Well, God did it again :) What an awesome bday present!

Yep, Jason and I are going to be parents again :) We've been trying for a few months now, but the house remodeling had priority, so I thought since I was shooting for an 11/11/11 due date, I better get serious :) So I used the fertility friend website- where you take your temperature each morning and track your symptons, period cycles, intercourse, etc... and well within two months we got it right. February's ovulation date kept moving around, so i thought we missed it and then was going to have to wait until April since I was going to be on travel in March during that exact time when I could get pregnant.

My 32nd bday is today, but JAB played this past Saturday, so I decided to take a pregnancy test 1) I was 2 days late 2) I knew i was going to be partying so i wanted to verify that I wasn't 3) I had the symptoms of either starting my period or being pregnant- they are very similar so it makes it hard to figure out. so Friday, March 4th was the day I found out! I had been sick with a cold and coughing for two days and stayed home from work. While Jason ran to the grocery store to get things for dinner, that's when I decided to take a test. It was just Kelson and I- so I took the test and the up and down line showed up rather quickly. Once again, I was in shock. I couldn't believe it- could i really be pregnant? So I went out and told Kelson that mommy had a baby in her belly :) Kelson has been asking for a brother or sister the last couple of months!!! :) So when Jason got home I told her to tell him that mommy had a baby in her belly, so she did and he looked at us and said yes baby girl we are working on it- and then I held up the pregnancy test and said well it looks like we do. His jaw dropped and he was like OMG, are you serious? I said yep- but I'm gonna run to the store to get another one. So I did and once again "+"!!! :) Both Jason and I were giddy all night and wanted to wait to tell anyone. So to keep thing on the down low I told Jason to tell everyone that I wasn't feeling good so I wasn't gonna be going out Sat night. If Kelly went to a bar and didn't drink esp on her BDAY everyone would know! So i just opted to stay home. I couldn't sleep AT ALL the first night we found out. I was thinking of ways to tell everyone, thinking of if was going to be a girl or boy, when I should make my first appt, etc...The funny thing is i told Jason if he was a boy I would like to name him Janson Ebenezer :) he said, well Kelly that's a bit much... LOL! But we both really do like Janson Eli (Elias) was Walt Disney's middle name. So, ya never know! I have a feeling we are gonna get that BOY this time :) Kelson goes back and forth- I think she just wants a playmate :)
Since the family was going to FL we celebrated my bday that Sunday- March 6th- so how we told Jason's family was I had Kelson unwrap a "Big Sister" t-shirt, so when she opened it I looked up and said Wow- and showed it to the family- aline was the first to say- OMG- your pregnant :) And I just smiled!!! They all started screaming and laughing and clapping- it was sooo cute. Lucy kissed me at least 100 times! Kelson was singing- were gonna have a baby- were gonna have a baby with Lucy and the family. LOL! It was so cute! Made my birthday so special. We are going to see my mom and dad tomorrow so I'm gonna have Kelson wear her "big sister" t-shirt when we see them... I figured that's a good way to get the news out! This weekend we will tell the rest of the Albert family at Rebecca and Jeff's wedding. Sucks that I can't party with them, but its not like I haven't done it before, and being pregnant again is such a dream come true, so no worries!!! I had planned to lose a lot more weight before getting pregnant again, so that parts sucks. I plan to get more active and eat right so the weight doesn't PILE on with this one. Either way, I'm super happy and feel super blessed! We plan to tell everyone probably next week (not sure how yet)?? maybe with a baby ticker and a picture of Kelson wearing a big sister t-shirt!!! :0) Most of our friends will probably find out. Facebook is a hard way to keep a secret :) BTW- I got SOOOO many facebook birthday wishes, made me feel so important and loved.

Tonight I'm looking forward to having "girl time" with my friends. Only one of them knows I'm pregnant, so when I make the skinny girl margaritas and NOT drink one, they will be asking questions, but I'm excited to tell them why I can't :) I wanted to celebrate a girls night IN... we are gonna cook a mexican spread and drink wine, margaritas, and watch a girly movie ALTOGETHER! I'm really looking forward to it. Kelson and Jason are both in Mexico Beach. We are meeting up in Orlando tomorrow. We get to see my sister and the kids, and mom and dad. I can't wait! Haven't seen them since December. Then Disneyworld on Thursday, then head to Tampa for the wedding that weekend. Full schedule, but I can't wait!!!! Well I gotta leave work now- LOL- so i can stop and get a few things for the trip and the get together tonight. I'm gonna try to start posting more frequently again. Talk to you later!!!

Catching up

Well, its been a LONG time since I've written. Life has been CRAZY busy, but its all for the better :) Kelson is 3.5 now and is the smartest and cutest little girl i know. She sleeps in her big girl bed (with a little bribe from Chuck E Cheese), LOVES going to the Little Gym and her teachers are always excited to see her as well, she loves to eat "snacks" and fruit. She is looking forward to having a baby brother or sister one day, although she told me Wed night that would like to have TWO of them :) LOL! She is a BIG snuggler, loves to sing, loves to tell you stories about her day, has a GREAT memory, and loves to take a bath, watch a little part of a movie, than have her back rubbed to go to sleep. I don't know what we ever did without her :)
Jason and I have been BUSTING our tails on our new addition and remodeling of 117 Clutts Road. We started back in July getting the funding for it and then started the work around August. Me, the lead contractor, :) found all the right hired help to get us our "dream house".. it took us around 3.5 months to get to a liveable place. It was such a great investment for us. We spent around $70K on it.. added 1500 sq ft, a huge back porch concrete area with fire pit, a huge fireplace/entertainment center in our livingroom. Custom countertops and cabinets in the kitchen. All new appliances, made our existing livingroom into a media room, our existing dining room into a playroom for Kelson. Existing kitchen into a spare bedroom and foyer area. we have a huge courtyard area (TBD what we are going to do with that). We added around $120K worth of equity into the house, so i would say it was a wise investment. We still have some things to finish it up... baseboards, finish the back porch, painting, buying the media room furniture and electronic accessories, fix up the outside landscaping, stucco, etc.. Another to do is getting the A/C units replaced with energy star units. All this extra house sure is driving up the utility bills ;) So now our house is 3200 sq ft with an almost 600 sq foot CAVE :) Our open livingroom and kitchen combo is AWESOME.. we ha the ceiling done in tounge and groove instead of sheet rock, so it makes it more unique. So our house now consists of 4 bedrooms, a playroom, a media room, livingroom, kitchen, laundry room, storage room, courtyard, and back porch concreted area with firepit, and the cave :) Not bad!!! We did do some house searching previous to this and we just couldnt' find anything we wanted, so we built it :)
It was a lot of hassle over the last few months between getting everyone on the same page, the financing, the appraising, etc.. but it all worked out. We couldn't of done without our family's help!!!
Jason is still jamming with the Jason Albert Band when he wants to ;) mostly on the weekends. He loves being at home and being a stay at home daddy. We are thinking about starting Kelson is a mother's day out program, only because she needs to get used to being in that type of enviornment to get ready for Pre-K. Plus she LOVES the interaction with new kids and teachers.
I'm still at Boeing working under Business Development (Marketing and Sales). I LOVE IT! This is my fav job since I've started working here back in 2003. Sometimes it takes time, but I'm so happy I landed where I am. I work with GREAT people and I love my team.
So, yes, we are trying for baby albert #2. I've been tracking my BBT on the fertiltyfriend.com website. It's a little hard to read at first, but i think i'm getting the hang of it. We'll see how things progress over the next couple of months :) I'm shooting for an 11/11/2011 baby. I'm fine with another girl OR a bouncing baby boy. As I mentioned, Kelson wants two ;) If that were to happen, I'm just fortunate that I have LOTS OF help. I'm still not sure if we had another one if I would be done, but at least after he/she arrives I will know shortly after ;) LOL! I have BAD baby fever right now. Kelson NEEDS a sibling to play with.

