In this New Year...

Can you believe in 2 days it will be 2013? I am in shock & awe over it, this past year has been insane! I would have never believed I would be sitting here doing what I am doing right now, living where I am living, and being as happy with myself & as strong in my decisions. I am 1000% proud of myself, & I am pleased to say that as 2012 comes to a close.

I have been thinking about my new years resolutions for the past few days. I make some every year & for the most part they never come to pass, either because I don't remember them or because I don't commit myself to them. SO, this is me fixing both of those problems. Below you will find my awesome & partially crazy resolutions for 2013!

• Go on at least 3 trips. Doesn't matter where or for how long, but just go places, meet new people, experience new things, travel a bit. I don't want to give up that dream just because I have a mini me. If possible, I would like to go somewhere really really awesome for one of them, maybe out of the country if I can swing it.
• Complete something on my bucket list. There are many things to pick from on this list. I will keep you updated.
• Go back to school.  I found a great program I want to get into at Appalachian State that is completely online.
• Become AACCA certified & take some coaching classes. I love coaching cheerleading. I want to become certified to do it. 
• Throw Kadence an awesome 1st Birthday. I really should start brainstorming on this, it will catch up to me SOON. 
• Get my body to where I want to be. (BEFORE SUMMER) This is more of a springtime goal that I want to get completed before summer rolls around & I have NO time to do anything. 
• Teach Kadence to swim. I think it's imperative. 
• Get my car re-financed. My interest rate is out of this world & I need to put on my big girl panties and fix that mess. or just get a new one would be nice.
• Do big things with It Works! I really want to start making some good money off of this, even if that means taking it on the road with my friend, Michelle who also sells. I'm looking for distributors & customers, so if you're interested 2013 could be your year too! 
• Get organized. ASAP. I want to be one of those mothers that really has her stuff together. 
• Be able to do a split. Weird goal, I know, but it's something I have always wanted to do. '

Those are some; I am sure I could sit here and brainstorm about 50 more things I want to accomplish this new year, but I'm a busy mother & I don't have that kind of time. I hope you guys will stick with me in 2013 and support me like you have in 2012! I am so thankful for all of you & everything that has happened this year, good or bad! 

Happy New Year 

xoxo

A Single Mom Christmas

I remember the time I spent Christmas day working at Hooter's because I needed to make rent. The only inclination you would have had to it being Christmas at all were the Santa hats we wore. Because I don't have a huge family, once the childhood magic of the holidays wavered, Christmas was just another day. I have always longed to one day have a huge family, tons of people all around, & a Christmas Eve party with just enough dysfunction to make it funny, but that's just been a dream. Maybe someday I will have people to bake a million cupcakes for, but I digress.

Kadence doesn't understand Christmas this year & probably won't next year either, so I have some time to adjust before I pull out all the stops on the Santa thing. When that time rolls around I plan on going all out, like my parents did (though I didn't get to believe in Santa for very long at all). I'll even be that annoying mom making her believe when she's 15 because I will threaten her with no presents. It's going to be a blast.

However, this year was relaxed. Of course, I put up a tree & lights all over the front of my apartment (and the upstairs neighbors). I wrapped presents & went to christmas shindigs. Christmas eve was spent eating chocolate and watching Netflix with my roommate, wondering aloud if this was what happens Christmas Eve when you become an adult.

Christmas day was a relaxing one. In the future little fists will beat me awake at 6am, I am sure, but this year we made it til 9am. Hooray. My dad came over & we opened up presents. Kadence sat in her high chair probably wondering "WTF is going on & where's my breakfast, woman?!" while I tried to get her to rip paper off of boxes.

She got spoiled (as always) with an under the sea activity table from me; stacking rings, footie pajamas, clothes, sparkly baby boots, socks & a rattle from G-Ma; a huge stuffed ride on zebra & a stocking full of pacifiers from G-Pa, a soothing under the sea turtle & a huge story book from her Grandma Bunny, a bunch of clothes from Not-the-momma (my roommate), & even a super cute outfit from my roommates family. She is one lucky little girl with all the people that thought of her. (I seriously could not be more thankful!) I even got some good stuff. A north face jacket, yoga pants, 2 victoria secret bras, a sports bra, a charm bracelet, sparkly boots that match kadences, 2 board games, 2 pairs of leggings, a juicy couture charm, & a pair of AWESOME new nikes. 

