Spring Break & Party Plans

Well, my Spring Break has come and gone! It was last week, and it was a much needed break! Friday night, we went up to my parents' to spend the weekend with them. Our 4th wedding anniversary was Thursday, March 3rd, so Saturday night my parents watched Kamden so we could go on a date!

We went to Shreveport, spent some time in Barnes and Noble (and actually bought books that we have since read!), got some clothes for Kaleb and Target, and had some yummmmy sushi! It was so wonderful to just get to have some time alone together.

Kaleb came back home on Sunday, and Kam and I stayed to hang out with my family since my mom and sister were also on Spring Break last week.

Kam got his Nan, Bip, and Katie fix, and Nan, Bip, and Katie got their Kam fix!!

FYI: It is incredibly difficult to get good pictures of our sweet boy right now, as this is what he is usually doing:

Man, I love this kid!!

Unfortunately, Ella's spring break is later on in the month, and she had her aunt, uncle, and first cousins on her mom's side coming in from Florida to visit, so we weren't able to get her over the weekend. But we will have her for her spring break and we cannot wait!!



If you're reading this, you probably already know, but I "officially" restarted Weight Watchers on January 10 of this year. I'd been working on kicking my 64 extra pounds (yes, I said it!!) since school started in August, but I just kept going back and forth, and I have had such great success with WW in the past that I knew I would have to be just as diligent with it if I really wanted to feel good again. Luckily, my mom, sister, and a couple of my aunts joined too! It sure makes it easier to do when you are accountable to people! All that to say, I've set several mini-goals for myself (along with my big ultimate goal weight of 145, and yes, I know that if you can do math that you now know my starting weight was 209, and I am okay with you knowing that), and one of them was to have lost 30 lbs by Spring Break. And if I did that, I could buy a couple new items of clothing! (Because I cannot wear some of them anymore, yay!) Well, I met that goal the week BEFORE Spring Break, got cocky, and by the actual weigh-in day I was 1 lb away from my goal!!! Talk about frustrating! We still went shopping on Monday, and I still tried on clothes, but I just wasn't really happy with anything I tried on (although I have gone down a size) so I didn't end up buying anything. I've since gotten back past that goal and I've lost 17 lbs since officially starting WW. (We are doing it online.) So that is really exciting!!

I am going to really try not to talk about the weight loss stuff on here because I feel like it is ALL I would talk about. Right now, I really need motivation to get work-outs in. When I lost before, I'd joined a gym, and I absolutely LOVED it...all the equipment at my fingertips, Spin classes, Group classes, etc. But a gym membership is not fitting into our budget right now! So I am trying to get motivated to take up running. I REALLY want to be a runner. So I am hoping to start Couch to 5K soon. Probably next week, since this week is already halfway over.

Okay, done with the weight stuff.

Now for the second half of my title, party plans. I know you won't believe it, but Kamden's 2nd birthday is coming up!!! Tear!!! (And sadly, as a teacher, also relief because the weekend we're doing his party is April 30, which is the first weekend after the TAKS test, which means RELIEF, and also, PANIC and PRAYER that the scores will be good!) He absolutely loves a lot of stuff...but his favorite TV shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and The Fresh Beat Band. Which is great, because neither is too annoying. So we decided we would use one of these as a party theme. Now, there's MMC stuff out the wazoo, but would you believe that there are NO pre-made Fresh Beat Band party decorations? Except the custom-made stuff. Last night I'd just about talked myself into just making all the decorations myself (I found some cute stuff online that I know I can do) but to be honest, I just don't know that I would find the time to get it all done. And the colors I'd use might look too girly. And, also, this:

Do you think this boy loves him some Mee-Mouse?? (***PLEASE*** know that our bedroom does not always look like this. While I was videoing this, I looked at the background and just cringed and didn't even want to share it, I am SERIOUSLY so embarrassed, but...my goodness this kid is just so stinkin' cute doing his Meeska Mooska that I couldn't not share it as proof of his Mickey Love.) So...I think we are going with a MMC theme. Which will be WAY easier than Fresh Beats! And there's always next year! If he's still into them then=)

Weekend Fun!

