Park

The house that we are living in is up for sale so occasionally we have to leave while it is being shown. This was the case on Thursday, so we loaded up and headed out to the park. It was a good thing that Tony went with us, because there was a bully at the park this time. Seriously... a 3 year old bully who hauled off and hit Kaiya twice!! She was in tears at the top of the curly slide because for no apparent reason this kid decided to slug her. In his meanest Daddy voice, Tony looked at the kid like he was going to seriously hurt him and said, "Do NOT hit her." The mom came over and made the child apologize, but he continued to reek havoc on the park. I snapped a picture of the little stinker as they left the park. You can see his hand is pulling back because at this point he was hitting his mom. Lovely.

Kaiya loves this bike rack at the park. I think because it is the perfect height for her to go under and over it. Anyway... got some cute pictures of her playing. I think some of these are frame-able. I'm gonna get them in black and white and stick them in the empty frame that I have had hanging empty for like 2 years now. She's wearing the dress the my Grandma Blackwell got her for Christmas! The perfect choice! :) Thanks Grandma!

Uncle Aaron

Tony's brother just finished his time at Ft. Stewart, GA and will head to Iraq later next week. We were able to meet him halfway between our place and Ft. Stewart. We had lunch together and then went to a nearby park and just hung out for a couple hours. It was so fun to be able to see them.

This is a classic picture of Kaiya. Fork in one hand, cheeseball grin, and a plate full of food. She couldn't be any happier. The kid LOVES food. :)

Looking Forward....

Just for all those future thinkers out there, I came across an article that fit well with the last paragraph of this week's newsletter. It goes back to the principle of what's cheaper.... changing your oil consistently or repairing a blown engine???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080305/ap_on_bi_ge/retiree_health_care

Things I thought while working out today...

1) Why must she say, "Okay... four more... 4, 3, 2, 1, ---C'mon, gimme four more." It's the cruelest fake-out ever. She should just start counting down from 8 the first time. Then I wouldn't want to punch my tv.

2) Lindsay Brin (workout DVD): We're really having fun now!
Me: NO I'M NOT!!!!!!!

3) Thank goodness I only do this every other day.

4) I better have freaking hard abs like she (Lindsay Brin) does when I finish this bootcamp.

5) I am awesome. (This was only thought after the workout was over.)

American Idol

We are American Idol fans and not ashamed to admit it. :) This season promises to be pretty decent and we already have our favorites. I meant to post this video last week, but got distracted. (I know, I know... you are wondering what in the world might have possibly distracted me. Ha!! The hint is: Their names start with the letter K...)

Anyway... this dude is absolutely adorable. #1 -- great voice. #2 -- seems totally naive and slightly awkward w/ the attention. I love it. If you have a second, watch the video. If I was 13, I would totally have a crush on him.

The Start of Much Yet to Come

I (Tony) received a ton of feedback about the flu vaccine article I sent out. The general gist of the feedback was that people wanted to hear more. So until I get my own office/website, I will be using our family blog to write on various topics. I am not a scholar in grammar; however, there shouldn’t be too many points that are beyond comprehension. The first topic starts below.

“So what exactly do you do?” In talking with people, that is a common question I get. People know that I am a chiropractor but most people associate chiropractic with helping low back pain despite that we actually see nearly every type of condition known to man. Chiropractic as a whole has been its own worst enemy. There are different types of Chiropractors, however, we have failed to better classify the different types so that the general public has some type of clue as to what to expect when they walk into a chiropractor’s office. I joined the group I am with now (Maximized Living) because they are like-minded in they way they approach patient care. This gives me an opportunity to give someone in another part of the country a trustworthy doctor that I can refer them too.

What exactly do I (and other doctor’s in Maximized Living) do? Do to the overwhelming prejudice chiropractic has received from the AMA (American Medical Association) I used to be in a defensive posture anytime anyone ever asked about Chiropractic. A passage of Scripture, Ezekiel 3:16-21, helped me grab a better understanding of how to explain to people what I do. My job is to spread the truth -- not to try and convince you. You are ultimately responsible for your own health. The short and sweet answer of what I do is that I take people out of the standard medical model and put them into a model that will actually allow them to keep their health the way God intended. Recently I had another doctor say to me that he was frustrated many times he walked into church. He said that the church will raise their hands and tell God that He is a Mighty Savior, Wonderful Counselor and Faithful Friend yet too often they deny that He is also the Great Healer. They say they have faith that He will heal them, yet as soon as they leave the church doors they go take something like the flu vaccine or an antibiotic etc. which basically says that they really don’t trust that God can heal them. They need something man has made and it is what does the healing. The Maximized Living lifestyle embodies the principle that we were created to live by. The principle is that God created us with the most amazing healing ability in our body; we just need to get out of the way so it can do its healing. Let’s think about this for a second. When you get a cut on your arm, do you have to take an anti-biotic for that to heal? Or does the body just innately do it by itself? Of course the body does it by itself. So the bigger question to ask is that if the body can heal and protect a cut on your arm, why is it not healing your diabetes, ulcer’s, ear infections, fighting of flu’s etc? The answer is that we interfere with it. My job, as a chiropractor, is to remove interference with the innate, God given, ability to heal. And guess what? All those health conditions I just mentioned (and many more), we see reversed on a consistent basis. Now it’s extremely important not to misunderstand this point. People often miss it and ask how I can cure their diabetes or infections among other ailments. The point I want to make is that all I do as a Chiropractor is find and remove anything that is interfering with the body’s natural ability to heal. You do the healing, not me! Your body has the best doctor, and the best pharmacy already inside it!

