Bang Bang...

OMG- I can't believe how much Kelson has fallen and hurt herself (nothing major) over these last two weeks. I realize that she is starting to get into things, but WOW. Yesterday I was working down in the livingroom- calking some baseboard- and I heard a loud boom and looked over and the kitchen chair had fallen on Kelson. She was trying to pull herself up and pulled it over on top of her. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could to grab the chair off of her and I leaned on her new baby gate that was just installed and ripped it out of the wall - haha. That was the funny part. I grabbed up Kelson as fast as I could and reassured her she was ok. She wasn't hurt- just scared- thank goodness. Gotta keep an eye on her for sure ;) She had a little bump, but its all better. Thank goodness too since she has to be SO CUTE for her bday pictures tomorrow :)

JASON COMES HOME IN THE MORNING!!! We are SOOOO excited. He has been gone for 10 days :( We sure have missed our dada/hubby!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Kelson!!!

Well today is officially my sweet baby girl's birthday. I still can't believe that she is already 1. Time really flies. Her daddy couldn't be here since he is on the road promoting Heartland and believe me he is VERY homesick. We miss him so much!We aren't planning anything too much for her tonight since he isn't here. Grammy bought her an ADORABLE Tinkerbell balloon that sings- its so cute and she LOVES balloons. Memere has made her a "1" year old cake to enjoy after dinner tonight. We are having family over to have dinner tonight and eat some cake. The big party will be Sunday. There's been TONS of preperations for this and I'm ready for it to get here :) Since Kelson loves the water, we decided to have a water party, so we are going to have tons of kiddie pools, water guns, and slip n slides. Its gonna be a big time. Let's just hope the weather is great - it seems like it will be perfect! FINGERS CROSSED! The theme is WONDER PETS- imagine that- hehe. We have some very cute ideas in store. Kelson did get a chance to dig into our MING MING and LINNY cupcakes. We attempted them and Ming Ming was AWESOME, but Linny- not so much- haha! It was a lot harder than we that. (See picture above). Aunt Weeza made the "Tuck" cupcake her own... hahaha.
A BIG thank you to Keri for all her help with everything. All is going to be great.

Things about Kelson: most of this has already been covered- just a recap :)
-Spoken words: Dada, uh oh, mama, ming ming, duck, and some other words I'm not sure about- haha
-Signed words: Milk, fan, light, more, food, thank you, please, fish, bathtime, naptime, water, love you, puppy, So smart, so big, bye bye, and signs 1 when you ask how old she is
-Has 8 teeth
-Responds in french when asked where our pretty girl is and to give kisses

-Does "little teapot"
-Sleeps 10+ hours at night (and has since she was 4 months old)- THANK YOU JESUS!
-Doesn't mind a bath
-Loves to entertain- wonder where she gets that- hehe
-Smiles when she first wakes up
-Loves to go swimming
-Loves to pet the dogs
-Thinks the vaccum is awesome- she must get that from her Memere
-Goes to sleep to disney or Jason's burned CD songs
-Loves to watch Wonder Pets, Dora, Mickey Mouse, and dada singing
-Roars when you ask what a lion says
-Loves books
-Points at EVERYTHING
-Sounds like she says "What's that"??

There are so many things that I can't think of, but I think I've covered most of them in the blogs below :) I can't wait to spend the next year learning from her. I myself have learned sign language, french, how to be more patient, and how to be a GREAT mom :) Thank you Kelson for being such a wonderful baby girl. I can't wait to see what the next year brings and what joys you will bring to us.
We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Backburner

Well I've started another biggest loser competition- I am not the president this time ;)- its a friend of my sisters's that's doing it. The winner gets $500 :). They are going to base it on the % of weight loss- not a number. No body fat % is calculated into the winnings either. This week I've been trying to get motivated to go the gym- I did do the Body Attack class Monday night- so that was a plus, but trying to plan Kelson's bday party, working, and trying to get the house straightened up, AND working out has been a chore so far I know that I won't do well this week at the weight in on Sunday, but its ok- I have 9 more weeks to go. My sister and I are pretty at the same weight right now- that NEVER has happened- hehe- and we want to lose the same, so it would be awesome to lose all that weight with my sister. She seems really determined- along with the other contestants, so this time I believe I have to get my game on. Stacey has decided to join too, so that's a plus that I have someone here to motivate me too. So again, here we go again. What's another 20+ lbs-- hehe!

DRAMA in the night...