We had a great weekend with Ella! She was out this Monday for Presidents' Day (and so was Kaleb) so we went up to Many Friday night to get her! We stayed with my parents that night, and Aunt Katie happened to be working on a cake. Which means 2 things: 1) Cake Scraps (Ella ate ALL the white cake scraps!!) and 2) FONDANT!!! Ella wasted no time making some beautiful fondant creations of her own!


The kids also played lots of Just Dance 2. Kamden likes it almost as much as Ella! We heard, "Unh dansse" several times Friday night and Saturday morning!

We had a wonderful lunch with my family and my grandparents, then we headed down to Starks. Kaleb's parents had the awesome idea to take the kids out to Nibletts Bluff Park. I'd never been...wow!!! It was beautiful!! We enjoyed a picnic by the water...

And boat rides!! Ella rode the boat, too, but I wasn't on there with the camera when she was riding. Let me tell you right now, if Kamden Alce Breaux could live his entire life on a boat he would!! If we heard "Boat-motor!" one time this weekend (or any day, actually) we heard it a million times!! He can spot a boat quicker than anything else. This is Kamden in his own little heaven:

He wasn't into sitting with me on the boat. Just Pawpaw and Uncle Marcus!!

Playing on the (parked) boat.
It was SUCH a great time and such a great way to spend time with both our families!! I will leave you with a picture of a terrifying animal. Do you know what it is?? Because I don't. Some sort of ram?? It just sat there in all its evil majesty. Have I watched too many scary shows or do you see Satan in this dude's face???

Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

What's your daily routine?

This week, our blogging topic is describing our daily routine! Mine is pretty much the same for weekdays. Here we go!

5:00 a.m.--This is when my alarm goes off for the first time. Because I am always very certain when I go to bed the night before that today will be the day I start getting up early to work out.
My alarm goes off in 20 minute increments until I finally either a) get up at 6:15 or 6:30 or b) hear this little darling calling for Mommy or Daddy=)

(Note: He is not in the bath when he calls. He is in his crib. This is just the only super recent picture I have that I'm not planning on using tomorrow.)

6:15-7:00--Get ready for work. This consists of washing my hair (every other day unless I worked out) and, if I got up earlier than 6:15, actually straightening it and wearing it down. And putting on make up and getting dressed. While I do this, my sweet husband gets up at 6:45 and gets Kamden ready to go to his sitter's house. Our TV is on KFDM. When they have to "switch over to the CW" I begin worrying because I should really be ready by now.

7:00--The Fresh Beat Band comes on, recording on the TV in our bedroom. I begin to panic because I should REALLY BE READY by now.

7:00-7:05 (Okay, 7:10)--Rush around to get something together to eat at school, get Kam loaded into the car.

7:15--Drop Kam at his sitter's house, which is very conveniently on my way to school!

7:30--This is the time I have to be at school. Realistically, I am here somewhere between 7:25 and 7:30 daily. Unless the awesome traffic light on FM 105 is messed up, then it's more like 7:33.

7:40--My day begins, and I take my kids to P.E. or Music. I have a lovely Conference time until 8:40, when my kids come back.

8:40-3:05--I teach math to 4th graders.

3:30--I can leave school at this time. Sometimes I do. Most times I don't. What teacher actually leaves on time??

4:00--Pick up Kamden whenever I leave school. We come home, he usually asks for some sort of snack, and I get supper going. (**Unless it's Monday. Monday is grocery day unless I went over the weekend.)

5:15--Kaleb gets home!

6:00--We watch the news.

6:30--Usually, supper is ready by now. When we hear "Wheel...of...fortune!!!" We know we should be sitting down at the table=) We are THAT old.

After supper, one of us does the dishes while the other gives this little love bug a bath.

Around 8:00--Kam goes down...either by us rocking him and watching TV or by rocking him in his room for a minute then putting him down. Honestly, and I know this will sound bad, but it depends on what all has gone on during the day and how much we need to just sit down and watch mindless television for a minute.

9:00--If I didn't get up at 5 to work out in the morning, I start to feel guilty, so on nights like last night I do some sort of workout video or Wii Zumba at this time.