After presents  Kadence napped & then we went to my dad's (G-pa's) for Christmas lunch/dinner, which consisted of tons of steamed veggies (much to Kadence's liking), mashed potatoes, some vegan "chicken", rolls, & vegan cheese dip. It was awesome & all good for you, so no regrets about food for at least a few minutes (which is a first). 

We hung out at my dads for a few hours, Kadence & I both took a nap & then we came home, took a bath & Kadence went to bed. I spent Christmas night at my apartment with my roommate, and 2 friends, and then went to bed at a decent hour. Nothing fancy, but I cherished the reasonable bed time more than anything. 

So there ya have it folks, Christmas for the single mom. Next Christmas will be a whole different story, as Kadence will be with her dad, but this one was successful & fun. I will admit Christmas is 
more fun with Kadence, especially all the cute pictures I get to take, all the cute clothes I get to wear, & the fact that we now have a sweet elf living on our shelf named Dimitri. 

Merry Christmas

Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas to all the wonderful people who follow my life! I hope you all have a wonderful day with your families & if you are apart from the people you love I hope that you spend the day with people who make you happy!

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2012

Kadence and I have had a great morning so far! Details, pictures, & a video of it all to come in the days ahead! For now I check off to go get ready to go to my dad's to spend some time this afternoon!

xoxo
K&k

my thoughts & prayers are with those who cannot have their loved ones with them today for whatever reason. Especially the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy & those who are deployed or who have a loved one deployed this holiday season.

Easy (Vegan) Crock Pot Enchiladas Recipe

SO yesterday at the grocery store I got this crazy idea to throw together some enchiladas. I figured, I could make a lot, they were relatively soft so Kadence could eat them too, & they were easy & cheap. Because these are all really awesome things, I figured I would share my recipe with you.

I didn't even think to take pictures, but oh well. Also, I don't ever use exact measurements so bear with me!

Ingredients:

1 can of black beans (drained & washed, I do this on all canned veggies to get rid of some of the salt!)
1 can of pinto beans (drained & washed)
1/2 an onion (chopped)
1 mini red pepper (chopped)
1 mini yellow pepper (chopped)
1 mini green pepper (chopped)
1 cup full of fresh assorted spicy peppers (chopped)
1 package of yellow rice (cooked)
1/2 bag of frozen corn
1 can of diced tomatoes with chiles (drained & washed)
1/2 block of diaya dairy free cheese (grated)
1 package of 8 flour tortillas
2 jars of salsa
1 jar of enchilada sauce

• Cook the rice while chopping the veggies
• Drain & rinse all canned veggies
• Combine all ingredients, except cheese, tortillas, salsa & enchilada sauce, in a bowl & mix
• In a crock pot pour 1/2 of a jar of salsa & some enchilada sauce along the bottom
• Spoon mix into tortillas & layer into crock pot, pouring enchilada sauce & salsa over each layer. Top each layer with cheese. 
• Cook on high for 2-4 hours. 

*alternatively you can bake in the oven, covered, for 20 minutes & then uncovered for 10. 

* you can pretty much add ANYTHING you want to these to suit what you & your family likes! 

Let me know if you like them :) 

xoxo

Kadence's 8th Month of Life

As of December 11, my little lady was now 8 months old! I remember talking with one of my friends when she was 1 or 2 months, how she would be at Thanksgiving & how crazy it would be, and now it's past Thanksgiving already. There is only 4 short months until she is 1! I think I'm going crazy, but I digress.

This month was filled with lots of fun! Kadence learned got crawling down perfectly, learned to pull up  on her knees & then to standing (everywhere!), went on a vacation with her dad to the midwest for Thanksgiving, tries lots of new foods & spent lots of time getting ready for Christmas with Momma. 

on her 7 month birthday!

playing with Raja

trying out some new foods! 

at the It Works! booth

headed to WI with Dad

On Thanksgiving at Grandma's house

chillin' with friends (little dog & poncho)

Standing up!

Gettin' ready for Christmas!

Momma's Nativity Scene

Christmas Parade float with the cheerleaders

SO warm! December 10

xoxo

Bye Bye, YouTube

That's right, after more than a year and a half on YouTube I am saying "see you later." While YouTube has brought me some amazing friends, which I hope to keep, and helped support me in the toughest of times, I have come to a place in my life where I need to protect myself & my future by staying off of it. I say this with some hesitation, because I love vlogging & videoing EVERYTHING, but at this point in my life I need to have better control of what is being put out there and said about me on the internet.