Lastnight I put Kelson down for bed and within 40 min or so she woke back up crying, so I went in there to soothe her and after I got her back to sleep I put her back in her crib and when I went to raise up the gate it came off the track, so here I am- half asleep- in the dark- trying not to wake up Kelson and fix the crib. I wasn't sure what to do cause it was completely off the track- a wide open space. Jason wasn't home so he couldn't come help me and I was afraid to leave her alone with that open space, so all these thoughts went through my mind (keeping in mind NOT to wake Kelson up). I thought about calling Lucy/Bob to come help (but it was almost 11pm), grabbing the pack and play and setting that up, or putting her in my bed (which I NEVER get sleep when we do that). So i decided with the pack and play so I RAN to the spare room- grabbed the pack and play- and ran back- course she didn't budge, so I had to put that together- by this time I turned on her light up moon so I could at least see. So I put that together- didn't mess with sheets- just laid a few blankets down and put her in. Happily she didn't wake up at all and slept till this morning. WHEW. That was not a fun experience.. But it worked out :)

Is it fate???

As I was researching some stuff for Kelson's bday party- Wonder Pet printoffs, etc... I came across their THIS MONTH'S CONTEST and guess what it is: August is Who is the biggest Wonder Pet Super Fan???on the Nick Jr website. How appropriate is that? I'm going to get the best picture from her bday and send it in. From the looks of the competition, we should have a good chance of winning something. I hope so anyways. We have so many cute ideas for the party. Lucy even went all out and got a chicken wire cage for Ming Ming, Tank for Tuck, and a Hamster Wheel Cage for Linny. Isn't that sooo sweet. Its gonna be a PERFECT 1st bday.

By the way- I do believe Kelson's 4th word is Ming Ming :) hehe. how cute!!! I have a little video from youtube (she is looking at pics of the wonder pet cupcakes we are going to attempt to make)

All over the place...

Lately when I'm changing my bandaids on my scrapped up leg-Thank you Softball- Well Kelson looks at it and says Uh Oh. It's really cute. I've been trying to get her to hold her finger to her mouth and point outwards (kinda like the ET movie)- and say "OUCH".. haha! Well see if she catches on, but I'm gonna guess YES ;)
The other night Kelson and I were in the tub and I was showing her how to blow bubbles and I would bring my head up and smile and she would laugh and push my head back down into the water. I was cracking up. She is so smart. So after I let out most of the water I let her lay in the tub and work on her bubble blowing- she did rather well. I think she will be swimming on her own in no time.
She has learned 3 more signs this past week and a half. I'm gonna write a summary on Kelson on her 1st bday blog. What a girl. All of our friends are VERY impressed with her signing. Most of them already have kids and didn't use this system, but wish they did. I think its GREAT and I love communicating with Kelson. Soon she'll be talking away, but for now- this makes her unique.
Charles- fiddle player in the band- was over the other day (the guys were getting ready to head to Nashville) and we were showing Kelson off (signing) and he said My Gosh you are so smart.. .and of course she did the sign for SO SMART- and we all just couldn't help but laugh... :) Makes a mommy and daddy proud.
Also, Jason and I went to get new phones at Verizon a few days ago and while we were waiting on the lady to transfer our numbers and stuff I had Kelson doing all her signing tricks and the people around us were amazed and one guy even said you oughta charge people to come see her :) How cute.
Nanny's bday was the other day and she was getting ready to blow out her bday candles, so since our little one has one coming up, I wanted to see if she could blow/spit/roll her lips to get the candle to blow out. We've been working on it, so well see if she can get it done on her bday :) She didn't master it yet, but we are working on it. I would love for her to do something funny and catch it on film and win $10K on America's Funniest Videos :)
Thank you Aunt Keri for the "birthday countdown candle"- if you guys have kids this is something awesome to have- its a birthday candle that you burn down each year your child turns another year older. My sister, brother, and I all had one of these growing up. Its a neat keepsake- if it doesn't melt in the attic ;) hehe. Even if your kids are 3 already you can still burn it to that point and start a new tradition for your family. Another KOLUMBUS tradition is the Happy Bday Mickey Mouse song version . I plan on playing it at Kelson's bday....

Kelson's Bday Presents...

