Thursday, September 30, 2010

Tired (Day 16)

What a tiring day, well really evening.  I am setting up a booth with a good friend of mine tomorrow night at a festival.  It will be a great way to get our businesses out there.  So all evening I have been making fliers on Photoshop.  I have had to start over a few times, but I think I finally got all the kinks out, and they look great.   I know, it's not physically tiring, I get that way from the kids, but it can be very mentally tiring and at times emotionally, especially when fliers keep messing up and I have to redo them.  But now they are done and I don't have to worry about them.  Onto another project, I am revamping my website and adding some of the photos from the Fall Photo Shoot I just did, they look great!  Alright, enough about that, I am sure no one wants to read about that kind of stuff. Onto the girls.

So I think my baby is telling me she loves me, it is so cute.  I tell her that I love her, and she mumbles something that resembles "I love you", but it could also be something like "where's my bottle".  Who knows, but it is really really cute.  And tonight she had lemonade, I think it was the first try.  Every time she would take a drink she would make a face, shiver, then open her mouth for more, she loved it. my oldest also took some sips and thought it was wonderful.  I try not to give them too much sweet stuff, but an occasional indulgence isn't going to hurt her, although, it might not really be considered an indulgence except they rarely get something other than water/diluted apple juice/milk to drink, so yeah, it's difference.

Since I stay home all day, I sometimes have a hard time thinking about what to write about, sometimes my days seem to run together and a lot of the same things happen everyday, or so it seems.  We did do art today (well I do it every day, different projects). Anyway, today the kids made cookie monster out of toilet paper rolls, I know, ingenious huh?  Anyways, we are going over the letter C, you would have thought that I invented light by my oldest's reaction.  Whenever My husband came home that was one of the first things she told him, but she calls it her toilet so it's really funny.  Then I called my dad this evening and of course my oldest had to talk to him.  The first thing she says is "Grandpa, I made you a toilet" really cute, and Dad thought it was pretty funny.  Anyways, it is getting late, almost 11, and I have a long day tomorrow, so until then, I leave you with the adorableness of the smallest loves of my life.


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Photography (day 15)

So as many of you know, I love photography.  I have been doing a lot of different jobs and have been trying to dive a little deeper into it.  I had a family photo shoot last Sunday and I am going to a Festival this weekend to promote the business a little bit further.  My good friend Bridgette is helping me get my business up a little more,and I am (hopefully) helping her with hers.  She makes adorable tutus and other girly accessories.

I am really excited about this weekend, it will be fun to promote and hang out with a good friend all while watching the fun carnival happening around us.  I am looking forward to get this entire business off the ground and be very successful.  I hope that after both the girls go off to school I can pursue this as a full time career.  I would think that by then I will have all of the equipment that I would need for a booming business.

I have always wanted to have a career that I truly loved.  Now don't get me me wrong, right now my children are my full time career and it is the best thing in the world to be able to stay at home with my children, but one day they will go off to school...'sniff' and I will have to have another career path.  Now I do have a degree in Education and English, but that is really not something that I absolutely love, and I want to do something that I love.  I believe that photography could definitely be it.
So, since photography is a passion of mine I leave you with some of the ones I took today:





Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Beautiful Day (Day 14)

Oh the weather has been so gorgeous these past few days.  I have been taking the kids outside to enjoy the fresh air and (hopefully) have them sleep better at night.  It seems to work,the baby has not been sleeping very well lately, but since we have been going outside during the day she sleeps better at night.  She has only woken up once tonight, which is better than all last weekend, every hour it seemed.  So we are moving forward with the better sleeping, and hopefully it last.
My oldest has been eating better, as I mentioned before she has an eating problem, and hates to eat.  Tonight I asked her what she wanted to eat and she told me princess spaghetti.  Well I didn't have that, but I did have some kinda soup (that I knew she wouldn't eat), so I showed her the can, and made her beef raviolis, and what do you know, it worked!!  So even though it was kinda sneaky it didn't hurt her, and she actually ate more than usual because she thought it was princess spaghetti.  Yay! a new trick!
So today was my second day without any type of coke/dr. pepper and it has not been too bad.  Sure I have a headache every now and then, but not as bad as I thought it would be, hopefully, I will be able to do this for the rest of my life.  I know that there might be an occasional coke down the road, but maybe not.  Let's go with the maybe not.
My husband is doing good, he is working hard at his job, being a great dad and husband.  Let me tell you, when he walks through that door the girls freak out!! They love him so much and the bond they have seems to be unbreakable.  They are Daddy's Girls and it is the sweetest thing to watch.  I love it.
Sorry about the randomness of this blog, lately they have just been a smear of my world.  It has been crazy busy with the photo editing and such, hopefully I can start forming coherent blogs in the near future.