10:00--Hopefully get a bath while reading a delicious book!

11:00--I really try to be in bed before this time, but it rarely happens.


So, that's it! A normal day for Jenni Breaux. I hope no psycho reads this and comes to kill me now that s/he knows my routine. Now I've freaked myself out!


I will be back tomorrow evening with a post about our wonderfull weekend with Ella, which will include LOTS more pictures!!!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

Yes, that's Kamden with one of my eye make-up pencils in his nose. My son LOVES make-up. I'm serious! He loves putting it on, digging his little fingernails into my blush and eye shadow, everything. And when we took our first trip ever to Sephora with my BFF, Blaire, a few weeks ago, I really think he was as excited as I was. What 21-month-old boy goes to Sephora and starts saying, "May-up! May-up!" over and over again??

All that to say, my friend, Leslie, who is all-around inspiring, has inspired me to blog again! And she had a great idea to do it. We all want to know things about people, but would never ask...and sometimes never knew we wanted to know! So, I'm just calling it "Inquiring Minds Want to Know..." because I really like to label things=) This week: What's in your make-up bag?

This is my super-cute make-up bag! One of my students gave it to me my first or second year teaching. (Leslie, did you get one, too? If you did, then it was my first year. If you didn't, it was my second.)It seriously fits everything I need! I was honest...I just dumped it out and placed it nicely and didn't hide the earrings or hair clips that somehow found their way in there.My daily make-up routine consists of taking off the previous day's make-up a couple of seconds before I put today's make-up on. I know, I know. I use Mary Kay's Eye Make-up Remover because it is AMAZING.

I am a big fan of Bare Minerals, so I use their Medium Beige foundation/powder/whatever, their Warmth (LOVE), and the Mineral Veil when I remember it. (I honestly cannot tell a difference).

My favorite pieces of make-up are right here:
My lovely sister, Katie, introduced me to Too Faced a while back, and also changed my eye-lining-life forever when she bought me Buxom Lashliner in Leatherette (the little pot of stuff to the right of my eye shadow). It is AMAZING. Seriously. I don't ever see myself using anything else. The Too Faced Natural Eye (the box of stuff above) is what I use daily. I have some awesome Bare Minerals that I sometimes use for dressing up, but that doesn't really happen much these days=)

The other things in the picture are my blush, which is just some random Cover Girl blush, and my lipstick, which is the little silver box thing. It's Loreal Infallible in Henna and it stays on forever. Most days I just wear Mary Kay's Lip Gloss. I am currently using Cover Girl Lash Blast Volume mascara, but it's only because I have to use it up before I go back to my awesome Glam'Eyes. I don't know why I ever strayed!

That's about it! I would really love to be able to wear MAC or this stuff Blaire (she's my girly stuff guru) just told me about called HD. Maybe one day when we have tons of money I will make the switch!! But for now...that's my bag!

Just-Past-New-Year's-Resolution

So I ALWAYS make resolutions, but I learned that if I make more than one at a time, I'm likely to quit them all!! And the first resolution I made was about weight loss!! I started an on-again off-again weight loss program in August when school started, and in January my mom and sister decided to join Weight Watchers, which really helped me kick it back into gear!! So far, I've lost 27.6 lbs since August, and 11.2 of those have been since re-joining WW on January 10! I am super excited about it. Anyway, all that to say that is the resolution I started in January. This month, thanks to my dear friend, Leslie, I think it's time to really commit to blogging regularly again. How many times have I said this? About a million. Mostly to my mom when she complains that I haven't posted in a year or so:) But the truth is, I do have some time in the evenings now. Especially since Kamden has been brainwashed by my husband to love developed a deep love for Call of Duty: Black Ops, which he calls "Man." Ridiculous!! Anyway, Kaleb plays it nightly, and now it's kind of merging with putting Kamden to sleep. We'll see how long it lasts!

On Wednesday, I'll be participating in Leslie's blogging challenge, so I'll just blog about life for today. School is going really well. Kaleb's job is going great. Ella is kicking butt in kindergarten, and Kamden is kicking butt (but not in the good way) at his sitter's house. He is a hair puller to girls and an eye-poker to the cat. We really do try to work with him on being kind to our friends and to animals, but right now he kinda just thinks it's more fun to tackle things. Like cats, dogs, and friends who are smaller than him most of the time.

