The traveling bug.....

Sometimes I feel the need to get in the car and drive. Now is one of those times. But honestly, one day I want to do much more than that. I have a friend that's halfway around the world that I'm emailing right now. She's visiting Slovakia. How cool is that? It sounds so beautiful over there. She said that Vienna, Austria is like a fairytale. I can imagine all of the castles and beautiful scenery over there. I feel like I'm this little piece of the world and can't wait to have the chance to travel beyond borders and oceans one day. I'd like to do it when my kids are grown. I just hope I have someone to do it with. Richard HATES to travel. He'd rather stay home. Um, he hated Vegas, so what does that tell you? I just want to able to have the opportunity to travel and be going with someone who enjoys it as much as I do. One of the top places on my list is Germany. I'd also like to visit Ireland because I've heard how beautiful it is. So, I'm counting on at least a few of my friends to step up to the plate one day! Let's go!

Jennifer, I'm so sorry that you're having to move. That sucks. I know that this post of mine didn't help you much. :(

Guess what I got?

I got a treadmill! Richard went and bought me one at Oshman's today! YAY! I've wanted one for a while now. I originally wanted a jogging stroller, but I can only use that for a limited time. This treadmill will last a long time and I can put the baby down by it and continue walking or walk with her in tow! I can walk in any kind of weather! Richard put it out in his shop, so I can watch TV while I walk or jam out to music on my mp3 player or on his surround sound out there! I'm so excited! I LOVE teaching at the gyms, but sometimes I just want to work out here at home too. Now I'll get to!

Just had to share.......

Snow? What snow?

Well as many of you have heard by now, it snowed in Victoria on Christmas Eve/Day. We were in La Grange and we missed it all. We did however hear about it from numerous people calling us about it. Grrrrr! My cousins were in Ganado and they showed us pics on their laptop. I had a cousin in Corpus that called us to tell us that it was snowing there as well....A LOT! I've seen more pictures on the internet. I guess I'm a bit bitter and jealous because we didn't get to see it! Kyra would have been in heaven. Too bad it won't happen again.....for a LONG time. We had a "dusting" of snow in February up here. Now that I see the FOOT of snow that was down there, I realize that we really didn't get that much up here. I still cannot believe that the snow "line" traveled up Hwy. 59 to Houston and didn't go any farther north. How strange is that? Even stranger is that I've heard that people saw a lot of lightning and heard thunder before the storm. My dad told me that there's an old saying that if you hear thunder before a storm in December that the weather is likely to repeat itself. Oh yeah. When? I'd like to know so I can be there next time! My dad is equally upset that he didn't get to see it. I think he called everyone he knew in Victoria to get their reaction so that he could live vicariously through them. Oh well. There's always next year?!

We had a great Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we went to La Grange and had Christmas at Lisa's. On Christmas Day, we drove to Cypress to Richard's uncle's and then drove back to La Grange that evening. My dad had birthday on Christmas, so we had family over. It was a low key celebration, but was fun. Kyra got to play with her cousins, William and Kalyn. We are glad to be home though. I'm glad to get back to working out this week. I always feel the need to work out after a long holiday break.

Merry Christmas!

We are busy this week, so I thought I'd share a bit of what is going on. Richard's mom, Debbie is here with our niece Valerie. They came up on Saturday. Kyra is thrilled. She's got a "big sister" this week. It almost feels weird because I've seldomly been bothered or bugged by Kyra. I'm not used to that! hehe! The girls are having so much fun. They are staying till Thursday morning and then will go back to Victoria.

On Christmas Eve, we are going to Lisa and Nathan's in La Grange. We are celebrating there with my mom's side of the family. Then on Christmas Day, we'll go to Cypress (just west of Houston) to see Richard's Uncle Gary and celebrate at his house. We'll come back to Lisa and Nathan's that night to celebrate my dad's birthday and then come back here on the 26th. Whew! I'll need a nice long nap after this weekend! We are going to be busy!

I didn't know when we'd celebrate with Richard's mom and all of the other cousins, but I think we are going to Victoria on the 1st to have Christmas down there. So, we'll be going to Victoria next weekend. I can't remember the last time we've been down there! Unfortunately with Richard working every other weekend, we don't get down there much.

Thank you to all who sent Christmas cards! I love getting photographs of families and kiddos!

I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas! If you travel, be safe. Enjoy this time with your family......reflecting on old memories and making new ones!

Holiday burnout?

