Ohh The Madness!

And now, a few photos of my cute girls

2011-04-30T08:20:00.000-05:00

Charlotte Easter Bunny

Hannah Easter Bunny (In the backyard watching the turtles with Papa. I was lacking big time in the picture taking this year at Easter)

These are all pics of the girls in the "Magic Window." It's so hard to get pics of them together these days. Hannah is all about smothering her sister in kisses and hugs and it's hard to get her to pay attention to me or the camera. Actually that's pretty much the case for her in general...she's a pill when it comes to picture taking. Such a shame, cause she's so dang cute :)

So yeah, those are my adorable kiddos!! Pictures like this keep me from losing it on days like today when they decide to take turns driving me UP THE WALL!!!

The one where I talk about life and random stuff

2011-04-26T09:00:00.006-05:00

You know, I watched the show Friends for ages and it wasn't until recently that I realized that all the episode names start with "The one with/where." Not sure why that's significant, but there you have it.

The last few weeks have been a blur of life. Little Charlotte fits into our family like she's been here all along, but I'm still struggling to balance everyday responsibilities and life with a newborn. We also battled illness that swept though the house and affected every one of us in some form or fashion. I think that Hannah and I got the worst of it. Her with a case of croup, me with something akin in severity to the plague. I'm still not 100%, but thankfully I'm getting there.

It's amazing that somehow the first few weeks after Charlotte's arrival seemed easier than now. I'm not sure what's changed.

I have realized a great many things lately. First and foremost, I am raising two very different kids! In just 10 short weeks, Charlie has proven herself to be a drastically different kid. I'm not sure why, but I'm surprised by this! I guess I just thought that every squishy little newborn was pretty much the same for the first few months of life...not so much!

Seeing Hannah as a big sister has been quite amazing. She's so caring, albeit a little overbearing, and just adores her little sister. She runs to Charlie's rescue when she cries, constantly tries to give her binky to her when it falls out, brings her toys, sings to her, and always asks to hold her. I wasn't sure what to expect because I've seen and heard & seen some scary stuff in terms of big sibling/little sibling relationships. I think we lucked out! Sure, Hannah is a normal 2 1/2 year old and has her fair share of fits and terrible two-ness...but it's never directed to Charlotte and I'm extremely grateful for that.

It occurs to me that being a stay at home mom is much harder than I thought it would be. Not to be all whiny, but really, it is. It sounds great - all day home with my little ones with a giant tv, a computer, and more crafting items than I care to admit. However, it's also days filled with dishes needing to be done, mounds of laundry, and a never ending list of other chores. Not to mention, you know, the kid raising part. So yeah, waa waa and woe is me. I find that most days I don't even have the motivation to move from the couch. No exact reason why, just a lack of motivation I suppose. This usually results in days on end of the same ole same ole, and me looking back trying to figure out where my week has gone. It's like I have the desire to change things, but I just don't.

All of that sounded less depressing in my head.

There are nights when I'm up nursing Charlotte that I just sit and hold her and try to take in every moment I get to spend with her. I try to memorize every little detail because she's already growing so fast. I feel like I blinked and Hannah was two, and I worry the same will happen with Charlotte. Worry probably isn't the right word. I mean, I'm thrilled to see my children grow and learn because that's the goal, right? But a part of me is screaming to keep them tiny, sweet, and innocent forever. Guess I can't have both.

And now to switch gears completely - I'm thinking about making a switch to cloth diapers. Not because of a need to be "green" or anything tree huggerish like that, but rather because it just seems smart. And because, you know, washing poop out of diapers on a regular basis just sounds super fun. I still haven't decided 100% if I'm ready to make the switch for good. More like I'm sticking a toe in the water to see if it's the right choice for us. I don't feel like we spend a ton on diapers at the moment, but I suppose the money saving aspect will be nice as well. Right now, Hannah is getting to the point that she shouldn't be in diapers much longer, and Charlotte is in size 1-2 diapers which can be bought in boxes of a gajillion...so I don't think the change would seem very significant at the moment. But long run, sure, money saving. What I am starting to realize though, is that there are some hard core cloth diapering people out there. Hard. Core. Like crazy save the planet cloth diapering Nazis. I mean, it's great to have a cause and all, but some people might need to get a grip a little. Even if we make the switch, I don't plan to start ramming the idea down other people's throats...I know it's not for everyone. I just find it a little humorous that people can get so emotional over issues such as where a baby poops.

I seriously need to go do some clothes shopping. But here's the funny part - for the first time in my life, I DON'T WANT TO! I gained SOOO much weight when I was pregnant with Hannah. I'm pretty sure I wore maternity clothes for at least 6-8 months after I had her. For some reason though, I was ok with that because my maternity clothes still fit! It took me 6 months to lose the "baby weight" and then at least twice that many months before I was back to my normal weight. All in all I lost over 60 pounds. And you can bet your butt I was thrilled to go clothes shopping after that! This time around was so different for me. I didn't gain nearly the same amount of weight with Charlotte and at 10 weeks post baby, I'm within 10 pounds of my pre-baby weight. I should be sky writing that and doing a little happy dance. And yet I'm not. Because sure, the number went down, but my pre-baby shape is nowhere to be found. I was able to slip into non maternity jeans about 3 weeks after she was born. Sure, they were my "fat" jeans, but they were not maternity ones! I thought that had to be a good sign of wonderful fitting-back-into-my-old-clothes things to come. Well, those jeans are now WAY too big for me, however my normal jeans still don't fit. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle and it sucks. I don't really want to go out and buy new jeans either because I obviously would like to lose the rest of this weight (and maybe 5-10lbs more...) and just fit back into my old ones. So I decided to just go get a couple pairs to get me through this time of limbo...but I ended up leaving the store empty handed and frustrated. I tried on a size smaller than the "fat" pair that I can no longer wear...the were not even CLOSE to fitting - WAY too small. Umm, ok, next size up it is. Nope, still no luck. After the third pair, I was sincerely confused. I know that all jean companies are slightly different in sizing, but this was ridiculous!! For this particular brand, it seemed like I was going to have to get a size two numbers bigger than the pair I had at home that were too big. No way can they be THAT different...right? So, like I said, I just ended up leaving without buying anything and feeling rather misshapen and unhappy with myself. Of course not before I had to tear myself away from the yoga/stretchy pants section. Such simple sizes to choose from there, small, med, large, etc... AWFULLY tempting!! And don't even get me started on tops. Cause then I might just cry. So, in spite of the fact that I'm smaller (number wise) right now than I was the day I found out I was pregnant with Hannah....I'm pretty unhappy with my current "self." So what clothes have I been wearing? Lots of pj's when at home, and way to big maternity clothes when I have to leave. So I look perpetually pregnant. And lumpy.

I think I need to start setting goals for myself to help get through the day. That, and maybe not spend all day in pj's. Cause it's a little hard to be motivated to clean (or do anything else) when you're constantly dressed for bed. Or maybe that's just me.

Settling in

2011-02-24T09:24:00.003-06:00

With hubby back at work, I'm venturing in the two baby water alone this week. So far, nothing too catastrophic! (Knock on wood) At just over a week old, we're no where near any kind of schedule with Charlotte. So there's been a lot of "play it by ear" going on around here. Luckily, Hannah seems to be taking it well. I'd say she's ramped up her fit throwing just a bit, but other than that she doesn't seem to really be affected.

And now, I will show off pictures of my cute little peanut:

Here's hoping that we can get through this adjustment period soon and find whatever "normal" is going to be for us. I'm itching to finish up some craft projects that are up in the air!!

And then there were 4

2011-02-15T22:12:00.002-06:00

Charlotte Karene made her appearance this afternoon at 2:23pm.

Stats: 8lbs, 19 3/4 in. She was even kind enough to come out with a full head of hair, just like big sister!

We are so blessed to add another sweet baby to our family. While I don't think Hannah fully understands the situation, she seems to be smitten with "her" new baby. I know that the days ahead will bring many changes and sleepless nights, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Just so I'm not playing favorites...

2011-02-13T15:32:00.003-06:00

Here's the quilt I'm working on for Hannah's big girl bed:

It's made from fabric my MIL brought back from Hawaii (Kona cotton...how I love you!!!) I'm still deciding where to go from here. It's supposed to finish as a twin, so that means it needs a border to get it to the right size. Based on the dimensions, I'm leaning toward doing a double border. I know one color (most likely the inner) will be yellow, but I'm still debating the outer. Green maybe? And I'm also still thinking about the binding. I think once the two borders are done, picking a binding color will be much easier!

I'm really happy with how it's coming together though. The pattern is a bit hard to understand, but once I got it straight in my head, I was actually able to piece this whole top in just a couple hours. Hannah even helped with a little bit of the sewing! And, as has become the standard, Marshall decided the layout for the pieces. As I've mentioned, I have issues with "random" and it would take me AGES to get it just right.

So, if I stay on it, I might just get this one done before Charlotte makes her appearance. Since, you know, she's taking FOREVER and all. (In case anyone is keeping track...I'm 8 days away from my due date)

If you give a pregnant woman a cookie....

2011-02-10T12:15:00.003-06:00

She's going to look at you and say, "Whuck?! ONE cookie?!" Which is why you should at least bake a few dozen of these:

Chewy Chocolate Supreme Cookies:

This was supposed to be a knock off recipe for the Great American Cookie Co. chewy chocolate cookies I love so much. They're not exactly like them, but they're really yummy and pretty dang close!!!

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (I used *slightly* less than 2 sticks because I was worried about it making the cookies too flat. I cut 2 tsp. off the end of one stick)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3 cup mix-ins (chocolate chunks, chocolate chips, nuts, etc. Any combo that gets you three cups. I used 1 1/2 chocolate chunks, 1 1/2 white chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Mix flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl with a whisk.

3. Mix butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in mixer bowl until creamy.

4. Add eggs and mix.

5. Gradually stir in flour mixture.

6. Add 3 cups mix-ins; stir with wooden spoon to combine.

7. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls, two inches apart, onto UNGREASED cookie sheets.

8. Bake 12-17 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

My two cents: I found the "magic" baking time to be 16 minutes. However, I made my cookies a little on the large side. (Uncooked they were about 2 inches across) Also, you have to smush them down just a little before you bake them. If you leave them in lumps, they won't cook completely in the middle. My version got me about 28 cookies. Obviously you'd get more if you made them smaller. If you do make them smaller/larger, baking time should be adjusted accordingly.

One last note: I ate one or two (or 5) of these the next day, and they do get a little crunchy around the edges. The middle is still pretty soft, but just be warned that they won't stay completely soft. I find that if you dip them in milk, this little detail is unimportant. :)

Enjoy!!!

Because I like to brag....

2011-02-10T11:29:00.003-06:00

Check out the baby blanket (yes, ANOTHER one) that I made for Charlotte:

I was clueless as to what to back it with....till I found this black and white spotted fabric in my stash!

I love my scrappy binding! This was a sort of last minute decision...I had some small scraps left over and just couldn't bear to toss them, so I turned them into binding! It was a little bulky to work with because there we're many, MANY seams...and I know "technically" I should be using bias binding on an everyday use quilt...but the scrappy look makes me happy, mmk?

So now it's washed, folded, and ready for Charlotte to get here.
(Hear that Charlie dear, READY for YOU to GET HERE, NOW!!!!)

I'm actually pretty proud of this particular quilt for a couple reasons. One, because it's a pattern that I pretty much made up...which usually doesn't turn out well for me. (It's the whole math aspect...I'm not so good with the math) (Also, I'm not saying that I "invented" this pattern or anything...I just kind of compiled a few different ones I'd seen until I got the look I was going for) I'm also pretty happy about the fabric. This fabric and I have a bit of history together... A couple years back when I was in charge of the block for the Interfaith Quilting Bee, I had to teach a few classes on how to assemble the chosen pattern for that year. It was a crazy 9 patch block, which I thought was AWESOME. So to make things truly "crazy", I went to Joann's a grabbed a dozen fat quarters, each a completely different color and pattern. I then made a top using them to take with me as a display to all my classes. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with this particular combo of colors/fabrics! Since I only needed a 12 inch square from each fat quarter to make the crazy quilt, I had quite a bit left over. At the time I couldn't think of a project worthy of the remnants, so into my stash it went. Well, while organizing some fabric a little while back, I came across it again and decided that it needed to be used. So, from 13 fat quarters, I was able to make 2 lap/baby sized quilts!! (Yeah, it was only supposed to be 12 fat quarters, but remember the whole math thing? Apparently I miscounted and actually bought 13 that day!! Silly me!) And like I mentioned above, I used every scrap that I could!! (I'm even making a pot holder from the teensy bit that remained from trimming down this quilt. Once I get it finished, I'll post pics!)

So yeah, it's not the most amazing quilt or anything...but I don't expect that Charlotte will be much of a critic.

**End of shameless bragging**

Moda Love

2011-02-10T09:50:00.003-06:00

I have found a new fabric obsession: Moda prints! I know they've been around for a while, so I'm a little late jumping on the love train, but they're just awesome. I think the reason I never knew what I was missing is because the fabric store I normally shop at doesn't carry any of the Moda lines. (Bummer - I love my Joann's!)

However, I recently discovered the Moda Bake Shop and an obsession was born. Then my mom informed me that there IS a local quilt shop that DOES carry Moda....and my obsession grew. I went and spent about 45 minutes just wandering up and down the aisles, basking in the perfection of Moda prints. Of course, as awesome as their prints are, the price is a little higher than I normally pay for fabric. So, my Moda purchases will likely be a very special occasion, but I'm sure I'll go drool over them on a regular basis.

So, I guess until I find a big ole pile of money and buy a million miles of Moda...I'll settle for whipping up something cute from this Moda Jelly Roll I just won!!! (via Quilting in the Rain) According to UPS, it's going to be delivered today...I can't wait to find the perfect project to use it on!!!

It's February...so can I have this baby yet?!

2011-02-02T10:28:00.004-06:00

Fine. So I'm not really due till the 22nd. But I'm so done. Not to be a cliche, hormone crazy pregnant woman or anything, but seriously, I don't know how much more I can take.

Really, I shouldn't complain. But I'm gonna. I mean, we very much wanted this pregnancy. Very much. And once I got past all the pukiness, it's been a lot easier than my last go round. I haven't gained as much weight (probably from all the puking...but whatever) and I just haven't felt as worn out as I remember being last time. Of course, till now.

I can't sleep because a comfortable position no longer exists. I have trouble sitting for that matter, again with the uncomfortableness. And walking? Sharp stabby pains anyone?! And then there are the contractions....many, many, MANY contractions. In all sorts of fun types, pain levels, and lengths of time.

Yes, I am in fact whiny. Very, in fact.

As I said, I'm just done.

I tried going for a walk around the neighborhood with the hubby to see if that would get things going. (I have contractions anytime I walk for more than a couple minutes....it was worth a shot!) All that got me was a night of sporadic contractions and intense pain.

I know there's the whole "the baby will come when she's ready" nonsense...and deep down in the rational part of my brain I know I won't be pregnant forever. Unfortunately, the rational part of my brain checked out, you know, because of the not sleeping-ness. So that just leaves crazy, "can I just have this kid already!!!" part.

As much as I'm suffering, I also know that hubby dearest is probably just as ready for her arrival as I am. It takes a patient man to deal with the 180 degree flips I've been pulling emotionally these days. Of course, there have been several days where I've gotten a super woman like burst of energy and done a ton of housework. So maybe it works out?? Probably not though, since I've had just about as many useless days that totally ruined any house cleaning progress I might have made.

And fine. Maybe I'm not 100% ready for her to get here. I mean, all her clothes/towels/burp cloths/tiny baby things are clean, folded, and ready...her bed is even all set up. And my hospital bag is packed and waiting...good to go right? Except for the fact that there's a pile of dirty dishes getting bigger by the day and a double digit # of loads of laundry that aren't going to take care of themselves. Oh, and those freezer meals I keep meaning to get around to. I suppose I could bide my time taking care of those things.

*OR*

I could go make some brownies and continue to wallow in self pity.

For now, I will just leave you with a few photos:

My prebaby pedicure, courtesy of my little sister

Photos of a very round me

Very, very round.

Hopefully soon I'll be sharing new baby photos!!!

So I vanished for a while...but I made something pretty!

2011-01-16T19:06:00.007-06:00

With Charlotte's arrival expected in about 5 weeks, I've kinda been in super nesting mode. This has ranged from cleaning random things in my house to sewing anything that will sit still. Sure, there are still days when I don't feel like moving off the couch...but then there are the days where I'm in super-duper go mode.

Well, this is the result of my last crafty spree:

Fine, so these aren't the greatest photos (*cough* Iphone *cough*), but I'm pretty proud of the fact that I made a whole quilt in the sum total of 5 1/2 hours.

I first saw the pattern here. I was actually just stopping in to comment, (and of course offer my *vast* wisdom in the cutting/quilting department) however I got to looking at the pattern (that you can find here) and realized that I liked it a lot....commence crafting spree. So, at about 6:30 that night, I started the process of choosing, ironing, cutting, and sewing my quilt top. (Don't ever let it be said that I don't have *awesome* timing!)

I had a notion a few months back that I was going to make Hannah a nice pink quilt, so I bought a dozen pink fat quarters in various patterns. Then, I remember that duh! Hannah likes red, not pink. And oh yeah, I'm not really "into" pink myself. So, the fat quarters ended up in the perpetual project that is my fabric stash. Seeing as how I'm about to have daughter #2, I think it's time to embrace the pink. Since this pattern called for 10 fat quarters...I decided this would be a perfect quilt to make for Charlotte. So, I gave my stack of fat quarters to Marshall and let him take on the task of choosing the ones to be used. These are the 10 that he decided on.

I know, that's a whole lotta pink!

The next few pics are just photos of my "process," nothing special I suppose. If you want a real tutorial, go here, she does a much better job. And yes, some of my photos should have been rotated...but I'm just lazy like that I guess.

Making a straight edge along one side of my fat quarter.

Once I made the first cut (9.5 inches) I was able to just move the rotary ruler and make my next cut without moving the fabric. I love when that happens.

Once all my fat quarters were cut to 9.5 inches long, I turned the mat sideways (so I could cut two at once) and cut them to 6.5 wide.

All my cut rectangles all lined up. I ended up with 4 of each color. (40 total)

The quilt rows all laid out. Another task I gave to Marshall. I tend to be an over thinker, and I would have tried to make some kind of pattern. I like this better though, it's completely random!

The top sewn together and sandwiched with the batting and backing. I did a simple stitch in the ditch, and I backed it in a soft white cozy flannel.

As a self proclaimed pink hater, I was surprised to find this spool of pink thread in my stash. Not really sure when I picked this up...but it worked perfectly for quilting the top and for the binding!

I did pink on top and white on bottom for my quilting so that it would blend. I'm not the best at the actual "quilting" of the top, so hidden thread works well for me.

I finished it off with a light pink binding. Maybe I should have gone with a darker color, but I thought this shade picked up the lighter pinks pretty well.

I'll admit it...I bought this double fold binding. I *know* how to make my own...but it's a pain in the butt process and since I hadn't spent anything on this project at this point...I decided to spend the $5 and get pre-made binding. (I guess technically, I paid for all the supplies at some point...)

Best shot I could get of the whole thing laid out on the table. The finished dimensions were 45 X 48. A little squarish for my taste, but I'm ok with that.

So, all in all, awesome project right? I'm happy I decided to take it on and that I made the time to actually finish it!

I'm hoping in the short weeks I have till Charlotte gets here that I can wrap up a bunch of my pending projects. Top on my list is to get Hannah's quilt for her "big girl bed" done. (Wrong that I finished little sister's quilt first...I know!!) Hannah's is a bit more complicated and of course larger, but I'm going to make time for it! I've already done most of the cutting for it, so that's nice. But I'm going a little off book with the pattern size, so that will be interesting.

So, I just need elves to come take care of the whole laundry/dishes/housework in general thing for me and I'll be all set! We'll see how THAT goes!!!

Because I'm really going to send them out this year!

2010-12-06T17:59:00.006-06:00

So, I'm sure I'm not the only person on the planet who's heard about the AWESOME promo by Shutterfly: 50 free holiday cards for bloggers! My mind is reeling with the possibilities for our cards this year! Seriously, how will I ever choose! These are just a handful of my favorites:

I've ordered prints from them in the past and the result is never less than fabulous! It's a quick, easy, and inexpensive process!!

With Christmas right around the corner, I'm also on the hunt for great photo gift ideas. I mean seriously, have you seen my adorable kid? Who wouldn't want the gift of Hannah? Photos make perfect gifts for grandparents & great grandparents! The photo gift section offers TONS of awesome gift ideas that incorporate photos! (A 12 month calendar of Hannah's cuteness, YES PLEASE!!) Their photo books and desktop plaques are also ideal gift ideas!

