Wordless Wednesday- Lions and Tigers and Elephants! Oh My!

He was napping in the sun! Most be nice!!

This guy fell asleep, on video! His head swayed then....OUT!

The daddy was playing with the baby!

Mommy Baby Class!!

We had our first ever baby gym class today! It was a lot of fun! And Kylar liked it too!! It was just Kylar and one other little girl. The class is very new, so the instructor is not charging until he gets 4 kids enrolled!! So that was super good news!
Back to the class! I was a little nervous b/c Kylar is normally napping at this time, so I was not sure how she would do. But she behaved like such a big girl. It was very new to her. We have never done any classes or story times or anything yet. So she was a little bashful at first, but she got over that fast.

We started class off with some circle time exercises. We sang songs and stretched. Then we danced a little. We danced and "Popped" to Pop Goes the Weasel. But it was not the version of the song that I remember growing up. This one did not have a mulberry bush??!!?? After that, we did some tummy time. Then it was "free time". We were told to take our baby and explore and play. There were slides, trampolines, balance beams, balls, mats, EVERYTHING!! And we of course had to try everything. Especially the trampoline, which Kylar loved!!!


Then the instructor said it was time for a ride! So, in she went intp the sled and she got a ride around the gym!

Next we got to roll on this big tube thing! Forward, back, forward, back! Well, the computer is being screwbally!! So, we only have forward pics! Hopefully I can get the others uploaded later!

Then, we played in the balls. Yucky I know!! But I sanitized her afterward!!

Then, we ended class with a few more songs and a story! It was so much fun and we cannot wait to go back next week!!

I won a giveaway!! I won a giveaway!!

I won a giveaway from Katie at Cleared for Takeoff. She tried out beige nail polish and she loved it, so she decided to give some away! And who was the lucky winner?? That is right, yours truly! I have not tried it out yet. But here it is.

Thanks Katie!! I cannot wait to paint my nails this weekend!

5QF

 Don't forget to link back to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5 question Friday!

1. Did you pass your driver's test on the first try?

I did not even have to take the driver's test. I got a good enough grade in driver's ed to get a waiver and my birthday wasn't called for a driving test. So, I lucked out. 

 

2. What is your most embarrassing moment?

Ugh!! I cannot believe I am about to tell this on the internet....oh well!! Most people that read this already have heard about this. So....here is goes!

We went to a haunted house with some friends. It was at Waverly Hills, which was on old TB hospital here in Louisville that is haunted. So, they use that as the theme of their haunted house, there are dead patients, nurses, etc.  As we were going through the haunted house, I was holding Randy's hand. I turned around at one point to say something to him. And.....IT WAS NOT HIM!!!!!! It was some dead zombie nurse or something!! I screamed and ran......and peed myself! Yeah, that totally sucked!

 

3. What TV show would you like to be on- Oprah, Biggest Loser, or What Not to Wear?

Definitely What Not to Wear!! I would love a new wardrobe!! If someone wants to nominate me, they are more than welcome! I would not be offended at all. 

 

4. Would you ever get plastic surgery and what kind?

If it was free, I would get some lipo, or a tummy tuck to get rid of some of this post baby mushiness. But, I would never pay for something like that. 

5. What are your favorite jeans to wear?

I do not have a favorite pair of jeans. None of my jeans seem to fit me too well right now. They are either too big or too small. I cannot find a good fitting pair of jeans for the life of me!!! It is really beginning to become a thorn in my side. 

Wordless Wednesday!!-Best Buds!

Kylar loved playing the Paul, Abbey and her buddy Wes!!

The Challenge-Coming to an end!

A little over a week left in our challenge.  And no cheating on either part. Whoohoo for us!!

We have tried 2 new recipes just in the past week. We had Honey Lime enchiladas. And let me just say....YUMMY!!! They were so good. Next time I need to get a spicier enchilada sauce. We just used Kroger brand, but I am sure if I look, I can find something with more of a kick. And the left over meat was really good in a wrap. I am even making it again this weekend when my parents come into town.
 And last night we had this sausage and pasta dish that was on a Johnsonville coupon. It was sausage, onion, tomato, broccoli tossed with pasta. It was good. But I think it needed a little more of a kick to it. The sausage was spicy, but that is it. Maybe next time I will saute the onions and garlic with some crusted red pepper flakes or something.

The rest of the week looks like this:
Tuesday-Steak
Wednesday- Breakfast for dinner
Thursday- chicken, probably buffalo flavored.
Friday- Pizza
Saturday- Burgers, real burgers, not the frozen turkey burgers we normally eat.
Sunday-Enchiladas

And for Daisy who asked last week:
Saturday for lunch we had chicken. On Sunday we had sandwiches, pretzels and a cheese stick.
This weekend lunch will be sub sandwiches, made by my dad. He makes really good subs. And Sunday, I am not sure. I will let my parents decide.

