Beauty Queen

Lylah participated in her first pageant in Oct. 2009. She had a blast. She really shined that day. She took 1st place in Best costume, Prettiest eyes, and First runner up as Queen. I am so proud of her.




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Wish i had time to blog...

For now all i have time for is to leave you with this quick blurry video. Sorry It's football season here and we have been on the go since it started.

Update Sept. 09

Wow! So much has changed for us in the past month. Maybe one of these days I will have enough time and patients to write it all down, but I doubt it. Hopefully everyone is doing well. I just wanted to send you all a quick update.

James is loving school, last night we had our first tailgating experience with kids lol. They had a ball. Also, last night was his swearing in ceremony. We are all so proud of him. At school he is really excelling. He was the only freshmen picked to sit on the ROTC discipline board. The rest being seniors. He is taking 16 credit hours this semester and handing them really well. Most of his classes are History and ROTC and those are subjects that he enjoys even when not at school. Hopefully next semester he will have a better schedule but for now most of his days are spent
at school, but at least he is home at night to eat dinner with us...well except Monday's;(

Keygan and Delylah are doing well. Ly is walking all over the place and stubborn as ever. She hasn't figured out when she's crossed the line yet as does it numerous times a day. I'm just not sure what to do with her. She is to much like me and it drive me nuts sometimes. Keygan will be 5 on the 24th of September. CRAZY huh? He is still loving school and blows me away with everything he is learning. He will be having a Army boot camp party for his birthday. Where I will be breaking out my ACU's. He's going to get a kick of of that. I guess you can take the family out of the army, but not the army out of the family.

And last but not least...how am I doing? Honestly, this is a very hard adjustment. I've been an army wife so long its going to take some time to learn to be a "civilian" again. Hope is not lost yet even though I did try to show my drivers license to the cashier at Walmart. I am determined to figure it all out. One thing this past month has taught me is it will all work out. Don't stress it cause that will not change anything. It has to work out right?

Thank you all for everything. Army family thank you for being our family over these past years you always have a special place in our hearts. You loved us not because you was blood and had to, but because you WANTED to. WE LOVE YOU GUYS.

Above is James, Delylah and Great Granny Marie


Above James is leading the formation. Remember he is only considered a freshmen;-0)

Above Lylah with her aunt Pat. She loves playing w/ aunt pat

Above Keygan telling daddy he isn't doing it right lol


James is in the back right corner

LOTS OF LOVE,

THE ABNEY'S

James, Krissy, Keygan, and Delylah

KEYGAN NEED YOUR HELP

Hi everyone! Keygan Just finished up his first week Kindergarden.
He is doing great. The only problem is this school district only has half day Kindergarden. The reason for this is lack of funding. The school is having their fist fundraiser and we are hoping to help make this a success due to budget cut backs on everyone. If you can help out we would greatly appreciate it. Keygan has to sale 15 items to be able to get a ticket into the bike stunt show. NOW GO SHOP;-) here is the site:
http://www.4jaxco.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=7
when you check out it is important to enter KEYGAN's code so the school and key will get credit. Here is the code: 290639
I wish you all could see how grown up Keygan is. I really believe you all would be proud of the BIG BOY he is becoming. I know I am;-)

Happy Fourth of July

I am choosing to take the high road today and be grateful for the present! We have beautiful weather here in TN, a great view, and wonderful family (well most of them) to spend the holiday weekend with. Oh, did I forget AMAZING food. Thanks (Dad, uncle Vern, and sally) I think I have gained 5 lbs this weekend. I still can't help but be sad today;( sad for all the families that can't be together today and that will possible not be together for next years celebrations as well. Holidays really are not the same if you can't be with your family and even friends. I'm really missing our normal BBQ crew today 2 as well.

Lylah and Key took their first ride on the inter tube today with uncle Vern. Pictures to follow.

I hope everyone has a HAPPY and SAFE FOURTH OF JULY!!!!

Here are some pictures from today....

Looking through these pictures I realize that no matter what the future may hold for our small family one thing is certain. We will never do without what we need, because we have the love of a family behind us supporting us in ALL of the choice we make.

1st FRG meeting since receciving deployment orders

WoW! that is my first thought. We are so blessed to have a very supportive chain of command when it comes to the FRG! Does anyone have any fundraising suggestions? Our funding is seriously lacking and I feel responsible. Please, suggestions needed! As for the meeting, I feel that it went very well. The agenda got a little messed up, but as for the purpose of the meeting I feel like everyone left knowing that while our husbands are away they have a wonderful organzation here to help (http://www.homefrontonline.com/ ). and they should know I'm here anytime they need me. If you haven't checked out operation homefront and your loved one is deployed. Check it out and find your local chapter.

Letting the pics do the talking...

Finally I get to marry my prince.

