Just a little taste.

I promise I made it back from Mardi Gras!! I am almost fully recovered. Except for all the lovely bruises on my knees from the barricades! This weekend I will do my "official" Mardi Gras post including Buck. Buck had so much fun he said he wants to make it an annual trip!

Saturday before Endymion-Cooter, Yankee, Lil Mama, Me, Re, & Sissy.

Here is just one shot of the girls on Sunday night! Me, Re, Lil Mama, LJ, Salee, Yankee, Cooter & Sissy! (Can you tell we were cold?) We had a great time and did tons of catching up!!

Stay tuned for LOTS more pictures!!

Thanks for caring,

K

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Street Corner Friends

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget."



The title of my post seems a little seedy but let me explain. Tomorrow starts a much needed vacay for the Hubby and I. We are going "across the lake into the city" for the next couple of nights. (If you know what I'm talking about, then you are from around here.) We are dropping off Tay so she can get some much needed lovin' from the grandparents. We are going to Mardi Gras and meeting up with a bunch of friends from college.
The older we get the more I think we learn to appreciate each other and the friendships that we have built over the years! Re, Blue, Lil Mama, Sissy, Cooter, Yankee (She is technically not a Yankee-but she is the only one of us that lives north of the Mason Dixon line!-I am sure after she sees this post she's gonna make me change her nickname!) Me, Hubby, Sarge, Big Poppa and Yankee's Hubby (who I have not met, so he doesn't have a nickname yet-I was 8mos preggers when they got married in NY) will all be spending the next several days together "down in New Orleans where the blues were born/it takes a cool cat to blow a horn!" Can you tell I am pumped?! We all met through our mutual love of Azure Blue and Woodland Violets....same sorority for those who don't speak A Dee Pi. (except for Sissy, but we let her hang around because she has gotten much cooler the older she gets!)
Anywhoo.....we have been through numerous boyfriends, several engagements, (a couple called off) bachelorette party weekends, numerous weddings, 9-11, a divorce, lots of moves, pregnancies, giving birth, babies with colic, losing parents, losing babies, graduations, many career changes, a couple of large purchases (houses, condos, cars, etc.), being arrested, almost being arrested, and many many late nights together (several where only Yankee really remembers what went down--THANKS.) Through it all we have remained very close. No matter where we move: Nashville, Knoxville, Atlanta, New Jersey, Charleston, Orlando, Hattiesburg, Baton Rouge, Montgomery, Mandeville, or New York we always come back to each other. We may go months with out speaking (Lil Mama-who by the way has gotten SO much better), or talk every day (Re), but it is always like no time has passed at all. We can pick right up where we left off. We can hang out on a street corner together for hours and have the time of our lives.
If you know anything about Mardi Gras you know that there is A LOT of waiting involved. You kinda stand around all day "holding" your spot to have a prime bead catching spot (right up front where you can straddle the barricades) for when the parades roll by. We will literally spend more time waiting for the parades then we will spend watching the parades, but that is what it is all about. We have just a good of a time standing around shooting the shit and drinking beer, as we do trying to catch plastic beads and cups. (90% will end up left on the floor of the hotel anyway!) I will take lots of pictures this weekend and introduce all of you to my "street corner friends! Oh, and to you newbies how we do Mardi Gras!!
Thanks for caring,
K
P.S. I will NOT make anyone cry this year---I promise.......I kinda get diarrhea of the mouth when I drink! OOPS!

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Writer's Workshop.

It is THAT time of the week again......

The Prompts:

1.) If you were starring on American Idol TONIGHT and HAD to sing, what song would you choose and why.
2.) Take a picture of yourself right this minute without primping and explain to us why it is you have not washed your hair today.
3.) I just asked Pat to help me with a writing prompt so here's his: "What do you think about the NBA All Star game"...blech.
4.) What's your number one pet peeve? Develop a punishment for anyone caught in the act.
5.) Write about something mean you did to a sibling growing up.

Which one will YOU choose??



#1--I am OVER American Idol, next

#2--At work, no camera

#3--Don't care.....

#4--I think my list is way to long to narrow it down to just one....

