Day One

Here it goes....P90X, Day One:

Height: 5'9.5"
Weight: 171.6

Arms:  13.25"
Chest: 41"
Bellybutton: 37"
Hips: 41.5"
Thigh: 25.5"
TOTAL: 158.25"

BEFORE PICS (AGAIN...for the last time):


Say good-bye to the chin(s), extra boobage, broad sholders, tummy bulge, love handles......

....pooch, booty baggage, saddle bags, inner thighs.......



....back fat, armpit rolls, and butt/hip/leg mushiness.

 Im going to get my calendar and plan of attack laid out, pick-up the DVDs from Mandi, grab a pull-up bar from Sports Authority, and PUSH PLAY!! 

Moving On....

As I just posted, it's come to my attention that some random foreign countries and locations have been viewing my blog repeatedly lately. Eric and I dont know anyone in Puerto Rico, Japan, or Australia, and while we know a few folks in Canada, there is no reason for them to be viewing our blog.  A few other locations in the United States have been viewing the blog and clicking on my pics.  I cant imagine why anyone would need or want to click to enlarge a picture of OUR child, especially strangers or people who are clearly not welcome in our lives, but the time has come for the blog to go private.
Unfortunately, Blogger's private blogs are only allowed a certain number of viewers who have to log in via email address and password. I have gone private before and had requests from well over the 100 person limit set by Blogger, and I felt bad so I made the blog public again. However, the fact is, there is nothing to see here folks. Just pictures of our little girl and our daily life. No need to let the whole world see how fun or boring we are on a regular basis. 
Dont get me wrong. I LOVE all the nice comments and the fact that Whitney has touched so many hearts, and admit that it does stink that a few bad apples and weird blog stalkers will ruin the fun, harmless stalking for everyone else. But I have to do what is safe and right for our little girl and our family and after a morning and afternoon spent reading responses to my previous post, Im realizing that most people who read here dont comment, so this little blog that I thought was being read by MAYBE 20 people, has apparently been read over 3,000 times in the last month, and I am half humbled and half freaked-the-heck-out!
Ive made the mistake of putting a lot of our family details out there for the world to see. Maybe I'll go private here and open up shop with some anonymity elsewhere, in a more secure location. I have this weird attachment to the katbass blogspot location, but it is a no-brainer to let it go and move on in privacy when I think things get even a litttttttle bit strange.
I think I had a lot of readers from our fertility days, which makes sense because I know I was always searching for support and success stories in other blogs about fertility.  Then, I think some of those folks followed us through our adoption process in hopes of a positive outcome.  That, too, makes sense to me, as I know I follow several blogs going through pregnancies or adoptions or even homeschooling, I want to see "how they end" or how they turn out.  But now that we arent in the midst of fertility treatments or adoptions or medical mysteries, there is truly no good reason to share "our story" with the entire population of the planet. If there was a surefire way to block IPs or to block entire countries where we dont know anyone personally, then I'd be open to those options. But until blogger invents those security options, we need to do what we can.
Blogging has helped me keep a nice, neat scrapbook for our family. I LOVE that Eric printed the entire blog for me for Christmas last year, and I love that we have a written record of our life before Whitney and as her parents.  But Im realizing that it really needs to be just for family and close friends (and even friends and family of close friends!). I appreciate the support and virtual hugs through the years, and wouldnt change anything for the world! Thanks so much for following and dont take it personally :) There are a few of you who will think this is directly related to you or something you said or did. Trust me. Its not. I just think its gone past the point of being a fun place to share our lives when people are randomly clicking on pictures of my kid. I have to wonder "are they saving them to their computers? why? what could they be doing with these pictures? why do they visit every.single.day? And why do they come through the same friend's blog every single day? Why is Whitney's life so interesting to people we've never met?"
Creepy.  Stalkers. Not cool. Im sure 99.9% are harmless girls like me, just looking for parenting ideas or entertainment while bored at work. But its the .1% that I dont know about or who arent willing to riase their hand and say "Im here!" that sorta worry a Mama.
So...after a nice, long chat with Eric and after talking with Whitney's birthparents and our own families, I have decided to lock it all up as tight as the internet allows, and continue blogging entirely selfishly and for ourselves alone. So thanks again for everything through the years! Dont be afraid to ask for permission to read in the future....but dont be hurt or angry if I have to say 'no' in order to make sure our family gets first dibs.
(Leaving this post up for a bit, to notify family and anyone who wants to know how/where to keep following.  Just leave a comment or email me and I'll keep you posted!)

*edited to add: if you have me on your blogroll, please delete me. Or if you see my blog linked on another blog, please let me know.