We had a good Valentine's Day today! We are on a super-tight budget right now and this week it left no room for gifts, so we decided to write one another letters, which I love:) I made a yummy Mexican supper and did some chocolate chip cookies for Kaleb. They are not WW-friendly...but it's Valentine's Day and I am pretty sure they will be gone soon:) Kamden REALLY racked up on candy that my students got me. We sent Ella a package, but I'm sure there will be some remnants left when she comes this weekend!

Just because I like to keep a record SOMEWHERE of what he's doing right now. At almost 21 months Kamden decided he'd like to start pottying. He went really well at the sitter's when the "big kids" went, but at home, he couldn't care less. If you put him on a potty, he will go, but he isn't interested and telling you BEFORE he actually does it:) So that's going to be a little ways off. I hadn't planned to start working with the potty stuff until this summer, but I figured if he wanted to do it now I surely wasn't going to stop him! He is SO curious. We answer the question, "Unh dis?" approximately 237 times a day. And that's probably a vast underestimate. It means "What's this" by the way. And he also asks us ALL the time, "What do?" "What do, Mommy?" when he wants to know what we're doing. And when we answer him he always says, "Ohhhh." It's hilarious! We are so enjoying that he can say absolutely anything right now. He can tell us if he's hurt, and he can tell us what hurts. He tells us what he wants to eat and drink (milk, juice, water, and occasionally "doke" which is any type of soda) and what he wants to do or watch on TV. He is obsessed with "Fesh Band" which is "Fresh Beat Band" on Nickelodeon. He also LOVES Mickey Mouse, and we are 99% sure he will be having a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party this year. He just rode into the bedroom riding Ella's pink "cooter" which I know sounds really bad, but that's what he calls her scooter. He's pretty good at it, too! He can ride it while holding a bag of Cheese Nips and eating them. Obviously, the whole go-to-sleep-while-watching-Daddy-play-Man isn't working=) Going to take this as my cue to go nigh-night!!

Here's a picture of me with my littlest Valentine tonight. He hasn't had enough candy =)

Forever.

Thought I'd start with some adorable kids so you wouldn't be quite so "it's about time" about my absence. I know. I say I'll do better and then I leave a picture of my big ol' pregnant self up front and center for 4 months. Jeez. And I thought summer would be the ultimate time for me to catch up! I did have time...I guess I just wasn't feeling it or something? My time was much better spent with our kiddos! We got Ella for all except 2 weeks of the summer! We had lots of fun going to Summer Reading Program events at the local library, hanging out at the house, and just enjoying one another! We got to go on vacation with my family to Branson, MO, in July and with Kaleb's family to the lake in August. Both trips were WONDERFUL and PERFECT and just great times spent with our families!! The kids l-o-v-e-d every minute of both trips, and I know that all the grandparents and aunts and uncle did too! And so did Kaleb and I!

I spent a long of time at the end of the summer working on getting my new classroom ready. I really don't see the point in putting pictures of all this up because they're all on my Facebook, and everyone who reads this is on there, too, so I don't know why I should put them both places?? So I'm not. Anyway, I started back to work for New Teacher Orientation and then Staff Developments Aug. 9. I was worried about Kam, as he had become such the extreme Mama's boy over the summer when it was time for us to leave him with anyone other than family. He cried the first couple of days when I dropped him off, but he quickly fell back into his old routines and he is loving it just as much as he did last year! It's so wonderful to know that he's well taken care of and we LOVE that it's just him and 3 other kids there.

Ella started back to school August 18 as a real kindergartener!!! She LOVES school. She is learning so much...and her mom has been working with her on her reading, so she called us last week and read 14 pages of a 32 page book to us!!! I honestly am flat-out amazed at how quickly she's picked up reading. Not just memorizing pages...recognizing sight-words and sounding out others. She is doing so well!! And she started ballet last week and she loves that as well! We got to go up and hang out with her last weekend for Labor Day and it was so great to see her. I swear she's grew a year's worth just in the few weeks it'd been since we saw her!