WoW! The last few weeks has been full of ups and downs, but today made the roller coaster ride worth it. I LOVE MY LIFE as an army wife and mom!



A while back I received an email from my favorite FRSA asking if we knew anyone that was planning to marry or renew their vows in our company? I responded with James and my name on the list along with a few people in crusader company and my fellow army sister. I never thought in a million year that this email would make one of my dreams come true. As most of you know James and I had a very rushed wedding and got married in complete darkness. I had always dreamed of having a wedding with my family and friends there and I am happy to say my dream came true today. Right now I'm sad that today is over, Sad that the amazing women that i have met on this journey I may never see again. At the same time I'm so Happy that we was blessed with this amazing opportunity! Thank you to everyone that gave me my fairytale wedding. Thank you Thank you to operation homefront!You all really did a great job organizing such a wonderful and stress free day for us brides, THANKS 2 Jennie's for donating a wonderful tux for Keygan to wear. Thank you to Alfred Angelo for giving me my dream gown and an amazing hair piece. Thanks to Heather Clark that helped me dress and took pictures for my family. Thanks to my army family that spent the day with us. Thanks to Erin and Chasity Hobbs at the Rivertown beauty school that gave me an amazing hair do and manicure and pedicure. Thanks to my husband that went above and beyond today by writing his own vows & making me a one of a kind garter. Pics 2 come REAL SOON I PROMISE.



Didn't he do a good job? ------------->



During my time at the beauty school and the rehearsal the day before I got to know a lot of the brides and hear some of their stories and it was really amazing to see those girls that i have spent a lot of time with these last few days walk down the isle and renew their vows with their solider *aka sponsor* We had a house full of princesses today and amazingly everything went smoothly. We was blessed with wonderful brides to share this day with and wonderful weather in the end.

I'm a mom 2 a one year old ...AGAIN

Yes! Can you believe it? Delylah turned ONE on May 5th. Wow! Her personality has just started shinning so bright here lately. Her eyes and her smile can just light up the room. We spent lylah's birthday just having a day about her. We had her favorite breakfast, opened presents early, went to her favorite cousin's, Burt, for some of her favorite corn, and then came home for cake. with close friends and family

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1st day of my challange

I'm greatful for:
My wonderful family without them my days would be so lonely and boring
Operation Homefront and botenical gardens for the spa day
The TV i won
My neighbors for always being there.
My phone not completly dying when i dropped it;-)

**WOW DAY ONE WAS SO EASY.

SPA DAY refelections.

Today I got to visit the Columbus botanical gardens for their second annal wives luncheon. The food was amazing, the scenery was amazing, and the people was just so full of southern hospitality. Today was defiantly my lucky day. not only did i have some time to reflect my current situations and meet some wonderful ladies. I also WON a TV for Ly's room. How great is that. I want to have more days like 2day and here is my new challenge. Every night for the rest of the year i am going to challenge myself to journal at least five things that i am grateful for.

**ReFlEcTiOn**
I was sitting inside an old barn when i had a few minutes to jot down some sentences that was on my mind. Here's a sneak peak

I'm so grateful for today. I'm so full of wonder and excitement. Wonder for all the possibilities ahead of us. Excitement for more money, more time to spend with the family, and more romance. I'm pushing the bad, dreadful, and lonely thoughts away and taking in more of the beauty of things. I desire to become a better, happier, and grateful person. I want to be the woman i see in my daughter eyes. The woman I picture her growing up to be. I want to show her by example how to be a good woman and amazing mother.

Update on DELYLAH GRACELYN GOLDA

Today Lylah had her first sippy filled with milk. I don't really think she is a fan of the coldness. I guess we will see within the next few days how she reacts to it.

As of right now she still only has two teeth. She is standing only for a few seconds before lowering herself to the floor to SPEED crawl. She is 11 months going on 16. She is going to be our challenge. You can't have to princesses in one house and she thinks she is a princess just like her mommy. She is now eating everything she can get a hold of. I feel like we named her right because she has an appetite just like her Mamaw Goldie. See pic below.

Lylah eating at gatti land @ 11 mo old.

Look how much they have grown!

Keygan on the left and Jax Jax on the right *SUMMER OF 2006*

JAX JAX on the left and Keygan on the right *SPRING 2009*

The choice to wait or not to wait...I didn't wait

Today we took Lylah and had her ears pierced. I struggled with this thought wanting to wait till she really wanted them, but then the memories of Hannah and all of the gas and time wasted waiting on her to make up her mind to pierce her ears pushed me to the decision to pierce her ears at 10 months. ALL little girls want earrings. What has been your experiences?

Not alot of Posting going on...

Yes, I know I have been slacking in the blogging department, but not because alot hasn't been going. Maybe some of the problem. is they are just to much is going on. Delylah had her first piece of steak last night. WOW! I wanted to wait until she was a year old before giving her meat, but her bubby decided that it was just so tasty he had to share a bite with her.