Also, as a photographer, I'm often asked by clients: "Where should I have prints made?" or "Who has the best deal on Christmas cards/baby announcements/invitations?" I cringe when they suggest a particular retail chain...who's name we shall not mention. Sure, that's fine if you're not really expecting quality. However, Shutterfly is the place to visit when you really want to get your money's worth!

So, if you want your Christmas cards and gifts to really stand out this year, head on over to Shutterfly and check out their great products!

I heart faces - Silhouette

2010-11-15T14:39:00.003-06:00

Words cannot express how much I love silhouette photos!

I remember learning the ins and outs of how to create one oh so many years ago....but thinking back then that they were blah and weird, surely this was a technique I'd never use. Wrong-o! I've recently had an epiphany and realized that I adore them! In just the last couple months, I've tried to incorporate at least a couple silhouette shots into engagement & family sessions I've done. It doesn't always work out like I plan, but every now and then you get lucky and grab that one shot...

To see more fabulous silhouette shots, head on over to I heart faces and check out this weeks entries!

Oh sheesh!

2010-10-24T16:23:00.004-05:00

Inspired by this post by the snort-chocolate-milk-through-your-nose funny Amy...I went through the photos I've been tagged in over the years on Facebook. So here's a few - the good, the bad, and why did my mom let me leave the house looking like that?!

This is actually the very first photo of my that existed on the great and wonderful Facebook. It was my profile photo for the longest time...it's from a trip to Washington when one of my best friends got married. Gotta love the uber hot presidential hat I'm rocking there.

Oh the memories of girls camp!! Pretty sure we were 5th years here...well, some of us were... *cough, Marissa, cough*

Not sure what was even going on here! I was probably making reference to the fact that I was about to marry gigantor, so I needed a dress that would actually allow me to move and dance with him. Or something like that.

This is from my big sister's wedding in 1997. The shade of lipstick I'm wearing here causes me pain. Don't judge, I was going through a phase. And then of course there's the awesome black bridesmaid dress of death!! Alright fine, it was "Navy Blue," but it looks black in all the photos! (I love you Shauna!!!)

And last but not least, my long lost photo assignment portrait. Probably circa 2002 or 2003. *Sigh,* once upon a time, I actually had cheekbones!!

So, what crazy photos of you are bouncing around out there on the internets?!

Vote for Hannah!!

2010-10-20T09:35:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine told me about the Gap Casting Call Contest and told me that I should enter Hannah. Well, after tons of problems with the site, I was finally able to get a few entries uploaded for her!! There's a max of 5, so we'll be taking a couple more pictures to post in the next couple days. Hannah would really appreciate it if you could take a second and vote for her photos!! You can vote for each photo once per day, so click, click, CLICK!! The links for each photo are below each photo:

VOTE HERE!

Guess there might be a baby in there after all!

2010-09-29T09:48:00.005-05:00

Well, I'm currently one week shy of the "halfway" mark and finally showing signs that there might really be a little kid in there!

I think at this point with Hannah, I was already AT LEAST 20 pounds heavier...So as you can imagine, it's a little strange to see the scale only inch up a measly 4 pounds. 4 pounds I've worked really hard to achieve I might add. No one seems to be worried about it but me, so I guess that's a good sign. (Dr. says if the baby is growing I shouldn't worry about it! Yeah, sure, tell the pregnant/hormonal/crazy lady NOT to worry about something...cause THAT'S going to work!) So, I'm still muddling through "Is she pregnant or just chubby?" land, but surviving.

We found out last week that apparently we're having a baby of the girl variety...which is probably the most shocking bit of news I've ever gotten. I was SURE it was a boy. POSITIVE. One hundred million percent. Honestly, I'm still not sure I believe the Dr. I mean, it's still early, maybe everything's not in it's, ahem, proper place yet. Not that I have anything against girls...I was just SO SURE!!!! Marshall pointed out a valid point though...we should have known it was a girl because we were only sure about the girl name we had picked out. I'm still waffling about the boy name. (He's sure about that one too)

Now that I'm getting past the "Ugh, I feel so sick" 24/7 phase, I find myself cleaning the house a lot these days. Seriously. A lot. Not sure what that's all about...sure as heck didn't happen the first time around! Sure, I still have my days of feeling like I can't get off the couch, but they are few and far between. I normally have the attention span of a goldfish when it comes to cleaning, but I've been able to really zone in a focus more too. Maybe it's because I've been watching that show "Hoarders" and have now developed a healthy fear of junk and disorganization. Yeah, that's probably it.

I've also been able to get a few sewing projects done for Hannah. No more "serial starting" for me!! Because I'm a lazy bum about posting pics, here's a link to the FB album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2103384&id=199304044&l=cdce8da94b

Mad mommy skills, I know. :)

I heart faces - Smirk

2010-09-20T09:54:00.006-05:00

Hannah has become the queen of the smirk...that is when I can even get her to look at the camera! This was a few weeks back, she was helping me learn how to use my new camera.

Head on over to I heart faces to see more "smirks!"

Annoying neighbors and such

2010-08-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Seriously, who mows their lawn at 7am on a weekday?! NO ONE WITH A BRAIN, that's who!! Normally, this wouldn't be an issue since my child insists on waking me up no later than 6:30am...but for some reason lately, she has taken pity on me and decided to let me sleep in. No idea what caused the change, but I'm LOVING it! For the last couple weeks, she doesn't drag me out of bed until almost 8am!! Best. Kid. Ever. Now, if I could get the "other" kid to let me be comfortable and sleep....

On A separate note: Hannah has become a daredevil. Big time. Like, "hey, I bet if I balance on this one foot and lean waaaaaaay over I can reach that *insert forbidden item here*" kind of stuff. And oh boy, that kid gets into everything! Now ok, I know, I've been lucky up till now. Sure, she occasionally got into things every now and then....but it was just that: every now and then! It is now constant! I find myself using the phrases, "Hannah, come here so I can see what's in your mouth" and "For the love of heaven, get off that before you fall and break your neck!" no less than a dozen times in a day. (No, you don't want to know the things that have been found in her mouth.) Then, there's the, ahem, "other" habit she's started. I've been oh so very hesitant to even talk about it on here because well, honestly, I'm pretty embarrassed that she does it. Let's just say that I find out she needs a new diaper when she, uh, brings me a handful of the contents.

Yup. On more than one occasion.

So she spends most of her time here at home in full on, zip up, footie pajamas. It's the only thing I have found that keeps her from getting access to gross diapers. Wonder what the largest size I can buy those pj's in is...cause her 3t's are getting a tad snug.

I love her to bits, but poopy hands baby and morning sickness do not a good combo make!

Oh what my life has become.

Life goes on

2010-08-20T07:40:00.000-05:00

I recently ran into an old friend unexpectedly...someone I haven't seen/talked to in ages. Typically (for me) when that happens, I'm left with this pang of guilt and a sense of "how did we let our friendship wither away?" 9 times out of 10, I couldn't pinpoint the reason if my life depended on it. However, this recent blast from the past was different. Sure, I stumbled through the typical polite conversation, all the "how have you been?" questions and such, but I found myself struggling. As I walked away, I surprised myself with a thought - I didn't miss that friendship at all. Not even a little bit. In fact, I feel like my life is better because this person is no longer a part of it. Worse yet, I didn't have any guilt about these thoughts.

I can remember almost to the day when things fell apart between us - a nearly visible fork in the road that took our lives in completely different directions. Due to the (over sharing) nature of Facebook, I've been "aware" of this person's life and the choices that have been made over the years. I don't want to sit on a high horse and judge by any means, but it's safe to say that I feel that I made a good choice cutting them out. And maybe it wasn't even a choice. I don't actually remember waking up and thinking, "Hmm, today is the day I will cut *insert name here* out of my life." It was very much a natural development. I do remember feeling a tiny bit of sadness when I saw various things going on in their life later on, and I also felt guilt at the thought that maybe I could have been a helping influence in their life. But then, I had to remind myself that I can't fix everyone, and this particular person was beyond my assistance. The best thing I could do was pray, which I did, and that had to be enough.

This might not seem so significant to some people, I mean really, sometimes life just happens and people get left behind. I'm just shocked at myself for my lack of feelings about the whole thing. Maybe that's how it supposed to be. I can't feel guilt over every friendship that's slipped away, I'd go crazy. It's also reminded me how grateful I am for the life I have now and for the wonderful friends who are in it.

Sorry - this is a bit of a depressing post......I'll try to channel the funny next time!

I heart faces - Fix It Friday

2010-08-13T10:40:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I did one of these....I decided to give it a go:

This is the original:

My various edits:

My process: I opened the original in Gimp, and right off the bat cloned out the child's shoulder on the right (it was a very distracting element). After that, I adjusted the color, did a touch of skin smoothing, eye enhancement, and boosted the contrast to make the colors pop. All my additional actions (the B&W, Sepia, and the tilt/crop of the last photo) were all done in Picasa 3. Very simple steps, but exactly the actions I would take if this were my own photo.

Head over to check out other methods of fixing over at I heart faces!

Sharing a little happiness

2010-08-12T14:02:00.005-05:00

No excuses - I haven't blogged in ages. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of excuses, I'm just not going to bother with them.

New/noteworthy things - We've decided to expand our little family...We got a puppy!!!

Isn't he so very adorable? I think so, in spite of the fact that he's chewed up everything in my backyard, eats like a linebacker, and wakes me up at the crack of dawn by chewing on my bedroom window screen. He's lucky he's so cute.

Oh, and we're expanding (haha, hehe) in other ways as well...

Isn't he/she/it adorable? I'll agree once he/she/it stops making me so dang sick. (So. Dang. Sick.) Sure, fine, I actually have a more updated ultrasound picture than this....but I'm lazy and this one was already all nice and scanned in. I mean really, don't all ultrasound pictures look alike anyway? We of course have no idea at this point (12 weeks) what our little bundle will be (my money is on boy) but we might be able to find out at the next appointment. Fingers crossed. I'll only be 15 weeks, but if he/she/it cooperates, we might get a peek. Then maybe we'll come up with a better nickname than he/she/it...though I have to say that's growing on me.

Hannah seems to be unfazed by this whole "impending sibling" situation. I blame the fact that she doesn't know any better. Her answer (99.99% of the time) to the question of "do you want a baby to come live with us?" is "No!" Umm, there are no takesies-backsies on this one kiddo! Sorry! I'm counting on the fact that she loves babies and has a good temperament (99.99% of the time) to get me through having two little ones. I really think she'll be an awesome big sister.

And a final note: Today is hubby and I's 4th anniversary. Phew! Where does the time go?! At times I feel like it can't have been that long yet...and other times I think "That's it?! Only 4 years?!" (But in a good way of course!)

So, Happy Anniversary honey!

I ♥ Faces - All about babies!

2010-06-15T12:23:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite newborn shots EVER!

I took this photo of my best friend's baby, Cambry, when she was only a few weeks old. We were tying to pose her (like a little doll) and she scrunched up her little face and gave us this expression - Priceless! I think this shot sums up her little personality in a nutshell! She's equal parts silly, sweet, sassy, and of course, BEAUTIFUL!

If you can handle the baby overload, head on over to I heart faces and check out more entries!

I ♥ Faces - Play!

2010-06-07T16:00:00.004-05:00

I love little catching little moments when Hannah is contently playing by herself. When I took this, she was quietly humming and watching the light play off the blocks. She was so wrapped up in her little world that she didn't even notice me snap a couple pictures!! This particular window has been her favorite to play in lately - which is fine by me! It makes for some very dramatic lighting!!

Head on over to I ♥ faces and check out more entries for this week's theme, PLAY!

My belated Mother's Day post

2010-05-10T17:17:00.003-05:00

I've been working on this post for a couple days, but I've never been so good at the mushy stuff...so here goes:

This time last year, I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mom. At that time, I was the mother of a squalling 7 month old, and I was pretty sure I was the worst mom ever. The memories are starting to fade into a blur now, but I mostly remember having this constant feeling of "I'm not doing this right!!" as I stumbled in the dark, trying to learn the roads of motherhood. This year however, I had more of a sense of accomplishment. I'm not the best mom ever, by any means. But I have a great kid who is happy, healthy, and painfully smart, and I've played a big part in getting her this far. Of course, I still have my moments where I feel I fall short, (Please raise your hand if you currently have a kiddo with a black eye, who recently took a tiny tumble down the stairs....hmm, just me then??) but I'm finding the joys in my job where ever I can.

I'm also realizing that I have wonderful examples of motherhood all around me.

My own mom, who drops everything to come over when ever I need her. An amazing older sister who makes being a mom of 4 look like a breeze!! 2 best friends who I am constantly in awe of because they are such great examples to me of love and patience.

So sure, there are still times when I'm in the midst of cleaning up yet another disaster wrought by my child that I just want to throw my hands in the air... But in the end, I wouldn't give it up for the world.

Now, everyone go give your mommy a hug!!!

Close....

2010-04-30T09:25:00.002-05:00

For the first time ever, one of my photos was recognized by the I heart faces site! I didn't win, but they used one of my Hannah photos for a collage!! Pretty cool :)

Check it out :)

I ♥ Faces - Smiles

2010-04-26T09:34:00.003-05:00

It's unfortunate that we can only enter one photo, because this little guy has two brothers that are every bit as cute as him!! It was a hard choice to make, but this is one of my favorites from their session.

For more smiles, head on over to I ♥ Faces!

I ♥ Faces - Dramatic Black & White

2010-03-29T07:56:00.004-05:00

Another installment of I ♥ Faces!

This is a shot from my baby sister's recent wedding. It was an "ok" shot in color, but black and white processing really made it pop! It's one of my sister's favorites and mine too!

I have to say, I really ♥ this weeks theme! Black and white is and probably always will be my favorite! I think it has something to do with that nostalgic feeling I get when I think back to where my photography journey began - in a High School darkroom, processing my very first roll of black and white film. So much excitement and anticipation!! To this day I can still remember the chemical smell of that room and I long for the days when my photography was more "hands on." These days, my "darkroom" is all digital, however I still can't help but click that wonderful black and white conversion tab on every photo I process...just to see those wonderful grays, blacks, and whites. It's so wonderfully dramatic and I just love it! Makes me want to toss it all and just go back to my 35mm Pentax!!

To see more great dramatic black and whites, head on over to I ♥ faces!!!

Up in smoke....and random bits of glass

2010-03-08T13:50:00.004-06:00

Last Monday, one of my best friends Mel, had her second baby, (through a hilarious course of events I might add) and I got to go snuggle the little darling just a few hours after he was born. (Yeah, I'm totally going to be one of those "I've known you since you were THIS SMALL" types of Aunts) So of course, being the fabulous best friend that I am, I offered to bring dinner by when they came home the following day.

So Tuesday, with the help of the little sister, I set about making a double batch of my famous Porcupine meatballs and mashed potatoes. (As long as you're not counting calories, they're the greatest things ever.) My plan was to make enough for them to have for dinner (and leftovers) and dinner for the 4 1/2 at my house. It was going great! First batch of porcupines browned and in the oven, right on time. Potatoes peeled and in the pot boiling. My dinners are rarely so "put together." I should have known then that it was too good to be true. With the first batch all set, Dee and I set out to get the next batch going. I might add here that hubby had been drooling all day to have this meal. All. Day. It's one of his favorites. So Dee was busy rolling and browning the meatballs and I was doing the peeling, cutting, and boiling thing with the potatoes. I stuck a second pot of potatoes on the back burner, turned it on, then turned to wash my hands so I could help Dee finish with the meatballs.

This may have been the most succinct I have ever been while making dinner. Ever. So of course, that has to be the moment that disaster strikes.

I'm at the sink when I suddenly hear Deanna yelling "wrong burner! wrong burner! WRONG BURNER!" I turn to see her hopping around and pointing to the Pyrex dish sitting on the stove top.

My brain really should learn to process things faster in emergency situations.

All I'm seeing is a lot of hopping and pointing, but not really a reason for it. Honestly, little sister tends to be a tad, er, dramatic sometimes, so I wasn't really feeling the urgency yet. (She responds in a similar way to the garbage disposal being run....so you see how I could be a bit confused)

Then it clicked.

When added the second pot of potatoes to the stove, I'd turned on the back burner. Or so I thought. What I'd actually done was turn on the front one by mistake.

The one with the Pyrex dish half full of meatballs resting on it.

No big deal though right? I mean, those dishes go into the oven and come out ok. What's a little heat from a stove top going to do.

Well, the answer to that is that it's going to make the Pyrex angry. Very, very angry.

I grabbed a couple potholders and proceeded to remove the (very very angry) pot from the burner. Big mistake. Of epic proportions. As I was standing, still holding it, the pan did a not so very cool magic trick.

It disappeared.

Into a zillion pieces.

That cleverly hid themselves. Allllllll over my kitchen.

David Copperfield is so very jealous that he doesn't have those kinds of mad skills.

So guess what? The yummy meatballs that hubby was looking forward to? Ruined. Mashed potatoes? Full of glass.

Me?? Shell shocked...but not a scratch to be found.

Don't ask me how I pulled that one off, because I still don't know. I even walked a couple steps across my kitchen, on broken glass while barefoot, and didn't get a single cut.

Dee kept asking if my eyes were ok. And aside from the hysterical crying that ensued, they were fine. Fine, maybe not hysterical, but close. (The whole drama thing I mentioned before... it might run in the family a little tiny bit.) I was mostly crying because I thought about how bad it would have been if Hannah had still been in the kitchen, pulling on my leg. You know, like she had been just a few short minutes before. And because oh my goodness a 8 x 11 pan just exploded in my hands.

In. my. hands.

Scary stuff.

So, in the aftermath, I'm borderline panicking in the middle of my kitchen. I'm supposed to be dropping off dinner soon and I just ruined everything.

Then something occurred to me. The dinner I had promised was still fine. Their pan of meatballs, safely in the oven, was protected from flying shards. The potatoes were boiling on the stove...with a lid. Also fine.

Hmmmmm, I might pull this off yet!

I managed to get everything together in time to only be a little late (right Mel??) getting dinner delivered...and bonus, my kitchen floor is super clean!!

But in all seriousness, I know that I was being watched over that day. There are just too many "coincidences." The fact that Hannah was out of the kitchen at the time, the fact that Dee was on the other side of the kitchen and out of range, the fact that I didn't have the slightest scratch on me, the list goes on. Even the fact that the pot of potatoes was covered had to be inspired. I never put a lid on the pot when I make potatoes. I have no doubt that we were all protected and all jokes aside, I am so grateful.

Oh, and I should add.....we're all still in mourning over the loss of the meatballs that were involved in the explosion. *tear* Such a tragedy.

I ♥ Faces - Hands on Fun

2010-02-22T08:08:00.003-06:00

It's been a few months since I've braved the waters of I ♥ faces and submitted an entry. However, when I saw the challenge for this week, I knew EXACTLY which photo that I'd like to use. It's one of my all time favorites:

These are the hands of a supermom. This is one of my best friends, Marissa, and her beautiful little girl Cambry. She had her daughter 5 months before my little one was born and I was always (and still am!) in awe of how easy she makes it look to be a mom.

Head on over to I ♥ Faces and check out all the amazing "Hands On" photos for this week!

Beware! Apparently, I'm a fish killer. And other matters...

2010-02-20T07:49:00.007-06:00

Yup. Just call me killer-o-fish. Nemo should be shaking in his boots at the mere mention of my name.

So I got this fish, a betta, about a month ago via freecycle. (Awesome program, check it out) Right off the bat, I noticed that Seymour was a little, weird. (Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the original owners named him "Prognosticate." I know that would make me a little ill.) He spent most of his time on the bottom of the (fabulous, wonderful, superfun) tank and only came up when he needed air. I'm pretty sure I never saw him eat, though he was fed daily. Everyone, really - EVERYONE, who saw him thought that he was dead. Basically, a really boring fish. Well, about a week ago, "everyone" was right, he was dead. I felt a little bad but ultimately realized that he'd probably been sick for the whole month that I had him, so I shouldn't feel that bad.

So, after a brief mourning period, I decided to hit Petco and get another one.

I'm going to just throw in a note for anyone who may not know - Bettas are the easiest fish in the world to care for. Very resilient. When I was younger, I had one for about 4 or 5 years. And trust me, I *maybe* remembered to clean his tank once a month. (In my defense - It was a super nice tank, it didn't require THAT much attention. And I tried to buy him little snails and critters that would help keep it clean and he always killed them. Little stinker.) So yeah, they're not hard to maintain. Just keep that in mind.

I wandered through the fishy section of Petco, studying the collection of sad looking Bettas and tried to decide which one needed a new home with me. I finally picked one, rather cute if I do say so myself, and dubbed him "Oscar." They send them him with you in these sad little plastic containers and are by no means big enough to keep them in long term, so of course I was planning to put him in his fancy new tank.