Many of you have e-mailed me to ask "What does Kelson want/need for her bday" :) So I'm gonna go ahead and post some of the things on here. She's really into The Wonder Pets, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, loves lions- likes to roar at them :), books, and more

We already have:
Wonder Pets Save the Beetles DVD
Wonder Pets Nursery Rhymes DVD
Nick Jr Sleepy Time DVD
Ty Wonder Pets
Mickey Mouse stuffed animal
Pluto stuffed animal
Link a do's
Stack cups

She needs:
Any clothes :) 18 months please
Nightgowns
Hair bows- haha- not really, but I love em so more is fine with me
Babies R Us gift card towards her FORWARD-FACING car seat
Any new DVDs with the wonder pets- I think they have WP save the Reindeer, but I haven't seen it in stores
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse dvds
Any toys- 12mo+
Bath toys- she LOVES bathtime
Johnson's body wash- any kind (big bottle)
Disney princesses- she slowly getting into this
Cute sippy cups 12mo+
Cute plates/bowls
The Wonder Pets 18inch plush at Toys R Us- but check with Lucy or Linda if you wanna buy these- they may be getting them!!??
Keri- she LOVES that princess lego set thing you got for her- she plays with that a lot
Bathing suit for next summer- 24 months

I guess that's about it ;) I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to think of anything. Hehe! I still can't believe she's gonna be 1 next week... holy cow!

As the World Turns...

So much is going on right now... Jason just left this morning (won't return till the day of Kelson's 1st bday party) :( August 17th. Heartland's recording another song this morning before heading on the road. They have three live shows this weekend, then Jason, Keith, Mike, and Charles are all doing some radio stuff next week. So let's hope we can get things rolling again. The guys haven't given up! The next few months should be pretty cruical as to whether or not the guys are going to continue down this road, so let's give them our support and request songs, etc..

Just wanted to say Happy Bday to Nikki- I'm not sure how old she is, so well just say 21 again ;) !!! Happy Birthday Honey- hope you have a great day!

My sister's friend, Nikki, not the same Nikki as above ;) has decided to do a Biggest Loser Competition, but the money stakes are higher- $50/pp. So I guess I'm going to compete in that one and either not have one here or starts ours later on. Her competition is 8 weeks long- the only thing I'm unsure about is she is having men compete too and I don't think that's a fair advantage since they have higher metabolisms and they can lose 5lbs in 2 days! :( So I'm still checking to see if they are going to keep it co-ed! But I wouldn't mind losing 15-20 more lbs and get back to Pre-Kelson weight! It could happen :)

Kelson is gonna be 1 in a week- I still can't believe it! She is such a sweet mess. I can't wait to turn her around and actually get to use the DVD player in our Santa Fe :) Time sure has flown! We've already started planning the WONDER PETS bday party and the invitations have been sent ;) I can't wait!!!!

Why can't money grow on trees???

We have been asked/invited to do SO many wonderful things in the next year and we just can't afford to do it all :( Ex's: Chris Hipp's bday in Sept in Vegas, Staying at the Christmas Inn in G'burg with the Mathis family in October, NY during Christmas time, Europe cruise next year for my 30th bday, Disney cruise in 2010, etc.. There is SO much we want to do, but know that we cannot afford to do it. I wish each tax paying person was given a LARGE amount of money- like $10K- to do whatever they wished with it- whether it be go on a trip, pay off bills, donate to charity, or whatever else one would want to do with it. I believe that this would help boost our self-confidence and self-esteem as a country.
I know they sent out stimulus checks (WHICH WE STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN!!) I'm sooo upset about that. We really could use that money right now, and the gov is taking their sweet time sending ours out and I can't find a status online. I guess I'm gonna have to call to see what happened to ours. Each day I hope to open up that check! We should have recieved ours back in May. SS's 01 and 04. When they want their money they get to charge fees and give you a bad credit report, but when we are ready for our money from them- we just have to be patient :( Poopie!!! Anyways, I'm done venting now. hehe. I just wish we could win the lottery (cliche) so we could do whatever we wanted- now that would be the life :) Don't worry I would share the wealth ;) Whats more fun that having friends/family to celebrate it with!!!

I still got it!!!!

I went and played a game of co-ed softball yesterday with the people from Crestwood. They needed an extra girl and asked me if I could do it. Of course it being 95 degrees and a while since I had played I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it. Luckily I was in OK shape to play, but I knew it would still be odd since it had been a while. Well we lost- haha, but I was 4 for 4, did a face dive back to second to avoid being tagged out, caught an outfield fly, and slide into 3rd. So needless to say... I still got it!!! After all that non-stop running and going back and forth- now I remember why I was in such good shape in high school and college :) It was a lot of fun- I'm glad that I got the chance to play.

ALTHOUGH... my leg is pretty scrapped up from sliding... no cute dresses or skirts for a while :) I'm remembering how bad those hurt too! hehe.

Heartland- Where are they now???

