It's been awhile...

Well I don't know if any of you even read my blog anymore. If you don't I don't blame you. It's been hard to make time to get on here and share my crazy life, plus to start where I left off so long ago seems like a lost cause at this point, so I'm starting new again. :)  Two reasons, one I need a place to vent and two I need a place where if feel like I'm held accountable for my actions. I'll make this first "starting over" post quick.

Kiery lives with us permanently and we love it!  I love having her here. Ryker is doing awesome. He's grown so much and talking so much more. He is such a little boy now! We are almost done building our house. Should be another month or so and we'll be moving in!  So excited.  As for me, I've gained more weight and I'm angry and sick of myself, yet I continue to eat like crap. I know I'm a stress eater and this year has been good but stressful non the less.  I'm slowly starting to get more involved with the community especially with Kiery's school and dance team stuff. Meeting other mom's and such as well as attending children's story time at the library and meeting new people there too.  I have all these goals to eat healthy and run/ workout yet I wake up so exhausted and it's all I can do to keep up with Ryker in the mornings. I really wish there was some way he could share his energy to balance us out.  I've made a commitment with Alex to do P90X together and start eating healthier as a family. We started yesterday. So far not so great. We did half the work out yesterday and nothing tonight. We are both so tired and sore from yesterday! But we haven't given up. I also made an appointment to see the doctor for a regular check up and a blood panel to check my cholesterol and such.  Maybe hearing the doctor say that I am unhealthy will kick me in the butt to really stick to it.

So that's my life in a nutshell right now.  Here's a few pics of the kids and the house!

Not sure if these pictures are going to post right....

 

Cole Family Trip - First Half

Well what a trip it's been so far.  We left Crestview on Monday morning. Our plan was to be on the road by 5 am. However, we didn't finish packing, showers and in bed until 1:30 so 0500 came and went! We got on the road about 7am & headed West! The kids went right back to sleep and so did I. First day was pretty boring except on the way through TX we got looped around twice in Dallas trying to find the right exit but we figured it out GPS and all! We drove 15 hours that day, all the way to Wichita Falls TX and stayed on Sheppard Air Force Base.  This is where Kiery was born so Alex drove her by the hospital. We got settled into the awesome TLF House with a garage and then slept in again. 

The next morning we packed up the bags and the kids and made our next goal Flagstaff AZ.  Half way through New Mexico we were getting sick of being in the car. We saw a sign about a dinosaur museum coming up so we took the exit to check it out just for the hell of it.  Turned out to be a cool little museum!  Ryker was super happy to be out of the car seat and able to move around. This place even had a lab where they are working to uncover more bone from rocks, we could watch the scientists work through the window!  They waved at Ryker and he waved back!  We bought him a Teradactyl puppet and then reluctantly got back into the car to keep on going.  We drove and drove and drove until it was almost midnight. We didn't quite make it to Flagstaff and had to find a pace to sleep so Super 8 in Winslow AZ became our home for the evening. It wasn't the most spectacular place, but it was a bed for the night and that's all we care about!  In the morning we realized this town was an old town off of Route 66 so we took a picture of the Route 66 sign!

On the road again. Next goal was Reno, NV and a good goal it was, too bad we didn't make it that far. This day was full of adventure! We decided on a whim, since we were close to the Grand Canyon, that we would try and stop. I started looking up info on my phone while we had service and I saw the info for the Skywalk. On the website it says it costs about $26 a person to go, aahhh we can swing that. We figured it was about 50 miles off our path, but worth it. So onward we went. On the way this white Altima decides to pass us with oncoming traffic and takes his sweet time. The cars coming towards us had to move off the road as not to hit him. Alex had slowed way down to let him in, but noooo, he decided to continue on to pass the truck in front of us! We couldn't believe the stupidity of this guy. What an asshole! No care for any of the people on the road let alone the passengers in his vehicle.  We watched him continue to pass car after car on up the road. Alex was so mad at this guys complete disregard for others on the road. He would have caused a head on collision.  About 10 minutes later, we see the sign for our turn off. It's not very well marked and we just about missed it. We commented about how we hoped the white altima wasn't going to the canyon too and if so we hoped he missed the turn off. We kept on our way after about 15 miles or so the road just stops and turns into a washed out bumpy gravel road. It felt like we were going the wrong way or we had missed something. There weren't anymore signs about the Grand Canyon. It just felt weird. We kept on driving only going about 20 miles an hour at the most, then low and behold the white altima showed up on our ass again. This road was windy and didn't give him much chance to pass. He wanted to stay on our butt, so Alex gave him a good shower of gravel any chance he could! :)  He backed off a bit, but sure enough as soon as a chance opened up he passed us again. 

