child like faith...

It’s been so neat seeing Annie Rice really want to learn about God and pray. She literally wants to read her bible all the time[The Jesus Storybook Bible is awesome], and she prays before every meal and before naptime and bedtime. I can’t help but laugh though at some of her prayers...I know they are so sincere and coming from a sweet little girl, but some of the stuff she prays for, I just can’t help but wonder where she gets it from. BUT I love hearing her pray, and we’ve had to remind ourselves we will never discourage her from reading the bible, no matter how many times she ask us in a day to read it to her[I counted 1 day and she asked almost 30 times:)]. Sometimes, I will walk in her room and she’s sitting on the bed, reading it. Such a sweet thing to see. AND most days, she makes Minnie Mouse, Bear, Goofy, baby, and her by[blanket] get on their knees and pray too! Here have been a few of her prayers lately...

“Thank you God for lunch, thank you God for chicken and fries, watching dickey mouse, Gaines and Brynn, reading bible, seeing mommy, gym, Amen.”

“Thank you God for cereal, the wise men, the shepherd, joseph, baby Jesus, and Mary too, Amen.”

“Thank you God for daddy, for o my soul, shepherd boy, neck, Annie Rice’s neck, Mommy’s neck, Maggie’s neck, and car’s neck, Amen.”

“Thank you God for cars, for Maggie’s neck, phone’s neck, Annie Rice’s neck, thank you God for God is able, for shepherd, umm what’s next, thank you God for miss jill, joey, the angel, the king, the shepherd boy, the shepherd, thank you God for baby’s neck, Amen. “

“Thank you God for trash, for outside trash, for stinky diaper, for phew whee, ummm what’s next, Amen.”

“Thank you God for chicken and fries, milk, chocolate chip milk, 12345678910, ummm what’s next, thank you God for one, thank you God for two, thank you God for three, Amen.”

Come to think of it, my prayers should really be more like this...So many times I forget to THANK GOD for the small things and not just the big things. Child like faith...

5 miles in an hour...a HARD workout.

 Since getting Maggie in October, I think I have put on about 20 pounds! The first month and a half we had meals delivered to us, then the Holidays were soon after, and since the new year I just haven’t been motivated to do anything about losing the weight until now! 

I’m determined to get back to my “pre-maggie” weight, especially since we will be vacationing, oops I mean working, in St. Kitts in 6 weeks:) 

We love watching the Biggest Loser and this past week, something Jillian said really caught my attention. She told her team to do 5 miles everyday on the treadmill, AND it would only take an hour. Well, I started thinking about it and was determined that if the contestants could do it, I could too! BECAUSE when I run 5 miles, I can do it in an hour, but if I walk/run 5 miles it’s a lot harder to do it in an hour and on the biggest looser she wasn’t talking about them running all 5 miles. Even though I’m a little overweight, I’m still in pretty good shape. I’ve always been a big runner, and for me thats the best way for me to see results, BUT it also gets very old for me quick if I run everyday...So most of the time I will do intervals of running/walking on the treadmill. 

SO I tried this out this week and the first time I was over my goal by 5:45 minutes. That’s a lot to cut down on especially considering I was sweating like a pig when I finished AND I’m NOT a big sweater! It was a HARD, HARD workout. So the next time I went to the gym, I was determined to cut down on that time and still get in 5 miles of running/walking in an hour. I did it, BUT finished just barely under 1 hour! If you want a really good, hard workout, TRY THIS! I burned 520 calories in an hour timeframe! 

Note: While this is a hard workout, it’s not unmanageable. The highest speed is 6.5 for 2 minutes with NO INCLINE the entire workout.

Time Frame	Speed
0-3 minute Walking Warm Up	3.5
3-5 minutes Walking Warm Up	4.3
5-10 minute RUN	5.3
10-14 walk	4.3
14-16:30 RUN	6.5
16:30-19 RUN	6
19-21:30 RUN	5.5
21:30-25 RUN	5
25-30 WALK	4.3
30-32:30 RUN	6.5
32:30-35 RUN	6.0
35-37:30 RUN	5.5
37:30-40 RUN	5.0
40-47 RUN	5.3
47-50 WALK	4.5
50-55 RUN	5.3
55-60 WALK	4.3

It is my goal to figure out more and more 5 mile workouts on the treadmill in an hour! I will be posting more as the months go on. 

Let me know if you try it, and what you think! BE PREPARED, it’s a HARD workout BUT SO WORTH IT! I didn't add this on the list but be sure to include a COOL DOWN!

a big girl room....

