Americas Next Smart Model

As a mom today was hard, I watched Payton in a photo shoot for her modeling portfolio and I cried. My little girl is growing up right before my very eyes. She was such young lady getting her makeup on and hair styled. I could not believe it. Payton has always had just the most gorgeous eyes and when they were framed so beautifully, I could not believe what was happening right in front of me. I wanted to take a picture but she would not let me. All she kept saying is "I glad dad's not here" and boy was she right.

Anyhow she did very well in the shoot, I was amazed at how well she took direction, but then again I should not have been since it was someone other than me telling her what to do. Here is one of the photos from today:



She will ALWAYS be my little girl!

Stepha Henry Follow-up

Recovered
Police: Evidence Proves Stepha Henry Was Murdered
Miami-Dade Police detectives, with the help of the New York Police Department's Intelligence Division and their Regional Fugitive Task Force, have arrested 32-year-old Kendrick Williams in Brooklyn, N.Y. Williams has been charged with second-degree murder.

The Car Was The Key
Police say Williams picked up 22-year-old Stepha Henry the night of May 29, 2007 and took her to Peppers Cafe Nightclub in Sunrise, Fla. He originally told investigators he had left the club early and that Stepha stayed behind. But police were able to recover the dark-colored Acura Integra Williams was driving that night, and say they have found substantial evidence that led prosecutors to charge Williams with Stepha's murder.

Rapids Water Park

I guess I had a slight fear that Phoenix would be afraid of water, I don't like comparing the two but if you know Payton, you know that she is a fish in the water. I must confess that Phoenix hates taking baths and would prefers that you don't bring water anywhere near her face.

So needless to say I thought it would be like this with all bodies of water. Boy, was I wrong! This kid completely took me by surprise this past Thursday. The kids and I went to Rapids water park with some friends of ours, well while they were off playing, Payton, Phoenix and I were hanging out in the kids section. Phe is only 15 months so there wasn't really much for her to do.

I saw some parents going down a slide with there younger kids her age and I thought I would give it a try. Well she loved it. She loved it so much that she would walk up the stairs all by herself just to get on the slide. Well mind you I am seven months pregnant and after about the fifth time I was done.

Phe was not, it was so bad I had to leave that section completely and go hangout in the lazy river. After awhile we saw our friends and they took turn taking her down the kids slide and as you can see she ha a great time.

Little Bananas

Aren't they the cutest!
You gotta love little bananas! They are perfect. Phoenix loves them. She eats them like there is no tomorrow which is good for me because I use to by the fullsize ones and she would never finish them. It would annoy the heck out of me because I ha to eat the rest. I am not a fan of bananas. I used to think little bananas were just dumb but now I think they R.O.C.K! I can't live without them. Which reminds me I must get to my favorit fruitstand and stock up.




Who could deny this face a nana?

Happy Father's Day!

I should probably tell you the story about the flat screen television Mike received for Father's Day, but I think I will spare him the embarrassment and talk about what a great dad he is. As you can see Mike as doing one of his favorite pass times, sleeping. But this was after he had played golf, nine holes to be exact. He cut it short to spend the rest of the day with us. Well let's just say he is the light in his children's eyes. Our children are truly blessed to have a committed father, we unfortunately live in a time were it is trendy to be absentee dads. I don't just mean dads who aren't there physical but even the dads who are there physical but unavailable to their kids emotionally. I cannot say that about Michael. You can guarantee our children are seeing one of the best examples of what it is to be a true FATHER. And for that we love him and will keep him around. Besides somebody has to pay the mortgage!

I'm a lady!

Oh boy, I have created a monster and she is six years old. Had to take the kids to the dentist..............in Central Florida this week. I know it is a drive but I really love this dentist, he is fantastic. And plus this gives me a reason to see my friends. While we are there at Hotel Cavanaugh, we are getting ready to eat dinner. Payton and Caitlyn are asked to set the table. We are all in the kitchen when Payton looks up to me and says, "Mom, I'm a lady, and you said if there is a man around I should NEVER do any work". Tom quickly left the room but not before texting my husband to tell him just what happened. My husband replied,"See what I have to live with".

Okay back story! This past Sunday we were walking into church, Payton was holding the door as Marquis walked through it. I said to her Payton if there is a man around you should never be opening and holding doors. Let the man do it. Just like when dad opens the doors for mommy. Somewhere in her mind she heard never do work when a mans around. Needless to say, I kind of like that way of thinking. Too bad dad's hardly home.

Gadget follow up!

