Daddy's( AKA "The Black Mamba") Hobby

About 6 or 7 months ago Chris told me that he wanted to start training to do MMA fights. After much thought and hesitation I reluctantly agreed. It's not that I didnt believe in my husbands potential its just that I had very real concerns regarding his safety and knew very little about the sport or the people he was training with. I attended a couple of practices and got to know everyone on the Don't Blink fight team. I was really impressed. Everyone was so nice and took their training very seriously. Chris has worked so hard over the past 7 months and I couldnt possibly be anymore proud of him. The amount of discipline and dedication he has shown  has really impressed me. Fast forward 7 months to the night of Chris's very first fight. I think its pretty safe to say the I was a complete spaz, my nerves on edge. I just know that sometimes strange unexpected things can happen even with all the training in the world but I knew in my heart that Chris was ready. I got a hint of things to come at weigh ins the previous night. I was suprised by my usually socially aloof husband He really put on a show with the stare down that took place. If looks could kill LOL. After weighs ins we all went to eat at a local resturant its kind of tradition being how alot of the fighters including Chris have to dramatically decrease their food intake or better yet crease to eat at all 24 hours before stepping on the scales. We "enjoyed" dinner then headed home so we could get Chris some rest so he could be fight ready for the next day. The following night was the big fight. The place was packed wall to wall. Several of mine and Chris's good friends were there to show support. Two other guys from Don't Blink had fights before Chris. His fight was number 7. After two suprise losses from our first two fighters I didn't think I could take much more. So by the time Chris came out I thought I would pass out. There it was again.. the same "stage presence" if you will that I saw the previous night. His entrance was great and my throat is still sore from screaming so loudly. I feel so sorry for the people who had to sit next to us girls. They probably deserve a refund. The bell sounded and the cage was locked. No going back now. I really wanted to close my eyes but there was no way I could miss this. All my worries where soon over. Over in a minute and three seconds to be exact. Chris won via submission with a choke out! Yes! Their were no injuries, that includes the other guy to. Thank God. Chris said that was his prayer as he went in. Immediately after the fight upon acieving his win he was still very interactive with the crowd. A whole new very confident yet not cocky persona. He really seemed to be 100% at ease and his is element. Later I found out that he was actually talking to his corner in the middle of the fight and made the statement along the lines of "I got this now" :) Impressive Chris bear very impressive! I couldnt contain myself much longer I couldnt wait to run up to him and get a kiss. I think the thing that impressed me the most, more than the win, more than his stage presense, and more than his stellar technique that night was how gracious he was after the fight and the good sportsmanship and respect he showed the other fighter after it was all over. We may even go watch the other teams next fight. Chris really outshines me in this area. I have a tendency to be a hot head at times. I even got reprimanded for being too obnioux about his win on social networking sites! You humble me Chris I truely hope Kal-el gets this quality from you. What a great night. I'm so happy that all of my husbands time, effort, and training paid off in a big way. His next fight will be a few months down the road and instead of laying back and enjoying his win he has already pointed out some things that he feels he needs to work on. After watching the video 5,000 I dont agree lol. He just wants to make sure that he never takes it for granted or becomes too comfortable. I'm thrilled that I get to be apart of this journey with him. I love the fact that we always support each others dreams and are each others biggest fans! And come April or whenever his next fight is we WILL be ready ...Don't Blink!

Chris and his opponent at weigh ins

The stare down lol

Right before we left for the fight

Many more pictures to come as soon as everyoner sends them to us!!!