Last week we went to the church Mardi Gra celebration. We had so much fun. Look at my ROCK STAR AND HER SILLY BUBBY

AND NOW A PICTURE OF WHAT I AM SURE WILL EXPLAIN THE #1 REASON FOR NO BLOG TIME....

Something not quite right with Katelyn....

**aunt KK with Lylah bug**

Okay, So i spoke with my sister, Katelyn yesterday and it is very clear she is up 2 something...What could it be? Well regardless of the situation which she is keeping me in the dark about;-*( I hope she finds the answers she looking for in her life and has a safe journey there;-) WE love you aunt KK your always in our goodnight prayers

How to Initiate Change within the Army World…

I recently read an article about a study that showed that the magic number to influence people acting without direction is 5 %. I expect it may require more effort to get people to change course and perhaps that is what the army is hoping to get from the ICE system.
The ICE system is a place where the military community can rate the service they get on post and receive feedback about that service. I have used this system numerous times to make complaints about certain issues and even to show gratitude when I receive great service or found a program extremely useful. ICE kiosks can be found in numerous locations on your installation.

I feel the availability of the ICE system online & in numerous locations (IE: PX, Hospitals, & etc.) shows that the army realizes that the quality of life for the soldiers and families on certain installations is not what it should be and they are looking to improve this. So ladies voice your opinions good and bad. A wise woman once told me if you don’t use it your loose it! Visit here to make your voice heard. Remember ladies show compliments to programs you want to keep around as well.

http://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm?fa=geo_branch_site_list&branch_groupings_id=1&geographical_category_id=1

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

I hope everyone had a very Happy Valentine's day. Mine was ammmaaazzziiinnngg. Even though nothing went as planned I had prepared myself for that. Here is what my day looked like:

5:00 AM Lylah woke up for a bottle

5:30 AM Lylah went to sleep

6:00 AM I begin washing an enormous pile of laundry

9:00 AM Keygan and Lylah wake up. I make breakfast and dress them in 30 min

9:30 AM We head out the door for ChuckEcheese. We make a fast pit stop at the $ store. I'm worried I don't have enough supplies

10:00 AM We arrive at ChuckeEcheese. Had an encounter with the manager to get a table without ordering first. IT was 10 AM i wasn't going to eat greasy food that early

10:30 AM We begin making v-day cards for the kids at the Ronald McDonald house and my hubby calls telling me he is home. Go figure!!! so I spend the rest of the playgroup worrying if i should go home because he is unsure how long he will get home.

11:45 AM Leave playgroup. Hubby explains he is at ext 3 on the way to playgroup. I told him i would be home in 30 min just to turn around.

Noon/ 12:15 PM Drop of card to the Ronald McDonald house.

12:30 PM Made it home. Cuddled with my hubby until 3:30;-) I LOVE THAT MAN

4:00 PM arrived at Burt's amazing Butcher Shoppe for dinner

5:30 PM went shopping and found a bedroom suit for 400. PERFECT

6:30 PM drove home with my hubby holding my hand

7:30 PM Begin baking hubby snacks for the field * He went two days and miss every chow both days*

8:00 PM Took some snacks to a friend that her baby in the ER

9:00 PM Came home to this----

Now here is how my day was supposed to look:

5 AM Lylah Bottle and then go back to sleep

8: AM Keygan get up and get dressed & I start breakfast

8: 30 AM Lylah gets up eats and then I dress her

8:45-9:30 AM Clean up breakfast mess pack diaper bag and etc...

9:30 leave house

10: AM Arrive at ChuckEChesse

11:30 Deliver valentines to Ronald McDonald house

12:30 Lunch and clean up

3:30 leave for dinner with the girls

4:00 Dinner at Fuji's/ Fiji's Ha

6:00 Movies

7:30 Bedtime for kids

8-10 RELAX;-)

But the day before when i was planning out our day I just knew my valentine's day wasn't going to go as planned and James was going to get a shower run and instead of being upset i just went with the flow and enjoyed my family being together and able to share all the LOVE, Flowers, Balloons, and chocolate on this love-filled day!

Job Interview

I have been up since 6:00 AM. Finding something to wear, showering, packing key's bookbag, and Lylah's diaperbag. It's now 8:30 and I'm blogging still not ready in my eyes, but I had to share this story with you on my very nervous day. I'm putting on my make up and Keygan comes running in my room" Mommy Mommy lets go" I respond, "I'm not ready yet", Keygan says, "Yes you are mom your already beautiful so your ready." I just stopped in my tracks and put down my makeup brush and said, "Lets Go! Put on your socks and shoes." So as he is doing that I am typing this little blog and going to my interview just the way I am even if I don't think I'm ready my 4 year old can see that I don't need all that makeup to prove that I am a hardworking Mom and can handle any Normal Job. I mean come on I'm a MOTHER AND ARMYWIFE. I've been trained well.

