Sydney Cheering

As you all may know, I work at Capital Gymnastics and Sydney gets to come to work with me. We also have a cheer program at work, and Sydney is obsessed with all things cheer! She has watched our cheer teams so much that she does the cheers with them, and she's actually created a cheer all by herself! Here's a video of her cheering...

It looks like we have a future cheerleader on our hands!

New Camera!

Sorry it's been a while, but life has kept me busy and away from updating our blog! So, anyways...Troy and I decided this year that when we got our tax refund, we'd do something for ourselves and put the rest toward bills. We tossed around the idea of buying a Wii, but decided on a new camera instead! We are the proud new owners of a Nikon D60 Digital SLR and couldn't be happier! We always love the way Daniel and Julie get such great pictures of their kiddos, and we want the same for our family pictures. We're still learning the ins and outs of all the camera settings, but we have gotten some great pics just in the auto mode. Here are a few we took just goofing around...

and just for fun, here's an action shot Troy took of Hayley at her softball scrimage!

I think that's about it for now...hopefully everyone is doing well, and we'll try not to bore you with pictures until we really get the hang of our new camera!

Motivation.....

....let's just start by saying I don't have it. I should, but I just can't find it. What am I talking about?? Exercise! However, Jenny is a different story. Let's start with her. She's been talking for about 2 years now on how she's wanted to tone up, lose a few pounds, and just in general..live a healthier lifestyle. I admit...I'm not helping with this. I've always been able to eat junk all day long and it never affected me....that was until I started sitting at a desk for 9 hours in a day and realize I don't have "super-metabolism" anymore. But...I'm still addicted to my junk food. When I can eat a double cheeseburger (plain of course), Large French Fry, and Large Dr. Pepper for under $5....heck yeah!!! So...back to the point....I need to start being a better influence on our eating habits at home. But...Jenny now has a new DVD called "30-day Shred". I admit...after the collection of work-out DVDs and acccessories stacked up in our closet I was a little skeptical. She started it last Sunday (Jan 24th) and has kept with it. Every night she pops in the dvd...lays out her mat and her weights and knocks it out for 30 min. And...she's still doing it! The other night we noticed some more definition in her shoulders and back. She's pumped and is not letting it stop. Although we enjoyed some Mexican food last night...she promised to do 2 sessions today to make up for it. That's committment my friends. I love you Jenny and support you 110% for the next 20-something days on this..and then past that. Heck...I'll even clean off the clothes from the Elliptical so we can start using that again! :-)

So..that's where my motivation comes in. If I could lose weight just by talking about how much I'm going to do....I'd be back down to my fighting weight already. However, it's just not the case. I've been saying forever that I'd wake up 30 min early and go walking/jogging every morning. I actually did it yesterday! I felt great...until about 3pm when I couldn't keep my eyes open. So....alarm goes off at 6am this morning......yep, you guessed it. Hit snooze...changed it to 6:45 and went back to sleep. To top it off....I grabbed a toaster sandwich on the way to work this morning too! So....alas, I'm back to square one. I think I'll try to change my walks to night time...I value my sleep a little too much in the morning.

Well...time to wrap this up.....my Dr. Pepper is getting warm and tater tots are getting cold.....

A few thoughts....

Hey..it's Troy. Ok, so I stole this "bullet points" idea from another blog...but it works so, here's a few thoughts:

- It's Saturday morning at 7:02am...why am I awake? I hate the fact that my body is so used to getting up at 6:35am each day that I can't sleep in anymore.

- I'm also tired of everyone being sick. But...the problem with Texas is, are you sick or is it allergies. It just seems that at some point, someone that you encounter is sneezing, coughing, snotting, whatever. Maybe it has something to do with every three days going from 30 for a high to 70 for a high....then back down to 30. Ok...so I love Texas. I'm quickly learning that there are very few actual "Austinites" left out there. (There are however tons of those California people moving in...leave us alone...lol) But...I would love to experience a climate where there are actual seasons! Maybe some consistant temperatures. The only time the temp is consistant here is in the summer when it's consistantly 110 degrees! There's a slight chance that my sister-in-law and her husband are moving to Green Bay, WI...maybe they'll invite me up there to shovel snow for a week so I can get it out of my system and enjoy the warm Texas winters.