Yeah, he didn't make it that far.

For anyone doing the math, I bought him Wednesday.

Friday, he was no more.

I'm going to blame my current state of hormonal screwed up-ness for the reason I was so upset about his demise. Seriously people, I was crying over a stinkin fish I owned for 2 days. But what the heck?! Two days and he keels over?? What in the world am I doing wrong??

Call me a glutton for punishment, but I headed back to Petco and got a new one last night. And I brought poor sad Oscar with me. Apparently they'll do a water test and a general "once over" and tell you what they think killed him. Sorta like a fishy autopsy. Which is weird. But maybe helpful. You know, in case it was something that could have been avoided on my part.

Till I know better, I'm going with the good ole "he was already sick when I got him" story. Seems to be working. Or maybe I was framed. Who knows.

So now, "Oliver" is currently residing in what may be a doomed tank. He seems a little more spunky than the previous two. I have high hopes.

In other news, can anyone explain something to me please.

Explain to me how I can have this hideous (and rather painful I might add) bruise, but NO IDEA how it go there!! Cause really, a knock that hard should merit some kind of recollection, right? Here are my guesses: I have become so fragile that the slightest contact bruises me like a grape. (Probably not very likely since I have a kid who beats me on a regular basis and has yet to leave a mark anywhere close to this) Also, I might have a flesh eating condition and my leg is just going to up and fall off one day. Or, the most likely culprit, I have a hubby who beats me in my sleep.

Fine, that last one is probably not likely.

But only because I don't sleep much.

I suppose it will just remain a mystery.

Before & After

2010-01-17T09:50:00.005-06:00

I finally decided to cut my hair. I've been debating it for a while because it was insanely long and annoying, and I finally just went and did it. It ended up a teensy bit shorter than I thought it would, (thank you Ms. hairstylist who doesn't listen when I say cut 10 inches!) but I think I like it. It's definitely going to be easier to manage! When it was all said and done, I lost about 13 inches in length.

I forgot to take a picture before we left, so I just had Marshall snap on on my phone.

Ta-da! I feel so much lighter!! (That's a 12 1/2 inch ponytail btw)

I'm not really that bitter about the fact that the woman didn't listen to me...hair grows! And, it's for a great cause. There's this lovely little program called Locks of Love, I'm sure you've heard of it. They make real hair wigs for people (mainly children) who suffer from permanent or temporary hair loss due to cancer treatment, alopecia, etc. Well, that's where my 12 1/2 inch ponytails are headed!!

I'm on a mission

2010-01-15T18:53:00.003-06:00

To get in shape!! One of my favorite bloggers, Amy, is hosting this hilarious contest in which we have all been challenged to get our butts in shape....literally. Head on over and check it out....and be sure to vote!! (*cough* for me *cough*)

But seriously, I'm really working on my health a lot these day. Not just with exercise, (which is hard, dangit!) but with eating better too. Those of you who know me well know what a laugh that is. Me, eating well....hahaha. But it seems to be working. (<--- check out the weight loss meter, I just updated it!) I did a little back sliding around the holidays, who doesn't, but I'm back on track and hoping this time it sticks.

Wish me luck.

Cause heaven help me, I NEED IT!

Tiny talent

2010-01-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

My aunt sent me this-talk about amazing! This kid is only seven:

But maybe next time they should let him go to the bathroom before he sings. Might help with the little dance he's doing.

Also, I love the two tough guy jocks behind him trying to play it cool while they wipe the tears and snot off their faces. That's good stuff.

Why I waste water

2010-01-08T07:30:00.004-06:00

Hannah is by no means a clingy baby, she'll go to anyone. However for some odd reason, when I go behind a closed door and she can't follow, she comes unglued. This happens a couple times throughout the course of our day. Going to the bathroom, walking into my bedroom to grab something, (I close the door behind me to keep the cat from following me) and that one time she shut me in the pantry...all of those things are reason for a little meltdown. She lays on the floor crying and wiggles her little fingers under the door. It's sad really. In an annoyingly frustrating kind of way. I've tried several things to cure her of this, none seem to work.

Up till now, I've just resigned myself to it and I let her cry. It's only for a minute and she's apparently just going to have to get over it on her own. But now, I'm baby sitting an almost 3 month old...and while he's a great sleeper, I don't think he'd be able to stay asleep through one of her meltdowns. So short of taking her in the bathroom with me, (weird, gross, and did I mention weird?) I had to come up with a solution quick.

Then, I had a revelation.

She stops crying when I flush the toilet and she hears the sink running because she knows I'm coming out soon.

Hmmm.

So, I did a little experiment yesterday. I walked into the bathroom (and the crying fit began) flushed the toilet, and waited. Silence. The crying stopped!

Score one for mommy.

So now I flush the toilet before and after I use it.

Because it's the only way I can get 2 minutes of peace.

I don't feel bad about it. Not even a little.

And yes, I'm aware that you probably didn't want to know the details of my bathroom habits.

Dear Paypal, you suck.

2010-01-03T09:19:00.006-06:00

2 days ago, I won an auction for a book Marshall needs for an upcoming class. Woo hoo right? Well, I'm one of those weirdos who likes to pay for an item ASAP, because that's just the right thing to do. Imagine my surprise when I log into my (verified, used for YEARS) Paypal account and realize I'd been locked out. I was sure this was just a mistake, so I jumped through the necessary hoops to get my password reset (which the system made me do twice. Genius!) and finally logged in...Only to see that not only had I been locked out, (with no notice) but now I had restrictions placed on my account (with no notice) that kept me from paying for anything. With growing frustration, I quickly shot an e-mail to the seller to let him know what was going on, lest he think I was a no paying bum, and then set out to figure out how to resolve this issue. All I can say is, childbirth was easier than this!!! When you get to the "Resolutions" page to correct the restrictions, it has a message that in short says: You can't use your account until security issues are resolved. You can't resolve the issues because we've limited the access to your account. Once you access your account, the security issues will be resolved.

Round and round we go. Circular logic is awesome.

So after a gajillion rounds of "click here" were unsuccessful, I was getting a little irritated. Alright, a lot irritated. And I was searching for a phone number. Cause dang it, I was gonna yell at someone! They actually require that you have some sort of code before you can even call their "customer service" line. And the kicker? The code is only good for an hour. {insert snort of laughter here} Wonder what happens when it expires. Of course, after 45 minutes on hold, I stopped wondering/caring, and just fumed.

Once I finally reached a human being, (English-not his first language-FAN-freakin-TASTIC) I calmly explained to him my dilemma. He was nice enough, tried his best to help, but heaven help the boy, he kept trying to make jokes. He must have sensed the ticked off-ness I was radiating and he was trying to ease it by being funny. But I was really mad, having trouble understanding him as it was, and humor just doesn't translate.

Thank the heavens, after only about 10 more minutes on the phone, he was able to fix my account. And I only had to suffer through a few more jokes. He never quite got the hint that his humor was lost on me. Oh well.

Again I say, childbirth was easier than this process.

But imagine my delight when I discovered this wonderful e-mail in my inbox this morning. It was from Paypal. Would I like to complete a survey about my recent experience with
Paypal Customer Service??

*Cracks knuckles* Oh yes. Yes I would.

After I got through giving them the worst ratings possible, a little box popped up and asked if I would like to elaborate on my survey answers.

Hang on, let me get comfy. Yes, please. Oh, let me elaborate.

{begin rant}

For starters, I was locked out of my own account without any notice. It goes without saying that I would have an issue with that. I understand it was a security problem, and it's great that you guys keep tabs on that for us, but I'd like a little heads up about what's going on. I was also very unhappy about the lengths I had to go to in order get the issue resolved. I had to send an e-mail to the seller of the item I'd just won to let him know there was going to be a delay in payment, which I feel makes me look like a bad buyer. Then, because there is no other option for getting this cleared up in any kind of timely fashion, I realized that I was going to have to call your customer service line. I despise calling companies such as yours on the phone because I know that it will be nothing but a hassle, but it seemed that was THE ONLY WAY to clear this matter up, which is also very irritating. After spending 45 minutes on hold, I FINALLY go to speak to a human being, and the guy barely spoke English! It took me a total of 2 hours to get the whole mess straightened out just so that I could pay for my item.
I'm all for security, and I realize that this could have been a bigger mess had someone actually gained access to my account information. However I feel that your methods for handling such problems are SEVERELY lacking. If hacking your site were half this difficult, you'd never have to worry about security! Perhaps some of the hoops you have to jump through to get a problem resolved should be applied to your security measures. Just a thought.
Trust me, if there was ANY other option for making payments via credit card available for EBAY, I would never use you again.

{end}

So, fine, I didn't yell at anyone. Even though I really wanted to. Honestly though, yelling at the poor Rep would have done no good at all because it wasn't his fault. And while it might have made me feel better in the moment, I would have felt bad later for having taken it out on him.

However writing this, whether it actually matters to anyone in the company or not, made me feel a tiny bit better. Well, writing this *and* the large bowl of Bluebell I ate after I got off the phone made me feel better.

So I find happiness and comfort in food. Don't judge.

I would also like to point out that I took every opportunity during my survey to stress that I had no problem with my Customer Service Rep. (ok fine, no problem other than the language barrier) I made sure to make it clear that my issue was with the company itself, not the guy I spoke with. I gave him a good rating on his service because well, he tried really hard to help. And he shouldn't suffer because the company he works for sucks.

Seriously, how do these people stay in business?!?!

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

2009-12-31T19:00:00.004-06:00

I'm a little late in saying it, but I hope everyone had a great Christmas full of family, fun, food, and great gifts. I know we sure did! Here's a little glimpse of our celebrations:

Our little elf helping with the tree. *This* shot is pretty cute, but about a minute later she was screaming because we made her actually put the ornament on the tree. It wasn't pretty.

I hope you were all this excited by what Santa left you.

Alright fine, I hope your excitement was more like this.

Looking forward to a great New Year!!!!

Ree-cap

2009-12-05T16:10:00.016-06:00

I stumbled across a site many moons ago. (I'm pretty sure it was through a link on a friends site...which means that Marissa, I blame you for my addiction) The site is The Pioneer Woman. You may have heard of it. If not, it's because you live in a cave or under a rock. The site itself is quite impressive. It's full of yummy recipes, hilarious stories about calf nuts and country life, and photography. That last one, the photography, that's what hooked me. And maybe that chocolate sheet cake recipe...but me and my extra large tooshie refuse to either confirm or deny that one.

About a month ago, while cruising her site, I screamed to Marshall in the next room: THE PIONEER WOMAN IS COMING TO HOUSTON FOR A BOOK SIGNING!!!!!! December 5th would be the big day!! After realizing that it was going to be a Saturday, (meaning no work or school for Marshall) we decided that we just had to go.

Seriously, I love PW.

Well, I sure know how to mess up what should have been a great day! We were all set to head off to meet Ree (aka: The Pioneer Woman) at her book signing down in Houston. We bought our books weeks ago, got our signing line tickets, and of course, I picked out the outfit I'd put Hannah in. I happen to know that PW is a fan of kids. Especially cute ones. Like mine.

Anyways...we were on our way to the signing when I realized that I had no idea where our books were. Yeah, the ones we bought weeks ago. The ones that had our line tickets tucked safely inside. The ones that I may or may not have gotten a little bit of butter on while making the infamous Creamy Mashed Potatoes recipe. Yup, those. NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!

We'd left a little early, anticipating a large crowd, but our early turned into oh so very late when we had to turn around, go home, and search high and low for our books. I could remember having them in hand as we walked out into the garage. I remember because as I was walking out, I peeked one last time to make sure the tickets were still inside.

We got home and tore the place apart. They were gone!!! After quite a search, a slight tantrum, and a small amount of debate, we decided to go anyways. We could just buy new books there. And my MIL had an extra ticket because my FIL decided not to come along (his loss!!). We would make it work. Getting to meet PW in person would make it all worth it. Well, somewhere in this process, Marshall decided that he really didn't feel up to going. (He's been a little sick. And by a little, I mean no one should be within 5 million feet of him because it may or may not be the flu or the plague or something. Basically, he's been feeling really really cruddy.) So my MIL, Hannah, and I set out, running very very late. As we were pulling out of the neighborhood, a thought occurred to me. Did I remember putting the books in the car? I remember setting them on top of the car, strapping in the baby...did I leave them on top of the car?!

I really couldn't remember. But I kept telling myself there was no way I'd left them on top of the car. That's just silly. And even if I had, we would have noticed if two reasonably large books slid off the roof while we were driving.

Turns out that peppy Christmas music can drown out many noises. Including those made when a couple books go flying off the roof of a car.

At my MIL's suggestion, we were driving back through the neighborhood. We we cruising along, admiring the muddy snowmen that had been made all over the neighborhood, when I looked out the window and saw A COOKBOOK!!! Yup, there it was! My glorious cookbook full of the yummiest recipes, laying on the ground. In a puddle. (Of course)

So that proved it! It was my fault! I'd left the books on top of the car! I ruined our book signing day!!!! We never found the second book, (I hope who ever found it enjoys it!!) but we were running so late we really didn't have the time to search.

The signing was set to start at 1:00. We got there at 1:24. Not great, but I was sure it would be ok. (I'd packed a lunch and tons of snacks for Hannah, so I figured we'd survive no matter how long the line.) Once inside, there were tons of helpful people to point us in the right direction. The tickets were coded by color, apparently ours were the best color. (we bought our books from the sponsoring store...I think that helped) We found the woman in charge of the line and she escorted us to our spot in the line.....

The front of the line. Really. We were only about 4 people back. As in, she let us cut in front of allllllll the people who'd been there for hours waiting in line. All because we had a blue ticket.

I felt like such a schmuck.

So, there I was, standing in line not 20 feet from the PW herself! I was sweating like a pig from our hike through the parking lot and store. Not to mention the fact that I was loaded down like a pack mule with all of the stuff I *thought* we were going to need for our long wait in line. I was also wearing a big bulky sweater because it was supposed to be cold out. And oh my heck! I still needed to get my camera ready! The battery needed to be swapped! What ISO was I going to use? What f-stop? What shutter speed? I had planned to use my new flash because I figured I had all kinds of time to test it out WHILE WAITING IN LINE, but I had no time!!! I cracked under the pressure. I switched my camera to {gulp} Auto. I could almost hear it protest.

I was standing there, trying to remember all the witty things I had planned to say. In my head, I was thinking it would go something like this: "Hey! I just love your cookbook! I made your mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner and they were a big hit! And I love your photography. I covet your camera on an almost daily basis. And your site is hilarious!" You know, or something kinda like that. I THOUGHT I'D HAVE MORE TIME IN LINE TO THINK!!! (This is probably the first and only time in life I'll complain about a line being too short) But then, in a blink, I was talking to Ree!!! My goodness is she nice! She was smiling and so pretty and I was babbling about my book falling in a puddle and how my husband should have been there but he was sick and that I loved her book. She thanked me for coming, then said how cute she thought Hannah was. She really liked Hannah's pigtails. Hannah was pretty fascinated with Ree as well. She really seemed to be a fan of her shiny jacket, but mostly she just stared at her.

So in spite of my non functioning brain, it was awesome. She's just every bit as nice in person as she seems on her site! Her laugh is adorable she just seems really down to earth. One of those people that you just know would be so much fun to be around. *Sigh* I want to be just like Ree when I grow up. Minus all the manure.

So now that I sound like a teenager with a High School crush....here's the photographic proof...please pardon the Auto-ness of the following photos:

All the people waiting to meet PW!

"Make that out to Marshall and Christina..."

"That's Marshall with 2 l's"

"Yeah, funny story about the lack of cover on this book....."

"See, I left it on my car and it fell in a puddle..." (The look on her face cracks me up)

"And my husband would have been here, but he's sick"

I think Hannah would have stayed with Ree if I'd let her!

And after all that, I have this totally goofy look on my face. I think I was saying something about the flash not working...I really don't know. But Ree looks fabulous!

Hannah is such a camera hog!

For a kid whos mom is a photographer, I still have such a hard time getting her to look at the camera!

Back at home, Hannah says "that line was THIS long!!"

"Hey, look at this cool shirt!"

"This will fit me right?"

"It makes a great tissue!"

"Peek-a-boo, hehehe!"

"What do you mean the shirt isn't for me?!"

And finally, our signed book!!

Such an awesome day! If you weren't there, you missed out!!!!

Oh yeah, and don't leave stuff on top of your car! It will not end well!!!

So I took a little break...

2009-11-28T07:41:00.004-06:00

In light of the yummyness that is Thanksgiving dinner, I took a little break from my diet. And by little, I mean that I may or may not have eaten some of everything in site.

Turns out that depriving yourself of sugar and carbs for a few weeks and than eating nothing but that for a whole day (maybe two-there were leftovers)is not such a good idea... My body didn't handle it well.

But, on the bright side, I didn't gain any weight!! (yeah, I know, figure that one out)

It was so worth it by the way. Everything was so yummy! I made my first cherry pie ever and it was a huge hit. I was even all "Martha" and made a lattice top for it. Well, it was lattice if you didn't look to closely that is. But it was delish, so that made up for it. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of it. :(

And in other (more important) news, I have a SHINY NEW LAPTOP!!! Thank you black friday!

I would like to point out here that I'm not one of those people. You know, the ones who wake up at the crack of dawn to go stand in line for a great deal. Who pour over the sales ads to zone in on that one deal that they just can't live without. Who are willing to fight the massive crush of humanity at each and every store. No, I'm not one of those people.

But I am married to one.

Thus the new laptop.

Really, it was a pretty fair trade. Marshall stood in the cold for 2 hours waiting in line outside Best Buy, I was at home with a sick grumpy baby. Then I got a laptop. See, fair.

So I may not be one of the people who is willing to get out there in the madness of Black Friday, but I support any cause that results in my being able to surf the web from the comfort of my couch. Cause that's just awesome. (TV shows via Hulu anyone?!)

Oh, and I do like to read all the news stories the day after. The ones that tell of all the chaos and mayhem.

Is that wrong??

So, once I figure out how to fix the secure internet connection my brother in law deleted, add my printer to said repaired network, and get a laptop card reader that supports my camera's card, life will be perfect!

That which shall not be named

2009-11-16T19:26:00.005-06:00

Alright, so there's this HUGE thing going on in my life right now that I've avoided talking about. Really, it's a pretty big deal. Well, fine, maybe it's only a really big deal to me, but all the same... I'm having a little bit of a hard time dealing with all the aspects of this new reality before me. A lot of things are changing, some for the better, but that doesn't make it any easier. I've actually learned a few things about myself in this whole ordeal:

I think surgery sucks. Bad. And post surgery, you know, the part where they tell you all the things they found wrong with you, that sucks more.

I really love my new doctor. He makes everything seem like it's going to be ok and will sit and answer every question I can think of.

I can, in fact, live without chocolate. It's really hard, but it can be done.

I'm grumpy when I'm on a diet. But then, I realize that in 11 days, I've lost about 11 pounds, and suddenly I'm slightly happier. But only a little. You know, because of the no chocolate thing.

(Yes, that was bragging. And I don't care whole knows it. I've lost 11 friggin pounds in a blink. I think I deserve to brag just a tiny bit.)

(Oh, and in case you care to follow along - there's a counter <----------- over there on the left keeping track of my weight loss.) Actually, speaking of this fabulous new diet that is working so well, it hasn't been too bad. I have tons of support - Marshall and my mom are on it with me. So we're all losing weight and being healthy (read <--- slightly grumpy) together. But man, I can't wait for Thanksgiving! (That has been declared as the "free day" from said diet and oh my holy heck, there's gonna be a whole punkin' pie with my name on it!) (And potatoes, there will be massive quantities of potatoes. But mostly pie.) I'm ok with the fact that the tiny little scale on my weight loss meter might have to go back a click or two. That's the price I'm willing to pay for potatoes and pie.

Now I have to stop talking about food, it's making me hungry.

You know, this post didn't seem quite this random in my head.

Sorry bout' that.

Seriously, go to this site rightthisverysecond

2009-11-10T09:26:00.003-06:00

Because it rocks. Big time! I just won my second contest...in the last month! 3rd overall from her site!

But this isn't just a giveaway site, (though that would be great too) she also provides awesome product reviews and great feedback about her experiences using those products. These are some great items she's promoting!!! Best of all, most of her giveaways come from mommy owned businesses! So you'd also be helping to support the wonderful calling of Stay At Home Mommy!!

Here's how it works- Go to her site, check out her fabulous giveaways tab, visit the site of the product up for grabs, come back and leave a comment, (be sure to follow her directions for commenting and LEAVE CONTACT INFO!) and that's it - YOU'RE ENTERED! She also gives you a couple options for extra entries, cha-ching! Be sure to take a looks at her reviews too, they are very informative! Oh, then go tell all your friends. Cause that's what friends do - they share the awesomeness!

