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4/7- Andy’s first roller coaster! 🙂 Shamu Express. They rode it 4 times!
Kayley crawls on her feet if you put her on hard floor with an outfit that exposes her knees. Haha.
4/13- Andy started Clicknkids phonics today! Bren and I were both nostalgic. 😉
4/13- Kayley says “bie” for bite now.
Andy calls the Power Rangers “Samurai Rangers” 😀
Brendan calls Kayley “Babushkie”. Andy calls her “Buckie” (short for Bucket). Melts my heart!
4/19 Kayley says “bye” complete with wave. She’ll say hi and wave to strangers all on her own in stores too.
Sooo cute!
Brendan is learning to type and doing fantastically! He can type all the lowercase letters at 12 WPM. He is
proving to be a quick learn at cursive as well.
4/21 Me: “Kayley, did you finish your bottle?”
K: “Bah?” (She morphed from Bee to Bah- Bee now means pacifier)
Me: “Where did your bottle go?”
K: “BOOO-TTLLLLE???” (In the voice of me calling to Brendan from another room…) LOL!
4/23 Kayley cruised down the side of a bed tonight! Next stop: walking!
4/24 Kayley said “Bah Mama!” today (bottle Mama). 😀 She also said “ba!”… she got excited when I undressed
her and thought she was getting a bath, haha!
Lots of b words…
bah bottle
bee pacifier
ba bath
bie bite, bye
4/27 Kayley is really working on words… we catch her mimicking us all the time. We were surprised to hear
her mimic me saying “I love you” the other night and she tries to say pizza (puh) and ball (buh). She’s a
cheeky lil thing too! She loves to blow air through her lips at you and get you to do it back! She said a
full “bye bye” today too.
5/1 Andy can whistle! 😀
5/4- K said ball twice today!
5/5- Kayley says “hello” while putting a phone to her ear! 😀
5/6- Andy: Can I have 2 more sandwiches Mom?
Mom: How about ice cream later instead?
Andy: Okay. 2 sandwiches minus 2 sandwiches equals ice cream. [LOL!]
5/16- Started giving K an oz or 2 of milk in her bottles now along with the extra strength formula the dr
wants.
5/17- Every once in awhile K practices letting go and standing alone for a few seconds. She thinks it is
funny!
5/19- Kayley follows these commands now:
Can I have your pacifier?
Sit down!
Lay down!
5/21- Happy 1st birthday little girl! 😀 We travelled to Mimi’s house for a Hello Kitty party. Mimi and Mom
each made you a cake!
5/22- Kayley can sing “La la la la la” with Dad! She also says “uh-oh!” 😀
5/24- K said “I love you!” This is the 2nd time…
Brendan finished MUS Gamma mathbook today!
5/29- K took her first several steps between Mom and Dad today! How exciting! Her standing without holding
anything has much improved! She can also mimics the humming of one of her dolls (Ariel).
After hearing me list the numerous reason why I would not want a convertible car…
Andy: Yeah, you can’t even take them to the car wash! [LOL! Pretty darn logical!]
6/1- The boys played chinese jump rope for the first time today and loved it!!
6/2 Andy is with Kayley in front of the little air conditioner. They are dancing in the “wind” and Andy is
singing “do the Bucky dance”… haha… Bucky being short for Bucket- our nickname for K.
Brendan is starting his first ever 5th grade reading level book, “How to Train Your Dragon”. Amazon said it
was for ages 8-12 so I went ahead and got it from the library. The I looked it up at Scholastic’s Book
Wizard… 5.7 rl. Gulp! But he is doing well so far!
6/3- Kayley stood up today without pulling up or holding onto anything!!
6/5- K said “du” for duck. She loves this word! She has a little squeakie blue bath duck that she can squeak
herself.
She also says “di” for diaper. She loves the new pampers girly prints and points out flowers on them and
everywhere. I’m gonna guess “flower” will be one of her words soon! 😀
6/6- K sais “chee” for cheese and “bah” for bath! She can stand for at least 30 seconds without falling and
took 3 steps on her own accord today! She can also dance!
6/7- Scene: Supper time. Andy goes to the restroom and whistles the entire time he’s in there… upon his
return…
Darrell: Okay, Andy. You’re ready for the next thing to learn to whistle. [Whistles like a police car siren]
Andy: [imitates him quite well first shot]
Jen: Wow! I’m impressed! I’m going have to go write that down!
Brendan: How do you write down a whistle?!
Darrell & Jen: Hahahahahaha!
6/10- K says “cheese” and “pretty” 🙂
6/13- Kayley says “teeth” now and loves to put her grubby gummy fingers in your mouth to find your teeth.
EWWW! SHe is working on nose as well.
6/17- Kayley’s 12 month dr appt. She weighs 19 lbs 11 oz and is 29.9 inches tall. She looks great! Her
bottles are now 6 oz of milk with 1 scoop of formula, slowly transitioning to straight milk. She got 3 shots.
Next appt is at 15 months- set for September 20th.
6/20- K ate banana for the first time. Prior to this she has always refused it. She also says “light” now.
🙂
6/21- Kayley walks!!! She can go 10 or so steps now! She also says “I did it!” Happy 13 months!
6/25- K climbs everywhere now! She topped the final couch last night.
6/28- K tuned on her baby ipod today, stood up and started dancing- all on her own. SO CUTE! Andy learned
__ck words! 4 letters now!!! Brendan is reading Prince Caspian from Narnia. He really wants to see the
movie. LOL!
6/30- K says book and cookie and a garbled version of I Love You 🙂
7/4- Kayley is scared of the fireworks and Andy has Strep Throat. Yay.