#5--Sit back, relax, get a snack and a cup of coffee because we could be here all night!



Sissy is 2 years younger than me. When we were younger we actually played together and had fun. But, the older we got the more we fought. We fought over EVERYTHING: Who's turn it was to sit in the front (we had a schedule), Don't cross the imaginary line in the back seat, who go to hold the remote control, who got to push the button on the elevator, who got to drive to school (I won this one---she scared the SHIT out of me when she drove!), you name it we fought over it! (I wonder to this day why my parents do not sell us! I ask them often how they made it through- Dad just points to the Jack!!)

Anywhoo.....After Sissy and I stopped sharing a room Sissy became afraid to sleep in her room by herself. She wanted to sleep in my room with her big sister. We had daybeds with a trundle bed underneath, no big deal right?! Well, every night before going to bed Sissy would pull out the trundle, pop it up and we would go to sleep. It started off really well. Every morning Sissy would put the bed down and roll it back under my bed! (This was the condition under which I let her sleep in my room---she could sleep in my room but she HAD to put the bed away in the morning!....she agreed) It lasted for about 2weeks and then she stopped putting the bed away. I told her she could continue to sleep in my room but couldn't pop the bed up. No big deal, she still had a bed everything was fine. This again lasted for about 2 weeks.....and then she stopped putting the bed away. So, i told her she could sleep in my room but was not allowed to use the bed because she wouldn't put it up! So for about 2 weeks she would bring in her sleeping bag and sleep on the floor next to my bed (I had carpet.) Guess what happened.....yep, she would not pick up her sleeping bag. So I banned her from sleeping in my room. We had an agreement and she did not uphold her end of the agreement so she had to sleep in her own room......Sorry Charlie.

She is a sneaky one let me tell you..........

The very next morning I woke up to my little sister sleeping very soundly wrapped up in her sleeping bag in the doorway to my room. She was half in my room and halfway out in the hall. She had waited until I had gone to sleep and snuck into my room curled up on the floor and gone to sleep!! I still feel guilty about making her sneak into my room at night because she was too scared to sleep by herself and I was too mean to allow her to sleep on my floor! Hubby asks me at least once a month how I can live with myself knowing that I forced my "itty bitty sister" to sleep in the hall because she was afraid to sleep in her own room. Yep, I was that mean......believe me she paid me back and then some......
So ladies and gentlemen there is the story of one of the meanest things I have done to my sister.
I am not proud of it but it is the truth......sorry Sissy!! I love you!!

Check out the other mean things people did their siblings......push the button!

Thanks for caring,
K
P.S. Before we have our next child we are stocking up on the Jack! Payback is a BITCH!!!

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Thank you.

How do you like the new lay of the land? It was time I added a little bit of color to my boring old blog!! I am not much of a pink kinda girl....so we will see how long this lasts. It is pretty isn't it!? I got my layout free from here. Or you can push my "smitten" button and see some of their bee-you-tiful designs. I also got my last layout from them. (the trees-remember?)

This is gonna be short, gotta run and get the tater! But I want to say a big THANK YOU to all my loyal followers. When I started on this little adventure I did not think that I would actually "meet" some fellow bloggers and get so wrapped up in their lives and their stories! I started this with the intention of letting family and friends, who are not around all the time, peek into our lives as we try and wrangle my daughter!!! But I am having so much fun and learning a lot about myself in the process.
Gotta run!
Please leave me comments I want to hear what you think! I really do! Oh, Hubby thinks I do not mention him enough in my blog, so I will be writing SEVERAL posts on him. If there is anything you want to know about him ask away..........he asked for it!!!
Thanks for caring,
K

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"Crazy pills"