Many of you know my background, but for those who don’t, I wanted to share that I grew up in the standard medical model. My mom was a nurse who had the inside track on who the best pediatrician was in our area. So I supposedly had great care. And for anyone who knows my mom, when I mean she got me the best care, I mean she got me the best medical care. No one or thing messes with mama bear’s cubsJ Yet, despite my mom’s amazing job at getting me the best care she knew possible, all growing up and through college I was sick every year…. sometimes seriously. This happened without fail. In college I had bad sinus infections, pneumonia and what the E.R. doctor called the worst case of mononucleosis that he had ever seen. I actually had to drop out of a semester of college because I was so sick. Despite trying to achieve good health, I continually failed at attaining it. It wasn’t until I started in Chiropractic that I started to realize I had been on the wrong path. I’m happy to report since that point I have been sick once and instead of taking forever to “get over it”, it was short lived. More importantly is the change I see with my family. We let Kaiya watch “The Secret of Nimh”. In the movie there is a little mouse that is really sick. At that part of the movie she gives us a quizzical look. It is so amazing that Kaiya doesn’t comprehend what being “sick” is. Part of that is her age, but she has hardly ever had to deal with any type of “sickness”. We are not perfect as a family. We still do things that aren’t healthy. As I write to you, Rachel and Kaleb are expressing certain cold symptoms. The difference is that they won’t be taking any over the counter or prescription drugs, and instead, will concentrate on letting God’s amazing creation do the healing!

The topic for the next newsletter will be about vaccines. Many people had questions about it after I talked about the flu vaccine so I wanted to follow it up with a letter about all vaccines. It is an extremely sensitive topic that needs to be addressed. Look for it to be completed in the next week or so.

To finish, I understand that some people are concerned with the financial costs of chiropractic care. The way our health care (or rather disease care) system is set up; it doesn’t give much allowance for Chiropractic care. While I genuinely understand that some people cannot afford it, many times it is that people don’t value their health enough. People in our country think it is their right to only have to be responsible for co-pays when it comes to their health care. For as much as our health insurance costs, I understand why. However, times like last night, for me, when Rachel and I took turns staying up with Kaleb because he was having a hard time sleeping, allow me to see that it’s about value. I honestly don’t know how parents with kids that are sick frequently survive. As a parent I now know the toll it takes when they are sick. How much is that worth?

Pretending

I love that lately Kaiya has been pretending. Her favorite place to pretend lately is in our new stroller. Yesterday morning I was paying bills online and came out to check on her. This is how I found her: She had placed her drink in the cupholder, had a bowl of "O's" in her lap and was watching Lady & the Tramp from the backseat of the stroller. And quite proud of herself as you can tell from the picture.

Side note: This is my new double stroller. I found it on Craigslist about a month ago. It was awesome timing because I was so tired of being cooped up with no way to get around w/ two kids that I had resolved that I was just going to have to buy one at the store. I'm so used to getting everything second-hand, that you know I was desperate to be considering full-price. :) I made one final attempt to find a stroller online and the exact kind I was planning on buying at Target was listed for less than half the price. Thankfully for me, the lady selling it has a stroller fettish. She said that she buys a new stroller every 3 months or so. Are you kidding me? So an hours drive and $60 later I have a nearly brand new double stroller.

Viewer Discretion Advised

The following video contains disturbing images of snot. Viewer Discretion Advised.

Okay -- there is your warning. Kaiya learned a fabulous new trick this morning. She can blow her snot out and suck it back up. She is quite taken with this talent. And since this is the kind of thing that grandparents find cute I have posted the video.