I am absolutely loving my new school!! Kaleb and I are both from small towns, and we've always wanted to raise our kids in a place like that as well. And I am really hoping we stay in Orangefield, because I can definitely see our kids making it home! The other teachers have welcomed me with open arms, and I learned the names of my 74 4th graders really quickly! I really think this'll be my best year yet. Woo hoo!

I've been trying to keep up with all the stuff Kam is doing now...I wrote a letter a few weeks ago to him so I wouldn't forget it all. And tonight I added some more. But I wanted to share some of the things he is into right now! And I am also totally copying off of my Due Date Club friend, Elisabeth, and making a list of the words he says. (What a great idea, Elisabeth!!)

We have fallen into a nice little routine of bath, brush teeth, fix a bok (bottle of milk), read some stories, sing a couple songs, and go to bed. He loves it and he LOVES to read!! He has a few favorite books right now. During the day, it's a "Trucks" book that has sliding panels. He brings it to us to read, and we do it, but it's more of a "What kind of truck is this?" book than a story book. At night time, hands down it's "Please, Baby, Please" by Spike Lee and Tonya Lee. Oh. my. goodness. The boy LOVES this book! And I'm glad because I do too!!! I bought it a few years ago for Ella and she quickly fell in love with it! It must just be super-appealing to kids, because now I can put as many books as I can find in front of our boy and he will ALWAYS choose "Please, Baby, Please," or as he says, "Baby, baby, baby!" There is a spread in the book that shows the baby pouring a bowl of cereal on her head and the words are "Not on your HEAD, baby, baby, please, baby!" And I would always rub Ella's head when I'd get to that part. And soon she would start rubbing it herself. Well, I did that to our boy a few times and now not only does he rub his own head when we get to the page, but tonight as soon as I finished reading the page before, he started rubbing his head! Tell me that's not smart! He also obeys when he's told to shut any door. And most of the time when he's told "No" although we are still working on that.

He is talking up a storm...he will mimick almost anything! Here are the words he can say...the first ones are in order of appearance, but that might not last for long. And I am sure I will leave something out!!

1. Mama/Mommy (I think he might've said Dada first...cannot remember)

2. Dada/Daddy/Gaggy (all what he calls Kaleb)

3. Baw (ball)

4. Pappy/bappy/boppy/poppy/pappiesss (paci)

5. Dawg-dawg (dog)

6. Bite (of food)

7. Juice

8. Ah-pa Juice (apple juice)

9. Bok (sippy cup)

10. Eh-wa (Ella)

11. Paw-paw (Kaleb's dad)

12. Ma-ma (He says this for "Mema," Kaleb's mom)

13. Nan-nan (Nan, my mom) (He will NOT say Bip, my dad!)

14. Kay-teee (Katie, my sister)

15. Teh-too (thank you)

16. Puppy

17. Battt (bath)

18. Ride-ride, or sometimes wide-wide (Ride. In the boat, in the golf cart, in the buggy, in the vehicle...the boy just wants to RIDE!)