Monday, September 27, 2010

Transformation (Day 13)

Wow, it's been almost 2 weeks.  Sometimes the days seem to fly by, others...not so much.  So a good friend of mine, Bridgette, came up with the idea that we needed to challenge ourselves to giving up Cokes/Dr. Pepper, any type of soda in general.  I took her up on it and one upped it saying we couldn't have any for a month (of course we'll extend it to forever) and we would get pedicures.  If one of us failed the challenge then they had to pay the others way.  Well if you know me, then you know I do not want to lose this challenge.

Today was day one.  NOT FUN!  I went from 5+ Dr. Peppers a day (I know I know, please no scorn) to a big fat 0!  Let me tell you my head is pounding, everything is a fog and I could probably fall asleep standing up.  I was going to start my diet and work outs today to, but that might send my body into a coma or something... slow and steady, one day at a time.  I will start the diet on the first, so that way my body gets acclimated to no caffeine and does not go into further shock. 

So I know today has been difficult, but I do believe/know it will get easier.  I am going to do it, and hopefully not hurt anyone in the process, and I will get my healthy body back!   If anyone knows of any trick to kick the cravings, I would love love love to hear them.  So today's post is not going to be long, since I am having a hard time focusing and I will leave you with today's photos.


Sunday, September 26, 2010

Photo Shoot (day 12)

So today Luv Bug Tutus and I had a fall photo shoot in the park, and I am exhausted, but it turned out to be wonderful.  The past week I had been really worried since the weather had been so unpredictable, and I knew that if my luck would have it, the shoot would be rained out.  Boy was I wrong, and in a great way.  The weather was perfect, it hovered at about 80 degrees and was partly sunny, perfect for a photo shoot.

I get to the park around 7:30, set up and have a nice turnout.  I enjoyed doing the photo shoot and got some great photos for some awesome families.  This is something I love doing, and hope to one day do a lot.  I want to write so much more on today and everything, I will try to get to it tomorrow, but duty calls (that's motherhood) so better tend to the little ones.  Here are a few pics of my girls from this afternoon!


Saturday, September 25, 2010

Jumping Around (Day 11)

What a day!  My husband and I took the girls to a bounce house place for a birthday party, the girls had a blast.  We arrive and their eyes light up and get as round as saucers, as they try to escape from our grasp My husband and I manage to get all the shoes taken off and lined up.  We great our friends then let the girls run, and let me tell you they did.  My oldest went straight for one of the bounce houses and the baby ran up to all the strangers and told them hi.

That is the thing about the baby, she is completely fearless and has no stranger anxiety.  I am not sure how many random strangers she walked up to, but she wanted to get to know them all, ugh, I don't know what to do about her.  Then she finds the slide, and let me tell you, she had a ball going down it and it was fast, my hsuband and I could barely keep her from hitting the ground, but she didn't care, as soon as she landed she wanted to go again, silly girl.

Now my oldest on the other hand is the opposite, she is quite timid when it comes to strangers and any type of "dangerous" situations.  Although she did come out of her shell today.  She went up to a few of our friends and asked for "a big hug goodbye" her words, not mine.  She also went down the huge bouncy slide for the first time.  I honestly did not think that would happen, and after her first ride down I don't think it will again.  Poor girl, she flew down it, and somehow flipped around, then the other kids went down before she could move so they rammed into her.  She went back into her shell and I don't know when she will be courageous like that again!

So the kids continue to play, then of course cake time (but that is not as much fun as bouncing) so more bounce time, then it is time to pack it up and go home...relief.  It was a great birthday party, in fact my husband and I talked about doing that for the girls birthday next year, they all had so much fun.  We got the kids home, fed, bathed, and in bed before 8.  And if everything goes as planned they will sleep through the night, not wake up, I can get everything ready for the photoshoot tomorrow, and it will be a great day!!

