See that beautiful little girl over there ............>

She is the daughter of a friend of mine. She has PWS. Another friend of mine is going to run a 10K in October to help find a cure for PWS. I am asking any of you who can, please click on that beautiful baby's picture and donate. This is a great cause, and being as it's a friend of mine, it's close to my heart. Every little bit helps. I'd love to write more on this, but for now I have to tend to some screaming kids, but please click the link above, read about PWS and how it effects these beautiful kids.

Another Photo contest

Could you all take a moment to vote for us again in another photo contest? We'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much!!!!! All you have to do is vote, no signup needed

http://www.whattoexpect.com/photo-contest/photo_details.aspx?contestId=29&contestantId=17402

It's Finally Here!!!!

My Mother's Day present!!!!!! *LOVE*

Mother's Day Weekend Day 3

The day started out with breakfast. We decided to go easy and do breakfast tacos since we were planning on a big lunch/dinner. After breakfast we headed out to South Padre Island. We did a little shopping.

We decided on lunch at Pirates Landing. Mr. Tankersley and I both went with a shrimp sampler with baked potato and cole slaw. Of course I had a margarita made with Patron. Y-U-M-M-Y. Oh, I almost forgot, we started the meal off with some raw oysters (thank you Mr. Tankersley for turning me on to these). P had a "crabby patty" or a cheese burger in other words. M went for a nice bottle. The lunch started off kind of rocky because M was not a happy camper. He was hot, and it was crowded and noisy. After he finally fell asleep we were able to enjoy our meal. We decided to get dessert after. Mr. Tankersley had the Dulce De Leche cheese cake, I had the chocolate cake with fudge frosting topped with chocolate chips and almonds, and P had plain vanilla ice cream.

When we got back into town we had to do some grocery shopping, and Mr. Tankersley bought me some chocolate covered strawberries. They are so good. Not much else really, we took some good pictures today. I can't wait until Tuesday when my other gift gets here. I will share photos then.

Mother's Day Weekend Day 2

The day started out with breakfast at a little Mexican place. I had barbacoa and menudo. It was very yummy. After breakfast we did a little shopping. We got a water cooler since we go through 2 cases of bottled water a week. Mr. Tankersley also bought my second Mother's Day gift which was a Cricut. I have been wanting one for a long time, but ended up buying an Quick Cutz Epic Six from Scrapbooksteals. I can't wait to use the Cricut. I played with it a bit today and I really like it. When we move I'm going to need a third bedroom just for my craft stuff. *hint hint* honey.

After shopping we went to lunch at Chili's. It was good food, horrible service, but good food. I decided to forego the margarita this time though, I've drunk more this week than I have all year. Then we went grocery shopping which wasn't as exciting, but still had to be done.

I can't wait until Tuesday when my big present gets here. Until then, I'll update on tomorrow's festivities either tomorrow night or Monday (depending on how many margaritas I have out on the island). :)

Mother's Day Weekend Day 1

Well today marks day 1 of my wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I already know what my big present is, but since it won't be here until Tuesday it will stay a surprise to you all until I can get a pic taken.

So today I got a pedicure and got my nails done. They are both purple, even though they are different shades. It was a great deal. I really wanted the deluxe spa pedicure, but since I have a MAJOR case of razor burn (thank you cheapie disposables) he wouldn't do it for fear of a bad reaction to the menthol. As much as it would have been nice I have to thank him for thinking of my poor legs. :) He did a kick ass job on my nails though. I told Mr. Tankersley I want to take him with us when we move because I have never had someone do such a great job.

After that we went out to dinner at Red Lobster and I had the biggest margarita I've ever seen. Top shelf of course, this mama don't do the cheap tequila *GAG*. I could have easily put another one away, but since we had the boys I stopped at one.

I also got new lifting gloves today, but those won't be put to use until Tuesday when we get back in the gym. I needed them bad, and I can't wait to use them. They are black with pink (of course).

Stayed tuned tomorrow night for Mother's Day Weekend Day 2!!!!