Heartland members Jason, Keith, and Charles made a trip down to FL this past week to promote their new single "Slow Down" to some of the reporting radio stations. The first stop was to Bradenton Hooters - poor guys had to play at a Hooters- I feel no pity for them- ;) Uncle Paul, Aunt Claire, Cousin Becca, Derrick, Liz, and some other folks made it out to see the guys. Here is a few pics from the event on the radio station's website. 106.5 CTQ. Jason said the show was a lot of fun and went over really well. (In the pictures it starts to look like Keith, Jason, and Charles are cut outs cause they really don't move with each one) haha! Oddly enough they didn't get pics with any of the hooters girls- what's up with that!?? Or did they ;)

Next stop was to Tampa, FL to visit radio stations WQYK & WFUS.

Their last stop was to Jacksonville, FL to visit Gator Country- 99.9 Radio Station Pics from Jacksonville. They played at the Gas Knob Pub for a great crowd. Again some of the family came up for that- Keri, Nicholas, Benjamin, Keli(with baby Miles in the womb), Caleb, Kori, and Bailee (newest member). As you can tell from the pics the boys had a great time. Caleb even wore his famous "Caleb and Jason" Heartland shirt- it was so cute! From what I can tell everyone had a great time! Jason has such a HUGE family I think they could have at least one member at every show! :)

Today the guys are meeting up at the cave with some of the label promoters to talk biz, so they should have more of a timeline for things after today. So I'll keep you all informed. Currently the single is at #58, but has been for a week or two, so well see if we get some improvement within the next few weeks. Keep your fingers crossed- we are definitely not ready for this ride to be over.

Jason, Mike, Chopper, and Todd are playing at Ruggby's tonight if anyone is looking for a fun time!

There you are...

I finally captured two different pictures that I think resembles Jason and one resembles me!!! Its neat to finally start to see ourselves in Kelson.
Jason

Kelly

What do you guys think???

Signing Nemo...

This morning I was getting ready for work and Jason was playing with Kelson on the floor and asked me if she has signed "fish" yet and I told him no, but I show it to her all the time we read our toddler look and find book. So he says- well she just did it. I ran over there and said "Kelson, show mommy the fish", we turned to the Nemo page, and sure enough she signed fish!!!! What a girl!!! So that's another one to add to the list! Makes a mommy proud ;)

I put Kelson in the booster seat down in the livingroom (away from the tv) near the couch and I was doing laundry and some other things and came down to find Kelson like this in front of the tv. I actually looked around to see if someone had moved her. When I scooted her back I peeked back around and Kelson was moving back and forth to get closer to the tv. What a smart girl. hehe. Gotta keep an eye on that one! She LOVES her wonder pets!

Here are some random pics of my little girl over her 11 month old span :)
Kelson-11months

Happy Birthday Sister!!!

I already called my sister today to wish her a Happy 32nd Bday, but I thought I would blog about it too. We got her a Lowe's GC - she wants a rockin' rocking chair for their new porch ;) Its ok- she already opened that present :) We also got her some other stuff that is VERY Keri for her house, so I'm sure she will like it too. Her and Keith are going out to a sports bar with friends tonight so that should make for a fun/children free evening. Our cousin Olivia is in town from Cali and is babysitting- what a girl! Sunday Keri is having an 80's roller skating party! Man oh man do I wish I could be there for that. She is going all out and bringing back the NKOTB shirt. I know if I was going I would poof the hair, tight roll the jeans, wear the fringed shirt, and poofy socks. I told her to only slap the CUTE boys hands too- yall know what I'm talking about ;) oh and to shoot the duck (skating talk)!!

Well happy 32nd bday sister! Love you!!! Have fun!

AND THE BIGGEST LOSER BLOGGER WINNER IS....

Kelly Albert :) YEA!!! I ended up losing a total of 12.1lbs and 1.5% body fat :) So therefore my total weight loss was 13.6lbs!!!! I couldn't believe it. I was a nervous wreck all week prior to weigh in. It was very exciting to see that number drop down from last week :) I guess all the "being strict" and kick butt cardio classes really paid off. I did have witnesses there, so no one would think the "president" of the biggest loser blogger cheated ;) It was a close run for the winner spot. Stacey Smith came in second with a total loss of 10.2 lbs and Lucy Albert right behind her a total loss of 9.1.

Here are the remaining candidates scores (just so they are aware of where they ranked)
Kari Brake- total lost 8.2
Kate White- total lost 7.2
Sarah Brown- N/A
Claire Lesinkski- total lost 3.5
Evelyn Kilgore- total lost 4.0
Aline Childers- total lost 1.5
Louise Hipp- total lost .5
Theana Albert- gained 1.2

As a group we lost a total of 61.6 lbs and 59.25 inches!!! Way to go girls! Even those who didn't win were still "losers" ;) Congrats to all the contestants and I hope you continue to try to lose weight and get to a healthier you!!!!

