Cold Turkey

 The Nuk
The simple contraption that Ryan and I once loved,
the thing we never left home without.
Well, 16 months later,
it was becoming more of an issue than it was worth.

Needed not only at naps and nighttime, 

but in the car, around the house...

even at the fair.

She'd cry for it.  Hunt for it.  Stand by the cupboard where we kept them and scream.
So, after one particularly irritating day... Ryan and I made a decision.

Time to go.

And Elle being, lets just called her "strong-willed", 

I didn't believe there would be any "weaning her off"

That first night she cried for about 20 minutes before falling asleep.

Not too bad, right?

Well, yeah. 

She woke up at midnight-ish, and proceeded to scream obscenities at Ryan (I was at work) for denying her the company of her beloved Nuk.

He caved.

(and lets be honest... after 45 minutes of screaming and crying in the middle of the night, it's exactly what I would have done too!)

Day 2.  No Nuk all day.

20 minutes of crying before falling asleep at nap.

Went down to bed like a dream... probably because she was wore out from throwing a tantrum in the shower.

Slept all night!!!

Day 3 (Today)

No Nuk today.  Nap was a little rougher, and she diddled around for 45 minutes before finally falling asleep.

We'll see how it goes for Ryan tonight, since I'm back at work.

Pray for him!

Good bye old friend(s)!

This is probably only half of them... she's got em' stashed I tell ya!

August Stuff (photo overload, beware!)

This would normally be a Friday where I would be preparing to head back to work.

NOT TODAY!!!  Woot Woot!

I took a day of vacation, just because it's the last Friday of the summer!

I can't believe it's over!

The summer is gone.

Now, don't get me wrong...  I LOVE the fall, 

but still.

Where in the heck did the time go?

Since I haven't been great on keeping you up to date on what's going on in our world

(and I know you haven't been able to sleep at night because of it...)

here's what we've been up to in the month of August!

~Went to a Birthday party for this little girl, and had tons of fun playing in the water!~

~Hitting the county Fairs (Dakota & Carver)~

This was by far Lila's favorite part of the Fair!!

Her "tattoo" she got!  Pretty impressive, huh?

~ Framing our basement~

(Thank you so much Rich & Matt)

The bookcases are currently in what will be our bathroom!

~Playing tee-ball, taking naps and being cute, and eating fresh homemade "pizza"~

~Doing crafts, playing, and enjoying summer like you should!~

Lila's birdhouses

Boone "loves" giving Baby horsey rides, can't you just see the excitement on his face?

I love that you can see the reflection of our house in the bubble to the left!

Gotta love the popscicle drips down to the elbow!  ;)

We also went to visit my Dad at his new place last weekend while Ryan was gone 4-wheeling up north,

but as I was "single-parenting", I didn't snap any pictures.

I did however, pull over on the side of Hwy 8 to snap this on the way home!

Visit

I got to go visit this sweet girl today!

It's her 1 month Birthday today!

I'm amazed that a month has gone by since this little wonder arrived!

I'm amazed by how strong she has been, even with all her little body has gone through!

I'm amazed by her parents, and how they handle each new little bump in the road!

This sweet babe is one tough cookie!

We should all take a lesson from her!

Jilanne, it was great to see you today!  I'm so happy to see her doing better, 

and to know that taking her home, isn't such a far off dream!

Love to you and Jason always!

Update on Kaiya

A quick update for those of you following!

Kaiya did well through her second surgery; now has her chest closed, 

 and has her breathing tube and chest tube removed!

She continues to amaze us all with her strength and will!

Her mommy and daddy sure could use continued prayers,

as this still leaves a long road ahead.

Hopefully, a little less bumpy one!

Follow their story at

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/traynor

Heart

Kaiya is scheduled to go back into surgery later today for the second time in 3 weeks.

Her little heart is struggling to work the way it should and the surgeons have to help it along.

This is a frusterating setback, but hopefully a step in the right direction.

I will confidently say, the past month has been the most stressful time in her parents lives.

Jilanne has rarely left Kaiya's side, and needs our prayers as much as her daughter does.

Please pray for the whole family in this time of stress and uncertainty.

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain,

but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

What a suprise!

Remember this one?

Well, a pretty neat lady thinks that it's a pretty neat photo!

What an honor!

I heart P-Dub

Beautiful Eyes

Beautiful everything~

My sweet Lila, with her stunning blue eyes!

I haven't entered an iheartfaces contest in awhile,

but this week's theme is Beautiful Eyes, and I just couldn't help it!

Hop on over to iheartfaces and check out the other wonderful entries!

