A Day in the Life

Well, Hello There!

2011-09-04T15:47:00.004-04:00

Yes, Yes, I know... it has been almost a YEAR since my last blog post. I am not sure about the statute of limitations on what an active blog is, but maybe I can resuscitate this one... hopefully blogging a little more often. Most of you who follow my blog are aware of what goes on in my life via Facebook, Twitter, and my other blog. However, since this one still exists, technically, I decided to post a photo of our two kids... to catch up on life over the past (almost) year!

Henry turns 3 later this month. He is getting really big (size-wise, he is in a size 4T, and climbs in and out of his car booster seat with ease). Big kid, not a surprise... but what I am most amazed by every day is how bright and charming he is. He's picking up on some of his big sister's dramatic ways, but usually he's just a sweet boy. He still might bite occasionally. We are working on that!

Henry loves to follow Lucy around and say/do everything she says/does! Everything! He is a smarty and a great talker, his vocabulary is tremendous... but he's not just a parakeet, he is creative and inquisitive, I'm just a proud mom. He's a darling child, aside from the fighting with his sister, and his messy eating habits, I just couldn't ask for a better son.

Lucy is such a kid. The other day we were at Kohl's and she started eyeing all the little kid jewelry and "makeup", she is going to be riding a big yellow school bus in a couple of short days (whoa) and she can read a little bit. She is good at writing her numbers and letters (and some words), she can do adding problems without paper, and she knows too many of the words to Lady GaGa's "Just Dance". She is completely fearless with rides, climbing, trying new things, anything that might post a remove physical danger, you can't keep her away. Since getting rid of TV she has found a new electronic addiction in the Wii... which we attempt to limit, but she's so good at Donkey Kong it's kind of impressive. Kids today. She'll be FIVE on October 1.

Here is a recent photo of our dynamic duo!

I promise to try to blog more.. that is, if anyone is still out there reading! LOL

Reality Check

2010-10-22T13:14:00.006-04:00

I looked around and felt slightly amused (if not exhausted) by the scene unfolding around me, so I grabbed a camera and snapped a photo. Then today I decided to procrastinate and make note of the details that sum up life around the home... that is, when I am trying to work. Pretty sure you have to click the picture to read any of the captions..

In a nutshell, they are wonderful kids. They of course have their moments, but what preschoolers don't, seriously? I just find that it's such a striking, instant, difference in their behavior from when I am playing with them and paying 100% attention to them... to the instant I stop, they switch into crazy mode! Needless to say, next year I might have to consider one or two days a week putting Henry in some kind of daycare or getting a nanny. Lucy will be in kindergarten. A few hours of peace, a couple days a week, would do wonders. I think right now it's a tough time to run a business and be a SAHM. It won't always be this way, with all the chaos.

At least I can laugh about it... sometimes.

Henry is 2!

2010-09-28T12:40:00.005-04:00

Today is Henry's 2nd Birthday! I can't believe it! He's so cute, sweet, naughty... he loves to get into all kinds of trouble, then walks up and says, "hug?" looking at you with his big blue eyes. So hard to keep a straight face sometimes. He thinks he can cute himself out of anything. Sometimes, I am so tired just trying to keep him from tearing the house apart... but he's wonderful, and makes life so much fun! He and Lucy love each other, when they're not trying to hurt each other... right this very moment they are playing nice. I hope that it continues for a little while... usually someone starts screaming within a minute or two!

Anyway, here is a photo of him by the birthday bunting my mom made for the kids. I will hang it up somewhere every year - for both of them - on their birthdays... it's really cute, and I appreciate all the work she put into it!

Gun Lake

2010-08-14T09:22:00.002-04:00

This is my sister and my aunt Pam on a kayak, coming in by the neighbor's dock (a long exposure created the major motion blur). It's kind of a funky photo, but I really like it because it reminds me of a very fun night we had out there. :) I'm currently uploading more pics from our Girls Weekend to our Smugmug Site (link coming soon).

Bird Shirts

2010-08-10T10:45:00.005-04:00

Ready for a lame trivial blog post (better suited to a Facebook status update, but over 240 characters!)? Here you go:

I went shopping last night... at the mall. I don't like going to the mall, but fortunately it wasn't too busy. It was a Monday night, and I only went in 2 or 3 stores. I had the most luck at Charlotte Russe, which sounds weird - I used to think that store was just for ultra trendy teens who wanted to gear up for Friday night, getting overdressed, cruisin' around listening to Ke$ha, but alas, they actually have cute things that I can wear (despite the fact that I'm closing in on 30 years old... and yes, I do listen to Kesha on the radio, she's weird, "I like your beard" - what on earth? But her music is fun :)).

I have to find a few other basic things, but I made myself go. Spend money. On clothes. Not my favorite thing to do, and I have a hard time justifying it. However, feeling good in what you are wearing is worth it, and I just need to get that through my head! Charlotte Russe has cute stuff, and it's really reasonable, so I got a lot for my money. I also found a cheap t-shirt at Old Navy ($8) to update my other cheap Old Navy t-shirt I find myself wearing too often. Both the old one and the new one feature birds... interesting.

Meanwhile, I'm still here... working, photographing, trying to keep the house under control and drinking loads of coffee.

We just celebrated our 6th Anniversary on Saturday August 7th. I will probably blog about that soon enough, but I didn't want to lose focus here, when the main purpose of this was to talk about my lame clothes! LOL :) Enjoy your day, faithful readers...

Because I'm Keeping Track...

2010-07-13T10:15:00.006-04:00

This blog is the best record of my kids (so far) so I am adding a random post about all the latest and greatest accomplishments of Lucy and Henry. I will use these posts someday as a resource to make an awesome book. I will.

So, Lucy took a little "dance" class this summer at the Horizons Center - not far from our house. Only one other girl was in her class (a 5 year old) and it didn't really involve a lot of dancing, but a lot of jumping, somersaults, hopscotch, balance beam, trampoline, and even some hilarious attempts at cartwheels. The 5 year old is a little ahead of the game in that department. Lucy's cartwheels need some fine-tuning, to say the least. She had a lot of fun. Now she's in a 4 day pre-preschool in Grandville that, we hope, will give her a little preparation for the real deal this fall. She is there for 2 hours (today is day two) and there are about 8-10 kids in there with her. Yesterday she came home with a very fancy piece of artwork and marker all over her arms. She had a blast.

She also had her second cousin Ryder in class with her, although she didn't necessarily cling to him. Ron saw her sit down by another girl. Probably a good thing, boys have cooties, right? Lucy is incredibly bright and funny, and all parent-bias aside, I can't believe how well she speaks, and how perceptive she is. On the other hand, she still has her moments ... when she catches Henry getting attention for saying something cute (ie: "mama eating too?"), she copies him, and talks like a baby. We don't like that. It seems no matter how much attention and praise she gets for her achievements, she is still jealous when her baby brother steals the spotlight a little. Another positive note: her desperate attempts at fridge raiding have really subsided. She hardly ever opens the fridge now. Maybe we will be able to skip those locks. Until Henry gets a little older, then I imagine he'll probably follow in Lucy's footsteps in that area as well. Sigh.

So Henry says little sentences, copies everything he hears, he even does pretty well trying to sing songs, and he mimicks whatever Lucy does. The following scenario plays out several times a day: Lucy does something kind of naughty and as we tell her to stop / make her stop, Henry does the same thing with a big cute grin on his face, so we have to bust him too, and then Lucy smiles because she has successfully gotten Henry in trouble, and shared the negative attention with her brother. We do our best not to crack a smile, because depending on the kind of day we've had, our tolerance level varies.

Good day: We are very patient, borderline amused by mischievous antics, but discipline is calm and fairly consistent.
Bad day: We are not at all tolerant of bad behavior, firm parenting, nothing is funny.
VERY Bad day: Now the antics might actually push you toward laughter, but it's the laughter of a madman, or in our case, kind that you experience when you just can't believe how loudly your kids can scream when they are trying to outdo each other, chasing laps around the island, and the only way anyone can hear anything is to scream above their noise, and a camera crew should come bursting out of the closets any time now. This type of day, thankfully, is rare.

Cracking a smile never goes unnoticed, and it is the ultimate victory for an almost 4 year old professional button pusher and her trusty sidekick.

I digress. Henry is an awesome little boy. He points out and names countless objects in books (especially animals and foods), and repeats words pretty clearly (recently I said "triceratops" and he said it back to me almost perfectly). He loves to crawl around and act like a puppy, saying "ruff" and panting. He loves playing with little cars and lines them up like a parking lot, and Ron was overjoyed when he remembered "Camaro" days after being taught. He found the Camaro and said it! So cute. At bedtime if he's not screaming with his head thrown back, and pushing on my neck in a violent attempt to escape my arms, he will snuggle and let me set him in the crib, then he puts his hand over his mouth, and throws kisses one after another, going faster and faster until he cracks up laughing,. Yes, he is still in the crib. We haven't made the switch yet - mostly because it's easier to keep him contained in the crib for naptime and bedtime (obvious reasons). He turns 2 at the end of September, so I don't think we're necessarily "late" on the transition, although we put Lucy in her toddler bed a couple months before her second birthday. Shortly after that, she stopped napping. Forever. See how that might kill my motivation? We'll do it soon...

At this very moment he is pulling the folded laundry out of the basket and chewing on my toothbrush.... and that is why I probably won't post again for a while.

Baby Buggy

2010-06-15T19:42:00.003-04:00

Ron caught an earwig nymph (baby earwig), because he thought it was an unusual bug and wanted to show me... neither of us had ever seen a white earwig before! I had to look it up online to find out what it was. He had put it in a Mason jar with a lid. Now Lucy seems to have declared it as her pet.

"Thank you Daddy for giving me my baby pincher bug pet!"

She is not going to be happy when we tell her she can't sleep with that jar. Yuck.

Visiting Kelly & Heath

2010-06-08T10:46:00.007-04:00

A couple weekends ago (end of May) we visited Kelly and Heath in Evanston, with our kids! It was a fun trip down, the kids were really good in the car. We had a DVD player and put in a couple movies. They each slept (a little, but not at the same time) and there was minimal screaming! Friday night we went out to eat at a great little restaurant in Evanston called Gulliver's. The kids were crazy. They ate a ton of fries, and although they were really tired, they were in good spirits. A little more screaming than I would have liked. However, the owner / manager (?) and our server were amazing, did what they could to keep the kids happy, and never showed the slightest bit of annoyance. Well, that makes the kids sound really bad... but it wasn't their fault. Actually we came totally unprepared, and the the kids got bored, so they didn't know what to do with themselves (other than spill water, fight over keychains and menus, and eat limes). I learned I should always have crayons or stickers or something!

Saturday we went to Lincoln Park Zoo. We had perfect weather. There were so many cool animals to see. Henry hated riding in his stroller - it was nice to keep him contained and convenient for a while, but we took him out so he could walk and get a closer look at some things, he seemed a lot happier! Lucy scraped her knee falling on the rough ground (tripping on her own foot, running, etc.). She'd calm down, until she ripped open the same knee again... and then again. The nice thing is, the zoo is free (you only have to pay for parking), and they have an incredible collection of plants, animals, fish, and the whole thing is so beautifully designed and landscaped. I don't think I had ever been there before. We were there for quite a while, and again the kids were beyond tired. They both took a nap that afternoon when we got back to Kelly and Heath's apartment. That night we ordered dinner in, and relaxed, watched "Cars" and after the kids went to bed, hung out and had some drinks - we were all in desperate need of a little wind-down time!!!

Sunday morning we walked over to a playground less than a block from their place, the kids were in their element again, just playing and happy. Lucy was running an ice cream parlor and Henry was grabbing fistfulls of dirt. We walked over to Starbucks and had "breakfast" (Lucy wanted the "C-One" - a croissant. It looked like a good one too, big and fluffy! Ron and I had big lattes, apple fritters, and iced green tea for Kelly and Heath. Later we decided to go to a great buffet place in Wilmette (?) for lunch, then Kohl Children's Museum, so the kids could play some more. We headed home around dinner time. McD's (which tasted soooo good!) and lots and lots of screaming in the car. Ron even had to pull over by a toll station to give them a stern talk, which stopped things temporarily. Wow. They were both so exhausted, we were sure they'd fall asleep before we hit the highway. Neither one slept a wink until we got home and put them to bed. Yikes!

Here are some of the photos we took while were were there!

Thank you so much Kelly and Heath for letting us stay at your place! All in all, I think the kids did pretty well, and it was a great experience for them to see where their magic aunt and uncle live (who usually appear out of thin air at our house, when the kids wake up in the morning). :)

Ice Cream Headache

2010-05-25T08:15:00.010-04:00

Yesterday was a long day (they all seem kind of long lately!) so we went to the Rainbow Grill for dinner. The service was unusually slow, so the kids were getting wacky, there wasn't a saltine cracker in sight, and we were quickly running out of diversions. Finally we got our food and it was all good. The kids ate their split grilled cheese sandwich with no issues, no spills, no freakouts. Thank goodness - successful dinner out. But there had been a delay on Ron's meal, so our friend John came over and said we'd get a free dessert! We never once complained about the service (which is always amazing, but not this time), but it was still a nice gesture, so... sure!

Then The Dessert came: a nice sundae for us to share - and a few spoons. The Dessert caused Henry to shriek so loudly... wait, I need to add a sidenote: everyone says their kids scream louder than someone else's kids, yada yada yada... I know it's not a contest. Who would want to have a screaming contest anyway? Oh wait, I can think of two people! I digress. There are a few of you who have heard Henry, he can actually cause hearing damage if you're too close, it sort of reverberates through your skull, you can physically feel it! I wish I could somehow convey it with my description, but even if he wasn't my own kid, I would be thinking the same thing - that kid screams loudly. Well, I'm sure someone has screamed like that - perhaps when they were suffering from some kind of agonizing pain... like we just sawed off one of his fingers with that ultra dull restaurant butter knife... only what actually happened was the sight of vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry, being cheerfully presented to him. That's understandable, right? I mean, he usually loves ice cream like every other child, so why wouldn't he just flip out randomly, and fling his head back so hard he almost throws himself out of the high chair? He doesn't mess around... I had to take him outside! Everyone was looking at us... I was kind of smiling as if to say, "Ha ha! Kids, right? ha ha..." Don't worry, we'll be back. Soon.

Stay cool out there.

Putting Her Money Where Her Mouth Is

2010-05-17T12:35:00.006-04:00

Just a few minutes ago, Lucy swallowed a penny. Immediately after she did, she started crying, "Uh-oh!!! I swallowed a penny!" She seemed really freaked out, so I acted totally calm, telling her that lots of kids swallow money, and they should not be putting money in their mouths. Secretly I am kind of freaked out too... I hope it passes easily. Speaking of which, she asked, "How do people get the pennies out?!" and I said, "They have to poop it out." She replied, "Poop it out?! How is THAT going to happen!!??" and continued to wail. I think it's probably in her tummy by now, but she has a tendency to over dramatize things juuuust a little, so it's difficult to know how she really feels. She suggested that maybe eating a sucker would make her feel better. I think she'll be fine.

Several months ago she swallowed a "flat" marble - like the kind you put in a flower vase to hold stems in place - and I wasn't about to go fishing for it, if you know what I mean.

29.

2010-05-12T10:05:00.003-04:00

It's my birthday. I'm 29. A few people have said something regarding the fact that this is my last year in my 20's... as if turning 30 was something to dread. I suppose it's normal not to want to age, but I think there is a difference between aging, and growing up. I don't particularly love the hints of wrinkles by my eyes and on my forehead. I tweeze out gray hairs from time to time, but I'm starting to give up that battle. When I rub Lucy's hand while she falls asleep, there is a remarkable difference I notice in the texture of our skin. The light from the hallway catches the wrinkles and creases on my fingers, hers are still perfectly smooth. I always noticed the way my grandma's hands look. It happens so gradually, it sneaks up on you... I thought my hands hadn't changed at all until I looked at my hand by my child's. Take that literally or symbolically, I am making a point either way.