Look at all those links, it couldn't be any easier for you than that!

There are so many wonderful products for babies and kids out there that I never knew about-till I stumbled across her blog. And oh my goodness, the cute, girly clothes and accessories that she gives away will make you melt! (Of course, there's plenty of boy goodies too!) Ohh, and there are some great mommy giveaways to be had as well! (For serious, if I don't win these BEARPAW boots, I might just cry. A lot.)

So, if you're in the mood to check out the latest and greatest in baby gear, clothes, support SAHM's, and oh yeah, maybe even win some awesome giveaways, head on over! You won't be sorry!

Back in the good ole' days....

2009-11-03T16:03:00.004-06:00

I kid, I kid. Mostly.

Ghost story (for Natalie)

2009-10-28T09:40:00.003-05:00

The wonderful and ever entertaining Natalie shared a real ghost story on her blog today. Rather than leave her a FOREVER LONG reply about my story, I'm posting it here!

My senior year, my family moved into a new house. A realllllly old house. Like 80 or 90 years old, I think. It's actually really neat, it even has a basement! Anyways, everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, told my family that it was haunted. The last family to live there told us of some strange things that had happened. Nothing scary or evil, just strange stuff. (cabinet doors open in the kitchen, weird noises, voices, etc.) Well, my mom has been in love with this house since she first saw it about 20 years ago, so she could not be deterred.

Side note:

Keep in mind here: We heard so many stories before moving into this house. Rumor has it that 2 people even died (peacefully-sorta) in the house. Now, I believe firmly in the power of suggestion... but the whole "ghost" thing just really didn't bother me. I sorta believe in them, but I wasn't scared of being in our new house. So I feel like anything I felt/hear/saw was true, not just me over-reacting to the hype.

End side note.

We'd been living there for about a week and I was upstairs taking a shower. I kept hearing my little brother running up and down the stairs and I yelled at him a couple times to knock it off. We'd never lived in a house with stairs, so I knew he was just excited about that, but I was worried he'd hurt himself. Plus, it was really annoying. After about the third of fourth time I heard it, I turned off the shower and yelled at the top of my lungs "Dennis! Stop running up and down the stairs, you're going to fall!!" At first I didn't hear anything, then my sister yelled back "We're watching a movie in mom and dad's room, what are you talking about?!"

Strange, but I was convinced it was them and that they just didn't want to get in trouble, so I didn't think much of it.

Then it happened again a few days later. This time, I was only running water and not actually in the shower yet, so I stormed out of the bathroom to catch them in the act. Yeah, my brother was downstairs watching tv and Dee was in her room. Hmmmmm.

I asked them about it later and wondered if they had heard anything. They said they did, they thought it was me!

Not super scary or anything, just strange. In all the years I lived there, it happened almost every time I was in that bathroom, sometimes even when no water was running. I even thought I heard kids laughing on a few occasions, even when Dee and Dennis weren't home. I've tried to tell myself it was the pipes, but since the pipes aren't in the stairwell just outside the bathroom door, that's not likely. TO THIS DAY, my dad won't take a shower when he's alone in the house for this exact reason. So I'm not the only crazy one!

The next event I had a little more trouble explaining away:

I was home alone one night doing dishes. I think this point we'd been in the house a few months. The way the kitchen is set up, there's a little window right over the sink that you can see the side yard from. However at night, when you have the lights on in the kitchen, all you can see is a reflection of the dining room behind you.

Well, in the midst of my scrubbing, I got this weird feeling that I was being watched. I turned off the water and glanced over my shoulder to see if someone had come home, but I didn't hear anything. (I think I even called out, "Anyone home?" just in case) No one answered, so I just turned the water back on and kept washing. About 5 minutes later, I still couldn't shake the feeling. I realized, umm, duh, I'm standing in front of a window, maybe there's someone outside. (The side yard of the house is an alley for a business next door and on more than one occasion we had to call the cops to come chase away bums and kids hanging out back there.) It was too dark for me to see out, but for some reason I looked up at the window anyway, and I saw the outline of someone walk by! But I wasn't seeing outside, I was seeing a reflection of INSIDE. I turned around, expecting to see one family member or another, but I was still the only one home. And with the direction that the "outline" walked and the way the room is set up, there's no way for them to have gotten out of the dining room without me seeing.

Yeah... I closed the curtain on that window and spent the rest of the night telling myself it must have been my imagination. And I may or may not have gone and gotten my mom's baseball bat. You know, just in case.

I think that was really the only time I ever felt scared in that house. The rest of the time it was more of a "Huh, that was sure weird" kind of feeling.

Like when my cat Cleo would sit on the end of my bed and stare off like she was watching someone/something in the corner of my room. And it wasn't a random staring off into space look. Even if you turned her away or distracted her in some way, she'd turn right back around and stare in the exact same place. It was weird. Actually, speaking of Cleo, I'm pretty sure that she haunts that house now too. That's where we lived when she died and I still see her all the time when I go over there. Well, I "see" her out of the corner of my eye and in quick glances. So I might just be crazy.

I'm sure there were more "occurrences" than that, but those are the only ones that come to mind right now.

Happy Halloween!

Crafty

2009-10-26T09:21:00.005-05:00

In light of the upcoming, "events" of this week, I've decided to take a very mature road to dealing with the stress.

And by mature I mean sewing till I can't see straight and ignoring the problem all together. And maybe eating lots of ice cream and Oreos. But I refuse to confirm that one. It's really a great way to manage.

Especially when the result is this:

These are attempts 2 and 3 at getting this pattern just right. Attempt number 1? I don't want to talk about it.

Maybe a little 80's. Maybe a little MC Hammer. But darn it, I like em'!

I settled with this as the "desired outcome" for this pattern. However, I still reserve the
right to bust out the ankle elastic if I feel like it.

Basically, I've been doing lots of sewing...which is sorta keeping me from doing a lot of stressing. I've also made a little Trick or Treat bag for Hannah's first Halloween......and as soon as I can remember where I put that dang memory card, I'll post it. It's rather cute. And you'd never in a zillion years guess what I made it from.

We are hateful awful people

2009-10-21T07:14:00.003-05:00

Name that movie.....

Anyone, anyone??

**Anyways**

I've realized (yet again) that people suck. And apparently when there's parking involved, they suck even more.

I had a photo shoot in downtown this past Saturday. GREAT place to take pictures, but in spite of that, just not one of my favorite places to drive. Too much traffic, not nearly enough places to park and what's with all those dang one way streets?! Anyways. So I'm cruising around trying to find, of course, parking so that we can begin our session in the park. Apparently there was some big plant sale thing going on that day that no one bothered to tell me about, so everyone and their mama was there and also trying to snag available parking. Well, I'd been cruising for about 20 minutes (Yup, 2-0, my patience was wearing thin) when I noticed a car pulling out. I didn't get all excited because there was already a truck waiting for the spot, but since he was the only other vehicle cruising the lot with me at that moment, I knew that the next spot would be alllll mine. Well, as I sat there waiting for him to park (read:get the heck out of my way so I could go) I never could have imagined the d-r-a-m-a that was about to be played out before me.

Just as the car slid out of the space, some guy walks up and stands in the front of the space. You know, like he's trying to hold it and keep anyone from parking there.

The guy in the truck didn't look happy.

Worse yet, the man standing in the space was chattering away on a cell phone and pretending that he didn't notice the ginormous truck sitting in front of him. You know, the big diesel one with a grill that was level with the cell phone guys forehead. That is some kid of ignoring! (Ok fine, it might not have been to his forehead, but it was a HUGE truck. Big enough to make you pretty darn stupid to try and stand in the way of.)

So, the unhappy looking man in the ginormo truck inches forward a bit. You know, a "hint hint" sort of maneuver.

What does the guy on the phone do?? Yeah, keeps standing there, still acting like he doesn't see said ginormo truck. This makes ginormo truck man very angry. So he nudges forward a bit more. Now his grill is INCHES from annoying cell phone guy's chest. No exaggeration here. I-N-C-H-E-S. Finally, stupid cell phone guy acknowledges the truck long enough to give him a flippant "keep on moving" gesture with his hand, then he resumes his call.

***I would like to note that at this point in time, I'm a captive audience here. For some reason the guy who slid out of the space was still just hanging out there, and there was a giant truck butt blocking my exit. This parking lot wasn't exactly designed for this sort of dilemma. Of course, it should also be noted that at this point, I probably would have just stayed to see the whole thing play out, stuck or not. Sort of a can't look away from a train wreck situation.***

(FYI, I consider the number one law of parking to be that the guy with the life size Tonka truck should probably get the dang parking space. Oh, and no save-zies. Because that's just dumb. Find a space the normal way, just like everyone else.) So, faced with an obvious jerk with no regard for the laws of parking, the ginormo truck guy lurches forward and hits the guy. Not like knock-him-on-the-ground-run-him-over hits him, but there was definite contact. Sorta like a chest bump. With horsepower.

This makes annoying cell phone guy do a funny little backward jump. And he almost dropped his cell phone. And I'm pretty sure he peed his pants just a little. It was funny.

At this point, ginormo truck guy is angry. He has rolled his window down and is now telling annoying cell phone guy to get out of his way, or else. Only he wasn't that polite about it.

Annoying cell phone guy replies "NO!" and mutters something about saving the spot for someone who will be there at any second.

So angry ginormo truck guy does what any rational person in his position would do. He hits him again. A tad harder this time.

This makes annoying cell phone guy scream "Security!!!" And by scream I mean, like a little, little girl. And he might have been crying.

What's funny it that the security guard was about 10 feet away for this whole thing. I'm not sure if he was looking or not, I was too busy watching to whole interaction with my mouth hanging open to really pay much attention to the guard.

The security guard did a pretty decent job of quickly resolving the whole thing. First off, he sent the driver of the original car in the space, along on his merry way. Because who the heck knows why he was still there. Then he told annoying cell phone guy to take a hike. Annoying cell phone guy tried to protest but the guard would have none of it.

Ginormo truck guy laughed at him.

So did I.

Occasionally, there is true justice in the world.

I pulled away to continue my search for parking, stunned by what I had just seen. I mean seriously, over parking?!

*Sigh* some people.

Oh, and then I almost got hit by a Mercedes on my way home.

Next time I think about going downtown, remind of this day.

Except for next month when I have to do that bridal session there....but after that...

At least they put the chicken in there

2009-10-13T21:49:00.004-05:00

Chick-fil-a is just about my favorite fast food place to eat at. I mean really, they know how to make a chicken sandwich! Anyways. So mom and I did some major grocery shopping yesterday and I offered to treat her to lunch for doing all the driving. We went to Chick-fil-a because it's been ages since I ate there (read: two weeks) and I of course got the best sandwich ever, the deluxe chicken sandwich.

I normally check the bag of food before pulling away from a fast food joint because well, let's face it, it's not always right. Well, I did the count-Box o' nuggets, check! Chicken sandwich, check! Two orders of waffle fries, check! All set, right? Well, I pulled out my burger to smother it with ranch dressing (a habit I picked up from my little sis) and lo and behold, my sandwich had no top! There was a bottom bun, there was tomato, chicken, and even the famous two pickles...but no top!! How does that happen?!?! Wouldn't there be like, oh I don't know, a random bun top laying around?? So, since we hadn't gone far, mom (while hysterically laughing) said she'd just go back real quick.

This is where it gets even funnier/weirder.

We went back through the drive-thru because there was no line and explained to them what happened. Actually, we explained twice because she wasn't sure she heard us right the first time. Then, while hysterically laughing, she told us to pull around. She must have expected to get yelled at because the store manager was there to greet us. We laughed and told him what happened and handed him the burger back...expecting that they'd just slap a top on it and be done with it. Umm, nope.

You know what they did?!

THEY THREW IT AWAY AND MADE A WHOLE NEW ONE! Seriously! A perfectly fine burger ONLY MISSING HALF A BUN and they just re-did the whole thing!

Am I the only one who sees the weirdness here??

Oh, and PS, always check your fast food for accuracy and buns.

I'm just tryin' to be helpful here.

I ♥ Faces - "Blue"

2009-09-27T19:45:00.020-05:00

This was taken at the Houston Zoo back in June:

Digital Canon Rebel XTi, 55mm, 1/80sec, f 6.3, ISO 200

I recently stumbled across this photo blog, I ♥ Faces, and I absolutely love it!! Each week, they host a photo contest with a theme. Then, a guest judge selects the photos that they feel best fit within that given theme. Oh, and every photo has to be of faces. People faces that is. So each week you can either run out and snap a photo that fits with the weekly theme, or you can blow the dust off your old photo collection and find one you already have... which is what I did for this weeks "Blue" themed contest. I think both the blue denim hat and her "blue" expression fit well with the theme.

Which reminds me, Melanie, thank you for having such a perfectly adorable baby :)

Interested in posting your own photo to the contest this week?? Well hurry on over, you only have until 9pm tomorrow!

Show me the Bokeh!

2009-09-24T08:50:00.018-05:00

Any good photographer loves a challenge! So this morning, Miz Booshay of The Pioneer Woman issued an assignment: She wants to see our fall Bokeh! Well, apparently no one told the darling Miz Booshay that fall ain't fallen around here...so I had to dig through the ole archives and see what I could come up with. Oh, and Bokeh, for those who may not know, is this wonderful technique that can be used to make the background of your photos blur ever so nicely while the foreground just pops off the page. It's not hard really. I did it for years with no clue that it actually had a name. Till Miz Booshay ed-u-kated me that is. Now that I know how to use it, you know, on purpose, it's a tiny bit of an obsession. Just ask Dee, her engagement and wedding photos are full of it....but more on that later in the post. First, I will share my assignment photos with you:

Alright, this is a fall color, so it counts right??

Yeah, there's just not a lot of fall happenin' around these parts!

But it's a neato effect right?? Yall know you want to go out and give it a shot! Just be careful, you will become addicted...I know I am...just ask Deanna & Patrick:

I had a far better story to tell than this, until I opened my e-mail this morning

2009-09-17T07:35:00.010-05:00

I had a post just about ready to go about how I had a renewed faith in humanity and the kindness of strangers. I was planning to tell you all about how my neighbor (You know, the one I complained about here) turned out to be a really nice guy. I was gonna tell you all about how yesterday, when he saw my struggling to get my front yard wrangled back into decent order, he came over with his hedge trimmers and took care of the shrubs for me. It took him about 10 minutes, and would have taken me about an hour. It was such an unexpected gesture, but a huge help. I found myself feeling a little guilty for complaining about his motorcycles and car in the street. It was going to be sooo funny when I told you about how I baked him some brownies to thank him. Which would normally be a nice thing to do for a kind neighbor. But he's like, a body builder, so it might have been a bit insulting that I was bringing him processed sugar. Even if it was in the form of the best brownies ever. I bake ok, that's just what you do for people! But then it was going to be even more hilarious when I said that when I went to deliver the brownies, that I actually took a little time to talk to him and found out I was oh so wrong about the body builder thing. Well, sorta. Turns out, he works from home and is, of all things, a giant computer nerd! Who just happens to work out a lot too...and also looks like one of the guys from American Choppers. Oh, and how I also discovered, from a nosy neighbor, that his wife just left him. Then I planned to lament about how badly I felt for jumping to conclusions about people without knowing the full situation. Yeah, I feel like a big jerkface.

I planned to call this post "Faith in humanity restored," and it was going to just be hilarious.

HOWEVER-I checked my e-mail this morning...and realized that people still in fact, suck.

Now, I have to do something that drives my husband nuts- I have to give you a little back story before I can share this story. (Marshall, I can hear you sighing from here)

There's a family in our stake, the Stansels, who recently welcomed their sextuplets into the world. Unfortunately, the babies were born extremely early, 23 weeks, and the remaining 3 are currently fighting for their lives in the NICU. The Stansels have a blog in which they have chronicled their journey through a sextuplet pregnancy, an unexpectedly early delivery, the loss of three sweet babies, and the ups and downs the other three are going through. (Aptly named, "The Stansel Journey" check it out, and have a box of Kleenex handy) They are such sweet people and it hurts my heart to see all that they are going through.

I not normally a big commenter on strangers websites (ok, they aren't total strangers, but they are people I don't know well) but I find myself commenting on almost every post. I don't know if my words ever mean anything, but I can do nothing else to help them, so I comment. They actually have a pretty large following and several people have left so many sweet comments and words of encouragement. I also do not normally read others comments, I just say what I'm thinking and leave it at that...but lately I've been scanning through the thoughts left by others. Yesterday, I read some very horrible comments left by a heartless individual and it made me very mad. So I'll admit right here and now, I poked the bear.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. However, if your opinion includes kicking a suffering family while they are down, than said opinion can be crammed where the sun don't shine. Because that's just hateful.

So, in my anger, I commented about the rude individual. A mistake maybe, but I felt it necessary. And I meant every word of it.

If you care to read it, it goes a little something like this: (These are the "two" commenters)

Sarah said...
It is amazing how you think you get to pick and choose what is supposedly God's will. You took that will into your own hands when you decided to pack your uterus like a clown car. Either God makes all the calls on your fertility or he doesn't. You don't get to try every fertility treatment you feel comfortable with and then stop at selective reduction but then put it back on God just to make yourself feel better. You brought 6 lives into this world and God did not squeeze the syringe that made it possible. How do you live with yourselves when you look into those incubators and caskets? You created this mess and you refuse to face the fact that God had nothing to do with it. Take responsibility for your own actions and accept that the consequences are exactly what happens when people like you think that they can go to any extreme to have a baby. Some people actually get pregnant with high order multiples and their first solution is NOT making their availability for a reality show and donations their parachute.
September 16, 2009 2:09 PM

Stacey said...
How do you justify alowing the continued torture and suffering of your babies? One is practically drowning in her own fluids, and you keep saying what progress, what hope?!? Wouldn't God want you to stop the torture? Your babies are suffering because you continue to allow it. The most gracious thing you can do for them, is to stop the treatments, pull the plugs and allow the little ones to find some peace. Your babies have known nothing but physical pain since the moment they were born. How long will you let it go on?Just because medicine CAN keep a human alive, doesn't mean it SHOULD. And yes, I am a Christian. I know what the Bible tells us that a loving, Heavenly father wants for His children. It's not this. And to all those that say ignore posts like this....any truly loving parent would NOT want their child to suffer unnecessarily. Certainly not encourage it in others!!
September 16, 2009 4:07 PM

It seems like there are two people here, but the general consensus is that these are in fact the same person. Both blogger id's are blocked. Shocker.

This was my reply:

Christina said...
I'm with gram! I'm so mad I can't think! Stacy and Sarah are so far from right it's not even funny. We can't pretend to know the will of the Lord. I believe that you were able to get pregnant for a reason, and that 6 babies formed for a reason as well. No one has a right to tell you otherwise. We are told to multiply and replenish the Earth!! Some of us just have the faith to know that when we follow that commandment, miracles happen! Miracles like your sweet children! They might be suffering right now, but down the road when they're going to college or getting married and starting families of their own, I'd love to see idiots like Sarah or Stacy try to tell them that they don't have a right to be here or that mom and dad should have pulled the plug. You've got more support than you know! I hope that helps you push out the thoughts of these fools and their horrible thoughts & statements. Please, don't let it get you down for one second!I really hope that you get to hold your girls soon and that this "bump" will pass as all the others have.

Praying for you always,

Christina McKinney
September 16, 2009 4:59 PM

I know I should not have "risen to the occasion" because I'm sure that's what they were after, but I was angry.

But imagine my surprise when open my e-mail this morning and find a comment from this individual. ON HANNAH'S BLOG! Yeah, seriously. Not only did this person decide to spew more ignorance, they chose to do it on my child's blog! All while hiding their own identity!

Anonymous said...
You are so wrong about the Stensl babies if you think they are going to go to college. They have had severe level four brain bleeds and probably have CP plus kidney failure. I feel so sorry for the three that have died and even sorrier for the three who are still suffering. She wanted six babies. How cruel of her. God had nothing to do with this, she brought this on her babies by her own actions.

September 17, 2009 12:04 AM

And of course, I replied...because now SHE'S poked the bear:

Christina said...
Wow. If you're going to be so insulting, try doing it on MY blog and not posting idiotic things on my BABY'S blog. I'm sorry for you that you find it necessary to basically chase down people who oppose your opinion and tell them they are wrong for doing so. Oh, and hiding behind "anonymous" and blocked blogger id's, how sad is that? At least grow a pair and accept criticism.You seriously need to get your facts straight before you say such horrible things about these sweet people.

"We never anticipated bearing this many children at once, but are so grateful for this miracle."

http://www.stanseljourney.com/about.html

September 17, 2009 7:17 AM

I was angry before, now I'm fuming.