- So we're still renting a house in wonderful Buttercup Creek. Oddly enough, this is the same neighborhood that both Jenny and I grew up in for a period of time...(well, I grew up here for about 21 years and arguably am still growing up here...and Jenny lived here for about 3-4 years I think) anyways...this was a pretty cool neighborhood back in those days. It was actually controlled with regulations and if you had your house looking like crap you got a notice. If I wanted to complain about a neighbor I could do so in a proper anonymous way. I'm ready to own my own lil' piece of America and call myself a home-owner...however I keep hearing conflicting views of it's a great time to buy or no it's not. I know the economy sucks across the nation and I do feel for the people who are losing their jobs, their homes...basically their lives as they know it....but Texas, and Austin in particular, don't appear to be as impacted. I read in the paper about homes with "Payments starting at $1200/month". Great deal right?? Until you read the fine print which tells you that you need x% down and all these other requirements that narrow the field down to about 3 people who can get in this house. I actually just read one this morning that had the comment "Payments starting at just $746/month"! REALLY?!?! I'm moving today.....oh wait, the fine print again. 10% down, does not include taxes, insurance, HOA fees...and as my dad would say recappable tires! Oh yeah...that included 2 mortgages too....one at 5% and another at 8%. Ok...on to the next subject....

- Let's talk about Sydney. This lil' girl never ceases to amaze me. For example...most of you know she just broke her arm. Well, she wore the cast for 4 weeks, had to wear a little temporary brace for 2 weeks (ended yesterday) and then goes back for more x-rays in 2 weeks to make sure it's healed. She NEVER let this slow her down. She actually cried more about a little scrape on her elbow the other day then she ever did about her broken arm. I've broken both of my arms in my childhood and it's not comfortable. Ok..so maybe she's at the age where she doesn't quite know how to milk it properly. She still wanted to do everything herself and be Ms. Independent. Not me...when I had my arm in a cast....I even had my sister getting stuff for me. If anyone knows my sister....that's a pretty dang good accomplishment! Sydney's personality is just amazing. She can go from being a girl who just got her heart broken because we told her no ice cream....to laughing and giggling and trying to put my hair in a pony tail in no time! (p.s...she's never accomplished this...and probably never will) Anyways, I love that lil' girl to death! Even at 4:32am when I go in a lay down with her because she woke up and is calling for me. I walk in the room and she looks up at me...you can almost see a smile. I tell her to lay down and she does...then pats the pillow next to her and says "Lay down daddy...on my pillow". Just amazing.....

Alright..well, I'm sure I have more random thoughts..but I'll let y'all go for now. Have a great weekend and enjoy the SuperBowl!

Fun at the zoo, and Waco too!

On Saturday, Troy, Sydney and I decided to get out of the house so we drove up to Waco. We visited with Toni for a bit (congrats, again!) and then we were off to Cameron Park Zoo. Sydney was so excited to see all of the animals...it was her first trip to a zoo and we all had a wonderful time! There weren't a lot of people there, so it was nice to enjoy the exhibits without having to fight the crowds! Here are a few pictures of Sydney's first trip to the zoo!

Here's Sydney's favorite because they sing her favorite song from Madagascar, "I like to move it, move it!"

The Lemurs!

After the zoo, we decided to drive over to Baylor University to walk around. Troy and I took a stroll down memory lane, and Sydney got a Baylor Bear at the bookstore. Unfortunately, she didn't really get to see the real Baylor Bears because they were sleeping! Here are a few pics from our walk around campus.

Troy and Sydney sitting in Judge Baylor's lap

Sydney by the Immortal Ten statue

We had such a fun day in Waco, and I hope you all enjoy the photos!

Sydney's Cast

Back in December, Sydney fell and fractured her right ulna and radius just below the wrist. She had to get a cast, and it's been four weeks. I never realized how much you actually use your arm until Sydney had a cast. Finding long-sleeved shirts, keeping food off of the cast, bath time, you name it.

Today, we went to the orthopedist to FINALLY get it off. (This was actually her second cast because she got the first one wet!) The nurse sawed it off and threw it in the trash, which I dug out when she left the room. After a couple of x-rays, the PA came in the room to look at them, and decided she didn't like how her radius was healing. Now Sydney has to wear a brace for TWO MORE weeks, and goes back to the doctor in four. It's never ending!!! Here are a couple of pictures of Sydney in her cast!

Watching TV with cousin Preston:














The day she got it off!!

First ever blog post!

Troy and I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and create a blog. Hopefully this will be a way that our family and friends who can't be with us all the time can keep up with us!

It's hard to believe that our Sydney is 2 1/2! These years have flown by. She is definitely our pride and joy and we love her so much! Troy and I are amazed at how she is blossoming into a little girl. Sydney is very active, isn't afraid to try new things, and loves to talk and meet new people.

We hope to add to our blog several times a week so everyone can keep up with the Storms. Enjoy!