March Madness!!

We are in the midst of March Madness, and UK is on a roll! They made it to the Sweet 16, tonight play #1 overall seed Ohio State. It's going to be a heck of a game, but I have faith in our Big Blue! I have been a UK fan since middle school. I remember in high school, my friend and I would drive by the Wildcat Lodge just hoping we would see some basketball players. When I worked at Kmart in high school, the whole team came in. I was so beyond myself that I got ALL of their autographs! I had to be so dorky!! It was back in 1996, so there were awesome players: Ron Mercer, Dereck Anderson, Wayne Turner....

Being a student at UK was the best. I went to every ticket lottery and always got seats to the home games(not always the best seats, but I was at the game, none the less). Some of my favorite college memories were of those lottery nights, sitting with Ryan and some friends, doing homework/reading and waiting for our number to be called. It was so much fun! I hope my kids get to enjoy the same things as a college student! Of course they will go to UK.

So, here we are...2011. I am still a huge UK fan, and my team is in a big game tonight. I'll be awake, rooting them on, while my kids are fast asleep. GO BIG BLUE!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Countdown to Disney World....38 Days!

We leave for Disney World in 38 days! I'm pretty excited, and Brody is too! Raegan is blissfully unaware. I know Brody will LOVE every bit of it. He is at the perfect age. Raegan, on the other hand, is not at the ideal age. But, we'll see how she does. I'm hoping all of the stimulation will make her go-with-the-flow!??

My parents are taking both my family and my sister's family to Florida. We leave April 16 and will be there 6 days, I think. I haven't done the full Disney trip in several years, maybe 8? Ryan has only been to the Magic Kingdom one day, so I know he will love it. I just hope my kids have fun, but behave, for the most part! When Brody and Bryce are together, they tend to get competitive. At Disney World, there shouldn't be much of that going on though. I have lots of thinking/planning/packing to do. This will also be Raegan's first plane trip since she was 5 months old. Luckily, there will be 4 other adults on both flights, so if we need to, she might get passed around! She is not one who is content to sit still and just chill. Those other passengers might have to put up with a little girl wandering up and down the aisles the whole trip!

Spring is almost here! Our tulips and daffodils are popping out of the ground. I'd say in another week and a half, the blooms will be open! Grass is turning green, which means time to get the ol' lawn mower ready. Love this time of year!

Chilly Day at the Park

The kids needed an afternoon activity, it wasn't too cold outside, so I offered the park. Their responses: "Yay! Park! Bye-Bye!" Raegan said bye-bye, she was ready to go!

This spring/summer will be a lot of work at the parks. Raegan thinks she can do everything that Brody can do. It doesn't help that Brody calls her name and wants her to follow him, even while doing things that are dangerous or hard for her! He loves Raegan as his companion/playmate. If only she was a little bit older/less of a hazard to herself!

I managed to take these pictures, in between running to keep up with Raegan and making sure she stayed safe. Shew! She's a handful!

Sweet Raegan Lee

I took a few pictures of Ms. Raegan this morning. She was in a great mood and was looking cute, an ideal combination for a picture session! Raegan is 19 1/2 months old, she is getting so big. Her vocabulary is huge, too big to count how many words she knows. She is so independent, but also so loving and sweet. We couldn't ask for a sweeter, more precious daughter.

Worst Week in Health

Our family was hit hard with the stomach bug this weekend. Raegan had it first, but a mild case. She threw up once, and I attributed it to the antibiotic she was taking for an ear infection. But, now that I think back, I think she had the "bug." She was clingy, whiny, and wouldn't eat the rest of the day. Diarrhea as well, which led to the WORST diaper rash I have seen in my 4 1/2 years of being a mom. Poor girl. She ran from us while she was having a dirty diaper, knowing the impending doom that was coming. It took 2 people to change her diaper and apply all the creams. She tried with all her force to keep us from doing it. So glad she's on the mend now.

So, that was Wednesday. On Thursday, I had an scope done of my esophagus and stomach. I have been having really annoying and painful acid reflux for the last week. I have had this before, but it hasn't occured in years. It's so painful to eat, sleep, lay down flat. I just feel overall miserable. I haven't been able to exercise either, which is frustrating. I have a constant feeling of a lump in my throat, it feels like I'm being strangled. I've been taking all kinds of medicines, antacids, nothing seems to help it. The scope turned up nothing really, although they did take a few biopsies of the esophagus. We'll see how those turn out. My esophagus was swollen (duh!) and the doctor said to keep doing what I'm doing and it will hopefully subside. Well, it's Day # 8 and I'm still suffering.

Thursday night, after the scoping, I woke up with horrible pains in my stomach and felt super nauseous. I was up all night with diarrhea and vomiting. I had to have my mom call off work to come watch the kids. I was in bed all day, maybe eating a few bites of dry cereal and a couple sips of Sprite. By Saturday, I was better, just weak. It eventually made it around to the whole family. Brody threw up on Saturday on the way to Great Wolf Lodge! He was supposed to go with us for his cousin's birthday party. Ryan immediately turned around and scrapped the trip. Brody was beyond sad that he couldn't go. Ryan was sick that day as well, so it's probably the best thing we didn't go.

That day, my mom ended up getting sick, as well as my neice and nephew who were here visiting this past week. So, the darn "bug" made it's rounds this weekend. I have never been so glad to have a week over with. I am still having reflux as I sit here and type. Heartburn, lump in throat. I'm praying this ends soon. It may be just what drives me over the edge!

It's STILL Winter....

We are soo ready for spring here at the West Household! I do enjoy the seasons, and I am always excited for winter to come. But, with all the snow and cold temperatures we've had this winter, I am sooo ready for it to move on! Brody has been out of school for 10 days! Bourbon County calls off if there's a dusting of snow, so of course, this season they've been out quite a lot! It really messes up my morning routine of exercising at the YMCA and morning chores with Raegan before going to pick up Brody. But, I think we're on the downside of it all. Come on spring!!

Here are some new pictures I've taken. I've been pretty bad about taking pictures since Christmas. I need to get back to it! Raegan is growing like a weed, getting cuter and cuter everyday! Her hair is really starting to grow out, I can almost get it in a ponytail! She's not that fond of hairstyling though! Our little girl is INTO EVERYTHING!!! She basically goes through the house like a tornado, tearing up whatever is in her path. I pretty much just leave things a mess until naptime/bedtime. There's no point in cleaning up, it will be disturbed again very soon!

I signed up Brody for soccer last week! Practice starts in March, with games soon after. He's really looking forward to getting back to soccer. He loves it! I'm also going to sign him up for t-ball. We'll see how he does. They play more closer to summer (May-June). I hear they have practice plus 2 games a week. That may be a little much, but we'll see!

Raegan got into Brody's markers. She came running to me saying "Pretty! Pretty!" I couldn't get it all off, so it annoys her now. She doesn't like to be messy for too long!

Raegan LOVES Hummus. I eat it sometimes as a snack/lunch with raw carrots. She gets so happy and excited when she knows she gets to have some. Yesterday, I took a picture of what she looks like as she is eating. Quite messy...