Where can I pull the plug on this fool?

There once was a little etsy shop...

2009-09-16T19:52:00.003-05:00

And it sold beautiful things like this:

And this:

As well as many other gorgeous creations! All made by the very talented Shelane! I'm pretty sure that everyone needs about 10 of these. If not for yourself, for your friends, wink wink, nudge nudge. They are handmade and so very unique! You can check our her little shop here.

Thank you Natalie for sharing this gem with us!!

Oh yeah, you should also check out Natalie's blog. Because she rocks. She'll make you laugh so hard you'll snort things out of your nose. Don't ask me how I know this, I'm not ready to talk about it yet.

Someone needs to invent a Super Diaper.

2009-09-14T12:14:00.005-05:00

Hannah normally wakes up from her naps crying. I have no idea why, she's just realllllly unhappy for a little while right after she wakes up. Well, that being said, I should have known something was wrong when I heard her moving around after her nap without the usual fussiness.

I'd left her to nap on the living room floor, her favorite place lately, wrapped up in a blanket with her binkie. Well, about an hour after I put her down to sleep, I heard her banging her toys and chattering away. It's getting toward lunch time and I assumed she'd need a diaper, so I headed to the living room to get her ready to eat.

Then I noticed a smell.

Hannah has entered the wonderful world of solid foods, so her diapers can be well, interesting, sometimes. So I wasn't really surprised that she had such a smelly diaper. No, rather, I was surprised that I could smell it while still so far out of the room.

She saw me coming and stood up to greet me from inside her barricade...and she was only half wearing her diaper.

Fan-freakin-tastic!

But once I got a good look, involuntarily retched a few times, and thought things through, I decided it could have been worse. I mean, yeah, she was a mess, but this didn't seem to be one of her really bad diapers, so the cleanup was going to be minimal. Just a scrub here and there for the carpet and a dunk in the tub for her and all would be well. Right???

Wrong.

Oh so very wrong.

I stood her up to remove the other half of her barely hanging on diaper and then turned to carry her to the tub.

That's when I found the rest of the contents of her diaper.

In the middle of my living room floor.

For a moment I was convinced that some sort of horrible creature had gotten into my home and died right there in my living room. Then the realization hit me. The gross, disgusting, smelly, messy, vile, realization that is.

It's a good thing I didn't eat breakfast this morning.

Seriously, it was that bad.

I will now be duct taping all her diapers in place, thankyouverymuch.

Soo itchy!

2009-09-08T13:59:00.002-05:00

I'm shooting a wedding tomorrow. (Yeah, getting married on a Wednesday is weird, but not when it means that you get an awesome anniversary like 09-09-09)

I'm going to the rehearsal dinner tonight so that I know what to expect on the big day.

Oh yeah, and I'm freaking out a little. I'm sure the hives won't pop up till tonight, but trust me, there will be many. If it weren't for the fact that it makes me a bumbling idiot, I'd pop a benadryl right now and save myself the trouble.

I think I've mentioned this before-that I always go into freak out mode just before the big day. I told myself that I wouldn't do that this time because it's no good for anyone if I have a melt down. But then I visited the location that the blessed event is taking place...and I felt my throat start to get a little tight.

It's all indoors.

And not very well lit.

Shouldn't be a problem because I just bought the most awesome flash ever, and yet, here I sit. Freaking out. Mainly because I know deep down that I don't want to use my flash for the ceremony. Because I think it's tacky. But I also know deep down that I might not have a choice. Hence the freak out. So tonight, while they prepare for their big day, I will be slowly losing my mind and furiously writing down shutter speeds and exposure times that may or may not work. Then I'll be testing the range of the spiffy new flash. Just in case. On the bright side, the chapel does have a wonderful white, low ceiling for me to bounce a flash off of. And wonderful white walls that would be great too.

I just realllllllllly don't want to use a flash!!! It seems like it would be so distracting! I want people to be thinking of the happy couple, not the fireworks show I've got going on with my camera.

One day, when I can "invest" in the 3, $1500 a piece lenses that would make shooting this a breeze, I'll probably be a lot more relaxed.

That's a lie. I'm still going to freak out no matter what. I'll just be freaking out while using nicer equipment.

Ever have one of those days?

2009-08-19T14:01:00.003-05:00

I'm dreading the trip I have to make to the evil Walmarts. Yeah, I know, I said I was never going back.

Don't judge me.

But not only did I go there, I went there and bought the wrong thing. Now I have to deal with dun dun duuuuuuun, Customer "Service" people.

Really, I shouldn't have even set foot in the place to begin with. I was having one of those days. You know, when you get up and just know that no matter what, EVERYONE is going to do something to tick you off. Yeah, not a good time to be out in polite society.

I was finding fault with everyone. The guy in the stupid Lexus who parked in the "Customers with children" spot I had my eye on at the grocery store, then had the nerve to have not one but TWO kids.

Then the store had the nerve to NOT put things on the aisles that I thought they should be on. Which meant that I almost had to ask someone for help. This wouldn't have gone well, I can just tell you that right now.

And then I went to Walmart.

This time, I actually did have to ask someone for help finding something. Which should have been easy because lucky me, I stumbled across a group of employees all sitting near the dressing rooms with a manager having a "customer service" training meeting. Score, right? Umm, not so much. I stood there for AT LEAST 2 full minutes before any of them-including the MANAGER- even looked my way. (Half of them were already facing that direction-d'oh!) Then still, no one made a move that looked anything like trying to help me. So I cleared my throat and finally just said, to no on in particular, can you tell me where I might find xyz. Finally one woman flung her hand in the general direction of my query's location and gave me directions.

As I was walking away, I actually heard the Manager tell her what a great job she had done helping me. *Sigh*

I finally finished rounding up everything I needed and headed for the check out, only to be met by the longest most ridiculous line ever. There we're no less than a gazillion people in the store that day and there were 4, count em' 4, lines open.

Doing a quick count of the 6 or 7 things I had in my basket, I made my way in the direction of the 20 items or less line. Which only had about 10 people in it as opposed to the 20 in each of the other lines. I assumed it would go quickly because these people should only have a few things, right?. Yeah, wrong again. But here's the kicker and the reason I knew I just never should have left the house-

I was counting the items of each person in front of me and silently cursing all the over 20 offenders. And then I was finding random fault with all the others who actually did have less than 20.

And now I'm headed back there. Wish me luck.

What? You mean YOU don't take YOUR pregnancy tests in a smelly public staircase?!

2009-08-15T08:05:00.002-05:00

So last night Marshall and I went out to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. We had a nice little play date set up for little Hannah with her good friend Cambry so we could enjoy dinner and a movie baby-free. We actually FINALLY went and saw Transformers II! (Ask me in a week how I liked it, I'm still deciding) Anyways, while leaving the theater, we took the staircase-that-leads-down-to-the-parking-lot exit rather than walk through the crowded mall.

Let me tell you a little about this particular staircase. It's gross. Like a lot. There's black grime all down the stairs, gum stuck everywhere, trash, and the smell-oh the smell! Really, not somewhere you want to hang out. Right? Yet, while we were leaving last night, we stepped over, *insert wave of nausea here,* a pregnancy test! Yeah, really. In the nasty staircase. I had to blink a few times to make sure I was seeing correctly. Because really, how does something like that end up there?!?! It's not like it's something that you normally just have with you when you go to the mall. Heck, I don't even think you can BUY them anywhere in the mall. So someone BROUGHT A PREGNANCY TEST TO THE MALL!

Some of you may be wondering what the results were: And I must say, I wondered the same thing as I stepped over it. But I didn't wonder enough to flip it over.

Because that would just be gross.

A letter to Hannah

2009-08-07T11:25:00.005-05:00

Dear Hannah,

I know that lately, you sometimes follow mommy anywhere she goes. (And I do mean anywhere.) Don't get me wrong, it's so very cute and I do appreciate how much you love me. However, we're going to have to work out some sort of system in which you let me know your plans to tag along. Maybe a code word or secret knock. You know, just so we can avoid the whole me-opening-the-bedroom-door-removing-your-only-means-of-support-and-causing-you-to-faceplant type situation. Oh, and just so we're clear, this also applies to the whole sitting-in-front-of-the-bathroom-door-and-preventing-mommy-from-being-able-to-open-it-without-squishing-some-part-of-you scenario as well.

Once we get this worked out, we can discuss your obsession with trying to eat cat food and the whole June Bug thing.

Thanks in advance for your prompt response.

Love Always,

Your Mommy

Best week ever, only not

2009-07-30T13:18:00.004-05:00

Next week better be pretty freakin' awesome. Because this one's just been a big giant steaming pile of poo. With a poo covered cherry on top.

It all started when the a/c began making a funny sound. One service call, and a ridiculous amount I-don't-care-to mention later, it was declared un-repairable. Meaning parts needed to be ordered. Big ones. With giant price tags. Fantastic.

Well, my uncle is an a/c guy, so after getting his professional opinion, we were actually feeling a bit better. It was going to cost a little money, but nothing near the estimate we'd been given. Honestly, I don't know how those guys sleep at night.

Fast forward about 24 hours. We've been running the a/c because while it is noisy, it works and let's face it, we live in Texas where a/c is not negotiable.

Well, then went from noisy to non working and things got ugly. I bought a new thermostat because that was declared to be one of a gajillion reasons that it wasn't working and then waited (in the heat!) for Marshall to get home and work his magic. Yeah, it so wasn't the thermostat. After some time, we came to the realization that we were going to just have to worry about it in the morning, and then we slept with no a/c. Woohoo.

The next day, miracle of miracles, we got it fixed and it only cost an arm. You know as opposed to that plus a leg and first born child. Of course the fixing came only after I spent allll day in the house with no a/c. (Hannah was whisked away to stay with grandma while I waited for the repair guy, just so no one thinks I'm a bad mom for making my baby suffer in the heat.) It got up to 93 in our house, according to the spiffy new (really, REALLY annoying) thermostat. In my heat induced delirium, I came to the realization that I could never have been a pioneer. I need the a/c too much.

So this all went down Monday and Tuesday. The week can only get better from there right? Umm, no. A giant, big fat no.

Hannah woke up in the middle of the night with a cough. Any moms out there know what I mean by "a cough." It's the kind that you know means something ominious has gotten hold of your child. And I knew, I hoped not, but I knew that the next day was going to be spent at the Doctor's office. So one office visit later, Hannah was the unhappy owner of a case of Summer Croup. Woo. Hoo. Not the end of the world I know, but just one. more. thing. in an already crappy week.

Silly me, I should have known that wouldn't be the end of the "fun" this week has in store. And alas, it was not.

I went and did some visiting teaching today while my mom watched Hannah, aka sicky the june bug eating germ factory. When I got back, my baby sister was on her way out the door to go to work. Well, mom and I chatted for a while and then she left to take care of some errands. About 10 minutes later I heard someone messing with my front door. It probably would have freaked me out more if I hadn't hear my moms voice about 2.5 seconds after the door jiggling. I opened it to find her and my sister, who was supposed to be well on her way to work. Can anyone guess why little DeeDee hadn't left......

Because a big fat jerk face broke into her car. Right out in our driveway. Sometime between late last night and this morning. I actually surprised myself when I realized that rather than being scared, I just felt really REALLY mad. For starters, this butt head made my sister cry! (I, as her big sister, am the only one who gets to do that with my endless tormenting!) I know she wasn't in REAL danger or anything, but she was understandably shaken up. Then add to it the thought that some punk actually came onto my property and touched stuff!! I just can't even express how mad the whole thing makes me. We've lived here for 2 years and with the exception of some, ahem, motorcycle cranking at ungodly hours, we've loved every minute of it. It's quiet, it's safe, it's pleasant. Till now. And it really makes me mad that someone had to go ruin that.

And don't even get me started on the cop who showed up to fill out the report. Gah!

On a very much more serious note, we also got news yesterday that some very dear friends had been in a terrible accident. Thankfully, it's looking like they are going to make it out ok, but they've got a long road of recovery ahead of them. It was a very emotional afternoon.

So now I feel like the universe is trying to make me insane. You know, pushing and pushing till I just crack. It makes me want to curl up in a ball and never leave the house. Ever. Except now that I think about it, the house seems to be the common denominator in the majority of these issues. So maybe we just need to move.

Maybe one day I'll catch a break from all this madness. But probably not.

In other news, Hannah has become a June Bug eating fiend. (Hence the above reference to "June Bug eating") Well, I guess I shouldn't say, "eating" exactly...more like putting in her mouth and seriously grossing me out. There's been no actual consumption...that I know of. But really, I don't care to think about it.

*Sigh*

****END OF SHAMELESS PITY PARTY****

A different kind of Bee

2009-07-22T21:10:00.005-05:00

This past weekend, I was able to attend our ward's annual Quilting Bee. It was a TON of hard work, but so very worth it. These quilts go to local groups that disperse them to those in need. Each year, I am so overwhelmed by the generosity of the community in supporting this event!

This year, along with being in charge of the quilts for my ward, I was also assigned the task of decorating. I put so much time into the quilts I needed to get done for the ward that when it came to decorating, I was all out of creativeness! Luckily I was able to pull it together for one last hoorah and this is what I came up with:

The deco for the cultural hall was easy-Hang quilts up on the wall, got it!

This was where the creativity came in: I had to come up with some kind of theme for the entrance decorations. In case you can't tell, I was going for a pioneer thing here. Considering how little sleep I was running on, I think it turned out pretty well.

This was my favorite of all the quilts this year. It was the first one that I made in the "Crazy 9 patch pattern." I'm thinking of making one for Hannah in various shades of pink.

This is just half of the quilts that we turned in as a ward. Phew!

And then there's this: The most awesome quilting rack ever. And it's mine, ALLLLL MINE!!! Someone how no longer had room for it donated this beautiful handmade rack and I just knew that I had to have it. It will hold a king size quilt and it folds up to be only 3 feet wide *drool*

Hands down, getting this was the best part of the whole event. You know, besides all that charity and helping people stuff.

You've got to bee kidding me!

2009-07-07T15:01:00.007-05:00

I have made a discovery: It seems there are hazards in the photography biz that I was not previously aware of. Hazards that are yellow and black with wings and pointy stingers. Hazards that are frankly, a little rude if you ask me.

So I had a little family session lined up for Saturday morning. I got there a little early because I wanted to do a little scouting of the location and find places with the best lighting, setup, etc. Well, after about 10-15 minutes of meandering, I felt I had a pretty good handle on the place and I knew the best spots for photos. This still left me with about 45 minutes until my appointment. Well, this particular park offers a wide variety of wildlife and I soon found myself wandering around snapping various pictures of the critters. There were squirrels, birds, turtles, butterflies, and even a horned little lizard of some kind. (A lizard that startled me a bit, but I was able to contain the girly scream thankyouverymuch. I'm in no way scared of lizards, but it is snake season around here and really, in Texas that rustling sound could have been anything!) Oh, and there were bees. Did I mention the bees? I love taking bee photos. Especially when they are big fuzzy bumble bees. I know they are anything but snuggly, but darnit, they're just so fuzzy and cute. Some of the best nature pictures *I* think I've ever taken are of bees. Bees on flowers. You know, where bees usually like to hang out.

Let's jump to my discovery. You know, the one about job hazards. Well, it's now about 30 minutes until my appointment and I am quite happy with the photos I've taken thus far. I find myself wandering in a section that rather than flowers, has some very interesting trees. One in particular caught my attention. It had an interesting knot in the base and so I walked over to get a better look. Well, apparently this is when I committed some sort of grievous insult against nature. I was suddenly surrounded by an odd but familiar buzzing sound. A pretty loud buzzing sound. Meaning there were lots of "buzzers" swarming around me. Not really understanding what I had walked into, I slowly backed up hoping to take my leave of the flying critters. No such luck. The buzzing got even louder and more persistent and then I felt something graze my cheek.

Begin side note:

I'm not really scared of bees. As I said before, I enjoy photographing them. I think they're actually pretty cool. Over the years, I have realized that if I just leave them alone, they usually do the same for me. I wasn't freaked out by this situation, yet, because I've been in the midst of far more bees than this before with no problems.

End side note.

My brain knew what had probably just hit my face, but that didn't stop my hand from reacting. I reached up and swatted the area near my cheek. Stupid, I know. Because it turns out, bees don't really like to be swatted at. So darn it if that little bugger didn't turn right around and sting the crap out of my chin. Seriously, the nerve! I was so stunned for a second that I didn't really know how to react. I reached up and pulled the critter off my face, crushing him in the process and dropped him on the ground. I then felt around on my chin to access the damage. The stinger came out easily, but I could already feel the spot starting to swell. Now, I still wasn't really panicking here. I know I'm not allergic, but I was growing a bit concerned about the rest of the bees still swirling around me. What had that evil bee told them before I crushed him?! Maybe they were all going to start stinging me! I'll admit, this is when I did start to panic. But only a little. Only because I could not for the life of me figure out what to do. The bee buzzing was getting louder and more frenzied and it seemed like I couldn't hear anything else. So I did what any normal person surrounded by possibly hostile and retribution seeking bees would do.

I ran.

I'd like to point out here that I was only running. There was no screaming or flailing about, just running. If anyone had witnessed this, they might have thought I was out for a mid morning jog. In jeans. With camera gear. But, that's not the point. The point is that there was no screaming or flailing. Just for the record.

Anyways, as I'm running down the path, I'm hearing the bees get louder still. I think at this point, I actually had a few in my hair as well as those that were following me. Stupid me for wearing my hair down. For some reason, the thought popped into my head that you're not supposed to run from bees. No idea where this thought came from-I can't say I was thinking clearly at this point. So I stopped running.

Now, I didn't think the "play dead" routine was going to work on them and there was no nearby body of water to jump into...so stood there and tried to calm my breathing, flipped my hair over and gently shook my head. My thought was that they might actually be stuck in my hair and that if I gave them the opportunity, they'd get out. At the very least, I was getting them away from my neck and face. The buzzing continued but seemed quieter. Good, less bees! My face was throbbing, but I was feeling a bit better about the situation. Finally, I could only hear one lowly buzz and after a bit more hair tossing, even that was gone. I stood there, alone on the path shaking and dazed by what had just happened. Before I even had time to think about my next move, a gentleman rounded the corner near the path I was standing on and asked if I was getting any good shots. He was a fellow photographer I'd seen taking pictures when I first came in. Before I could answer, his expression changed and he asked, "Are you ok?" I kinda laughed and said, "I'm not sure! I just got stung by a bee!" I turned my face to show him the damage and his eyes got a little big and he said "Let's get you back to the visitors center, I'm sure they can put something on that." Normally, a random guy in a slightly wooded area offering his help would have been a bit creepy, but he had a very grandfatherly air about him and I just didn't get that creepy vibe. We made our way back to the front, all the while he was asking about my level of interest in photography and chastising me for wearing perfume while taking pictures of bees. (Gee, thanks. Cause that info does me any good now!)

Then my phone rang-Crap! I'd temporarily forgotten the point of the day! My photo shoot! The whole bee incident had only lasted a minute, maybe two, so I was still doing great on time...but my customers were early. Fan-freakin-tastic.

I quickly filled them in on what had happened, they laughed at me, and then I ran to the restroom to survey the damage. I had a picture in my head of what I thought my face looked like. It was throbbing like crazy so I was envisioning a giant swollen mess. Thankfully, I was wrong. It looked like I had a supersized mosquito bite with some extra swelling. Not too bad, I might survive this.

I went on to take some fabulously wonderful photos in spite of that evil, evil bee. And once I got over the shock and humiliation, it was a pretty good day.

Nature 1, Christina 0.

Oh, then I got home and found another sting. On my leg. Those bees are sneaky.

Guess that makes it Nature 2. Me? Still 0. But I take a little satisfaction in knowing that both bees died after stinging me. Very little satisfaction, but at least it's something of a victory.

I looked it up on ehow.com when I got home. Apparently you are supposed to run from bees. Quickly. And possibly through some hedges. Sounds a bit nuts to me, but that's what the "experts" say. Who'd have thunk it.

Hands down, best part of the whole day:

I didn't drop my camera. Oh yeah.

So I've been a little MIA

2009-06-30T10:46:00.005-05:00

BUT, there's a reason! I'm trying to get back into the "photography" thing, so that's keeping me a bit occupied at the moment. While I'm very excited about getting paid to do something I consider a hobby, there is also some dread. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I've never had my photos from any major event turn out badly.*knock on wood, lots of wood. In fact I shouldn't even be saying this-you know, just in case-but oh well I guess it's too late for that...* Sure, I've kicked myself a little after the fact and re-hashed things I should have done differently, but no one has ever been un-happy with the work I have presented them with. Somehow though, that doesn't stop the borderline panic attacks and hives that plague me before each and every one of these major events. Really. Every time. Even after 11 years of being a photographer. I really don't think it will ever go away. I guess I just can't get it out of my head that I'm solely responsible for the memories that these people will have from this day! And that stresses me out a little. Ok, a lot. And yet, for some reason, I continue on. I just got a booking for a wedding next May-yeah, like 10 months from now, (some people actually plan these things THAT far in advance! Sheesh!) and I'm already a little itchy just thinking about it! I guess it's good though, maybe that keeps me from losing my edge.