SYTYCD

So, I'll be the first to admit that I'm a pretty big dance fan!

I grew up dancing, in an enviroment that revolved around it

(my mom owned the studio!)

8 years ago, I was told I just HAD to watch this show called

So You Think You Can Dance.

That was it!

I fell in love!

Some years have been better than others, but this year, I thought

was pretty great!

I'm very thankful for the invention of DVR, since 2 young kids and night

shift don't cooperate all that well with prime time programming.

Even though the finale of Season 8 was on Thursday,

and I did already know the winner (not a huge shock anyway)

I just finished watching the finale!

And now... I'm just a little sad that it's over :(

So.  I'm putting up a few of my favorite routines from this season

and a few of my all time favs!

Enjoy if you like... or skip right past. (you don't know what your missing!)
The flying leap she does into his arms, make my heart go crazy!

I love Twitch, so this just took it to a whole new level! So sexy!

Two of my favorite dancers!  So dang cute together!

This piece was about addiction, and I just thought it was amazing.

So wonderfully weird!

One from way back in Season 3! Fun!

This one won't allow me to embed, but it is one of the most fun, so check it out!
A little Twitch and Alex hip hop anyone?!

http://youtu.be/W4vEe0609vc

There are a ton more, but this is already a little crazy.

Sweet Sister Moments

It's been a long week.

Nasty, long stretch at work, 

ending in a wicked head cold.

Very little time with my kids and hubs.

I say, "No Bueno!"

I am looking forward to my weekend off.

Sleeping at night like a normal person.

Moving foward with some house projects.

Spending time with formerly mentioned kids and hubs!

I love them, and miss them.

I wanted to post these photos a week ago or so, but never got around to it.

Never in a million years did I imagine myself the mother of two little girls,

but I have to say...  

I LOVE IT!

These sweet little moments that I witness more and more,

make it just that much sweeter!

Playing in the dog's water bowl... Gross, but funny.

Taking a stroll around the house

Happy Birthday Rio!

Our lady of the manor turns 4 today!

Even though we pick on her for being "special",

she's a great dog, and we really do love her!

Happy Birthday Crazy!

Sweet puppy ~4 weeks old!

She's so great with the girls!

Setting a goal

I can't believe I'm posting this, but making it public just might give me a little more motivation.

This is more for myself, so feel free to skip over this post.

Most of my life, I've been in pretty good shape.

I have a boyish figure, and I'm okay with that.

I realize I'll never be shapely, curvy, sexy...

but I used to at least feel fit, toned, Healthy!

When I got married I was a happy 135lbs.

Nice arms, tight tummy, firm booty.

Now, almost 5 years and 2 kids later...

well,  I'm not so tight and firm.

Actually, I'm pretty soft.

I don't like it one bit.  :(

So, here is my public goal.

August 4th, I weighed in at 151 lbs.

By my 5 year anniversary (September 30th)

I WILL get my butt back in shape!

10 lbs down and tightening "things" back up!

Bear with me people.  This might get ugly.

Visit with Kaiya

I got to go and visit Kaiya and her parents today!

We managed to coordinate the visit with a few of our friends/co-workers too!

Chelsie, Anna, and I all managed to get there around lunch time

and thanks to Anna, we had a lovely little picnic outside in the sunshine!

(nice job on the Tuna salad Anna!)

Of course, it was great to chat and visit with Jilanne and Jason,

but we really wanted to see their little princess!

Kaiya was having a pretty darn good day and looked great!

Quite pale, as expected, but beautiful all the same,

She actually was really alert for a lot of our visit,

so we got to enjoy seeing her pretty eyes checking us all out!

I can't begin to express how happy it makes me to see these two with their daughter.

It's a reminder of how precious life is, and what a true gift the love for a child can be!

Continued prayers and encouraging thoughts will be headed their way,

Way to go Kaiya!!!

Awake and checking out her visitors!

Anna's in love!

Darling booties!

Mommy and Kaiya~ Jilanne, you look Amazing!

Absolute sweetness!

Boxes

What's better than a couple of diaper boxes and an old receiving blanket taped together?

A couple of cute kiddos to play in it!

This make-shift "fort" has been a great source of fun for my babes,

and even though it looks pretty awful on my porch, 

their smiles make up for it!

Toys? Nah... just a few boxes!  Love it!

Before the "fort" was created

* Kaiya had her chest closed on Sunday, and her breathing tube was removed yesterday!  She seems to be holding her own and really showing us all how strong she is!  I'm hoping to go see this special little baby sometime tomorrow if all continues to go well!  Keep the prayers coming... they seem to be working!*