Dress Dilemma

Okay, so here's the dilemma. Which dress should I keep? I have to go to a party for Tony's school being finished and it is formal -- like cocktail party formal. So... the black dress is crinolin, strapless, with little black peekaboo netting underneath. It was $60, really $120 but I got it half off because it was on the wrong rack, so I had to get it tonight to get that price.

This is the other dress. It is red/pink-ish and can be worn with or without the straps. It was $40 at H&M. The fabric is a thick cotton with a lining underneath and you can see the satin trim on it too. If I wore it to this party I would wear it without the straps.

Some extra notes that add to my dilemma. Part of me leans toward the red dress because it is cheaper and I have more occasions to wear it to down the road. It can be dressed down or up. I feel like with the black one I have to wait for the special occasion to come up to wear it to. And I'm thinking that down the road when something special comes up I will be able to afford to go out and get something at that point. Wondering if I should save my money now??

Anyone have an opinion?

Hallelujah!

I submitted my final draft of the research paper today. He told me to reduce my use of pronouns and then it would be an "A" paper. So I went through and fixed that and just sent it in. It's a good day. :)

I have one last project to turn in. I finished most of it at work today. That will be turned in on Saturday! Hopefully life will return to normal soon.

By the way... Sunday is my exciting Celtic Woman Concert that I have been waiting for since September. See my post on September 15th of last year. :) My friend Bethany is as excited about it as I am, so we are going together. Tony was more than happy to oblige... and now it works out great because he's leaving for Florida Sunday morning anyway.

Another week gone by... Time for an update!

Update on Paper: 23 pages right now. I'm hoping to wrap it up today so that I can send the rough draft in for feedback. Once that gets sent in I have to start on my portfolio that is due on Saturday. I'm probably about a third of the way through it.

Update on Life: We'll be looking for cheap plane tickets for Tony to get down to Florida. He is ready for the in-office interview. So... we should find out date options today and then Tony will decide what works for him. Please pray that we can find reasonable tickets for this trip. It is basically a 24 hour trip... fly down Sunday evening, spend a full day at the clinic and then fly out Monday evening.

Here are a couple Easter pictures: She was a cutie, but much too busy to get her picture taken! We tried...

Wow... it's been a week since I blogged anything! Time is really flying by. Which at the moment, is not such a good thing. If I'm lucky, I may have a moment to blog some Easter pics... but more than likely you may not hear from me for awhile. I graduate on May 1. Grades are due April 23. Somewhere in between there, I need to write a 25 page action research paper. The topic I have chosen is: The effect of symbolic gesturing on language development with infants. So basically, how does infant sign language affect normal speech development. Fortunately, I don't have to do the actual research, I just have to write everything else. Why did I put this off? No idea. I blinked and all of a sudden it is April. AHHH!!!

So I'm doing a small bit of freaking out currently... Thankfully, Ruthie has offered her babysitting services. And Tony is being very helpful as well. So one way or another I'll get this thing done. I may not have any hair by the end, but that's the least of my concerns! :)

American Idol -- Sanjaya Craziness

Just came across this link today. What a devoted person this is to tally up states population to determine a plan to get Sanjaya off American Idol. Click on this link to check out her page.

http://www.voteagainsttheworst.com/

Maybe, just maybe it will work tonight. We can only hope...

1 year pictures!

More Chatter

Sorry, I haven't posted pictures lately because I have temporarily lost the battery charger to our digital camera. I think I actually put it back where it belongs and can't remember where that spot is. :) AHHH!!! Anyway... pictures will be returning sooner than later, hopefully. We had a good weekend. I went to a few yard sales on Saturday morning and found a bunch of maternity clothes! (NO, I'm not hinting at anything!) Maternity clothes are just so expensive, so when I find cute ones for 50 cents & $1 I just have to get them. And surprisingly, Tony understood my logic on this one. Normally he is not a fan of me buying things that we have to store. :) That was really the only thing I got -- had to head home early to help our friends move. Jason and Jen (Kaiya is at their house when I am at work) moved into a house this weekend! They were so excited to get in a bigger place. And it worked out perfect because Sherry (Kaiya's babysitter) watched AJ & Kaiya at my house so that we could move without having to worry about them getting in the way. :) I got home in time to play with Kaiya a little bit before bedtime and then just chilled the rest of the night. I think Tony & I fell asleep at 9:30. :)