We finally arrive at the parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Everything was guarded and the road became blocked off. We were told to park and then go to the visitors center to get our entry pass. The edge of the parking lot had about 15 large commuter busses and about half of Japan visiting. The Visitor Center looked like a giant white garbage bag had been shaped into a weird looking dome. It felt like we were in the X-files or something. We go inside and find out that the entry pass is $50 a person which is mainly a bus ticket to get to the Skywalk plus 3 other Indian artifact sites, then you pay the $26 to go onto the skywalk. We're talking almost $80 a person and that's with the military discount!  ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?  The land is privately owned by the Hualapai Indians so we are not allowed to drive up and see the Grand Canyon or go to the skywalk ourselves. UGGGG so we walked out moped all the way to the car and drove back down the awful gravel road to the highway. On the way back out we saw a bull taking a shit on the side of the road. We thought "Yep, that's how we feel too!"

 ~TO BE CONTINUED~

 

Ryker Man!

All I can say is that he is just so stinkin CUTE!  I love him more every day.  He is so full of personality. He is very determined to do what he wants when he wants. I am constantly chasing him around the house, but I love that he keeps me on my toes! He is so smart too. He figures things out so fast! He is also a lover. He loves to cuddle first thing in the morning and he will crawl into my lap on the floor and give me kisses. I even got it on video! He also loves to laugh at everything. He has this little chuckle he does under his breath. It's so darn adorable! 

He can stand on his own now and getting stronger every day. He can walk and push the laundry basket around the floor. He loves to grab your hands and walk all over the house, where he wants to go of course!

He is eating and pooping much better too. For awhile he quit eating baby food, baby cereal, anything solid. He acted like he wanted it then I would go to feed him and he scrunches his face and covers his eyes with his hands. On Easter he decided to eat again! He ate cut up green beans, pork roast, and red potatoes! I couldn't believe all the food he scarfed down!! Ever since he's wanted what we eat for dinner. I guess he just doesn't want to be considered a baby anymore. He still won't touch the baby food. So he eats what I make for dinner! Works for me! Oh and he loves peeps and chocolate! Happy Late Easter!

Enjoy the pics and video!

 

House Stuff

We have been going back and forth on whether or not to buy/build a house. With the rates low and our little town booming right now, we decided to go for it. We've been looking at all kinds of houses and we determined that it is actually a better deal to build than buy here. Most resale homes are in foreclosure or are short sales and need lots of work. We don't want to deal with fixing something up, especially with Ryker around. So we are going to build. We finally decided on a lot and a house plan and wrote the offer last night with our Realtor!  We are so excited. The possibility of owning our own place that we can do whatever we want with is awesome! No more renting!!!  Our new place is tucked into the back of an older neighborhood. It is phase VI! Right now there is only one house built on the side street and no one is on our street. We will have an acre of land on a cul de sac. The area is full of trees and it feels like we are in the forest, yet less than 10 minutes to the store and Kiery's school! I drove down there again today and I really like the area. It feels cozy in the neighborhood.  There are also 2 large ponds that we will have access too for fishing and picnicking, not so sure about swimming. Both are walking distance!


Here is a picture of the lot:

Here is the layout of our house and then a larger view of the main floor:

 

We are going to have the plan flipped so the garage will be on the other side. 

We will hear back from the builder tomorrow afternoon about our extras and such. We probably won't go with all that we asked for, but we added it into the offer just to see what the price would be. Things such as extending the garage by 4 feet. Adding a door to the toilet/shower area, adding sound proof insulation between the wall in the laundry-bedroom and the living room wall - bedroom. 

Can't wait to pick colors! 

Kiery

I'll start with Kiery.  She has decided to stay with us permanently.  We are thrilled! She has been such a huge help with Ryker and so pleasant and fun to be around (most of the time!) Her grades have improved and I can see confidence growing in her.  

Currently she is doing jazz and ballet dance at a studio in Destin. I found an awesome studio here in Crestview for her to attend so she can continue her dance. She is also going to try out for the Davidson Middle School Dance Team next week! I hope she makes it.  It would be so great for her to meet some new girls and make some friends here in Crestview before school starts in the fall. 