Ironically, I feel better about myself than I ever did when I was a kid, especially when I was a teenager, or even five years ago, when I was married, trying to start a family, but had no idea what the path ahead of me might look like (and a lack of ambition to create one!). Now I'm very blessed... I am content, and confident. And sometimes I still get carded.

Henry - 18 (19) Months

2010-04-27T15:46:00.007-04:00

I took Henry to his 18 month checkup Monday - although he is 19 months old! I better schedule earlier next time! He was weighed and measured - and he is 25 lbs. 3 oz. and 34 inches. His weight was surprisingly in the lower percentiles (40%) but his length was higher (80%). He looks kind of skinny, but he still feels heavy to me!

He wandered around the exam room while we waited for Dr. Joe, climbing up and down from the chairs, looking at books and naming things. When our pediatrician came in Henry waved up at him from the floor and yelled "hi!!!" with a big smile. What a charmer. He showed Dr. Joe his "jumping" skills too ;).

He hated having his ears checked, or basically anything having to do with the physical examination! He's so grabby and doesn't like being poked or prodded at all. Well, that's normal. He had two shots - MMR and Chicken Pox, and let out his trademark ear-piercing scream... but I'm not really one to get too upset at these appointments (I think vaccinations are awesome, personally), so when I scooped him back up and gave him a cuddle he settled down right away. With a big tear under his eye, he even smiled at me, then he looked at the nurse and gave her a big frown :(. He walked out to the car with me... I find that I don't always need to carry him on my hip. Reality check: he's getting to be a big boy. We even took away pacifiers, which is going really well!

Here Fishy Fishy!

2010-04-21T23:36:00.008-04:00

Lucy caught her first fish this afternoon - a little bluegill, which was tossed back into the water shortly after this photo was taken. She was very excited!

More pictures here

Locks

2010-04-16T09:43:00.003-04:00

Lucy has been able to unlock the deadbolt and the doorknob lock for a few months now, but it hasn't been a problem until recently. She has crossed the street once without one of us with her, and she has repeatedly opened the door and stepped out onto the porch before I could stop her. We have told her about cars hitting her, people taking her away, but chose not to mention the fact that if she unlocks the door while I am not aware, someone might be able to come into the house and do bad things.

Since she stopped napping a year and a half ago (I know I could "make" her... trust me, it's NOT worth the 2 hour battle for a 90 minute nap. If you have a kid like this, you might sympathize. If not, you will have to take my word for it, I am tougher than a preschooler, but I have better things to do with my time than force her to sleep). She wakes me up in the morning around 7:00 asking for breakfast, and she is up and doing silly, busy things until she falls asleep around 8:30 PM (extended because of the later daylight). In order to do anything, literally - shower, throw in a load of laundry, change Henry's diaper, anything - that might require me not to be staring at her, that means she is unattended for short periods of time throughout the day.

She decided to use a couple of those short periods of time to go outside without one of us too many times. This morning she went for it, and when I pried her hands off the doorknob, she fell face down to the floor, requiring me to drag her out of the way, in order to close the door and lock it again. I immediately went to our cabinet in the mudroom, found another Safety 1st doorknob cover, and clicked it in place over the doorknob. Lucy swatted at it with dramatized futility, and as it loosely spun around the doorknob... my blood pressure dropped 3 points. That battle is over.

Henry - 18 months

2010-04-13T10:52:00.003-04:00

Well - I need some big parenting demerits because I have been completely neglectful of record keeping in the form of a baby book - relying on this blog as a resource for information when I get around to it. Awful! Someday, an incredible baby book for both kids, as well as beautiful family albums, will grace our shelves. That being said, here's what Henry is up to at 18 months.

He is insistent on self-feeding, getting pretty good with a fork and spoon, hates if you try to feed him, (screams "no" and pushes your fork-wielding hand away violently).
He no longer uses a sippy lid, and has mastered drinking from a "normal" cup or glass, does not spill and dump it all on is face. He might tip it over on purpose, just for the purpose of splashing in liquid on his tray. Drops bits of food into his drink. Grr..
Trying to jump (he's really close) - see previous entry.
Dances to music - seems to respond most to hard rock - and spins in a circle.
CLIMBS a lot! Climbs onto chairs and tables, and into bins, baskets, and drawers.
Opens cabinets and drawers and empties them (loves the draw with tea packets and coffee).
Says lots of new words every week, we stopped keeping track, but no sentences. Uses plural "s" correctly sometimes.
Says, "peez... peez!" ("please") whenever he sees you eating something.
Still loves bathtime, stands up in the tub to get a reaction. Loves to splash!
Good at following directions, like "put the ___ in the basket."
Can identify (by patting or pointing) his tummy, feet, eyes, hands, nose, mouth, ears, head, and his "pee pee". If anyone has suggestions for a better name for it, please let me know! Thought there should be an understanding before we start potty training (we haven't yet).
When he points to his nose he always says, "beep!"
Eats sand and dirt.
He's getting a couple molars!
Enjoys hiding. What are you doing? "hiding". Crouches into corners and in closets.
His physical "stats" are unknown, his appointment is at the end of this month. All I know is, he's getting heavy!

I can bet I will think of things I'm forgetting here, but this is what I came up with off the top of my head! I hope to include notes about what he is like, what he does, and what he says along with my favorite photos of him (and I hope this blog proves to be a good reference for me to document Lucy in the same way - because I have been fairly good about keeping up on it ever since she was born!). It's very easy to forget when these stages took place if you don't write it down somewhere. It seems like only a few months ago she could only take a couple unstable steps before falling over. It is insane how the time flies. I'm sure my kids' grandparents can attest to that.

Jump Around!

2010-04-06T20:05:00.004-04:00

Henry is learning how to jump... which basically means he crouches down a little bit, and then straightens up as if he's trying to use his upper body to pull his feet off the ground. It's really cute.... and of course involves squealing (from both kids)!

Lucy showing Henry how to jump from Mindy on Vimeo.

Rain

2010-03-16T12:33:00.005-04:00

The other day Lucy wanted to go outside in the rain. It wasn't too cold out, and she took the initiative to put on her boots and coat, she just needed a "balella" - so we went out and I snapped a few pictures of her in the driveway. This one is probably my favorite. She didn't want to come back inside!

More Photos Here

Click on the photo to see it larger. I have considered moving this blog so I can post larger photos - they seem so small compared to my other blog now.

A Tale of Two

2010-03-12T13:18:00.003-05:00

Grandville High School, where I attended (Class of '99), my husband teaches technology education, and my mom is a secretary, had a World Record breaking Lip Dub earlier this week, and it was a huge success. Over 1400 students were involved, and it took cooperation and enthusiasm on the part of everyone to make it happen. Two cameras moved through the building simultaneously, and cross paths, coming together again at the end... the planning and creativity to make this work out amazes me, and I love the school spirit this generated! Unforgettable experience for so many kids and staff, and proof once again that the A/V teacher Terry Blevins is incredibly dedicated and passionate about his classes (he's the best teacher I never had). Great job GHS!

The Kids' Portraits

2010-03-10T15:19:00.004-05:00

Last weekend Ron and I went out with our kids in an attempt to get some nice photos, commemorating the "milestone" age of 18 months for Henry, and 3.5 years for Lucy. I would say it was fairly successful... but a lot of work! I'll probably be taking more and more pictures of them again, as a resolution I have recently made (since I have started my business the number of photos of my own kids has dropped drastically). I definitely want to give it a valiant effort to do a real session every 6 months with them. Anyway, I put a few favorites on my MLP Blog. You can check out the post HERE.

Jonah Rocks!

2010-03-03T15:07:00.003-05:00

This kid found his gift at a very young age. It's fun to watch him play! There are a few videos of him on YouTube... Here's one I really liked. Check out his flourish at the end of the song, he really knows what he's doing!

Ahhhhh, Fresh Air

2010-03-02T15:24:00.003-05:00

... Maybe it's jumping the gun a little bit to think that we're into "open-window" weather, but it sure felt nice to have the slider open for an hour or two this morning.

Blogging-X!

2010-02-24T08:18:00.004-05:00

Well last night I decided that I wanted to work out with Ron doing P90X (I have missed a couple days), and I did it, and I didn't have a hard time at all keeping up with the workout (apparently last night's workout was one of the "easy" ones). I think I could get in incredible shape if I go through most of these workouts with him. Anyone can do it, it's just a matter of how well you do it, and I am hanging with it better than I expected. I don't feel any injuries or strains, but I get my heart rate up for an hour or more and the "muscle confusion" approach is great because it keeps you from overdoing it on any one part of your body. Last night was "Kenpo-X" (they put an "X" at the end of everything), which is a high-intensity cardiovascular workout packed with lots of punching and kicking combinations to improve balance, endurance, flexibility, and coordination. I think it is considered a kind of martial art. I also think my years of dance gave me an edge, because I seemed to be able to balance and control my kicks quite well. Anyway, I am not going to beat myself up if I miss a workout here and there, but it would be great if I can stick with it. Ron wanted to do this for his health and fitness and he has not missed a workout, and I know he will continue with it. He even said that now he is looking forward to the workouts, so I think his body is beginning to adjust, wanting that activity each day. After 1 week he already has more ab definition and feels like he is standing straighter. He even bought a pull-up bar (so now he doesn't have to hang on a door header!) and a yoga mat (this program incorporates just about every type of exercise you've ever heard of)!

I still managed to get a lot done yesterday, got some album designing done, kept the house pretty picked up, and even threw in a 2 hour (!) coffee meetup with another photographer who lives close by. So, I am feeling fairly good about all that. Now... if only today can be as productive!

New and Improved

2010-02-20T15:55:00.002-05:00

Today I updated my Mindy Leigh Photography Blog. I think it looks a lot better. My old one was all hand-made in the Blogger code, and I felt like it was seriously lacking. Then we got an email informing us that Blogger no longer supported files through FTP (?), so I knew it was time to make a change. There are still lots of adjustments I want to make... I am pondering a new logo / brand this year, and general elements like fonts and background texture will probably be switched up. I currently just modified some of the defaults to match the aqua in my existing logo. I love some of the new features this blog has, which will allow me to embed slideshows and mini galleries very easily, it includes a contact form, thumbnailed archives, and scrolling comments. Just the act of uploading images is simplified so much (I was amazed), even with storing them in our hosting server, I am literally skipping 3 or 4 steps I used to go through every time I'd upload a photo! Sigh. So nice.

The URL is the same: http://www.mindyleigh.com/blog - something I was intent on having, and Ron got everything all set up for me. Since I wanted to import everything from my old blog (photos, text, even comments), it wasn't totally simple and quick - but he figured it out :). However if you are subscribing with an RSS feed, you might need to make an update!

So, that's how much of this morning was spent...

Oh, unrelated note: we have made it through 2 sessions of P90X. Kind of crazy. No, I am not doing all of the workouts, but about 75% or so, which I am really proud of! Ron wanted to challenge himself, and he is doing great... I am going through as much of it as I possibly can, which keeps him motivated and will help me get in great shape (hopefully) by summer! It isn't as "bad" as we feared. It's tough, but the workouts move along quickly.

Have a great weekend!

Real Life Photoshop

2010-02-18T17:05:00.004-05:00

I ran across this today and thought it was pretty clever...

borrowed from the Luxecetera Blog

Title Track

2010-02-17T20:12:00.002-05:00

My blog is named "A Day in the Life".... kind of cliche, but I'm sticking with it. Anyway, a couple weekends ago I felt like I hadn't spent enough time taking snapshots of our own kids, and decided to document the stuff that goes on around here; a day in the life of our little family. The date happened to be the morning of SuperBowl Sunday - February 7 - and we were skipping church. It was kind of a fun little project and I hope to try it again sometime in the near future. Check it out HERE.

Cinnamon!

2010-02-17T09:41:00.003-05:00

This was Henry's face after he fed himself his apple-cinnamon flavored Quaker Oatmeal. The web takes out some of the redness, but you can still see the area where the cinnamon apparently burned his skin. It is already back to normal (10-15 minutes later) after some cool water and baby lotion. He didn't seem bothered by it, but he looked like a clown for a little while!

One In a Billion...

2010-02-10T12:54:00.004-05:00

Or more accurately, a billion trillion. At least. But this was one lucky little flake that landed on our window while I was waiting with my camera. It was intact (not all are), and I had about a second before it melted away forever, only to become part of the water cycle again. I had posted a few more on FB (see sidebar), but I wanted to put one here too.

So, It's 2010, What's New With Us?

2010-01-26T13:11:00.013-05:00

Personal blogging has fallen by the wayside. I thought that over the holiday and early part of January I would have just tons of free time and be able to kick back a little bit. That has not been the case. I've been busy shooting, editing, and communicating. I click on my homepage and keep seeing a Christmas post, thinking about how I have to fill in my friends on what has been happening around here for the past few weeks!

First of all, we spent New Year's Eve with our good friends Eric and Jen. For the past few years we've been taking turns with, hosting a low-key NYE and this year was our turn to host. We played Texas Hold'em, watched Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve, and ate snacks. I like that kind of party. I am not sure whether or not I want to go back to the days of overindulging on food, drinks, and staying up so late that the next day is all about "recovering" from the night before! Good thing in this case, because New Year's Day we got up and took the kids to my parents' house, so we could drive to Wisconsin...
Ron's friend Chad from high school was married on 01-02-2010 (which is a cool date, same forward as backward!) and I was the photographer! We went to the rehearsal dinner with the family and wedding party, and the wedding day was really nice. When we left the reception, the temperature on our car's digital thermometer read -4. Eek.

The following weekend Kelly and Heath came to MI to visit and celebrate Christmas.
I have to update our Smugmug galleries - I have more great pictures from that weekend :)

The other cool thing that has happened over the past couple of months is Lucy has become officially potty trained. She started using the potty chair several times a day around 18 months - I guess some people consider that potty trained, but I did not. We thought starting her early would be a good idea, and those successes reinforced that belief. In hindsight I think we started her too soon and she wasn't really ready even if she could technically do it. She is smart as a whip and we thought, 'oh she'll get this no problem!' She had fewer and fewer accidents each day and we thought we were in good shape - around age 2, I thought we were right on track and in no time we'd be done with diapers and/or accidents! Not so fast, eager Mom and Dad! When she started to get less attention than she was used to (partly because of her baby bro, and partly because of my work), she started having more and more "accidents", and not seeming to even care if she was wet or dirty! She knew how to undress, get on the toilet, wipe, flush, and do everything all by herself, and yet she seemed to be using potty training to prove to me that I couldn't make her do anything, and she was in charge. Grrr. I guess in that respect, she is right. You can't make a kid go to the bathroom on command, and you can't really know when they need to go (and harassing them 100 times a day only makes then say "NO!" even if they do need to go).

I was so discouraged, and felt that we had tried everything - rewards, bribes, punishment, other incentives, throwing away panties, encouraging with clapping, singing, dancing, hugs, kisses, high-fives, charts, promises... it really didn't matter. I read blogs, and was tempted by boot-camp-like programs that promised to potty train your kid in 3 days. Although from age 2 to age 3, when we were in the midst of the worst potty training times, I knew in my heart that she was too young to be considered for any kind of drastic program, and she'd get it eventually. I just had it in my head that I wanted it to happen right around age 2, because my sister was around age 2 and I was around 2.5, so that was what I considered "normal" (but that's not necessarily normal at all, and furthermore, so what?!). For Lucy, it was only going to happen when she decided she wanted it to. Of course, when I kind of "gave up" and backed off, and stopped trying to make it happen, she stopped digging in her heels and just became potty trained, and she gave up the battle. Now accidents are very rare (and if there is one, she's just a tiny bit damp and gets to the toilet for the rest), and life is a lot less stressful! Hooray!
We have registered her for preschool (Hudsonville), where she will go three mornings a week. I am so excited for her to get out and learn and play with other kids. She graduated from her toddler bed into a big twin sized bed with drawers underneath, and she has more space to sprawl.

Henry is saying more and more words - and is getting cuter every day. Here is what I can think of off the top of my head:

Uh-Oh
Ba (ball)
Ca (car)
[he makes car noises when playing with cars]
Mama, Dada
Oooooh
Mmmmm (if something is yummy)
Bear (sounds like baieh)
Cup
Up! Up!
Ruff (whenever he holds a stuffed animal he makes little high-pitched "ruff! ruff"!)
Bird
Santa
Hiiiii

...And he still has a super high-pitched loud scream. True story: his food ran out a night or two ago, and his scream literally made my ears ring. I'm not even kidding, and I get to sit right next to him! Adorable, right?! I would love to measure the decibels he can kick out.

Here are some more Henry tidbits, since I feel like I haven't talked about him much lately... even though he is a charming, loving, sweet little boy and growing and changing so much!

He loves to get into cabinets and pull everything out, particularly the one with big mixing bowls, or cookie sheets and trays.
He carries large pieces of chalk around (sometimes likes to chew on them),
He bangs things together, bangs toy piano,
or bangs his head on the back of his highchair for attention, so hard the high-chair scoots across the floor.
He climbs up onto the couch, ottoman, or soon-to-be-his toddler bed.
He always picks red cars out of the basket of cars.
He screams when his food is gone, loves to eat anything, drinks all his milk in one gulp.
He is starting to learn how to feed himself with a spoon (like applesauce),
He dances to anything making music (he bounces up and down bending his knees, or he twists)
He claps and looks back at you smiling when he puts something into a container,
He can stack a few blocks,
He climbs steps quickly (but can't go down safely).
Gets mad and chases after Lucy if she takes his toy, but...
if she chases after him he runs terrified.
He throws a tantrum by sitting down, then slamming himself face down on the floor sobbing, then rolls his head to the side to see if you are paying attention to how upset he is.

So, life is typical, busy, sometimes monotonous, and I think we are getting a bit of cabin fever around here. Looking forward to spring! Meanwhile, the kids keep things always entertaining.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-27T11:26:00.005-05:00

We had a really nice Christmas around here! Relatively stress-free and completely drama free, and it was just what the holidays should be like in my opinion - the only thing missing was getting to see my sister and her husband, who celebrated with his side this year and will be coming up to MI in a couple weeks to celebrate with us! Christmas Eve we went (as we always do) to my grandparents' house (my dad's parents) to eat and open gifts.
It was nice and the kids were both really happy and well-behaved. They were pretty exhausted by the time we left, but still did not fall asleep in the car as we had expected. We had to make a stop at Walgreens for some last-minute things (yes, 9:30 PM on Christmas Eve). We finally got home and put them to bed, and got things ready for the next morning...
Christmas morning Lucy announced that Santa came! And he ate the cookies! She woke Henry up by screaming all this information at him, and then the kids opened a few presents :).
Before too long it was time to start getting the house ready for Ron's family, who came over around noon. Because one family on his side lives in Texas, and weren't able to come to MI for the holidays this year, there were (counting our two) seven kids under 10 years old (otherwise there would have been nine), and of course lots of great food (we just did appetizers and snacks) and lots of presents under the tree.
It was really nice to have our basement finished and furnished to provide a little extra room for all the people, and another place for the kids to play and watch a couple movies. After this party was over, we basically threw some things together and were out the door to the next party - my grandparents' on my mom's side. Everyone gathers on Christmas night to open gifts and have more food, but I was already so full I didn't really feel like eating anything else! I have some videos I need to upload and add to this post. Busy busy.... Hope everyone had a great holiday!

I have many more photos posted to Smugmug. CLICK HERE to check them out!

Snow Day

2009-12-04T23:35:00.008-05:00

As everyone knows, this morning we woke up to a winter wonderland! The phone call at 6:20 AM woke us up to inform us that Ron had a snow day, so he was home to help me take the kids outside for a little while, and they could get their first chance to play outside in the snow. I won't lie, I dressed them in super fun bright colors and grabbed my camera with hopes of capturing a few shots that would work for our Christmas card. I always wanted to do a Christmas card that actually looked wintery, without having to wait till the last minute.

While Lucy ran around and trudged through the snow, Henry was not so enthusiastic about all the cold and wet stuff we were surrounded by. We do realize that he needs proper snow pants and boots, and we can't keep thinking fall is going to last forever! He wasn't outside for very long (and normally I would dress him more for warmth and less for fashion, but really how cute is that hat and vest?!). He was happy to go back in and change into a flannel sleep-n-play and eat some pepperoni pizza. Now if that doesn't sound heavenly... ;)

I managed to take enough pictures that the Christmas card task is completed, pictures put into the cute template (we went with one through Smugmug) and ordered! Christmas cards, check! Now we just have to tackle that shopping...

I do love fall, but I think we were ready for this day to come. It was truly beautiful outside, and this morning it was lovely to see the world blanketed in white, peaceful, and the sun glowing through the hazy sky (it didn't hurt that it also happened to be the start of a 3-day weekend for Ron). And he got to clear the driveway for the first time this season... so it begins. ;) Happy winter!

Mommy + Me

2009-11-18T10:28:00.006-05:00

Last week Tuesday I brought Lucy to Mommy + Me Soccer at the SoccerZone in Jenison.

Week 1: We had played it up big time, telling her all about how she is going to get to kick the soccer ball, run around, and make friends. We were both excited that Lucy would have a lot of fun. However, due to some goofed-up field scheduling and an overabundance of walk-ins, they had to combine the 3 year olds with 4 and 5 year olds... I mentioned this all on Facebook last week. It was diastrous (for me) because Lucy didn't want to sit and listen to instructions about kicking technique, while there were soccer balls scattered all around. She kept running off and kicking the ball, and I'd usher her back and tell her to listen... she'd wrestle away from me, and we'd repeat this until I was sweating and wondering what all the other parents thought. I was also conscious about the probability that they figured she was one of the 4 or 5 year olds, since she was about the same size, yet acting like a... three year old! Ugh. Why can't that mother control her child!? I was wondering the same thing.

Week 2: They ironed out the kinks and had the 3-year-olds together and the instructor was a young woman (high school or college age) who knew how to talk to preschoolers, and was very understanding when they kicked the ball any which way, or picked it up with their hands. The whole idea was to have fun and remember to only use your feet, pass the ball back and forth, and make some friends. Lucy laughed and ran so much that she was red-faced and breathing hard, and was very good at listening to the "coach", after I spent part of the day explaining it to her more, and reiterating the importance of following directions. She really did great. They got plenty of ball-kicking time, which to a 3 year old, is what soccer is all about. Ron and Henry came too, just to watch (and for him to step in for me if we had a repeat of last week's shenanigans). Next week I might be more apt to bring a video camera or something to catch her in action, but I didn't want to worry about it this time around. While she ran and kicked her kid-sized soccer ball down the length of the field, squealing (into big-kid territory while I called for her to turn around and come back) she looked like a natural. I was pretty impressed, actually.

Halloween!

2009-11-05T13:04:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the delay... but I did take some pictures of our kids in their costumes on Halloween - Lucy was Hydrant, her favorite stuffed dalmatian (it rarely leaves her sight), and Henry was Yoda! He walks like Yoda too... and the hat snapped on so he couldn't pull it off (hehehe)!

Here are the kids at Grandma and Grandpa Hiddema's

in front of the painted slider (it's tradition).

Back at our house, dressed and ready to go trick-or-treating!

We took the kids up and down the cul-de-sac and that was about enough for both of them. We asked Lucy if she wanted to keep going, and she said, "I think I have enough." She was ready to get back in the warm house and start eating candy. I wasn't complaining about going back inside either... it was a chilly Halloween this year!

You Are What You Wear...

2009-10-23T08:26:00.006-04:00

If this rain keeps up today and my session is rescheduled, I have a shopping trip planned for myself. My business paid me a few times and now I have a little bit of money that is just for me! Instead of finding some excuse to avoid "wasting" it on myself, I am going to buy some clothes that I actually like. I am looking for something that doesn't fall into the following two categories:

1) yard work apparel
2) preppy office style clothes

I do like those kinds of clothes sometimes, but I am tired of not dressing appropriately for my lifestyle. I am a mom, so I need something comfortable that I can move in, crawl on the floor, pick up kids, and not need to dry-clean. I also feel the need to dress in a put-together, but fun way that reflects how I feel inside. I've just never taken the time to figure out who that is, and for my own weird personal reasons, never bothered trying until the last year or so. Not that I always feel put-together and fun, but I just don't feel like a black slacks and turtleneck sweater person right now, at least not as my only choice when it comes time to leave the house.

Most days if I don't have anything going on, I stay in comfy clothes (i.e. sweat pants, long-sleeved t-shirts, maybe jeans), and wouldn't you know, it actually makes me feel down in the dumps! I can't put on my black dress pants just for hanging out at the house, but I would love to find that middle ground, if there is one out there. Maybe dressing better would have the opposite, and positive effect on how I feel every day, even if I am just hanging out at home! I'm just not sure exactly where to start looking, so if you have a suggestion, feel free to leave a comment, or contact Stacy and Clinton from What Not To Wear, I think I would qualify!

Pumpkins

2009-10-21T12:42:00.002-04:00

More photos (as I work on them) HERE.

Baking and Hobbling

2009-10-19T15:07:00.003-04:00

So, the new stove is in place and we love it! It's so clean and has all kind of features our last oven/stove lacked. So far the only thing we have baked are Pizza Rolls, but I am actually inspired to make some muffins today or tomorrow. We can even lock the oven door by holding one button down for 3 seconds... is this something everyone has? I think it is amazing and so great with kids. That faint gas smell that constantly leaked from our last stove (not from the line hookup, from the stove itself) is no longer here! A few minor finishing touches need to be done with the tiling and sliding the stove back into position a little bit further and we will be all set.

I've been busy with sessions, and I've been trying to edit and keep everyone pretty happy... but ironically it is during this really busy time for me that I also made a decision to try to balance my time better. I was getting sessions edited within a few days and that meant staying up well past midnight, editing in all my "down time" during the day, and for the remainder of every night. I started doing photography professionally because I love it so much, and it would be ideal for me as a stay-at-home-mom because of the flexibility I would have in my schedule. Like almost all other photographers I have gotten to know, it can easily take over your life and all your free time. I think I mentioned this issue before, but my point now is that I rarely work on anything photography related after 10 PM, and I think that is a good thing for me! As long as clients are aware of a general time-line, and there is some good communication, they are very understanding.

Last Saturday I shot a wedding at Dimnent Memorial Chapel at Hope College, and about a half hour before the wedding started, I was carrying all my bags and camera gear down to the basement so it would be out of the way. I also wanted to get some ring shots and maybe a couple of the dress before the bride put it on (it was a very easy-on dress, so no need to put it on much earlier!). I missed the last step from the back of the church down to the north foyer, and rolled my ankle out, and it made 2 loud popping sounds with the accompanying sensation that is rather unpleasant. I can't even think about it without cringing, sorry to put you through that too. They made me sit while I waited for EMT, who checked my ankle and foot (the places they were pressing resulted in zero pain), I assured them I didn't think it was broken, walked on it okay, and was cleared to keep shooting. Of course that wasted the half hour that I needed, but I had Sandy there to help cover some of the getting-ready details. Although I do think she was a little terrified for a few minutes, thinking she might be on her own for the rest of the day. I crouched and walked and hurried around for the rest of the day, kind of just pushing through my injury. Later Saturday night and Sunday it hurt worse, but I think it is getting better quickly now. I felt so ridiculous but everybody was so nice and concerned for me. Unfortunately someone out there got a shot of me sitting at the base of the steps with their point-and-shoot, so I'm just dreading that showing up on Facebook eventually. Ugh!

In other news - honeycrisp apples are being eaten, Henry got another haircut (I did a pretty good job, I think!), a trip to Post (or some other pumpkin patch place with donuts and cider) is planned for tomorrow, and Ron has conferences again tonight, which means a long day on my own with these two kids and my bad ankle (and lots of work to do)! Back to it...

Now We're Cookin'

2009-10-09T12:21:00.010-04:00

When we moved into this house we also inherited an original (circa 1986) Tappan stove/oven, a nice off-white version with fluorescent stove light that flickers on if you hold the button down long enough ;)... All four burners ignite, the oven bakes things... generally speaking, it has served us well. Are you at all surprised that I took photos of our oven and made collages? I didn't think so.

Other notable characteristics include the peeling "wood" veneer (sticker), charred burners, an oven door that is sealed by a now ineffective, flimsy gasket (if you stand in front of the oven while it is on, you will feel the actual temperature it is set to, shooting up toward your face). Speaking of the oven door, despite hours (I'm not kidding) of scouring and scrubbing with every kind of solvent (chemical and natural), I can not get the grime off the door to see through the window, so I can't really see in, and it always looks dirty. The "digital" clock, which may or may not work, we really don't care, has been set to 7:14, probably since the first Bush administration.

I know some people cook on even older, rougher looking appliances and they aren't complaining... well, I'm not complaining either (although I will say our oven has a lot of "character" compared to most others' we know), but I just think it is nice to be able to upgrade! We wanted to replace this appliance for a couple years now, and patiently waited until we could buy with cash, and put in one that was nice enough to last a long time, just like I am sure this one was back in the era of roller-skates and Rubik's Cubes, when it was brand new along with the house (built in 1986).

After over 20 years of service, this old girl is ready to retire. Our new stove is being delivered sometime tomorrow (although I'll be shooting a wedding, so when I come home it should be all hooked up and ready for action!). We love cooking with gas burners. The stove surface is cast-iron, and recessed down to almost countertop level, so it will still look pretty streamlined on our island. I also like being able to see through the oven door! It has a great safety feature that locks out the controls so kids can't accidentally turn on the stove or oven, which was important to me, since we needed a slide-in (due to the height of the taller part of our island/bar, we can't have to drop-in with the controls in the back). I am really easy to please... but we are excited because this is basically the first new big-ticket item we have ever purchased for our home, besides our vacuum cleaner, TV, and our Ikea bedroom dressers (our other furniture, and appliances are all second-hand) - probably because so much of our resources were put into remodeling and updating the house itself. We went with a Kenmore. Over the next couple of years we hope to replace our other appliances with Kenmore stainless steel as well. Anyway, here's a look at what we're getting:

Party!

2009-10-05T09:16:00.010-04:00

Saturday we celebrated the kids' birthdays with a party at our house. The house was pretty full of family and a few friends. It gave us a reason to get the garage cleaned out, and the rest of the house picked up, at least for a few minutes before everyone arrived! There are still balloons all over the floor and a bunch of new toys, but Saturday night it was overwhelming looking at the aftermath! I guess that's a sign of a good party. Anyway, we let Henry have his cake early on, because he was so tired already....poor kid. He hadn't napped all afternoon. After this he got cleaned up and had a little more party time before I put him down for a nap....
He ended up eating most of that little cake, seriously!

While Henry napped, the party continued.... Here is a photo of Lucy I took while everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Henry was napping at the time. I love the picture, but check out the video, too, it's even better (thanks for taking it Kelly)! :)

The kids painted little pumpkins... which I think actually settled them down a little bit...

Later this morning I am taking the kids to see the pediatrician for the regular check-up.... we'll see how big they've gotten!

Many more photos are here, but I still have to add some more.

Birthday Girl!

2009-10-01T14:58:00.005-04:00

Today Lucy turned three years old... my memories of that day are a little hazier, and I have to wonder what I'll be left with as the years go by, to remember that experience. I was anxious and excited, fairly well-prepared for the technical aspect of having a baby, but the pain was something else! It was late, dark, and I wanted Mr. Anesthesiologist to stop by but they kept telling me he was doing this or that, while I progressed to 10 cm. I can just imagine the nurses at their station saying, "let's just see if she can make it to 10 without the epidural, she's doing great and she doesn't have far to go...". Of course I have no idea if they actually said anything like that, but I have to wonder why my repeated requests for the epidural hadn't actually been met. They let me go long enough that eventually I got crabby and was insisting that Ron contact a nurse and make this thing happen... I could not muster the will to press the button and talk to someone myself, I was too busy trying to rip my pillow in half. Finally I got it, just before my last check, only to find that it was time to push! Good thing we have great insurance - because it was too late to help me anyway, but darn it, I got that epidural!!! I believe there were at least 10 people in there. My OB-GYN was there, but hanging back much of the time, while my LD nurse did most of the work (things went relatively smoothly). I think someone ordered a party sub. I didn't really care, I was a little preoccupied and apparently it was a slow night on that floor, so I figured hey, come on in! It seemed like they were all as anxious as we were to find out if it was a boy or a girl (could be my perception was skewed by hormones, but they really did seem genuinely excited as they cheered me on). Maybe Ron can remember better! I don't remember much, other than Lucy being put on my chest in the dark delivery room, her dark eyes wide open and looking at me!

