Family Photo

Just wanted to share this family photo that Drew's Uncle Steve took for us the other day! Everything is going great. We're having a FABULOUS time, and we're not even half way done yet! Well, Drew is, but I'll be hanging out a little while longer.

The military strikes again.

Yep, they messed up our leave AGAIN.

They just informed Drew today that he will be starting ALS (Airman Leadership School) on October the 3rd. Which happens to be a day before my class reunion that we already paid for. So he has to be back by then. He can't change classes to one that starts later.

I'm not sure what we're going to do. Right now we aren't changing anything, we're still leaving tomorrow and keeping the same schedule for now. I'll keep you posted as we figure out what's going on.

At goal!!!

Well, I made goal and I didn't all at the same time! Let me explain.

WW has ranges for what your ideal weight should be for your height. Mine tops out at 164. We had set my personal goal at 160 which is where I want to be ideally (well, maybe 155, but we'll see). Once you make that goal and maintain it for 6 weeks you no longer have to pay for WW as long as you stay no more than 2 pounds over goal. When I set my personal goal I didn't know that, I thought you just had to be in the WW range to stop paying.

So, today I was 160.8! .8 of a pound away from my personal goal. So, we changed my goal to 164, which I actually feel more comfortable with because it will give me some fluctuation room, particularly on this trip, and I can still work towards my personal goal! YAY!!!!!!!! Now I just need to maintain for 6 weeks, then I can become Lifetime! At that point I will only have to go weigh in once a month, stay in my range and I'll be good! I'll probably continue to go to the meetings weekly, because I have made some good friends there and I love learning about new ways to eat better, and I can offer my insight as well!

So here's to the next phase of life... maintenance!!!

and some videos!

Taylor isn't QUITE crawling yet, but she's getting closer and closer every day! She did sit up all by herself today though! She was on her hands and knees then she sat back and sat up. I didn't get that on video, but we clapped our hands for her and she started clapping also and saying Da! Da! It was kind of cute.

Pictures while you wait!

Two more sleeps until we leave, YAY! The car is ready for the trip, we just need to pack the rest of our stuff, load it up, pack food and drinks for the trip, and GO on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is the big day when I find out if I made goal! I'm hoping so. I went to the gym this morning and have been on plan all week, trying my hardest to make it! It's going to be close, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

While I was getting my camera ready I pulled some pictures off the disk that was in there and I processed some real quick so you could have stuff to look at while you wait for our arrival. So here is a bunch for you!

Taylor playing with her friend Taylor (haha!) after a bath. This is a night time routine, after she gets her diaper on she sits on the counter and flirts with herself, gets her hair brushed, and brushes her "teeth".







On Labor Day weekend we went to a dog show in Monroe. Taylor likes dogs! There were Danes everywhere!





Then this weekend, we realized we've never actually put Taylor on the grass. We have a LOT of fire ants here so it kind of makes me nervous to put her down, but I drew killed most of the hills in the front yard so I did an inspection and didn't see any, so off we went!


Apparently, she doesn't like grass.

I mean, REALLY doesn't like grass.

Okay, well maybe it's not so bad.

YES IT IS!

Mama will bring you a blanket to sit on.

Yes, that's much better.

See how happy I am now???

I'm off for now, have to make dinner and do some laundry. I'll post tomorrow and let you know if I made goal!

It's confirmed.

Holden does indeed have OCD. Definitely of his right shoulder, probably of his left as well. We got a referral to the orthopedic surgeon in Dallas so we will probably be scheduling that when we get back from CA. The GOOD news is that the Vet says that if we intend on doing the surgery, then it wont really do any harm to let him be a puppy on our trip instead of keeping him kenneled the whole time. She said that the only thing it might do is irritate the joint a bit and cause more limping, but that it will be self limiting so if he has pain he should calm down and rest himself.

Here's a couple of the x-rays. If you click on them they should get bigger so you can see where I noted the problem.


Here's a link to a page about half way down on the right side there is a video that shows actually inside the joint, the cartilage flap, and the surgeon removing the flap.

Shoulder OCD Arthroscopy


Poor Holden Dog. He's such a sweet puppy! The other good thing is, recovery from surgery is only 2 weeks, and he will be good as new. It has a very high success rate (in thge 90-95% area) so this should fix him up good with no side effects since we caught it early enough. So, that's whats up with that!

Small Steps to Big Milestones

Lots of busy things going on this weekend!

Hurricane Gustav was on it's way, scheduled to hit the LA coast on Monday. Some friends of ours that live down there were evacuated from their home. We offered our house as a place to stay while we waited out the storm, so they came up on Sunday with their dog.

Sunday evening we went out to eat at Cheeburger Cheeburger where we had the most ridiculous waiter ever! I think he only got one thing right about our entire dinner and that was Drew's drink! All the rest of us had something either wrong with our drink, or our food. We had a fun time anyway laughing at what he was going to bring us next. Good times.

We spent Sunday and Monday refreshing the hurricane tracker on the computer following the storm to see what was going to happen. Luckily it didn't turn out as bad as they expected. Our friends' house didn't get damaged and we recieved only some wind and mild rain (lots of it, but it was a light rain).

Taylor also is on her way to accomplishing some things! She started saying "dog" this weekend! Though it sounds more like "Dah" (not to be confused with Da as in Dada). She pats the dog and says "Dah. Dah." Of course now everything else new is called "Dah" also, haha. She still has Mama and Dada right though, and MAYBE Hi. She's also learning how to clap her hands. Yesterday she started getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth trying to figure out how to crawl! I did get some pictures and video of that so here it is!








Also some pics from a while ago.

Holden giving Taylor kisses.


Taylor and Mommy:


We were comparing eyes, Taylor definitely has Drew's eyes so far!




Gotch'ya Mama!
That's about it! This week I'm busy getting some things sorted out for our trip. Lists of things to take. I can't believe it's just a little over a week away before we leave! Exciting!

All for now,
Jen