GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL

Landon Donovan ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!!!! :) Way to go USA! Way to FINALLY put one in the goal!

She wore an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini...pictures :)

clinging to Daddy at first

isn't her suit just the cutest with the hat?!

Look at those blues...I swear they are getting bluer by the minute

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of the two of 'em.

Dana, this picture looks JUST LIKE YOU :)

blues and feather lashes...we are in SO MUCH TROUBLE...

Gettin' sleepy but still cute as a button 

Dana, we can't wait to see you too and I'll be sure to give Miss B a BUNCH of kisses from you! We are so excited about South Padre! :) Love you!

The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-dot Bikini

On Father's Day we went to the Y with Miss B. She looked so cute in her bathing suit...hence the title. She was unsure at first b/c they have this huge splashing waterfall thing there and it was loud when it dumped water, but after she realized we weren't going over to it she was OK. We played in shallow end with her. When Daddy took her in the first time she was clinging to him like there was no tomorrow. When she realized that we weren't going to let her go she relaxed. She didn't really do too much, just looked around and watched all of the other crazy kids running and laughing around us. I think it was too much for her to really enjoy it. Eventually she did start splashing a little bit. We took loads of pictures. Matt called me the Crazy Picture-taking Mom...hahahaha. I was, but she was just too stinkin' cute in her bathing suit I just couldn't resist.

We made it over to the deep end (3 feet :)) and pulled her around a little bit. She liked that a lot. Like I said, I think she would have enjoyed the whole experience more if it weren't for all the commotion going on. So we are going to join our pool, which is right around the corner from us and there are hardly any people there. Plus we can use her floaty toy that we got for her. We couldn't use it at the Y...liability..dumb rule, but whatever. 

Anyway, I think she's getting sick again. She had a HORRIBLE night last night. Worse one since she's been born. She was crying so hard around 1030 to about 1130-1145. Nose was running, she was stuffy. I didn't know to do. I gave her some Dimatap cold and congestion and that helped until about 5. I felt so bad for her and frustrated b/c I was by myself. Matt got called in last night for the night so I was by myself. I got more frustrated b/c I didn't know what to do for her to help her. That is the worst feeling. This morning however, she was happy-go-lucky Miss B. We gave her some decongestant medicine this morning and it has helped. I think it's allergies though. It just all of the sudden hit yesterday. We went out to the stables in the morning and she was playing with some hay. But she didn't react right away to it or anything like I do. So that's really the only thing that I can think would be the cause of it. Still not 100% sure, but we're going to start using Benadryl.

I will put picture of our pool trip up this evening of our pool trip. Unfortunately there are no smiling was..like I said, too much commotion for her, but they are still adorable. ♥  K

Matthew Allen Gully

I love you more than you'll ever know. You have made my life WONDERFUL and COMPLETE! You have given me the best thing in this entire world....MISS B! Oh Miss B! You are a wonderful man and I cannot thank God enough for bringing you into my life. I always wonder why I got so lucky to be blessed by your love and to be in the protectiveness of your embrace everyday for the rest of my life. I still don't know why, but I am grateful.

When we met, I was so lost and unhappy with life. You brought me back from a place that I never thought I could get out of. You made me see how happy life can be and how to strive for my goals and how to achieve my dreams. I look up to you so much with how much you have accomplished in your life and the great things you do for our country and for the citizens of our country. You are strong, brave, HILARIOUS, and of course, HANDSOME as all get out. Everyone that meets you always says what an incredible guy you are and how you are just a genuine all around guy. Everyone respects you and just loves you from the moment they meet you. They can tell from the first 5 minutes of talking to you that you are a humble man who treasures life and stays true to his word.

You are an awesome dad! Bayleigh is so lucky to have someone like you to look up to. I hope she will bring home a man to marry just like you. That way we won't have to stress and worry. haha I love how you just lay in the floor with her and play. She is your little girl and always and forever will be...no matter how old she gets. You are so hands-on and I love that about you. You don't let work or other things get in the way of what comes first. Once again, we are so lucky to have you!

I just cannot express my love for you enough. I love the feel of your arms around me at night and how much you love on me and show me how important I am to you and our family. I love that you and I have the same dream for our future. It still amazes me every single time we are thinking the same things at the same time. I love you so much and I cannot wait for the future with our family. You have brought me so much joy and happiness. I cannot say it enough...I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU! Thank you for everything you do and being there for me and being my BEST FRIEND..through anything.

Happy Father's Day Baby!