Mommy's Hobby

 I have stated before I am semi retired from my old hobby/past time of modeling. I got into modeling almost by accident as I had never dreamed of anything of that nature as a child. My first love is and always will be psychology. Modeling has merely been a carefree creative outlet for me. I use the word semi retired because I always manage to find just one more person that I want to work with. Although I havent shot since Super arrived I do plan on at least shooting 3 more times. Thats my goal anyway.  If I can stay far far away from cupcakes and southern fried anything for a few months! I was the  most active in the modeling scene about 3 years ago. . I got to experience so many wonderful opportuities and adventures. I will have some neat stories to pass on to Kal-el so I'm trying to archive just a few of them here.  I actually got pretty lucky several times as far as magazines and print work are concerned. Mostly glamour magazines. I took/take alot of pride in my work but it does require an open mind for older generations as it is very similar to pin up style but in very good taste in my opinion.  I turned down playboy in 2005. I was very opposed to poseing in my Birthaday suit for several reasons. Mostly moral. Kal-el will no doubt be very thankful for this when he attends high school and has no lunch room drama about his neekid Mommy lol. My most fond memory is my imfamous trip to LA to appear on the tv show Beauty and the Geek. Wow a dream and a nightmare all rolled into one. Upon landing at the airport I was treated like a celebrity. I was picked up in a very fancy limo and taken to a beautiful 5 star hotel. Long story short I was basicly locked in a hotel room for 3 days stright and not allowed to see the light of day while producers conducted interviews with cast members. It was all top secret and the reason they didnt want us out and about was of course liability reasons while we were in their care and the fact that they didnt want cast members socializing prior to tapeing. I felt safe b/c of course security was high and food was free and the pay was pretty good for the whole 72 hours I was there. I was then sent home, abruptly with no explanation other than I wasnt right for the show! What a let down! I was relieved in a way b/c during filming we werent allowed to talk to anyone over the phone for a duration of an entire month! I would of lost my mind not talking to Chris or my family. That and the fact that I was conveinced in my mind that they had my hotel room bugged. Yes, I'm paranoid. Walking outsie of the hotel that morning it couldnt of been anymore apparent that my Cinderella bubble had burst when low and behold my beautiful horse and carriage was now a pumpkin in the form of a hideaous taxi with gum stuck to it..lol I guess thats Hollywood for ya ;) Flying home from my wonderful journey didnt get much better when we encountered snow and ice on the last flight home. It was there that I spent 10 hours on a plane that didnt move for a 45 min flight!!! My life is never ever dull. I couldnt of been happier at that point to be back home. For all of my troubles on this trip and a few others, all my dieting and disapline, and all of my  time and creative energy I have some incredible images to show for it and have worked with some really amazing , talented , and even celebrity photographers this was all  more than I ever asked for. After all it is just a hobby and I consider myself very lucky no more effort than I put into it. My new hobby you ask? Blogging silly!
Here are some of my favorite pictures from my portfolio!

Coming up next....Daddy's Hobby!!!

Started Crawling....

No, not Kal-el..he's been there and done that. This would be in reference to us lol. Oh the sweet silly things that we do for our little ones. Super finds us stalking him across the floor extreamly entertaining so we ablidge him over and over and over again. Sometimes he laughs so hard he has to catch his breath. We must look pretty crazy! Last night Nannie gave us a call asking us if we wanted to come over for super. Of course! Even though I'm trying my best to do this diet thing right now I never turn down an opportunity to spend time with my grandparents esp if Nan has cooked. I know these precious times wont be around forever so I'd be ashamed not to take advantage of them. After our delicious dinner Chris and I and Nannie and Poppa played with Kal-el in the living room for awhile. He is so much fun. He loves telephones, the cell variety, land lines, he has no preference. He spent a good deal of time "talking" on Nannies phone. This joy could only last so long though and soon my little Super was bored and throwing a mini fit. Time to pull out our parental bag of tricks! Before you know it we are all taking turns crawling across the floor to entertain Kal-el. I'm quite sure this wont be the first or last time I look silly for the sake of my child. Luckily I dont mind it one bit! :)

I now have 7 teeth..Watch out!!!

Heeeere comes DADA

He got you!

Mommy's turn, please excuse my no makeup and unkept hair! :)

Rawr!! Please again excuse my crazy, insane lady face!

Yay Nannie joins in on the fun!

Kal-el 9 Months Pictures

Here's a peek at some of the 9 month photos we have seen so far. My friend Bailey did an awesome job once again!

Meet the fur kids

Our family would not be complete without our beloved fur kids. Three of them to be exact. We love animals, always have, but we are definitely partial to dogs! They make our lives much more meaningful and I'm happy that Kal-el will enjoying growing up in the company of pets. We wouldn't trade our zoo for anything in the world!
Introducing......
 Tuggs
 AKA Sissy, The gentle giant
 Has been in our family the longest. Mimsy got him when I was still in college after much research on the breed. We had him flown in to Birmingham from Ohio.His Daddy Arnold was a show dog! He is now 8 years old and I couldn't be happier that our baby boy gets to grow up with a newfoundland. I consider myself very fortunate to have loved and shared a home with this unique breed and I'm glad he will get to experience the same thing just at a younger age.. They are such noble creatures and Tuggs fits the description of the breed to a t. He is truely a gentle giant. Even with his massive size he is so good with Kal-el.  He is a beautiful dog with a beautiful spirit. He and Mimsy have such a special relationship. When he was younger he was mischeivious and into everything. He would bring rocks in from outside and make us chase him around the house until he dropped them. When he was a young pup he had lots of little tantrums. He even once knawed a hole in the wall all the way through to the sheet rock! We doted on him constantly so he is pretty spoiled and high maintance at times but we dont mind he is the most loveable 175 lbs of fur and drool that you could ask for!