At some point in my life I want to be taken seriously for a job, because I alone have a household to support, and in todays world, getting a job is hard enough, without your prospective employer googling your name an finding and entire YouTube channel about you. I am not in the process of getting a job now, but I fear that the longer I keep myself out there on such a public forum, the more my name will become present. In addition to this, I feel at this present time in my life, I need to keep things more private, not only for me, but for Kadence too. I am at a really amazing place in my life & I don't want that ruined because someone I know personally tries to use something I have shared on YouTube against me. I am more than sick of people spending their time speculating about my life.

I do not plan to disappear from social networking completely & I hope some of my most dedicated fans will keep up with me still. I love you all; your support is amazing & I would hate to lose that! I will keep this blog, KileeandKadence.blogspot.com, as well as my facebook fan page, for now. I know this is still putting my name out there, but I feel as if I have better control of what I put out there while writing.

I hope you all will keep up with my journey!

xoxo

A Week Without Kadence

My week without Kadence was eventful to say the least, but I missed her more than ever this time! But I have some pictures to share with you! 

my cheer girls (& me, i'm on the left in white)

wreath selling fundraiser

Mexican Food!

A picture I got from Nick of Kadence at the airport on the way to the midwest

Thanksgiving day! Macy's parade, dinner at my roomies parents & a picture of Kadence at her Grandmothers

Old high school friends!

I look awesome here ;)

To get off the island I live on you have to be towed over the sand if you don't have 4x4!

Our hotel when we went to get Baby K 

Vegan pizza at Mellow Mushroom! YUMMO

xoxo

a little update...

Kadence slept in until 9:30, which put today off to a fantastic start! So here I am catching up on things that I have sucked at lately, meaning vlogging, blogging, & all sorts of internet shenanigans. We have also been sick for going on 3 weeks, and I am not seeing any end in sight. Thus is the downside to winter, I suppose.

Kadence has been back from Nick's for almost a week now & Christmas has been in full swing since. We have about 500 Christmas outfits & we are on day 3 of wearing those! I am loving it! Just waiting on our Christmas tree to arrive in the mail, it was all of 18$ from Wal-Mart. It's short, but it will do for just our little apartment. Christmas is my favorite time of year, I can't wait to take Kadence to see lights, Santa & take a million pictures!

As far as videos, I am seriously at a loss for what to do! I want to do some Christmas type videos, as well as a baby led solids series, but other than that I have no idea! If anyone has any ideas, let me know!

Please enjoy a few christmas pictures of Kadence:

I hate ferries...

I'm blogging right now while sitting in the parking lot of the ocracoke - cedar island ferry. I have 2 hours before the next one comes. I missed the one I made a reservation for because the hatteras - ocracoke ferry didn't show up on time. Needless to say I'm not thrilled. As much as I am happy to be home, this not having a road nonsense is more than annoying. I wish I could pick up all my friends & my family and move us somewhere things like this didn't happen. No idea when the road will be mended either. As it looks right now, probably not anytime soon.

I have a very sad Kadence in my backseat as we speak. It's naptime so I don't want to get her out, I wish she would just give it up and nap so I could too! After all, we have another 2 hours before we even get on the ferry!

Kadence will be with her dad all week & while its super sad because I miss her everyday, I am looking forward to sleeping in ;) I honestly have no plans for thanksgiving this year, but I think my dad and I might go to my roommates parents house or to another friends house, who knows! I love thanksgiving but being vegan makes it not as much fun! I am looking forward to the parade though. Holidays make me excited for when Kadence is older and I can start fun traditions with her. We never had any in my family so I want her to have some!

Well I'm done rambling for the moment! Maybe I can sleep for a little to pass some time!

Haters Gonna Hate

I am LOVING it. Did you guys know I am YouTube famous enough to have people hate on me on my own personal thread on gurugossiper.com? I feel really special. & no, I'm not being sarcastic, I actually am certain that it's a compliment. In my book, if you have haters you're doing something right & you're definitely getting people's attention! 

