Katinya Lilly
My creed has always been Organization for Life. I am a very blessed SuperMommie By Trade=Wife, Mother of 4 (a set of twins), Global Web Metrics Program Manager, Software Engineer, Web Manager, Blogger, Dancer, Choreographer, Fitness Instructor accomplishing all of this by the Grace of God and being ORGANIZED!
Professional Me- KKLDesigns Tworld
- SuperMommie Tworld
- ShakeJumpMove Tworld
- Organization for Life
- Princess Liyah & The Twizzles
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Info
- Global Web Metrics Program Manager at Texas InstrumentsSemiconductors | Dallas/Fort Worth Area, USSummary- Detail-oriented team player with experience in implementing all phases of project management.
- Capable professional with three years of information technology project management experience.
- Lead analyst and developer for the software and web industries for over 12 years.
- Over ten years of web development experience with knowledge of new social marketing platforms.
- Web Administrator, Social Media Manager, and Content Manager for multiple non-profit organizations including a university.
- Proficient professional in Sabre’s proprietary scripting language, Qik, and the integration of third party software environments with Qik including JavaScript, XML, and databases.
- Performed two International engineering analysis assignments determining the necessary improvements to current Sabre software applications, one resulting in an application improvement project totaling over $16 million.
Marketing & Design Business Owner - www.kkldesigns.com
Dance & Fitness Business Owner - www.shakejumpmove.comSpecialties: web analytics, business analysis, software analysis, requirements elicitation and specification, change management, PMP, SDLC, HTML, XML, social networking, GUI design, web design, web development, mathematics, multi-tasking, internet marketingExperience- Aug 2011 - PresentGlobal Web Metrics Program Manager / Texas Instruments~ Primary liaison with regions, business units, and other internal internet marketing channels.
~ Drive TI’s strategy for providing metrics that improve our decision making
~ Develop global web analytics reports and perform analysis to better understand customer behaviors and optimize future actions
~ Develop and present to stakeholders web traffic & conversion dashboards, analyze the data and recommend improvements
~ Assist communications worldwide with campaign tracking and post campaign analysis
~ Train others to use web analytics tools to answer business questions and optimize for the future
~ Manage relationship with metrics vendor
~ Research and investigate system and data issues as they arise
Education-
1991 - 1993Tyler Junior CollegeAA in Computer Science
Activities: Apache Belles - The University of Texas at AustinBA in Mathematics with emphasis in Computer Science
Activities: Texas Pom
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Tweets
- Google to promise fair licensing for Motorola patents http://t.co/pJsaCv1L
- RT @katinyalilly: SXSW is coming! SXSW is coming! goodness, how can i get there?!? oh, how i have missed it so. http://t.co/gG6ukyP1
- Check out WhatsApp Messenger for Android, iPhone, Nokia, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. Download it today from http://t.co/5Q8EdggG
- It’s here… Say hello to ZeroBundle! http://t.co/CjTgReVK
- Pinterest for Businesses - Beginner's Guide to Next Big Social Thing - http://t.co/9Gm7lDFq (via @sociablesite)
- MediaPost Publications 2012: Rise Of Metrics, End Of Click-Through Rates 01/03/2012 http://t.co/uZiYGnHz
- The Value of the Designer Who Codes | http://t.co/ztGH1noX http://t.co/EMoZKUwE
- Internal server error my foot!! ARGH Wordpress!!
- Left the mouse on AGAIN! can someone please make a clapper mouse just for me!!
- http://t.co/cRcpWrZr GA Marketing Channels and Campaigns blog post. Very good read.
- just upgraded a wordpress site with no problems for the first time. wow! i am such a wimp. thanks #wordpress for all of the help.
- :-) it pays to be a nerd sometimes! check out this best jobs of 2011! http://t.co/sz1UQkGT #fb
- this is most days, never thought that i would be a magician/juggler when i grew up :-) http://t.co/YPQnEoIJ http://t.co/YPQnEoIJ
- I just registered for the Adobe Omniture Summit 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah: http://t.co/kBfph8cm via @omtrsummit
- I found it http://t.co/mqqMOnkE
- Try Boomerang for Gmail. You can schedule emails to send at any time and track responses to follow up. http://t.co/blZP7BMs
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Tweets
- Google to promise fair licensing for Motorola patents http://t.co/7x4XlLNz
- I just entered to win a Cannon PowerShot Camera from @NBCDFW. Winner announced on NBC 5 News at 6pm on Tuesday! http://t.co/GpM3css7
- The @ZAGGdaily Kindle Fire-a-day Giveaway is here! Each day is a new chance to win a Kindle Fire - http://t.co/LHG3u187
- SXSW is coming! SXSW is coming! goodness, how can i get there?!? oh, how i have missed it so. http://t.co/wW5aLdAt
- It’s here… Say hello to ZeroBundle! http://t.co/DMB9wVCu
- I liked a @YouTube video http://t.co/WBITipNw Dance Fitness Choreography Cupid Shuffle Remix.AVI
- @zumba choreography tonite. R U ready to @shakejumpmove! Get ready! Classes start Feb 13th in Carrollton! Follow me 4 more info! #fb
- Twizzle hugs are the best first thing in morning especially with the sneezing and dragon breath :) #blessingsRgreat #fb
- Web Goes On Strike: Jan 18th! All-out blackout 2 stop #SOPA #PIPA. Petition @twitter and other sites to join us. http://t.co/UD4zelqE
- Pinterest for Businesses - Beginner's Guide to Next Big Social Thing - http://t.co/jFFxeuFO (via @sociablesite)
- I favorited a @YouTube video http://t.co/DxIcdzZt This is my story (Part 2)
- I liked a @YouTube video http://t.co/DxIcdzZt This is my story (Part 2)
- I favorited a @YouTube video http://t.co/F3PI8QLn This is my story (Part 1)
- I liked a @YouTube video http://t.co/F3PI8QLn This is my story (Part 1)
- Jay-Z Reveals Past Pregnancy Struggles, Miscarriage in "Glory" | http://t.co/q5bOiKNh http://t.co/ZdNKiYsV via @modernmom #fb
- Windows Server Engineer Position available in Arlington, Texas (Direct Hire). Let me know if you are interested...
