Happy Birthday, Baby!!

Tomorrow, January 30th, is Paul's birthday! Happy Birthday to my sweetheart!!!! Paul is my best friend in the whole world and the love of my life! I don't know where I'd be without him! I hope this is a great birthday and wish him many, many, many more!!!!

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Today is Rachel's birthday. I feel so blessed to have such a great best friend! Happy Birthday, Rachel!!!!

Weight Watchers Update #2

Lost .8 this week...hey, not much, but definitely better than a gain.
Since we've been picking on Addi a lot lately, I have a Levi story today. Last night at church, he quickly runs up to Granna and she picks him up of course. He holds his cup up and says, "This milk is old!" It was like he was telling on Paul and myself! Of course the milk wasn't old....and apparently he didn't really think it was either because he didn't have any problem drinking the rest of it!
We are going to camp tomorrow for the 2nd Annual Survivor weekend. We are really looking forward to it. We will be there until Saturday evening. Since I probably won't have a chance to blog tomorrow or Saturday, I'm going to go ahead and give Levi his birthday blog wishes! He will be 2 years old Saturday!!! It's hard to believe he has been with us for two whole years! I don't really have an exciting birth story to share, like with Addi, but I will say that his birth changed life in the Kelsey household tremendously, but in the best way imaginable....he is so vibrant and adds life to any room he enters. He is a stinker sometimes, actually most of the time, but he is so smart and so loving. We love him so much and wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. Happy Birthday, Buddy!!!

What a fit!

Being the terrible mom that I am, I left Addi with Paul last night so I could go to Target in peace. First let me say that I'm almost too embarrassed to post this video at all, but let's face it, it's reality. And blogs are supposed to be about reality, right?? Addi had been with me all day, including a grocery trip to Wal-mart where she complained the entire time that her feet were hurting. She turned around to the lady behind us in line and said, "My feet are hurting and my mommy won't let me sit down and rest them." She forgot to mention that she was tired because I had patiently allowed her to play at McDonald's for 2 hours prior to our trip to Wal-Mart. Anyway, when I left her she pitched a 30 minute fit, making me feel even worse for leaving her because Paul had to suffer the consequences! Because we only have video on our small camera, he was only able to video the fit in small sections. Below is just a small portion of her fit. Do you think her red hair suits her now????

Karaoke madness

We had a very nice, but long day today! We had church as usual this morning and then Addi and I went to the Bible Bowl at Logan Martin. It's about an hour away so the bus stopped and ate lunch on the way there. Addi threw a nice little fit in the restaurant.
We didn't get back until almost time for church to start tonight.
We went over to Jared and Emily's tonight after church for pizza and games. Well, the guys played pool but we never really played anything. Emily broke out the karoake machine and we had a blast. Who ever said you had to be drunk to enjoy karaoke? Rachel was in very rare form and so was I. We were silly- not our usual mode of operation, if I say so myself. I typically don't even like silly girls, but it's okay to go there every once in a while I suppose. Addi was looking at us like, "Where is my mommy and Rachel?" Anyway, we had a really good time and are planning a girls' pajama karaoke night at our house soon!
Hope you all had a nice weekend!!!

Weight Watchers Update

Lost 4.6 pounds this week...finally back to my lowest since I started. Will update again next Thursday!

Tough Skin

Over the past few days, I've decided that you really have to have tough skin to be the mother of a preschooler. Addi has been just telling the truth about everything, regardless of who's feelings she might hurt. First, let me just say, I'm aware that I'm fat. I have been fat since I was in the third grade. I think I made it all the way through school without being tortured about that too much. Who knew that my four year old would innocently deal out some of the most hurtful comments I've ever heard in my life???

A couple of weeks ago we were heading home from visiting Daniel and Mandi. Paul was eating some of Addi's Cheez-its. She was starting to realize he was eating several of them to which she said, "Daddy, if you keep eating my cheese crackers, you're going to be as big as mommy."

The next day Addi was "exercising" in her room to an old Richard Simmons' Sweatin' to the Oldies tape. She came in my room and said, "Mommy, you need to come in here and exercise with me." I said, "Addi, I don't want to right now." To which she replied, "Well, you know exercise is good for fat and you are very fat." To which I frustratingly replied, "Well, you're not skinny Addi." To which she replied again, "Well, at least I'm exercising for it." Okay, I'll give her credit for that.

This week has been no better. She, as innocently as possible, compared me to the fat opera singer in the movie Curious George.