Oh- since having the new house, EERS has been spending the night in the cave. He, after 12 years of trying to potty train him, still hasn't grasped it yet, so I bought him a nice bed, and he is hanging out at the cave with Bob :) Don't worry its like an oversized and comforting dog house. He doesn't seem to mind it. We let him come over and spend the night occasionally- only cause we start to miss him, but if he just wouldn't PEE everywhere GEESH.. and oh the hair.. that's another blog ;)

Well I guess that about wraps it up. 2011 is going to be a fun and interesting year. Lots of trips planned: March- Rebecca's wedding and a disney trip together,and May- cousin Lash is getting married in SC (first time Jason has met this side of my family)!!! looking forward to all the fun activites and HOPEFULLY baby that God will bless our family with. Happy 2011 everyone!

Oh- and on top of all this, the corner- Jason, Kelly, Lucy, Louise, and Theana are all dieting :) Let's see how that goes. So far so good!

Pee Pee in the potty and so much more...

Well, it is true- after kids decide that they want to pee pee in the potty- they do :) We tried to get Kelson to go several times when she turned 2 1/2, but she showed no desire to do it. Mom told me that I shouldn't stress over it cause I will be trying for months instead of when Kelson is ready it will only take days :) So a week or so after turning 3- Kelson has NAILED the potty thing. Her treats consist of skittles (which she calls pickles) and our promise to take her to disneyworld to see Mickey :) She isn't wearing a diaper at night either :) I'm very proud of her- she pees before she goes to bed and right when she wakes up. She is a very smart girl, so I knew she wouldn't take long to catch on.
I'm so proud of my little girl- although she is getting bigger and bigger each day. Hard to believe she is 3 already. She had a great Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bday party- another water party- and good lord was it a hot one this summer. Whew! She had a great turnout. Trying to decide if we want to attempt the "outside" party anymore :) Guess well figure that out next year. Kelson's at such a fun age where she really shows her personality. She loves loves loves to entertain and has been such a "mommys girl" lately. She doesn't mind being dressed up- although she HATES for her hair to be brushed. Recently Annabelle and Corgan came up from FL to visit and she had a blast with them. They are all at such fun ages. We are planning on going down to FL in December for Christmas with my family and to see Mickey Mouse- as promised to a little girl :) Excited about the things to come...

Jason and I have been trying for another baby for a few months, but with our house remodeling we have been a little pre-occupied. We know that God will bless us with another one when the time is right.

We started around the last week of July adding on 1100 sq ft to our existing house. It's going to be a living room/kitchen open floor plan with laundry room (a shoot from our bathroom to the l/r) a storage closet with underneath access in case of bad weather, and a 1/2 bath. We are adding a back porch and fixing up our existing back porch to be a courtyard. It's very exciting! Our existing kitchen will be another bedroom, our dining room will be a playroom for Kelson, and our living room will be turned into a home theater. Our house will be a little over 3200 sq ft when its all said and done. Along with the 500+ sq foot of "cave". Our house will be our dream house- but in our budget :) We are really looking forward to it and can't believe how smoothly the process is going. We are currently working on electric and sheet rock- and its only been 1.5 months! That's nuts and sooo sweet! As you can tell- we are very excited and looking forward to our unique and AWESOME house :)

On a sadder note, Nanny (Jason's grandmother), but might as well be mine too, has decided to stop her dialysis treatments. She has been doing it for 4+ years and has decided that she is done. She is ready to go to heaven with her sweet grandpap. Kelson has been keeping everyone smiling and our hopes high. We have no idea how long Nanny will last without her treatments, but she already seems somewhat relieved. The last year or so she has had a few strokes, which have really caused her to be immobile and not able to do much on her own. Whenever God decides to bring Nanny to heaven, we will all rejoice for the life that she has lived and the positive impact she has made on all of us. Please just continue to pray for all of us to have strength to get through this heartache.

What a memory...

Jason and I are astounded at how well Kelson remembers things. She STILL talks about our days back in October of last year when we went to DisneyWorld and what we did, who we were with, and what rides she liked. I know most kids her age don't recall things and she remembers. Even stuff that I don't remember. We are amazed at this gift. Also, she LOVES to quote movies (just like Jason and I). Lately she's been doing the line from Lilo and Stitch where Lilo's sister Nani threatens to get a rabbit instead of keeping Lilo- so we go back and forth and quote the whole thing. It's the cutest thing EVER to hear her remember all the words- from both ends- and act it out too. Lilo ends up slamming the door, so Kelson's been doing that part too Then she screams into her pillow just like the movie. I think her remembrance skill comes from learning so many songs too- for being 2.5 yrs old she sure does know lots of songs and remembers most of the words. She is quite the little singer too- imagine that ;) She remembers people's names and nicknames and can say our real names, Kelly, then Mommy and she goes down the list- Jason/daddy, Lucy/Memere, etc... its super cute. She's been saying her full name since she was 2. She always gets lots of compliments on how well she speaks too- she speaks very clear and has a huge vocabulary. Lucy is teaching her french daily, I continue to teach her letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. I recently bought her a Leapster 2, a hand-held game and she LOVES it. It keeps track on how well she does with each skill level and she is at a kindergarten level for shapes/colors :) Makes a mommy proud. She is starting to recognize letters too. Those games are great for teaching. Its so funny to see her playing on jason's computer- using the mouse and clicking where the games are, etc.. she seems so grown up. Another thing that Kelson gets compliments on - not only that she's a cutie pie- but her manners :) We've taught her how to say excuse me if she wants to talk to me and we are doing something else, she says Thank you almost anytime I do something for her, she gives the SWEETEST smile when she gets excited about something, she even says God Bless you when you sneeze :) We've been working on her "tomboy" skills- she can hit the heck out of the ball off her tee- I was VERY amazed at how fast she caught on. She seems to really enjoy it too- she asks to go play outside all the time. She is going to be a very active little girl- we are already doing gymnastics and swimming, so I see softball in the near future. Oh- then we have music lessons that's a must :) She loves to go to the cave and sing on the microphone for everyone- and play Uncle Jay's drums.

I can't be more proud of my baby girl than I am today!!!

Kelson the little gymnast and swimmer

I recently signed Kelson up at another local gymnastics place called "The Little Gym". Its in a really ritsy part of town so I knew it would be better and more focused than at Tumblebeez. Kelson and I went to a trial class and LOVED it. They were more focused on the kids, had so much to do, played with balls, bubbles (Kelson's fav), and it was a very safe enviornment. Kelson had a blast- a girlfriend of mine was there with her little girl Emerson who is very close to Kelson's age, so they got along great. Emerson even warmed up to me :) It was really fun. So needless to say I signed her up and just signed her up for the summer classes too. Its a little on the expensive side, but its worth it. Overall its about $15/class- once a week for 45 min. Kelson's favorite thing to do is the uneven bars. She said she is a monkey.
On Sundays we started swimming lessons at the UAH Fitness Center. We go with one of my bunco friends and her little girl. Brigid is 8 months old, so the beginners class is wonderful for her. Kelson already loved being in the water and was not afraid so she is on the advanced side. Once Kelson turns 3 we are gonna move her up to the teacher taught class. The beginners one is parent-child. Which I LOVE! Kelson is quite the little swimmer and doesn't mind getting wet at all. Papa and Gigi got to join us last week while they were visiting from FL.
I was going to sign Kelson up for musical classes too (since she obviously has a talent there), but they don't start teaching piano till they are 4. So we will prob wait another year for that, but continue the other two activities.

We are going on a disney cruise through Europe in less than a month. I can't wait! It feels like forever ago we booked that cruise, and its finally here! Upon our return Jason and I talked about trying for another baby :) So I guess that will happen soon too. I was hoping to lose about 20 more lbs, but I don't see that happening- lol! I'll try to blog about our trip- I can't wait!!! What a neat experience this is going to be.

Catching up...wow- its been a while!

I know its been since last October since I've written. I guess time just got away from me. I've been playing on facebook (an interactive social network) that is easier to use and keep people informed on life events. But since one day I want to print these off for my journal, I wanted to capture some further detailed information.
Well lets see we had Halloween- Kelson was an adorable ladybug and Dumbo (I bought the outfit off ebay for $25- normally double that price online). She looked adorable. I was Cinderella (sexy version) and Jason was a roman soldier. Me and all my girlfriends dressed up as princesses. It was so much fun. Even Jason Miller dressed up as a princess- Jasmine. It was HILARIOUS. Mike Myerson dressed up as my dad- it was hilarious- had the bald thing carrying around a Xango bottle. It was so funny!!! Daddy was a great sport about it too. Halloween is always so much fun.