Fast-forward three years and I'm even more proud - not of that event - but our amazing daughter and how she has developed her unique personality, her moods, her intelligence, and all her abilities. She's so healthy and smart, and we couldn't feel more blessed. As she gets a little bit older, and shows her own imperfections, it is just a reminder that we created a real person who is no longer that clean slate of an infant. She will continue to grow and change, and meet challenges, struggle, win, lose, get hurt, make mistakes, triumph, and all those complexities of life and living. Sometimes I miss cuddling with a tiny newborn who can't squirm out of your arms, but who she is becoming is so much more exciting than who she was.

Birthday Boy!

2009-09-28T21:00:00.005-04:00

So one year ago tonight I was hanging out in our swanky hospital room, IV needle still stuck in my hand... probably about ready to send Henry off to the nursery for our one night of "rest." Post-delivery, without getting into too much detail, makes it hard to get really comfy in that bed and sleep well, but at least I was on a bed, which is more than Ron can say... then again he wasn't the one who just delivered a 9 pound baby. Not that I'm complaining, it was one of the two most exhilarating events of my life.

Anyway, Henry was born at 4:19 PM. Contractions started late-morning (at least that's when I started feeling them with a pattern), and I still remember the walks we took the night before, and the morning of his birth. I was relatively calm and excited (if those two things don't contradict each other), and the delivery experience seemed so much brighter than Lucy's. The fact that he was born during business hours (as opposed to 2 AM) might have been part of that, but the epidural that got me through the last couple hours of labor probably made a difference as well ;). We stayed for the minimal amount of time (the required 24 hours after his birth), being sure to blog, watching Evan Almighty and snapping photos, packing up our stuff, and making a few more phone calls. I couldn't wait to get home. Just like when Lucy was born, we drove home on a rainy fall day and put him in the bassinet my dad made, wondering what it was going to be like now that we were home, "on our own" with two kids to take care of! Some blurry days and nights followed, but we got through it gracefully and confidently, only crashing into the bedroom door jamb in the dark a couple times. Now when I hold my big 1 year old son (who is following in his sister's footsteps along the growth chart), I can barely remember how tiny he was.

Looking back at those photos I took at the hospital of him, he has changed so much! Lucy has too, she wasn't even 2 years old (quite yet). Our daily life seems a bit chaotic at this stage, but at the same time I feel like everything is going according to plan! Tonight we went to the Rainbow Grill for dinner, and Lucy was extra chatty and inquisitive, and had her volume turned up to 11. Henry sat nicely and looked cute, but spliced in random shrieks that definitely turned some heads, while we both scrambled to give him another spoonful of mashed potatoes or applesauce, while Lucy started getting extra upset at how messy our table was! And Where did that lady go? I need to tell you something! My fork keeps sliding off the bowl! What's that? Barbeque sauce? I like barbeque sauce. Look at me (drinks milk then spits it into water)! Is that guy happy? Is she your friend? (because I had been talking to Katie's mom; she and Katie's dad sat in the booth across from us!) [Henry whips sippy cup to the floor]. We were both cracking up - they weren't being bad, but it was just... how can I put it?

I know I ate my meal, but I don't remember it.

Anyway, Henry has a personality not unlike Lucy's, but for now it's dialed down just a bit. I'm sure he will turn it up soon enough. He has been taking more steps on his own, but still prefers to crawl - he's super quick and disappears into Lucy's room, usually to try to climb onto her bed, which isn't the best thing because he will fall off, so that means I have to go get him, and that means he gets angry. He loves food of all kinds, especially PB&J sandwiches, and tends to hit and shove more than Lucy ever did at that age (uh-oh). He's just so cute and happy, and I won't even attempt to explain the love we have for him and his big sister. I think Lucy is even starting to think he's pretty cool too.

Happy 1st Birthday Buddy!!!

Wild Thing

2009-09-21T08:04:00.006-04:00

Last night we had one of our regularly scheduled birthday/anniversary parties at my grandparents' house in Grandville. My parents took the motorcycle there since it was a nice day, and my grandma Myrt had mentioned she wanted a ride... so after dinner she put on some shades and climbed on)...
Meanwhile we all hung out in the front lawn and driveway waiting for them to come back. The wrong motorcycle drove by (with a man and a woman) and we were so ready that we all started shouting and taking pictures and video.. only to realize as they came into focus we had the wrong people. The confused look on the guy's face, and then awkward smile and wave, was pretty unforgettable, and we all had a pretty good laugh about it. Maybe we're easily amused, or maybe you "had to be there," but it was hilarious.

Lucy took it upon herself to lay in the grass and look at the sky. She's trying to find shapes in the clouds, so Ron joined her. Since I had my camera out already I took a couple snapshots...They came back (eventually) and Grandma was all smiles :) Love it. Well, this isn't really that surprising - the fact that she's 80 and did this - because she is blessed with health and vitality and definitely does not act like an old lady at all.

More photos here!

Zoo!

2009-09-16T08:55:00.009-04:00

Sunday we visited John Ball Zoo, which we hadn't done yet this summer. The crowds weren't bad, either. The Siberian Tiger roared a lot, and we actually got to see the snow leopard, which is usually hiding - this time it was sleeping in the front corner of it's area, only about 6 feet from us. Lucy rode the camel, and loved it! Henry looked at animals, and seemed to be pretty interested in many of them, but for the most part he was along for the ride in the stroller. It was the most fun we've had at the zoo with the kids (well, last year one of our kids was still in the oven, and we went during a major heat wave - at least that's how I remember it). Lucy walked a lot, and asked a lot of questions, and was saying "hi" to all the animals. We stopped at the bear and she looked at it for a while - it was standing right there in front, being all awesome and bear-like, and then she said, "Okay, let's go look at some different animals." She'd repeat that phrase several more times when something wasn't exciting to her.Of course monkeys were a big hit, and frogs and snakes. She pet stingrays (although as soon as one would swim up under her hand she'd pull her hand out and giggle) and the pygmy goats. She fed a parakeet with a stick with bird seed stuck to the end of it. When I purchased the food-stick for a buck, and handed it to her, she immediately put it in her mouth. No! Then on the 5 foot walk to the door of the giant bird cage, she picked off half of the food! Stop! Some was still on it though, and a birdie came right away and perched on her stick for quite a while, eating what was left, so she thought that was pretty amazing. Then she chased other floor-scavenging birds around with her seedless stick for a minute, until I could no longer stand the smell of the bird droppings-slash-disinfectant and got us out of there, straight to the Purell dispenser! Phew! Good times!

Much of the time I was doing the zoo activities with her, while Ron handled the photography and stroller pushing duties (we brought along the somewhat less extravagant camera with us for this trip).

I got these ones of her on the camel, however, while he took a video clip...
I'll admit I was slightly nervous that she'd freak out and launch herself off the camel, but she held on tight and smiled the whole time... I've never ridden a camel. Pretty cool.

Stop and Hear the Music

2009-09-11T09:15:00.004-04:00

This is interesting - from a forward I received that was actually worth reading. The video clip is really well done too.

Washington , DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007.

The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes, a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:
The musician played continuously.. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money, but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

Findings:
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro Station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and people's priorities. The questions raised: "In a common place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?"

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we
missing?

It's the First Day of School...

2009-09-09T11:14:00.003-04:00

Saw this posted on Facebook by a relative - I thought it was pretty funny. I'm not so sure if the boy in the video would agree!

3 Year Blogiversary

2009-09-08T09:22:00.004-04:00

I can't believe I forgot my own 3 year Blogiversary: It was September 5. Here is what I had to say back in 2006 (and a glimpse of a tiny little Lucy still a bun in the oven). In three years, I have posted 621 times, more if you count posts that I've gone back and deleted. I even had a blog before this one, but it was deleted entirely. Anyway, thank you to all my loyal and occasional stumble-upon readers. Here's to another great year talking about nothing in particular.

Here's to Fall

2009-08-31T12:45:00.004-04:00

Today is the last "official" day of summer vacation for Ron. Tomorrow he reports back to work, and I know everyone is rolling their eyes a little thinking of how good he has it as a teacher, regarding the 3 month vacation he gets every year. Yeah, well, it is pretty nice. I could say something like, "well, the price he has to pay for the 3 month break is the fact that he deals with 150 teenagers every day.." etc. etc. but he actually loves his job and is good at it. I am glad I married a high school teacher. True story: part of me thought that someday I might marry a teacher. You think I am making that up in hindsight? Nope. And now that I have, I realize that either I must be subconsciously psychic or just knew at a young age what I wanted. Or I just got lucky. The fact that he is a teacher is a huge contributing factor in my photography business being possible too.

Anyway, this cooler summer weather is a welcome treat in my book. I even wore a sweater for part of the day yesterday! Usually our fall is so short you can barely enjoy it before we're buried under 4 feet of snow... maybe this year we will get an extended version. I'm okay with that. Bring on the pretty leaves!!!

Little Helper

2009-08-20T18:44:00.003-04:00

I have been so busy these days with sessions and editing, I feel like I constantly need to be working on pictures... and to be honest, I am excited to be going into a week-long stretch of no sessions! I can get caught up on editing at night (and a little during the day, I can't help it), and spend some more time doing "normal" things... or things that I don't usually give myself time to do!

Today started out a little rainy, so I decided that I would bake chocolate chip cookies with Lucy. Ron had to run to the store and pick up some ingredients that we were out of (he can throw a hat on and run to Family Fare more easily than I can make myself look presentable!). Eventually I got a good stopping point in my editing that I could get baking! I tied an apron around Lucy and she helped dump ingredients into the big bowl and stir them... later she helped drop the balls of dough onto the cookie sheet... she was really having a lot of fun. Of course she was more interested in eating the cookies...

Shocking sidenote: I quickly wiped off my hands and snapped a few pictures... then I had to get back to the task at hand: keeping her from eating all the chocolate chips out of the bowl, " 'cause they're yummy! " Apron, ponytail, how could I not take a few photos!

Kelly and Heath visited a couple times in the past month, and made a good point that we need to take more videos of Lucy (and Henry) to share online... so I decided this would be a perfect opportunity... Our daily life is full of zany moments like this (and the truth comes out, our house often looks like a tornado hit. This is what happens when I neglect cleaning for a few hours):

Ron's good friend from high school (in the U.P.) and his fiance are coming down for the weekend... we haven't seen Chad in 3 years - the last time was at their 10 year high school reunion, and I was 7 months pregnant with Lucy! I have never met Carrie, but I'm really looking forward to their visit and getting a chance to know her a little bit...

Reception

2009-08-19T11:42:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday we celebrated Kelly and Heath's wedding with a hometown reception in our parents' back yard. Lots of friends and family members stopped by, we had great food, drinks, music, and stayed up talking and laughing after putting the kids to bed there...

Tiece made the cupcakes and everyone loved them! My parents did the rest of the food, other than the fabulous pasta salad brought by our good family friend Lori - she and her husband Dave were friends with our parents back when they were all first married...

As usual it was just nice to get another chance to hang out with Kelly and Heath - the kids know them well despite the fact they live in Evanston :). Everything went really smoothly, and with minimal stress getting things ready, the back yard looked great, and people were happy, and all to celebrate two people we love. Congrats (again) guys!

Daily Life

2009-08-13T00:17:00.002-04:00

Last weekend Ron and I went up to Traverse City to tour the wineries - we ended up purchasing 1 bottle from 5 of the wineries, and 2 bottles from 2 of them. We have yet to drink any of that wine, as we are actually trying to build a collection of decent wine so we have it available to share with guests at all of our lavish dinner parties. Right! Anyway, it was nice to get away, even though we weren't gone for long. Then Saturday I had a session shortly after we got home.

I know it's kind of silly to blog about not blogging, but obviously there has been a significant drop in my number of posts this summer! The main reasons being 1) too much time wasted on Facebook has cut into my "excessive" blogging and 2) photography work is keeping me busy, and if I'm on the computer I should try to be doing something constructive (or else see reason #1). When I've spent time editing, uploading, e-mailing, and blogging a session, I really am about computered out.

On the homefront, our basement bathroom is decorated. What a difference matching shower curtain, towels, and a candle can make! I like it much more than our main floor bath! Uh-oh... another room I am going to want to redo in the next year or two! Lucy is supposed to be going to school this fall, but has regressed terribly in the potty-training department. Some days she is amazing and other days it is like she doesn't even care at all. We've tried charts, treats, tons of praise, asking her a lot, not asking her at all, reminding her to tell us... I know she'll get it eventually. Sometimes she announces that she has to go, and she stays dry for hours and hours (or all day!), other times she fights tooth and nail. If you know Lucy at all, you know she can put up quite a fight if she chooses to, and it can be tricky trying to convince her without her shutting down even more. I refuse to strap my child to a toilet all day until they happen to pee. Henry is working on even more teeth and I can tell by how he is crying that his mouth hurts. Poor guy. He's still pretty happy overall, and his teething isn't waking him up at night, which is nice....

... and I'm up too late again. Goodnight.

5 Years

2009-08-07T09:02:00.002-04:00

Today is our 5th anniversary and we are heading up to Traverse City to tour the wineries on the Old Mission Peninsula. I think people never stop saying, I can't believe it's been __ years...." and I am no exception. It really has gone by so quickly! I love you Ron, and I love my life. Happy anniversary!

Blueberries

2009-08-05T20:51:00.005-04:00

This morning Ron, Lucy, and I went blueberry picking at Irvine's in Hudsonville. We got there around 9 AM, the dew was still on the grass, and the sun was still fairly low in the sky. It was beautiful, and we were the only ones there! The owner and her dog greeted us and told us all about their farm. Last year we went to Reender's, which was great, but we loved Irvine's because it was closer, smaller, less commercial, and had heirloom varieties instead of the most common "Bluecrop" which tend to be larger but sometimes less flavorful. The kind we picked were Rubels, planted by the owner's grandparents.

Anyway, Lucy helped a lot picking at first, but then switched over to more eating. We ended up taking home 5 pounds, which is a perfect amount (we didn't use up the 7 pounds we picked last year). I spent most of the time picking, believe it or not. However, I did bring my camera and took some photos after my bucket was getting full.

We left Henry at home this time, and my mom came over and watched him for a couple hours. It's nice to give Lucy a little extra special attention these days, since I think she is starting to get more competitive with Henry as he accomplishes new things and is interacting with her a lot more.

We definitely have our new favorite place to go pick. I love taking advantage of this kind of stuff where we live.

More Pics Here

Tunnel Park Session

2009-08-02T10:52:00.003-04:00

Last week we went to Tunnel Park with our friends Mike and Jenn and their boys. Jenn is a photographer, and we sort of exchanged "services." I got some great pics of her family and she got some of ours too, which is rare, being that I am usually on the other side of the camera! It was a lot of fun. I blogged about it on my MLP blog, and she just posted her pics on her own blog. Check them out HERE.