So, if you're needing some new family photos or art for your living room wall, just send me a note and I'll getcha taken care of, mmk?

Just pardon the giant red splotches please.

Things that make you say hmmmmm

2009-06-18T14:01:00.002-05:00

So, two nights ago I had what I thought was a random dream about me handing my hubby a work shirt. A red work shirt to be specific. Kinda boring really. In the dream, he came in and said, "Honey, I need a work shirt for tomorrow!" So I handed him his bright red one and finished sorting the laundry I was doing. (Yeah, I was dreaming about laundry. Let's all agree that's weird and move on. K?) Well, the next day, while I was sitting in the living room feeding the baby he walked in dressed for work. Wearing his work shirt. His red work shirt. Kinda weird. *insert "Twilight Zone" music here*

Well, that's a well and good, and a bit odd, but really no big deal right?

Well, last night I had a dream about a tornado hitting my neighborhood. At night. And it was ugly.

Should I be worried??

Probably not cause you know, what are the odds right?

But just in case, I thought I'd post this. You know, just for the I told you so factor.

Not that I think it will.

But just in case though, lets all make sure we know the safest place to go in our house during a tornado. I mean really, that's a good thing to know anyways.

And if anyone needs me, I'll be in my closet.

Minor emergencies and such

2009-06-14T11:41:00.004-05:00

It has been far too long since I sat down and took care of this blog of mine. Of course, I realize sadly that no one has probably missed it but me...but I also realize that I'm ok with that. A lot has happened since my last post! I turned 1/4 of a century old, spent some of said birthday at the minor emergency center, went to Kansas, (In a car. With a baby. I know, I'm brave) started and finished a quilt, saw my baby sister get married, thought I was losing my mind due to severe sleep deprivation, and probably about a gazillion other things I'm forgetting. *Sigh* It's been pretty great actually. Aside from the whole minor ER thing. Oh, and "minor" emergency...who's idea of a joke was that?! Anyways......

I'm not going to bother trying to re-hash this whole month in one post. So I'll stick with the highlights: I had a fabulously wonderful birthday. Again, aside from the ER thing. Marshall's family threw me a surprise b-day party up in Kansas, even though it was a little early and then we had a wonderful dinner on my actual birthday. I got to celebrate this birthday many times :) Marshall had flowers and chocolates for me when I woke up the morning of my *actual* birthday, which is never a bad surprise to get. And I got to spend the day just relaxing with him and Hannah. I'm pretty sure that I didn't change many diapers that day...always good.
He'd gotten me a GINORMOUS memory card for my camera while we were on our Kansas trip, so combined with the yummy chocolate and pretty flowers, I assumed the gift giving was done. Wrong! Which is an ok thing to be wrong about... Along with a TON more memory for my camera, I got a new and desperately needed place to put it... A NEW HARD DRIVE! A really big one! Now I can transfer all our pictures and have a computer that runs at a speed faster than molasses. Of course, we're in the process of moving the computer downstairs, so I haven't set up the hard drive yet...I just already know that it's going to be awesome.
Then, my in laws-who-weren't-supposed-to-get-me-anything-else-because-they-already-got-me-an-early-birthday-present-but-they-did-anyways-and-I'm-not-really-complaining-because-I-love-it-A-LOT got me a shiny new sewing machine. It's just about the greatest sewing machine ever. Hence the aforementioned started and finished quilt. I pretty much just sat there and the machine did everything else.

One of these days I'll throw some pictures on here of all the fun from the last month.......

I'm in trouble

2009-05-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hannah just took her diaper halfway off all by her little lonesome. I do not like where this is going.

So just for the record: the kid can't crawl yet but she has already attempted her first mooning. Greeeeeeat.

The most dangerous cake recipe you will ever see:

2009-05-15T08:00:00.001-05:00

My aunt sent me this the other day. It's pure evil. Look away!

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time,day or night!

I may or may not be considering a trip downstairs to make this for breakfast.

Heaven help my giant backside.

Honesty is the best policy right? Trying tellin' that to the folks at Walmart!

2009-05-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

There really is no longer much need for me to shop at Walmart. I really used to love the place and I would go there...sometimes more than once a week. Well, thanks to my wonderful hubby, I've seen the error of my ways and now only shop there when it's ABSOLUTELY necessary. Well, after my last trip, "absolutely necessary" might not even be a good enough reason anymore.

All I needed was three simple things. Just three. I left the baby at home with Marshall, so I was doing my best to make the trip a quick one. I went in, made a beeline for the things I needed and made my way to the front to check out. I'd even worked out a nice "c" shaped trip through the store so that there was no back tracking required! When I got to the front, of course, the lines were ridiculous. Somehow, I found a self check line with no wait, so I scanned my items and was about ready to pay (and be out of the store in under 15 minutes for once) when it happened. The "Walmart Gods" saw my good fortune and decided to smite me with a terrible curse. One of the items I was buying was baby formula. 2 cans of it to be exact. I had also brought 2 of those handy dandy coupons for $5 off that Similac is always sending me. 2 cans of formula, 2 handy dandy coupons. Sounds great to me! Well, the stupid coupons have no scanner bar, so I had to wait for the person running the self check center to get done filing her nails and come help me. She seemed like she'd seen these coupons a few times and within about a minute, she had entered a code to manually enter the coupons. My total popped up, and I swiped my card.

In the back of my mind I was thinking "Hmm, that total was a bit lower than I was expecting," but I ignored that little voice and gathered my things to walk out. (stupid stupid stupid!) Well, as I was walking, I began really thinking about the amount I had just paid. It was considerably less than what I initially thought. Surely, I couldn't have miscounted by that much right? I mean, I'm bad at math, but simple addition..... So, I pulled out the receipt to see where the error had occurred. That's when I realized that something was wrong. I stopped for a moment, internally struggling with what I knew I had to do, then I turned and re-traced my steps back to the self check kiosk. The girl who had helped me was looking rather bored as I walked up and I'm pretty sure she rolled her eyes when she saw me coming her way. I handed her my receipt and said "You entered three coupons on this receipt; I only had two." She stared at the receipt for a few seconds and then mumbled, "Oh, I cain't fix that here. You have to go to customer service." Riiiiiight. Sure. Customer Service. You know, where all the "happy" people work. So I trudged that direction, all the while cursing myself for looking at the danged receipt in the first place. Thankfully, there was no line, so I walked right up and spoke to a kid who I swear I was old enough to be the mother of (because he looked that young) who was actually pretty pleasant, and I explained my problem. Insert blank stare here. He looked at me, shocked, and asked me to explain it to him one more time. So again I told him, "This receipt is wrong, there's one too many coupons on here." Then, just so he knew I was serious, I added a "So I'd like you to charge me more money please." He thought that was pretty funny. So then he tells me that this is not something he's ever dealt with, but if I'd follow him over here we can talk to a manager who would know how to fix it. Sure, more trudging all over Walmart. So much for my short trip. Well, we find this "Manager" and once again, I tell my story and get confused stares from yet another person. I had to explain it twice. Again. (I would just like to note that in light of the fact that I'm telling them they DIDN'T CHARGE ME ENOUGH MONEY, I think I'm being pretty dang patient.) So finally it registers what I am asking, and she tells me that she can't fix this at her register, but they can fix it at the Self Check Kiosk. Me--> Blink. Blink. You have got to be kidding me. Just for the record, we've now made a complete loop of the register area. In case anyone was keeping track. Back at the kiosk, the bored girl barely glances up but mumbles something to her manager about how "Customer Service shoulda taken care of that..." (Umm, hello, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SCREWED THIS UP, CHICKA! I'M doing YOU a favor by being honest about it!) Jeez! Some people's kids... Really, you guys have no idea how much I wanted to scream that at her. It was a difficult impulse to fight. That should have been the end of it, but no such luck. No. It gets even better. So they void the receipt at the kiosk, but for some weirdo reason, the manager says that they have to ring me up back at Customer Service. Hmm, silly me. I thought all these registers did that cool "ring people up" thing. My bad. So again, I'm following behind the Customer Service kid, BACK to his register so that I can have the privilege of paying more money. Woo hoo. He was really the bright spot in the whole ordeal. He was really helpful and sweet. He kept laughing and saying how cool I was for being so honest. Then he told me that at first, he thought I was trying to tell him that she'd forgotten one of the coupons. Because he thought that would have made more sense than someone saying they didn't get charged enough money. Don't I wish that was the case. So he rings me up, enters the coupons correctly and after a mere 30 minutes in that wretched store, I'm on my way home.

Well at this point I'm pretty irritated and I can't wait to get home to tell Marshall about these goons and how NEVER will I EVER shop there again...etc. Buuuut, it turns out he had a bit of drama while I was away too. Let's just say Hannah wasn't wearing the same outfit when I got home that she had on when I left. I'll let you wonder why. (I have to admit though, when he was telling me about it, I was thinking, "Man, I could have been dealing with her AND the idiots at Walmart if I'd taken her with me. Shudder")

So that's it. I'm NEVER going back to that horrid place.

Oh, except yesterday when I needed a new hair dryer.

But that doesn't count because it was a dire emergency.

Oh yeah, and Marshall informed me the other day that we now have not one, but two charges on the credit card from Walmart. Yeah, that's right. Those losers didn't void the first transaction correctly.

Geniuses!

A post in which I plot to kill

2009-05-05T21:35:00.000-05:00

Alright, I don't really mind the sounds of nature. You know, gentle breeze, occasional frogs, leaves rustling, owls hooting, all that crap. (We really do have an owl living in our woods somewhere close, which I think is freakin' awesome) However, there is a cricket that lives beneath my bedroom window that I'm pretty sure climbed from the infernal depths of Hades to reside in my backyard. He is an evil cricket. Pure Evil. And apparently has a stutter. For the last few nights, I have been listening to his incessant spastic chirping thinking, "Maybe tonight he'll get the whole chirping thing right." Or, "Maybe he dropped dead sometime between last night and today so tonight I won't have to listen to him." So far, no luck on either front. But now, it's been a few nights since I got any real sleep and tonight I'm feeling a bit cranky. Heaven help that little bugger if he even thinks about rubbing his twitchy little legs together anywhere near my window. Because tonight might just be the night I snap. Yes, tonight might just find me in the backyard in my pj's and slippers, with a flashlight searching for the cricket spawned by Satan himself. Oh, and carrying something with which I will beat his tiny little brains out.

Wish me luck.

My obsession is becoming a problem....

2009-05-01T13:47:00.002-05:00

I've decided to move my contest obsession to it's own little place in the universe. It was fine when it was only here and there, but I'd rather not clutter the place up with all my links and freebie/contest info. So, now you only have to read about them if you wanna. (And I'm sure you all wanna, riiiiiiight?) So, if you'd like to continue hearing about what *I* think are awesome giveaways, go here. Otherwise, we now return to your regularly scheduled blog.

Contests and free stuff are always fun!

2009-05-01T10:04:00.003-05:00

And it's not just baby stuff this time! C'mon, is that cheese grater not just about the coolest thing you've ever seen!

More to come later.....

Vogue

2009-04-28T10:39:00.005-05:00

Maybe it's new mom syndrome or maybe I'm just delusional, but I really think that my baby should be a cover model. She loves to have her picture taken and I can't seem to take her anywhere without being told no less that 10 times how incredibly cute she is. Really, I counted one time. People have actually stopped me to ask if I've thought about baby modeling.

Thought about it!? Umm, hello? New mom! I was injected with that same stuff at the hospital that makes every new parent think that their kid is the most adorable creature to ever grace the planet.

Well, I've gone from just thinking about it to actually making efforts in that direction. That's right. Hand me my rose colored glasses and my "Stage Mom" t-shirt. I've entered Hannah in a baby modeling contest. I can already feel the stage mommyness creeping in too. I looked at some of the other contenders-yeah, no competition. (Marissa. Melanie. Shauna. You are not to enter your kids, you hear? I don't think the judges would know what to do with a four way tie.)

So yeah, maybe I'm just as loony as the people I once mocked. (You know the people I mean. The ones with the umm, "cute-in-their-own-little-way" kids who insist that they are the most perfect and the most adorable when really, they look kinda like a shar-pei puppy?) Either way, it is done. Hannah has her very own little online portfolio and is "competing" for a cover photo shoot in August in New York. I say "competing" because really, I've seen those other kids. Their parents are just crazy. But not me. No sir-ee. And if the judges don't agree, well they're just big stupid-heads. And blind.

I've decided that if my kid is really as adorable as I think she is, we might as well get some college tuition money out of the deal right? I'm sure she won't let it go to her head if she wins.

Practicing her pout

I was very happy with this decision....until about 7 last night when I saw a preview for that new show "Toddlers and Tiaras." *Shudder*

I'll take one in each color, thank you!

2009-04-25T10:54:00.004-05:00

Here's the latest prize up for grabs at Fabulous Fun Finds!!

I want one. I need one. Maybe two. I haven't decided.

Check out the Layla Grace website too-They have WAY more than just diaper bags. Beware-you will want one of everything!

Does that make me crazy?

2009-04-20T08:23:00.002-05:00

I'm convinced that my child thinks I abandon her every time I put her in the car. I say this because she always looks so surprised to see me when I open the back door to take her out. I mean really, how would she know I'm there? She sits in a rear facing seat and I don't make a habit of talking to myself while alone in the car...so all she hears is the radio! Well, in light of this new thought...I've started talking to her while we're alone in the car. Of course I ran out of things to talk about after, oh I'd say, a minute. Maybe two. Pretty sad. Then again, if you've ever tried to hold a conversation with a 6 month old, you'd understand. But, I'm going to keep trying. Even if I just end up reciting the alphabet to her a dozen times or talking about politics...I am bound and determined that *my* child will not think that she has a horrible mommy who leaves her alone for hours each week!

The best part though, is that while I'm in the front seat stressing about emotionally scarring my kid, she's usually back there sleeping.

Contests people! You've gotta enter them!

2009-04-20T08:06:00.001-05:00

Because when you win, people send you cute baby stuff...for FREE!!

I love buying baby stuff, but winning it is soooo much better!

They're so cute! I can't wait to try them out on Hannah!

Seriously, I can't believe I've won two giveaways in the last week and a half. Mind you they're from different sites, but still, what are the odds!?! You know, now that I think about it, maybe I *don't* want you guys to enter....... :0)

See, I can be all domestic and stuff

2009-04-17T12:31:00.010-05:00

When I want to be of course. Which is like once every 3-5 years or so.

This is the loaf of Gluten Free bread that I made a few weeks ago for Marshall.

It turned out much better than the previous attempt. The first one was pretty bad. So bad in fact that I decided not to take a picture that might later be used as evidence. You know, just in case.

And now, I introduce you to my new best friend, the great and wonderful, Oreo Cookie Ball.

We should all bow before it's greatness. Maybe if you're nice, one day, I'll tell you how to make them. Oh, and if you promise not to laugh, I might also tell you how to NOT heat up chocolate on the stove to the point that it becomes a burned gross disgusting mess. Three times. In a row. Yeah, I'm that good.

Next, my "bloom" blocks.

Yeah, that's what they say. Took me a second too. I'm planning to do a set of these for Hannah too. Of course, it would say her name. I'm kinda proud of these...as long as you don't look a them too closely. Actually, the night I made these I also did a glass etching project. (That's what is laying on the counter behind the blocks) I would put up a picture of it, but it's a baking dish with our last name etched on it...So I feel the need to not show it. You know, just in case I have any internet crazies out there stalking me.

And finally, I feel like this should count too. It is the only plant I have been able to keep alive for any extended amount of time. Aside from that AWESOME Boston fern that I used to have. Thanks a lot mom.

2 and a half years and counting! Which is funny because I only remember to water it about once every couple months. Speaking of.........

Home Improvement

2009-04-17T12:16:00.000-05:00

This is the first phase of my plans for the front yard. I've been wanting to do this pretty much since we moved in but I keep putting it off. I actually started this project a while back, but it turns out that deciding to tear out shrubs in the summer....while pregnant.....not such a good idea. Thankfully, this time around, I had the help of my little brother Dennis. (Oh yeah, and the not being pregnant helped too) Silly me forgot to take a "before" picture, but I'm going to try to fish one out of the many that I took when we first moved in.....

Ok, this is the best one I can find (from back when it snowed...in Texas...it's still weird to say that) Notice the shrubs to the right of the front door. Watch them closely, they are going to do a trick.

Ta da!

This isn't how I plan to leave it, it's just the first step in the process. But so help me, I couldn't stand those shrubs anymore!! I want flowers! I just haven't decided exactly which ones. I'm leaning toward Gardenia because they just smell sooooo good....but nothing is set in stone yet.

Oh, and of course, Hannah was nearby watching the fun.

She finds her uncle Dennis very amusing.

Someone stop me!

2009-04-13T09:20:00.010-05:00

I think there's a list going around the net with the names of all the mommy bloggers who also like to enter contests. And who like to talk about it on their blog. (Hello, free advertisement!) And now, they've found me. I got a cute little e-mail this morning from a site I don't think I've ever been to talking about "bloggy giveaways." Hmmmmm.

Well dangit, it's some really cute stuff they're givin' away! So now, once again, I am compelled to plug these sickeningly cute sites and the adorableness they're offering. You gotta be quick though because some of them are ending soon! Here goes:

This is the site giving away all the loot.

Now here's the loot (Just click on each picture and it will take you right to the giveaway page for that item):

First up, the cutest handbags ever by Left Handed Studio. Oh my freakin' heck, I didn't even know I needed one of these.... until now

This next one is more for mommy. It's a $60 shopping spree from Lia Sophia! They have alllll kinds of accessories that are toooo cute, like this:

Ok, now you have to brace yourself for the cuteness, because Macymae is giving away a pair of these:

Then, if you are in need of wall decor, Lewasdesigns is offering a $25 gift certificate to their store! They have some really cute decals that would be precious in a baby's room. And these aren't expensive, so $25 would go a long way!

And finally, 3lpcoture is giving away this adorable top:

Remember though, nose poking and pouting if anyone wins and I don't!

She's giving me free stuff, so I feel compelled to post more giveaways!

2009-04-12T09:16:00.008-05:00

But this time, I have two for you!!!

The first one is a contest for an adorable name banner or sign for your child. (Or I guess you could just get one to hang up somewhere in your house, they have ones that say Happy Birthday and Happy Spring) She has several different designs/colors to choose from!

The second is a $50 gift card to Agoo Clothing. They make REALLY CUTE active wear for kids.

And of course, these wonderful giveaways are brought to you by:

Looks like I won't need that nose poking stick after all

2009-04-12T08:48:00.005-05:00

Because *I* won the babylegs contest!! Very soon, this cuteness will be coming to live with me:

The pattern is called "Popsicle"....how can they not be the most adorable thing ever with a name like that!? I am mildly concerned though. I'm afraid that I will like them so much I'll have to get Hannah a pair in every possible pattern. Except the cream ones. Because really, plain cream? Yawn.

STL Mommy is the greatest! And you should all go to A Classic Tale and order a gazillion pairs of babylegs.

Oh, and just so you know, spellchecker says that gazillion is a word.

An open letter

2009-04-02T10:26:00.008-05:00

To the doofus in the Walmart parking lot, driving the little red car:

You are a careless idiot. Thanks for driving like a maniac and nearly hitting myself and my infant. Really, I appreciate a good close encounter with death every now and then. Oh, and the dirty look that you gave me upon exiting your little piece of crap car, totally uncalled for. Seeing as how pedestrians have the right of way and all. Oh yeah, and that I was already HALFWAY across the walkway when you came careening around the corner. A little piece of advice, if I may: Just say no to angry driving. Or try paying attention when you drive, you know, just when other people are around and all. If that seems too difficult, stay home and oh I don't know, continue to bleach your hair that hideous shade of gross and disgusting. Now that I think about it, maybe the bleach is seeping in and that's really what your problem is. Get that looked at, mmmk?