Christmas was quite eventful- we had so much going on this year. Kelson was soooo into Christmas so that made it even funner for us. She is quite the little diva. She even gave up her pacifier to Santa- we said that she had to give them to the little babies so she could get some Kai Lan toys- and it worked. She did AWESOME on giving it up. She was a little over 2 years old when she gave it up. Did much better than me- and she hasn't discovered the "thumb" ;) Whew! Anyways, mom and dad went to Keri's this year for Christmas, so we had Christmas early at our house, then did Christmas Eve night with the Alberts. We were supposed to do Christmas morning with Nanny and Memere, but both had health issues, so christmas presents got delayed. Which was ok cause it gave us more to look forward to. Kelson seemed to really enjoy Christmas and is still (in Feb) singing Christmas songs. She even learned the one from a Wonder Pets episode. So cute. She catches on and remembers things so well- it amazes me at how smart she is.

I know I'm missing all kinds of thinga and details. Kelson is now 2 1/2 years old. I still can't believe how fast time has flown by. She gets lots of comments on how GREAT she can speak and how adorable she is. I've been told that her personality is so much like I was :) Lucky girl. LOL! She's prob around 28lbs, is 3 feet tall, and has beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. She still looks like 50% me, 50% Jason. Its cool- I wouldn't want it any other way. She has been so healthy and has brought so much joy to this whole family and corner ;) Her favorite shows/movies are: The Wonder Pets, Kai Lan (which has taught her a few chinese words), YGG, Chipmunks, Nemo, Dumbo, Mickey Mouse and friend anything, and disney princess anything. She can draw a full attached circle with two eyes and a nose and a mouth in the perfect position. I've heard thats pretty advanced. She loves for you to challenge her. She knows almost ALL the animals I can think of and their sounds. I'm working on her with identifying numbers and letters. I'll have her spelling and writing her name soon- I guarantee it :) She is smart enough to do it and catch on.

Recently Jason and I took Kelson to the Hsv Marriott to partake in the National Discovery Network selection process for finding kids who they deem as cute, something unique, fun, photogentic, and lots of personality. Well she made it through the evaluation selection and now has been invited to partake in the Gulf Coast 2010 Convention located in PCB, FL in May. The National Discovery Network has a grade of A+ from the Better Business Bureau. The Convention costs $495 for the registration fee, $400 for hotel, $200 for photos, and a couple hundred for gas.

She will be in the Divison II group - 2 to 3 years old. She will partake in a runway presentation on Sat morning that I will assist her in. At that time the business sponsor names will be announced and a headshot and body shot will be showing in the backdrop of the runway. Because of her young age she doesn't get a chance to "show off" her talents. The older kids have a chance to do a commercial reading and partake in some workshops, so we shared our concern with the NDN director. She assured us that if Kelson is personable and adorable that we should get a callback on Sunday, in return that's when the agent(s) (national agents- the ones who represent the BIG BOY companies- disney, parents magazine, fisher price, etc..) select your child for possible model, commercial, or films. This is when they will get a chance to see her perform and show off her "Kelson personality". So we are hoping that will be the outcome. Although we are not promised anything. After discussing it, if we can get some financial assistance to do this, we would love to partake in this. If the outcome isn't successful at least we will have the experience. I set up something on facebook asking for donations for us to do this for Kelson. We financially needed help to do this. I knew that if family/friend could help, that they would. What great friends/family we have :)
So may is going to be a busy month. We have the PCB convention to attend and Keri and Keith have paid for our family (mom/dad, us, their family, and Kyle/Renee) to go on a 10 night Disney Cruise traveling throughout Europe :) We fly to Spain and leave from their on the boat. I am soooooo excited. I got to go to Europe last May with Keri (we went to Amsterdam and Paris). So exciting that we get to go by boat- this time we are going to different places in Europe, so that should be most interesting. Plus Jason and Kelson get to be with me this time. I love cruises, so a 10 night one, disney-related, seeing Europe, and being with my family is top notch! What a neat experience. We are hoping my godmother Paula will be working the flight to make things go much smoother. She was such a sweetheart on the last flight to Amsterdam- free everything, sweets, drinks, the works. Love her. So anyways, we have lots going on right now.
Mom and dad just moved down to Florida last weekend. It still hasn't hit me, but I know they are so excited about it. They've been wanting to go back down there since we all go out of high school. Keri and Keith bought another house for mom and dad to rent, so its a win-win for all of them. I'm very happy for them. At times I wish I could just pack up and move to FL too- I would love to be closer to my sister and family and all of Jason's family too. BUT.... there is a lot here too, so its too hard to do anything major right now. With that being said, we are discussing adding on to our house- AGAIN :) I said I was done, but we've done some house searching and I am just not impressed with what I see for the price we can afford. Our bedroom is bad ass so its hard to beat that in a regular house. We love our house and location so if we can just make it a little bigger and re-arrange a few things, we will be so much happier. We are hoping to have another baby in the oven after we return from the cruise, so a bigger house would be nice for that too. Lots to think about.

Jason is no longer a part of Heartland- he has ventured off to do the Jason Albert Band thing. He is super happy and loves the guys. Never any drama there. They are still signed with Herb Graham and his label, but things have pretty much slowed down. Some of the guys are doing their own things too, so its best for everyone. I've even been doing some booking for the JAB. Trying to get them down to Orlando and stuff :) But we aren't sure still if Jason's COUNTRY career is over- we still have a few ideas going on, so don't give up hope on that. If this is where his career ends for Nashville then its cool with us- what a neat experience and so much fun it has been. We got to do so many things and experience so much. I'm fine with whatever he wants to do. I'm here no matter what.

Well I think that about wraps things up for a while- I'll try to start writing again more often. Kelson is our little entertainer and singer- she sings for people at the cave now- imagine that. She likes to do it and that's what makes me happiest. I can't imagine my life without her. Adding to our family can only bring bigger and better things. I can't wait for that. BTW- Kelson said she wants a little sister. If that is true- another girl- then we may have to try one more time for a boy. If its a boy, then I'm not sure if I can handle Kelson NOT having a sister. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a sister and think every girl needs one. As long as we are doing fine in our marriage, financial stable, and happy I'll have as many as we can/want :)

I'm still working on getting back to pre-Kelson weight. I'm considering trying out te P90X program- hard core- but I'm willing to give it a try. I need something and only have two months before I'm in a bikini on a cruise. Plus I signed up for a "scale back Alabama" competition up at work. So I have to lose 10lbs so our team can get put into a drawing to win some $$$. So wish me luck. So far I haven't had much motivation, but I feel a change coming on and I'm ready to take it on.

Life is great!!!

The Rest of the Trip in Florida

Lucy and Bob headed over to see some of their family on the other coast, so we all packed up in Keri’s van and headed to the Melbourne area. I haven’t seen her house since their addition and re-modeling, so I was really looking forward to it. We got to the Donald Barn and I couldn’t believe how incredible it looked. We got a tour of the whole house and it was perfect and there were so many unique things that Keri had created. The pictures that I had seen of their place didn’t do it justice. Kelson loved the playroom Keri had set up. It was so fun and had so many different activities for the kids to do. Jason was asked to cook dinner, so we went to the fresh market and got some yummy steaks, and then Jason made pasta to go with it. All three of the kids were big fans of it. Corgan and Belle wouldn’t even try it and then when finally did, they told Uncle Jason how much they liked his pasta. Corgan and Belle are pretty picky eaters, so for them to like something is big. After dinner, we pretty much just relaxed, watched TV, showered (their shower is huge) and went to bed. Keri and Keith gave up their bedroom for Jason and me - so sweet of them. Kelson slept soundly in the media room. It’s going to be awesome when they are done with it.
The next day we just let the kids play, Keri rode her bike, and we decided to go visit the Brevard Zoo. I haven’t been to a Zoo since probably before we moved from Miami. It was in the middle of the week, so it wasn’t crowded, and they had a kiddie water area. We got to see LOTS of cool animals- there was a giraffe on the deck that we got to pet and see up close. That was a very cool experience. We went into the bird area to feed some birds- I didn’t care for that part- but the kids sure did seem to enjoy all the birds bombarding them for food. Lol. We saw so many cool animals- I think Kelson and the kids really enjoyed the zoo. Next we went to the water hole area- this was a great place to go cool off before heading home. It was another hot FL day, so it was refreshing.
Mom and dad offered to watch the kids, so Keri, Keith, Jason, and I could go out to eat at the Yellow Dog Café (Keri is always talking about how yummy this place is, so I wanted to try it out). Keith had a b-ball game, so he met up with us later, but OMG was she ever right, that food was awesome. We had so much food and every bit of it was delicious. Even the martinis! On the way home we stopped at Wal-Mart to buy a game. I bought the Family Feud game. We played it when we got back to their house, while eating our leftover desserts from the restaurant. It was time for bed- we had to leave the next day.
Overall, it was a wonderful trip and we hated to leave, especially because the kids were having such a great time together. I wished we lived closer. The trip home was great- no problems and it was nice to be back home. Eers was happy to see us too :) Kelson kept asking to go to Annabelle and Corgan’s house, but of course I had to explain that it was too far away. We had such a wonderful time and can’t wait to do it again. Keri did mention us all going on Disney cruise next summer- to celebrate Keith’s biz endeavor, so we are starting to plan for that and getting excited about spending more time together. Course we had thought about trying again next year for another little Albert, but I said I would never be pregnant on a cruise, so well just have to see- Since it’s a family cruise I may change my mind- Kelson has mentioned that she wants a little sister.