Not sure what we will be having Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Any ideas of how to end our month of dining in?? And ya know, know that I think of it. We might as well plan dinner for Thursday too. Since we know we are having pizza Friday and Saturday we are going out to eat for our anniversary.

Speaking of....anyone have any ideas for where we should go to dinner on Saturday?

Kylar and the green goo!

We gave Kylar green beans for the first time tonight and caught it on tape. Considering how often I had green beans while pregnant, I am a little surprised by her reaction!



Ignore my cackle of a laugh! lol.

5 question Friday!

Link up to Five Crooked Halos if you want to add your own 5QF.

1. Have you ever had a celeb sighting?

I saw Jon Cusack at a poster shop in Chicago.

A few of people at a pre-Derby party, including, the Kardashians, Greenlee (from All my Children), Bachelor Bob, a few sports people.

And when I worked at Target, Penny from Dirty Dancing was in my check out lane. I kept looking at her like I knew her from somewhere. And she said she played Penny on Dirty Dancing. lol. I guess she gets the sideways looks a lot. 

2. What temperature do you keep your house?

I would like to keep it at 68 in the winter and 74 in the summer, but 68 is a little cold for Randy and Kylar. So, 69 with a heater in Kylar's room.

3. Do you notice dust at other peoples homes?

No....dust is invisible! :)

4. What's the worst job you ever had?

Probably the grocery store or David's bridal. I carried dresses back and forth all day. And I was "on call". 

"Hey....teenager with a life....be on call every Saturday and Sunday at the butt crack of dawn so we can call you last minute and say you need to come in to work!"

No thanks!

The grocery store sucked for many reasons. Mainly b/c I just wanted a break from working. I just quit my 3 jobs not long before, but someone kept nagging encouraging me to get a job! :) (Cough, Cough MOM!!!!)

5. What is your most sentimental possession?

Hmmm.....I guess my engagement ring tied with my computer for all the pictures I have on there. 

We have randoms, wedding pics, pics of Kylar, engagement pics....a ton of pics. And b/c of the invention of the digital camera, I never print pictures. I have finished scrapbooks, with no pics. Such a waste! :(

My engagement ring bc it was made just for me from Randy. My first ring kept breaking. It broke like 3 times. Then finally I said I did not want it anymore. I was fine with just getting my wedding band when we get married. But Randy wasn't having it. He took the center stone out of my original ring. And he found a ring he liked, had the center stone taken out and replaced it with my original stone. Such a nice surprise, I got to keep the original stone he gave me when he proposed but on a better, more sturdy ring. Love it!

Them Doggies!!!

Ignore the mess-The whole bathroom is currently in the living room!! :(

Wordless Wednesday-St. Patty's Photoshoot

Preparing for the photoshoot!

 

Here we go....

"What?? You said smile??"

Finally a smile!

"Mommy!! I smiled for you!! Now leave me alone to play please!!"

Challenge- Half way point and home renovations!

We are officially half way done with our challenge.
And ya know, it seems like it is getting easier!! Meals at home have been better than ever. We are adding new twists onto old favorites.  Trying new things here and there. 

We stuck to last weeks meals to a "t", except Sunday.  Randy was renovating the bathroom til pretty late. We ended up having grilled cheese sandwiches! We only have a few meals planned out so far this week. I am trying to switch grocery shopping from Mondays to Thursday, so I need to plan meals all the way up to next Wednesday. But here is what we have so far:
Monday- BBQ chicken with roasted potato and garlic green beans
Tuesday- Bunless sloppy joes, rice, and brussel sprouts
Wednesday- Corned beef and baked cabbage (Thanks for the idea, AJ :)
Thursday- probably just left overs
Friday- Pizza Friday

We are having friends over Saturday, so we are going to try a new recipe I have seen all over "blog world". Honey Lime enchiladas!! I have seen it on 4 different blogs just this week, so it has to be yummy, right?

Onto the home renovations.
Randy has been wanting to re-do the spare bathroom since he first bought the house. And finally, we are tackling that project. Since it is Randy's project, I will let him tell the story. But, we will definitely not be getting to that until Sunday. I will say, it looks amazing already!! I cannot wait to see the finished room!! Pictures and Randy's story to come!!!

5QF

If you want to participate in 5 Question Friday, link back to Five Crooked Halos.

1. How much time do you spend on the computer a day?

On and off while Kylar is awake, usually to email my mom back. 

Then during nap times, I read all the blogs I have book-marked. I would say maybe 2-3 hours a day-on and off. 

