Bobo's birthday

Betsy and William call my brother-in-law Uncle Bobo. It's a term of endearment. All week Betsy practiced singing Happy Birthday to Uncle Bobo. When the time came to call and sing to him she pulled out a unique rendition that went along the lines of "Happy TUESDAY Uncle BO BO!" His birthday was on a Friday, but I think he still appreciated the song.

Saturday was JD's surprise birthday party at his and Tiffany's new house! The house is beautiful and they've got everything looking great already which is AMAZING when you consider they moved in about 2 weeks ago. Betsy and Will, along with some other little friends played T-ball in the backyard.

The birthday boy opening presents. The girls picked an Otterbox cover for JD's iPhone off Amazon. Isn't that sweet of them?

Mary and cousin Will

Bets and Bobo

Ben and Bets, I believe in this picture she was dictating which piece of birthday cake she wanted.

How about this dinosaur dress? The kiddo loves it, and my Mom made it for her! Betsy loves to 'rawr' like a dinosaur.

Birthday boy with niece and nephew

Betsy and Will offered to carry one of JD's larger gifts to the backyard for him. They'll do anything you ask. I suspect toddlers are like ants and can carry 100 times their body weight.


Hugs all around, Betsy, Will and school friend Ryder.


Here's Aunt Kitty (Tiffany) wishing JD a happy birthday.

Betsy and William's PawPaw

Our friends Michael and Tiffany...they're getting married in 18 days! We can't wait to attend their wedding!

Those kiddos were sure excited about birthday cake!



And sweet Ella was so good at the party. She's Memaw's baby as Betsy is Pawpaw's girl.

Since you asked...

I've been asked a few times today how the low-carb diet is going, and I have to say it's going pretty well! I've stuck with the program 100% except for planned indulgences that I can count on one hand. Those would be:

A margarita and a cookie at Gina's bachelorette night
A piece of cake for my boss' birthday
A piece of JD's birthday cake

That's all the sugar and flour I've had in 18 days. I eat a big salad for lunch most days, and for dinner many days. I eat lots of cheese, chicken, eggs, 1 ounce of almonds per day. It's not terribly hard to stick to this because I'm eating full-fat products. Regular ranch dressing, cheese, etc. I've recently added low-sugar fruit back in my diet. Mostly strawberries.

The weight...it's coming off slowly. I've lost about 7 pounds. I wish it would happen faster but I'm setting small goals for myself. We're going to a wedding June 18th and my goal is 13 pounds lost, and I think at this pace I'll meet my first goal.

Even better than WL is feeling better, and I do. I don't feel sluggish or 'stuffed' ever. And I think I've been addicted to sugar in the past, it's hard for me to stop after one serving of something sweet. Yesterday I took my almonds and diet coke to the movies and it was just as satisfying as a box of candy.

My dear sweet Mom took me shopping in Atlanta and I have some cute summer clothes in my current size, so it makes me a little less anxious about losing quickly. Don't get me wrong, I really want to lose some weight and be slimmer, but getting to my 'goal size' is not going to happen overnight and I just try to enjoy my life every day no matter when size I'm wearing!

That's all for today, I'll give another update in a couple more weeks.

6 month compairison

Ella at 6 months old

Betsy at 6 months old


I think they look alike, but I think Ella looks more like me and of course Betsy look just like Ben.

Spring football game

Friday night my sister-in-law Mary and I took our kiddos to Ben's spring football scrimmage. I took a few pictures of my sweet girl before we left (see below). The girls were WORN out after two hours in the sun and they were both asleep by 8:15. Ella still isn't awake and it's almost 12 hours later.

Now it's time to enjoy the rest of our three day weekend!

Update on the girls

My sweet babies are developing so much! Ella can sit unassisted for short periods of time, and I think in another couple of weeks she'll be sitting on her own all the time. She is thisclose to crawling. She is already throwing her feet around trying to inch from one place to the next. AND last night we practiced walking. She held my fingers and walked about 15 yards to watch big sister take a bath.

BETSY loves to see Ella doing new things. She cheers for her "YAY!! Ella sitting! Ella cwaling! Ella walking!" I can't imaging how much fun those two will have in about a year.

Betsy is no longer a baby but a full fledged kid. She runs, jumps, climbs, talks, eats, plays and reasons like a child, not a baby.

I love those girls, and I think they love me back :)

Gina's Disney Bachelorette Party

Here are a few pictures from my cousin Gina's bachelorette night we threw on Friday! Gina is eloping to Disney with her wonderful groom Kevin and I am so excited for those two.

Guest invitations.

Picture frames from Hobby Lobby, and I made the banner by hand.

Aunt Mary, Bride and future mother-in-law.



Sister-in-law, bride, and mother-in-law.

Little Lauren with Lisha. (my sis and mom)

Party guests!

Gina's reaction to seeing everything decorated in the condo.

Gina with her cookie bouquet

My Mom made these by hands and they are SO cute and time consuming!

Disney bridal bouquet

Guests watching Gina unwrap.

This was a huge hit...

My cousin Gina sleeps with nose strips and Aunt Mary decided to 'bling 'em out' for her wedding night. Awesome? Yes.

Gina with her beach wrap, showing her new married name!

This shower was fun, relaxed and perfect for my sweet cousin who will be married in a little over a WEEK! I'm so happy she's marrying such a wonderful man, and I hope they enjoy married life as much as I suspect they will! Love you G.C.C.

Adios Carbohydrates

My brother-in-law JD recently (Since January) made some changes in his diet and as a result has lost over 75 pounds. He looks awesome, seriously this is the best I've ever seen him look! My mom also is following a low carb diet per the recommendation of her doctor. She likes it. Welp, I'm on the bandwagon. I'm on day 4 of low carb eating and I really, really like it!

I'm not following the Atkins plan or anything like that, but I am trying to limit my net carbs to 20 or less a day. I was tired of doing the weight watchers thing. Sure, it's nice to do things in moderation. When I had the discipline to do so it worked for me. But I've found with sweets and breads that once I start munching on them it's hard to stop. And then I felt gross.

I'm surprised that I haven't been hungry. I'm eating lots of meat, cheese, salads, steamed veggies and nuts. And I feel satisfied all day. In fact, I think this morning was the first time I've really felt hungry at all, so I grabbed a few almonds while I cooked breakfast for myself and I felt great.

I can literally tell a difference in my blood sugar not crashing. I feel much steadier during the day and don't feel the need for a 'pick me up'. Not to mention, when you eat carbs you get that bloated, stuffed feeling after a meal. My clothes are just a bit looser already, and I've lost 4 pounds. AND I think I can STAY committed to this. I'm not going to completely deprive myself. One meal a week can be carb heavy. This weekend it'll be dinner out on Friday night, it might include a margarita!!

Please share your low-carb eating tips if you have any!

More on Mom's Visit

We had a great time with GiGi! We mostly did party planning, played with the girls (including HOURS of sitting on the back porch, rocking in the swing and blowing bubbles with Betsy) watched Disney movies, ran around town, went to church, my mom cooked us TONS of food that I've been eating for lunches and dinner's every day. She cleaned the house Friday morning while I was at work and caught up my laundry.

Raise your hand if you think she should visit EVERY weekend.

*raise hand*