Well, I gotta say goodnight, I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I had to complete my blog for the day!! Until tomorrow, Goodnight!

Some photos from today.

Kate on a slide!



What is she thinking about?

Friday, September 24, 2010

Date Night and Memories (Day 10)

Tonight My husband and I went on a much needed date.  I couldn't tell you how long it has been since we went out for a dinner sans kids, and it was nice.  I know I know, poor babies, why didn't you take them, don't you love them?  Yes, more than life itself, but even us mothers need a night out.  Especially if you are with your babies 24/7.

We were only gone a few hours, but let me tell you, it was great.  We we talked about old times, how everyone, including us has changed.  We were on our way home and pulled up to a red light.  Next to us were two college girls, probably freshmen with their radio blaring some ghetto music.  We joked about it, probably because it used to be us blaring that kind of music.  But we joked about how dumb they look, and probably how dumb we looked at the time.  Now, you usually find us with our music set to children's lullabies or toddler tunes, and it definitely isn't blaring, and tonight since we didn't have the kids in the car we were able to listen to (quiet) grown up music, aka country music (at least in our case).  And let me tell you, it was kinda nice!  Not trying to impress others, which is obviously what the college girls were trying to do, why else would you have your music turned up so loud that you could hear it half a mile away? 

So back to our night out, it was great, much needed, and knowing (hoping) I was going to get to come back home to a house with two sleeping babies was a wonderful thought.  So we get about a block from the house,  my husband looks at me and says "so you think our oldest  is up?"  "Yeah, probably"  I say, although secretly praying that they were both out for the night.  My husband: "Nah, I bet she's out"...We walk into the door to...

But Mommy, I'm not tired!

And the baby was also running around playing and this is at almost 9.  I know, doesn't seem that late, but for two children that normally go to bed around 7 this is very late.   But you can't fault them, Grandma was babysitting, and you know the powers of a grandma, they are so much fun and impossible to go to sleep when around.  Boy do those two girls love their grandma, and we are so grateful that she was available to babysit.  So anyways, here it is at 9:24, my blog is about done, the girls are in bed, even though I am still hearing the baby occasionally (that is when I snapped this little picture):

  

and I am going to sit around and be lazy for the rest of the evening, goodnight all.  
I leave you with a few more photos from this evening:

This is what someone up way past bedtime looks like

Tired, tired baby girl

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Hair Cuts & Fairies (Day 9)

Wow, can't believe it has already been nine days!  Well today was a fun one, my oldest got her first "real" haircut.  My wonderful sister in law Brianna came over and we were talking about how much we needed hair cuts and how I wished her hair would even out.  So she had the bright idea to cut off the back to match the front.  I know what you are thinking, "don't do it", but it actually turned out really cute and so much less stringy, well except for the bangs, but we didn't touch those.  I would one day love all of her hair to be one length, and to get it that way, cutting the bangs is not an option!  But the back and sides look great, she no longer looks like she has a tail, and she looks so grown up!  It turned out really cute, and not as short as I expected, so yay!

She was really cute, I blow dried it after it was cut, of course she kinda freaked out about it, at first, until she saw how "beautiful" she was, her words, "momma, I'm so beautiful"  if you could hear how she says beautiful, it's great, all drawn out and long, so "beeyouuuutifulllllll", my funny girl.  Oh yeah, my husband didn't know my plans for her hair, when he got home I waited for him to notice the new 'do, nothing.  So I wait a while, still nothing, so I bring it, up his response, "really?, I can't really tell."  It honestly isn't drastic, just much needed...see for yourself:
Before
The Process
The Back After (stating the obvious)
The finished product
So on to the Fairies, my baby has found a new activity, dress up!  I was sitting on the floor today playing with the kids and she brings me a tiara.  I put it on her head fully expecting it to be chunked to the floor forgotten as so many other toys do.  Not this time, she keeps it on her head for a given amount of time, so I decide to put some more dress up clothes, first the wings, so far so good, then the final test, the tutu (made by my good friend Bridgette).  Much to my amazement everything stays on!  So off she pranced, dancing and laughing in her Fairie Princess outfit.  She kept it on for a good hour.  She is going from being my baby to being my little girl, amazing how quickly it goes.  Here are some pictures of her dancing and prancing around:

My sweet little fairie princess

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

New Trick & Learning (Day 8 )



Part I New Trick
If you know my oldest you know she has eating issues.  She has been like this essentially since birth.  She was born at a chunky 9 pounds, yeah, big huh?  Since she was 18 months she has been wobbling between 26 and 27 pounds, so she went from being in the 95th percentile to the 25th percentile.