Walk Like a Man

2009-07-29T10:35:00.003-04:00

This morning Henry took 2 steps all by himself! Luckily we (even Lucy) were all watching him at the time :). It was just a couple, but it's a start. Soon he will be chasing Lucy through the house while she screams at him, hahahaha! He's 10 months and 1 day old.

photo from later that day:

Denning Family Reunion

2009-07-26T13:40:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Ron and I, along with the kids, went to the Denning Family reunion in Battle Creek. The cottage on the lake was gorgeous and there were almost 60 people there! Everyone brought great food, and there were a lot of new faces for me (and for Ron, in some cases). Henry was really good although he became extremely tired with no nap, and Lucy was having a good time, but busy busy busy! We got there around 12:30 and left around 6:30 PM. We didn't realize it until we were on our way home, neither of us even had a chance to pee while we were there! Sorry if TMI, but it goes to show you how we both had our hands pretty full! It was nice though. There were just so many people I wish I could have talked to more!

His whole family doesn't all get together like this too often, so it was important to get a big group photo. This is when a wide-angle lens is most useful!

More Photos Here

Henry at 9 (okay, 10) Months!

2009-07-22T22:38:00.010-04:00

What? I'm just playin' my xylophone...

Today Henry had his 9 month checkup, although he's closer to 10 months old now - the 28th will be the date. He weighed in at 21 pounds even, and 30 and 3/4 inches long. Generally speaking, his weight is right in the middle of average for his age, and his length is "off the chart" but not by too much. He had one shot, and stopped crying the instant I picked him up. He was back to his smiling self immediately. What a good boy. See, here he is amusing himself with a hanger.

Then again, he is starting to become even more mobile, and with that has developed a feisty streak. He does not sit on your lap for more than a couple seconds before arching has back and wanting to get down. He spots something across the room and goes for it one way or another. He will to crawl to anything, pull himself up, and "creep" along it until he has no choice but to take a hand off and stand, holding on with one hand. He can even walk a little bit holding onto my hand with one of his, but usually twists around to look at me and that's when he ends up plopping back down. Sometimes he can stand on his own for several seconds holding onto nothing, but of course, crawling is faster and easier!

He loves taking a bath (no ring, no inflatable duck tub, etc.), especially if he can play in there with his big sis. I think she would disagree about the fun factor of bathtime with her baby brother, because "he's in the waaaaay!" He just crawls all over the place and splashes up a storm. He might slip a little here or there, but I make sure he is safe, and he is doing pretty well at holding his own. Lucy spotted something that seemed out of place though, and that was an interesting moment. "Because he's a boy" is enough of an answer to satisfy her for now!

He is starting to drink regular milk (might we be done buying formula???) and also using a sippy cup. I think we got Lucy on the sippy a little earlier, but time flies with the second one. All of a sudden he's over 9 months old, and it's just too easy to go about your routine and have the months sneak up on you. I'm also guilty of not giving him enough finger foods to experiment with, but over the past couple of weeks he has had a lot more, and is really good at the pincher grasp. He seems to like most everything we give him. He's had a little pizza, squash, peas and carrots, Puffs (that doesn't really count, I'm talking about "people food" here), cake, chicken salad, graham crackers, and some other things. It won't be long until we can phase out baby food too. We give him a variety of fruits and veggies, and - yuck - some meats. Well, apples and chicken isn't so bad, but I am not a fan of baby food meats. Anyway, many baby foods are orange: namely squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peaches, and some of the combo foods. We try not to give him more than 1 "orange" per day, but alas, carotenosis cannot be stopped. You can see it by the sides of his nose mostly. If you look at the Wiki entry and see the list of foods associated with high levels of carotenoids, you might be surprised to see things like broccoli, apples, plums, among other unexpected culprits. Well rounded diet or not, it seems inevitable. No I am not spraying fake tanner on my baby.

He is so good. Even when he is super tired he smiles and waves (open-close-open-close hand) and babbles (da da da, na na na, ah-da), and makes funny sounds like "atchh" and "eeshhh." Looking back, Lucy was not a fussy baby either, she too was friendly and smily and slept through the night at a normal age, everything very similar. As soon as she became mobile, she was obviously a lot more work - she was, and still is, very very active and is an amazingly sweet, smart girl when she gets attention. When she's ignored she acts out, or gets bored and goes to the fridge (!!!). Maybe Henry will be able to amuse himself more than Lucy, but he is showing signs - just like she did - that he wants to be doing something all the time. I'm sure I'm in for some surprises as they start to play together more and more....

3rd, 4th, and 5th of July

2009-07-06T19:35:00.005-04:00

Sorry but I think this post is going to be picture-free! Of course my camera is at the camera hospital getting repaired (hopefully) and although I did borrow one for the time being, I really didn't feel much like taking photos this weekend with someone else's camera. Also, if you can believe it, I sometimes don't feel like always taking photos! I have had a cold, and maybe that has something to do with it, because it kind of made me grumpy and unmotivated.

Anyway, Friday afternoon we made the kids take good naps - although Henry went to bed at his normal time, Lucy stayed up extra late so we could enjoy a campfire and fireworks at our neighbor's house. She stayed up until after 11:00 PM and we had a great time over there. Our neighbor bought some really great (probably illegal) fireworks in Indiana and they were quite impressive! Henry was safe sleeping in his crib, yards away, and we ran home a couple times to make sure he wasn't awake or screaming!

Saturday we headed to Grandville for the parade, which we watched with Ron's mom, his brother Tom, and (2 out of 3 of) Tom's kids. We let Lucy dash away from the curb and crab candy, and she had a blast with her cousins! Then we headed back to my grandparents' for lunch. They live on Yellowstone (in the house they built and where they raised their 5 children) so they are really close to all the 4th of July activities. As far back as I can remember, their home is open to all family and friends throughout the day (or any other day, for that matter). We went home for naps (including me, I was feeling pretty crappy!) and then to my parents for hotdogs and hamburgers.

We went back to Grandma and Grandpa's at night for the big fireworks display, where everyone (who is in town) watches from their front lawn. I almost bailed on it, because I was feeling like my head was completely stuffed up, but I didn't want to miss watching my own kids watching the fireworks... and I know how special it is for my grandparents on that day, when family, community, patriotism, and tradition are celebrated probably more than any other time of year. Grandma is 80 and Grandpa turns 80 next month, and as important as all this is for them, it is starting to take on more meaning for me than ever before. No one goes there because they are guilted into it... it's just what you do, if you are in town, even if it's just to stop in and say hi for a minute. Not everyone can be there all the time, but their kids and grandkids always know they are welcome and loved, no matter what, which is how it should be.

Henry didn't cry with the loud booms, or the fact that it was well past his normal bed time, but he was so exhausted he just stared at the fireworks, while Lucy could hardly sit still, despite the long day and another late night. The excitement had her pretty wound up!

Lucy has a cold (I think I caught mine from her), and Henry started developing the same symptoms later on Saturday, so when Sunday morning came around, we really didn't feel like exposing all the other kids at church to our illness, and stayed home (again). Ron worked on the deck a little bit, and I had an engagement session in Holland at night, then spent the rest of my evening editing wedding photos (yes, I am still working on them... but I'm almost done, hooray!!!), while Ron snoozed on the couch... and now I think he's coming down with this cold too! Summer colds are the worst! Luckily mine is almost gone now. :)

Dividing Time

2009-06-30T12:58:00.004-04:00

The last week or so has been crazy... I used to spend the vast majority of my day taking care of the kids, and now I spend most of my time editing photos! I love doing it, but I feel like I can't get them finished quickly enough. I used to have all my client proofs done within a few days, and then sitting around waiting for another session to come along. I am now experiencing the opposite extreme, and it is taking me closer to 2 weeks to edit all of these sessions. I'm pretty sure people don't mind, but I don't like the slower turnaround. In the future, scheduling will have to be a little more spread out, because I feel guilty if I sit out on the deck with a glass of wine - which is silly, I should be able to do that! I also have to learn not to overshoot, as I did for a recent family session! I won't say how many photos I took in total, but it was far too many. I learned a lot from that session in particular.

I get frustrated sometimes because there are always things that I learned from a session, and wish I could go back and have applied that lesson. Impossible to do, because I am already back home with my files ready to edit... but that's how it goes. Each time out is a learning experience for me, and that is how I will get better. If you have hired me in the past for a session, I guarantee if you hire me again your photos will be better, because I have come a long way since starting this little operation!

Ron is doing a great job taking care of the kids and the house while I camp out in the basement with the computer(s) editing. I definitely would like to balance my time and not have to be doing this full-time as I have the past couple weeks. I think with this career (or as a photographer friend put it, "jobby"), at least for me, it's hard to predict when things will be slow and when things will be busy, and I was eager to accept as many jobs as I could, scheduling them all based on the clients' convenience (which I still prefer to do if at all possible). Here's one from the session I referred to earlier... this is Sadie and a Ladybug.

Where Have I Been?

2009-06-25T11:45:00.006-04:00

Right here on the computer, a lot, actually! However, I haven't had much to blog about other than the work I am doing. So I'm doing one of those "Sorry I haven't posted in a while" posts... oh well.

Mexico was amazing. Kelly and Heath's wedding was beautiful and we all had such a nice time. Most of my time was spent relaxing by the pool or walking around with my camera. Ron went snorkeling and jet-skiing, but honestly, the highlight for both of us was just slowing down and not having any responsibilities for a few days.

Since getting back to Michigan (and reality) I have been working busily on photos. I had three sessions each of the three days after I got home. On top of those, I have the wedding photos and a senior session I did for my cousin while we were in Mexico. I'm trying to be fair, prioritize, and give everyone at least a preview in a timely manner. However, our computer(s) aren't super fast, and when the kids are around it's hard to stay focused. This has resulted in some late nights for me on the laptop! Luckily, Ron is off for the summer and has been helping out a tremendous amount with taking care of the kids and housework. I hope it doesn't sound like I am complaining because I love doing sessions, and even editing all the images. It is just consuming all my free time lately!

So, I must be getting back to work on some photos, but I will leave you with a couple shots from our trip which show the resort...

Preview

2009-06-19T12:14:00.002-04:00

The line between personal and professional is definitely blurred when I photograph Kelly and Heath's wedding details - the ceremony was photographed by my uncle Dan. However, the rest of the time I had my camera in hand (although it wound up in the hands of a few others later during the reception... a behavior that would not be typical of a wedding photographer, but in this case I didn't mind!).

I am starting to take on the huge task of processing wedding pictures! I know there is no rush, but I'm excited to do them because there are so many good ones. Hard to go wrong when you are somewhere as beautiful as this... so check out the MLP blog, where I have posted one solitary photo. More coming soon...

Return

2009-06-19T08:37:00.004-04:00

Well, Ron and I got home last night a little after 10:30 PM. Needless to say, I have lots of laundry to wash, and lots of photos to edit. I can't wait to share some of them here, but it won't be until later this afternoon...

Last night we had a major thunderstorm (it even knocked our power out for a while), and Lucy came into our room to sleep between us. That was the first time we had seen her since Saturday night... She does seem older. She doesn't look older, but she is acting older. Very strange. She stayed in there until we all woke up this morning, then Henry woke up and he seemed really excited to see us - he did look different to me.

The wedding was wonderful. The place we stayed was amazing. Seeing pictures online do not do it justice. The wedding day, Tuesday, started off with beautiful weather, which turned into rain and gray skies in the afternoon as 6:00 approached. Needless to say, Kelly was becoming a little disappointed and anxious, as we had had beautiful weather the entire time up until this point. It just didn't seem fair, and the wedding coordinator was suggesting moving the ceremony inside. But Kelly and Heath faithfully pressed on with their plan to be married on the beach. Heath even bought several large colored umbrellas from the gift shop in case that could help keep certain people somewhat dry. As I made my way down to the wedding site, it started to sprinkle again ("uh-oh..."). It stopped again, and we all gathered to wait for the ceremony to start. The sun even came out a little! It was warm and breezy, and most importantly DRY. We did photos afterward, and just as that was wrapping up, the rain started again and we ran up the beach to where the reception was being held - inside a large open hall with thatched roof and a table set up with white and red linens.

The food was incredible - the best wedding food I've ever had. Both families, as well as some of Kelly and Heath's friends, got along beautifully and had a great time. Everything was dim and romantic and very beachy, even with a little wind and rain going on outside. It was perfect. More later...

Ups and Downs of Leaving The Kids

2009-06-13T10:10:00.008-04:00

Well, tonight we will put the kids to bed, and by the time they wake up (unless they wake up at 5:00 AM) we will be on our way to Chicago O'Hare to fly to Mexico for Kelly's wedding! It seems like there is plenty to do to keep us busy today, including digging the suitcases out of storage so we can start to pack! Not that we procrastinate, I just don't feel that it takes me very long to put things in a suitcase. I've been typing up info sheets for my cousin to use while she watches our kids for the five days we are gone. I'm going to miss the kids, but I worry more about (I hope this doesn't come across as arrogant) them missing us, which I know will eventually hit, after a couple days. We're planning some distractions with visitors and new toys to help with that.

Lisa is great with our kids, and she knows so much about taking care of children, safety, health, and has a keen eye for potential hazards. She's fun, and knows how to play with young children, encourage learning and focusing, sharing, and creativity (and bonus points: she can French braid Lucy's hair - a skill I definitely do not possess)! She's not afraid of enforcing rules and boundaries (our discipline method is the Naughty Spot, and it works for us), especially when it might mean keeping someone safe - and that is something we feel strongly about when considering someone to watch our kids for this long. In fact, she was hired at the new Apple Tree daycare center being built on Port Sheldon. I know she won't do everything exactly the same way I would, and that's okay. I just want the kids to be safe, healthy, and happy, and I can relinquish some control here. We'll probably call home once a day to see how everyone is doing. There will also be various other relatives coming by to help give her a break, keep the house semi-tidy, and entertain the kids. She is going to be a great mom herself one day, but jumping in to the full-time role of taking care of an extremely busy, feisty toddler and a crawling, pulling-up-on-stuff, putting everything in his mouth baby sun-up to sun-down, isn't easy for anyone. It's a skill you grow into. I do it every day, and there are times when I need to give myself a time-out.

Actually, every mom - especially full-time SAHMs - needs some time off... no one climbing on me or grabbing fist-fulls of the skin on my neck with their tiny sharp fingernails, or hauling a loaf of bread out of the fridge to inform me they need a sandwich!, though I won't name names. Moms who work outside the home hopefully aren't experiencing such things at their job - which I can only assume provides some relief from all the little-kid madness! Ron and I pretty much never take a vacation, and I expect that we won't know what to do with all the freedom from responsibility! Margaritas, snorkeling perhaps...

Rainy Days and Babies

2009-06-08T09:47:00.004-04:00

Thinking back to the birth of both of my kids, I went into labor spontaneously (not induced) at term, 38.5 weeks, just before a low pressure system went through, i.e. rainy, stormy weather. The drive home from the hospital, both times, was a wet one. I had heard of correlations with this, and as I await news from my friend Amber who was due this past Saturday, I wonder if it will prove to be true again. My Internet "research" turned up forums where LD nurses wrote about significant increases of women in labor just before rain and storms occurred, time and time again. I even found a legit study abstract on the topic which found a causal relationship, taking it to an even further level of validity. Interesting. So if you are expecting a baby and anxiously waiting for labor to start, maybe you want to watch that forecast!

Take a Stand

2009-06-02T08:48:00.004-04:00

I was standing by the booster chair convincing Lucy that she did not need a sandwich (after just finishing her oatmeal), little did I know what was going on with her baby bro. I turned around to see Henry standing up in the playpen, hanging on to the edge. He's been trying to get his feet under him, but only for a week or less. I was super surprised! Then he started crying, I think because he wanted to get down and didn't know what to do. I guess we'll be lowering the crib mattress one more notch...

Car Wash of Terror

2009-06-01T08:30:00.006-04:00

I apologize in advance that this is nearly 3 minutes of us going through a car wash on Saturday, and finishes with us waving like dorks at the mirror. I will understand completely if you don't watch the entire thing! For some reason I felt the need to record this event (boredom), but it's all worth it for the few seconds in the middle where you see Henry's worried expression like, "what is going on!?" which I couldn't see until I reviewed this video. Is it bad that I find that slightly amusing? Lucy was conked out the entire time.

The Last Week!