Progress Report

Just thought I'd give a little update on my horse. She's coming along nicely. I guess I have high expectations and think she should know all the stuff but she doesn't. So I'm learning to take it slow and recognize when she doesn't understand what I'm asking and take her through things step by step. She's so smart and catches on pretty quick. I feel so scatterbrained when I work with her. I REALLY just need to decide on one specific thing to do and do it until she gets it down pact. So my first drill is neck reining. When she finally understands what I'm asking of her and has it down, we will move on to using leg pressure. Sylia has said that after just a week and a half of round penning and riding she has seen a huge change in Sonny. It was so cool the other day. I round penned her and actually got her to follow me, which is what you want and is a REALLY good sign that they are starting to trust you. I was so excited. Matt was out there with me and I wanted to just jump up and down. She's still has several things that I've got to work on but after only a week and a half we have come so far together.

The other day Sylia and I went to a covered arena down the road from the stables to meet a friend of hers who just bought a percheron. (type of draft horse) This thing was HUGE. He was like a big puppy dog though. He stood over 18 hands tall. He made my horse and Sylia's horse look like minis. I forgot to take a picture although I'm sure we'll be meeting up with her again. When he would trot around the arena it was so funny b/c all you heard was "thump thump thump thump" from his HUGE feet. Sonny and I had an ok day that day. She tried to buck me off a couple of times. Nothing extreme but I could feel her butt come up a little bit. She didn't get all bronco on me but it was still disrespectful and I let her know that. She also tried to turn her head and nip at my leg and boy I popped her good with my rein. We WILL NOT be having that. LOL She really is a good horse and I look back and just laugh. I try and look back to see if maybe I was doing something wrong and I talked with Sylia and she said that she was just acting out b/c she didn't want to work. Haha Silly little horse.

Anyway, I just got back from riding. Miss B and I are going to go play for a little bit. Her top tooth is coming in and is more prominent now. It's so funny b/c there is only one that has pushed through and you can see it when she grins really big. She's snaggle tooth now..LOL Ok well, she has pulled up on the chair beside me so I'm going to go play. Have a good evening. ♥ K

Skettie is Yummy

Such an oinker..:)

 Her new face she has been making lately...LOL cracks us up

hahahaha

All I got to say....

IS GO USA!!!! World Cup 2010 Baby!!!

NEVER LET GO

Makes me so proud to be married to a Coast Guardsman. I am one lucky lady. I love you babe! Thanks to all the members of the CG! :)

Timing is everything

So working with Sonny has been going OK. Since I've never done this type of training with her, round penning that is, I am still trying to make sure I'm doing it right. I keep trying to look for the signs that she's understanding and sometimes I see them and then other times she'll pin her ears back and I can tell she's annoyed. More than likely from not understanding what I'm asking or from too much pressure on her when she's doing the right thing. I realized, after talking with Sylia this morning when I went to the barn to ride, I was applying too much pressure on her and not releasing quick enough to let her know that she's doing the correct thing. Sylia is going to watch me round pen her tonight. I'm going to have to wear a glove tonight on my left had b/c I gave my forefinger a HUGE blister from the handy stick. We had more trouble on the right side, going in a circle clockwise, than we did the lef side going counter-clockwise. She would stop at the gate, stop a couple feet away from the gate then stop at the back part of the pen and all three of those she would try and turn and go the other way. Very frustrating. But you always have to end on some kind of good note of them doing what you asked. So we did.

She's getting better adjusted to things. Sonny's has started to put on weight as well and starting to fill out. She's gonna look so good. :) I got up early this morning to go ride her. Once she adjusted to the uncovered arena she did pretty good. I got my verbal ques down. She is so smart she picked up on them right away. 1 cluck-walk; 2-clucks-trot; kiss-lope. I was so excited that she picked up on that. Still gonna have to work with her on it until she gets it down pact but she's got the general idea. I couldn't really ride in that big of a circle in the arena b/c it was still somewhat muddy in a couple of places from all the rain. Hopefully with the sun beaming down today it will dry up fully. She's a little touchy also with her feet. Not that she tries to kick me when I pick them up to clean them, but sometimes she just won't pick them up. Her back feet are more sensitive and that makes me a little nervous since she could side swipe me..but I don't think she would..but you always have to be careful. But I've been working with her on that too and she's coming along.

I think once she gets really settled all these little quirks will go away. Just as long as she knows I'm the "head mare." LOL That's one thing that I have read in Clinton Anderson's book is that horses will always test you. Not in a hard or mean way, but to see what they can get away with and so it's a constant reminder to them for the things that you'll allow and won't allow them to do and always reminding them that you are FIRST and they are SECOND.

Having her though has made me so happy. Issues that I constantly think about with my family or things that have really pissed me off lately in general all vanish when I'm out there. And usually Sylia or Kim and Kevin are out there as well. Sonny, no matter how attitude-ish she can be, is my therapist in a way. ha ha. Sylia and I have gotten pretty close. She's talks to me about her issues and I talk to her about mine. I think we're going to the Jacks Brooks arena sometime this weekend...maybe tomorrow. Dunno. It's HUGE covered arena and I'm hoping to get Sonny moving some. But it's been really nice to make some "horse" friends who have the same passion that I do.