2. Will you pay for your children's college or raise them to pay for their own way?

We are still undecided about this. I paid for mine with student loans. Which we are still paying. And Randy's parents paid for his. It sucks paying back the loans, but, I don't think we will pay the full tuition. What I would prefer to do, is set up an account and put X amount of dollars in there for their own use. Whether it be a down payment, a wedding, college or a car, etc, etc. But, we will be talking about this soon, considering we do not have an account set up for Kylar yet :/

 

3. Have you ever been in a car accident?

Two minor accidents. Of course when I was young and dumb. I rear ended someone (just a little fender bender). Then I was rear ended. Karma apparently! 

4. What is your favorite book?

I couldn't even tell you....I used to read a lot. I need to get back on that. But I like cheesy beach reads. Like the shopaholic books and other cheesy romances. When I was younger, I like Little Women and The Secret Garden. Which reminds me....I need to find that book from Mom and Dad's. 

 

5. Do you make your bed everyday?

I have been making a major effort to try and do this every morning. I have been pretty good about it lately. Hopefully it will last.

Wordless Wednesday!!-Daddy Daughter Day!

This is how the day goes when Mommy isn't there!!

Time for a little more stimulation-Tummytime!!

Then.....came......

 X-Box! At least it was just basketball....I think????

First walk of spring!

We went for a walk yesterday since it was almost 60 out!!
Kylar decided to go incognito!

 

We walked to the start of the neighborhood. And we saw him

 

And his shy friend.

  

Then Lola got tired, so she went in the stroller with Kylar.

 

Then we headed back, but Wiley was listening to his friends bark!

 

It was a nice walk on a beautiful day!

 
 

P.S- Marin-I was wearing that sweatshirt b/c I thought it was going to be a little chilly!!!

Challenge-8 days down!

Our challenge has been great so far!! We have both already lost a little bit of weight! I believe Randy is 5lbs lighter and I am 3-4, depending on the day. Which happens to be 5 lbs less than my pre pregnancy weight! Crazy how when you are eating out all the time, you do not realize how many extra calories you are consuming. And I have really enjoyed cooking every night.

Let's see if I can remember what we had all week!
Monday- Salmon
Tuesday-  Meatloaf with veggies.
Wednesday- Sausage with tomatoes, onions, and cabbage.
Thursday- Shrimp and veggies
Friday- Low carb Pizza
Saturday- Low carb Pizza again (I forgot to take the tuna steaks out of the freezer....oops)
Sunday- Tuna steaks with Wasabi and soy sauce, veggies and rice
Tonight- We will be having Swedish meatballs and veggies.

The only time I have been tempted to pick something up while I was out was Thursday! Only because I locked myself out of the house and I was dying of thirst! lol. It took everything out of me not to swing through the drive thru and get a drink on our way to Shay's house. But, I was able to resist!

Our plan of each picking 3 meals a week has been working out pretty well.
This week our picks are:
Randy-
Burritos
Steak
Chicken breast

Mallorey-
Meatballs
turkey burgers
homemade boneless (non breaded) wings. Really just chicken breast chucked and sauteed with wing sauce!! lol.

I am trying to get Randy to be a little more adventurous with his meal picking. I am encouraging him to pick something from a cookbook we have or look online. But when he says stuff like chicken, maybe I will just have to find a yummy new side dish to try.

Well. I think we are off to a good start so far. I need to go to the store at some point this week. I cannot wait til Kylar is a little bigger and can sit in the cart (obviously with a cute little cart cover to keep her entertained and keep germs away).
I will update with this weeks progress next week!

Proud Papa

Mal has been trying to get me to blog as of late, and she's right, I should.  I feel bad enough that I didn't finish blogging in December about the events that unfolded when Kylar was born!  But to my credit, I was aggressively seeking a new job in that same month and put a ton of effort into it.  Turns out all of that effort paid off when I landed a new job with Humana at the end of January.  Since being there for over a month now, I really enjoy what I'm doing but I'm also feeling the effects of being a "salaried" employee.  There are times when, if I can't get things finished at work before I leave for the day, I have to bring my work home and finish it up.  Of course, I was aware of this going into my new career, but I vowed never be that workaholic Dad you see in the movies and on TV.  I usually come home around 6pm, and sometimes still have unfinished work to do.  When this happens it makes it hard to sit down and commit time to doing it, especially considering the following schedule: 1) Give Kylar a bottle around 6:30; 2) Sit down at the dinner table and eat between 6:45-7:15; 3) Give Kylar a bath at 8:00; 4) Kylar goes to bed around 8:30 or 9:00.  This essentially means that I don't have much time to spend with Kylar or Mal during the week.  But while there sometimes isn't enough hours in the day, as I always say, I make it a point to capitalize on the weekends by trying to spend as much quality time with them as possible.  You should see me on Fridays on the ride home from work.  I'm filled with so much excitement knowing I can devote the rest of the evening and the entire weekend to being with them.  On Saturdays and Sundays, Mal even lets me put sports on tv :-)  The bottom line is that I  have a job that I enjoy doing right now and a family that I dearly love spending every minute with.  Kylar's smile and Mal's friendship makes it all worthwhile.