Sunday was a good day too. Kaiya played a great April Fool's Day joke on me. While I was getting her into her carseat I let her hold my keys. Once she was buckled in, I grabbed the keys from her and tossed them into the front seat. I shut her door and went to open my door and *GASP* the door is locked. She had locked the car w/ the remote buttons. My cell phone inside the car, my keys inside the car, my BABY inside the car. Fortunately, my neighbors were still home and I was able to call Tony. Only I tried like 6 times and he didn't answer. He was on his way to a seminar at school. I got ahold of Ruthie and had her try Tony's phone. I was afraid he wasn't picking up because he didn't recognize my neighbor's number. Ruthie got him and he came home to rescue us!

I had a productive day after church. I visited with a friend I hadn't seen in about a year, went to Trader Joe's, got Kaiya down for her nap and headed outside to work in the yard. I was able to pot a couple planters for Ruthie and then attempt to plant some petunia & allysum seeds that I bought. I haven't ever planted from seeds before, so we'll see if they grow. :) But for 10 cents a packet I don't have much to lose if they don't come up. After that I had time to mow about 3/4 of the front yard before Kaiya woke up from her nap. We went for a walk through the cemetary next door -- which I know is weird, but it has the perfect balance of hill & straight and nice paved path for the stroller. And it's really quiet. :) After Tony got home we convinced him to take us to the park and had such a good time. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but Kaiya was so wide-eyed and giggly the entire time. She loved watching the big kids, going on the swing with Daddy, and the merry-go-round with Mama. It was great. I think it was just as much fun for Tony and I seeing Kaiya so happy.

We have made it halfway through the cleanse. And I'm happy to report that I am wearing one of the pairs of pants that I couldn't get on last Sunday. I've also lost 7 lbs! So I'm glad that I decided to do this with Tony. It's been a great exercise in self-control and discipline that I really needed. And I really do feel better. I was able to go without make-up several days last week (I think because of my skin looking better and glowing a bit more because of my healthy body). But I forgot to ask Tony about that. Anyway, one more week of veggies and fruits and then we will add a small portion of meat for the third week. Oh! And I thought this was neat -- Tony has discovered that he really likes sweet potatoes! I made some oven-baked sweet potato fries and he seasoned them with southwest & cajun seasonings and LOVED them. He said even when this is done he wants those instead of the normal potato wedges we have. :) So that has been fun to learn something new & healthy that he likes.

Chatter

Life lately has been pretty good. We are feeling a little overwhelmed with looming decisions about our future, school for both of us (I'm done in a month!), work, clinic, etc. But I think we both see a light at the end of the tunnel.

So a little blurb about American Idol, of course. I've decided to believe the latest theory. It can't be that this many people in America really like Sanjaya. So it must be all the people who work in call centers in India!! I read that on CNN this morning. They can set their computers to speed dial his name over and over. It just has to be that. Just when I think it can't get any worse... he goes and pulls out something like the "faux-hawk" (which I also got from CNN).

Other things going on... poor AJ has the flu. I'm hoping that Kaiya doesn't get it. She slept with us half the night last night -- she was asleep when I got home, but about 9:30, she woke up crying. We snuggled on the couch watching American Idol (we tape it to avoid commercials) and she drifted back to sleep. But everytime I put her in her crib she would start crying again. We tried to let her cry it out, when that didn't work, we gave her a bottle. So... finally she slept with us. She is the biggest thrasher in her sleep. I found her head down by my knee at 4:30 and decided to move her into her crib. When Jen called this morning about AJ, it made me wonder if she had a tummy ache last night. We'll see... Sherry came to our house to watch K today.

I took my big exit exam for the Master's program. It went pretty well, glad that I spent some time studying for it, because the review helped. There were some things that I had no clue about, but overall I think I did okay.