So food has not been a friend to her.  We have seen specialist, been in the hospital for almost a week, seen eating and play therapist, urologist, dietitians, neurologist, and the list goes on.  So I am up for any secrets out there to get her to eat more than one bite at any given meal.  I know what you are thinking "she's a toddler, of course she is picky", it goes beyond this, if she had her choice she would never eat food again, and only drink her pediasure/carnation instant breakfast that we use to supplement.  And yes, again, we have tried taking away the supplements to no avail.  She just doesn't like food in her mouth, and gags easily, on everything.

Well on to my main point of this blog entry and it  is I think I might have found a new trick to get her to eat.  This afternoon I was cleaning out the laundry room and I happened upon the goodie bags from the kids that didn't come to the girls' birthday party a few weeks ago and got the great idea to use them for treats.  So tonight I made chicken parmigiana (well, took it out of the freezer, put it in a dish, baked it for 45 minutes).  Of course she immediately said she didn't want this food, I was able to coax her into one bite.  That is usually the easy part, it is the bites after the first we have lots of problems with.  This is when I came up with this glorious plan.  Use the stuff from the goodie bags as treats for eating.  So I grab the box with everything dumped into and tell her if she eats EVERYTHING on her plate she can have a special treat from the box.  She got so excited that I had to take a picture of her face when I told her about it.
Muahahahaha

Needless to say she ate her ENTIRE plate of food tonight!  For her and us that is huge.  She ate two bites of chicken and like five large noodles, way to go my beautiful darling!  She was so proud of herself and all it took was a look at the goodie box.
The Goodie Box, not too shabby!


Part II Learning

I have recently decided to teach the kids their ABC's.  I have gone over them, my oldest knows the song and some letters, but now I really want to teach her what the letters mean and how they work.  I know she is only three, but why not put some lessons in her daily life.

This week we are learning the letter "B".  My oldest is loving it, especially since her name begins with the letter.  I am not sure ifshe truly gets the concept, but she is loving all of the art and crafts that she gets to partake in, and who knows what she is learning in the process.  Everyday she comes to me and asks when she is going to learn her letters.  Tomorrow we are going to learn the "teddy bear" song, since we learned that bear starts with B.  So wish us luck on the learning and here is Bailey with the Book she colored today!
Quite the artist!

And I leave you with a picture of our mischievous little one :

Can't you see the twinkle in her eye?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Making up stories (day 7)

So my oldest has just entered her threes.  I know you have terrible twos, but what would threes be.  There certainly have been days where terrible threes would fit, but she is getting better, although today I caught her doing something she has never done before.  Fabricating a story, or would you call it lying with a three year old.  Not sure.  Anyways, I was cleaning up after snack this afternoon and I could hear her in the playroom talking to one of her little friends.  My oldest: "I sad."  Friend:  "Oh no, why are you sad."  Now, this little friend is only a couple of days older than her...Continuing:  My oldest: "because Mommy took it."  Friend:  "Oh no, what did your mommy take."  You could hear the empathy dripping from his voice, and lately "oh no" has been his favorite saying...Continuing:  My oldest very aggressively: "Mommy took my fifty dollars and threw it in the trash." Friend: " OHHH NOOO,  that is sad." My oldest:  "Yeah, Sara," (yes she sometimes replaces Mommy with Sara), "took my money and she just threw it away."  Now this is really where she is emphasizing her words!  Friend:  "Oh no."  Finishing up her story: "and I don't know why she threw my fifty dollars away!"  oozing in sadness.

Yes folks that is my three year old, I assure you, none of this story she told her friend actually took place.  You better believe that if she had fifty dollars I would not be throwing it in the trash.  She sure was able to pull her friend into her story and get him on her side.  Although I don't condone lying, it was funny, and she sure does have an imagination.  Hopefully she does not continue doing this though, silly girl!