For the second consecutive weekend, Mal has gone out to do some things, and has put me in charge of watching over Kylar while she's gone.  This has built my confidence and made me feel so proud as a father and a husband.  Knowing that Mal trusts me with her while she is gone gives me a great feeling inside.  Plus it feels good to know that I can be a father on my own and spend quality daddy-daughter time with Kylar.  After experiencing this, I know now how Mal feels on a daily basis.  Time really does fly though.  In a two hour span, I played with Kylar and some of her toys, read her a book, watched her on her playmat, put her in her jump-a-roo and snuggled with her.  Those two hours went by faster than when I'm working on databases or reports at work!  I don't think I looked up at the clock one time while I was interacting with her.  The cutest thing for me as a Dad is when she will yawn several times while I'm holding her but refuses to close her eyes.  Then, within a matter of seconds, she falls asleep sitting up in my lap Haha!  Maybe I should become a stay-at-home-Dad.....Nah, I'll leave that part to Mal.

5 question Friday!

Don't forget to link up to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5QF!

1. What's your guilty pleasure?

Hmmm.....I have to ask my husband..... He says "high school tv shows". Hahaha! Like Degrassi, 90210 (old and new), One Tree Hill (the re-runs, not this new crap), Secret Life etc.

I guess he is right. 

But I would say.....

Mcdonalds French Fries with no salt!! YUM!! I might just be saying that bc I know I will not have any for a long LONG time. But still. They are so yummy!!  

2. What is your favorite TV series?

Grey's Anatomy! I even got Randy hooked! I am not supposed to watch the new episodes without him. Like this week!! He had to work from home! BLAH!

3. Can you speak any foreign languages?

I used to be able to speak Spanish very well. I took 4 years of Spanish in high school. I really enjoyed it! Looking back....maybe I should have studied that in college! Maybe I would have done better! haha! 

But, lack of use has kind of ruined that. When we were in Cancun, I could speak enough of it to have simple conversations. That is one of the best things about Latinos! They are willing to help with conversation if you are willing to talk to them in THEIR native tongue. 

4. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

We just threw a ton away.... Let me go count!!

19

1 pair of slippers

and I will soon be buying a few pairs of flip flops and a pair of cute sandals, but that is besides the point. 

5. What's your favorite kind of M&M's...peanut, almond, straight up regular, etc.?

Lately it was the Dark Chocolate. But my favorite would be peanut, then almond. 

Wordless Wednesday!!- I wanna go back!!

4 months old!!

Jeez! Can you believe Kylar is 4 months old!!?? She is growing like a weed and getting very active!
We had her 4 month check-up today. She is 12lbs 11 oz! And 23 1/4 inches long. Which is pretty right on to our measurements last night! She is consistently in the 45th percentile. 

We are not starting on solids just yet. The DR. said we can start anytime if we want, but he sees no need since she is satisfied from nursing. But he said after 6 months, we have to introduce solids. He also wants us to start giving her a few ounces of water a day so she gets fluoride. Does anyone know if a Brita filter allows fluoride through??

She was a trooper during her shots. She cried, but then as soon as I picked her up, she started talking, well yelling, or maybe talking in a harsh tone. She was NOT happy and she was letting the nurse know how she felt about that!! Sweet little thing!! Here she is checking out the 4 little boys (brothers) playing in the waiting area, while their mom was in the back with the baby....a boy!!! 5 boys!!!! Yikes!

Aside from the check up, Kylar will be starting swim lessons in April. We are very excited!! We need to be prepared for trips to see Shay-Shay and her pool over the summer!! :)

March 1st means cooking in!

Today is the first day of our challenge to eat in all month long. We are very excited about it. Since we are eating in, Randy also wanted to incorporate "low carb" into our meals. I am only going semi low carb. We didn't research to see if it is safe for nursing, so I will stick with the gestational diabetes carb guidelines. But, I am going to have to learn what kinds of foods Randy wants for his lunches! I didn't make his lunch last night bc I don't know what he wants/needs. So we are supposed to go over "ideas" for his lunches tonight.

But anyway. Back to the dinners.
We decided to stick with basic meals that I already know how to cook for the first week. After this week, "the plan" is each of us picks a new recipe to try for the week. We each pick 3 meals and we have homemade pizza every Friday (need to find something to make this low carb!!).  Luckily, everything we picked out meat wise, we have in the freezer already! Thanks to Sam's Club and buying
in bulk :)  Does anyone know what that green box is one the bottom??

If anyone has any yummy, low carb, meal ideas, I would love to hear them. The spicier the better for Randy!

Wish us luck! Our first meal is Teriyaki salmon with spinach and asparagus! Yum! I wonder if Randy knows the sauce has carbs?? Shhh.....He picked it and it is already marinating! Neither of us thought of that! Oh well!