The only other news right now is that Tony and I are doing a cleanse. He told me that he was going to do it and I thought it would be beneficial for me to do it too. We started Monday... we're on Day 3 today. Here's how it works... For 2 weeks we eat only fruits and vegetables. Tony also ordered some supplements for us to take during this time, in addition to our normal vitamins. I've never done anything like this before! Everyone asks, "Why in the world would you do this?" So I figured I better ask my smart husband just why we're doing this. :) Basically we are de-toxing our liver and gall bladder. Giving them a break from all the garbage that we normally put in. We are adding the supplements that have a little protein in them so that our body doesn't start losing any lean muscle mass, but instead loses the fat. So any weight loss is an added bonus. That's basically it.

It's not quite as hard as I thought it would be. Tony said that the first 3 days would be the worse, in terms of cravings and feeling hungry. The nice thing is that there are lots of fruits and vegetables to choose from, so I haven't gotten bored yet. Oh -- and we are supposed to eat a 2:1 ration of vegetables to fruit. And there is no limit to how much we can eat during the day. My normal dinner meal is a big salad -- T uses salsa for his dressing and I made a homemade balsamic vinagerette dressing to use. Anyway... I'm rambling... I did my weigh in on Monday night... and Sunday tried on about 8 pairs of pre-baby pants that I couldn't get zipped up -- I've gotta about an inch to get into them. So I'm hoping that at the end of this I'll be able to put those pants on.

Dreaming of girl scout cookies....

Miss Independent

Kaiya is showing us every day just how independent she is. Sunday morning while I was getting ready for church I put Kaiya in her high chair, didn't strap her in, gave her some O's and asked Tony to keep an eye on her while I got some summer clothes from the basement. Tony was in the other room on the computer when he thought... Hmm... Kaiya's being awful quiet in there. He walked in the dining room to find Kaiya on the table with her hand in the box of O's. She had finished what I had given her and decided she needed some more. Like a good parent he called me to get the camera before moving her. And then, we really couldn't scold her when we laughed and let her sit there to take her picture. :) So now she is getting strapped in. :)

Snow pics

I had to post these pictures. They were taken on March 17th, just a few days before the 80 degree whether we had last week. The snowflakes were huge, so I thought Kaiya would want to see what they were like. I plunked her down and she was so cute being curious about the snow and trying to walk in the yard.

"Oh Mama, I LOVE the snow!"

All in a day's work... (again!)

www.kmov.com/localnews/stories/kmov_localnews_070322_bankrobbery.6df3d1b.html

Yep, that's my building. We had to lock our doors so he wouldn't come in our office. Just a little excitment with helicopters swirling above and police & guns down in the parking lot.

Who wants to work on a 80 degree day?

Yep, it was 80 out yesterday here in St. Louis! I love it. On my way to take Kaiya to the babysitter, I got a call that Sherry was sick. So I offered to stay home from work and watch AJ and Kaiya at my house all day. It was a great day -- was major productive at home -- which gives me hope that I will have a clean and organized house someday when I can stay at home. Every now and then I get really down about the laundry that has piled up, and messes around the place. But its no wonder it is that way when I work 40 hrs a week, have school, & a 1 year old. Okay... so I got a ton done at home and we had fun playing. I loaded both kids into my stroller and went for a walk to the park. It was fun seeing all of the moms w/ their kids playing at the park. A little jealous too. But it won't be long and I will get to stay home with my kid(s). Here are pics from the day. After naps we played outside in the yard too. They were so cute in the grass, didn't know quite what to do with it. I bet it felt strange on their feet! :)





I also took this cute picture of Kaiya and Tony with an apple. She waddled to Tony as quick as she could when she spotted the apple in his hand. He shared with her and she had a death grip on the thing. It was cute.


After AJ went home Kaiya and I went to Lowe's to look for flowers. The warm weather just got me in the mood to have beatiful flowers on my porch. We bought some pansies and orange marigolds for now. I'll get some others in a few weeks, but this will at least be a good start. I mowed the lawn too. And after getting Kaiya to bed I landed on the couch to watch a DVD. I watched Eragon. It was pretty good. I also flipped over to American Idol to see the last 5 minutes. Okay -- is anyone else watching this? What the heck is happening?? First, may I comment on the sweet little girl crying tears of joy (bless her little heart) because she is actually watching American Idol LIVE! :) That must be why Sanjaya is still alive. Little girls like her. It is SO depressing. If I have to hear his whiny little voice one more week I'm going to die. :) Anyway... My favorites right now are Chris Richardson and Blake Lewis. But then there are definitely things about the other contestants that I like. Jordin Sparks is amazing... and I think I like Chris Sligh's humor more than his voice (maybe he should do last comic standing instead?) he's great. And then the bald guy -- I'm drawing a blank -- Oh! Phil -- I like him too. Now you all have my American Idol thoughts of the week. Anyone else watching right now?