7/6- Kayley says dog, nose. Knows the meaning of sit down, lay down, night-night. LOVES pineapple
milkshakes!
7/12- Kayley’s toy of the week: kleenex. The joy. :/ She now says light. Her favorite food- pineapple
milkshake! Loves to dance. Loves to put the pie ring over her head, lol.
7/13- Boys’ first dental visits! Both did wonderful! Bren has a lil cavity between his 2 front teeth but
otherwise great. His teeth are coming in jumbled and he’ll need some orthodontic help soon. Andy had an A+
checkup!
7/16- K says “Hello baby!” Loves ice cream!
7/18- K says “Oh wow!”
7/21- Happy 14 months! K says Up and Bottle. She is fully on sippy cups now, though we still call them
bottles.
7/25- K says Yummy but it comes out Nummy! 😀 She also asks for “up” instead of whining to be picked up!
Yes!!!
7/26- K says cup and Darrell said she said please!
7/30- K calls her barrettes and pony holders “pretties”! She likes her walking popper toy.
8/1- Andy finished the yellow Hooked on Phonics book and is now in the orange book! He learned ch- and th-
words today! Such a big kid!
Kayley calls her Glo-worm “baby”!
8/3- Andy had a marvelous, marvelous birthday party today… Marble Slab ice cream, brownie balls and going to
see Cars 2 with tons of friends & a Big Lou’s 42 inch pizza with Mimi and Papa! Wow we had fun!
8/4- Very quiet here with the boys away- they went home with Mimi and Papa! Kayley said “Good-bye Dada!”.
Kayley is finally starting to show a little interest in tv. By far her 2 favorite things right now are
helping me unload the dishwasher and seeing what is new and exciting in the recycle bin every day. LOL.
8/5- K says “drink” when she wants a sip of your drink and “tv” too. 🙂 She is starting to understand the
concept of cleaning things up and putting them away too. She put away her pacifiers before her morning milk
cup today. 🙂 Kayley kissed Elmo on the tv today. Her first tv love!!!
8/7- K wags her finger at you now and says “No, no!” Thanks DAD!!!
8/8- K said “Up, Baby!” to be picked up and “Hi there baby!” to a newborn baby in a swing today! Continuing
to love Elmo!
8/9- K says dog and Meow and loves animal sounds. K also has 2 new teeth- the top & bottom to her right side
of the center teeth.
8/16- K says cheese, block and cup 😀
8/18- K likes to try on and walk around in other people’s shoes!
8/24- Brendan had 2 cavities in between his front top teeth filled today. Took it like a champ! Played video
games the entire time!
8/26- Kayley is really making herself understood these days… up, bite, down, milk, cup, bapi (pacifier),
pretty (barrette), yummy, more, no-no, tv. Sadly, she has taken 3 hard falls to the head in 2 or 3 days…
thankfully each in a different spot on her head. 🙁
8/28- Kayley has sprung her 7th tooth! The top left of the center teeth. She also is finished with all
formula supplements to her milk cups. YAY!
8/29- K says “peepees” and pats her diaper. Wow. Awareness already. I may have an early potty trainer on my
hands! *no jinxes!*
9/2- Brendan cooked on the stovetop for the first time! YUM! Peanut Butter & Honey Quesadillas! 😀
9/3- Kayley calls toothbrushes and brushes “B”. She’ll brush her hair with both too. 🙂
9/5- K says please, thanks and Elmo
9/6- Brendan earned a “Touch Typist” Award! YAY!
9/7- Andy finished the Little CRiiter Great Race game!
9/14- K says “Bahbo” for booboo & gets 8th tooth- now has 4 on top and 4 on bottom
9/15- K says “eye”
9/16- Andy finished his math book! Math-U-See Primer!
9/24- K says “cuppy” for cup.
9/27- K loves playing with soccer balls- she did her first kick today!
10/1- K says “I did it!” Her 1st 3 word sentence!!!!! Also kitty & puppy.
10/5- K says OK
10/6- K says morning
10/8- K says Thank you
10/10- K says “Hello Big Guy!” Haha.
10/11- K says “brush your teeth”, Go! & Caillou
10/13- K says “get it”
10/14- K says bowl
10/16- K says “oh boy!”
10/20- K says “I love You!” & “oh, wow!”
10/22- K asks “Are you ok?”
10/26- K says door
10/28- K will point to the Gerber baby on a jar and say baby.
11/1- K says Dora
11/2- K says “There you are!”
11/8- K call her pcaifier “bau-ber” and also says stop and flower
11/11-Brendan made his first homemade hashbrown patties. He also ate his first fried egg. 😀
Andy- Know what I think of the cake (Easy Bake oven day)?
Me- What?
Andy- I LOVE IT!!!!! [Gives me hug] But I love you more!
Me- Wow, you love me more than cake???
Andy- Well, almost. I love cake 1 percent more.
Bwahahahahahaha!
11/12- K says “I’m done!” and “I’m stuck!”
11/15- “bah-ber-erry” = strawberry
11/17- K says ice cream & good girl
11/23- K says Good Morning
11/24- K says “I’m a good girl”
12/5- Brendan has been carrying around 2 cookbooks everywhere. One is a Kid’s cookbook my mom gave us and
another is a Philly cream cheese cookbook we got at Sam’s. Last night on the way to Walmart I asked him what
he was planning and he said he wanted to make “Sassy Tailgate Sandwiches”. Haha. SO we got the ingredients and
he made them- 80% without me today. They are baked and looked very good. I so wish I could have had one.
12/6-
K- Cookie!
D- I don’t have a cookie, go see your mother.
K- Go get cookie!
D- Seriously?! Go get cookie?!
K- Good girl! Go get cookie!!
12/12 K: Ice cream, I love you!
12/14 Kayley’s 18 month well baby dr appt:
22.8 lbs, 75%ile for height, growing right along her curves
Brendan gets his dental appliances