Sept 26, 2009- Animal Kingdom

Luckily, we had direct passes for this park so we didn’t have to go to Epcot first, so we arrived at the Animal Kingdom around 9:30am. We had lots of fun things to do here. We visited the tree of life, went and saw “A Bug’s Life” 3D show- which Kelson was not a fan of- she doesn’t like things popping out at her or wearing those glasses. We saw a few animals and birds around the parks. The adults went and rode Mt. Everest while the kids went to the Dinosaur area to ride on some of the kiddie rides. That is such a fun ride. It was Keith’s first time on this ride. The fact that it goes backwards makes it unique and fun. After the ride, we meet up with the grandparents and kids- they were having a blast on the petri ride (similar ride to dumbo, but with dinosaurs). They rode that ride a few times. We ate some lunch to cool off and fill up our bellies, then headed to the Lion King show. This is such an awesome show- lots of great singing, acrobats, dancing, interaction with the audience, and cool stage acts. It was nice and cool in there, so during the show, Kelson took a cat nap. It was adorable- she just laid down on her daddy’s knee and fell asleep- even with all the loud music. She was worn out- The park closed at 5pm, so it went by quick, another fun, but exhausting day. There was still some stuff we wanted to do, but we ran out of time. That happens with a big group. After we went back to the room, got cleaned up, we wanted to go shop (with cousin patty’s 30% off discount), so Keri, Mom, Lucy, Jason and I met up at Downtown Disney to do some shopping. Kelson slept the whole time we shopped. Around 10pm, we finally grabbed some dinner at McDonald’s. Kelson woke up around this time. Aunt Keri had bought her some cute Disney Princesses bath toys to play with, so she was happy. We got back to the room- just in time for Kelson to keep Bobba awake for a while, so we could sleep in the next day without him getting up at the crack of dawn. I did discover that night that Bobba does a very good Donald Duck impression. It was sad that we were already all done with all of the parks, but we had lots of fun and got a lot of good pictures and memories. Hollywood/Animal Kingdom Pics

Sept 25, 2009-Animal Kingdom Hotel/Hollywood Studios Park

We had to pack up our stuff and get checked into the “Animal Kingdom” hotel, so needless to say we had a busy morning. When we got into our room, we had a giraffe roaming through the pasture- it was a very cool site. The rooms were ok and pretty far from the lobby/elevator area, but overall it was a nice stay. We had to go all the way back to Epcot to get our passes, and then jump back on the bus to go to Hollywood Studios. It was another hot day. Since we had so much to do that morning, we really didn’t have but a few hours to hang out at the park. As soon as we got there, we were all pretty hungry, so we went and grabbed some grub at the cafeteria.
We watched another parade before heading to the Ariel show. Next was the Beauty and the Best show- it was basically a musically telling the story. I enjoyed it, but Kelson wasn’t really interested? So after that, Lucy and Mom took the kids to go see the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” show- they loved it. Keri, Keith, Belle, Jason, and I went to check out the Tower of Terror. I couldn’t believe that Belle was brave enough to do it, but she was all about it. Keri videotaped her during the ride. She liked it, but she was also pretty scared by the end of it. She did very well for a 3 year old. Jason and I were going to ride the Aerosmith ride but the line was way too long and it’s just an ok ride, so we went back to meet up with everyone. The other thing I wanted to check out was the “American Idol Experience” – which we didn’t get to really see- it’s a long process thing, so we didn’t get to see the whole thing, just a couple of acts at the end and I have to say I was impressed at how good they were. If we had a whole day without kids I would have jumped on it, but since that wasn’t the case, maybe some other time. We wanted to check out the Toy Story ride before leaving but the wait was over 45 min and the park was about to close. Kelson (sleeping), Jason, Lucy, and I went to the Narnia attraction before leaving. It was cool- just some parts and props from the movie. It had been a long day, so we headed back to the Animal Kingdom hotel to get rested up for ONE more day at the parks.

Sept 24, 2009- The Magic Kingdom

We headed back to Epcot to get tickets to head over to the Magic Kingdom- this was not the fun part of each day, but it sure did save us lots of money. Cousin Patty joined us at the park. Thank goodness we had the monorail for transportation because driving would have been a pain in the butt. They were having the “Mickey’s Not So Scary” Halloween Party that night, so everything was decorated for Halloween.It was very cool. Last year, Jason and I stayed for the Christmas party and it was very neat, so we were anxious to see how the Halloween party was going to be. We saw a couple of characters on the way in... got a picture with “PokeEno” (Pinnochio)- as Kelson calls him and a few others. The Disney cast was about to perform the song “Mainstreet USA” song- this is one of Kelson’s favorites on her Mickey Mouse Sing-along DVD. She was pretty into the dancing/singing. Next we got pictures in front of the castle with the family and then headed over towards the rides.
Kelson saw the Dumbo ride and couldn’t wait to get on. The line was rather long and it was hot, but we managed to stay in good spirits. Lucy, Kelson, and I rode on the Dumbo ride- it was really cute. Next we went to the “Philharmagic” show- it’s a 3D show that we love. Kelson wasn’t sure what to do with the glasses at first, but when we finally got her to understand she enjoyed the show. The part where the champagne bottles busted out puffs of air, she didn’t like, but everything else she seemed to enjoy. Especially Ariel and all the jewels and singing “Part of Your World”- her favorite Disney song.
Next we got a fast pass for Peter Pan and headed to “It’s a Small World”. Kelson sings this song quite a bit too (thanks to the sing-along DVD), so she was really into this ride as well. Corgan and Belle probably aren’t as familiar with the Disney songs/attractions as Kelson was, but they all still had a great time. Bob, Jason, and Kelson rode on the Peter Pan ride with Kelson- Jason said she liked it at first, but then was scared at the dark parts and when the ride was done- she said she didn’t want to go back on it again. Lol. Who would have thought? Next stop was the Haunted Mansion- another song on the DVD that Kelson seems to enjoy. It is a little scary, so I wasn’t sure if she would like it, but we thought we’d give it a try. Overall, she did very good- didn’t cry at all and we made the ghosts out to be funny and silly instead of scary. I was proud of my little girl braving out the ride- not that she had a choice. Next, we headed over to watch the Country Bear Jamboree (this was always an Albert favorite). But before we went in for the show, they were having a parade. The characters and the parade were by far Kelson’s favorite things about the theme parks. Kelson even blew Ariel a kiss and she made a sweet little gesture back at Kelson and blew one back- we were all like AWWWWW... I got some of it on videotape. After the parade was over, we went inside the COOL air condition for the show. Kelson enjoyed the deers/buffalo up on the wall and kept calling him “Buck”- like the one at The Cave. She was up dancing around throughout the whole show- it was very cute. I could tell that Keri and Keith weren’t that into the COUNTRY bears, but they still had a fun time. We went to the Laugh Floor (Monsters, Inc.) show. Jason got to be apart of the show. He played the part very well. It was very cute.
Next, we decided that we would go back to the room and take a little nap and get ready for the “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party” that night. We were all pretty worn out from the sun and all the walking around so this helped bring us some relief. Keri had bought Belle n Kelson matching Minnie Costumes to wear for the party. C-man was in his Spiderman pj’s. They looked adorable. So we all put on our Halloween attire and headed back to the park for some more fun. Cousin Patty, her brother, nephew, and mom also joined in. We grabbed a spot to watch the Halloween Parade. It was awesome. All the characters dressed up and the music was perfect. She got to see a lot of her favorite characters. They gave out some candy at the end of the show, so Kelson was catching on to the “Trick or Treat” phrase. Next, we went to search for a spot to watch the fireworks show- which was awesome- and then headed towards the character dance parties. We found the Stitch 626 Club and that was right up Kelson’s alley- she danced and didn’t want to let go of Stitch- lol. There was also Chip N Dale, Goofy, and Pluto. Annabelle started dancing with Kelson towards the end- it was cute. Since it was a Halloween Party, they had places where the kids could go trick or treating and get candy. They danced around some more and then we headed towards “Mickey and Minnie’s houses”. The highlight of the night had to be the kids discovering their love of Goofy’s Barnstormer. The girls went on it 3 times, but Corgan had enough after two rides. I’m sure the girls would have just kept on going if we would have let them. If you’ve never been on the Barnstormer, it’s actually pretty crazy for a small kids’ roller coaster. We were comparing it to a miniature version of Thunder Mountain, but our little thrill-seekers loved it! The girls grabbed a picture with Minnie Mouse before we left. We finished the night with a wet ride of Splash Mountain. One of the big benefits of paying for the extra “Halloween” hours was the fact that we could pretty much walk right on to every ride. It was great! We were about to leave, when we realized that we hadn’t rode on “The Pirates of the Caribbean”, so no lines, we jumped right on. Kelson didn’t seem to mind this ride either and gets pretty excited over pirates- thanks to her daddy’s love of them. It was overall a wonderful day. The only thing that sucked was Lucy’s little scooter kept working, so Jason had to push her in it about 2 miles to the entrance and then up towards the monorail and to the hotel. He definitely worked off that burger he ate. It was a late night and we didn’t get back to the room till almost 1. We decided that we would let the kids sleep in a little and get to the park a little later the next day.
Magic Kingdom Pics