You may or may not be aware of the fact that I currently take medication everyday! What kind of medication? you ask....I like to call them my "crazy" pills! I went through a very tough spell after Tay was born. Tay had COLIC for the first 12 weeks of her life. It was the toughest 12 weeks of my life. (I am still afraid to have another baby....2 years later!) There were many a times I would call Hubby at work crying hysterically because Tay would not stop crying!! She could and would cry from 11:30am to 4:30am the next day! It was torture. Here I was a BRAND SPANKING NEW MOM who had never changed a diaper or given an infant a bath, much less been all alone with a new born and the one I got won't shut the f up!!!!! I was very concerned with what I had gotten myself into. What exactly was her problem.....Did she not like me? Was she still pissed because she was forced out of her little bubble? I tried EVERYTHING.........I changed her diaper...I put her on the boob....I changed her clothes.....I rocked her......I put her in the swing......I sang to her.......I walked with her inside......I walked with her outside.....I shushed her.........I swaddled her.......I promised her a pony.......I promised her a new car when she turned 16...........I did everything humanly possible to get her to calm down, but she HATED me and would not STOP FUCKING CRYING........I am not sure who cried harder her or me!!
THANK GOD THAT ONLY LAST FOR 12 WEEKS...any longer and I may have ended up in a padded cell!
Once Tay stopped crying things got better, but just not GREAT!! I loved my baby and thought she was really great and all, but I did not get that overwhelming gush of excitement every time I looked at her!!! I would do anything for her, but I was just not enjoying having a child and being a mother. I was so overwhelmed and completely lost. I felt all alone and did not know how I was going to claw my way out of it. I cried EVERYDAY!!! Nursing my daughter was my saving grace. I knew that I was giving something to her that no one else could. I knew that I was doing it correctly, and that I enjoyed this time together.
Tay lived with an ear infection for the first 10 months of her life and around 8 mos she developed thrush because of all the antibiotics she was taking. Naturally being a first time mother I had no idea what in the hell thrush was until she passed it to me and my boobs starting doing really weird things!! You will thank me for not going into much detail....trust me on this! This helped me make the push to wean her. My goal was to stop at 9 mos anyway, so we just did it a couple of weeks early!! It was much harder on me than it was for Tay. She was already taking a bottle, so we did not have to jump that hurdle. The night time feeding was the hardest habit to break! After only about 2 bad nights we were over it and she never looked back!
Once I stopped nursing my OB and I decided that it would be a good idea to try some anti-depressants!!! I'll take 4 thank you very much!!! I had cried everyday for 8.5 months straight and once I started taking my pills the crying ceased. I was a NEW woman. Apparently my hormones got all out of whack after having Tay so I need something to help me out!! I am definitely not opposed to anti-depressants. I have seen this type of medication change lives including many in my own family! (It seems we are pre-disposed for this....maybe we should hand them out at family reunions...HA.) I just never thought I would be the one to be taking them!!
Please know that this is only a portion of what I was going through at the time. I love Tay always have and always will. I now cry thinking of all that time I missed out by being emotional unavailable for my daughter! Do not take anything that I said as me not loving my daughter. I love her more than life itself and thank GOD everyday for the wonderful gift he has given us. I now know that being a Mom is the best thing that has every happened to me and one day, God willing, I will be able to do this all again.
Thanks for caring,
K

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Tay's 3rd Mardi Gras!

WARNING:
This post is a hodgepodge from the last couple of weeks. I have had a SEVERE sinus infection that landed me in the ER getting 3 shots and a CAT Scan......Not my idea of a good time. That is why I have been M.I.A.!
Last Friday I received a package! (Not that kind of package....even though hubby does work for Fed Ex!) Buck has offically arrived at the Carty Party!! Tay loves the "reindeer"! My friends do not know that I am bringing a deer to Mardi Gras......but the more the merrier, right?! I think it is going to be so much fun! I want to bring him to the Britney Spears concert, but hubby said that was taking it too far...Pooh! If you want to know what in the hell I am talking about click here. If you want to see what Buck is doing before he arrived at the Carty Party click on The Buck Stopped Here button!

I want to give a big THANK YOU to Sissy for letting Tay spend the night this past weekend. I promise she was much happier learning "Head, shoulders, knees, and TOES" with you than she would have been at the wedding we attended! It was so c-c-c-c-COLD!! Fun, but COLD!!

We took Tay to a Mardi Gras parade this past weekend. This is actually her 3rd year going to the parades. Yes, I am THAT mom who bundled up her daughter with socks on her hands at 2mos so she could "see" a parade. She slept the entire time!

