Happy Mother's Day

The day this little girl made me a Mommy was the best day ever... words cannot begin to describe how much I love her....

She made this sweet picture at preschool this week... it's the best gift ever!

"A special handprint that is sure to last...

As my precious little hands are growing fast...

A sweet memory of when I was small...

As one day I will grow to be tall."

Dance Dress Rehearsal

I seriously cannot believe that it was dance recital time this past week.... already?!  It seems like just yesterday she was getting her first pair of ballet shoes at the studio.... and now... dressing up in her costume and practicing on the big stage!

They were so stinking cute one the stage practicing... they all did so good!  Avery immediately ran off the stage afterwards and came to me and said "That was fun!  Can I do it again?"  She was so cute!

On the way.... to the BEACH!

My oh my... if a vacation wasn't needed for the Elam household.  I love our April/May vacation we have started taking as a family of three.  It is not crowded, warm but not crazy hot, and just nice!  We always say we are going to leave "early" and get down here to enjoy the afternoon and this time we did it!  We made it great time!  We made a lunch stop in Columbia, SC for some Chipotle (YUMM!) and some frozen yogurt and off we went.  

 Finally we made it to the beach... and we were all SO excited!!!  We were a little nervous because we've never had a problem checking in and unloading our stuff but it was PACKED!  We didn't really realize though that we had never gotten here this early either.  It was quite busy at the loading place but we figured it out and got our stuff upstairs.  Avery was so excited to see the beach!

 We had stopped by the grocery store because we always cook in the room about half the time but we went out this night because we wanted to explore.  We went to eat pizza but last minute we changed our mind and went to Nacho Hippo instead and we are so glad... it was amazing!  I'm going to write a post of places we always eat with our favorite foods later.

 We came back to the hotel and Avery wanted to swim in the pool.  The outside pool was a bit too windy and chilly so we (and by we I mean Mike & Avery) went to the indoor pool and it was like a stinking sauna!  It was so hot in there but they had tons of fun!

...More to come soon!

Preschool Sunday

Avery had Preschool Sunday at church on Sunday.  The preschoolers always sing and recite verses for the congregation for two Sundays.  Each set of teachers take a Sunday for their kids.  Mike had to work so I took pictures and videoed it for him.  It was just precious!  Avery wanted "curly hair" for the big event so she slept in sponge rollers the whole night before!  She looked so cute and sweet.  I was worried that she might not sing along but she did... some of the songs they sang were Jesus Loves Me, Peter James John in a sailboat, the B-I-B-L-E, "read your Bible and pray every day....", and "my God is so big... so strong and so mighty... there's nothing my God cannot do for YOU!"  They also recited a few verses... prec!

 After church, we went to visit Daddy at Panera Bread and had some lunch with him.  He was so happy to see his girls.  

 I love this last picture of Avery and Guy.... it shows just how much she loves him.  He is around all the time... we love him too!

We are so proud of you Avery Claire!  We love you so!

Dance pictures, Park, Wt loss

Today was dance pictures for Avery... I was skeptical if I'd take her and get them done or now since I usually just do her pictures myself, but I wanted her to be able to be put on the picture wall at the studio so we went.  I did take time to snap a few shots before we went at Mom-Mom's house.  She's so cute in her tutu!  I was stressing out about the bun situation.  Avery's hair is thin and stringy and has tons of "baby hairs."  If I just twisted her hair up in a bun it would be teeny tiny.  I search on Pinterest and found what was called a "donut bun holder"... I ventured to Sally's Beauty Suppy and bought one and it was AMAZING... seriously, why had I not discovered this years ago...it was so easy and FAST!! I dolled her up in some makeup too... and put mascara on... and I swear her eyelashes touched her eyebrows!  

 We scheduled Avery and Elizabeth at the same session.... they were their typical selves... they love each other and fight like crazy at the same time... crazy sweet friends!

 Tonight, I took Avery to the park, it was so beautiful and just the perfect weather.. I made her pose for a couple more pictures first though... 

She was playing and having tons of fun... she loves running and sliding and swinging!  Two little boys got there and wanted to play 'tag' and she started running around with them.  Avery is NOT allowed to climb up the slides... I could go off on a soapbox who allow their kids to do that... It's hard trying to explain to my kid why other kids are doing it but she is not... but I won't vent anymore about that... these two little boys were climbing the slides and Avery asked if she could and I told her no.  She didn't and was running around... I was on the other side of the slide and I notice she is starting to climb up one after one of the boys and I yell at her and tell her not to... right as she loses her footing on the slide and smacks her mouth right into the top of the slide.  I run over to her and she's busted her lip and is bleeding... the two little boys were sweet to her and was petting on her and asking her if she was okay... as she is wailing.... so Dr. Mom comes in and I go make her swish the blood out of her mouth and tell her the bleeding (or "leaking") as she calls it is better.... my girl will have a fat lip tomorrow... good thing we got dance pictures over with today!