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Tweets
- "Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances." - Maya Angelou
- @zumba choreography tonite. R U ready to @shakejumpmove! Get ready! Classes start Feb 13th in Carrollton! Follow me 4 more info! #fb
- Ask the Experts: Maintain Healthy Hair While Breaking a Sweat http://t.co/Ru24GKKW via @AddThis
- "Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street." - Zig Ziglar http://t.co/hfjZAoZr
- oh, @hootsuite, how i have missed thee :-) time to get back to twitterland again.
- time to "get in the groove" are you ready to kick off your weekends right with #Zumba on Fridays @ 6 :-) follow me @shakejumpmove #fb
- It's a Janet Jackson day! Who will cube dance with me to IF! I know you know the steps because I do :-)
- teach your children to love and not hate. this is a sad video that all must watch. http://ht.ly/5Zjn1
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Posts
- Jun 08, 11Princess Liyah had her second dance recital of her life. She was so nervous, which was a shock to me and her dad. I am so happy to be a Dance Mom now that I had to inflict my organizational madness on my little one and her dance friends.
Here are the ingredients for an almost perfect recital survival kit:I missed a few things, so I will have to update the list for the many more recitals and performances that I will be attending as a Dance Mom, and probably a Dancer again :-)- Bobby Pins
- Safety Pins
- Clear Nail Polish
- Dance Makeup
- Bottle of water
- Costume Cover-up - this was the cutest creative thing at the recital because most of the dancers had their dad's dress shirts on as cover-ups.
Princess helped me create them, and we had a great time. All of the girls in her classes loved them, and they actually used them at dress rehearsal and recital. The recital bag and fabric markers gave the girls something to do while waiting their turn to "strut their stuff" on the stage. Everything else are essentials, and every dancer will have to agree with me.If you have other items that should go in the Recital Survival Kit, please share them with me by sending an email to katinya@kkldesigns.com. - Mar 22, 11Our beautiful nieces came to visit us this year with Grandma, and here is a view into our week of blessings.
- Mar 22, 11Originally posted on 2/7/2011At
12:34 pm, 12:37 pm 6 years ago today, my little girl came into this world. I am guessing my water broke Saturday night due to teaching dance at church on Saturday, but we will never know. I do know that she was tired of being thrown around inside because SuperMommie didn't stop teaching around that time. So, we went into labor the morning of Super Bowl Sunday, and she decided to make her debut Monday afternoon. It was such a blessed event, and I am so glad that God gave us this blessing to raise.Sorry, but this is a re-post. I had to post this on Facebook first because Blogspot was not working on her birthday :-( Time to shift to Wordpress :-) - Feb 18, 11I have so many friends and family going through the whirlpool of jumping in and out of the corporate workforce. It's the hardest thing that I can think of for anyone, no matter the age, color, or gender.
- Resume Tips for returning to work
Forced to return to the workforce - Work Life Balance
- Working Mothers Tips for Getting Back into the Job Market
- Moms heading back to the workforce
older articlesAbsence of a career and the economy - Resume Tips for returning to work
- Sep 27, 10Like so many mothers out there, I was a dancer in a former life. It is hard to think that it has been almost 20 years since I was in an organized dance/drill team. This month marked the 20 year reunion for my Big Sis, Jenny Hunter Billman. She was the Head Dance Captain, I might add, of the World Famous Tyler Junior College Apache Belles!!
I had the pleasure of spending the day with the Belles all day long. They had a wonderful Belle Babe workshop for the morning, so my little girl was able to participate.
Then, I met up with The Sophomores from my Freshman year. The Apache Belles now have a wing in the nicest dorm that I have ever seen. I know that every school has some type of tradition. Ours is to perform "The Rim" to open up the game. This is just phenomenal, and here is My Big Sis doing the rim with her classmates and other Belle Gold members.I am so glad that I was able to go back and experience Apache Belles all over again :-) - Aug 23, 10Believe it or not, I didn't cry today. It was so beautiful to be able to see Princess Liyah off to school today at her very first day of school and watch her go into the classroom to find her seat. She loved it, but I am sure that I was more excited to hear about her day than she was to tell me this evening.
I hurried home today in order to hear everything, and it was like pulling teeth to get information. I finally gave up because I was disturbing her afternoon movie with The Twizzles :-) - Aug 19, 10I have been a long time Googler from Gmail, to Google Notebook, to Google Apps, to Google Website Optimizer. You name it, I use it. I am very anti "Borg", so it is hard for me to do this kind of thing.I have been pretty successful with this mentality with other "Big Brother" groups like, Apple and Microsoft. I don't have an iPhone or iPad, but I do have an iPod Nano which is like 3rd generation, and I got it FOR FREE! I use Open Office and Portable Apps the majority of the time.So, when it comes to Google, it just keeps coming back as the best tool of the 21st Century. I don't even know where to start to explain all of the tools that Google provides (FREE OF CHARGE) that help me on a daily basis. And, I keep "assimilating" people on a daily basis to cross over to the Google Side.Here is the latest, "Gotta Have It" tool. Google Forms Do you have a non-profit, school, organization, family group that needs a simple place to communicate and receive feedback at a whim without becoming a web developer to do it. Google Forms are for you. In your Google Docs, now there is a choice to create a form. You can make this form look so professional and place it on any website that you want. It is so sweet, just take a minute to check it out.The Google Forms is listed on the What's New page for Google Docs. Be sure to bookmark/rss that page and check it out frequently.Wait, here is another one that I will blog about later. Google & Real Estate Finally Get Married... Oh, and I have another one :-) you get the picture. Check Google out!