Sept 24, 2009- Epcot

We woke up around 8 ish to get ready to head to Epcot. We were more excited about Kelson’s reaction to everything, more than anything. We had to go meet Cousin Patty each morning at the parks, to get our “hookup” then head to whatever park we wanted. That day we were staying at Epcot, so it was nice and easy to get in. Kelson is a huge Finding Nemo fan, so we knew that she would enjoy that attraction. First off, we went to visit the Mickey and friends characters. Last year- this was Kelson’s fav thing we did. Since we had just seen them the night before at the dinner, she was excited, but not as much as the year before. By the time we were done, she didn’t want to leave. We headed to the Nemo ride (as I knew she would be happy and forget about the characters). She saw the sculptures and was hooked. She had a lot of fun playing/riding on them and getting pics. The “mine, mine” birds were talking away... she seemed to enjoy the ride and there really wasn’t that long of a wait. The park seemed rather empty, but it was sooo freaking hot. I thought the weather being in September that we would be ok, but it was still so humid and no wind. We were taking lots of breaks. Lucy had her scooter so that helped us get to the front of the lines a little better. Having such a big group was challenging- we wanted everyone to try and do the same things, but someone would have to go to the bathroom, another go grab a drink, change a diaper, etc... but we managed to make it work. Anyways, we got some really cute pics of the kids at the Nemo attraction and even one of Kelson in Bruce’s mouth.
Next some of the adults went on the Soarin’ ride. It was a lot of fun- very cool ride. Bob’s first time and he seemed to really enjoy it. By that time, it was time for the Princess Luncheon. I loved that I captured this picture of Kelson. She looks like she is having a one-on-one with Belle. This was soooo much fun and Kelson really was excited about seeing all the princesses. Corgan slept through pretty much the whole thing and toward the end, Annabelle seemed to warm up to them too. We had a great big meal, nice air condition, and got visited by each one of the princesses at our table. The kids got their autographs too. We saw Belle, Snow White, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty (who left a cute little kiss mark on Kelson’s forehead), and Cinderella. Kelson had the “Gus Gus” figure and Cinderella acknowledge that- it was cute for her to notice. The princesses were very attentative and played the role very well. We even got a free picture with several 4x6's. This seemed to be a better experience than the Chef Mickey. The rest of the day we played it by ear and let everyone ride whatever they wanted. With that big of a group (me, Jason, Kelson, Bob, Lucy, Mom, Dad, Keri, Keith, Belle, and Corgan) it was hard to get a lot accomplished. We went on the fast track ride a few times and Belle really seemed to like that one. Bob and Jason rode the “Mission to Mars”- I skipped that one- but they seemed to like it. We had some ice cream to cool off and went to see “Figment”... it’s so different than I remember as a kid. There are lots of cool things for the kids to do after the ride and I think we all enjoyed that one. That pretty much was the end of that day- we were all pretty worn out from such a hot and busy day. We went back to the hotel, watched the fireworks from our room, had some dinner, and went to bed. We had another big day ahead of us!! Poor Kelson had a runny nose, slight fever, and several nasty diapers that night- she wasn’t feeling that great :( Pictures from Epcot

Sept 22, 2009- Our Journey to Disney

Kelson has been on a few plane rides, although she doesn’t remember it, nor will she remember this one, but she was excited about riding in a plane. She sees them flying over our house all the time, so to see one up close was very cool for her. When we were in the plan she was like Mommy look- a plane- I said yes baby- we are in one of those right now. She was an ANGEL on the plane ride from Hsv-Atlanta, Atlanta- Orlando. She loved the taking off and landing parts. I was a little worried about that part, but she loved it. We couldn’t wait to get to Orlando and see all the Disney signs, etc. Keri Burry and Benjamin came and picked us up- she had the DVD player and car seat all ready to go for us- what a girl. We sent our luggage ahead of time with Bob and Lucy in our car so we didn’t have much to carry with us. That worked out nicely. We got to see Keri’s beautiful rental house and eat a delicious meal she prepared for us. It was fun to watch Kelson interact with other kids- I love that she is older now that she can be a little more independent and play with the other kids. She LOVES kids too. Since we haven’t enrolled her in daycare, I was skeptical on her interaction with other children, but she has done VERY WELL. She shares wonderfully and doesn’t mind another child to be around. We went in the pool and let me tell you- she is the BRAVEST 2 year old I know. She will jump right in and uses Gigi’s words big arms, kick kick, big arms..... we still put her floaties on her, but she is not afraid of the water. I heard I was the same way. Guess I know where she gets it. Anyways we had a fabulous visit with Keri and her boys. Only bad thing- Kelson caught Nicholas’ cold while we were there :(
The next morning we hauled all of our stuff to the Contemporary to check in. It was a very nice hotel and since our room wasn’t ready, we had some time to kill, so we decided to hit Downtown Disney. That was already on the list of things to do. Mickey was supposed to text me when our room was ready, but he didn’t call- what the heck. Typical male mouse - lol! Anyways, so we decided to go eat at the TREX restaurant.