Kayley fell in love with Elmo the very first time she saw Sesame Street- about a week ago. I bought her this Elmo Gives Kisses doll. 😀 Awwww!

Kayley’s first pigtails:

Brendan and Andy on a 4th of July hayride at their grandparents’ ranch:

Both boys did great! I love this particular dental practice- a bunch of great women! They were gentle and kind and always explained everything in a non-scary way!
Andy got an A+. Yay!
Brendan has a small cavity between his 2 front teeth. He has an appt for that Aug 24th. They took about 7 x-rays and wowzers… haha. He has lots of permanent teeth ready to come in. He is definitely going to need orthodontic help soon or he is going to end up with teeth like both Anthony and I used to have. The initial workup is a little over $500. We’re going to see what D’s dental insurance covers and if it is worthwhile we’ll enroll in August and go from there. The receptionist said most plans only have a $1000 lifetime limit though. Cross your fingers ours is better than that. He also has a permanent tooth on the bottom that is extra wide and x-rays showed that it is actually 2 teeth that formed together.
Both technicians remarked at how deep the grooves are in their teeth. Nothing wrong but odd.
Funny tidbit- Andy picked out a toy for Kayley and it was a small squeaky pink octopus. She loved it! She immediately put the head of it in her mouth like a pacifier and walked around the waiting room squeaking at everyone. 😀 It’s hilarious to see!