- Aug 11, 10Trying to make time to read is so hard. My inbox is always full of articles that I think I have to read to help my blessings grow to be the best upstanding citizens that they can be. One of the newsletters that I have received for almost 6 years now is BabyCenter. They sent me 4, I mean 5 in one shot that I MUST READ, so I think you should as well :-) I am going to try an old-fashioned non-eco friendly way and print these articles this time around. If I get my dream phone, I will just load them in my Mobile Google Reader (speak it to make it come true right?)
Best Regards,
Techie Mommie - Aug 09, 10
POTUS was at my alma mater today, here is a snapshot of it Twitpic - Share photos on Twitter
- Aug 04, 10
- Aug 03, 10I believe this and Christmas are my favorite times of the year. I love getting my blessings organized for the school year. I know, you don't have to say it "WEIRDO!" Those that know me well, know that I have always been this way. Organized for life ◕‿◕ Well, whatever to you because mine will be the best organized blessings in the schools ◕‿◕
Anyway, I have been finished for a while now buying school supplies because finding the best deal is the fun part for me. I love getting the cute stuff, name brand stuff, state-of-the-art stuff all at a great price. I know that some people haven't even had a moment to start thinking about school supplies, let alone shopping for them.
Since you may not have started yet, I have a few tips and some great sites to share with you.- Your Retail Helper blog has a posting about the Tax Free weekends listed by state. I always forget when this weekend occurs each year. Some times I am just too excited to wait, HA!
- My Dallas Mommy blog has a posting about the best deals. It is a great list of all the different supplies out there, and the best place to buy that item like crayons.
Speaking of crayons. I noticed on my 2nd blessings supply list that her school wants only name brand supplies. I remember this from my oldest blessing's supply list, but elementary was a long time ago. I vividly remember now buying her the best supplies, and then all of those supplies going into the general bin in the classroom. Then, my blessing would always get someone's off brand supplies to use for her assignments, and they would always break or something like that. I am getting perturbed about it all over again while writing this, so here are my solutions:- Buy more supplies than you need. The list doesn't say that those supplies are the maximum. They only show a minimum. I buy a few extra 25 cents crayons, and send them all to the school. That way the teacher can hopefully put out all the best quality supplies for our blessings to use each day.
- Make sure you are buying name brand. Now, I know this can be a bit pricey, but if you use the links above, you should be fine. The school specifically asked for name brand because of the poor quality of the other brands. I have bought off brand in the past, and I end up having to buy double of those instead of buying one set of the name brand. Where is the saving in that?
- Check for the word WASHABLE. So, the other thing that I noticed about the school supply list is that it said WASHABLE. Notice that the WASHABLE crayons, markers, and pencils are not the cheap ones. They cost almost double the regular supplies. Read the box, the non-washable ones are harder to get out of clothes and off fingers. We found that out on Saturday. It took until Monday for the colors to come off without SCRUBBING MY BLESSINGS TO DEATH ◕‿◕
Happy Back to School Season!Techie Mommie! - Jul 30, 10One of my co-workers was looking for some events that she and her blessing could attend. Not for sure why, but she asked me if I knew of any deals around town. Well, I told her not of the top of my head, but of course that got me to searching. Since, I found some sites specifically for events in the DFW area, I figured I would share them...
- Around Town Kids
- FamilyEguide - tailored for Flower Mound, Lewisville, and surrounding areas
- Metroplex Baby and Kids
- My DFW Mommy
- Todays Mama - DFW Events Page
If you have more sites that show local events, please share them. - Jul 28, 10I am ready to unveil yet another persona of myself. I am a new self proclaimed Q-pon Queen. Future (my hubby) mentions places to eat, places to shop, and so much more at home. Now, he pauses to wait for me to say "Hold on, I think I have a coupon for that". It's crazy; I feel that I am somewhat a little bit obsessed with coupons now. This has happened in the past, but it is just so much easier now to get them, organize them, and use them.
I am on so many rss feeds and twitter following for coupons and sales, it is crazy. Of course, it is all organized. In the near future, I will be making a list of the good coupon rss feeds, twitter accounts, and so much more. As I am typing this, I got an email about a new McDonald's in "my lovely place" have a grand opening this week.McDonald's has Opened a NEW Store!
The O'Reilly Group McDonald's has opened their very first store in Frisco! Come help them celebrate with deals, deals & deals!
Get your FREE Burger on Thursday July 29th or a FREE Sausage Biscuit on Friday July 30th. Just bring the coupon by clicking on the link below. No other purchase necessary!!Where: McDonald's @ 6225 Custer Rd, Frisco (near Starbucks just north of Highway 121)
Some Coupon and Sales Sites - Jul 23, 10I use this all the time, and have been sharing it for years thanks to my hubby. Did you know that you could text someone's phone from your email account? Yes, seriously. The mobile phone providers have provided (of all things) a way for us to incur more texting charges by offering email addresses to text to our phones. GET OUT! The one thing to remember is the character limitations of each provider. Remember to keep your texts short if you don't have unlimited texting.
I was going to cut and paste this information from the sites that have the lists, and then I changed my mind. I am not one to keep updating information especially in blogs. I am just going to list the TOP 4 here, and click on the links below if your provider is not listed.
Service Providers and Email Address
AT&T - 10digitphonenumber@txt.att.net
Metro PCS - 10digitphonenumber@mymetropcs.comSprint PCS - 10digitphonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.comT-Mobile - 10digitphonenumber@tmomail.netVerizon - 10digitphonenumber@vtext.comLists- http://www.emailtextmessages.com/
- http://www.livejournal.com/tools/textmessage.bml?mode=details
- http://www.pcmech.com/article/text-messaging-via-email/
Happy Texting! - Aug 16, 10"She gets out of the car, grabs her purse, keys, and coffee. She walks into the building and never looks back. At lunch, she realizes something is wrong and runs to her car. Her child is in the back seat near death or dead because she forgot to drop him/her off at daycare."