Jason is a big dinosaur fan and Kelson is pretty enthralled with them as well, so we figured it would be a great place to cool off and grab some grub. It’s a sister restaurant of “The Rainforest Café”- which we are a big fan of, so I knew we would like it. It was decorated very cool and had animatronics all over. Kelson was scared of some of it, but overall really loved the atmosphere. Anyways, we got some pretty cool pics from there and had some really yummy food. It was just a start to our fun trip. After eating we went to a couple of the Disney stores- even hitting the Christmas store. Kelson rode the carousal with her Bobba. That’s one of her favorite things. After a while, we were all pretty worn out and Kelson had fallen asleep, so we headed back to the hotel. It was a very nice place and our view of Cinderella’s castle was unbelievable. After we returned, it was time to hit the pool. Another one of Kelson’s favorite things to do. They had a great kiddie pool area, so she played in there for a while. Now I have to tell you this, so you’ll understand the next part. But Kelson gets LOTS of compliments from strangers on how adorable and smart she is, so when a lady stopped me and asked if she was mine, as I grinned and said Yes, she said well she just had a bowel movement in the kiddie area- hahaha. OMG- I jumped up and ran over to her- she was sitting on one of the water jets and poop was about to blow everywhere. She did have a swimmy diaper on, but it doesn’t hold much. So I grabbed her up and that was our cue to leave. Ha-ha-poor thing. She wasn’t ready to leave nor did she understand why we were leaving. I was somewhat embarrassed, but I think we got out of there quick enough for anyone to notice. The bad thing was that pool area is recycled water... EEEEWWW! Needless to say, we weren’t going back to that pool. We got Kelson all cleaned up and got a chance to watch the fireworks show from the Magix Kingdom from our balcony. Kelson really enjoyed that and kept saying “Boom Boom”. Misc Pics from the First Day



After the fireworks, we headed downstairs to the “Chef Mickey” dinner. Even though I had made reservations 90+ days out, we still had to wait an additional 30 min to get in. It was nuts. But in the time being we had a cocktail at the bar and waited on mom and dad and the Donald family to arrive. It was nice catching up with them. By this time we were all starving and ready to get in. I had heard lots of wonderful things about Chef Mickey, but I have to say that I wasn’t very pleased. It was VERY chaotic (I guess being the last ones, they just threw out the food, and all the characters were coming back to back so the food got cold). The kids really enjoyed them, but again- it was just a little too chaotic and not worth the $45/pp. Oh well- some like it, some don’t. After dinner we all went our separate ways to get a good night sleep before hitting Epcot in the morning. We were all pretty exhausted. Kelson had a runny nose and a slight fever, but was in good spirits.
Chef Mickey Pics

Kelson Noel Albert- 2nd Bday

Oh my gosh- where has time gone? I cannot believe we just celebrated Kelson's 2nd Bday- ALREADY. Well I have to say that it has been such a fun and wonderful experience so far and I can't wait for it to continue. Kelson has been such a joy and has been our main entertainment since she arrived. I am not sure what we did before her :) So much has happened in 2 months since I've last posted. Kelson still sleeps in her own bed and doesn't really show any desire to get into a toddler bed- just yet. She got a Tinkerbell comforter with sheets set for her bday. We let her take a nap in the big girl bed and she woke up soon after since she wasn't familiar with the situation of not being in her crib. She has used the potty a few times, but hasn't showed much desire to do that either, so I'm working pretty hard on giving her treats when she does. She is starting to tell us when she has pooped or peed in her diaper, so I guess that's a step- she is understanding what she is doing. She still takes a pacifier (pap pap), but happily gives it up after getting up from her nap or bedtime. She has a bottle at night too- that was a lot of us enjoying that bonding time, but now its more of habit, so I'm going to start giving her some before bed- in a sippy cup to ween her off the whole "sucking" habit. It’s a lot of work going from baby habits to teaching her toddler ways. I know it all takes time and patience, so I'll just keep telling myself that. She is a VERY smart little girl so I know she will catch on to it whenever we start enforcing them. I was told to wheen her off the pacifier to cut a little bit off the nipple so she doesn't get the suck effect and it won't appeal to her, then each day cut a little bit more to where she doesn't want it anymore. My whole reasoning was why not let em have a pacifier- mostly is was to stop them from their teeth getting all weird, but who doesn't get their kids braces these days? But I know it could ruin her bite too and I don't want that to happen. I was fortunate and didn't need braces, but Jason on the other hand did, so its 50/50 with her. Plus I don't like seeing a toddler walking around with a pacifier in her/him mouth.
We had Kelson's 2 yr old checkup with Dr. Zbell- who we still just adore- and she had to get her shots- she did very well and seemed to get over it rather fast. Dr. Zbell said that Kelson is ready for her first dentist visit- I couldn't believe it- already!? She also said that she was in perfect health and is already on a 3 yr old learning level in her verbal, motor, and memory skills ;) We knew that Kelson was smart for her age, but its nice to hear proof :) How exciting. I think signing with her really helped with her speech- its unbelieveable the things she can say and remember. She is the cutest little girl ever and is such an entertainer. She weighs 28.8 lbs and 33.5" tall. According to the Lucy Albert old wives tale- when a child turns 2 you double their height and that's how tall they should end up being. All three of her kids were within a 1/4 of an inch from when they were measured. So according to the measurement- Kelson should be around 5'6 and a half or 5'7 :) Sounds like a perfect height to me. I'm 5'6 and Jason is 6 ft so that sounds good for a girl's height. Kelson is in the 45% for her height and 70% for her weight. Works for me :)
Last Friday- August 14th- Lucy had a mini-bday party for Kelson at her house.
She decorated her house with balloons and baked some delicious YGG cupcakes for the kids. Kelson seemed to really enjoy her bday celebration. Lucy, aka Memere, made macaroni n kabasa for everyone to enjoy- yum yum. We did a few presents from family and then Jason had to leave to go to Nashville for a video treatment meeting. Luckily he got to stick around for most of her bday celebration weekend, but it was exciting to know that Heartland is working hard on their new single/video. Yea Dadda!
On Saturday we had her BIG 2nd Bday party- joint party with her cousin Corgan- Keri and the family were visiting so we decided a joint party would be perfect and help save on some of the costs since she wanted to have a Yo Gabba Gabba party for Corgan this weekend. The party was a HUGE success- had both friends of mine and Keri's attend, so we were happy with that. The theme was "Yo Gabba Gabba"- it’s a new show on Noggin that a lot of the kids enjoy. At first it was a little off the wall, but we grew to like it. We had another "water party" like last year's party.

This year Kelson got to enjoy it even more since she was able to run around with the other kids and Papa ;) I was going to rent an inflatable waterslide, but they were outrageously priced, so I researched online and purchased one instead. It was the Bonzai Blast- its freaking awesome and was a big hit at the party. Kelson also got a Trampoline for her bday- we were contemplating that or a swingset, but she seemed to get more use out of this and we seemed to of made the right decision. She loves to jump on it and its good exercise for me too :) The trampoline came with a safety pad that goes on the springs and an enclosed safety net, so really there is no way they can fall off the thing- saves a lot of worrying and heartache. Its so much fun and I'm really glad that she is getting use out of it. Keri and I worked very hard on all of the little details of the party (more so Keri than me) but we did a lot together and it was fun to do party planning with my sister for our babies. I ordered pizza- which was a great deal- and easy clean up.

DJ Lance (the black DJ) from the show even showed up at the party (it was Anthony- one of my friends who happily accepted to dress up for the party). What a guy :) and he played the role wonderfully with his high pitch voice, enthusiasm, and high kicks ;) I had a friend of mine Summer make the YGG themed cakes and OMG- they turned out so freaking awesome.
I can't believe how great it turned out. She is the same one that made Kyle and Renee's engagement cake. She is so crafty and I was very pleased with the results. We handed out goodie bags to the kids which consisted of: YGG stickers, lolipops, bubbles, blowers, smiley face fruit snacks, and muno marshmellow snacks that Keri and I made.
The weather was nice and warm, but not too hot and I laid out tarps for the other kiddie pools and a place for adults to get their feet wet. Overall it was a WONDERFUL party. We had so much fun that we ran out of time to open presents, so we did that after the party was over. I have my "thank you's" ready to be sent out to friends and family. Kelson got lots of wonderful presents from everyone- from dolls, to princess stuff, to a guitar from gigi and papa, clothes, and so much more. She is a very loved little girl!!!! Happy Bday Kelson- my little girl!


Thank you Papa for sharing your bday with your grandbabies- I know you had a great time sharing the time/weekend with them- that's the best present of all ;) Kelson n Corgan's 2nd YGG Party

Barbee June Wedding...