2009-06-01T07:25:00.002-04:00

Today is the beginning of the last week of school (at least for Grandville High School, where Ron teaches). Then every day will feel like the weekend. People often tell him that it's so unfair that he doesn't have to work but still gets paid in the summer - which he will admit is nice (and I LOVE), but the fact is he does not get paid for those months, instead redistributes his 9 month salary over the entire year, and takes a smaller check. It is also a much needed break from the 9+ hour days spent with teenagers (and that doesn't even include time grading after school). I'm not trying to sound defensive, I am just proud of him and what he does for a living. Despite some of the comments he gets from friends, his job is extremely demanding and he is, bias aside, one of the best teachers there. I can vouch for that because I know most of his coworkers and have subbed in many of their classes. His classes are not easy, but his students work hard, give him respect, and actually like him (even when he gives them detentions, etc.) - that is not an easy thing to accomplish to maintain classroom control and still be liked. I think a lot of that is because he has the perfect personality for a high school teacher. I, however, do not. I would probably lose my cool and fling someone's iPhone at the cinderblock wall. Those are not allowed during class! Yikes.

He used to work in the summer, but this year he will not. That is because he is going to be Mr. Mom from time to time allowing me to have more flexibility scheduling sessions. I will make more than he did at Woodcraft anyway, and we will still have a lot of free time to enjoy our summer! I have enough sessions scheduled for the month of June to keep me very busy, so I am saying that I am "booked" and not taking any more clients for that month! I do not want to spend all of my free time editing, and with what I have right now I will be doing plenty of it. There must be a balance. The fact is, I am still a full-time stay at home mom (I do my sessions on weekends or I have to find a babysitter during the week), and until our kids are in school full-time, I can not be a full-time photograper. I'm very thankful for how well it is going so far this year.

Lucy's Surgery

2009-05-29T11:06:00.006-04:00

Lucy had an umbilical hernia fixed on Wednesday. My mom took Henry the night before, since we had to get up pretty early to head to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids. Lucy's surgery went well, and she was kind of groggy for quite a while afterward, but by late afternoon we had to try to reign her in from doing too much activity... she got her appetite back and was just a little whiny, but otherwise back to normal later the same day.

Well, I did not bring my camera to the hospital. I debated it for a while. I thought it would be weird and unnecessary, but I wish I would have brought it because there were some times when she was sleeping in her bed, or in Ron's arms, that were just so precious. I know any surgery is a big deal, and although this outpatient procedure was about as routine as they come (and she bounced back as quickly as can be!) it was her first real hospital experience since she was born!

Although I didn't have my camera (regret, regret, regret) I did have my little Flip video recorder from Kelly in my purse (see, how handy!!!), so I got a few seconds of her before her surgery, getting all geared up in her tiger hospital jammies and socks. Once she was dressed, she was ready to run out the door to the playroom, which is where this video leaves off.

Ribbit

2009-05-28T09:51:00.003-04:00

This was taken with my Sigma wide-angle zoom lens (17-70). The frog let me get pretty close! I tried to turn him to face me (he was right by the edge of the deck so I couldn't move) but then he got angry and hopped all the way from the upper deck down to the ground! The top version is the basic one, and the bottom version has sort of a vintage look... which is nicer? I was pretty happy with how much detail I caught in his skin and the sharpness of his eye!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T07:51:00.010-04:00

First off - today is Ron's 31st birthday - happy birthday hon, I love you!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. The weather was beautiful, and we even made it out to Saugatuck to wander around with our Otsego friends Eric and Jen. Everyone else must have had the same idea because it was a very busy town that afternoon! It was gorgeous weather and the sidewalks (and parking spots) were packed! I love it though, it's so pretty and the shops have such interesting, unique finds. I loved listening to a potter explain his methods, and was admiring one of his large shallow bowls until I saw the price tag ($250)! Well, he is very talented, but that's a bit steep for me! :) We had dinner and beers at Wally's and then went back to their house for a couple hours. Sunday our guest pastor at church was wonderfully inspiring and we came home and grilled hamburgers and hung out outside. Our neighbor came over and helped Ron with the pergola project (which is about 95% complete now!), and yesterday we went to the parade in Jenison (on Baldwin), then home to relax for a few hours before going to my parents' for grilled chicken. Lucy chased butterflies around with a net...

Henry seems to have some kind of allergy (pollen?) which makes the skin right around his eyes all red! Poor guy! But he's still a happy boy, and loves crawling around all over and pulling up on anything he can. We have already dropped the mattress down because before too much longer he'll have his feet under him.

Lucy got a big bucket of chalk from my grandparents last week, and is quickly wearing down the pink pieces.
Henry has spent some more time in the grass lately, and whenever anyone sees him sitting in grass they are surprised that it doesn't bother him. I think it often does feel strange to little ones at first, but neither of our kids minded it. However, he does try to eat it. This photo actually isn't from this weekend, but it's a recent one anyway. I was trying to get more of Lucy for a change, and her playtime outside was when Ron was digging up our massive hosta collection and I could keep an eye (and lens) on Lucy, while Henry was napping.

I believe I have a few on my camera I need to go through, but I realized it has been over a week since my last post! Generally things have been kind of uneventful around here, I guess! We're just glad to be able to go out in the yard almost every day and say hi to our wonderful neighbors, take walks, etc... which means less time on the computer, to be honest! Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Why I Blog

2009-05-18T10:28:00.003-04:00

I think it's becoming more and more popular for people to participate in some form of social networking online - whether it's MySpace, Xanga, LiveJournal, Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, even some photo sharing sites like Flickr, and numerous others, where you can share thoughts, opinions, experiences, videos, photos, news... In fact, the weblog ("blog") format has existed since long before the term was coined. As of the end of 2007, the blog search engine Technorati was tracking over 112 million blogs! Apparently in 1999 blogging became more mainstream (although the first blogs date back to the early 90's), and clearly hasn't slowed down.

I started blogging in 2005, while trying to conceive our first child. I think I was going through a really tough time and needed some kind of outlet. Although I didn't write much about TTC, it was then that I started finding old friends and reading their blogs. I wrote about my life in general, and honestly it was pretty boring! I deleted that blog and started this one (September 5, 2006), almost a month before Lucy was born. It seemed like a good time to start documenting my experiences as a stay-at-home mom, as well as my other thoughts about the world outside of my home. I knew I needed to stay connected somehow.

In the past two and a half years, I have reconnected with many old friends. We don't just comment on each others' posts, we actually do get together in person from time to time! I think that it's good to take it to that next step if it's logistically possible, and your social "network" should extend beyond your computer monitor. Also, being a stay-at-home mom, I have a great way to journal about my family in a format that is open to comments and a sort of conversation among myself and other moms, as well as friends and family who are interested in what is going on in my neck of the woods. My sister, for example, lives in Illinois and if it weren't for our blogs, it would be hard to find time to regularly keep in touch, as she is extremely busy with her job and working toward her MBA, and our free time doesn't always coincide. We can read each others' blogs when we have time, and it really helps us keep in touch on a more regular basis.

As a professional photographer, blogging is a seriously important aspect of networking and marketing my business. I want to get to know other professional photographers, and see their work, but I read their blogs every time they update! I also want to stay relevant for potential clients, and a frequently updated blog will (statistically) pull more traffic than a site that sits and never changes for months on end.

As I said earlier, the number of blogs out there is pretty staggering. I don't worry about my kids' safety, because "A Day in the Life" is also A Needle in the Haystack. Random acts of violence and terror can occur anywhere - a parking lot, a a park, a dark alley... I suppose I don't feel that the Internet is this scary awful place, although there are predators out there; I keep a watchful eye on my children at all times. I promise my blog isn't read by enough people to truly increase our chances of being in danger. You know how many people read Dooce?! If she's not worried about Leta (or the baby she's due to have in a couple weeks), I think my kids are alright!

So, to the handful of you who read this, when and why did you start blogging?

Brother and Sister

2009-05-11T10:05:00.003-04:00

(on the left, that was Lucy just a bit younger than Henry is now)

Henry's Mother's Day Gift

2009-05-11T09:51:00.002-04:00

Taking this picture was tricky... but hopefully you can see the tooth there. It poked through yesterday.

Thank You!

2009-05-08T13:58:00.002-04:00

I just got a lovely bouquet and a sweet message from my sister Kelly for Mother's Day (and also my birthday coming up a couple days after), and it came in a cute little green pot too! I was so surprised to get a package today! Thank you so much, I love it! :)

On Deck

2009-05-06T09:50:00.002-04:00

There is still a little work to be done on the back deck (the rail cap, the pergola, staining, etc.) but we have our spindles on, and no one is falling off the side. We hope to be spending a lot of time out here this summer and fall. We can sit out there and relax, which we did a little bit late yesterday afternoon. It will look completely different when all the finishing touches are in place, but here's a photo I took this morning (view from the slider) of our furniture. Arranging it in the corners like this felt like the best option, and fills the space without making it feel crowded, or blocking the way to the steps to the lower deck...

Tulip Time

2009-05-06T00:13:00.006-04:00

My mom, Lucy, Henry, and I went out to Holland Tuesday morning for Tulip Time! Lucy wore an "authentic" costume we borrowed from a friend again, and Henry wore a hat and scarf to look like a little Dutch boy (minus the wooden shoes for him this year). I have to say, I got a bit tired of all the, "oh, you poor thing," and "do your feet hurt, honey?" from strangers, directed toward Lucy. Actually, she didn't mind at all walking in wooden shoes, and she is quite good at it. She was also fine with it last year, when she was only a year and a half old! I think if she wasn't okay with it, she wouldn't be walking around smiling... Anyway, a lot of people thought the kids were adorable and asked to take their photos. We ate hot dogs and an elephant ear - they are huge, so we shared it... although Henry had Dutch Apple Dessert baby food instead. It was a nice morning, the weather was just perfect (if not a bit warm), and the kids were very good. Ron has yet to see or eat an elephant ear... we might go back later this week so that he can try one!

More photos from this year's trip to Tulip Time HERE on our Smugmug site.

Photos from ALL trips to Tulip Time HERE...

On The Move

2009-05-01T21:01:00.005-04:00

Look who's looking older all of a sudden! Also, he is "crawling". I use quotes because he isn't totally smooth with it yet. He takes lots of little breaks, but gets up on his hands and knees, crawls a bit, and flops back down... then repeats this process to get anywhere he wants to go. I really think he's figuring it out, and even moved over to a musical table toy and pulled himself right up... He also incorporates rolling into the mix...

Wedding Photography

2009-04-30T11:42:00.004-04:00

I know this is a photography related post, but it's also something personal, so I am putting it here. On my photography blog I'm just sticking to events that have happened, and photos that I have already taken. However, I am excited to say that Saturday I will get to dress in stealthy black and comfy shoes and second shoot a wedding in Ada, MI with the talented Lynell, whom I met via Craigslist, of all places (although now we are friends on Facebook). I was going to buy her barely used camera as an upgrade, and it ended up getting stolen by someone who broke into her home! So, I ended up buying one from B&H and it's all good, although she ended up feeling violated and losing a little bit of her sense of security. They caught the thieves, and one of her cameras was recovered. I used the phrase "ended up" 2 times too many....

Although obviously I didn't get that camera from her, we exchanged a few emails and long story short, she invited me to shoot along with her at a wedding on May 2. At that time it seemed like forever into the future, but now it's just a couple days away! I thought I'd be a lot more nervous, but I'm pretty calm and excited about it. It's such a good opportunity. Some photogs charge rookies like me to second shoot, and even then we might not get to keep our images! I get to keep my images and use them in my portfolio. This will be great practice, as I have been approached by a few people about weddings, and need something to show them.

I have had some recent sessions I am very proud of, and things are starting to pick up more. My flash site has more of a variety of photos in the galleries, and I think I have improved drastically in the past few months. I still learn a lot every time, and I am trying to refine my "style" so it is more distinctive and recognizable. There are so many ways to process images, and I love too many of them, but I need to get focused (no pun intended). I just sort of tailor it to clients and what the "feel" of the session is, as well as their personal taste.

So, hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have some images in my weddings gallery and a lovely blog post over at mindyleigh.com. While I doubt I will ever take on too many weddings as part of my business (I'm not sure I can handle the all-day thing every weekend, and the 1000 images to process afterward), it's definitely something I want to be good at, so I can do them if I choose to.

Just Dandy

2009-04-29T10:37:00.005-04:00

Last night Ron took Lucy for a walk through the neighborhood (she brought along a magnifying glass to explore nature). I had just put Henry down for a nap, and I felt a little frazzled. I just wanted a break, so I stayed home. Oh, and it's probably better that someone is at the house while our infant son is sleeping in his crib. Anyway, I laid awake on the couch staring out the transom windows at the trees. I did not move a muscle. It was wonderful.

Then Ron and Lucy returned home and came to the front door, strangely enough. In her hands she had a little bouquet of dandelions... how sweet. "Here ya go mama!"

I put them in a little vase with some water, expecting them not to last very long. In fact, by evening they were already closing up and dying. Or so I thought...
I should have known better than to think they were wilting already, they were just going to sleep. They actually woke up in the morning and are healthy as can be, reaching toward the window light. So, dandelions, I know how you feel at the end of the day... wanting to curl up and maybe even looking a little ragged. Or a lot ragged.

Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5

Don't get me wrong all you other dandelions out there... we are still going to annihilate you.

Baby Snail

2009-04-27T10:15:00.005-04:00

You know those little capsules that you can drop into warm water, and slowly the coating dissolves... the sponge shaped like something fun is revealed. Well, I bought a package of these for Lucy for Easter. I mean, the Easter Bunny bought a package that he found in the $1 bin at Target...

Okay, so Lucy formed an odd attachment to a small red sponge shaped like a snail. She has a large foam snail that sticks to the wall of the tub (who, one fine day, became Mommy Snail after Baby Snail emerged from its capsule). This little red Baby Snail is about 2 inches long, and made out of soft delicate foam. She sleeps with Baby Snail at night, along with whatever favorite animal of the day she chooses, plus Pink Bear (always). You like our names for things? So creative, right? Anyway, I am amazed when she wakes up in the morning carrying this tiny two inch sponge. She makes it kiss Mommy Snail, and exclaims, "I love you SO MUCH!" and they have long conversations in the tub together, take turns rescuing each other from drowning, and compliment each other on their shells. I think that's enough background info.

So, I'm changing Henry's diaper and all of a sudden I hear Lucy yelling something, difficult to understand because she is crying. She runs in and presents to me Baby Snail... one piece in each hand. She accidentally ripped Baby Snail in two. Oh. No. "Baby Snail is broken. Fix it!" So I tell her to hang on and I'll fix it, don't worry... all the while thinking, how on earth can I fix a tiny, soft, flimsy sponge? Should I teach her about death and let Baby Snail go... No! Don't give up yet! So, I actually taped Baby Snail's head and neck back to his/her shell. It's a pretty crude repair. While doing it, I was well aware of the ridiculousness of the situation. I am definitely no pediatric snail surgeon, but all things considered, I did a pretty good job! Mommy and Baby together again post-op:

Check Me Out

2009-04-25T08:21:00.001-04:00

Before having kids I never knew what eczema looked like or how someone even got it... apparently it runs in both our families. Huh. I dodged that bullet (for now).
I took this photo Wednesday to "document" Henry's really nasty case of eczema, not for medical purposes, just to show him when he's 16 and he can roll his eyes at me. Forgive the image quality, this wasn't exactly a portrait session (I think it's actually out of focus. eep.). However, this was his "good" side! Those darn neck folds, excessive drool, plastic bibs... Well, we can eliminate the plastic bibs but the rest we can't do much about! What started out looking like a small spot turned into an almost allover rash wrapping around to the back of his neck! I actually don't think this shows how red it was! After trying OTC Hydrocortisone, Eucerin, A+D Ointment, Weleda Calendula Baby Cream... and getting no success (if anything it was getting worse) I resorted to taking him in to see Dr. Joe, who prescribed some stuff that helped reduce the rash drastically after just one day. Yeah! It is progressively getting better and better, and he pretty much looks back to normal. These dry winter months are tough.