So what if my baby sleeps in a walk in closet? it's big, there's a fan, & she doesn't care. she's not in a dresser drawer. So what if I live with my best friend? I'm not ashamed to say I can't pay rent on a two bedroom apartment alone. So what if I am not with Kadence's dad? This is the real world, relationships don't always last. So what if I moved to college & came home? People make mistakes & things don't work out. So what if I do something you don't agree with? Don't do it with your child. 

The Lord is the only one who can judge me, no one else matters. 

xo

Missing You All, Hurricane Sandy, & Boredom

I cannot convey the joy I just felt when this page loaded! I have been out of decent internet for days since Hurricane Sandy tore through my town & apparently the signal is finally strong enough to allow me to write a blog post to everyone! I have been trying fervently for days, but with no avail. :( Facebook still isnt working correctly, & I will be pleasantly surprised if YouTube allows me to upload, but here's to hoping! 

We fared through Hurricane Sandy just fine, however, the one road on & off of the island I live on did not do so well. If you have been following me for a while you know that this happened last year during Hurricane Irene while I was pregnant & it sucks just as much now, as it did then. The only way to get anywhere is to take a ferry that takes 2.5 hours to go 17 miles. That being said, I am obviously not going ANYWHERE for quite some time, but I digress. 

Other than that, Kadence & I have been nothing but bored. I did get to have a little night out this weekend, which was well enjoyed with some friends I don't get to see often, but aside from that there is nothing going on. The kids I babysit have been out of town, the restaurant I worked at is closed for the season, & cheerleading has a break between seasons (though tryouts start up today, hooray!). 

I plan to do a Baby Led Solids blog post &/or  video here in the near future because I am absolutely in love with this idea of feeding & I am uploading a day in the life video (FINALLY) as I type this. Fingers crossed it works. 

Thank you all for checking up on me during the storm. You are all my greatest friends & I love you! 

xo

Franken-storm 2012

The end of the world is near, pretty sure anyway. Hurricane Sandy is headed my way & the weather channel is calling it "the perfect storm". *eye roll* I am not thrilled. If you didn't know, live on a tiny little island that only has 1 way on & off. For obvious reasons storms are not something I love, they eat our road & flood everything. After Hurricane Irene's craziness last year I just don't feel like dealing with it again. If I have to take a boat just to get to Wal-Mart ever again, I am going to loose my mind.

Regardless of how little I want to deal with this storm, it's coming. So my roommate & I went out on a little shopping trip today for batteries, flashlights, candles, food that you don't have to cook to eat, & a bottle of wine. It was a successful trip. I have even been preparing food for Kadence for the past hour just incase (HA, I mean WHEN) the power goes out.

In other words, do not fear if you don't hear from me for a few days, or weeks (God, I hope not). I will be safe, we live on a higher part of the island & in a sturdy apartment building, however I will be internet deprived & that will be sad. Though I might get a lot of videos filmed if I can keep my camera charged!

In the mean time, say a prayer that our road doesn't get washed out & watch my newest video, the controversial parenting tag!

Turn Your Day Around With an Awesome Dinner

I'm pretty good with words, I can write fairly eloquently. I have been blogging for 3 years & do really well writing about topics I love & even topics I don't love. But let me tell you there is no good descriptive word for today beside shit. Today was shit. (If that word offends you, you're probably reading the wrong blog and you can click HERE to go to somewhere you fit in better.)

I got little to no sleep last night due to Kadence's teething (I think) issues. There is no other explanation for her lack or sleep/constant crying/overall sad demeanor, I hope. In addition, I found out I am now having to deal with more stuff about my old apartment that I could live my ENTIRE life without having to deal with. I actually had a miniature meltdown about this part of the day.

To deal with such stress I usually bake, but today I ate a bunch of chips and salsa & went for a really long run with Kadence in the stroller. I guess it all evens out.


But as bad as my day was, I managed a dinner (after the power came back on -.-). I made an awesome Pumpkin Alfredo (vegan of course) & SUPER yummy!! Here is the recipe I went off of & with a few minor changes, I omitted the allspice because I didn't have any & added a bag of steamed veggies (carrots, green beans, & peas) because I love vegetables. It turned out A-MAZ-ING. Enough to turn my day around at least.

Let me know what you think! xo

Journey into Real Food: Day 1 - Toast & Zucchini

I have been toying with the idea of baby led solids (if you're not sure what that is click here) for quite some time now. However I have been a little reluctant to try it out because of the whole choking factor. I read up on it though & it eased my fears a bit and so Kadence had some toast & some steamed zucchini slices for lunch. She did really well with it! She gagged a few times, which apparently is completely normal and by the end of her meal she was nom-nom-noming on the toast like a champ!