I'm a little behind on this post, but I wanted to write about how well Kelson did in her first wedding as a flower girl. Adrienne asked Kelson and I to be in the wedding back in March and of course we were honored- this would be Kelson's first wedding to be in, so I was a little nervous. She is a very outgoing child, so I wasn't worried about her being shy- just walking down a specific path throwing petals. I was a bridesmaid in the wedding, so it helped to ease some of the tension of having her walk down the isle to a bunch of people she didn't know. Adrienne and Tim had the wedding in our backyard- which turned out beautiful. Elliot was the ring bearer and did a VERY good job as well. I was very proud of the kids. Jason was attending a Heartland gig, so he wasn't able to see his girls in actions, but we took lots of video and pics. Kelson looked so cute in her pink and light green colors. Adrienne was a gorgeous bride- I was happy to say that I did her makeup and she loved it :) It was nice to do something like that for family and they really appreciate the effort and help we all did to make that a special day for them. Me and my side kick- Tabatha- took lots of pics with my camera, so we were their photographer as well. For not being professional- the pictures turned out very well. At the reception, I convinced Adrienne and Tim to do the money dance- its a canadian tradition, but I knew they needed some honeymoon money, so overall they did very well and were able to go to the beach- like they wanted to with that money. A few months before Adrienne and Tim had entered the biggest loser competition with all of us and won for both the men and the women- $750total- so they bought their wedding bands with the money- I thought that was super cool. They are perfect for eachother and I was happy to be apart of their day. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Barbee!!!! Barbee Wedding Pictures

Space and Rocket Center- Hsv, AL

It had been YEARS since I've been to the Space and Rocket Center, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Keri Hipp and her little boys came to town and wanted to go, so we all decided to try it out. I have always been a huge fan of astronaut ice cream, so I couldn't wait to go purchase some. We got a few pics of the kids in front of the shuttle and with an American flag picture. Next we went into the gift shop and tried on some funny hats and got a few good laughs.
Then we headed to the museum portion- which we got in free of charge- not on purpose, but we happen to just "walk by" the ticket counter without realizing it. Oops. The museum portion was pretty interesting from an adults point of view- all the facts and stuff- but overall the kids just had a fun time running around everywhere. They didn't have much to do inside, so we headed outside. They had a few rides for kids so we headed that direction. They had a maze like crawl through area that Kelson seemed to enjoy but they also had a mini-version of Space Shot (where they seat you side by side and shoot you up in the air- but drops you down too- like the tower of terror ride at Universal Studios). This one only went up about 25ft, but for kids 8 and under, it was pretty scary. I was shocked when Kelson wanted to go on the ride. She is Miss Little Dare Devil, but I thought the ride attendant wouldn't let her go, but she said she would be safe if she decided to go. SO, I held my breathe and convinced Jason to let her go. We were both so nervous, but were standing underneath if something were to happen. The attendant said she would let her go up a few feet and do one of the drops and see how she reacted. We also asked her older cousin Nicholas if he would ride with her and hold her hand- he didn't seem to excited about it- but he finally caved in and agreed to go. So he sat next to her and they held hands. Nicholas looked more afraid of the ride than Kelson did. Haha. Anyways, so the ride begins and all the people were standing around to wait to see this child reaction and.... TA DA... She was all smiles and LOVED IT.

She was laughing and then when the ride stopped she wanted to do it again. So, she won and got to ride it once more without Nicholas- he was done. Again, she had a great time. It was like pulling teeth to get her off of it and away to get some lunch- she really enjoyed it. I still can't believe we let her go on the ride by herself- esp after seeing the pics of how high she went. You can even tell a difference in her height and age if you compare her to the other riders in the picture. So needless to say, I think we are gonna be in for some real trouble. This girl is not afraid of much. This day reassured me that we are gonna have a freaking blast when we got to Disney World and the other parks next month. No fear from this girl. After the ride we went and had some lunch at the Cafeteria at the Rocket Center- it was really yummy. About that time kids were ready for naps, so we went and grabbed some astronaut ice cream- one of my favorites- and now Kelson's :) I bought neapolitan and mint choc chip flavors. They were just as good as I remember them.
Space and Rocket Ctr Pictures

Kelson Ketchup... 22 months old

Last week my little girl both Pee'd and Poo'd in her potty :) I can't believe it. I think she is starting to understand the whole "potty business" :) and she's only 22 months old :) That's my girl. Everytime I get on the toilet I do the sign for "potty" and tell her that I'm using the bathroom so she understands. The other day I bought her a froggy potty from Target and she loves it. She tells me that she wants to go sit on the froggy- ribbit ribbit. She is so freaking smart. She def hasn't mastered pottying yet, but I think she is starting to understand it. When I get her up from her nap or after getting out of the pool I ask her if she wants to go potty in the frog and she says Yes. I turn on the faucet (to stimulate peeing), but it hasn't seemed to work. When she finally did pee I think it scared her cause it splashed up and it was warm. lol. She has tried to put some of her toys in the potty while she's sitting there, so I had to explain that was a big no no.

Bottle and pacifier STOPPAGE is the next step- I'm not looking forward to that at all. I think her pacifier (aka Pap Pap) is going to be the hardest to whean her off of, but I know I have to do it.

Kelson is starting to sing along with songs- and can hold a tune ;)- imagine that. She loves her "Beach Party" Mickey Mouse Sing-A-Long DVD. One part has Ariel singing and she follows along- its adorable. She sings the Wonder Pets theme song too. I guess the singing runs in the family :)

If Kelson could be something I think she would want to be a mermaid. That child LOVES the water. We've taken her to the pool a few times and all she wants to do is swim by herself. She is so stubborn and independent. Mom said that I was a water bug like she is, so I guess that's where the love of water comes from. Plus she isn't scared. She jumped off the diving board at our friend's house last weekend. Nuts huh? She kept wanting to do it over and over. She had floaties on, but she loves just floating and being on her own. Everyone says that she is the cutest and most outgoing little girl. She still gets lots of attention and people are amazed at how advanced she is. She already knows several shapes and colors. She is already at a pre-school/kindergarten level - according to some of my school teacher friends ;) She loves to be challenged too. Every book we read or figure we play with she wants me to ask her who it is, etc... Her new phrase is "That right there"- she will point at something and say- What's that? That right there and point at it. Its so cute.

Also, she has picked up on my saying "Oh crap"... oops. One night her and I were watching Dumbo and I couldn't get the remote to work so I was saying "Oh crap" a few times-- it was pretty frustrating. Well a few nights later I asked her if she wanted to watch Dumbo and she said "Oh crap"- hahahaha. Oops. Also she says it now when she drops something - like she understands why people say it.

AND... a week or so ago I asked her one night if she wanted me to rub her butt while she fell asleep and she said Yes... so the last few times I laid her in bed- she said- rub butt- and I stopped to rub her back and she looked up at me- almost asleep-and says rub butt. haha. She is something else. I like it when Jason rubs my butt when I go to sleep too- like mother like daughter ;)

The Mathis family has been in town the last week and we've had such a wonderful time hanging out with them. Kelson and Izzy have had so much fun together. Kelson really loves Izzy and the boys. She likes having them around. I'm sure she will be sad when they leave tomorrow. She's had a little playmate for 5 days. Poor thing. She's been calling her Annabelle and then says No...Corgan... No... and then says Whose that right there? haha. I tell her Izzy and then she remembers her name again. Its so cute. I've been working hard on Kelson to be a "good and manageable" child- like the Mathis kids- so I've been asking for advice while they are here. Apparently Jason and I are doing very well with her. That's good to know :)

Kelson was a flower girl in Adrienne and Tim's wedding- she did so good and was adorable. She would stop and throw down a flower (like a softball) and then keep walking, stop, and do the same thing. It was adorable and she did great. I was so proud of my little girl.

Well its about time to start planning Kelson's 2nd Bday party :( OMG- where has time gone... I can't believe she's gonna be two soon. But we have lots of fun things coming up- Kelson's bday, the beach, Disney trip, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Kyle's wedding, and Christmas. Yee haw! I can't wait. More memories.

Kyle and Renee's Wedding Engagement Party

Aline and I hosted an Engagement Party for Kyle and Renee on June 6th. We weren't sure if we were gonna have it at her house or the Cave, but since her house was being remodeled that left the Cave. Knowing Kyle and his friends I figured they would enjoy the Cave anyways. Renee's mom and stepdad- Yvonne and John showed up first- sadly I wasn't ready by the time they arrived at 5 :) Imagine that. It was a "tool and gadget" theme party.