Time for a deload

I am sick. The sinus pressure is about to kill me it is ridiculous. Mr. Tankersley hasn't had a deload this year so we decided now was a good time for one. No gym for a week, and we're going to eat things we shouldn't. Last night we went out for Mexican food and I had a margarita and Mr. Tankersley had a couple drinks as well. P really liked his taco and rice and beans. He ate like such a big boy. Afterward we went for milkshakes. Those were very yummy.

Maybe I'll cook tonight or maybe we'll go out again. Mr. Tankersley has his Wednesday foreman's meeting tonight so no telling what we'll do. The good news is I only put on a pound from last night so that will be super easy to lose.

M did really good after getting his shots. You wouldn't even know he had them. No fussiness, no pain, no redness, no swelling, and he still sleeps all night. He's getting so big. He tries to roll over from back to belly, but he can't quite get his leg over. He's been doing belly to back since he was 3 weeks old. He also pulls himself up to standing if you hold his hands while he's sitting.

This weekend is Mother's Day and we'll probably go to McAllen to do some shopping. Mr. Tankersley is going to cook me breakfast like he used to before we started the weight loss routines. I can't wait. It's going to be so yummy!!!

4 months!!!!

My little Skeeber is now 4 months old. He got his shots today. :(

He did really good, he only cried for a minute and then went to sleep. We finally got to see the actual doctor today. That made me feel better about the practice. He is 15 pounds 6 ounces and 25 inches long. He's gained 3 pounds in 2 months and is nearly 7 pounds more than birth. I was expecting him to be much bigger than that as much as he eats. Dr. T said to give M more solids and less formula now.

Other than that not too much to report on. Just the same stuff different day. The Tankersley family sure does lead an exciting life huh? :/

Thank you for voting

We just got word and P and M won the Sweetest Siblings photo contest!!! Thank you for voting!

Time to revamp...

the diet and exercise.

Last week the mister and I started following the Max-OT training.

♡♡♡Love it♡♡♡

It's a 12 week plan that gets you back to the basics. Basically forget everything you know about weight lifting because you're doing it wrong. Now start over and learn it the right way. Like I said, it's a 12 week program and you do 5 days a week, working a different body part each day. Week one was awesome and I can't wait to see what week two brings. If you're interested in weight training you should check it out.

Now for my "diet" which really isn't a diet, but more of a meal plan. I've decided I need something more structured than just eating when I want and *trying* to count calories.

Starting today my daily menu will be an idea from Chris Aceto

Days 1-5: Low carb days

Meal 1: 44.5 grams of oatmeal, 72 grams of Gaspari Nutrition Myo Fusion Vanilla flavored Whey Protein, and 1 hard boiled egg white

Meal 2: 2 packages no-drain tuna, and 5 hard boiled egg whites

Meal 3: 7.75 ounces grilled chicken breast with fiberous green vegetable

Meal 4: 7.5 ounces grilled round steak with fiberous green vegetable

Post workout meal 1: 72 grams of Gaspari Nutrition Myo Fusion Vanilla flavored Whey Protein with 16 ounces of water

Post workout meal 2: 30 grams of carbs and 55.6 grams of protein

Meal 7: 1% cottage cheese with flax seed oil, Stevia, and cinnamon

Day 6: High carb day I haven't done the math on portion sizes yet, but it will look something like this

Meals 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 will have 83.6 grams of carbs and 22.2 grams of protein. Meals 5 and 7 will remain the same as days 1-5.

I've also decided that my long term goal is to compete in a fitness competition. Obviously I have a looooong way to go, but I have the willpower, the desire, the support, and the knowledge (aka Mr. Tankersley) to reach my goal. Trish Warren is a great example. Check her out, that's Branch Warren's wife. As of right now I don't have a time line for this goal, as stated before I have a long way to go so I'm just going with the flow for now and we'll see where I am in a few years.