A girl that doesn't like shoes...

She really doesn't like shoes. :) Tried another pair on her this morning and got the same result. This time I didn't take them off her and she finally gave up. Forgot about them completely during the car ride to the babysitter's and then when I put her down at the sitter she laid down in pout-mode again. Here's the video from at home and then the picture.

Temper

This is a small glimpse of my morning. It was a great morning until I put Kaiya's new sandals on her feet. She tried walking in them and every time she lifted her foot, she acted like there was a huge weight attached. (the sandals were really light too!) Anyway... finally she threw herself on the floor and began this temper tantrum. She's been doing this a lot lately when she doesn't get exactly what she wants. I just checked out "The Strong-willed child" from the church library. It's very good... just might have to buy it. Anyway... Thought I would share the video.

March Madness

Jake & Katy Wyllie

Kyle & Libby Lehman
Mike & Jackie Theis
Rachel & Tony

I can't let another day go by without posting about March Madness at the Hyser house. Tony's participating in several brackets (some w/ $$, some just for fun and bragging rights) and then together we are doing a bracket with our small group. Everyone came over Tuesday night for picks... except for the Shadwick's who we did picks with via speaker phone. Tony & Karen Shadwick are represented through the picture of cell phones. We are sitting in pretty good shape w/ our Sweet 16. Tony Shadwick created a fantastic chart for us to follow up with. Link to the chart:

http://www.numbski.com/church/FinalFour-2007-picks.html

We were babysitting AJ Tuesday night too... I tried to put him to sleep, but he just couldn't sleep knowing about the March Madness going on in the living room.
This is what he thought of our picks:

Happy Birthday Kaiya Grace!

Kaiya is 1 today! I am going to begin a huge post of birthday pictures! Mama & Daddy are still amazed that we've had Kaiya for a year now. What a whirlwind year it has been. We had a small birthday party yesterday for Kaiya. Invited a few friends and family over for our celebration. I'll post pics below and a little comment w/ each group.

This is Kaiya realizing that the gift bags have something in them. :) Once she figured that out, there was no stopping her. Here she is w/ Tony & his mom, Nanna.

These were taken a couple days early when a package came in the mail from Grandpa & Grammi.

Kaiya & Hannah (Nate & Maurine's little one) Cute little girls!

My friend Bethany & her little girl Enna. Kaiya can't wait until Enna is big enough to play with!

Jen & AJ (Kaiya plays w/ AJ all day when Mama is working.)

Okay, the moment we all were waiting for. :) Kaiya was so sweet when we sang Happy Birthday to her. She sat there like it was completely normal for 10 adults to sing to her. She patiently waited smiling for all the cameras while we sang. Although we had been practicing blowing, there was way too much curiousness about the candle flame. I should have practiced with the real thing. She just wanted to touch it. :) So Mama blew it out -- and Kaiya got her fingers in the wax. I think the mystery of the candle is solved. Probably won't be touching it again. :) Anyway... onto the cupcake. I found a cake mix at whole foods -- no wheat, dairy or refined sugar/flour. Same with the icing. My sisters and I did a taste test, it wasn't quite like a Duncan Hines, but it wasn't bad either. Had the texture of cornbread. Here are the cake pics:

Fascination w/ the flame...

And that's just about as much as she ate. Didn't have to worry about a sugar rush at all.

Kaiya opening presents

Kaiya & Libby (from small group) playing w/ her new ball.

Friends from small group got Kaiya this great pink ball. She loves playing on it. Daddy layed her on her tummy over the top of the ball and bounced her last night and she was just giggling non-stop. I can see this is going to bring us a lot of fun for awhile.