Parks and Regurgitation

2009-04-20T08:38:00.003-04:00

Saturday afternoon we took the kids to Sunrise Park in Hudsonville. It's kind of small and tucked away, so it's usually not very busy at all. While we were there a few other kids came and went, but it was pretty nice. Lucy is able to climb just about anything (even holding on to her orange kitty the entire time) without making us worry about whether she'll fall off. Last year was a bit different in that respect. Henry hung out on a blanket and tried to eat wood chips, and rode in a bucket swing for the first time. He was smiling and giggling (although not in the photo). It is so important for our sanity to get Lucy out of the house more, and let her burn off some energy!
Ron brought along the Rebel Xt to play around and take photos. I took a few with my big camera too, but it gave me a chance to be IN a couple pictures for a change. He has art background and is probably going to be a pretty good photographer if he can just learn all the technical sides of the camera. I'm excited about the idea of not always being the one taking photos. Although I love it very much, I feel like we have tens of thousands of pictures and I'm in three of them. Anyway, I had him shooting in manual because I think it will help him learn how ISO, aperture, and shutter speed all affect each other, and when it comes to this kind of stuff he is a quick learner. He got a nice one of me and Henry - usually I look like a goober in photos, but I actually like myself in this one!

Yesterday my mom, Lucy, Henry, and I went to Holland to Dutch Village... Lucy got a new, bigger pair of wooden shoes for Tulip Time (although no name burned on them this year, because from now on her shoes are going to be passed down. Sorry Henry). Last year we went on April 25 and it was chilly and cloudy and windy... she got a pair, and then proceeded to "klomp" around in them at home. She looks so young when I look back at those photos! Again this year it was less than perfect spring weather. It was cold and a little rainy. She still had a good time though, and got an ice cream cone at Dutch Village. Henry got a little Dutch hat to wear, but we're skipping the shoes for him until next spring when he can walk in them.

When we got to my parents' house Lucy threw up. Yuck - Let me tell you, I'm not used to this aspect of parenthood at all! She's been an unusually healthy child so I've been pretty lucky. She was okay the rest of the time we were there, but when we went home she acted really tired and subdued, and went to be at 5:00PM! She got up around 10:00, and got sick a couple more times. Poor girl! It wasn't a long night or anything, but she did end up climbing into our bed around 5:00 AM. She had gotten up and went to the fridge for a Capri Sun. We have to figure out what to do about this issue... she is just helping herself to whatever, whenever. A Capri Sun (Roarin' Waters... so it's not even juice, or sugary), isn't a bad thing in itself. It's the fact that she'll drink all of them if we aren't there to stop her. She didn't get to drink it, but I gave it to her later in the morning, trying to get her to take her time and drink slowly. Hmmm. Today she seems to be feeling better, but doesn't have much of an appetite. She's been laying on the couch with a blanket watching cartoons, so that's pretty nice. It's rainy, it's Monday, I'd say that sounds like a lovely way to spend the morning.

Crazy Cakes and Candy

2009-04-17T08:14:00.009-04:00

We made it through another week! All that means is a busy weekend awaits... but I'll take it along with this forecast gladly! Ron has been busy working on his grad class, finishing up for the semester. It's so hard for him to focus with so many distractions at home. So, until all that is finished, nothing on the house is being worked on (which is definitely fine with me). Yesterday we took the kids to our friends' house for lasagna and we hung out a bit and let the kids run around - well, Lucy and Lauren, while Henry and Morgan sat on a blanket in the grass swapping spit (via chewing on various baby toys). Maybe a sign of things to come? Nahhh... we won't worry about that quite yet! Went home and put the kids to bed, and then I went over to Tiece's to take some pictures of a cake and cupcakes she made... the girl is amazing! She made a spherical cake that looks like a baseball! That's a bit more complicated than I would tackle. Two other things that amaze me: 1) the amount of Crisco she goes through, and 2) how late she consistently stays up and manages to function during the day. Her friend came to pick up the cake, and we hung out and talked way too late. I wasn't planning on staying more than 15 minutes but we had a good time talking about all kinds of stuff! I even got to bring home a few extra cupcakes... although I still haven't eaten one. Since it was about 10:30 PM when I took the photos, the overhead lights were all we had to work with, so this isn't the best set of images I've ever taken, but at least she has evidence of her creation - just before it was taken away to be devoured by 5 year olds!
Speaking of goodies, I'm amazed Lucy didn't discover those cupcakes yet (Ron must have moved them from their prominent location on the dining table... thank you!), because she woke me up this morning with a chocolate smear on her face. Hmmm, I wonder what she's been into. I got up and found the box of Capri Sun Roarin' Water pouches dumped onto the floor (she drank 1) and an empty candy baggy, and lots of little metallic wrappers all over the couch and floor - that's not counting the jelly beans that don't have wrappers, I'm sure she ate. I said, "What did you do?" and she told me (obviously proud), "I ate the candy all by myself!" Good job Lucy... I can't figure out what to do (partly because if she has access to candy while I am asleep, it might be at least somewhat my fault, but maybe she should know better...?). I don't know, she's 2.5 years old. Candy has been around a lot more lately due to the post-Easter candy surplus. In terms of candy, it seems like Easter brings much more than Halloween. I guess I'll chalk this one up to: both our faults, hide the candy better and don't let it happen again!

Organization

2009-04-13T08:36:00.004-04:00

Spring break is officially over, and Ron is back to teaching this morning. I'm up, drinking coffee, wearing pajama pants, watching cartoons. However, I hope this is a productive day. There are plenty of little things I need to get done this week... I have a feeling it is going to go by quickly. I am also looking around at the aftermath of a busy weekend, and it's a little overwhelming. I will get the house back in order sometime before the day is done!

It seems like after spring break, the remainder of the school year is the home stretch. I also think we are done with snow and excessive cold, so it will be nice to spend some more time outdoors. I have a couple more sessions already booked for this month and I am finding that slowly but surely I am getting busier. It's pretty cool, but I also find that I need a lot more "free" time in my day to process images and correspond with people. I hate doing one or two here, one or two there, and constantly stopping to take care of the daily household grind. I could also really use a designated office space (even if it's not an enclosed rooom), other than the card table in the basement where our computer is sitting! I think we are at least in the market for a big old desk I can paint a dark, glossy brown and replace the hardware (if it has any). I need to get organized, with a bulletin board and maybe even some shelves. At least we have a file cabinet! Also, I'm the type to scribble things on notepads and scraps of paper, and Ron is the type to enter everything into a spreadsheet (good thing he enjoys doing that stuff for me)!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-12T23:38:00.006-04:00

This weekend has been rather busy! Friday afternoon Ron and I did as much as we could to tidy up the basement bedroom and bathroom for Kelly and Heath... despite a disastrous night before:

about to install sink cabinet base, screw into the same old hole, right?
wrong! old hole now results in screwing into copper pipe
leak behind wall, won't stop because there is no shut-off valve for that room
shut off water to entire house
hmm... Lowe's isn't open at 1 AM, try epoxy patch
epoxy patch not given adequate cure time, therefore not effective.
plumbing fixed properly next morning

So, be thankful next time you wash your face, make a pot of coffee, flush the toilet, rinse the coating of grout off your hands... water is truly precious. It made me realize, to be without water (without warning) for 1 night, how much I take it for granted. There are people in the world who never get fresh water. We are relatively conservative with our water use, but we definitely are accustomed to having it whenever needed.

The deck boards are all on, and look great. Now we need railings, steps, and the pergola.

Saturday was my sister's bridal shower lunch. We ate at the Blue Water Grill on Northland in Grand Rapids. Wow, the food was awesome! The music playing was as if Kelly or I made a mix tape of stuff we love, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was perfect for the occasion. It was a great turnout, too, with only a couple people unable to come. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. I brought a paper cake from DAiSYS & dots that had reds, teals, oranges, and greens... I highly recommend getting one for any party occasion. We filled the slices with Hershey's Kisses. Instead of cake, my mom picked up some cupcakes from D&W she ordered,decorated to have similar tropical colored flowers and palm leaves, because Kelly and Heath are getting married in Mexico.

Later in the afternoon Ron, Kelly, Heath, and I went downtown and took some engagement photos, before heading over to my parents' house for pizza.

Sunday was of course Easter. In the morning Lucy woke us up carrying a small bag of M&M's, saying "open this". Awww, she found her Easter basket. I got up and went to the living room to find that she had already eaten the entire sleeve of Pez I had loaded into the bunny dispenser for her. All the items in her basket and Henry's were mixed up. So, by 7:30 AM she was well on her way to her sugar quota. We went to my parents' house and Lucy found eggs all over their yard, putting them into a basket. She was so excited, and it was really fun to watch her running all over yelling, "there's one! there's another one!" She got so excited to spot one tucked into a tree trunk she didn't pay attention to where she was stepping and took a big spill... Amazing how excited a toddler gets over a bunch of empty plastic eggs (although there were coins hidden in some of them!).

In the afternoon we went to my grandparents' for my Grandma Myrt's 80th Birthday which was actually on Easter Sunday this year. She is an amazing grandma (and great-grandma), and has been consistently loving, selfless, supportive. She is patient and kind, and everyone who knows her loves her. She definitely does not act 80, as she is still buzzing around all over town, and taking care of her family like she has done for over 50 years. Grandma and Grandpa have always hosted holiday parties, birthdays, anniversaries, and just generally had an open door to anyone who wanted to stop by. They do their best to always attend their grandchildrens' recitals, sporting events, plays, concerts, etc., and they are so connected with their community, they know people everywhere they go. She and my grandpa have lived in the same house in Grandville since the 1960's (they moved there from their previous house, about a block away) and it is still the headquarters for all our family get-togethers, like the one we had today. However, this time she reluctantly gave up control and let her daughters plan, cook, and clean up. I know she appreciated it... although I think it threw her off a little, letting others do the work.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to process a good portion of the 5 million pictures I took over the past couple of days, and add some here. But for now - time for bed!

Hot Wings

2009-04-05T22:36:00.008-04:00

Ron is on spring break as of Friday, and so far we've had an eventful couple of days. Friday my brother- and sister-in-law came over in the afternoon with their twin boys, planning on frying some chicken wings for dinner. Sounded like a good idea at the time! As the oil was heating on the stove, Ron and Steve worked on the deck a little bit, and then took off to run a quick errand. Julie and I stayed back with the kids, and hung out and talked. Soon we noticed the oil was smoking (!) so we turned the burner off and removed the lid. Julie thought that it would be a good idea to take the pot outside and set it on the concrete to cool, while we de-smoked the great room. I had never heated a pot of oil (nor have I deep-fried anything in my life!), so it sounded fine to me. "I'll get the door."

As she carried the rather large pot of oil from the kitchen area toward the front door, the oil literally burst into flames. The instant I opened the door I looked back to see her carrying a pot of fire - a wave of flames a few feet tall. She hurriedly carried it out the front door to hurl it into the lawn. It was a somewhat chaotic moment, but it almost seemed like slow motion. Some of the oil sloshed out onto the porch and siding, and I heard the whoosh of the fire climbing up the exterior wall a few feet away from me. I actually thought to myself, "our house is going to burn down," which seems dramatic in hindsight, but when you see an 8 foot tall wall of fire on the side of your house (at the base of which is a wooden porch), wow... scary.
At that point, the sloped part of the front landscaping was on fire (grass that we didn't want anyway), and Julie was frantically hooking up a hose to the faucet by the front porch while I ran inside to call 911 and make sure nothing inside was on fire. I glanced up to see the kids in the opposite corner of the great room crying, obviously worried (I can't imagine what it seemed like from their perspective, watching their moms in this situation), but we just couldn't help them at that moment. With the phone in hand, I dashed back outside to help Julie, who had pretty much extinguished the fire with our sprinkler head hooked up to the hose. The porch siding had not caught on fire, although the flaming oil melted some of the siding and singed the front porch slightly. All of this happened in a matter of a minute or two. Later we thought about how having vinyl siding probably saved our house, since what is under neath the vinyl is old, dried, wooden siding. Meanwhile, Ron and Steve returned and we brought them up to speed. They had noticed the pot in the front lawn and I can't imagine what they were thinking. They actually got back before the firefighters came. The 911 dispatch said they wouldn't send a truck, but they did. And a few geared-up firemen too! I told them what happened and they wrote down the information they needed, and we tried to cheer the kids up with the fact that there were real firemen and a firetruck! Henry slept through the entire thing at the room at the end of the hall - so no smoke got to him either. My sister-in-law felt terrible, although she didn't do anything wrong. She kept apologizing, and I appreciated it but tried to remind her that she had nothing to apologize for. It could have been so much worse and I'm just glad everyone is okay. The guys missed quite a scene. Afterward we decided to grill the chicken wings with some Red Hot instead of frying them! The kids got to say hi to some real firemen (who were apparently blown away that a girl knew what a j-channel is), and had cookies and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner, and we had our wings around 8 PM.

I know some might say that the pot of oil should have been left alone on the stove and not moved. I never would have thought that hot oil could spontaneously combust! Maybe I should have known that. Neither of us did, and I can see the logic of wanting to take it outside. Whatever we should have known, or should have done... doesn't matter anymore, because what happened can't be changed. We learned a lesson (I have actually have no desire to deep fry anything), and nobody was hurt. I'm so thankful for that. We can fix and replace things easily.

Chuuuuck E. Cheese's...

2009-04-03T08:17:00.005-04:00

::sung to the same melody:: ha ha ha...

Anyway, I have a bunch of pictures from our visit to Chuck E. Cheese's but decided to just create a collage real quick to get some on here (there are none on Smugmug yet). Here ya go (click the photo to see it larger):Lucy climbed under the rope at the entrance when we arrived, before the kid could open it up. I mean, we do control her but she did it in the blink of an eye! At least she didn't run off. Then she was actually quite uneasy, and didn't want to play any games or go on any rides. Slowly she warmed up to the place (after 3 slices of pizza) and we found a few things she was able to do. Being only 2.5 years old, she is a bit young for a lot of arcade games, etc.. The things she loved the most were the basketball shoe, the popcorn game (ping pong balls shoot out and you have to catch them in your "bucket" - bottom right and top middle of the photo), whack-a-mole, if that is what it's still called, and watching Chuck E. Cheese sing on stage. She didn't get a chance to meet him while he was walking around... maybe that's a good thing.

No ball pit. Maybe that's a good thing too.

It definitely has a totally different feel from what I remember. I thought it seemed smaller, first of all (I'm bigger), and there were a lot of scary teenagers and young adults "hangin' out" which I thought was weird. There were a few toddlers there, and Lucy met a boy that was really friendly toward her. We would put her on a ride - like a moving car type thing - and a few seconds after it started she'd climb out! There goes $1! Hahaha. ::Eye roll::

We wanted to have Lucy ride the rocket but she didn't want to at all... until we started heading toward the exit. Then it was, "I wanna go on the rocket!" Of course!

It was fun, and I'm glad we went, but not as awesome as I was hoping. Then I found out my sister-in-law has a coupon that would have cut our expense in half! She said, "You didn't have a coupon!?" Ummm... no... should I have known about this? Woops. Oh well!

Showbiiiiiz Pizza....

2009-04-02T08:16:00.005-04:00

I know I put something similar on Facebook but had to blog it too, because I'm just that amazed since finding so much interesting info on the Internet of all places ;)! Quite a blast from the past....

Remember Showbiz Pizza's Rockafire Explosion? I found really in-depth info on the members of the "band". Showbiz's official write-ups are a bit more reverant than this guy's blog post, if it's not blocked for you. Much funnier, and really easy to relate to. Other than the part about trying to look up Mitzi Mozzarella's skirt, which I don't believe I ever tried to do. Seeing these pictures brought some memories back for sure!
I realize Showbiz has been bought out by Chuck E. Cheese's and that the Rockafire Explosion is no longer together... so hopefully Lucy will have fun tonight when we bring her there for the first time. I was told that I screamed my head off whenever Fatz Geronimo (aka the scary gorilla on keyboards) took the stage. No kidding. So, I dug up some pics from my birthday party in 1987...