It was easy actually! Stupidly easy. I did cheat slightly at dinner with a bit more protein than I should have had however for the rest of the night I just was not hungry and didn’t eat anything more even though I certainly could have. I think I only ate about 825 calories.
I also felt GREAT yesterday- and so far it is continuing today!! Like OMG where has this energy been all my life great. Which if you knew how much I struggle with midday fatigue… well, it’s amazing. *Big Grin*
I had:
1 oz Truvia sweetened cream cheese mixed with 1 T peanut butter.
1 Frappaccino (3/4 c cold coffee, splash each of SF chocolate and vanilla syrups, 1 pkt Truvia, 1/4 cup heavy cream, ice- blended well) Next time I will add a pinch of cocoa powder but it was AWESOME and a nice giant glass full. Next time I will also use frozen coffee cubes for a stronger coffee flavor.)
1 FF strawberry truffle (3 is a serving- it’s coconut butter based)
1 taco wrap (1/4 cup taco meat, 1 piece of crispy skillet fried Habanero Jack cheese, 1 oz cream cheese, 1/3 avocado, 1 T Ranch dressing wrapped in a large lettuce leaf). If you’ve never tried skillet frying shredded cheese you really need to- it makes the most delicious taco shells or Doritos type chips ever. 😀
I always take a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement specially formulated for low carb diet. In case you were wondering. And I plan to go heavy on the veggies and berries on non FF days (like today), Did I mention I mad Pad Thai with radishes? LOL. So interesting what I can make sometimes with foods I’d never have looked twice at before. Can’t wait for the leftovers for lunch. YUM!
I lost more than 2 pounds overnight too (though I had gained 2.6 over the weekend)! Jen hearts fat fasting! Tomorrow will be another FF day. I plan to FF on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays when convenient. Next week is a vacation week for my DH though so I’ll plan one day at a time what I’ll do.
I’m so excited to have found something that works and gives me energy too! *Scooby nose in the air dance*

Yippeeeee! I lost 7.2 pounds in 5 days! I am soooo happy. I’m back to 219 and I now have skillz to lose weight again! I am so happy to have found a solution because regular ole low carb just wasn’t working anymore. I wasted a YEAR… yeah…. I was 222 at my 6 week checkup after Kayley!
The plan is to do the fat fast M, W and F every week it is feasible. It is a very tolerable diet, oddly enough. Plenty of sweet and savory things to try. Portions are small but often and while you finish a “meal” still hungry, the fat kicks in 1/2 hour later and you are fine again.
I have apparently really, really messed up my body from the ultra crappy diet I ate as a kid to not lose weight on regular low carb. It did me great for a long time though and if it wasn’t for Dr. Atkins I’d still weigh more than 280 pounds.
Next goal- 210. That’s merely “overweight” on the BMI charts for my height. I haven’t been merely overweight since I started college- when I got down to 195 (through depression & living with thin people who ate little and exercised more).

Kayley walks!!!!! We have a cute video of her walking maybe 8 steps and saying “I did it!” 😀
Soccer camp went without a hitch. The boys loved it. Tomorrow we are going to Lady Bird Johnson Park to go swimming with my aunt. Yay!
Even though I have been seriously low carbing, my weight has been creeping up. It’s quite frustrating! This week I am trying something different called a fat fast. It’s 1000 calories of the fattiest low carb foods available. Sounds weird, I know. It doesn’t take much fat to equal 1000 calories so portion size is very, very small. The recipes are a cream cheese macadamia nut parfait, 1 egg + 2 egg yolks + 2 T heavy cream scrambled eggs, 1 avocado by itself, or a special chicken salad recipe. I eat five 200 calorie portions throughout the day. The portions easily fit in tiny 3 oz bathroom cups, lol. But each one can turn me from starving hungry to okay for a couple hours. Just enough food to keep me sane- but it certainly isn’t any fun.
We’ll see. If this doesn’t work I may just go bonkers.