Why oh why do they start the Christmas season earlier and earlier every year? I feel like I'm already experiencing holiday "burnout". I feel like I've seen all of the Christmas lights in the world, watched every Christmas special known to man on TV, wrapped 50,000 gifts, and heard every Christmas carol ever written. I'm tired. I'm almost relieved that Christmas will be here in a little over a week. I think Kyra is anxious too. Poor thing. It must be even harder when you're a kid. Kids don't have a lot of comprehension when it comes to "time" and how long something takes. When I found out I was pregnant and we told Kyra she said, "Great! So will we be getting the baby tomorrow?" Um, I wish it worked that way, but it doesn't. I guess she thought that we could just go to the store and buy one like we'd buy a baby doll.

Maybe I'm feeling a little depressed....I really don't know. With these crazy hormones, I have good days and bad days. With these allergies, I have good days and bad days. My body is so messed up right now! That's why I cringe when women say that they LOVE being pregnant. Ok, why? It's so hard on one's body. That's why I'm glad that this is my last one and I'll never have to do it again!

It's not like I'm mad about it. It's just not my favorite thing in the world. We found out the most wonderful thing this week....that we are having another GIRL! I'm so excited. I think I'm more excited for Kyra....that she'll have a little sister to play with. Since I was a big sister, I get to tell Kyra what happens when you are the big sister. Your little sister will bug the heck out of you. She'll annoy you to no end. She WON'T leave you alone. She'll tell on you. Since she's the youngest, she'll get her way. All of those fun things. Most of all, a little sister ADORES you. You are her idol (well for a short time anyway). Same sex siblings share a bond like no other. I'm so glad that Kyra will have a sister soon.

So are we seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet?

What a year.....

I've just realized that the year is almost over with. Where did the time go? I have to say that this year is one that I'll remember for a long time....perhaps because there were so many highs and lows this year. It was one heck of a rollercoaster ride, so I thought I'd recap.

In January, a few things happened. First of all, I decided to get serious about weight loss. I had exercised for years, so that was never a problem. My problem is that I never watched what I put into my mouth! So, I decided to hit it hard and tackle the South Beach Diet. I had heard so much about it, so I had to try it. I signed up online. The first few weeks were rough, but they got easier and guess what? The pounds came off! It really worked! From January through August, I lost 30 lbs.! I couldn't believe it. It does take a lot of hard work and dedication though. I found myself in sizes that I wasn't even in in high school! I'm definitely going back on it after baby #2 is born. Also in January, my Granny celebrated her 80th birthday. She didn't want a party, but we gave her one anyway. It was a blessing in disguise.

February, March, and April passed without any major happenings. I think of it as a "rest" period. Oh, I did have a birthday though in March and turned 27! 30 is even closer now. ACK!

May was a tough month. Later in the month, we found out that the stomach woes that Granny had been having were happening as a result of something much worse. She had pancreatic cancer. We were stunned. It all happened so quickly. Granny was brave and took it all in stride. She didn't want treatment. The cancer was quickly spreading to her liver and other organs as well.

In early June, Granny passed away. She was our rock. I took Kyra to see her in the hospital a few days before she died. I told her that I loved her and I'd never forget the times we shared together. I thanked her for being such a role model after my mom died. She hugged and kissed Kyra and told her that she loved her. She told me that Kyra would never remember her. That's not true. Just the other weekend, we were walking out of church and Kyra turns to me and says, "I miss Granny." She knows that Granny is in Heaven along with Grandma Tootsie and "Pap Pap" (Richard's dad) and Chad too.

I still hear Granny's voice. It's so fresh on my mind. I still think that she's just a phone call away, but I'm wrong. She's closer than that. She's in my heart and on my mind all the time. I went through my recipe box the other day and there are so many recipes that she had written down for me. I miss the little things though....the cards and letters that she'd send to Kyra and I, the smell of her house this time of year, sleeping under electric blankets. Gosh, I miss her. I really do. I bought a poinsettia yesterday and I think I'll start to do that every year at Christmas....to remember Granny.

Shortly after that, Kyra turned 3! I have a 3 year old! We had a wonderful party here for her with lots of family and friends. She had fun.

In July, Richard turned 27 (see he's on my tail!). We also had a lot of showers and preparations for Lisa and Nathan's wedding that month, so we were busy.

On August 21st, Lisa and Nathan got married. We were all in the wedding. Kyra did as well as could be expected for a 3 year old. It was so much fun. She looked like a doll in her dress and had so much fun with April and Emily. It was a long day, but we made it through! Kyra konked out before we even hit the highway leaving DaCosta that night!