Next up:

Ginger AKA Gangsta velcro dog

Please dont for 2 seconds underestimate this golden retriver. We adopted her from our local pound. She was brought back a total of 3 times before she made her way into a safe loving family. It was painfully obvious that even at her young age she had to defend herself alot. She has so much heart and is very feisty and doesnt mind standing her ground. Her tough side is not without softness though. We playfully call her velcro dog b/c she falls in love with you and is stuck like glue for ever and ever. She is so underfoot that sometimes she has to be pryed off of us! She is very good with Kal-el. She would of been a great doggie mommy! She gave us such a huge scare this past summer. Ginger got outside and ran off . It took her two days to find her way back home. We all thought she was gone forever. We should of known better we dont call her gangsta for nothing! She survived in the rough terrian and dense woods surrounding the area we live in and made it back home 3 days later lightly scratching on our door.  I was resting in the living room all hope lost on that third night and I hear Chris say "Ginger?" I thought to myself there is no way! We were so happy to have our girl back safe and sound never to be taken for granted again!

And last but certainly not least :
Maxx AKA Scientist
I love this little man. Maxx is our baby. We had to have many talks with him before Super arrived. We got Max when he about 6 weeks old. He was so cute with all of his black and white fur. I wanted to name him Panda. Chris informed me this was the most gay thing he had ever heard which let us to agree on the name Max. He is a wolf hybrid/ husky mix. He is the most peculiar intelligent little wolfy. I gave him the nick name scientist b/c he is so smart like Moms here lol. He has the funniest little quirks. Maxx loves to watch tv. His favorite movie is 8 Below he swears that the dogs are running out of the other side of the tv. He patiently waits for them. The most endearing memory I have of Max is when he was a puppy and his wolf side came out alot. Chris and I would howl up at the moon like morons and our sweet fur baby would follow suit and howl with us. I think we tried to demonstrate this for the vet once but we abruptly stopped upon receiving the "look" :) When Max is not solving equations he can be found following Chris around. He's a Daddys dog. I'm jealous :)

This time last year...Kal-el in 4D!

Last January was a very special time in my pregnancy. It marks the month that I got to see my baby's features for the very first time via 4D ultrasound. Technology amazes me. Funny thing is by the time my little one is grown this method will probably be totally archaic and some new found technology that we cant even fathom  will be in effect but for now this is the neatest thing ever :) I eyeballed 4D pictures online for months before my  scheduled appointment. I loved to see all the pre and after birth pictures to see how close the 4D resembled the baby after birth. Some of them were just so clear and this of course made me so very excited to see Kal-el. I kept wanting to bump my appointment ahead so I could see him sooner but I forced myself to wait so I would have better pictures of him. Just when I thought the day would never arrive it finally came and Chris and I were headed as fast as we safely could to the OBGYN to see our baby boy. Mimsy and Aunt Shane meet us there as well. We were all so excited. I was a complete spaz! There was only one other woman with a large bump in the frount ahead of us so not much waiting thank goodness. When they called my name I had to force myself not to sprint haha they would not have been a pretty or safe sight! We were all cramped and huddled in a little room staring at my gargantous belly and praying that Kal-el would pose like Mommy...well maybe not exactly like Mommy...lol We held our breath in anticipation for the first glance. When munckin came into view you could clearly see a sweet little hand over his face...Everyone let out a series of "awwwwwww's" He played coy for most of his photoshoot and kept his little hands stubbornly blocking his face. She tried to gently coax him to move by pressing on different places on my tummy. Well this child has his Daddy's stubborn gene and he wasnt budgeing. After several efforts in vain she brought out the little but very loud bell they clang against your tummy. Its amazing how God's little gifts can react to such a big world on the outside all while still being insideyour tummy. Its such a surreal thing you cant begin to fathom it until you have experienced it. The bell did the trick long enough for Mommy, Daddy, Grandmothers, and Aunts to see the most adorable baby in the whole world (yes we are biased) and here are the pictures to prove it!

                                   My favorite! He still sleeps with that little hand pulled up sometimes

Grouchy face b/c of the mean bell :)

Looks like Mommy in this one!

No Bite Super..no bite :D

Ouch! Kal-el has a new interesting habit that we have to work on breaking. He bites us. lol Not out of frustrastion or aggression but his other teeth are popping up everywhere..I'm sure he has a mouth full now and the biting sensation feels good. So he practices on our shoulders when we pick him up. This of course HURTS. If we cry out in agony he laughs b/c he thinks we have just played a game. He's so cute but we have to stop this! It's a safety issue to b/c your first instinct is to release whats hurting you and I'm afraid this may startle another person into dropping him and of course I care if there are injured shoulders running around lol So we have been pulling out the good ol' behavioral therpy and simply putting him down (which he isnt fond of) and simply saying "no bite". I think we will have a recovering bitter in a matter of days if not I'll be passing around alot of shoulder pads! :)