Making progress

03/23/09 265 pounds
12/24/09 263 pounds
02/06/10 225 pounds
03/28/10 215 pounds

Time to vote again

pretty please???

http://www.whattoexpect.com/index.aspx?puid=728C1111-E65C-4FCB-8767-F31D08FBDAEA&contestId=28&contestantId=17078

RIP baby Jonathan

I am a member of www.whattoexpect.com and one of my fellow January moms (even though M came in December) just lost her little Jonathan to Spinal Muscular Atrophy yesterday morning. This breaks my heart beyond words. I am asking my readers to please take a moment and think of or pray for the Finlay family as they are going through this difficult time. May God bless them and wrap them in his arms.

Jonathan Finlay-- 01/14/10 - 04/19/10

briefly in our lives...

...forever in our hearts

That's a whole lotta man

Last weekend Mr. Tankersley took me to my first bodybuilding show. It was amazing. The women inspired me to continue my journey and the guys were pretty nice to look at lol.

We also got the chance to meet Branch Warren. He's a great guy and really easy on the eyes. We both got our photos taken with him and I got his autograph. Here are some of the photos I took. We were about 15 rows back but because I have that amazing new camera with a super nice lens it looks like we're right there.

Branch Warren, this was my favorite pose of his.
Mr. Tankersley and Branch and that's Trish Warren in the background.
Me and Branch, my face says OMG Branch Warren has his arm around me. LOL
Just one of the many photos we took that night. Think this was the over 30 category or something.
Trish Warren with some of the ladies. I think this was the fitness category
Can you say holy back muscles?
Pretty niice if you ask me
Andy Haman!!!!!

Traveling with children

We are gearing up for a trip to the DFW area this weekend, followed up with a trip back home to see the family. We are leaving tomorrow and will return on Monday. Who knew it was such a task to travel with two small children. I have already started packing their stuff. I nearly have their whole wardrobe packed just in case it is chilly, in case they get sick, in case they get dirty. Then there's blankets, spit rags, and bibs. Let's not forget diapers, wipes, sippy cups, bottles, formula, cereal, baby food, toddler snacks, and toys. Oh yeah and the stroller, Bumbo, car seats, swing, and bouncer.

Oh, but wait I'm not done yet I still have to pack for Mr. Tankersley and myself. Traveling clothes, gym clothes, going out clothes, toiletries, and pillows.

Done now? Nope now we need laptops, laptop cords, camera, battery charger, and phone charger. Don't forget vitamins, supplements, whey, and shaker bottles.

Oh and what's that Mr. Tankersley? You want to pack a cooler of food so we can eat healthy on the road?? Sure we can totally do that!

Did I mention that I am the lucky one that gets to pack all this crap??? Can you tell how excited I am to be traveling??? Just kidding, I am glad we are getting out of this crap hole for a couple of days, I just DESPISE packing.

In other news the boys are in day three of the photo contest so please click on the link and vote for them. It only takes a minute and you don't have to sign up for anything. I'll be back between the 20th and 25th to ask for votes for the final round since they one day one semi-finals. Thanks to all of you!!!

http://www.whattoexpect.com/index.aspx?puid=728C1111-E65C-4FCB-8767-F31D08FBDAEA&contestId=28&contestantId=16915

Sibling Contest Day 2

New photo, same handsome boys. If you can spare a minute will you vote again please??? Thank you all so very much.

http://www.whattoexpect.com/index.aspx?puid=728C1111-E65C-4FCB-8767-F31D08FBDAEA&contestId=28&contestantId=16893

Can you go vote please?

P and M are entered in a sweetest siblings photo contest and we sure would appreciate all the votes we can get. This is a daily contest so this photo will only be available to vote on today. Thank you very much.

http://www.whattoexpect.com/index.aspx?puid=728C1111-E65C-4FCB-8767-F31D08FBDAEA&contestId=28&contestantId=16859

Is it April yet?

It seems like March has gone by so slow. I am ready to move on to the next month. April brings lots of fun.

First there is Easter and Mr. Tankersley will have a 4 day weekend. YAY!!!

Then the following week we have a trip planned to meet some e-friends and go to a body building competition. That is another 4 day weekend.

Then Mr. Tankersley has a business trip the following week and I hope that trip holds some good news being announced.

It's M's first Easter and I can't wait to take many photos. P is old enough this year that I think he will have a blast hunting eggs. I am looking forward to when both boys can hunt them together like my sister and I did.

I have been a member of www.whattoexpect.com since January 2007 and I have formed many friendships along the way. On April 10th I get the chance to meet some of the other Texas moms who had babies around the same time I had M. It is going to be so much fun and yes there will be pictures of that too. After that is over we are meeting my grandma to drop the boys off with her so we can enjoy a child free night. Something we haven't had since P was born (well maybe once we did). Mr. Tankersley bought VIP seats to the Ronnie Coleman Classic. Branch Warren will be there doing a guest posing.

Now I know the last part sounded like gibberish to those who don't know bodybuilding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_Warren

After the show we will both get a full night's sleep and then drive to pick up the boys on Sunday.

Mr. Tankersley is mostly looking forward to the show. I, on the other hand, am most looking forward to a full night's sleep.

Saying goodbye

When we first moved to the area, we hated it here (okay so we still do, but that's not the point). The only people we knew were co-workers. We moved a couple of times before we found a "decent" place to live. We settled on a small trailer (it's hard to get an apartment or a house when you don't know how long to sign a lease. It's just part of the business) in a nice little community with some wonderful people.---Winter Texans.

Every year retired folks from the Northern States embark on a journey. They bring their RVs to Texas to escape the Winter weather back home. They are seriously some of the greatest people we've met down here. With a few exceptions of course.

Now some communities don't allow children because the Winter Texans want a stress free noiseless place to relax. The one we chose though opened up their community and their hearts to my boys. They were here for the last part of my pregnancy, asking every day if there were any signs of baby. Telling me they think I was having triplets because I was so huge. They offered to watch P when it was time for M to grace us with his presence. We had gift exchanges and community meals, music jams and birthday parties, bingo night and card games. Christmas dinner and New Years too was spent with this wonderful group of people.

Slowly over time the number started to thin out. It was time to go back to their Summer homes and see their grandkids and tend to the important things in life. It's just part of the cycle.

But this morning as I see one leaving, I sit here and cry. This man treated my son like his own grandson. Every morning P wanted to go say hi to Mr. Clay. He'd run over there and walk right in the RV. Clay and his wife didn't care, they love P. From the very beginning P took to Mr. Clay and when everyone was oohing and awing over M, P found solace in Mr. Clay's arms. He wouldn't talk to anyone else, and sometimes he wouldn't even talk to Mr. Clay if someone else was there.

P doesn't realize he won't see Mr. Clay again as we won't be here next year when they roll into town. Still I woke him up this morning, bundled him up in his blanket and walked him across the street to see Mr. Clay before he pulled out. Fighting back the tears (who cries over people she hardly knows?) we head back to the house. P stands at the door for a bit and just watches. Mr. Clay gives a couple honks and a wave from the RV and off he goes. P goes back to playing with his toys, but I will forever remember the "friendship" that was formed between my son and his buddy Mr. Clay.

A Sunday morning photo for you

Here is a photo I took with the new camera this morning. It's a flower we have growing outside our front windows.

New camera

My wonderfully amazing husband, Mr. Tankersley bought me a new toy today. It's a Nikon D5000. I am excited about it and I can't wait to learn all the ins and outs. Here are some of the first photos I took.

Skeeber bite

My chili pepper plant

Boo

It's Friday!!!!

For the last two days my mind has been in a haze due to some possible news we could get in the coming weeks. Finally it's Friday and I can concentrate on the weekend. Not that our weekends are anything exciting right now. The usually look a little like this...