Last night we were watching tv together when a commercial for light yogurt came on (the one with the Itsy Bitsy Yellow Polka Dot Bikini song in it). She quickly said, "Mommy, you need to get you some of that. It's good for getting rid of fat."

I have to be honest and say I've shed a few tears over it. Not because of Addi, but because it really hit home that my size already affects her. I don't want her to go to kindergarten and be the kid with the fattest mom. So, I've really been hitting the weight watcher hard this week. I have been up and down, up and down, but I'm resolving to do better! As a matter of fact, I'm going to step out on a limb and say that I'm going to chart my progress on my blog. Maybe humiliation will prompt some success! I'm not going to post my weight (I'm not up to that yet), but I will post my progress.

What a day!

Well, today did not turn out as I had planned. I went over at about 10 this morning to help mom and dad paint their living room. We painted their bedroom yesterday. After we had been painting for a couple of hours, the phone rang. It was Paul saying that Levi had cut his lip. Mom talked to him and told him I was on my way.
When I got home, Levi wasn't bleeding anymore, but Paul was covered in blood. Levi had tripped over Paul's foot and hit the sharp corner on our end table. It looked pretty bad, so I said we probably should call his doctor. They said they don't do stitches in their office so just to take him to the emergency room. Levi had quit bleeding so I thought we had probably wasted a trip to the er. But while we were waiting, he started bleeding again, pretty badly. When we got to see the doctor, the doctor pulled Levi's lip back and blood starting gushing everywhere. He had torn his gums from his lip!!! Poor baby. I felt so bad for him. They had to sedate him and it took 8 stitches to get it all put back together. He has 2 stitches on his outside lip and 6 stitches inside his mouth. There were actually 3 lacerations inside his mouth along with the busted lip. He was very lucky that the collision had missed his teeth by a narrow margin!
Considering everything, he seems to be in pretty good spirits now. Please pray that his recovery will be speedy.

Reflections on 2006 and Anticipation for 2007

What is it about New Years Day that causes such a need to reflect on the past year and look forward to the new one? Isn't it just one more day in the calendar of life? Yes, it is, but it's always nice to have time to reflect and look forward to things to come, Lord willing.
2006 brought several changes in the Kelsey household. First, Mr. Levi learned to walk this year. We looked forward to that in great anticipation, but now I don't know why! He has certainly had a challenging year for me, but I am looking forward to him settling down a little bit (especially at church because he's great at home). I am also hoping that he/we will conquer potty training in 2007. We'll see. It would be nice not to have to change any diapers in 2008! Don't get me wrong, Levi is one of the sweetest children I know. He's so loving and so smart. He learned to count to 10 already and knows a lot of his ABC's. Maybe will conquer 10-20 and the rest of the ABC's this year!
Addi has just blossomed in the year 2006 and I know 2007 will only bring more changes. She played in her first organized sport (soccer) and is already asking to play softball in 2007! She is also sleeping in her own bed now EVERY night! What a wonderful change that has made for all of us! It's nice to sleep without someone's knee in your back.
2006 was not perfect. No year is. I reflect on this year and the passing of two very special people in my life- Sister Shelia Brasher and Sister Lila Mae Hand. Their passings are not sad in and of themselves because they are both receiving their rewards, but it is always sad for selfish reasons. PaPa having to go to the nursing home has also made this a difficult year. When you are enduring trials it's easy to forget what we're told in God's word, that the trying of our faith produces patience. How true!
Dad's last sermon for 2006 was titled, "Looking on the Brighter Side." I'm really going to take that and make that one of my primary resolutions for 2007. Life is so much more enjoyable when you have a positive attitude. We had about 20+ family and friends over last night to ring in the new year. I couldn't help but think how lucky I am to have so many people that I love and that love me in return. There's no better way to bring in the new year than to spend time with the people you love.
I would be amiss reflecting on the past year(s) and not mentioning Paul. He said yesterday, "Do you remember that 10 years ago we were chatting online on New Years?" I hadn't remembered that specifically, but did when he reminded me. It's hard to believe we've known each other for over 10 years! I can't say enough how much our marriage has enriched my life in so many ways. I fell in love with Paul very quickly after we started talking to each other. Some thought I was crazy (I may be, but I wasn't crazy over that). My love for him has grown so much in the last 10 years that I can't imagine what the next 10 hold for us. He is such a hard worker and leader for our family. No, our life hasn't always been perfect, but noone's is. We have to work on it every day, but it's worth it. Paul, I love you so much.
Well, I guess I've rambled enough for the new year. I look forward with "bright" anticipation to what 2007 will hold for us. To all my family and friends, I love you all and wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!