FREE BOOKS...REALLY

Check out THE NEW Military One Source www.militaryonesource.com and click on the left side (you may have to be logged in) where it says LIBRARY. They will SEND you FREE books!!There are fiction, nonfiction, and even audio books. To name a few Shellie Vandevoorde's book "Seperated by Duty" is on the list....and so is Elaine Dumlers "I'm Already Home...Again" and NO WAY so is Kathie and Holly's "Help! I'm a Military Spouse". www.militaryonesource.com
I'm submitting my request now. Let me know what you guys get. Thanks loving a solider for the info.

VENTING!!!

Okay ladies this is my first blog about something negative at Ft. Benning. Last night guess who knocked on my door? The MP's! Both of my kids was upstairs. Lylah asleep and Key getting ready for bed. The MP's explained that Keygan had been spotted in the neighborhood a block over and that this is a ongoing problem. BULL CRAP! My son is always in our lil area over here off 37th. The MP's explained that the witness knew exactly where my son lived and that he was drawing in the road. Okay ladies if you lived in my neighborhood and you seen my 4 yr old far from home, at dark, and you knew me what would you do? I would hope that you would bring his butt home not call the MP's. After the MP's left i took a little walk to where they said he was drawing in the road. Yes, they was drawing there, but my son cannot draw a rectangle he is still at the scribbling stage. Give me some feedback ladies. I'm really upset about this. I feel betrayed and took advantage of.

AMAZED

Guess what I just found Lylah doing??? CLIMBING UP THE STAIRS! She turned 8 mo old yesterday and today she is climbing stairs. What in the world am I doing to do with this girl? This one is definitely going to keep me on my toes. She is all over the place, fighting with her big brother, trying to sneak EVERYTHING in her mouth, and even goes after the plug ins. Oh MY WORD! It's looking like tomorrow will be spent buying baby gates. Why can't time just stand still??

starting off the year with a BIG change...

Yesterday at approximately 11 AM I had 6 inches of hair cut from my head!!!! Why you ask? I am not sure maybe the hormones or the fact that i never have time to style my hair and its beauty usually remains hide in a bun on top of my head. Now I should be able to style my hair in less then 30 min. What do you think? Please be honest.

GOODBYE 2008 & HELLO 2009

Wow the year just flew by. Here are some big events that took place in our lives this year.

JANUARY

Keygan started Karate. Pic Above. He made it to a green belt this year. (It goes White, yellow, orange, green, and etc...)

FEBRUARY

James turned 22. We celebrated quietly at home with chicken and dumplings and a tank cake.

My baby loves his tanks!

MARCH

Welcome to the world my little sister Tymee JOJO.

APRIL

We tricked James into thinking I was in labor for April fools day other then that it was a pretty uneventful month.

MAY
We finally became a family of four!!!! Delylah Gracelyn Golda Abney was born . She was born on May5. 7lbs 11 oz full of beauty.

JUNE

GOODBYE Ft. Irwin, CA

We made the long drive from Ft. Irwin, CA to Ft. Benning, GA! We made numerous stops along the way. The Painted Desert, Grand Canyon, A giant cross in TX, and the memorial for the OK city bombing *my fav*.

July

We spent 30 days traveling between FL, KY, & GA

***LR Keygan, Uncle Forest, and James***

**James and I**

August

We moved into our new house in Ft. Benning, GA , Stacey and the girls came to visit us, and Keygan started his first season of soccer. He was one of the best players on his team. Every game he always scored.

SEPTEMBER

Keygan celebrated his fourth birthday. We was lucky enough to get to celebrate this birthday with family. It had been a long time since we celebrated a birthday with extended family.

*lylah and her cousin Polly*

OCTOBER

The kids dressed up for halloween. We had little Ragedy Ann and Ragedy Andy, and YES i know Keygan is going to kill me when he grows up. Also, James and Keygan made a homemade iron man costume *pic above* .The end of this month Lylah started Crawling.

NOVEMBER

Starting off this month Amanda and Tim visited Ft. Benning. It was so nice to see them both again. Hopefully the army will one day put us at the same post. I MISS MY WORKOUT BUDDY!!We visited KY for Thanksgiving and enjoyed a wonderful holiday together. James mom came back with us after the holiday and stayed until Christmas leave.

DECEMBER

Keygan participated in his schools Christmas program. His class did a wonderful job. Lylah started pulling up this month and pulled herself our of her crib. We celebrated our first Christmas as a family of four in KY with our families and enjoyed New Years Eve at home with the neighbors and kids.

We are so blessed to have such a good year! All was well for the Abney family and I hope in 2009 we will be just as blessed. Some things we are hoping for this year: A raise, NO DEPLOYMENT, good health for us all, and lot of visits from family;-) *HINT HINT*