She is cutting her back molars currently, so we'll probably be seeing plenty of snot over the next few days. :)

We enjoyed a visit with friends from St. Louis and filled our week with lots of fun stuff. Friday was another trip to the beach, Sunday we went to Disney & Epcot, Monday was an afternoon spent at IKEA. Ruthie has some great pictures from our time, so I will post Disney after I take inventory of the pics we have. Here are a couple good ones that I had taken.

Cute video of Kaleb from yesterday. He's just started trying to push himself up on his arms. I took the video at the end and his arms were pretty well tuckered out. But he makes a lot of cute noise during the video so it was worth posting.

A few pictures before Papa left.

While my dad was here visiting we noticed that Kaleb seemed to be scratching his face or rubbing his eyes. We wondered what was bothering him. Well, last night I figured it out. Kaleb is officially a thumb sucker!! He was scratching and rubbing his face while trying to find his mouth. I went in to check on him about 10 minutes after laying him down last night and this is what I found. So cute! Hopefully he can knock the habit before 3rd grade. Unfortunately that's how long I sucked my thumb. :) Thankfully I had the decency not to do it in public at that age, but still... I'm glad he is sucking his thumb because I cannot get him to take a pacifier for the life of me. I've tried two different types. So he now has a way to comfort himself other than me feeding him.


The haircut -- before being exposed to the elements. :) Gives you a better look at the cut. Had to take this one myself... sorry for the funky camera angle.

Random Picture Wednesday

So my friend Connie is starting to do Wordless Wednesday on her blog. And I have several other friends who blog this way too. For those of you who are going -- what is she talking about... Wordless Wednesday is when you post only a picture and don't put any narrative with it.

I've thought about doing this several times. However... I can't be wordless!!! No matter how hard I try, there is always something I want to say. For example. I considered posting this picture for Wordless Wednesday. But I just have to tell you that somehow at Bekah's wedding we did not get any pictures taken of just the three of us. So Rebekah's awesome photographer (who I would give credit to if I knew their names) photoshopped this picture for us.

See... you needed the narrative, right? :) It makes the picture so much better. Anyway... because I am wordy, I am creating Random Picture Wednesday.

Thank you!

On the chance that the person who sent us an anonymous letter happens to be a blog reader...

THANK YOU!!!

It arrived this weekend and was very timely. We are thanking God for using your gift to bless us.

Haircut etc.

Okay guys... I was waiting until I had an attractive picture of myself w/ my hair all styled to show you. But according to your comments, you are all impatient. :) Here was a picture taken of me over the weekend. You can get a general idea of the cut, but can't really see the bangs she cut me. It was taken at the end of the day so the hair is a bit worn out.

Kaleb's shirt: SBG stands for Spoiled by Grandpa

I've got another cute beach video of Kaiya that I will post later.

Here are some pictures from the week. We've had lots of fun with Papa! Wednesday and Thursday we went to the park, Friday we headed to the beach, and we spent yesterday in Sebring with my dad's college friends and their families.


The following two pictures sum up Kaleb's time at the beach. :)

Lovin' the $1 kite from Wal-Mart. Papa got it in the air without any trouble.
And I'll leave you with some short videos of Kaiya at the beach.

Hair Cut Time

Okay. I am extremely overdue for a haircut. Right now my hair is most frequently in a pony tail because it feels heavy, hot, and in the way when down. So... Tony is crying, but it has to be shorter. However, I lack style and am incredibly indecisive so I put the decision in your hands. Once you all helped me choose a dress to wear to a formal event. Now you get to choose my latest haircut. Comment quickly though... I am dying to get this done ASAP. Especially while my dad is here because he can occupy Kaiya at home while I have it done. Here are a few pics I found online that I like. I promised Tony I wouldn't go too much above my shoulders. And sorry -- I've been browsing online forever and couldn't come up with much.

#1

#2
#3
#4

(This is actually a childhood friend of mine. Christi if you are reading this, please do not think I am psycho for stealing this pic off your myspace. :) What can I say... I like the hair!)

#5
Christi's picture again but imagine with a little more sweeping bang action.

Swing update

Okay... time to grovel a teeny bit. :) Apparently Graco swings do not like Rayovac Batteries. The 3rd motor arrived yesterday and I put the brand new Rayovac batteries in and again, nothing happened. My last ditch effort was to buy more batteries... so Ruthie was on her way home and I had her pick up Duracell. We popped those in and wah-la! The swing worked. So pretty much, I have 3 working swing motors. So... if anybody needs one, let me know! :) ha ha... All that hassle and it was just a battery issue. It was so weird because the batteries worked in the old motor that came with the swing.

So good to have a working swing!!

Spaghetti

Here is regular dialogue in our house:

Me: Kaiya, what would you like for breakfast?