Here are today's photos, we had just finished lunch, my baby sure loved it, the oldest...not so much, but what's new!
Yummy Beefaroni!!
My little fabricator!!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Teething and stuff (day 6)

Monday, not my favorite day of the week, add to it a teething child,my oldest's new "thing", a messy house, and rainy/inside weather, well, it doesn't make it much better.

First, the teething child, poor baby.  She has four, count them, four teeth.  The front, bottom two, then the top, side two.  That's right, my kids don't teeth "correctly".  My oldest was the same way, she was, what we call a "vampire baby".  It really is cute, especially when they give you that grin.  My husband and I thought for sure that that bay would teeth "correctly" when lo and behold, nope, she likes to follow in big sister's footsteps.  Oh well, it makes for some cute pictures, if she will ever sit still long enough to get the cheese vampire smile!  So now I think she is getting more teeth, I think this gave it away...
Yep, that's right, teething on the play table, and not just once, but several times for several minutes each.  And boy does she have a hold of that table, I had to pry her off, kinda like a bear trap on its intended.  She's going to love this photo when she gets older, but I have tons of wonderful, first date, horror photos to show anyone she brings to the house **mwaahahahahaha**.  It's crazy, even though she only has those four (two very separate) teeth, the girl can eat.  Today for lunch she chowed down on grilled chicken, baked beans, mac n cheese, and corn, all pretty much toothless.  It seems rather painful, but she manages quite well.

So my oldest's new "thing" is trying to trick me.  She found somethings (crochet needles) that she was not supposed to play with.  I saw her grab it, asked what she had, she immediately puts her hands behind her back.  I tell her to let me see her hand, what does she do, produce only one hand...Sneaky little girl, you think I don't know it will be in your other hand?  So I tell her to show me the other hand, reluctantly she shows me and we discuss why this is not allowable.  All is good until she does it again about an hour later with straws from her drink.  She is learning, but also becoming a little sneaky, but boy can she melt you with those big green eyes and the "oh but I love you mama". Here she is playing with marker tops...

So my house, yep, it's a wreck.  It wasn't too bad this morning, but as the day progressed it only got worse and worse.  I can kinda combine this one with the weather.  The girls have not been able to get out of the house because of all the wonderful, glorious, annoying rain.  So there is not a lack of mud inside and outside, and it seems like every time I clean it up, more is tracked in.  Don't get me wrong, we needed the rain, but I emphasize that needed is past tense.  I don't think it is needed now.  We have had our fair share and believe it is time for some nice fall weather, which means I can properly clean my house, and let the girls outside so they don't continue to mess up the said clean house...Well that is all for now, it is almost dinner time, and that means two hungry girls, then on to bath and bedtime, then...tv premier week!  
I leave you with some more photos from today:

 being silly




 telling me off!



 pretending their is a spider in her hair

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Build a Bear (day 5)

So we find out on Friday that my husband has to go to Laredo for the work week, not fun at all.  We wanted to do something fun with the girls today and we remembered that we got some gift cards for Build a Bear for the birthdays!  

We told our oldest this morning that we were going to make her a bear, boy was she excited, so noon rolls around and we start to get ready to go.  The phone rings, my husband gets called into work, poor sweetie, she was looking forward to building that bear.  Luckily, he isn't gone all day (several hours mind you), but not all day, so he gets back and we head on up there.

Once we get to there my oldest's eyes light up like it's Christmas morning, she picks out her bear and then onto the clothes.  Well, the whole way up there she told us she wanted her bear to be Tinkerbell.  We explained to her that they might not have that outfit, but ok.  We get to the clothes, and what do you know, Tinkerbell.  She is ecstatic, we are pleasantly surprised, and the baby is running around the store oblivious to what is going on.

We make our way over to the stuffing machine, and the poor clerk attempts to get the baby to push the pedal, yeah right, and gets her's stuffed.  I think it was at that point that she started to "get it" but not really; although she did enjoy hugging her bear.  My oldest on the other hand is having the time of her life, stuffing, "bathing", clothing, and finally paying for her precious Tinterbell (yes, she calls it Tinterbell).  We leave the store and the mall with two very happy children.  The entire way home all she could talk about was her new bear and how exciting it was, so much fun.

Here are some photos to go with the day: