Please Sign This Petition!

President Obama's FY 2010 Budget proposal would eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan Program, effective July 1, 2010. At that time all new federal student and parent loans would be made by the Federal Direct Loan Program.
Approximately 4,400 schools would have to switch programs and the future of lender/servicers like Nelnet would be uncertain.

As you know, I have been employed by Nelnet for close to eight years. Besides an attempt to save my job, I signed this petition because I believe in the power of choice and know that keeping student loans competitive will keep costs low and borrower benefits high.

If you would like to join me in supporting the FFEL Program, please use this link to sign the petition.

Thank you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We hope everyone had a very Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Gymnastics!

Tonight was Kaitlin's first night at gymnastics and I think she had a great time! Brandon and I were both able to go, and we had a lot of fun helping Kaitlin through the obstacle course. Here are some pictures..

Kaitlin and Miss Tara

And a quick video..

mmmm.... baby food.....

Look who started solids!

She gobbled up all the cereal and was still looking for more ~ her father's daughter indeed. ;-)

The Potty Party

As expected, Kaitlin earned her "Potty Party" at Chuck E. Cheese!

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Here's one of my favorite shots of the night ♥ :

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We are so proud of Kaitlin!

Operation NO MORE DIAPERS

Operation NO MORE DIAPERS is being declared a success!

Wednesday morning, after peeing on the potty, Kaitlin asked if she could wear her Little Mermaid Princess panties instead of diapers. I agreed, but I thought for sure I'd be cleaning up messes all day. She totally surprised me and stayed dry ALL DAY!

On Day 1 she pee'd on the potty THIRTEEN times!! HOLY COW!

As some of you know, we have been doing stickers on a potty chart with the incentive of picking out a toy of her choice when the chart was filled in. Stickers were being added at a snail's pace ~ until Wednesday!

By 7pm, she had enough stickers to fill in the chart. We immediately headed out to the toy store and she chose a Thumbelina Barbie.


Today, we started a new potty chart and this time the incentive is a "Potty Party" at Chuck E Cheese! (If you'd like to be with us when we celebrate Kaitlin's potty success, let me know. At the rate she's going, we'll probably be going to Chuck E Cheese this weekend!)

It's such a relief to know that diapers are coming to an end for Kaitlin. As hard as it is to realize your baby is growing ~ diapers are one thing we're glad to be leaving behind!!!

Our Adventure!

We decided to enjoy our unseasonably warm weather and headed to the Colorado Springs area for some sight-seeing! We started out with a picnic and short hike through The Garden of the Gods.

We stayed overnight in a hotel ~ or "telescope" as Kaitlin called it ... (huh?!?)
We took advantage of their indoor pool and jacuzzi ~ (Zoey's first dunk in the pool and the highlight of the trip for Kaitlin!)

Finally, we headed to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to feed giraffes, watch animals, and ride a century old carousel.

Here's a quick video of Kaitlin feeding the giraffe!



We really had a fun time!
I hate how life gets busy and we forget to take time to do fun things like this. After seeing how much the girls enjoyed our "adventure", I think it is important for us to do fun family things like this more often!