Kaiya: Noo-noo's!!!

Me: We aren't having noodles for breakfast! What do you want?

Kaiya: Noo-noo's!! (followed by lots of giggles)

Tonight I could tell her we would have noodles. All throughout the meal we talked about noodles and Lady and the Tramp -- they eat noodles together, yada yada yada... Halfway through the meal I looked at her and had to get my camera.

Here's a picture of Kaleb. My little cutie. And yeah... he's wearing a Halloween outfit. $1.00 Kohl's clearance. For $1.00 - I don't care that it is Halloween. :) I actually got this when he was still very new. I was desperate for things that fit him when he was tiny. So... the price was right. And it turned out that I loved him in this outfit. This was probably the last time wearing it. You can see the sleeves are getting too short.




This is a short video of Kaiya eating her spaghetti. I was hoping she would slurp one up at the end, but my memory card was full and it cut off.

Fair

So strange to have a fair in February, but that's how they do it down here. It makes sense -- the summers are so hot and the weather right now is really ideal to be out. Okay... I'm done talking about the gorgeous weather for all you frozen friends. It's completely inconsiderate. :) We went to the fair on Sunday. Tony has been at the fair every day. The chiropractor he is working for has a booth there, so he is there from noon-10 p.m. every day. It is such a bummer for us -- we are really missing him at home! It will be this way until next Sunday. Ugh.

So I loaded the munchkins up and we went to see Tony. He was the only one at the booth when we first got there, so we had to kill some time before he could take a break. So we went to find the animals. We saw bunnies, chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats, cows and horses. Kaiya enjoyed it, but was a little worried that the animals might not stay in their cages. I'm not sure she understood how the cages worked.

When Tony was able to take a break from his booth, we went to check out the rides. Poor little Kaiya wanted to do lots of rides, but she is about 2 inches too short for them. Maybe next year. Here is the picture of her on the two rides that she could do. The first she rode by herself and she seemed to really like it. She had a very serious expression on her face until she would pass by Tony or I and then we could get a grin out of her. She lucked out and was able to go on this one twice for free. The first time she was the only one on it and then another little girl came up so he stopped it and let Kaiya go again. The second time around I thought she looked like she was gonna hurl. It was hilarious. She didn't really crack a smile that time around. But when Tony got her off, she was really, really excited and wanted to do it again. :)
After that she got to ride the carousel. She has been watching Mary Poppins lately, so she was excited to ride a horse just like Mary Poppins does. This is the first horse they chose, but realized that it was one that didn't move at all...
So they switched to this one. She did really good on this ride until about halfway through when I could see her crying. :) She wanted to hold onto Tony instead of the horse. So the rest of the ride she held onto his neck with one hand, and the horse with the other.
The beginnning of the meltdown. :)

So... that's the fair. :) It was good for us to get out of the house. My dad comes tomorrow for a week long visit. I'm so excited! It's perfect timing too with Tony being tied up late into the night with the fair. I'll have someone to help out and keep me company.

Tony's brother, Aaron is in the Reserves. Last fall we found out that he is going to be heading to Iraq in March. Since January, he's been stationed in Georgia for training until they ship out. I finally got his address and thought I would post it here. I know some of our blog readers come from my connections and some from Tony's connections. So I thought that those of you who know Aaron might want to drop him a line. Here is his address until sometime in March. I'll post the Iraq address when we have it. But for now:

*updated with correction*

Fort Stewart
SPC Hyser, Aaron M.
Task Force Scorpion
A Co. 76B STB
845 Hase Rd. Ste 102
Fort Stewart, GA 31314

It's a long one! And Laura, if I have anything wrong, would you post a comment and correct it?
Thanks! If you know him -- or even if you don't! -- would you drop him a note of encouragement? I think today we are going to do some water coloring pictures to send to him. :)

*****
Potty Training Update:
She went again last night before getting in the bath. So two times in one day. Not bad. Today she doesn't seem quite as interested in the whole process. But... she did sit on it for about 20 minutes earlier. We'll see if anything happens this afternoon. I'm trying to be careful not to rush her, but I'm ready for this to be over! :)

Breaking News...

This, just in... Kaiya went #1 on the potty! She has decided to begin potty training herself today. Other than just talking about the big girl potty, we haven't done anything with it. And then she wakes up today and wants to try a million times. She has literally sat on the potty for a total of about 90 minutes today. Just because she wants to. Interesting kid... :) Anyway... we are off to Wal-Mart to let her pick a treat. Not sure what we will get, but she is pretty proud of herself. And.... I must admit... I'm pretty proud of her too. :) Just hoping for a repeat performance!