To the appointment taker at the peditricians office who doesn't actually know how to make an appointment:

When I called needing an appointment for Hannah on the 7th, and you said her Dr. wasn't available that day but would the 8th work better, I was ok with that. 9am? Sure, sounds good to me. 8th, 9am. Got it. Peachy. Now, when I called back, needing to change that appointment to the 13th, I spoke to some one else in appointments. (Read--> Someone who knows how to do their job) I told this nice lady that you had made me an appointment for the 8th but I'm soo sorry I'm going to have to change it. Come again? You're not showing an appointment on the 8th at 9? But I just scheduled it and hour ago. Hmmmm. After a little digging, she found my appointment. You know, the one that you made for the 8th at 9? Turns out that you thought that the 9th at 8 was the same thing. Not so much darlin. Oh, and had I not figured out this little error and actually showed up on the 8th at 9, (after a morning filled with getting myself and an infant ready and out the door-nothing short of an olympic feat) and been told that my appointment wasn't until the next day.... Words cannot express the ten kinds of crazy that I would have gone. It would have been bad. So I guess it's good that this all worked out. Because I would have hated to make a scene at my favorite doctor's office.

To you, my neighbor, the one with the motorcycle:

Yeah, it's *soo great* that you have such a fun little hobby. A hobby that you have to haul around in a giant trailer. You know, that trailer that you park on the street making it oh-so-fun for me to back out of the driveway. And it's also great that your motorcycles work so well. So well in fact that you feel the need to prove it the the entire neighborhood. At 7am. You may not know this, but I have an infant. One who wakes me up no less the twice each night. Now, she's cute and snuggly and doesn't know any better, so I have to forgive her for these interruptions. You however, not so much. You definitely know better. I understand that you, along with most of the male population, think that your motorcycle is the greatest thing ever and that you enjoy spending time with it. But what I need you to understand is that when you feel the need to crank the engine endlessly at the crack of dawn, I feel the need to rain upon you the wrath of a sleep deprived mother. Which may or may not include screaming and eye poking. So, next time that you feel the need to fire one up of those bad boys before the crows are up, just remember that I'm across the street, planning my revenge...and slowly losing my mind.

To you, weirdo at the grocery store:

I'm sorry that my daughter wouldn't smile at the umm, funny? faces you were making at her. Maybe she could sense the creepy too. That doesn't mean that you should try harder. It means that you need to go away. Quickly. And refrain from interacting with children ever, ever again.

And lastly, to my daughter, Hannah:

For the love of all that is holy and right in this world, SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT! Please. It could be fun, really. I seem to remember enjoying it. Though it has been so very long since it happened....

Ahh, I feel so much better. I should do this more often.

It's hard to have a daughter

2009-03-21T13:22:00.007-05:00

Because there are just so many fun accessories that you can get for them!!! Speaking of fun accessories, STL Mommy is giving some away!!

Woo hoo for baby legs contests!

Go check it out. But just know that if you win and I don't, I'm going to poke you in the nose with a stick. And there will be pouting. After the nose poking of course.

It might be an illness......

2009-03-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

I think I'm becoming addicted to coupons. I blame her. Either way, now I am hooked on finding "deals" on things I'd normally just toss in the cart with no regard for price. Ok, maybe I had some regard, just not this much.

I think the real obsession started Saturday, when I got 6 packs of diapers (40 count) for $22 and change. (sorry, the receipt isn't right in front of me) This was because of the fab Huggies coupons on coupons.com, combined with a great sale at Walgreens. I felt like I was getting away with something. I had to go to 2 separate Walgreens to pull it off, but since there are so many around here, that wasn't hard. Each time I was rung up, in my head I was thinking "Fools, all of you! I just got $60 worth of diapers for $22!!! Muahahahaha!" I'm sure I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. It was great.

Then I went to CVS on Monday, spent $4.98, and got the following: a tube of Colgate toothpaste (the new kind with the minty strips in it!), deodorant, and (2) twin packs of the Mentadent toothpaste that Marshall likes. These things should have cost $11.47 (or *technically* $16.96, but the Mentadent was buy 1, get 1 free.... and I can't really take credit for that) So I saved $6.49.... meaning I saved more than I spent. Awesome huh?

I'm no where near as good as Katy, but I'm working on it. (Isn't it great how I'm on a first name basis with someone who probably doesn't even know I read her blog.) Of course, if she ever stopped posting coupon match ups and good deals that she finds in the paper/on the internet each week, I'd be lost. Oh, and she's forever posting pictures of her grocery expeditions where she gets a zillion things for like .17¢. I'll admit it, I'm jealous.

Folks, this might have reached dangerous levels. I actually passed up a display of Oreos without picking up a pack because they weren't on sale....and I didn't have a coupon. Sick isn't it? Oh, and I don't think I'll ever shop at Walmart again. They hardly ever have awesome sales. To understand the significance of that, you might have to read this. I know, I might need help.

The best part of all of this is that it's not like we need to be on this super strict budget right now, so it's more of a hobby. (Well, I suppose in this economy everyone really needs to be on a budget, but you get my point) But if we ever did need my superduper coupon skills, I'm all set!

And did you know that they sell the Sunday paper on Saturday as an early edition?

Hello, COUPONS!

Anyone want to start a support group with me? We could cut coupons together!!!!!!

Just a funny little Tuesday morning story for you....

2009-03-17T07:00:00.001-05:00

So we went to breakfast Saturday morning with my sister and her fiance. We sat at a table near a family who had 3 small children, one of them also carseat bound and about the same age as Hannah. One of the kids at the table, couldn't have been more than 3, noticed that we too had a little baby and he pointed this out to us. So I responded, "Yeah! You're right, there are two babies! And they're both little pink ones huh?" (Referring to the fact that we both had girls.) The little boy responded, "No, Regan's not pink, she's black!"

So much for that BS about kids being "colorblind."

So sue me

2009-03-16T08:39:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I haven't updated for a little while.... and I feel very badly about that. I do try to take care of my little blog, but sometimes life just gets in the way. Little Hannah has decided to go and pop her first tooth out, so we're dealing with that fun right now. But, as further proof that she just might be the best baby ever, she has yet to run a fever or scream bloody murder for hours on end. In fact, she just woke up one day and there it was! She does seem *a little* fussier than normal, meaning she just wants to be held a lot. Not too bad for a kid who's teething.

Speaking of teeth, I had my fourth root canal done this past Monday, so woo hoo for that fun. And as luck would have it, this is spring break for most kids, so my dentist is booked solid and can't get me in to finish the wonderful root canal until next week. Joy. But, I guess it could be worse....I could also be dealing with a screaming child.

We also made a little time to go to the rodeo to see one of the best performers ever, Brad Paisley. I spent the evening screaming some of the best country songs ever at the top of my lungs. (Which might explain my sore throat.) I don't care though, it was worth it. I feel like a part of my life is missing when I don't get to go to the rodeo. Besides, you can't live in Texas and not appreciate a good night of country music, bull ridin', calf ropin', and drunk cowboys. You just can't.

Unfortunately though, I foresee more blog-neglect in the near future as well. I'm trying to get up the motivation to finish a front yard project I started many moons ago and then abandoned. (Out of boredom I imagine....I'm bad about that) There are some ugly shrubs that desperately need removing and replacing...... and we finally went and got mulch so now I have no excuse.

I also have mounds of laundry needing my attention....and dishes...and a living room that could use a good vacuuming... Basically a life that I should pay a little attention to for a while.

Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be bored with housework and be back in no time.

Oh, and I might have to sneak in a little time to make these:

Because they just might be the cutest/yummiest things ever. (Besides, of course, my Oreo cookie balls, but we can talk about them later)

Anyways...you can go learn how to make the yummy cupcake bites for yourself here. Really, you should try them. Because c'mon, cake, on a stick? Is there anything better in life?!

Ohh the wrongness of it all

2009-03-03T10:13:00.006-06:00

I'd like to meet the very first goober who ever hid an engagement ring in something edible...so that I could smack him. I can't even believe that this has become a phenomenon! It's like proposing via the jumbo-tron at a sporting event....just plain dumb! Really, explain to me the logic here. Who wants to be enjoying a nice dinner with the one they love and crack a tooth on a friggin' ring? And let's say that said ring, by some stroke of luck, doesn't end up in the intendeds mouth....IT'S STILL COVERED IN FOOD PEOPLE! I just envision a slimy pasta covered ring being slipped onto someones hand....and it's grosses me out. A lot. You know, there are a great many things that can be said about diamonds. Edible should never be one of those things. Do you really want an engagement story that involves a trip to the ER and a "not so pleasant" retrieval?

Well, in spite of all the DUH! reasons that you should never (ever, ever, EVER) put something so small into something yummy and edible... I present-This guy:

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 8:55 a.m. CT, Mon., March. 2, 2009

A lot of guys try to come up with proposal scenarios that their girlfriends will remember forever. So give Reed Harris credit for accomplishing that goal — even if it turned out to be in don’t-try-this-at-home fashion.
The idea was a variation on a common theme: Put the ring in a drink and let his beloved discover it. Harris did his part, hiding the ring in a Wendy’s Frosty milkshake. But, as he and his girlfriend, Kaitlin Whipple, told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Monday in New York, she ate the entire shake and never found the ring.
Harris and Whipple had attended an LDS Institute class last Tuesday at San Juan College in Farmington, N.M., where they live. Afterward, they and a group of friends went to a Wendy’s for Frosties. The friends were in on his plans and recorded what they expected to be a heartwarming proposal on a cell phone video camera.

Ready, set ... gulp!But the other women in the group, eager to hurry the discovery process, made the mistake of challenging Whipple to a race. Being rather competitive, she grabbed a spoon and wolfed down the entire contents of the cup.
“I felt nothing at all,” she told Lauer. “I was racing my friends, so there was no way I was going to lose that competition.”
Harris checked everyone’s cups and didn’t find the ring — gulp! This was not in the script. The video shows him hugging her and whispering in her ear that she had eaten her engagement ring.
Whipple’s gut reaction was disbelief, the story being harder to swallow than the ring.
“I thought he was joking,” she told Lauer. “I couldn’t believe that I swallowed the ring. I kept waiting for him to get down and propose.”
Harris couldn’t believe it either. “It’s not that small a ring,” he told Lauer, a bit defensively.
Instead of marriage, Harris proposed a trip to the local hospital for X-rays. It was only when the technician handed her an image showing the ring inside her that Whipple accepted the truth.

From the hospital, they went to Harris’ place, where one of their friends pointed out that Harris still hadn’t proposed. So, with X-ray image of the ring in hand, he got down on bended knee and asked for Whipple’s hand in holy matrimony. A friend captured the tender moment in a picture that shows him looking at the camera with a sheepish grin and Whipple sitting with a big smile on the couch — holding the X-ray of her ring.
Ever the gentleman, Harris took the blame for the accident. He had been waiting for the ring to arrive, and had planned to propose Wednesday night during a more formal date at a fancy restaurant. Whipple suspected that he set up the Wednesday dinner date to propose to her.
But Harris told Lauer that when the ring finally arrived on Tuesday, he was so excited he couldn’t make himself wait another day. So he hatched the Frosty plan on the spot.
‘This too shall pass’The next day — Wednesday — Whipple posted the whole story along with pictures and video on her blog, Krazy Kaitlin. One of the pictures shows her posing with the X-ray along with a bag of prunes and a box of high-fiber breakfast cereal. Her friends, she said, assured her that “this too shall pass.”
On Thursday, she had happy news to report on her blog: “It arrived this morning and I have never been so excited about my bodily functions. Haha. It’s so beautiful and I love it. It was definitely well worth the wait.”
After getting it cleaned, Whipple finally slipped the elusive ring on her finger and posted another photo.

But that wasn't the end of the story. A Salt Lake City television station got wind of the tale and interviewed the couple. Then TODAY called and flew them to Houston to appear on the weekend edition of the show Sunday, then to New York to make two more appearances Monday.
“When I woke up this morning I never thought I’d be getting a call from NBC!” Kaitlin wrote Saturday. “I look forward to it but am scared to death at the same time. National television WOW!” Sunday’s blog entry is headlined “Kaitlin & Reed are in NYC!!”
The couple haven’t set a date for their wedding, but have narrowed it down to either the last weekend in May or the first weekend in June. As for the honeymoon, Whipple wrote on her blog that she hopes more surprises are in store: “Maybe we'll get a cool honeymoon out of this crazy engagement story somewhere down the road ... we can only hope :)”

Hmm, doesn't look like a very impressive diamond...

Awww. I don't know about you guys, but I always dreamed that one day I'd be proposed to with an X-Ray. While in a hospital. Drinking prune juice. Waiting for my ring to "arrive." It's every little girls dream come true.

And yup, she's wearing it.

Here's the video:

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I'm sorry, but that it is a disgusting that no amount of cleaning can fix. No amount. She should have said no on principal.

Oh yeah, and they're LDS. *sigh* Kids these days.

A post for Amy-because when I grow up, I want to be awesome just like her

2009-02-24T08:10:00.009-06:00

So Amy over at one of the most hilarious sites you'll ever read, The Lawsons Did Dallas, threw out a writing prompt for those of us who might occasionally suffer from bloggers block.(Seriously, she's so funny I couldn't read her site while I was at work because my uncontrollable laughter frightened the customers, not to mention the co-workers. I've laughed till I cried on many occasions.) I decided to give it a whirl this week, though I don't think my response is nearly as clever-

The prompt is: "What made you say it? Tell a story (maybe of the first time it happened, maybe not) about a time you said 'I love you' to someone who wasn't a member of your family. Or write about someone you wish you'd said (or never said) 'I love you' to."

Ok, so, funny story. There was this one time, that Marshall said "I love you," and I totally didn't say it back. Hilarious right? Yeah, he probably didn't think so either. Looking back though, I don't seem to remember him being bothered by it at the time. There are many memories of our early relationship that have grown foggy with time, but that's not yet one of them. I remember that we were sitting at a park near my parents house, delaying as usual the ending-the-date-and-going-home process, there was a pause in the conversation (read-smooching) and he just said it. It was so sweet and there was never a question in my mind that he meant it. But then I was lame and ruined the moment by not saying it back. Maybe I just didn't want it to seem like I was only saying it because he did. That's my best guess as to why I'd be such a loser. Either that or I just hadn't yet let myself realize that I loved him too because, hello, that's a scary make or break kind of moment in life and after you admit it, there's no going back. Our whole relationship was kinda funny though. We didn't really ever have any of the dreaded "DTR" conversations so common among young LDS couples. (because duh, we were only a half LDS couple!) It seems like we just fell into our relationship like we'd always been together. We talked a lot about marriage pretty early in the game, but unlike other times that the evil "M" word was mentioned, it never scared me to think about the rest of my life with him. It scared me a little that I wanted to and he wasn't yet a member, but a few months and one "dunking" later, that was no longer and issue. While thinking about what to post for this, I asked him last night if he remembered what I'm sure was the magical moment that I said it back to him; no such luck. He did remember something I'd since forgotten-That I was very prone to tossing noncommittal love ya's his way, (in a Steel Magnolia's "you know I love ya more than my luggage" kind of way) just no recollection of the first time that I honest to goodness said it. I'm sure most women would be offended that their hubby couldn't remember such an important event, but truth be told, I can't remember either! I guess we're just awesome and sentimental like that. So I guess hindsight being 20/20 and all, I wish that I had said it back to him that night in the park. I'm just glad I have all eternity to make up for lost time.

Thanks for the great idea Amy, I can't wait till next Monday!

This is a public sevice announcement

2009-02-22T10:57:00.009-06:00

While perusing the latest posts over at MMW, I came across a comment someone had made about Hershey's chocolate syrup and how a recent study that says it, and several other products, contains mercury. And apparently it's all tied to foods with high fructose corn syrup. Ummm, huh? Where was I when this memo came out? And why wasn't a national day of mourning declared for the loss of the much beloved Hershey's?! Well, I decided that this could not be so, and went to the source of all knowledge in the universe, Google. After weeding through the BS links to Joe Blows opinion site about how high fructose corn syrup should be blamed for all things horrible and wrong in the world (you know, cancer, childhood obesity, blindness, world hunger, the sinking of the Titanic....etc.) I finally saw a familiar name-wikipedia. (Yeah, I know, I could have gone straight there, but I'm pretty sure that websites don't exist until I find them through Google.) According to Wikipedia, there was in fact a study done on several common food items, Hershey's Chocolate Syrup being one of those, and the results did show that it contains mercury. (All products tested also contain high fructose corn syrup) In fact, of all the products tested, Hershey's was number 3 on the list, as in one of the highest detected. However, as I read on, I learned the truth behind this "scientific claim." Turns out that yeah, there may be mercury levels in these foods, but we're talkin parts per trillion here people. So, you know, go outside and breathe and you've consumed about the same amount (or more!) as what these "scientists" found. One (real) researcher actually said that you would have to consume 100+ servings per day of a product containing mercury before it would even affect you...even then, it would take weeks or months for it to happen. (He was, of course, only referring to the minuscule levels that were claimed to have been found in the study. Obviously if you were eating 100+ servings of stuff with high levels of mercury on a daily basis, it wouldn't take very long before it would make you sick) So basically, the guys doing this study are pretty much just alarmist whack jobs who are anti high fructose corn syrup and who don't have dates on Friday nights, so they all got together and came up with this craziness.

While I'm sure that you were all in a state of panic over this news, you can feel free to relax now, the crisis has been averted. We can all go back to eating Hershey's in all of it's syrupy goodness.

However, if this does turn out to be true, that's how I want to go....Death by Hershey's.

I had a little freak out moment, but I'm all better now-Funny Friday edition

2009-02-20T04:08:00.009-06:00

Like the norm here lately, Hannah started crying to be feed at about o-dark-thirty this morning. I tried to ignore her little noises thinking maybe she'd go back to sleep (no such luck) so I trudged up the stairs to calm and feed my hungry little peanut. I clicked the light on her mobile so that I could see to untangle her from whatever mess she had made from her blankets and that's when I saw it-the monsterous creature sitting mere inches from my baby's head.

You know, there's really no difference between huge scary baby eating spiders and innocent mosquito hawks at 3am. There just isn't.

For anyone who may not know-this is what the offender looked like-

Now, squint your eyes and pretend you havn't slept for 3 days. Oh, and that you also live in a state known for it's freakishly large bugs. Pretty scary stuff huh? Now tell me you wouldn't have flipped out ninja style and killed this thing too.

Normally I'd tell Cupid right where to shove those arrows....

2009-02-17T09:42:00.005-06:00

But not this year. In fact, I've actually enjoyed the last 5 Valentines days. That is a bit funny to me since up until I met Marshall, I wasn't a fan of the "Hallmark Holiday." (And by not a fan I mean that I utterly despised it, threw horrible awful death glares at anyone who came within 10 feet of me with anything stuffed, pink or inflated, and mocked anyone who celebrated it like it was a real holiday that actually meant anything. Oh, I did make an exception for those chalky conversation hearts, because those are yummy. And, bonus, they can be pelted at Valentines celebrating goobers....but only the flavors I don't like) Make no mistake, I still think that it's a holiday made up by the greeting card companies who are in cahoots with the chocolate and flower companies, but I have my very own reason for loving February 14th. And that reason is Marshall. See, our very first date was February 14th, 5 years ago. But it's not all as lovey dovey as it sounds, because neither of us realized that it was Valentines Day....until the waitress mentioned it. Romantic, I know. I'd like to think that we didn't realize it because we are both intelligent individuals who don't bother with such silly celebrations, or that we were both so excited about our date that we could think of nothing else.....but it's probably more likely that we just didn't have a calendar handy.

So, every year since, on February 14th, we have gone back to the place we went on our first date. TGI Fridays. (Yeah, I know! If I'd known then what I know now, our first date would have been at like, Cheesecake Factory or something! But I suppose it's not the place that matters but rather the company.) This year's celebration was probably the best ever. Thanks to Grandma Sam, we got to have a night out, sans baby, and eat yummy steaks. And of course, there was the presents. We spread out the gift giving over the days leading up to the 14th, so we each got 3 presents. (One each day) I thought that I my gifts for him were the best ever......until he gave me gorgeous diamond and sapphire earrings. I guess he wins this time. (As soon as I can figure out how to take a picture that does them justice, I will be showing off said earrings.....me and the macro lens are working on it.)

As always, this anniversary made me think of all the time we have spent together thus far. It seems like forever! (But in a good way-as in I can't remember my life before we were "us" kind of way) It also made me remember something I came across while doing some cleaning, and after I stopped laughing hysterically, I decided I should share it:

These are from a game that we played at my bridal shower (That was thrown by my fabulous best friends-Melanie and Marissa) It was the one where you tell everyone to write a "For Sale" ad for something they own that they no longer want/need. (For instance"Old Smelly couch. Needs a new home. Well used") Well, you then tell everyone to take out the name of whatever they are selling and replace it with the name of the groom. (So old smelly couch becomes old smelly Marshall....) Then they read the ad aloud. People were crying from laughing so hard:

~Free to a good home:

One old (Marshall)- Well used but with a little TLC can be useful once again! Has a few stains and cold use a paint job, but you can't beat the cost of FREE!

~For Sale-More than "gently used" (Marshall):

First person to take it away! (Marshall) needs a bolt to secure back. Opens into a bed. (Mattress included) Would be fabulous with slip covers. Grey with brown accents.