Trying to Weed out the Stalkers and Creepies

I have started noticing my blog linked in blogs I've never visited or heard of. If you list my blog in your blogroll, please let me know. I am enjoying the new "Stats" option Blogger has added, allowing me to see who is viewing the blog and who is clicking on every single picture I post.  I am intrigued by a few locations who continually pop up on my blog, several times a day. I dont have any problem with people reading the blog, but I gotta wonder why people are clicking on pictures of my family and our daughter? We dont have any family in Maryland, so Im interested in who is viewing us so closely from afar. We dont have any family or friends in Canada, either. None in Puerto Rico. I can make educated guesses about who is viewing from certain states (Ohio, most parts of Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and most of the southern states.) But Im just curious how people are finding my silly 'ol blog and why it is entertaining enough to click multiple times a day.

Help me out :) Tell me if you have me linked on your blogroll, how you found me, and/or if youve ever clicked on our pics. Id ont want to have to go private, but I must admit....its a little scary to be so "out there" in this crazy world.

Another Fun-Filled Weekend with Friends

I think we had one of our most fun, most exhausting weekends! Exhausting in a GOOD way! Some of our besties, the Ragans, came over after work on Friday and spent the night. We stayed up late playing Monopoly Deal (if you dont own it, go buy it NOW. $5 at Walmart, hours of entertainment for adults AND kids. Thanks for the recommendation, Mandy!), eating yummy, bad-for-you foods, and laughing til our stomachs hurt after spending hours in the pool. Then, we all got up early the next morning to enjoy some delicious breakfast casserole, thanks to Eric, and then headed down to EPCOT for the day!

Dave is 30+ and had never been there, but Austin, 6, wasn't so sure he'd heard great things about this particular Disney park. By the end of the day, Austin was smiling from ear-to-ear, and Dave was proclaiming EPCOT his favorite park! Success!!!
We got a LOT accomplished and were back in the cars in time to beat the afternoon rain :) The boys did Test Track while the girls all went to Nemo and the aquarium. We all loved Spaceship Earth, Finding Nemo, Captain E.O.  (eh...sorta), and the boat ride in Mexico. The Ragans did Soarin while Eric and I took the little girls for some lunch. They all tasted Cokes from around the world and did a little shopping and picture taking. Overall, I think the highlight was our private Meet-n-Greet with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy! We alll enjoyed that part and laughed when Whitney, who was sleeping in the stroller, woke up to see her favorite characters right before her eyes...she couldnt wait to get outta the stroller and give them hugs!

We can't wait to go back with the Ragans soon! All the kids (and adults!) behaved and everyone enjoyed the day from beginning to end :) Exhaustingly fun and perfect!

Whitney loves the aquarium at the end of Nemo! see the "hidden mickey"?

And...........they're.............................

OFF!

Like the bow?  Check out Stori Book Dreams! "Like" her on Facebook to enter contests and see her latest CUTE creations!

Her bows are SUPER sturdy and ADORABLE! She can make all kinds of custom bows and we LOVE them all!

(and we know our bows...!)

 

This was the first time we saw the GIANT tortoise! He was eating right at the window and was so cool to watch :)

 

Dave, Dallas, Me, and Eric....LOVE THEM.

Waiting to go see the new, improved Captain EO.....eh....needs more improving.

Whitney was excited to sit in her own seat (for about 2 minutes).

Whitney woke up, bolted from the stroller, and fell into Minnie's lap for a hug :) Mickey liked her a lot, too!

GREAT memories!!!

They rock.

So do they :)

How cute is she?! Faith and Whitney are exactly 90 days apart and it has been so much fun watching them grow up together!

Im not sure who had more fun in Mexico...Dave and Eric were laughing pretty hard as they dressed Austin up in hats (giant and teeny) and handed him "props" :) LOL

Such a good sport :) One of the very BEST kids I've ever met. LOVE this kid :)

I remember when he was born, and now he is reading books to Whitney and Faith :)

And of course, the obligatory Sleeping Beauty shot :)

Overall, an amazingly fun time with amazingly awesome friends who we love and appreciate more than we could ever tell them.  Just another reason we truly believe we have the World's Best Friends life can offer :)

Airing Our Dirty Laundry....

....literally. I'm not usually one to air our dirty laundry, but recent events have caused that dirty laundry to pile up to "overflow" status, and well....sometimes its just too difficult not to share and get it out there.