FIRST MARDI GRAS!

These pictures were taken before Tay's first parade. I thought it would be a cute idea to take a picture of Tay with Pearls.....see how well that turned out!

She was not happy about ALL the clothes she needed to wear!! She woke up for a bottle at the very end of the Parade!

SECOND MARDI GRAS!!

This was right before the beads in the face incident...no, she is not stoned!

The second year she was 14 mos old and actually could see the floats as they passed by. She started off in the stroller but of course she got nailed in the FACE with beads by the first float that passed! So she ended up in Hubby and I's arms the entire parade! But she seemed to enjoy it.
This year she did much better. She started out strong! She was having a mini-Rave with her cousins and some friends! They were waving around glow sticks like it was their jobs......They LOVED it!! She was doing really well when the Budweiser Clysdales came through, but she faded fast! She lasted a total of one float and two marching bands. Isn't it weird that I cannot get out of the bed without her waking up but a MARCHING BAND didn't even phase her!

THIRD MARDI GRAS!!!

Thanks for caring,

K

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Tuesday Whitt!

Saturday we went to the park out on the Lakefront and had our own "Waggie" rides for Tuesday Whitt! Tay does not like to ride for too long so of course we hit up the swings.




A day at the park would not be complete without bubbles!
I was going to try and write something very moving and profound to let the Whitt family know that I understand what they are going through.....but again I am left utterly speechless! I just want the Whitt family know that they are not alone in their grieving! There are many families including this one in Louisiana who are praying for the entire Whitt family and friends!!
Please push the "Waggie Ride" button and see the Virutal Waggie Parade for Tuesday! Or just go here to get there directly.
Thanks for caring,
K

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Speechless........

I am utterly and completely overwhelmed!!! I am at work and just read this entire blog!
They lost their daughter Tuesday to cancer! Tuesday and her twin sister Piper were born 3 mos earlier than Tay.
Words are failing me.........
Please visit their blog to share in the story of Tuesday, Piper, Axel, Spencer, Charley and Jessica!
Click on the "Waggie Ride" button to see what we will be doing on Saturday in honor of Tuesday! I hope you will too.
Thanks for caring,
K

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Writer's Workshop.

The Prompts:
1.) Tell us about a lie you told that you later regretted.
2.) Choose a task you'd like someone to complete and write a poem asking them to do it.
3.) Describe a talent you have.
4.) Write a list of ten things on your mind this week.

I am choosing #4!!

This is just a VERY random list of what has been going through my mind this week!

#1-Is there a magic pill, potion, lotion, food, anything that I can give and or apply, to my dog to make him STOP SHEDDING!!! It is beyond ridiculous how much hair falls off of him on any given day. I wonder all the time why he is not bald!

#2-I have been thinking a ton about the fact that Hubby and I have not written our wills. I know that this is not a topic that many people want to think about, I just think that we need to do this. When we got married we went through counseling with our Priest and he told us before our first anniversary we needed to have our wills made out! 5 years and one kid later and we still do not have a will!!! We need to get to work.

#3-I want to read more! I would rather read than do anything else in the entire world and I do not have ANY time to do it!

#4-Why am I so tired? For about 3 weeks straight I was asleep before 9pm! I would lay down with Tay to put her to bed and doze off with her. I was down for the count in my clothes that I wore to work that day!

#5-I have been contemplating going back to school! Every test I have taken and every person I have ever known says the same thing "Kelly have you looked into teaching?" I am finally going to listen to EVERYONE and look into what I need to do to either, A-become certified, or B-get my Masters Degree! I kinda want to get my Master for the whole accomplishing a higher degree thing......

#6-Where is Ed McMahon with my Publisher's Clearing House Check?

#7-Tay is growing up so fast! Her vocabulary is growing exponentially! (How about that for a fifty cent word?!)

#8- I must stop cussing NOW!!

#9-I am so blessed to have such loving friends and family. I am so grateful that I have a healthy and happy family!

#10-How can I help my immediate family be happier!?

Thanks for caring,

K

Please go visit Mama Kat and see what everyone chose to write about!

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