The other night Payton and I are driving home from getting a mani and a pedi. We were in mom's boring no frills car when she asked the following question: "Mom what song is this", "I replied, I have no earthly idea." For those of you who know my husband he loves to play who sings this song. I on the other hand HATE this game. Mainly because I am normally wrong. Moving on.............. Payton replies look at the screen, so I did, it said "97.9", I told her. She said no, who sings it not the station. I quickly informed my second oldest, mommy's car does not tell you who sings the song, what year it was recorded and what type of underwear (if any) they are wearing. She said "HUH". "Never mind", I replied. I have just a plain old radio/CD player. You turn it on it plays music, most of the time. My fear is Payton is among the new generation of kids who will not know what it is like to drive a basic car with no frills or GADGETS! I must changed this immediately.

PS
I need XM radio I feel so out of the loop.

Happy Birthday!

Every once in a while a person comes along and REALLY touches your life, makes a difference, a lasting impression, and a friend FOREVER! Today one of those people will celebrate her 34th birthday. I want to wish her the best day ever. I know we don't see each other as often as we would like but I want her to know, I admirer her so very much. You are a fantastic mom, sister, and friend. For without you I would walk in circles knowing no one else in the world understands me the way you do. Thanks for being the coolest friend ever. I LOVE YOU!

Baby Update

Looks just like daddy!

Okay, I have finally had enough time and patience and desire to put my thoughts in writing so here it goes for some of you this will be new news for others you will be catching up, so here it goes. We found out we were pregnant on January 11th of this year. It was a huge surprise to both of us since we were never to get pregnant without medical intervention anyway, KOPOW! (Some of you are laughing right now!) So I go to my midwife, she is a lovely woman, and get everything confirmed....yep you are pregnant. "Nursing only works as birth control if it is done exclusively, Paulette" nurse Sylvia chuckles. "Thanks", I smiled.

Time for the ultrasound! according to my records I should have been about 7 weeks along by the time I had the ultrasound, but while we were there, the tech was unable to locate a baby or a heartbeat. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, I thought. My midwife calls a few days later to say I am no longer pregnant and I would need to come in for a D and C. Were we sad. Very sad. But not as sad as Payton. She cried and cried because she had been praying we would have another baby. We talked to her and said sometimes God has other plans and we have to accept them. She continued to pray we would get pregnant again. She just knew our family was not finished.

Anyway, you may want to go get a drink this is a long story trust me. I have to go in for blood work before the D and C can be preformed. Ta Da! The blood work says you are still pregnant. Confusion!!!!! "Go for another ultrasound", Latisha says. She is my other midwife. I go to the another ultrasound not really expecting anything. Michael waits outside, while the test is being given. Lo and behold not only is there a baby there is a VERY strong heartbeat. Thank heavens! We are both so overjoyed we can't doing anything but smile. We still do not know why at seven weeks this kid decided not to show its face. Telling Payton the news was by far the best feeling I had had in a long time. You would have thought I had just told her we will have Christmas everyday for the rest of her life.

She screamed , "I knew it, I knew, I knew the baby did not go back to heaven"! She was really excited. For those of you wondering why we told her so early in the pregnancy, had it not been for Payton, I would have never known I was pregnant in the first place, she told me.

So now that we are pregnant we were still rather reserved because this process took almost three weeks to confirm so we were crazy this entire time. Blood work comes back, I get another phone. "Hi Paulette, this is Latisha, we need you to come in so when can talk about your blood work". ????????????? Is what I was thinking, but of course I went in. This is what I found out:

Latisha: Paulette your Hemoglobin is unusually high!

Paulette: So what does that mean?

L: Well, according to the blood work you are the carrier of Beta Thallsemmia.

P:Beta Thallsemmia?, Please explain.

L:It basically means that if it is passed on to your unborn baby you could miscarry or the baby would not be able to survive long because it could not produce Hemoglobin.

P:Interesting, I thought. What is our next course of action?

L: Your husband will need to be tested and in the mean time you both need to see a geneticist.

P: Okay, set up the appointment.

We go to the appointment, only to find out they cannot test Michael there (they thought they could but our insurance said no, he was not technically the patient. So since we have no results on Michael, it made no sense to do the amniocentesis. I was very relief those don't seem like much fun. Any way we are counseled and we find out I can lived in very high places like Colorado and would be a good candidate to climb Mt. Everest. Yeah for me. We also find out that Black folk are not the dominant carrier of this gene, Mid Easterners and people of Greek decent are. (now I am more into genealogy then ever. By the way there was a one in four chance this baby would have this disorder if Michael and I are both carriers.

We received all of this information the day before we were to leave on vacation. So this meant we had to wait another week to get the blood test done. We get back from vacation Michael has the blood test done and TADA! He is free and clear of any trace of the gene. Although his cholesterol is a little high (will blog later about his new OBSESSION with trans fats). So once again we are super happy and can't wait for our newest additions arrival. So will soon have Payton and Phoenix tested to see if they are carriers. But as of right now our lives could not be better.