Ya see, our recent trip to Ohio seemed to multiply our dirty clothes by about a thousand.  Yes, our dirty laundry. Wait? You thought I was gonna air "hypothetical" dirty laundry? As in, gossipy, nasty rumors and drama that should never be shared with the general public? You thought I was about to share that  kinda "dirty laundry" HERE? On a public blog?? Psssht!! haha. Nope. Im talkin' real dirty clothes here, folks. Actual clothes that have been worn and traveled in, and now need to be washed. No drama in this post. :)

So, I had a mountain of laundry to tackle after getting home from Ohio and Friday was the first chance I got to start climbing that moutain.  We have a short hallway off the kitchen that leads to the laundry room and two of the bedrooms. Through the laundry room is the door to the garage. Usually when I do laundry, I sort the clothes (hots, colds, darks, lights, gentle cycle, whatever..) in this hallway and knock them all out in a few hours.  Vacation suitcases always seem to multiply the number of dirty clothes, so I had a lot more laundry this week than normal and the hallway was jammed up nicely with neat piles of clothes waiting for their turn in the washing machine. Amongst those clothes, sat Whitney's giant car seat, ready to head out to the garage and be installed in my car after taking the roundtrip adventure to the Buckeye State with us.  Needless to say, I would never usually take pictures of my hallway in this state of chaos....however.....Whitney decided to "help" me on Friday.
I heard Whitney giggling in the hallway but thought she was looking at herself in the mirror or some other giggle-inducing activity.  Only when I rounded the corner to join in her gigglefest did I see just what was soooo funny to her.  See, Whitney was "helping" me by taking apart alllllll the piles of clothes and putting them in the laundry basket that was previously empty and awaiting the warm, folded towels I was about to tackle. So all my sorting efforts and neat piles were now nicely cleaned up and "put away" by the Whitterbug.
Of course, I laughed with her, as she thought she was helping me clean up...and then grabbed the camera and started snapping. :)

Cleaning up my nice, neat piles.

You're Welcome, Mommy!!

Then, Whitney decided to "help" some more by taking all the clothes back OUT of the laundry basket and tossing them in one giant "pile".

Apparantly sorting is for sissies.

She thought rolling in the dirty clothes was hysterical. (Side note to Eric: you have a gazillion black and blue socks.)

That was fun, Mom! You should let me help more often!

Whitney's next trick? Learning how to sort black and navy blue socks :) (or just wearing them on her arm like a purse is cute, too, I guess...)

And I toldya the car seat was in the hallway....so of course Whitney had to take a minute to relax after all that helping.

Yesterday, we sorta didnt have a plan of attack for the day, so we ended up bored and restless by the time Whitney went down for her first nap at 10am.  Should we make it a pool day? Go back out to the beach? Try out a new park? All tough choices, huh? Then we remembered that our good friends were heading to Disney for the weekend, and Eric's sister was at Disney through Thursday with her family, so we figured we'd zap the boredom that had settled into our home by packing some water bottles and sunblock, and heading to the Magic Kingdom. (P.S. yes, we DO recognize and appreciate how blessed and lucky we are that we get to just pick up and head to the happiest place on earth just because we are bored one day. That blessing is not lost on us :))

So we werent able to coordinate with Eric's sister Lynzie, but they will be in the parks a few more days so we will make time to head down there again soon.  But we were excited to meet up with my close girlfriend, Kathy and her hubby and kids, and another friend, Kim (Kathy's sister-in-law) and her hubby and daughter. We were only there a few hours, but we tackled Donald's Philharmagic, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Snow White's Scary Ride, Dumbo, and some pics with Daisy Duck.  The parks were a "3" on a scale of 1-10 according to the app Eric has on his phone. (Its so fun...tells us what the lines are like in all the parks so we know if we should avoid a certain ride or park. Technology rocks!) We got on every ride in less than 15 minutes (well, except Dumbo...but that was due to the woman who passed out from heat exhaustion as she was about to board Dumbo. I wouldve felt really bad for her if she wasnt wearing a SWEATER in 90 heat.) And we had such a fun day with some of our favorite people :)

I always think its funny when strangers ask how old Whitney is and then say "Oh, she'll be afraid of the characters!" I love correcting them and saying, "Actually, she runs to them and can hardly wait to give them all giant hugs! We havent found one she's afraid of yet!"

See?

Eric thought he was snapping a sweet pic of Kacey, Brianna, Emiley, and Jimmy on Peter Pan.....but int he dark, ya never know who you're taking a pic of! Kathy, Dave, and Kim were all thrilled to have their pic taken :)

She thought it was fun to sprint towards the castle, into a crowd of people...

That was cool, Daddy! I love the castle! Will you buy it for me???

Once again, looking and acting 4 years old.

Overall, a fun beginning to the weekend :) Now we are looking forward to pool time and relaxing with more good friends :)