Everyone is chatting about curriculum choices for their new year so I thought I’d add my post about what we are currently doing here.
Brendan (mid 3rd grade):
Math – MUS – Delta- AKA “A Breeze” after the huge multiplication problems from Gamma. LOL!
Writing/Grammar- Daily 6-Trait Writing gr 3, Sch Success With 3rd Grade, free journal writing/ typing
World History- SOTW 1, heavily supplemented, so it’s the scenic longer route 😉
geography/maps- Sch Success With 3rd Grade, a game called Clue Finders
US History- completing a book on the individual states with maps that I made and bound, Postcards From Buster series
Handwriting- Contemporary Cursive
Reading- Mostly books more or less his independent reading level chosen to captivate his interest (currently “How to Train Your Dragon”) and Reading Blaster computer game. I’m reading the Laura Ingalls series aloud to them at bedtime.
Spelling – my own “Spelling Challenge” method
Science- Daily Science, heavily supplemented again along the topics. We just finished animal and plant adaptations.
Typing- He finished Dance Mat Typing and is now starting Typing Instructor Platinum
Art – my own, often projects along history topics. We just did a Crayola boxed set called Model Magic Presto Dots which was so much fun. :wub: Andy and I made a rabbit and Brendan made his own hedgehog.
Andy (mid Kindergarten):
weekly PE class (Bren graduated when he turned 8)
art- same as Bren and also 2 different scissors and glue e-books I downloaded
Math- MUS Primer
Writing- free writing (I’ve learned my lesson- make it only fun and easy for awhile!)
Handwriting-learning letter formation from Comprehensive Curriculum K
Spelling/phonics- Hooked on Phonics Yellow level (almost done) & Click N Kids
read aloud books- often the easier ones from Bren’s history library selection but sometimes his own units. We just finished a Seuss unit a few weeks ago.
JumpStart Kindergarten game & about to start Reader Rabbit First Grade game
World History- sometimes his reading units are history based (we are now finishing a China unit- both LOVED learning Chinese jump rope!)
US History- Postcards From Buster series
Science- Allan Fowler books and others. 😀
You know… I was thinking I was doing things too simply but I feel better now having typed all that out! I have purchased them grade level appropriate computer games to help fill in gaps. I can’t be with all 3 kids at once and Kayley is really needy of my attention these days. Some days when I’ve reached my breaking point I’ll alternate working with one while another does independent computer work/ educational play. Helps a lot! They watch a Postcards From Buster episode during lunch. It’s the perfect length for me to feed them and put Kayley down for her nap! We “do school” from noon to somewhere between 4 and 5:30 M-F. If we are driving anywhere for any real length of time then independent reading or audiobooks is done in the car,
I wonder all the time how Brendan compares to another mid- 3rd grader (I really don’t remember what went on in 3rd grade besides learning multiplication and cursive!!). Then I mentally smack myself and tell myself it doesn’t matter- he’s moving at his own individual pace. He’ll get to where ever he needs to be in due time. Then I go back to wondering…. Ugh. LOL. It’s a blessing and a curse.

I’ve tried many low carb pancake recipes (they all sucked!) but this was the first low carb waffle recipe. They weren’t good for low carb- they were just plain good! Very light! My recipe is slightly modified from this oopsie waffles recipe. Now I’ve got to try the original oopsie rolls!
Low carb waffles
Serves about 5 people
(my waffles maker makes large circle waffles divided into quarters and a serving is 2 of these)
8 eggs (separated!)
8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
1/3 t cream of tartar
1/3 t baking soda
1 t almond extract (could also use vanilla but almond is better!)
2 drops of EZSweetz (or 1 pkt sweetener of choice)
1 scoop protein powder (I used Jay Robb vanilla)
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/3 cup SF pancake syrup (I used DaVinci’s Sugar Free pancake syrup)
SF whipped cream (I used Land O’ Lakes)
In a large mixing bowl, whip the egg whites (no speck of yolk at all!) and the cream of tartar at highest speed until very stiff. The mixture will puff up and almost fill a large bowl. When in doubt, beat it some more- it can take 5-15 minutes depending on your mixer. Carefully transfer to another large clean bowl if you need to use your mixer bowl for the next step.
Mix together egg yolks, cream cheese, almond extract, sweetener, baking soda and protein powder, adding one at a time on medium speed.
Carefully fold the yolk mixture into the egg white mixture, 1/3 of the batch at a time. Go easy- it should not be perfectly blended… you will see little spots of white and that is fine. Try not to lose the fluffiness. Let this sit for 5-10 minutes as you preheat your waffle iron to it’s highest heat setting.
Make waffles with the batter according to your waffle maker’s instructions. Oil or spray cooking spray between each and every waffle or they will stick badly! They should be a dark golden brown and very light when done.
Meanwhile, melt 1/2 stick of butter in microwave. Add syrup and mix well. Top waffles with several spoonfuls of hot syrup mixture and lots of whipped cream. 🙂 Enjoy!