This statement hurts me every time that I read it in the news. It seems to prevalent these days. It's like we have placed value on the wrong things. We have been given the privilege to raise blessings. We have been given the privilege of taking care of a precious life that is not our own. Why can't we realize this is a privilege and not just another chore?
I cry as I type this because it disturbs me so much that I can't even hold back the emotion. An acquaintance of mine went through this over a year ago in the winter, and it still haunts me to this day. It's not just hot cars, but cold cars as well. I pray that God helps me to come to grips with what the little 7-month old blessing went through in that car all by himself for too long. I roll EVERY window down even when I am filling up the car with my blessings in the car just to look at them. I keep the air conditioner on as well because I can't fathom this
I follow a lot of Mom Blogs, and MomLogic just posted a Babies Left in Hot Cars article. Please take a moment to read this.
Here is another article by Parenting.com which has some good tips to IMPLEMENT! Tragedy in the Back Seat
Here is a new article about blessings in hot cars from The Kid's Doctor. - Jul 02, 10I hope you enjoy Aaliyah's firt dance rehearsal and dance recital. This is the first of many more to come (if she wants).
- Jun 10, 10I call my last pregnancy "Spontaneous Combustion" because we could not get pregnant (like we were both pregnant, but anyway). So, before the doctor started to prescribe alternative methods, she told me to do one thing. GAIN WEIGHT! I am a little embarassed to say that because so many people usually have to lose weight before getting pregnant. Long story short - about 2 and a half months later, we were pregnant with TWINS :-) Then, a couple of months after that we found out that they were two boys. Oh Joyful Day!
Future Angelo Lilly III and Frederick Douglas Lilly III were born five weeks early because Frederick decided he needed more space. His water broke, and I had a C Section about three hours later.The Twizzles are about 2.5 in this shot. Go to their blog to see more of my blessings. - Jul 17, 10This is one of my favorite TED videos. It is so poignant, and meaningful for any era.
Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com - May 24, 10Someone asked me recently how I am able to do all that I can do each day. I answered with "I have a bunch of Greats: Great Husband, Great Family, Great Company, Great Tools". Each of these greats is so true.
We were hit with the Economy Bust last year, so my husband became a SAHD (Stay-at-home Dad). It has really grown on him, and we have so many kids that it is completely "Daddy Day Care" at our house each day.
My Great Family includes two girls, two boys that are twins, 20+ aunts and uncles, and numerous 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cousins. We are all pretty close, and Facebook, Picasa, and distribution lists allow us to keep up that closeness. On Facebook, we have a closed Facebook Group. Most of us have gmail accounts (especially the photographer people), so we share our images through Google Picasa. Then, I use Google Apps for my domain management. Through there, I set up distribution lists of all kinds for everything under the sun. Can you keep up with e-mail addresses and phone numbers for everyone? Neither can I. I set up a Calendar and Address Book template that you can use to put your families contact information including birthdates in one file.
Template 1
Template 2
I work for one of the greatest companies in North America. Our CEO could never be on "Undercover Boss" because we know him too well. It is an airline company in Dallas, and we LUV everybody. That's all that I am going to say.
I have so many tools to make my day easier. I have a not-so-great smart phone, but waiting and saving for something better. I have great Firefox and Google Add-ons that keep me "connected" each day. And, I follow cool people and companies on Twitter so that I can stay abreast of the latest tools out there. I am going to start sharing my favorite ones soon. As I am writing this, I realize that tools have taken on a whole new meaning in 2010 for me. Used to be, tools were for the cars and trucks in the yard. Since my dad had only me, I was the daughter/son in the house. It was great to learn how to fish, hunt, change the oil, and so much more. It really helped me later in life.
How many Greats do you have? - May 21, 10I have been on a journey for a pretty long time now to find a smart smart-phone that fits my needs. I am a wife and mother first, and then i am a techie power house. This means that I am hard on a phone, so it needs to keep up with me.I just can't make a decision on such a big part of my life :-)Here is my current choice list (current meaning this hour because this changes as the wind changes):- Nokia N8 - http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/04/27/the-nokia-n8-nokias-new-flagship-phone-is-official/
- HTC Everything - http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/05/20/htc-desire-incredible-android-2-2-froyo/
- iPhone - really don't like the touch screen, so let's not even add a link to that one
- Palm - seriously, I was the biggest advocate. Now, not so much :-(Here are my needs:- good phone reception
- 5MP camera or better
- HD video capable
- 16GB memory at least
- Android or Windows OS or ?
- Touchscreen
- Vibrate, Bluetooth, Wifi - these have to be standard by now
- Keyboard is mandatory
- All of my e-mail accounts visible seemlessly
- and so much more...Signed,Disappointed with my choices
Well, I just found this article the day that I finally put up this blog entry. My list above is already old. Image Gallery: Top 10 smartphones of 2010 ... for now - May 21, 10Parents and Kids Go Online Together on Togetherville
This is worth looking into considering our children are so exposed already to the Internet. Why not be there with them, together? - May 17, 10It is really sad when you dream that you finished a blog post. I thought that I wrote 'Happy Mother's Day', and I realized a week later that I didn't. OMG! that is just ridiculous. I am wound up in organization, and "can't see the forest for the trees" right now.
