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I started a post earlier this month and just now finished it "My Favorite Things" so you have to scroll down to Dec 8 to read the new posting.

I hate moving!

Well the holidays are over and the packing has begun! In about 3 weeks I'll be living back in Austin again, but the process it takes to get there is hectic! We usually have movers pack up our house, provided by the Army, but this time , since it's our choice of moving, we have to do it all and it SUCKS! Thankfully we have Luis' dad here and he's been a big help. We got a truck load taken to our storage unit but we still have a bunch to go.
Just please keep us in your prayers during these next few weeks, it's gonna be a stressful time and emotional rollercoaster!

It's Christmas and Santa delivered!

Santa brought Ashlyn her very own horse.

And chair and cell phone

Mommy got a laptop!! Which I am currently using and love it!

And she got a scuddlebug scooter!

We had a wonderful Christmast this year! We are blessed to have family here in town. Luis' aunt and uncle live here so we were able to join them last night and today for dinner and gift swapping. Luis' dad has been visiting all month and will stay until Luis deploys. Santa was very nice to us this year :) Ashlyn got many clothes and toys. it's such an awesome feeling watching your children get so into Christmas and see what they get, even at 18 months old. It's so much better getting gifts for her than getting some myself.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year.

Love, Kari

Christmas Eve

We went to the Trail of Lights in downtown Clarksville. "Christmas on the Cumberland" Ashlyn loved it, although it was pretty cold she had a blast.

First carousel & choo choo ride

When we were in AL last weekend we went to the mall and Ashlyn rode a carousel and choo choo for the first time so we took some video clips of it. Enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1047013254034779390&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1365506208570750879&hl=en

I should be happy it's almost Christmas...

But that only means that Luis will be leaving soon after. I'm trying so hard not to think about it. I can't believe he's leaving AGAIN. It seems like he just got home. He will be leaving around Jan 10 give or take and I will be moving back to TX. We are packing up all our stuff, saying bye to this house, putting our stuff in storage and I'm headed home, probably for good. Because once Luis returns, it will take a few months, but he will be out of the Army and we will be living in Austin, which is wonderful , but having to wait this 15 months will be so hard.
I will be an emotional wreck, just FYI, so I'll need my friends and family to lend a shoulder to cry on. But most of all I need prayers, prayers for Luis and for his safety and pray that they shorten the deployment (which is possible from 15 to 12months)

Well until then I will enjoy my time with him, with our family together and I wont worry about it until it gets closer.
Thanks for listening! Love you all!

It's Potty Time!!

Well the potty training has begun! We bought her a potty the other day along with Elmo's Potty Time musical book that she can only look at when she sits on the potty. So she doesnt hesitate to sit on it, she hasnt done anything yet but she sits on it for a good amount of time and reads her book. She will sometimes tell me "poo poo potty" and I'll take her. So wish us luck! ha. I took some pictures of her sitting on the potty but I wasnt sure if that was an appropriate thing to post! ha.

My Favorite Things 2007

I always love reading VJ's fav things and then after watching Oprah's fav things show, I thought I'd list my favorite things of 2007!

New gift from Santa! My new HP laptop!

My new Coach bag! Love it!!

Presto Tilt and Drain Electric Griddle! This is awesome for pancakes, french toast and tortillas! Thank's Mom!

Hypershine Gloss from E.L.F
(http://www.eyeslipsface.com/)

Eye Shadow Brush from E.L.F

Starbucks Caramel Frappucino Lite

Video of Ashlyn "Oh My Noodness!"

BANNED?!?!

I read this on another blog and since I'm a huge advocate for breastfeeding, I wanted to share:


Remember the Online Nurse-In to protest the Facebook and MySpace ban on breastfeeding images? Seems that the video montage of breastfeeding that was put together has now been banned on You Tube for being "inappropriate." Here's the press release from The League of Maternal Justice

Youtube Bans Protest Video
Video Depicted Breastfeeding Moms
A mom-produced internet protest video attacking Facebook's banning of breastfeeding pictures was itself banned by the popular video sharing service Youtube after gaining recognition as the top-five most discussed of its day. A group of moms called Youtube's action hypocritical and harmful, and pointed to dozens of sexually explicit and harmful videos currently allowed on the service. The moms also pointed to a number of state laws specifically stating that public breastfeeding was not inappropriate.
If you are interested in taking action check out What You Can Do.

Ho Ho Ho

So today at Walmart we were shopping and just so happens Santa was there so you could have your childs picture taken and get a free 5x7! So we took her to see him and she FREAKED!! She had her arms and legs wrapped around me so tight I could let go of her and she was hanging on! She took a candy cane from him and said Thank you, so I sat her on his lap and OMG, you would have thought this child was being kidnapped! lol, so no Santa picture this year I guess! LOL It was hilarious though! I almost want to take her again so I can video tape it! haha

We put up our tree and decorations up today, It's beginning to look like Christmas! I cant wait to see Ashlyn open up her gifts, but in a way I want Christmas to take it's time getting here because for us, that's a week or two before Luis has to leave so I'm dreading that. But at least he's here this year for Christmas so I am thankful for that!