After Christmas, Kaz and I came back to Charleston, and Annie Rice stayed with my parents for a few days. We had planned to start on her “big girl room” during that time and just paint. Kaz asked to take things really slow[that’s not me at all! When I have a project in mind, I want it done ASAP]. BUT I agreed and we had just planned to paint the room while she was my parents. We started painting that night, and it wasn’t very longer after when Kaz asked if we could have her whole room done by the time she got back home:) He was just as excited as I was. I decided that with her big girl room we were going to do a complete makeover! New colors, simpler design, and less clutter. We still have 1 more project to do on one of the walls, and I’ll be sure to post pictures when we do that. Right now, her walls are blank, which is kind of nice considering how crowded they were before:) 

I bought the bedding at Target, the curtains off of Amazon, we repainted her old dresser from black to white, and I made the bow holder with a frame and ribbon from hobby lobby. 

Her big girl room was something that i have been thinking about for months...It was something I was in NO HURRY to do. My pediatrician recommended her being in a big girl bed by the time she started climbing out of the crib[she never did] or by the time she was 3. We honestly could have waited a little longer, but I knew that I didn’t want to start her in a big girl bed in a few months when wedding season starts up for me. 

I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Every person teaches their child something different. We have a lot of friends who have been apart of Growing Kids Gods Way, and we’ve really liked a lot of the ways they parent their children. Before Christmas, I read Todderwise and one of the things it recommends is having the child stay in bed and ask before they get out of bed. Loved the idea[we have friends who do this and it’s been great] so I definitely wanted to do that, but along with that I had ordered[and done a ton of research] on toddler clocks. I ordered My Tot Clock, to go along with Annie’s switch to a big girl bed. I was nervous and had no idea what to expect...We told Annie Rice several times that when she came back home she was going to have a big girl room! She was SO EXCITED! Since she didn’t pick any of the decorations out with me, I decided that I would take her the day she came home to pick out some “big girl pj’s”. Even though the pj’s are the same as all of her others ones, to this day when she puts on the pj’s we got that night, she calls them her big girl “jammers”[that’s a country word for pajamas]. 

Annie Rice LOVED her room and was so happy when she saw it! She climbed right up in the bed. It was the cutest thing. She took her bear, aka beer, and put him under the covers, pointed her finger at him and said “Go night night beer. Stay in bed and don’t say mine.” I couldn’t help but laugh:)

That night before she went to sleep, we went over several times this process of a big girl bed. We told her that while her clock was blue she was to stay in bed. We told her when she woke up the next morning AND her clock was yellow then she could call for mommy. When mommy came to the door, she could ask to get out of bed. My parents were here for that first night, and I know they were skeptical, but Annie Rice did amazing! She got out of bed 1x and since that first night she has stayed in bed ever since! It’s been almost 4 weeks since she started sleeping in her big girl bed. We put her down at 730pm and I set the clock to turn yellow at 730am. Most days she will sleep until 7-830 and the days she wakes up at 7, she stays in bed until it’s yellow and most days well past 730. I put a few books by her bed and she has a few stuffed animals and she will either lay in bed and talk or sing, or play with her books or animals. Nap time has been the same way. In the beginning, every time she would lay down we went over and over what she was to do, and would ask her questions so she could tell us how the process was going to work. Now, we usually go over it once a day and she does really good! This transition with Annie Rice has been a lot easier than I expected as a result of prayer, the Tot clock, and the wisdom from Toddlerwise. When we have traveled to my parents house, we pack the clock with us, and follow the same system. 

Below are a few pictures of her big girl room...

BEFORE....

 AFTER..

 I personally LOVE these curtains:)

 bow holder: I picked 3 different ribbons that I liked and staple gunned them to the back of the frame:)

life with 2 girls...

I've planned all week to blog...It's Thursday, and I'm just getting to it! I can't believe how much the girls are growing. They amaze me everyday, and I'm so thankful the Lord entrusted Kaz and I with their lives. Let me catch you up to speed on whats been going on around our house lately through pictures....

 "Mom, why do I have so much gas?"

 I got all my hair cut off...WHY did I EVER want to do that?

 Annie Rice loves Maggie so much

 It's been in the 70s and 80s here the last few weeks. We've had a lot of play dates and park dates. 

We've gone on a lot of walks. We've had to take Minnie, Goofy, or Bear with us on every walk:)

 "Don't even try to take my paci, mom"

The outfits she picks out are so funny!

 This little girls loves to read the Jesus storybook bible. 

 Annie Rice's favorite toy is legos. She plays with them 75% of the day. I scored these huge legos for $4. 

 We've spent a lot of time with friends lately. 

thirty years...

Yesterday was a very special day for my dad. He was honored at work for working for the company for 30 years. His co-workers had a surprise celebration for him. Me, my mom, Annie Rice and Maggie Ruth also surprised him at the celebration. He didn’t have a clue! Annie Rice walked right up behind him and said “Hey Papa. Surprise”. It was a very special day and a proud moment for our family. My dad has always worked so hard and made so many sacrifices for our family, and I am so proud of him. Here are a few pictures from yesterday:)

feeding the goats at the plant...