I had a pretty good Mother's Day weekend considering so many other things. All of the ladies in the house got pedicures on Saturday, then I worked in the daycare at church on Sunday. I know, shouldn't I have taken off on Sunday. Of Course Not! After church, we went to P.F. Chang's for Lunch/Dinner/Supper, whatever you call it. It was great! I made reservations the week prior, and I never think in advance for myself. Only for others. Anyway, we walked in and the line was out the door. I went up to the hostess, and they sat us immediately. We are 10 minutes early, and the table was ready. Isn't that fabulous? My 2nd mother felt so special (mother-in-law). She was so proud of me. I shock her all the time with that kind of stuff. I just keep thinking, I was brought up right.We had a great lunch. The children loved everything, and we had a big to-go bag to boot.
Then, we went home and took a nice long nap. My little girl had to nap with Mommie, and she refuses naps altogether. I really felt special then. - May 04, 10I am such a "techie snob" that it was harder for me to decide on a smart phone than having more blessings. Wouldn't you know it, I would have 2 blessings at once? Anyway, right now I am struggling to make this decision: Buy a digital camcorder with high-res still image capability, or a digital camera with good video capability. I have been searching from November to May. This is just utterly ridiculous, but I must trek on :-)
More details to come on what I find...
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Posts
- Dec 14, 11
Dad: Future it's your turn to pick a movie.
Frederick: Chronicles
Dad: No Frederick, it's Future's turn to choose.
Future: Umm Umm
Frederick: Airbender
Dad: No Frederick, Future chooses or I will choose.
Frederick: Future says he wants to watch Chronicles.
NOTE: Remember that Future only said Umm, Umm. So, did Future tell Frederick by Twizzlemosis, ESP, or what?
Twins, Gotta Love 'em! - Nov 19, 11Happy 4th Birthday to Future Angelo Lilly III and Frederick Douglas Lilly III! We are so blessed to have you in our lives!
First thing in the morning, they had to have a present yesterday instead of waiting until their birthday. I am so happy that they picked the same book at the Book Fair this week, and they were not together when they chose them. - Sep 11, 11
Thank you to all that have sacrificed for our freedom. And, God Bless to those families and friends of those that lost their lives on 9/11. This Day of Remembrance makes me thank God for the Blessings that I have (big and small).
- Jul 23, 11Hello, My name is Katinya, and I am a cup addict. Yes, I said cup addict. My hubby has been telling me this, and I kept denying this truth. I just bought another set of water bottles for Princess Liyah and The Twizzles. And, as I was walking out the door, I said "I might have a problem." This time was different because Princess Liyah said "Look Mom, these are in our colors." She fed my lovely sensation, and I had to buy them.
When The Twizzles were born, we "color coded" them. Future Angelo Lilly III is Blue, and Frederick Douglas Lilly III is Green. You heard me correct. Most snack cups, plates, clothes, toys, you name it. I labeled my blessings. Of course, The Princess would love all things PINK considering that was a color that I never wanted for her. Her baby colors were Green and Yellow. That didn't last long. Everyone liked her in Pink, so they bought her Pink. Now, she would wear Pink every day of her life if she could.
Here is my latest obsessive find for my blessings. They are water bottles and snack cups in one. They have a strap on them just becuase. But the best part are the colors - BLUE, GREEN, AND PINK! I don't think that anyone or anything can help my addiction, but I have always heard that if you tell someone, that will help you get over it. NOT!!!
If you have a problem like me, stop by The Dollar Tree for these cute little cups. And, pick up some $1 color t-shirts while you are there. Not just any kind of t-shirts, but Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, and Gildan t-shirts. - Jun 08, 11I put on the cape this morning and took three of my blessings to work with me for Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day. It was so much fun, and here is our day.We had just gotten to work very very early.I just upgraded to an Android, so I had to take a snapshot of them in front of TI Android.They haven't seen this movie yet, but I had to take the shot anyway.Child labor laws do not come into play on this day, so we had them "creating" motherboards :-)All 3 took a break in my office before lunch.Off to lunch with our new toys.We had to stop by one more table before lunch. My Budding Scientists!Lunch in the cafeteria.Thanks so much to Texas Instruments for the wonderful opportunity today to have a wonderful day with my blessings at work.We left for home after lunch, and the best snapshot that I missed was seeing the snoring blessings in the car on our way home. I wish I could have had a nap like them.
- Apr 11, 11School is just wonderful! Last week, we had our first homework assignment for The Twizzles. It was so much fun to work with the boys designing "F" vests for their "Letter Parade" at school. We had to find items that start with the letter F.Frederick is "reading" to Future one morning before school. It was just so cute, I had to share.Here is Future coloring his letter F.I thought that Kindergarten homework was fun, but Early Childhood School homework is SO MUCH BETTER ;-)Frederick is coloring his letter F.Here they are taking each others colors every time that I turn my head to finish my part of this homework assignment.I loved the part of searching for graphics online to print for them and stick on the F vests.Here is Future being so serious with his homework assignment, while sticking the pictures on his F vest.Aaliyah didn't want them to have all of the fun, so she helped me cut the graphics for them to stick. I am so glad that their names both start with the letter "F" :-)
- Mar 22, 11Saturday mornings usually start with someone crying. I just knew that would not be the case today with the time change. No luck, Twizzle #1 (Future) has completely adjusted to the time change, Lucky Him! So, I decided to join him in his tiny Cars bed to see if he would go back to sleep. Big mistake because Future took that as 'Rare Cuddle Time with Mommy'. I couldn't blame him. Just me and him is rare. So, he started making too much noise (typical), and Twizzle #2 started to squirm in his bed. Now, it means 'Rare Moments with The Twizzles'. So, we grab some clothes and head downstairs for breakfast with just us 3. I always forget to capture these moments, but I know there is going to come a day when we are all up before daylight headed out to soccer, football, baseball fields and dance competitions with Big Sis. So, here is a snapshot of our Typical Blue Green breakfast. My twins are pretty much color coded. Twizzle #1 gets blues everything, and Twizzle #2 get green everything. I will have to share about that simple organizational tool another day :-)
- Feb 18, 11
- Dec 14, 10Thanks to contributing authors Emily and Kathleen for the following article.