Friday night-gym, dinner, bed
Saturday morning-drop laundry off, gym, lunch, grocery shopping
Sunday-cook meals for the week, take food to Mr. Tankersley's office, gym

Exciting isn't it? I know what a boring blog post for a Friday. I am hoping I have big news to share with you all next week, but for now I guess just because it's Friday doesn't mean I can turn my mind off. It's all I can think about.

Half way there

Before I got pregnant with M I decided Mr. Tankersley and I needed to get healthy and drop some pounds. He jumped right into it and started making changes right away. I got pregnant so my changes were put on hold. I continued to eat healthy though and actually lost weight during my pregnancy, even though you wouldn't be able to tell my looking at me back then. Well as soon as I gave birth I started exercising as soon as it was safe. My ultimate goal is 100 pounds by December 29th, 2010.

As of this morning I am down 50 of that 100. I have taken nearly 10% off my body fat, 6 inches or so off my waist, dropped 3 pants sizes, 2 shirt sizes, and believe it or not like 3 shoe sizes.

So how do I do it?

D-E-D-I-C-A-T-I-O-N

I don't want my boys to grow up thinking fast food is the way to go. I want them to be healthy and live long lives.
I go to the gym an hour a day for 5 days a week. I watch what I eat very closely. I was following a strict macro plan, but I stepped away from that for a while because it was driving me crazy. Anyway, I'll update again at my next milestone.

We survived...barely

So M decided he wanted to sleep all day so when 10 and 11 pm came around he was wide awake cooing in his swing. P however passed out on the couch pretty early. We all moved to the bedroom about midnight and M was not a happy camper. He like sleeping in the living room because it's so much "drier" than the rest of the house. The bedroom stays pretty damp and cool. At one point in the middle of the night P fell off the bed and got stuck between the bed and the wall. Scared the crap out of me.

M was up every hour until I finally decided to let him sleep in the living room by himself. I mean I am in the next room and I can hear him so why not. By then he was beyond pissed and would just scream. Didn't want to eat, clean diaper, tried every trick in the book before I had to just walk away for a minute. He was out like a light in 2 minutes. Guess he just needed a break from me as much as I needed one from him.

P decided 6:30 am would be a fantastic time to wake up this morning, and now he wants to go back to bed. Thanks honey, mommy can't go back to bed.

I am so glad Mr. Tankersley will be back home tonight. I don't know how single moms do it. I was ready to pull my hair out by the end of one day. Props to the single mommies out there.

Our first night without daddy

Well Mr. Tankersley had to go out of town on business today. That means I get to be alone with the boys all day. It didn't go as bad as I thought it would. P and I made pizza together for dinner. He kept trying to eat the sauce and cheese before it was cooked and then was too full to eat when it was done. It wasn't anywhere close to as healthy as I normally eat, but I figure it was much healthier than the crap you get at chain pizza places. Not that one delivers out here to us anyway.

M slept most of the day, so I think I'll be in for a long night. Oh well I guess it won't be too bad since I hate sleeping alone.

Mr. Tankersley will be home tomorrow evening. Maybe with some good news about his job. We'll just have to wait and see. We did find out that he is getting a new truck though so that's awesome.

Allow me to introduce

I am Mrs. Tankersley, mom of two spoiled little boys and wife to an amazing man. I am 26 and currently reside in the wonderful state of Texas. I enjoy traveling, cooking, lifting weights, scrapbooking, jewelry design, and floral design. My family is my life and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

Mr. Tankersley is 43 and is in Construction Upper Management. He is a wonderful father and an amazing husband. His hobbies are working and lifting weights. He is very knowledgeable and easily the smartest man I know.

Son number 1, we'll call him P is two. He was born in September 2007 in Illinois. He is my little blonde hair blue eyed wonder. He is very smart for his age and will talk your ear off if you let him. He's mommy and daddy's "boo".

Son number 2, we'll call him M will be three months old in a couple of days. He was born in December 2009 in Texas. He has mommy's dark skin and hair, but his eyes change from blue to green to brown. He is mommy and daddy's "skeeber bite", but his big brother likes to call him "Sushi"