2 children but will resume full time again in August.

Creation of a Blog

So I just decided to create a blog. I find myself frequently looking at my mom's blog just to see what she is up to, other than what I already know. I also enjoy looking at the pictures of my son and niece that she puts up frequently! So, I decided to create one of my own.

Sometimes I feel so stressed out and overwhelmed with life, I feel like my mind might burst. Kyle works so much to support us and with being in school full time and having a child, it's not too often I get out of the house so I thought that maybe this blog could be like a journal for me and give me "someone" to talk to. I will let you know if it helps!