Here's a few pics of Kiery getting ready for Dance Pictures!

Lots to catch up on

I almost don't know where to start!  So much has been going on in the last 2 months. Maybe I should break down each section of my life into separate smaller posts. TSFL, Kiery, Ryker, House stuff, and Overall life extra's! I have lots of pictures and a video to post as well!

recounted

So I was tickling Ryker on the bed today and I got a better look inside that little mouth of his. He has 6 teeth coming in not 3. Four on top and 2 more on the bottom. Yikes!  He had a fever of 100.9 today but it quickly went down with some Tylenol.  Now I am I positive the fussiness is due to all those teeth! Today he was much happier. I think because we stayed home all day and Daddy and Kiery Bear were home too. As soon as those little teeth start to show better I'll try and catch a picture.

Crazy Week

Well this week started off with a bunch of new changes. I have officially stopped pumping! Kiery moved in for her trial period so I drive her to school in Destin (an hour each way) everyday. I started Take Shape for Life (stuck to my start day).  And Ryker is getting 3 new teeth and doesn't like the new morning schedule.  However, with all the changes it has been a good week.

First off, starting TSFL wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Although I must admit I did have my usual cup of coffee, toffee mocha. I just had to have my "one last cup". I ate good the rest of the day. That first day was easy. Day 2, I was tired but still in good spirits. By the end of the day I started getting a headache. Day 3, I was so tired and Ryker was so fussy. I just didn't have the patience. I put him back in the car and we drove around and looked at houses.  By day 4 I had the worst migraine. I went to bed early and by yesterday, Day 5 I woke up feeling so good. I had energy! My headache was gone! I felt thinner and lighter! I cheated and stepped on the scale early and I have lost 5 pounds already!  I know most of that is water weight which is good because I don't feel so bloated anymore.  My pants aren't pinching my stomach.  And because I stopped pumping finally my boobs don't feel hard and sore anymore and they actually fit in my regular bras again.  Ahhh it feels good to get on the road to me again and get my body back. I know I have a ways to go but this is a great start!

Having Kiery come live with us was a little scary for me at first. I love her dearly and I would never deny her or Myranda living with us. I went into this marriage knowing Alex had 2 girls and that this would be a possibility some day. However, I can't deny that I felt nervous about being a mom to a 12 year old.  This first week has been great though. She is a big help with Ryker and I know that this is all still new and the newness will wear off, but we are all doing great. Working out the kinks with the new schedule and figuring out what she likes to eat etc. We are having fun.

Ryker LOVES having his sister here. He just lights up when he sees her and loves to play with her. He's been a big fuss this week though with the new teeth coming in and the morning schedule changing, but I think he started getting used to it by Friday. We'll see how next week goes. He is also making so many new noises and babbling all the time. I keep trying to get him to say Mama, but no such luck yet! :)

He also had another physical therapy appointment on Monday. He is doing so awesome that Jenny wants to video tape him so she can show her students what babies are supposed to do!!! So cool!  He is about 10 months developmentally.  She did say that now is the time to keep an eye on him because if there was a delay, now is the time it would show itself. However, since he is doing so good, we don't think anything will pop up.  She gave me some tips to help him balance on his feet and get him to start taking steps. We see her again in June.

We have also been debating about whether or not to buy a house. We've been looking at houses and some new developments and getting excited. So we met with a lender this week and got approved for a home loan! This weekend we meet with a Realtor!  There are 4 empty lots in our neighborhood. One right behind our house and next door to our neighbors.  We've talked about how cool it would be to build a house on one of those so we could be close to Charlie and Dusty still. This neighborhood is pretty well established so we figured it wasn't an option. Well low and behold they started laying a foundation just yesterday right behind our house! There is a realty company sign posted so it's for sale!  We will find out more info this weekend. How cool is that! :)

Ryker's Birthday Party!

Ryker wasn't sure what to do with all the people, but he was having fun playing with everyone. We ate Asian food and watched a slide show of his first year. I cried, as always. Then I helped Ryker open his presents and then we went for the cake. I think Ryker was pretty exhausted by then because he didn't really care about the cake as much as I thought he would. We may do round two on Monday (is actual birthday) just to see. He was super cute though!  All in all the party was great. Here are some more pics of the party. Still can't believe he is 1.  :)