A key to surviving in a troubled economic system in which opportunities to achieve a decent standard of living will be limited, is versatility. Of course another being, the ability to communicate articulately in a variety of ways with the widest possible audience. This includes bilingual ability as well as the ability to communicate in non-verbal ways for the benefit of the disabled – primarily the deaf.
At the same time, a growing shortage of qualified interpreters fluent in American Sign Language has led to more career opportunities – and if current trends continue, it's likely that skilled ASL interpreters will have little problem securing lucrative employment in a society where such a commodity is destined to be in short supply.
Signing Before They Can Speak
A great deal of research has clearly demonstrated that the early years – ages 2 to five – are the best time to educate children in different modes of communication and language. This goes beyond the spoken word (though it is an optimal time for children to learn a second language); many young children have an aptitude for signing as well. This can be taught at home or some child care programs have begun to teach it in their curriculums.
This really isn't as odd as you may think. As you may already know, many indigenous peoples around the world, including American Indian nations, have used sign language for centuries to facilitate communication with other tribes with whom they do not share a language. Some paleontologists and anthropologists theorize that Neanderthals – who apparently lacked the vocal mechanism to produce many spoken words – depended a great deal upon hand gestures to communicate.
In fact, recent research suggests that sign language is innate. An article published in the Boulder Daily Camera in 2003 presented strong evidence that babies as young as six months old communicate with their hands:
"...by 6 to 7 months, babies can remember a sign. At eight months, children can begin to imitate gestures and sign single words. By 24 months, children can sign compound words and full sentences. They say sign language reduces frustration in young children by giving them a means to express themselves before they know how to talk." (Glarion, 2003)
A study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is also cited, demonstrating that young children who are taught sign language at an early age actually develop better verbal skills as they get older. The ability to sign has also helped parents in communicating with autistic children; one parent reports that "using sign language allowed her to communicate with her [autistic] son and minimized his frustration...[he now] has an advanced vocabulary and excels in math, spelling and music" (Glarion, 2003).
The Best Time To Start
Incorporating sign into pre-verbal youngsters early childhood education as a way to communicate can also strengthen the parent-child bond – in addition to giving children a solid foundation for learning a skill that will serve them well in the future. The evidence suggests that the best time to start learning ASL is before a child can even walk – and the implications for facilitating the parent-child relationship are amazing.
Co-written by Emily Patterson and Kathleen Thomas
Emily and Kathleen are Communications Coordinators for the Austin child care facility, a member of the AdvancED® accredited family of Primrose Schools (located in 16 states throughout the U.S.) and part of the network of child care preschools delivering progressive, early childhood, Balanced Learning® curriculum. - Nov 19, 10It was a great day on November 18, 2010. The Twizzles woke up, and had their first day of school.The school is so beautiful. Of course, they walked in they had been going to school there for months. I wanted to be there so bad, but SuperDad took so many pictures for me to relive the whole thing.After their long first day of school (3 hours), we had cupcakes for them waiting at home. Some people think The Twizzles have beautiful BIG eyes. Seeing those eyes looking at the cupcakes were the cutest thing.
- Oct 29, 10This has a been a week of medical acronyms that makes me so happy to have a very attentive husband and a Biomedical Engineer as my best friend. Techie baby woke up about a week ago in pain. His legs were hurting really bad, and he couldn't walk much at all. It really alarmed us! He was on some new decongestant medication, so we thought that it was related to that. We stopped that medication, and gave him ibuprofen every 8 hours to combat the pain. By Sunday, blotches began to appear on his legs, and he was scratching like crazy. This made me very alarmed, so I started to research. I found an illness called purpura (bleeding under the skin), and I really didn't want to believe it so I stopped researching. I called the doctor first thing on Monday, and all of my men went off to the doctor's appointment while I was at work. My husband promptly called me to tell me ITP was the initial diagnosis. ITWHAT! ITP is idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or immune thrombocytopenic purpura, and the first word has a definitions that no one wants to hear about any illness - without apparent cause; describes a disease or disorder that has no known cause. Can you believe that? This was not what I wanted to hear on the call. So a solution of steriods is pretty much the only solution. Oh, and OTC pain killers which we were doing already.
At least there was an outcome and a solution, but it was a bit much to digest for a Monday morning. We just kept him comfortable the whole day. So, by Tuesday morning, his left eye was almost swollen shut. I thought maybe a bite, and my husband thought maybe he got something in his eye that irritated it. We started the pain killer routine, and he started to move around like his independent self. By Wednesday morning, he woke up with 3 or so huge bumps all over his head. And, it seemed that he didn't have his balance when he tried to walk. That sent me into SuperMommie mode. We started packing up for a day at the hospital. I sent off necessary emails and texts to make sure people knew what was going on, and sent prayer requests to my warriors. We took Aaliyah to Kindergarten and headed off to the hospital.
When we made it to the emergency room, the initial nurse says if his doctor mentioned HSP as a possibility. We just looked at each other. Then, the doctor comes in and says the same thing. We were dumbfounded, and started researching. I emailed my best friend, and Future started researching on his phone. HSP is Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP, Anaphylactoid Purpura), and they both said that this is exactly what Frederick was going through over the past few weeks or so. Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a form of blood vessel inflammation or vasculitis. Classically, HSP causes skin rash, pain in the abdomen, and joint inflammation (arthritis). Symptoms usually last approximately a month. Recurrences are not frequent but do occur.