OH Matt fixed the computer so I'll hopefully be putting some pictures up of Miss B. Mimi is having so much fun with her. B is starting to walk, holding on to the couch or other objects, but she's picking those little feet up. She is just so precious. She has so many facial expressions now that just crack us up. Her top teeth are coming it too. Well just one that we've seen break through her gums. I'm going to just laugh if only one comes through at a time. How funny will that look?! We fed her spaghetti the other night. TOOO FUNNY! She would put a noodle in her mouth, then suck it in. It was so funny. She loved it and she got pretty "skettied" up as well. I have pictures don't worry. I will post them tonight or tomorrow.

I just noticed also my title. I swear I put the title in for what I'm going to talk about and I always get sidetracked from my main point. LOL Oh well. That's who I am. Pretty scatterbrained sometimes. haha Another thing that has nothing to do with the title...I think Matt and I may try to do something tonight, just dinner or something simple since my mom is in town and can watch B for us. Give us some time to actually do something. :) That will be nice. We haven't been to a dinner just ourselves for a while. I'm craving some steak baby! Just wanted to let you know! he he...Hope everyone has a good Friday night. ♥ K

Downunder Horsemanship

I have finally started working with my horse. We went and got her Sunday from Beaumont. I am so grateful to Kim and Kevin for letting me ride with them when they went out to get her for me. They are such good people and so kind. Sonny is still adjusting to the new surroundings and it will take some time for her to become fully comfortable with everything. She's going to be a good lil mare. However, I am going to have to start at the basics with her to gain her respect and trust. I have been watching a lot of Clinton Anderson to understand what needs to be done so when I actually start training her for cutting or reining she respect what I'm asking and it won't make the task 10 times harder. From what I've read from his book, it's what you should do when you first get a horse, no matter what age. B/c if a horse thinks it has the slightest chance to walk all over you, it will. I won't go into too much detail on that. But she's coming along nicely. This is definitely something that I am going to have to have A LOT of patience with. Haha...maybe it will teach me to have more patience with things. But I am excited to start. I haven't done too much with her yet, but plan on starting this evening with the guidelines that Clinton has laid out in his book.

Matt is excited to start too. I love how much excitement and passion he shows about this whole journey. It's so wonderful to finally have someone who actually wants to share something that I love so much. Sylia has been a HUGE help and such a friend throughout this. We've become pretty good friends. She's a few years older than me and has 3 kids, but she's got as much passion about horses as I do. We talk everyday just about and ask when each other is going out to the barn. LOL Matt and I are both just thrilled to start with my horse.

The only crappy thing is that it has been raining the past few days and the round pen is soaked and when that happens you can't work a horse in those conditions. They are likely to slip and fall or the mud will slow them down and they could hurt themselves. So I'm having to wait until that dries up. I'm going to try and see if I can fix that this evening so it doesn't flood as bad. The only other area that I can work in is the covered arena and that's kind of small and I don't want to hog it when someone else wants to ride. Other than that though things are good. She has become fast friend with Joey, Sylia's horse. So later on she will go in that pasture with him.

Well I just thought I would update you guys with that. Miss B is doing well also. I can't upload pictures right now b/c our computer at home has a virus so we have it shut off right now and are going to buy some antivirus software next week. Stupid people and their computer viruses. I swear, people have no life. UGH Anyway, my mom is here also. She's excited to spend time with B. Matt doesn't get to go on his deployment like he was supposed to. :( I'm sad for him b/c I know he was really looking forward to going, yet I'm happy that he's staying and I don't have to spend that time away from him. Call me selfish, but I love my hubby and I hate sleeping without him...even when he does crowd me at night sometimes. haha ;)

Have a good hump day everyone! Gotta get back to work. ♥ K

Bath Time!!!

One of B's favorite times is in the tub. Look at my beautiful girl and how happy she was tonight for her bath. Isn't she so stinkin' pretty?! The teacher at the day care told me today she always gets compliments from other moms, when they come to pick up their child, on how cute and beautiful she is. She is such a ham! These are by far 3 of my most favorite pictures.

 Toofy smile! haha

Look at those awesomely gorgeous blue eyes!

The Littlest Mozart

Bayleigh was wanting to play the piano the other day, so she took the initiative all by herself. :) Such a smart little girl.

Memorial Day

Yesterday we went to La Grange to see Andrea, Brian, and Cole. We had the annual crawfish boil. It was so good. We got there around 2 and hung out with them a little bit before other company arrived. Eric, Renae, and Addison showed up as well and "Cheese", Trina, Miaka, and Brayden. We had such a good time. After we gorged ourselves with crawfish, the guys decided to play some baseball with Miaka. It was so funny to watch them. We got home around 1030 and got Miss B in bed. She had a full fun day. Since I have been lacking in pictures I will post so you can see what all went on instead of writing about it.