Some of the girls are already talking about kicking it up a notch and adding more money to the next competition and starting it right away. I suggested that we give it a two week break, but then again, if I still plan on losing fropm here on out, I may as well account for it. So well see how many people actually wanna sign up. ONLY DETERMINED PEOPLE!!! We will prob start it soon and end it the week before Thanksgiving- to give the winner some extra Christmas shopping money :)

FINAL Biggest Loser Blogger Weigh In...

Well this is the final weigh in. For those of you who don't stop by today to weigh in at Lucy's, please e-mail me your final results- I need your current weight, total lbs lost, and current body fat %. Since it was really confusing to calculate the body fat percentage, we are going to do this: Every % you lose of body fat will equal 1lb of weight loss, so we will add it into your total lbs lost. I think this will be the most fair. Well girlies, for the last time, let's hear it :) PLEASE give me your information (above) by evening time tonight so I can get the scores tallied. Good luck everyone!!!
I plan to post the winner tomorrow morning!!!!

We talked about possibly having another competition - after a month or so break- so if you are interested please let me know. DEDICATED members only!!!

Pushing through...

Well the Biggest Loser Competition ends this Wed. I can't believe its finally here! I'm so nervous about the weigh in since my weight has fluctuated so much over the last few weeks. I REALLY want to win, but I guess well know Wed night. I will post the before and after pics (for those who approve) and announce the winner Thurs morning on my blog. I've been having a heck of time figuring out the formula for calculating the body fat %, so with Stacey's help I should get it figured out. I didn't do TOO bad this weekend, although I had a few falls, but overall I think I did ok. I haven't seen if I lost or gained, so that will tell the truth. Well here goes nothing- wish me luck :)

All is better...

Well yesterday Kelson seemed to be her old bubbly/drama queen self again, so I think she is finally getting over her sickness. YEA!!! I've been feeling better for a couple days now too- just stuffed up. So that's a plus too! Jason hasn't gotten it either- so that's another good thing- drinking up that Xango ;) Poor Memere (Lucy) has the crud though and is trying to kick it. We are talking about going to see Heartland's show in Knoxville tomorrow and then staying with the Mathis Family for the weekend, but with us getting over being sick, we have to see. They are taking Robbie- their eldest- to the Philadelphia hospital to see if they can fix what is wrong with him- he is still in pain. Poor thing! They wanted to have some time with us before he left to go. So we are prob gonna try to go!!! Just depends on how everyone is feeling! Don't want Robbie to get sicker. Please keep Robbie and the Mathis family in your prayers!!! We hope the hospital will be good for him and fix whatever the problem might be and give Robbie the chance to be a kid again!!!

Today is my girl Sharee's bday today!!! Happy Bday Honey!!!

Biggest Loser Blogger-- Weigh in- 2nd to LAST ONE!!!

Well girls this is the LAST weigh in before our final weigh in. I know that some of you have lost touch or haven't been posting, so its hard to say how you are doing but I hope all in all that everyone is losing- even if its a few lbs!!! I know its been a busy time for everyone, but I hope you will continue to push towards your goal weight. Some of the girls have talked about having another competition starting mid August, so well see if anyone wants to join. ONLY DEDICATED MEMBERS ONLY!!!

One more week to go... :) Good luck!!!
We plan to meet up at Lucy's house for the final weigh in next Wed, July 30th!!

Sicky Sicky

Well not only does Kelson have a cold but now I do. They said that more than likely the adults would get a head cold (due to the croup), and sure enough I got it. It really hasn't been that bad, but trying to take care of someone sick and being sick is NOT FUN. I took today off work to recover (since Jason is here to help us both), so Kelson is doing better today too. We had two nights of up and down (due to lots of snot in her nose). Its so hard to get all of it out since they can't blow :( She hates tissues and the nasal aspirator thingy. Those are not her fav things right now. She seems to be doing better today- although she still has a bad cough. Jason, Kelson, and I went to dinner lastnight at Mac Grille and she did VERY well- although I realized I couldn't taste a thing I was eating, so I just stopped- no need in wasting calories if you can't savor them. Speaking of being sick- I haven't been able to work out at all due to the sickness at the Albert house :( I wanted to really kick it up and lose about 5 more lbs before our competition ends, but I couldn't really control the past week's sickness. Jason came home late Sat night and so far isn't sick- so let's hope he doesn't!!!!! Anyways, just wanted to update everyone.