After hearing this, we were a little relieved, but still scared of the acronyms. Frederick had a CAT scan and was hooked up to an IV. He didn't like any of that, and I knew that it was going to be tough. This is a little blessing that has to be fully dressed at all times with even his socks and shoes most days. For him to just be in underwear with no pool or bath tub was very unnerving. He finally calmed down after a few minutes of fits, and then he immediately went to sleep in the hospital. Future and I were relieved again to see him resting comfortably.
Another hour goes by, and the doctor comes back to visit with results. "Viral Infection" is what he and our pediatrician felt was going on. The viral infection was triggering his body's inflammatory system to react everywhere. The inflamed spots were his head, joints, feet, and possibly his ears (Future figured that one out). All of this means, yet another treatment plan of just pain killers.
I am so happy that God always has a plan. For the past two months, we have had a lot of ups and downs because of Techie Baby's body just not treating him right. This is how God's plan works. We started the process of getting The Twizzles in school recently. One of those appointments for qualifying for school resulted in a bad hearing exam for Techie Baby. That hearing exam started a series of appointments that resulted in this viral infection. If we wouldn't have gotten the bad hearing exam, then we may not have known until too late that whatever virus was taking over our blessing's body. Thank you God for all that you do! - Sep 04, 10How many of you are as blessed as I am? I have four wonderful blessings, bringing up the rear are The Twizzles. Being my SuperMommie self, my Saturdays are filled with errands, cleaning, washing, organizing, etc. My blessings are following in my footsteps.
I started off the day with pillow fluffing and sweeping. Before I knew it The Twizzles decided they wanted to vacuum and sweep. Princess Liyah wanted to fluff, and my oldest, Tonee, had already starting blessing us with her culinary arts of cooking breakfast and cleaning the kitchen. Giving your blessings these skills early can seem to be breaking child labor laws to some, but I think that if you don't teach your blessings early how to- Help you and your family by giving a helping hand,
- Showing that you love your family by giving a helping hand,
- Being a productive citizen at home and in the real word by doing your part,
- Earn respect and achievement by giving a hand instead of having a hand out
they will not be productive in life, and feel that they are entitled to things instead of feeling that they have earned things. I really have an issue withblessingschildren feeling that they are entitled for things instead of trying to work for it. You see I changed my normal word to children. When they are doing the steps above, I consider them blessings. - Aug 04, 10The Twizzles, and the rest of the family, went on our first fishing trip in July along with Grandpa of course. Dad has only been fishing once, so Grandpa, was "teacher of the year" this day. He was so excited to share something he loves to much with his grandkids. I used to go when I was little, but it has been a long time for me. I was so excited about this that we had to run to Wal-Mart of all kinds of gear on Friday night. Grandpa laughed so hard on Saturday when he saw all of it.Both boys taking turns with the fishing pole.Future smiling a little too hard.Frederick not understanding why a picture is needed.Aaliyah running to me to get bread so that she can feed the ducks. Yes, she dropped her special princess fishing pole to the ground fast to come feed the ducks. HILARIOUS!It was a great Saturday for everyone, and I have been told that everybody is getting fishing pole so that we can do this all over again. Question: who is going to put the night crawler on the hook? We'll see how many run away from that job :-)
- Jun 09, 10We had a great photo session with Kechi of Kechimage. Here are a few shots of The Twizzles at 2 and a half in their first professional photo shoot. Aren't they cute! There are many more to come like this.
- May 12, 10Our little blessings are officially men. Talkie Baby aka Future is now trying to potty standing up. I was not ready for this, but I figured it would be him. He was first to "master" potty training. Now, I need someone to buy me a really big house that has two toilets in every bathroom right next to each other. And, I am not talking about a bidet. I need full toilets :-) so they can sit side-by-side, and sing to each other. Someone, please tell me why singing on the toilet is therapeutic to my blessings.
Now, on to our Typical Twizzle Day. Usually, when I get home from work, I try to drop everything, and start teaching/playing/coloring/dancing/talking with the blessings (all three). Princess Liyah makes me look good online :-) She takes care of my pets in Fishville and Petsville. I have found something that we both can do together. I am really teaching her how to navigate through a computer with a mouse, trackball and everything. It is just facinating to see her use the computer, and the best part is to be asked "Are the fish hungry today?" when I get home.
This is what the Twizzles do :-) They lay on the couch backwards waiting on the camera to snap. Gotta love them.
- Apr 21, 10Less than a month after his brother, Frederick decided that it was his turn to be potty trained. The wild part is that both of them were potty trained before their big sister was potty trained. Happy Raise to our household budget now.Here is Future's Potty Award (March 28):
Welcome to the Potty Awards. And the Award goes to Future Angelo Lilly III aka Talkie Baby aka Twizzle #1 aka Frick aka Goodness aka Blessing #3 for his accomplishment of BEING POTTY TRAINED! He would like to thank his Dad Future first and foremost because without him, he couldn't have done it. He would also like to thank his big sister and his mom for their "encouragement".