19. Duck

20. Ta-tuh (tractor)

21. Eat

22. Buhk/Bik (book)

23. Baby

24. Tuck (truck)

25. Tuh-tur (Tucker, Kaleb's parents' dog)

26. Cheeeess (cheese)

27. Cookie

28. Poo-wee (like it's stinky)

29. Na-tee (nasty)

30. Hi!

31. Bye!

32. Heh-oh? (Hello, on the phone)

33. Ca-wi-back (Also, on the phone...we think this must be something like Call you right back?)

34. Peez (please, but not very often)

35. Hossie (horsie)

36. Wabbit (rabbit)

37. Wion (Lion)

38. Eyessss (He does this and then pokes you lightly in the eye=) )

39. Teeeeess (He doesn't have the "th" down yet. It's teeth)

40. Ice

41. Wain, wain, wain (rain, anytime it thunders or rains)

42. Awwww! (When he hugs his friends)

43. Shooss (Shoes)

44. Poo-poo (Gross, I know, but I'm listing 'em all!)

45. Tee-tee (Again, I know, I know!)

46. Nah-na (Nonna, his babysitter)

47. Guhbuhguhbuh (Yo Gabba Gabba, his very favorite TV show at the moment)

48. No, no, no (How could I forget this one??)

49. Yight (Light...he points out EVERY single light we see)

50. Wock-wock (rock rock, in the rocking chair)

51. Pish (Fish--real ones and Goldfish crackers)

52. Wow-wow (Round, round, for when he spins in circles and makes himself dizzy)

53. Aht-Aht-Aht (Hot, hot, hot)

54. Wing-wing (Swing, swing)

55. Pop-pop (Pop-Tart, tied with pancakes and waffles for his favorite breakfast food)

56. Mine!!!

I know I am leaving some out...hopefully I will actually update this when I think of them!! (Or when his grandparents remind me after they read this=) ) He also can point to his hair, ears, eyes, and nose when prompted. And belly. He lifts up his shirt for that one=) He loves flirting with waitresses in restaurants and then acting shy when they talk to him. He's quite the little flirt. He also yells "Hi!" to ladies when we pass them in the store. Unless they speak first, then he's all shy again. Silly boy!! He's started to act like his big sister and pretend to be a dog and sometimes a cat. He drops to all fours, crawls around, and does his impression of a bark or a meow. It is hilarious.

I almost forgot! Kamden also got his first haircut last weekend!! What a change that made in his little looks...the picture you see above is not what he looks like anymore! I will try to get some more pictures up soon.

I think that's enough for tonight. I really will try to do better!!! Oh, here's a picture of me and the other 4th grade teachers in our fabulous new shirts! Yay!

Our One Year Old!

Oh, that sounds so weird.

I have spent the majority of this day completing, "A year ago today..." statements. A year ago this morning, I looked like this:

Yikes!!!

A year ago around 2:14 (or 2:16? How bad is it that I don't remember?!?!?!) this afternoon we met this little guy for the first time!

A year ago rightthisveryminute I was feeding Kamden one last time before sending him to the nursery so we could get some rest for the night. I was tired. But I was the happiest woman alive...I was officially a MAMA!

And now, a year later, I sit here at my computer, with my sweet baby boy sleeping soundly across the hall, trying to figure out how in the world did we get here so fast? Has it really been a year since I looked into his eyes for the first time? Has it really been a whole year since our lives changed so completely? And has it only been a year that Kamden has been in my life? (Well, a year and 9 months, technically.) I am overcome with joy and gratitude that God decided to let Kaleb and I be Kamden's parents here on earth--that He chose to give us this tremendous, humbling opportunity to care for him and love him. He is perfect and healthy...and I don't know why God decided to give us such an amazing blessing in such a tiny baby (at the time ha!), but I am forever changed.

Kamden, our perfect, precious son,

We love you more than you can ever imagine. You bring us such joy, such happiness, such hope. When you smile at me, I feel like the most important person in the world. When you laugh, it is infectious. When your little face scrunches up and you squeeze your eyes as tight as they will go and try to muster some big, sad tears when we tell you "No," we might laugh for a minute...because you are so darn cute...but it also just breaks our hearts to think that we've hurt yours! You'll learn eventually that we don't let you eat paper or climb on the hearth for some really good reasons. But for now, we'll just have to keep watching you do your best to squeeze out some tears and work us over!

My sweet boy, I pray that you will grow up knowing how important it is that God is first in your life, and I know the only way that can happen is if we show you. So I pray that, while I know we will not always be the perfect parents, that we will be able to be examples of Christ's love for you and that we will never forget that God is the reason we have everything...each other, your amazing, sweet sister, our wonderful, loving families, our faithful friends, and you. I pray that He will continue to be in the middle of mine and your Daddy's relationship and in the very center of our family. I pray that He will keep you safe and well and keep all of us in His perfect will.

I love you so.very.much my sweet, precious boy.

Happy Birthday! And never, ever forget...I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be! Momma loves her little son!

P.S. I promise a much less sentimental post another day this week with birthday party pictures. Just feeling quite weepy and nostalgic tonight!