Home Sweet Home

So yesterday Luis and I had a great day in Austin! We started out by going to Whole Foods downtown, which is oh so nice! Then we walked all around downtown, ate at Hickory Street Bar and Grill, I had an avacado veggie burger....yum! Then we caught a trolley and went to the UT campus and walked around the whole thing, tiring! Especially in boots! ha. Went to the co-op and then took a trolley back to 6th to walk back up to our car at Whole Foods, that was at 7pm. Then we went home changed and went to eat at Fonda San Miguel off Burnet and North Loop. SOOO GOOD!! I had this dish with grilled onions and poblano peppers sliced on the bottom, then that was topped with a corn tortilla then a black bean sauce covered all of that then topped with gulf shrimp! It was Awesome!! It was so nice to have a day and night to ourselves which we really havent ever done, it's nice having Grandmommie here to always keep Ashlyn for us too.
We are leaving tonight to drive back to KY. We will really miss Austin. But I should be back in January. It has been nice to sleep in every morning that I've been here! My mom has been up with Ashlyn and fed her breakfast all before I woke up but it's back to reality now! It was nice while it lasted!

HookEm Horns

Can't say much for the UT game on Friday but at least we had a good time dressing up for it! Just had to show you her outfit, she even has a UT bow! My little cheerleader!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. We went out to my aunt's lakehouse in Spicewood and had a full house. Not only did my family come, but Luis' family did too and to have both families come together during the holidays is really something to be thankful for.

The most I am thankful for is my family: my husband is amazing. Everything he does he does for us. My daughter, she has been the light of my life and I couldnt imagine life without her. My parents who support me thru everything, I know if I need them, they are always there. And all my brothers and sisters, I love them all dearly.

Our happy family

My Sisters Lisa and Lacy

My beautiful baby girl

Introducing......

I have been trying for awhile now to get one of my best friends in the world of blogging/myspace/photoalbums, just anything to keep in touch even though we email often and finally she did it!! Most of you from Brentwood remember Nicci King, we were connected at the hip in early high school. Well she finally committed to blogging so here is her link for those of you who know her! Thanks Nicci for doing this just for me! :)
http://jnm247.blogspot.com/

Have Faith

This was emailed to me today and more than other days it touched me so I wanted to share.

Everything that is going wrong in your life today shall be well with youthis year. You have been destined to make it and you shall surely achieve all your goals this year. For the remaining months of this year (2007),all your agonies will be diverted and victory and prosperity will beincoming in abundance. Today God has confirmed the end of your sufferings, sorrows, and pains because HE that sits on the throne has remembered you.He has taken away the hardships and given you JOY. He will never let you down.I knocked at heaven's door this morning, God asked me... My child! What can I do for you? And I said, "Father, please protect and bless thosereading this message"... God smiled and answered... Request granted.

I need a change

Today was awful. I woke up with the worst cramping ever! I am not going to be too graphic but I was miserable this morning. I went to the DR to see if my body had eliminated everything because I was almost sure it had! But NO, my cervix is still closed with everything inside, how I don't know. We were going to schedule the surgery for today but with Luis' schedule Wed is still best, bc he can take off that day and the rest of the week. By mid afternoon I was feeling okay again. Thankfully she sent me home with medicine but I have been sticking to my Tylenol it has seemed to help alot. I don't think I need Percocet just yet but I have it in case I do need it.

I'm just so ready for this to be over with. So I can put it behind me and start fresh again. I feel like I need a change. Not sure if that means, a new haircut, which I kinda want to chop it!! Or a new take on life like maybe going to the gym, getting all this fat off my body since I no longer have an excuse to harbor it anymore. I cant say it's baby fat, my baby is 17 months old, I've had plenty of time to work on it. So once this is all said and done I just want to find a new hobby, feel good about myself, fit into my skinny clothes!!!

It's been a long day so I'm off to bed now! Thanks for letting me vent! And thank you all for all your kind words and support and prayers! I have the greatest friends!! MUAH!

If you first don't succeed, try try again.

Most of you already know so I felt okay to write about it. I went to the Doctor on Friday for my first OB appt since I found out I was pregnant but the 2 days before I had started feeling discomfort , then cramping, then bleeding so I was a bit concerned. The DR did the ultrasound and I did have a miscarriage. The baby had stopped growing at 8 weeks and I was already 10 weeks along. I was not ready for the dreaded news that deep down I knew may come, I didn't think it would happen to me, but who does? I know it's very common, most of my friends have gone through this but needless to say it's still a hard issue to face and deal with , emotionally and more so physically. Because I was seen on a Friday not much could be done as far as a DNC just yet, so my body has already started the process of elimination. I have been cramping pretty hard, mostly last night. If I lay down and remain still I rarely cramp, but if I have to get up and move around it comes on harder and more frequent. Today wasn't as bad. I started taking the rapid release Extra Strength Tylenol which has seemed to help. I plan to go see the DR on Monday to see if in fact I have passed it on my own, if not I'll have the DNC surgery on Wednesday.

As far as emotions, I was very sad , seeing that image on the screen of a baby but with no life to it was very hard, but I have put my faith and trust in God and I know that He has a plan for me and knows what He's doing. I know my body knew something just wasn't right. I really wanted this baby. I don't know when we can try again, with the deployment coming up in January, our time may have run out. I just didn't want Ashlyn and the next baby 3+ years apart but I guess I cant really control that at this point.

Thank you all for your sweet and encouraging words, for your thoughts, and for your prayers. God will not bring me to something that he can not get me through so I will be just fine and this just means back to trying :) That's always fun right? ha

Love you all!

Happy Halloween..MEOW

Ashlyn had a great time last night Trick or Treating and eating her lollipops. After we handed out candy we went over to Luis' aunt's house. 2 wiskers on each cheek and one dot on the nose was all we could accomplish on her face, she would not sit still long enough or let us continue so there you have it! ha. Enjoy!

Ashlyn with her Grandmommie and Grandaddy

These are some of my favorite pictures of their visit here. Just wanted to share.

A few more pictures with pumpkins

I have a little set up outside on my front porch with hay and pumpkins and a scarecrow so I had Ashlyn do a few more poses for me there. I love fall!