I had Summer, Stacey's sister, make the cake- she did such a great job. It looked like a tool box and the tools were cookies. It was so cute and yummy. Kyle's best man and Renee's maid of honor made the party too, so I was glad they were able to join in the fun. I'm not sure if they are having anymore parties/showers, so I was honored to be able to do this for them. There ended up being around 35+ people there for the party. We had meatballs, buffalo chicken dip, and choc dipped strawberries for appetizers. The main meal was pulled pork bbq sandwiches with a hot potato bar. My sis in law Theana was such a HUGE help me to. I couldn't of done all of it without her.
We played "The Newlywed game"- this was lots of fun. We had four couples playing and I think overall everyone did rather well. Aline and George ended up winning the game. We found out that Renee and her mom have the same "making love" food in their fridge- haha. I wish I could have recorded this, but I only had so much help. Jason was playing at a pool party so he wasn't able to be at the party the whole time, but he made it for some of it. I had another game for us to play, but by that time people just wanted to hang out and mingle. The game was called "Kiss the Bride's Ass"- it was a pic of Kyle on a donkey's body. Its similar to "Pin the tail on the donkey", but with this game everyone would be blindfolded, wear lipstick, do a couple of turns, and then try to kiss the donkey's rear-end. Haha! I was sad that we didn't get to play- since I know several of those people would have TOTALLY missed the target, but Kyle got to keep the picture as a souviener. I don't think I even took a picture of it :( Oh well. We had a toast with some champagne that mom had bought. I was trying to convince someone from the bridal party to give a toast, but they weren't prepared and plus I figured they wanted to save it for the wedding. So I just toasted them happiness. The night ended up with Kyle's friends having a 40 yard dash competition. Some ended up in only underwear- which I told one of them was slowing them down- haha! Leave it to me, right? Haha. About 20 of us ended up in the cave singing songs, watching the guys playing guitar, singing, etc.. I got up and sang a few songs and did some harmony. Even Kyle got up and sang some Dave Matthews band- "Crash". I was shocked at how well he did- last time I heard him sing he was around 12 and singing "Chattahoochee"- LOL. We all went to bed around 3am- even my parents. Everything was a monster hit and I had several people tell me this was the best engagement party they had ever been to :) All the hard work paid off. Congrats to Kyle and Renee. See you in November for your wedding!!!! Love you guys! More Engagement Pics

Catching up with Kelson...

Wow- time flies. My baby girl is almost 22 months old already. Where has time gone? She has done nothing but amaze me, make me smile EVERYDAY, brought Jason and I closer than ever before, and so much more. Its amazing what a child can bring to your life. She is all I ever think about and is told so many times that she is such a personality- like I was :) Everytime we go anywhere she stands out- whether she is dancing, counting, or just being cute. People always compliment on what a happy baby girl she is and how beautiful she is :) Jason and I are very proud of her. She has her moments- like any infant does, but she really has learned so much on her own. I do continue to teach her several signs a month- just to keep it going. She picks up on things SOOOOOOO easily and doesn't forget them. One night her and I were watching Dumbo and I couldn't get the dang remote to work right so I kept saying Oh Crap- a couple of times. A few nights later I asked Kelson if she wanted to watch Dumbo and so she says "Oh Crap"- hahahahaha. I laughed so hard and couldn't believe that after a few days she still remembered that. She is so advanced on her words, sentences, ability to learn in general. People are still amazed at how outgoing she is and how she seems to be the ringleader with kids- no matter how much older they are.
I am still trying to figure out whether or not to sign her up at Tumblebeez again or try something new. We did enjoy Tumblebeez, but we may get a new teacher and I just feel like the Providence "Little Gym" place we can get more learning out of. Course she isn't even 2 yet, so to me- as long as she is having fun and not getting hurt- I don't care where we go for now. We are going to a trial class at the "little gym" soon, so I will be able to tell if that's something I want to pursue. I know that its more expensive and a little further away, but if she gets more out of the class and seems to enjoy it, then I don't mind. I want to keep Kelson around other kids- she seems to do so well with sharing and playing with other kids- even though she doesn't attend a mommy's day out or daycare. Cousin Elliot comes over some, but since he is a boy and older, sometimes they don't get along so well :) But most of them time they do and she cries when he has to leave. Its sweet to see her so attached to kids. She loves to show affection- kiss and hug- and even has a very tender heart- like her papa. She doesn't like to see/hear anyone cry. She wants to give kisses and says "All better". Now I see why people have more than one child- the first born needs a playmate :) Although I KNOW there will be many fights too :) Comes with it.
Some of Kelson's fav things are to go outside, play in the pool, watch Wonder Pets, Peter Pan, and Mickey Mouse character sing alongs. She is starting to sing a little ;) Imagine that. She can count to 10 very well- although her 4 she pronounces like "forks"- its sooo cute. She is working on her numbers above 10 but she tends to get them all confused when we do that. We are working on teaching the alphabet and her colors. She has several of them down already. I've been meaning to research on where she should be at her age, but I have a feeling that she is way advanced.
Eers and her are getting along so well- she loves to feed him his doggie cookies and he lets her play with his ears, put necklaces on him, and give him kisses. He has been WONDERFUL with her. Its really sweet.
This past weekend we went to Bridgestreet for lunch with Kyle and Renee and mom and dad. While we were there we went on the carousel ride- Kelson rode the deer, tiger, and rabbit. She loved it. Then her and I rode around bridgestreet on a choo choo train ride. It was pretty hot out there so we decided to get some ice cream- she likes rainbow sprinkles and marsh mellows on hers- she is SO my daughter. Then we went to the water area- its pretty much water shooting out of the ground in several areas. The only thing is- its pretty slippery in that area- its all concrete. Since she was pretty hot- we let her enjoy herself with the other kids there and play in the water. We were trying to watch her closely and telling her NEVER to run- since it was so slippery- we took her shoes off so she could grip the ground better- her shoes were making it hard for her. She was having a ball, until she fell backwards and bumped the back of her head HARD. She looked over at us and we were in SHOCK- our mouths dropped and we ran over to her- she immediately started getting whoosey and her eyes rolled back for a few seconds- it scared us both to death. I just grabbed her and tried to get her to look at me and hold her tight. Jason and I were both tearing up and scared to death. She was crying so hard that she couldn't breathe- it was HORRIBLE. Finally she calmed down and I started back towards the water to get her to smile again- she seemed ok and wanted to play again. I ran over to Gap Kids and bought her some jelly shoes- which seemed to have a big soles on the bottom. I felt so bad for her cause she really was having a great time, but you can't let that happen again- ya know. Within a few min Jason and I were pretty much soakin wet cause we wouldn't let her in the water area alone. We knew she was getting tired, so we stopped and told her it was time to go. Of course she didn't like this one bit. We went back to the car and changed her clothes and diaper. She was soooo sleepy by this time. I knew I had heard that if someone bumps their head not to let them sleep or sleep long, so I called mom to tell her what happened- since I knew she had two other grandbabies- she had more "updated advice" for bumping your head. She said that she could sleep- as long as her pupils were ok and to check on her after an hour or so to make sure she didn't slip into a coma. It was very frightening. I knew that Kelson was tired since it was 5pm and she normally naps around 1 or 2pm. So we let her sleep some and when we got home she pretty much woke up on her own. Jason and I layed in our bed with her and let her pretty much do/eat/watch whatever she wanted. We were going to spoil our baby girl :) She seemed to be fine and was running around and I asked her some questions to make sure everything was ok inside and it was- she didn't miss a beat. She was SOOO excited about riding on the animals on the carousel and told her memere and bobba about it- it was adorable to hear her telling the stories and how excited she got. Then she also said that she fell down and was crying. She remembers everything. I'm just glad that she is ok and still had a great time. I plan on writing an e-mail to Bridgestreet suggesting they get some rubber to put down in that area so this doesn't happen again and they don't have several lawsuits on their hands.
After seeing how excited she was about the carousel- We cannot WAIT to take her to Disney in September. We are staying at the Contemporary and Animal Kingdom hotels. We are gonna have so much fun! She knows all the princesses and characters, so watching her on the rides or seeing them in person she is gonna be so entertaining. We plan to eat at two character dinings while we are there. Chef Mickey and Royal Princess Breakfast. We will take lots of pics and I will try to blog each day about the stuff we did each day. What a fun age.