~For Sale-1 (Marshall)

Excellent condition! Only used one year. Plays video games and music. Handy carrying case and charger comes with.

~For Sale, Antique (Marshall):

Seats 8-10, 6 Chairs included. Cherry color. Glossy finish. Aged to perfection! (This one is a tad ironic....it was written by a dear family friend-who just gave us the very table that inspired this ad!)

~For sale: (Marshall)

Older model but still works great after 16 years! $100 or best offer.

~For Sale! Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!

Antique (Marshall). Doesn't play but looks good. Good conversation piece. Come and get it!

~For sale: Recently repotted (Marshall):

Young, robust foliage is a great addition to any home's garden. A fruit lovers fantasy! (Hehe, fruit lover)

~For sale"
One slightly used (Marshall). Might be a little dirty and smelly, but if you clean (him) with an SOS pad, (he) will be good as new!

These next ones were my favorites:

~For sale"
Blue and rust colored (Marshall). Runs good but leaks fluids on your leg. At least the A/C works! Only $1000 dollars! (HEHEHE, thanks Mel.)

~For sale:
One barely used (Marshall). Not much wear and tear. Batteries included. 3 different speeds & reclines. Looks brand new!

~For sale: Much loved (Marshall):
This (Marshall) will warm your buns and contour to your body perfectly since (he) has no form of (his) own anymore. You'll love the pre-stained look-no more worries about spills!

And finally, the best:

~For sale:

Hardwood (Marshall) for sale. Mountable and includes all hardware and original accessories. Cheap!

Hahaha, tee-hehe, ah ha....ahem. Ok, I'm all better now.

So basically-Happy first-date-that-also-happens-to-be-Valentines-Day-versary honey! I love you!

Oh yeah, and I'm aware this posting is a little late.

My new love...

2009-02-12T09:58:00.005-06:00

Perfection, thy name is Emerald:

Seriously, go buy some right now. It will change your life. It's that good.

Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be back to my processed sugar craving self in no time, but for now, there is only Emerald Breakfast Blend.

Oh, and Oreo cakesters. (Just not the chocolate ones, blech. Wow, I just said blech to something chocolate...prepare for the end of the world.) But really, don't eat chocolate Oreo cakesters, cause they're just yucky.)

I'm pretty sure that those two snacks cancel eachother out in the health department. So, if I eat nothing but them, it's like eating nothing at all! (In my head, that totally makes sense)

Oh yeah, back to my original point..... Go by this trail mix. Right now. And don't forget to share. (With me of course!)

The end.

It's here! It's here!

2009-02-10T12:15:00.003-06:00

It's mine!!! It's alllllllllllllll mine!!!

I heard the delivery guy pull up and I was down the stairs and out the door before he was even back in his truck. I think that might have scared him.

Or it was the miss-matched pj's and crazed look in my eye....who knows.

Anyways, back to more important matters:

Isn't it beautiful??

Yeah, even the packaging is gorgeous.

Ta-Da!!

I would have better pictures, but I had to use the lens that will now be referred to as "blech" to shoot these pictures.

A new lens is a wonderous thing. I am in awe of it's greatness. I shall never love another.

Until of course, I get that fish eye and wide angle lens. Then I might have to re-evaluate this relationship. But until then......... I will be lost in photography bliss for the next....forever.

Oh yeah:

Hannah's not impressed.

Like a kid waitin' for Christmas.....

2009-02-10T08:44:00.008-06:00

What is this you might ask........

This is what I look like right now........

Waiting for the UPS guy..........

I just tracked him.......

he's in Houston...............

The package isn't due until tomorrow, but I'm thinking (read: wishing) that it's going to get here early.............

And I hope it does................

Because I can't wait..........................

The UPS guy is going to be my new favorite person......................

Because he's bringing me.....................THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you're wondering, this is the Canon 50mm, f1.8, which is just about the greatest lens in the world. (ok, except for maybe the 1.4 version, which is like waaaaaaaaaaaaay expensive........but really, 1.8, 1.4, c'mon!) And as soon as UPS gets here, it's allllllll mine!

Now all I need is a fabulous fisheye lens, a awesome wide angle lens, a shiny new flash, and a step up ring for my macro set.

Then I will have everything required for ultimate camera happiness.

That is, until I find something else I can't live without.

You know, my birthday is coming up...... in like 4 months.....Just a thought ;)

Oh yeah! And I'm going fabric shopping later!!

Ahhh, bliss.

25 things that you probably never ever needed to know about me, because I'm just a conformist like that.

2009-02-09T16:28:00.003-06:00

Seems like this is what all the "cool kids" are doing, so here goes.

1. I would put A1 sauce on everything if I could. Really. Like, I'd carry a bottle of it with me everywhere I go if I didn't think people would look at me funny. I don't know why either, it's just yummy and tastes good with just about everything.

2. I could eat mac and cheese everyday, every meal. (But of course, I'd need A1 sauce to go with it.)

3. Canned biscuits scare me. A lot. Make no mistake, I still use them because heaven only knows there is certainly no "Here try these biscuits I just made from scratch" going on in this house...but I fear for my life each time I peel back that label. I'm convinced that one day, I'll lose a hand. Or at the very least a finger.

4. Old people make me really uncomfortable. I guess I should clarify that: Not *all* old people, just like, you know, crazy ones in nursing homes. No idea why, I just get all antsy and itchy. I feel really bad about it too.

5. I want t0 go shark diving in Australia. Maybe in a cage, maybe not... I can't decide. Either way, I think it would be awesome.

6. I'd like to swim with wild dolphins at least once before I die.

7. I didn't learn to swim until I was 11.

8. My earliest memory is an apartment that my family lived in when I was 18 months old.

9. I had the same cat for 18 years. Being there when she had to be put down was the hardest thing I have ever done (Really, it's right up there with childbirth) I still miss her so much it hurts.

10. I got sent to the principals office for swearing in front of a teacher when I was in middle school. That was when I decided I'd never swear again. With only one exception, I haven't since.

11. There are 3 movies I never get tired of watching: Pride and Prejudice, Ever After, and Wild Hearts Can't be Broken. I think I could watch them on repeat all day and still find something new to love about them each time.

13. I'm scared of clowns. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if a geriatric clown ever chased me with a can of biscuits, I'd die.

14. I despise handling raw meat.

15. I can't watch nature shows that involve death or suffering of animals. Shows about people dying? Eh, any day of the week. Just don't hurt the animals. I can't even watch the ASPCA commercials, they make me cry.

16. I hate spaghetti. With a fiery passion.

17. I love to bake, but hate to cook. Somehow, everyone seems to prefer my cooking.

18. I can make the best pumpkin pie in the world.

19. The color orange annoys me. So does pink. It's like orange in disguise.

20. I love photography, but I constantly compare my work to others and think that they are so much better than me.

21. One of my worst fears is being a bad mom. (Besides the whole old people-clown-biscuit thing of course)

22. I tried to pick up a coral snake one time when I was about 10. I thought that it was a "really pretty worm."

23. I love to buy presents for people, but sometimes I don't think that I'm very good at picking them out.

24. I have so many hobbies that it's hard for me to focus on just one at a time. I have so many half done projects laying around it's not even funny. I get distracted easily.

25. I love clothes, but I hate clothes shopping. I'm just not good at picking things out and I hate trying stuff on.

26. I skipped number 12. Betcha didn't even notice. And you totally just scrolled up to check huh?

Phew! That was hard!!

Turns out, I'm not so interesting after all.

Things learned as a new mommy/funny mommy moments-Very funny friday edition

2009-02-06T03:37:00.002-06:00

Once again, the carnival is in town!

So, poor Hannah is going to be the trial and error kid for the rest of her siblings. Because I thought I was allllllllll set in the mommyhood department, but boy was I wrong!

1. No amount of CSI episodes watched which will prepare you to clean up an explosive diaper.

2. People say that newborn poo doesn't stink. People lie.

3. Newborns are well versed in the art of sleep deprivation torture, and they use it often.

4. It is possible to get up at 2am, change a diaper, nurse a crying baby, put said crying baby back to sleep in her bassinet, and climb back into bed without actually waking up. It's called sleep-mommying. It's real, look it up.

5. I'm a little cranky when I don't get sleep. I'm a lot cranky when I don't get sleep for days in a row.

6. Showering is a luxury. So is eating. Or sleeping.

7. I really don't like strangers. Especially ones that want to touch my baby.

8. Trimming baby's fingernails isn't that bad-or so I thought-till I nicked her little finger :(

9. Baby vomit usually washes out. Baby poo, however, does not.

10. Cats are not good babysitters. Baby Einstein however, excellent babysitter.

Best mommy moments ever:

~So, my two best friends had been telling me horror stories about how their little ones "blew-out" their diapers on a regular basis. I just laughed and secretly pitied them because my angel would never do such a thing. Well boy was I wrong. The dreaded day came when my sweet baby exceeded her diapers capacity-while I was nursing her. (I consider myself lucky that I got to go six whole week without that happening!) So I took her downstairs to clean her up. I get her on the changing table and I'm halfway through trying to get her diaper and clothes off without making an even bigger mess when she looks up and me and then pukes-a lot-all over the place. Ahh! My kid is not a puker, not at all! This was only about the third time in her little life that she had done so and boy was it bad. So I grab a burp cloth and try to do some damage control. (Let me give you a mental image here-I'm still holding her feet together with her bum in the air with one hand, trying to keep from plopping her back down in the poopy diaper-and trying to clean up vomit with the other. Nice huh.) Just when I think that I'm getting it under control-my sweet angel sneezes. In.My.Face. Yeah- I just gave up on "clean up" and gave her a bath....and then took a shower!

~The other day-words I thought I'd never say came from my mouth: "Baby, hold still so mommy can get the boogies out of your nose."

~I put a bloody gash on my baby's face while trying to get her hand print. (for a grandparents Christmas present) She cried. So did I.

I know there are many more moments to come!

Like I said-trial and error kid.

Craaaaaaaaazy

2009-02-03T08:09:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm thisclose to completing my first quilting project since I became a stay at home mom. Please, hold your applause. Of course, by saying it's almost done, I mean the quilt top, not like a whole finished ready to go quilt, cause that's just crazy talk. Ok, really just the 12 squares needed to make the quilt top........ But I consider that progress. I think that it's fitting though, that my first almost-done-but-sorta-not project is called a "Crazy Quilt," it just fits my life in so many ways. What, you might ask, happened to the fabulously wonderful Hawaiian fabric quilt project..... Welllllll, um you see, um, that one got a little difficult, so I'm punishing it by putting it in time out.

In other news, little Hannah has decided to become a sniffly, crying, clingy, and otherwise unhappy baby. I'm pretty sure it's just a little congestion and she's a bit ticked off about it, but I'm hoping it passes soon. For my sanity. Because no one should have to cook dinner with an infant strapped to their chest. That should be a law. Hopefully that doesn't make me sound like a bad mom. I really love my child to pieces, I just don't feel my love has to be shown with 24/7 contact. What is it they say, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder???" I could use a little absence. Like right now, she's sleeping like an angel. On her pillow. In my lap. Because she has this internal sensor that goes off as soon as she is more than 1 foot away from me. *Sigh* I know I should just enjoy the snuggles now, because one day, in the not so distant future, she will think that I'm lame and want nothing to do with me. Then I'm totally going to pull the "When you were sick I held you alllllll day and allllll night and didn't get annnnnny sleep...." card. It will be great.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, I did in fact quilt with her strapped to me as well. I think I should get points for difficulty for that one. There is a lot of ironing required for this particular project.......

Just say no...

2009-01-30T00:10:00.000-06:00

To quilting after midnight. Don't do it. It will end badly. These things should only be done in the light of day. Trust me on this folks.

Well, I was going to wait and put all the funny mommy moments in one post

2009-01-27T08:56:00.004-06:00

But it's pretty much the most hilarious thing my child has done, so I'll share this one alone.

So, I had this headache the other day. You know, the kind that can only be cured by an hour long hot soak in my big, giant, wonderful, jet-filled bathtub. So, I left Hannah, stuffed full and clean-diapered, to entertain herself for a while in front of the tv while I tried to will away my raging headache. (Yeah, I know. Greatest.Mom.Ever.) Well, apparently Miss Hannah did not hear the hour-long soak part, and so after about 20 minutes, she was becoming increasingly unhappy. So, still with the most hideous, ugly, worst headache of all times, I hurried and got out to see what was wrong.

I must interject, I watch many shows that include crime scene drama (read-blood, guts, gore....i.e. CSI) but none of those shows could have prepared me for what I saw.

This child had, to say the least, over-filled her diaper. To like, her arm pits. Within 30 minutes.

To say that I laughed would be an understatement. It really shouldn't have been so funny, I know. Here was my miserable kid, who had just made the biggest mess ever, and I was laughing so hard I could barely function. I thought about taking a picture, but I couldn't decide if that would be funny, or just really gross. So I opted not to. But trust me, it was a sight to see.

So, the next few minutes were a comedic scene of me trying to get her out of her clothes and exploded diaper, without making a bigger mess, and get her into the bathtub. Which included me running up the stairs carrying her by the arm pits saying "Ew, ew! Just dont pee everywhere too!"

Once in the bath and on the way to clean, the only words of comfort I could muster for her were, "See, that's what happens when you don't poop for 2 days!"

I know, I know. My "Mother of the Year" award is in the mail.

Is it too much to ask for?

2009-01-26T09:12:00.006-06:00

To actually get more than 2 hours of sleep in a row? It must be, cause I ain't gettin' it! I know by default that means that Hannah isn't sleeping well either, but she just doesn't seem to care! Me on the other hand....... all kinds of caring!

Why, you might ask, am I blogging when I could be sleeping?? Well my my friends, that's because she's awake....again....

Really, I beg....I plead....I bribe (trying to bribe a 3 1/2 month old doesn't go so well, just so you know). But she is a hungry little tyrant who cannot be reasoned with and wants to eat every 2-3 hours at night. Yeah, night. You know, when it's dark out and people (me) are trying to sleep. She's happy to wait 3 or 4 hours between feedings during the day. Yeah, day. You know, when the sun's out an no one (me) is trying to sleep.

It's a big funny joke right? Surely, any second now, someone will jump out with a hidden camera and say "gotcha!"

Hahaha....sleep all day....hehehehe.....keep me awake all night...hawhawhaw.....I get it! No really, that's a good one.

To make matters worse, I've convinced myself that she *knows* what she's doing. Because just when I think I'm so tired I can't take it anymore and so help me I'm going to sell her to the circus, she gives me a big gummy smile, and all is forgiven. It's all an evil plot, I just know it.

Sleep, my dear friend, how I miss you.

I must say

2009-01-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

I'm really loving this blog carnival thing! Mainly because I love getting comments. They validate my life. Don't judge me.

Oh, and I like reading other people's funny posts. Because really, I need more blogs to get wrapped up in. The dozen or so I'm already hooked on just aren't enough.

I'm already plotting what to write for next week's edition. Sad, I know.

Buy it! Because Billy Mays says so! - Very funny friday edition

2009-01-23T08:56:00.016-06:00

Well, I've never done a blogging carnival, but it sounds like fun. (carnies-small hands, smell like cabbage...hehehe) However, I *adore* Sue over at navelgazing, so I'm willing to give it a shot. Of course we *all* know that we'll never ever be as great, wonderful, and funny as she is, but we can all at least bask in the greatness that is her site for a while. So here goes-

Until I became a stay at home mom, I had no idea that number of things I was missing in my life. Let me explain- I'm *aware* of infomercials, I've even seen a few, but seeing and watching are two very different things. And the more daytime tv I watch, the more painfully aware I am of the great voids in my life.

For instance, I bet all you guys relax on the couch and *snicker* cover up with a blanket when you're cold. Haha, fools!

Who needs a normal blanket when you can have one with sleeves!

And I bet you hit snooze a few times before rolling out of bed in the morning-lazy bums. You wouldn't if you had this-

Can your husband shave is face while underwater? No?? That's because he doesn't have one of these:

And I can't tell you how I wish I could sit around all day and still have "toned abs." What?! I can?!

These are just to name a few! You still haven't heard how desperately you need a Caulk Dr. Pro because "Your fingers were never made to be used to apply caulk!" Or how if you own a Shamwow, "You'll say WOW everytime!" And if you owned a Grabit Pro, you'd be "able to remove damaged or broken screws from any material!" All these great items can be yours for the low low price of $19.99! (Plus shipping of course) But only if you call in the next 30 minutes....but wait...there's more........if you call right now......

Betcha you're all thinking about how empty your lives are without these technological marvels huh? Really people, you should check out this site, because I can't make these things up!

You know though, I laugh and poke fun....but secretly, I'd buy every last one of these if I could. (ok, maybe not the alarm clock because that's just silly) I know they are usually all crap, but so help me, I'm hooked everytime I see that Billy Mays yelling about some new product. He makes me wonder how I've gotten through life without these gadgets.

I really need to watch less t.v.

Ok, but seriously, I need one of these:

Cause that's just awesome.

And that's just a freakishly large spider.

Another great giveaway!

2009-01-22T11:00:00.002-06:00

Click here to enter!

New look

2009-01-20T13:44:00.003-06:00

I can't decide if I like it yet....but I gave my blog a little makeover. The layout is courtesy of LeeLou Blogs, who has some reallllllly great buttons and background available.

MMB giveaway!

2009-01-19T12:04:00.004-06:00

I love this site! And not just becuase they give away cool stuff. Go enter!

Courtesy of:

Can't we just shoot them??

2009-01-19T11:06:00.007-06:00

For some odd reason, there is a legion of sales guys who seem to think that our neighborhood is a goldmine. I say this because the same crew has been through this place a dozen times - just in the last week! But really, am I missing something?! There are only like, I don't know, 50 houses in this whole freakin' neighborhood, WHO IS BUYING THIS JUNK?? There simply cannot be that many people showing interest and making it worth it for them to keep coming back. Honestly, I have no clue what they are even selling. I don't even open the door for them. My mom chased one off very politely the other day, but I refuse to even do that much. That's because I.hate.salespeople. (it might also have a teensy bit to do with not wanting to answer the door in my pj's...but only a little) I know that we all have to make a living somehow, but really, coming to my house 5 times in a week is NOT going to make me want to buy whatever crap you're selling. Really, it's not. No, not even if you come back later when I'm not busy. Yeah, I'm sure.
I've seen those signs that say, "No solicitation," but do sales guys really respect those? Can't we make the signs say something like "No solicitation, or you'll trigger the trap door and fall into the pit for all eternity," or "No solicitation or else you leave here limping," *OR* my personal favoite, "Solicitation? Sure, then can I come to your house later and sell it back to *you?*"

I'm sure that I should feel a little bad for being so uncaring, but I just don't. I guess it's because I just feel like if these guys spent half the effort they put into this crappy job, out there trying to get a real one, the world would be a better place.

Is there some law about this that we could vote on?? Because I so would.

I want one of these

And a sign like this

Oh, and one of these installed

So Inspiring

2009-01-14T08:01:00.006-06:00

So I just got called as a family history consultant in the ward and I am so excited to get started! The church has some really awesome resources for goobers like me who are fairly new to the whole family history thing. So now, I get to learn how to use them *and* help others do the same. I registered on the new site a few days ago and I have pretty much been on it non-stop ever since. (family history work is addicting-who knew!) Well, I'm getting pretty gung-ho about this whole thing, you might even say "ambitious," and I look over at the calendar that Marshall got me for Christmas from despair.com (a site that he and I both *love* because it's just about the most hilarious thing ever) and here's what's up for January:

Gee thanks babe.

(Ok, I really do LOVE the calender. It's one of the best presents ever because they are micro-perforated art prints, so after your done with each month you pull them out keep them as posters. I can't wait to have an office full of these hanging on the wall!! :) I do think however that it's ironic that "Ambition" is the one I'm staring at while I try to get motivated to do family history work. Hmmm, motivated....wonder if that's in there somewhere too...)

In other news... I have *finally* started the "cutting process" for the fabric my MIL brought back from Hawaii for me. (so the quilt should be done in oh, I'd say a zillion years!) It took forever to get going on it because I first had to translate the pattern from hawiian to English. Yes, I know that they speak English over there, but apparently they don't write in it! Because really, it's an awesome pattern, but it's so convoluted that it's hard to believe they are only explaining how to make a quilt and not, oh I don't know, brain surgery. Then I have to figure out what to do with all the left over fabric because there's going to be a ton! (And don't say "just make a bigger quilt" because I simply cannot accept that kind of rational logic when I'm trying to make things complicated) Lol, I just realized that I'm already planning the next project with this fabric and I'm not even done with the current one. That explains a great many thing in my life......

But I'll have to ponder it later because for now, I must go. Today is my first day at the Family History Center!