And an update of my weight loss... Mike is down 38 pounds.... yes, you read that right 38 pounds... that is just a few pounds less than Avery weighs... he's 2 pounds shy of the halfway point of his goal for the year... so so proud of him.  He pushes me hard when we go to the gym... he will not let me quit!  I usually go to Zumba but I also try to work on the machines some... I HATE THE MACHINES... especially the elliptical and stair stepper... oh my... they are horrible.  I've lost 10 pounds since we started.  I'm calling my "start" date April 1st.  Here is a photo that I put together from before and then today... I love that even I can see a difference.  It may be a small difference but I can see it.... I love it... only about tons more to go!

A Windy Day

It was so incredibly windy today... seriously, the wind would blow you down and then the next minute it was calm and serene... we have some strange weather!  Nana bought Avery some kites for Easter and she decided today was the perfect day... which it was!  Mike struggled like crazy getting it up and after approximately 3938287293040 tries, he finally did... and fussed like the dickens while doing so.  Once he finally got it up he thought it was awesome, lol... such a man!  Avery thought it was so awesome to "fly a kite"  It was a sweet moment seeing her smile like that....

 We were lazy other than that... I did go to Zumba tonight which was awesome.... I'm so determined to get thin.... I told a friend tonight that I felt like I was going to die after walking on the treadmill after Zumba with a 4% incline and at 4mph (I know that isn't a lot for any fitness junkies out there..) but it was a lot for me... and I seriously thought my legs were going to fall off but I held on for 15 minutes!

 After flying the kite, Avery had Tball... the kids are doing so much better and hitting the ball harder!  Avery looked like a tennis player tonight, lol!

 

Busy, busy...

With this amazing weather comes lots of running around!  I've been slacking on blogging... because I'm too busy running around taking Avery to TBall, dance, or preschool; visiting with family from out of town; ZUMBA; couponing; taking pictures; work (gag!); and trying to squeeze time in to see Mike every once in a blue moon.  I'm not complaining at all, I love spring time!

A is still playing TBall.... we debated changing her teams due to her dance scheduling but ultimately decided she likes her coach and teammates so we are sticking with it.  She seems to have no trouble at all juggling preschool, dance, and tball with only a small break in-between each.  These kids are so funny to watch... they literally tackle each other for the ball, so so funny.  They changed the team name due to some conflicts so they are now the "Braves"... i'm anxious to see how a "game" will play out...

 Granny Nell and Aunt Barb came for a visit so we went down for dinner.  Aunt Barb is battling breast cancer and is right in the middle of treatments but decided to come for a visit... she's a trooper!

We've also been hanging out with Alysha & Sean some.  I took their engagement photos this past weekend and they are so cute... Can't wait to get them to them... they are going to love them I hope!

Avery has been really into me taking her picture here recently and I'm eating it up... She thought the Wonder Woman shirt she is wearing gave her "super powers"... she looks so old to me in that pictures... makes me so sad that my baby is 4 years old.  :(

 We've pulled out the roller skates that you may remember from this time last year.  She's still just as clumsy on them as she was last year.  I'm so scared she will fall and break her neck!  (And she always wears a helmet when we aren't holding her hands!)  Look how long her legs look there.... and skinny!

Mike has been dieting now for a month or so... he has lost like ~34 pounds or something crazy.... I'm so proud of him... it's amazing...You can really start to tell now that he's losing weight... his wedding ring doesn't fit at all anymore and he's getting his weird dimples back in his belly where he's losing... and looking at the picture below, I really think I can tell he's lost weight in his face too.  He walks every single day... never misses a day... and now that we have joined a gym, he's there after work too... 

When I saw these pictures of me, I thought "Wow, we are both smiling, that's a good picture!" However, at the same time, I am at my heaviest of all time.  I don't want to live the rest of my life being super overweight.  A friend of mine at work and I came up with an idea to start a weight loss pool to see if anyone was interested...... we now have 14 people signed up!!!   I have never been more determined in my life... In the past week I've done things I've never done before... I went to my first Zumba class and fell in love with it.  During class I thought I would die, but it was so much fun I went back for a second class (after working 12 hours at work!) and joined the gym... me the overweight lazy girl who would never dream of working out joined a gym and got up early today on a Saturday, leaving Mike and Avery both still asleep to go to Zumba... I love the way it makes you feel, it is seriously amazing.  I've also started a diet.  I want to be thinner and healthier.  I may one day want another baby and I don't want to be a 400 pound pregnant woman.  This week I've turned down pizza and chocolate and Coke!... and other things... because I want to be thinner.... and this week alone I've lost 8 pounds...