Shortly after the wedding, we received an even bigger surprise. We were expecting #2! We knew that we wanted to start trying after the wedding (but it happened BEFORE!), but we had NO IDEA how quickly it would happen. Let's just say that we decided one month and were pregnant the next! We walked around for 2 weeks without saying a word to each other. We were in shock. It took us 10 months to get pregnant with Kyra.

September came and went. Then the baseball playoffs started heating up. The Astros kept winning and winning and winning! It was so exciting. I remember sitting on the sofa and bawling my eyes out after they had won one of the playoffs. My thoughts shifted to Granny. Granny was one of the biggest Astros fans. She watched all the games that were on TV, knew who was pitching at least a week ahead of time, and knew who had hit homeruns weeks ago. She kept up with all of that. I kept saying that if there was one year for the Astros to go this far, it's this year. Granny was helping her boys. It's unfortunate that the Cards beat them, but I'm so glad the BoSox won the World Series! YAY!

We survived Halloween, WURSTFEST, and Thanksgiving and we are now in the Christmas season. I'm now 20 weeks pregnant (halfway there!) and I can't wait to see what 2005 brings! You'll probably be hearing stories about poop, coos, and rolling over! Ahhhhh....I can't wait!

Happy Holidays and be sure to spend time with those you love this holiday season. Life is short, so make the most of every moment. ;)

Light my fire.....

2250.....that's how many lights we just purchased from Walmart to put outside. We are Christmas light virgins. We've NEVER put lights up outside. But, this year we have a 3 1/2 year old that constantly reminds us that "everyone else has Christmas lights up....except us!" So, off to Walmart we went. That place is crazy. The Christmas section itself is pure chaos....people everywhere "trying" to make decisions about what they want. Ugh. Then Richard decides to take Kyra to the shoe department because she needs new shoes. Bad idea. Kyra is VERY particular about shoes and clothes now. So, there we sat for 20 minutes....waiting for her to make a decision. We finally settled on a pair of Care Bears velcro tennis shoes. By the way, the person that invented velcro is a freakin genius. I thank God for that person. We finally left that place and in the parking lot a lady asked us if we could "spare some quarters". Richard said loudly, "Now is NOT the time!" LOL!

On Saturday, I met an old friend at Starbucks in San Marcos. I hadn't seen her since Richard and I got married. We sat and talked and talked in Starbucks from 1:00-5:30! 4 1/2 hours! We had a lot to catch up on! Our lives have changed A LOT since we last saw each other. I'm just glad we've kept in touch! We used to work at the gym together in Victoria. Man, those were the days. I was nothing short of a lunatic....teaching 2-3 classes per day. I don't know if my body could do that anymore. I teach 2 classes on Tuesdays now, but one is Flow!

Hope everyone is ok and enjoying the Christmas season. Reality hit me a few days ago when I took Kyra to see Santa. Next year, I'll have not one, but TWO kiddos sitting on Santa's lap! ACK! I'm looking forward to it though....that and getting my body back!

Deja vu......

I've had nothing to complain about so far in this pregnancy. Sure I had nausea for what seemed like forever and had no energy for the first 12+ weeks. That's pretty much a given though, right? Now I find myself experiencing a whole new set of problems....but ones that I remember very well when I was pregnant with Kyra. Today was a crummy day. I didn't feel good at all. I felt lethargic and couldn't move very fast. I taught at noon and then came home to eat. That didn't make me feel better either. I finally called the doctor's office and talked myself into believing that I had a lot of the same things that I had with Kyra. First of all, when I get to this point in my pregnancy, I become anemic. The baby takes all of my nutrients and I have none left to give. What takes care of this is some simple over the counter iron pills. So, I got some today. Richard and I were laughing that Kyra was "stealing" all the food from me and still does even out of the womb. That child walks around the house all day saying, "I'm hungry." Some things never change! LOL!

Another reason why I'm having headaches and sinus troubles is because the cedar is starting to pop up in the pollen counts. Lovely. I can take Allegra while pregnant. I did with Kyra. So, I'm asking for it tomorrow when I go see the doctor.

When I was pregnant with Kyra, I had a drop in my blood pressure at 23 weeks. I'm only 19 weeks, but that could be what's happening too. It makes you feel terrible. At least I know what to expect this time around.

So bottom line is that every pregnancy is NOT different. Mine have been similar so far. I guess my body just knows how to react. I feel more at ease now because I've been through this before. I think I know more than the doctors do sometime. ;)

We're finding out on December 15th if it's a boy or a girl. Hopefully we'll have some cooperation from the baby on that day.