Day one of BLS was a success over all I would say. We had zucchini steamed, some toast & then I sauteed some zucchini in a little olive oil & Kadence gummed it down for dinner! Tomorrow I think we might try some steamed broccoli & finish off the sauteed zucchini!

Things I have learned thus far about BLW:

• children learn to chew first, then to swallow. which is the correct order. 
• gagging is normal & no reason to be alarmed
• apparently babies turn out to be less picky
• it tends to be cheaper since you don't have to buy certain foods for the baby you just feed them stuff you already have. 
• I have found an awesome website with a great timeline of BLS (click here)
• It's way fun. 

My plans for BLW include healthy foods (non dairy & soy free of course) that I eat. I'm gonna stick to soft foods for a while & also veggies & other non-sweet foods, since I don't want Kadence to have a preference for sweet stuff! I will of course, keep you guys updated! 

Are you really Happy?

Today I woke up feeling extra happy. I don't know if it's the coffee I never drink and decided to this morning (purely for the fact that I own a keurig), or possibly the fact that Kadence went down so easily for her morning nap, or maybe it's because my life has taken such a sharp turn upwards lately (for the most part I'm still a single mother trying to lose weight while having a constant battle with money & wanting to have a life, don't worry)

Moving home from college, while to most probably sounds like a death sentence (& trust me I sometimes think it is), has actually, for the most part, been a blessing in disguise for me. I may live everyday feeling like a fool for all the money I wasted & all the time I threw away, but at least I am a happy fool for it. Living with my best friend has been something I will never be able to repay her for, seriously who wants to live with a 21 year old single mother & her infant? Apparently my best friend & her white german shepherd. They don't make many like her (except for you Ericka, cause I know you're reading this). 

I watched a documentary on netflix last night while babysitting (aka trying not to go drown myself in the shower because 3 kids were screaming) called "Happy". (WOW that was a contradicting sentence) Anyway, the whole point of it was about studying what makes people happy. Turns out, that being a happy person  has very little to do with how much money you make, your status in life, or where you live (see the diagram below) & much more to do with your genetics & more importantly, the actions you do. However, people seem to think that money, status, etc will bring them happiness, when in reality even if you did win a million dollars, your happiness would be short lived. Allow me to gush on about this movie for just a minute longer & tell you that it also had a good point of how good people do when bad things happen to them. What I mean is, people think that when lots of bad things happen to them their life is going to go to hell in a bucket & they will never recover, however it tends to be the opposite & the human race rebounds very well & very quickly. In addition to all these GLORIOUS facts (LOL) it shows a huge scope of different people and what they think will make them "happy"which is super interesting & totally worth and hour and fifteen minutes of your life.

I'll stop quoting facts from this movie now & just suggest you go watch it. It will really give you a positive outlook on life if you have been feeling sorry for yourself lately, which if you are like the rest of America, you have. Here is the trailer: 

you. are. welcome. 

have a happy day loves. 

A Letter to Baby K,

My letters to Kadence are published here (letterstomylittleone.tumblr.com) I have been writing her letters for over a year now, they are all there if you are interested!

A New Start

welcome to my new blog. as if I havent started a blog for my youtube about a million times over right? I couldn't sign into my other one though, so here we are. fresh & new.

I like when things are new. I like a new clean layout, a blank box to write in, & the ability to turn this into whatever I want it to be. I get off on the fact that I can mold this into whatever I want it to be, I can make it mine, I can pour out as much or as little of myself onto this page & people will look at it. To think that I have an impression upon people never ceases to amaze me, and that's coming from someone who has had a fairly successful YouTube channel for over a year.

Speaking of things being fresh & new, my new house is almost finally in order. As some of you may or may not know, I have returned home from college (many reasons for that one) & have moved in with my bestest BFF since childhood in an apartment that is awesome. Not only does it not have cockroaches everywhere, but it is clean & brand NEW. yes, we are the first ones to live here! how awesome is that?

I am sure I will have an apartment tour coming soon! In the meantime, watch my latest videos:

My "firsts" Tag

Kadence Eats; Yellow Squash

& Kadence Tells her Story!

xo