Here is Frederick's Potty Award (April 11th):We are back from our commercial break to the Potty Awards. The Award goes to Frederick Douglas Lilly III aka Techie Baby aka Twizzle #2 aka Frack aka Gracious aka Blessing #4 for BEING POTTY TRAINED! He would like to thank his Dad Future first and foremost as well. And thanks to his Mom Katinya for helping him "get his point across" since his Techie language has not been translated yet for us mere mortals. - Mar 30, 10We have one down and one to go. Can you imagine this? We have been battling with The Twizzles to use the pottys that are dead center in the living room. Frederick will go as long as you FORCE him to sit on the pot. Future thinks that it is just "blasphemy" that we would ask him to relieve himself on such a thing, or so we thought.Of course everyone says that twins have their own language. Well, that doesn't work for parents during potty training. We were not getting the signs that Future was giving for about a week until we had to travel this weekend. By the morning that we were about to travel for 2 1/2 hours back home, we got it! He finally trained us.Future only wanted to sit on the potty when he really needed to go. He didn't want to sit on there all the time. (check: we got it) Also, the circumstances have to be optimal to allow him to go. (check: we got that one as well) So, on Saturday and Sunday, Future Angelo Lilly III had only 1 accident, and it was not his fault.To a 2 year old, day and night are the same. Accident 1: he woke up around 3 in the morning squirming like crazy in the bed with us. We thought he was having night terrors. Finally he stopped squirming, and then a warm feeling came across me. I jumped up and apologized to him over and over because he had an accident. Then, I changed him, me, and part of the bed, and we went back to sleep. We have been teaching them to let us know when they need to "go". That means day or night. After changing him at 4 in the morning, he didn't wet his diaper again. It was dry for 1.5 more days. Then, it just couldn't be removed and put back on any more.While we were on the road, I just hoped that he wouldn't start squirming in his chair because we couldn't force him to go before we started driving. We were 10 miles away from home, and the squirming began. We went another 5 miles, and "hightailed" it into the nearest restaurant. Dad took him to the restroom. When they came out, we were jumping, screaming, and congratulating him all the way to the car. This is a small feat to some, but monumental to a parent that would love a Diaper Raise in their pocketbook.Now, on to Twizzle #2 who is perfectly fine sitting on the pot all day long. So, the differences in them is that Future aka Baby A aka Talkie Baby can clearly say "I need peepee." Frederick aka Baby B aka Techie Baby would just as soon text you that information than tell you. I guess I need to get him a cell phone through his turn at potty training.
- Mar 16, 10Frederick and Future were dedicated to the Lord on Sunday, March 14th. They were so overwhelmed by the lights, people, and everything. We have seen many blessings get dedicated in the past, and some had "melt downs" on stage. I prayed that we didn't have any of that for us. We didn't, but I swear they looked like "deers in headlights".
- Mar 11, 10My kiddos have had "cabin fever" this whole winter basically because TEXAS HAD IT'S FIRST FEVER IN AGES this year. That just really didn't sit well with this "Summer Baby" over here. At the first "crack" of good weather, I took all of the kids to the park for a few minutes in between errands. It was so much fun to see all of them running around and playing. I never thought that the Twizzles would be running around as much as they did. I really have boys at home now. We got out of the car, and they almost immediately started running in opposite directions for the biggest slides that they could find. It was awesome to see how much fun they had. I almost hated to leave, but Princess Liyah decided she needed to "potty". We had no options there.
- Mar 02, 10I am really not used to having boys yet, and especially not having twin boys. "They are a handful" is an extreme understatement. What surprises me is the number of bumps, bruises, and booboos that two boys can get. We have had chipped teeth, busted lips (cut all the way through just last night), knots on their heads, and so much more; and they are only 27 months old. You would swear that we were inflicting pain intentionally on our children, and this is so not true. I was impelled to write this because my husband said a weird statement to me after we finally got the bleeding to stop last night. "They are going to get uglier." That has been playing over and over in my mind for the past 12 hours. I can't stop thinking about how I want their cherub faces to stay exactly like they are now. Oh well, Boys will be Boys.
- Feb 28, 10
I figure that most of you would say "Yes, but this is a Rated G Blog". Well, it is Rated G because it isn't what you think.
I went out of town for almost 3 whole days this past week. This was my first trip away from The Twizzles since I was carrying them. It was a little bit harder for me this time around than the past trips that I have taken, and I am not for sure why. I called them every night, but the last night they decided that they didn't want to talk on the phone. I was not a "happy camper" about that one bit, but then they finally got on the phone.
The cutest sound in the world is hearing your two babies saying, "Hewwo Mommie" in stereo. I loved it and hated it, so I was really ready to get home and hold them. I drove into the garage like normal, and I eased into the house without anyone hearing me. Then, I said "Mommie's Home". You would have thought that someone won a Gold at the Olympics. They started screaming and yelling my name. Then, I was licked... Frederick (Techie Baby) grabbed my neck and started chanting "Up Up Up". Then, I felt a weird sensation. Future (Talkie Baby) grabbed my leg, and started to lick me. I can't even explain it, but I think that he was acting as a doggie before I got home is all that I can imagine. It was hilarious because he licked my leg, arm, face, and then I finally got him to stop.
Suffice it to say, getting licked in this fashion was fantastic. - Feb 11, 10Well, we started potty training when the Twizzles turned 2. It has been an big roller coaster with them considering they are so individual. One could sit on the potty for almost a whole hour without letting out anything, while the other one "let's it all out".
We made headway by accident this week. The boys sat on the potties for about 30 minutes or so. Since they didn't "produce" anything, I decided to let them take a bath. I didn't want to put a diaper on them to take them upstairs, so I decided to put them on underwear. Between the den and the tub upstairs, both had accidents in their underwear. They started screaming and crying as if they were hurting. It scared me at first because I couldn't tell if they were really hurting or not.
I talked to a few other mommies about this, and they all say the same thing. If we had known that the fact that our blessings being dirty would trigger the need to "potty" on a toilet, then I would have let them "roam free" a long time ago. I am okay with mopping for a few weeks if that would get me a raise by not buying diapers, I AM ALL FOR IT. - Jan 08, 10The Twizzles are officially talking. "Where is Momma?" was said by Baby Boy this morning. It was so clear, and it really makes you think about how good God is. They are almost 26 months old, and the sentences have not been too clear up until now. I can't imagine what the next couple of months are going to be like with two little people talking ALL DAY AND NIGHT. I mean, I have heard their discussions on the monitor at night, but now they will be coherent discussions in the dark. They are so funny because they are comfortable to play and talk in the dark. My aunt tried to get Baby Boy out of the washroom one day by "scaring" him. She thought that if she almost closed the door and turned out the light, he would cry and ask to come out. She got a completely the opposite response from him.