6 Month Checkup

2009-04-01T13:07:00.002-04:00

This morning I brought the kids to see Dr. Joe for Henry's 6 month well-baby visit. He was a really good boy, and Lucy was very chatty with everybody there! Henry weighs 19 lb. 3 oz. (75%) and is 29 in. long (above 95% / "off the charts"). So, he's shopping in the big and tall department of my nephews' hand-me-downs.

He got two shots in his leg (which ones, I know this sounds horrible but I don't pay that close attention anymore... I've gone through this process so many times) and he cried for literally 2 seconds and then stopped. Amazing Tough Guy! My only "problem" with Henry right now is this nasty drool-rash he has under his chin, but it isn't bothering him, and I can put Cortisol on it or something and it will improve eventually.

Afterward we ran through the snow (what!) to get into the car, and headed over to the high school to visit Grandma and Daddy. Lucy was really social, talkative, and friendly, and Henry never cried despite being up since early this morning, having shots, and no nap. He even had a few smiles left in him after a very long morning. "Pretty good kid" as Dr. Joe would say.

We left around 1 PM and Henry fell asleep in the car seat. I put him in his crib and he stayed sleeping. Poor guy must be exhausted! Meanwhile, Lucy is adding on to her fort in the living room, and needs my help... she never slows down!

Random Tangent

2009-03-30T11:25:00.004-04:00

Now that Henry is closing in on the crawling stage, I am so glad we live in this house. I am constantly thankful that we were able to sell our home in such a devastated market and move here. We really lucked out. Little things remind me of that fact all the time (like Henry about to become mobile), and I am so grateful for the way things worked out that I can't not mention it. I have to, so please indulge me. The odds were very much against us and Ron and I worked so hard on our last home to make it "desirable" enough to sell, even though if we add up our receipts from home improvements and compare it to what we got out of the house when we sold it, we probably didn't "profit" but at least we made it sellable! There were a lot of late nights, sweat, blood, bruises, and yes, tears... and we have worked equally hard on this home to make it livable - actually it's beyond livable, it is really pretty nice! I like to think the former owner would be happy with all the work we've done.

If you had the opportunity to come into this house before we moved in, thank you for having the same imagination, or at least not telling us we were crazy! Even though we kind of were. Now it's a great place for us and the kids - the floors are clean, there is carpeting in the living room, hallway, and bedrooms, and I'll be able to keep an eye on Henry while he maneuvers around a much larger area (meaning, he won't have to be totally confined to a tiny area to still be safe), in the great room. This convenience is especially nice since he isn't the only kid I have to keep tabs on, although I can trust Lucy a bit more when she's not in sight. With these little ones, it's also great to live in an extremely safe and friendly neighborhood. I'd trust any of my neighbors with my kids in an emergency without a doubt.

Ready, Set....

2009-03-30T10:54:00.005-04:00

Last night we were able to prop Henry up like this (without him immediately falling down) for the first time! So now he can hang out for short periods of time in the crawling position, and even rocks a tiny bit before he flops down into the skydiving position with his arms and legs splayed out... like he wants to take off! He has to learn: one hand, one knee, other hand, other knee, repeat...
These pics are from this morning... although he was really crabby at the time (I just put him down for his morning power nap), so not so happy to be forced into this arms and core workout.

Six Months Old!

2009-03-28T13:53:00.004-04:00

Our baby boy is Half a Year Old today. What on Earth? I can't believe how quickly he has grown and how much he has changed since his 0th birthday! I love this pic because it shows that unmistakable hospital blanket... He can sit up really well, and when he's on his tummy he is really struggling to move, and he can reach and roll around enough to actually end up in a new location after a while! So, we do have to keep an eye on him.When I look at this latest picture, it's hard to believe that is a 6 month old "baby". He almost looks like a toddler! Of course he still acts his age... he loves to put everything in his mouth, and Lucy loves to yell at him and say, "Henry don't eat the ____!" She's really good at telling him what to do...

Aside from growing and reaching milestones, he is developing such a sweet, happy personality. He smiles and giggles so easily, and loves being cuddled just as much as he loves to play and explore. While he's still "light" enough, he loves being tossed into the air too. However, he really isn't light, so it's quite a workout.

Happy Half-Birthday Henry! We love you so much!

Potty and Parenting Pressure

2009-03-25T08:32:00.007-04:00

Here is a post about potty training, and how it's going a lot better lately... she wears panties (instead of nothing) and hasn't had any accidents over the past couple of days. I'm reassured by other parents that eventually she will get it, but I think just about everyone with kids will agree that the sooner, the better. I think part of it is because it would be so convenient (and save money) to not be changing diapers on your kid anymore. I think the other part of it, that isn't really talked about a whole lot, is that there is a fear that it will reflect poorly on the parent if they can't manage to teach their kid this skill, like it's singing the alphabet or using a fork. If a kid is potty trained at 18 months, there is a certain level of pride and "isn't my kid a genius?" that a parent probably feels - even though they probably know better than to say it. If a kid is taking a bit longer a parent might wonder if others think they are doing everything correctly, and might even get defensive, because they are more frustrated than anybody, and they know how hard they are working! Potty training a toddler is the most trying part of parenthood for me so far (Yes, I realize I am blessed to have this be my biggest "challenge", and I know much tougher things await me). The truth is, the parents' influence is only a very small part of the equation.

I have heard stories about how my sister potty trained herself at a very young age, coming to tell my mom that she had used the potty - and after that she was magically potty trained! My lucky mom. I wasn't even born yet, so no need to be taking care of a newborn while potty training a feisty toddler (rawr). I have also heard about parents doing everything they can think of and somehow it's not working. Obviously what the parent does (or doesn't do) might not matter as much as we'd like it to. Some people might disagree with me, explaining what method they used and why it was so successful. I still argue that it is ultimately up to the child to embrace the concept, the parents just provide assistance... so good for you if your child was a quick learner in the potty department! Let's not start treading on the dangerously thin ice of "my kid could____at age ___". Lucy is halfway through Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (kidding... I haven't even read that). Not that we can't celebrate our children's achievements... but every child will hit their milestones in a unique order, and there is a big difference between celebrating a milestone and comparing/contrasting kids. What is very clear, is that Lucy is potty training on her terms. She does understand it (she has been using the potty chair since before she was 2), but has regressed a little (where she gets too busy or doesn't care, and has accidents) which I read about. If I ask her every 10 minutes if she needs to go pee, she will say "no", regardless of the truth. She does better when we just back off, and is physically capable of holding it for a long time (sometimes 4 hours or more... which makes me think she's going to have an accident any minute). Now we just have to teach her not to give herself a wedgie when she's done.

I suppose I can't end this without reiterating the idea that parents can be fairly sensitive about their children (and also tend to think their own children are superior in some ways than other people's kids), and I am no exception. I think it's normal to think that your own child is awesome, but important to remember that they don't have to be the best at everything (and won't be). I have a good friend whose daughter is only nine days older than Lucy and neither one of us wanted to talk about what was happening with our kids (like when they started crawling, walking, talking, etc.) for fear that it would come across as bragging or "my kid is smarter than yours" - even though neither of us felt that we were trying to compare our girls to each other. It was silly because it resulted in us not talking about our kids at all! We would have been better off being forthright from the beginning and laughing about all the ridiculous aspects of parenting, including the insane pressure to be the best "teachers" we can be... So good luck all you parents, with sleeping through the night, using the potty, singing the alphabet, drinking from a big-kid cup, understanding calculus, or whatever you're working on right now. More so, good luck to the kids who are really the ones figuring all these things out.

Deck Demolition

2009-03-21T17:46:00.003-04:00

This was the scene this morning... most of it is cleaned up, but it might take one more trip with the truck...

Sleep

2009-03-20T10:07:00.007-04:00

I think I can officially say that Henry is sleeping through the night now*. He will be 6 months old on the 28th of this month. He has a bottle around 8 or 9 PM and doesn't eat again until the next morning around 7 or 8 AM. The past two nights he hasn't woken up at all, but for about a week now, if he does wake up one of us just gives him his pacifier and he goes back to sleep. Needless to say this is nice and we are enjoying the full-night's rest.

*I of course realize that this all could change with teething, storms, illness, etc. but for the most part, we are past that certain stage of the baby's life where their need to eat wakes them (and us) up.

No more stumbling into the kitchen at 3 AM to make a bottle...

This makes me think back to the earliest days after we brought Henry home from the hospital when he was 1 day old, when he was in his bassinet in our room, waking up every couple hours (if we were lucky to have a couple consecutive hours!)... those nights are such a hazy memory. I did not breastfeed, but I'd sit up in bed and hold him, and have the most painful contractions that I sometimes actually had to set him down or give him to Ron because they were excruciating (almost as bad as when I was in labor!). That was definitely unexpected, but I learned that the production of oxytocin can be triggered by things besides breastfeeding. I can't believe how little sleep I got (Ron was spared from most of the newborn work), and yet during the day I just kept on truckin'. Now getting up once in the middle of the night is like, "UGH! Come ON! Sleep through the night already!"... Really, how can we complain?!

Henry has been such a cuddly baby right from the start, it was hard not to let him fall asleep in our arms, because he was just so peaceful and adorable. I hope we're not already spoiling our little baby boy! Or maybe because this is probably our last child we're trying to take advantage of the this time when he is still a little baby, because we know how quickly it is over. He's already well past the tiny phase. Anyway, now we can lay him down in his crib wide awake and he takes care of the rest, so usually that is what we do. But not always ;-)

He takes a couple decent naps during the day, and one long one that coincides with Lucy's nap time, should she take one. That sometimes gives me a nice break. Generally speaking, we don't have Henry on any kind of schedule other than the one that he is falling into on his own. It's much easier that way, and less stressful for me if I'm not worrying about what time it is and whether or not he's "supposed" to be sleeping. I just read recently in an article online: three things you can't force a child to do "eat, sleep, or go potty". SO true!

Getting Desperate

2009-03-18T18:51:00.003-04:00

Showing Lucy various videos on YouTube to get her more excited about potty training (it can't hurt, right?), I found this gem. Lucy loved the little kitty....

Chalk It Up

2009-03-18T15:42:00.001-04:00

Lucy in the driveway with her Easter Egg shaped chalk early this afternoon.

Neighbor Kids

2009-03-18T15:37:00.003-04:00

The boy on the lower right side of the photo climbed waaay up high a couple times... I took a few photos of these daredevils but liked this one above the best (closer-up crop).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T12:45:00.002-04:00

I wouldn't normally buy shirts that are only good to be worn on one day, but this was a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law (who has twin boys born in September, 3 years older than Henry). Wouldn't you know it, but this morning I forgot about the fact that it's St. Paddy's Day and had him in a burgundy shirt... duh...

It is super nice out, and I am feeling a lot better today. I finally got my shower and hopefully this afternoon we'll have a chance to get outside and enjoy this unusually warm weather!

After This Post, I Am Napping

2009-03-16T13:42:00.002-04:00

Wow, today I feel really icky. Saturday night we went out for a friend's birthday, to Tequila Willy's, yeah... there was a stabbing there Friday night apparently. Sweet. Anyway, we were up in a loft area, so I am assuming I inhaled a large quantity of second-hand smoke. Yuck! On top of the fact that I had a few drinks, and stayed up way too late. Oh, and last night we forced ourselves to stay up late enough to watch all of Brothers & Sisters. Sunday I wasn't feeling too hot, but today it's worse. I am definitely not a baby, or someone who likes to be babied, but I ache all over my whole body, and have a really sore throat. My skin is ultra-sensitive, which is weird, because it kind of hurts when my pants rub against my legs. What is that all about? Blah blah blah. Yesterday we went for a really long walk around the neighborhood, and it was nice to get some fresh air. I think we may have to get out again this afternoon.

Ron hung the shelves in our nooks, but they still need to be stained to match the rest of the woodwork in our great room. It already looks much nicer and more organized. There is even a spot to put our record player and records, so I have been listening to some vinyl lately. It's relaxing. What would appear to be an "easy" job (although that's always relative) was definitely more complicated than anyone will know. The nooks are not perfectly square in back, and in order to get the shelves to fit nicely, much tweaking was necessary. At least he has all the woodworking tools and machinery needed for a project like that.

Still no more progress on the tiling, because we have to start cutting tiles with the wet saw. We want to chip away at that this week. It seems like there is always something to do around here. Most people have it that way, I know. I can't wait till our to-do list doesn't involve major home improvement projects, but instead has little things like "wipe down shelves in fridge" or "replace lighbulb on porch," like normal people. We love this house though, and knew when we bought it we'd have a lot of work to do. We just want the big stuff to be behind us.

Home Work

2009-03-13T08:23:00.004-04:00

Lately it seems like I've been posting a lot of Facebook status updates about our home improvement projects. It sounds like we're up to a lot, but in reality, a lot isn't really getting done at the moment. We have all the materials to completely redo our basement bathroom, other than a new mirror, which we're still shopping around for. We're getting rid of our old mirrored medicine cabinet, which will be listed on Craigslist soon! 28" h by 30" w and in perfect condition. We saw the same exact one for sale at Menards! Anyway, we (I) started tiling the hallway, which will continue into the bathroom (more flooring needs to be removed). We put up new towel bars, TP dispenser, knobs, have (but have not installed) a new doorknob set (with a lock!), faucet, light fixture... and I'm going to be sewing the outer shower curtain, and the window valence to match, which will be done sometime before Easter weekend, by golly.

Upstairs we have a fireplace in the living room, and on either side of it are two "nooks". Actually we have called them "cubbies" all along for some reason. You can sort of see one of them here (the same on both sides of the fireplace). Well, long ago, Ron built shelves out of hard maple, and yesterday he planed them smooth and now they just need stain and install! We figured out the placement for them, and sometime this weekend we will have our shelves up. It will be so nice not to have the precarious stack of media components under our TV and be able to use that space more efficiently. Over spring break we hope to work on the decks. Anyone is welcome to come and help out! ::crickets chirping:: There will be free beer and pizza for you! C'mon you know you want to help build a deck and pergola!

The same tiles that surround the inner part of the fireplace are also sitting in boxes by our front window, waiting to be applied as the kitchen backsplash. It will have a big impact, but it's sort of a low priority. They come in sheets (12" square) so they're actually easier to deal with than large tiles. Pictures to come as some of these projects are completed!

Ghost Stories

2009-03-12T10:05:00.004-04:00

Last night Ron and I watched a show on SciFi called Ghosthunters. It is usually followed by Ghosthunters International (GHI). The shows are about a team of investigators who visit supposedly haunted locations, and try to debunk or find alternative explanations for the reported phenonema. Sometimes, they succeed in doing this (which either relieves or disappoints the people who are experiencing strange things), sometimes they are unable to find a "logical" reason behind the activity, but might have personal experiences that can't be backed up with sound or video, and sometimes they even capture, using high-tech devices, paranormal activity.

Now, I know this can actually be a contraversial topic, as it touches on the concept of spirits (good and evil), the afterlife, and what is the energy that actually animates us. Why are these beings hanging around? What do they want? Are they trapped? Is this their sentence, do they even know they are dead? All age-old debates that a lot of people shy away from. I actually find it very fascinating, admitting humbly that I do not have the answer, and probably never will during my lifetime. I just like the discussion.

Seeing these teams capture images and sounds that are (if you watch the show, you'll know), arguably irrefutable evidence of paranormal activity, can actually be a bit scary! It's late at night, and then we head to bed... suddently I am hearing every little bump and creak in the house, and what was that I saw out of the corner of my eye? Maybe I'm just in a high EMF area... I'm comforted somewhat by knowing that if there is anything out there, it can't hurt me. Afterall, these teams seek this stuff out, and they aren't scared (usually).

Talking with friends and relatives who are trustworthy and definitely not insane, I have heard several stories about apparitions, and I have also seen photos with white mist in front of the (film) camera - no one was smoking, they were outdoors on a sunny day. My friends's mother took the photo and never saw that mist when she pressed the shutter, only when the photo were developed. It is pretty obvious that it isn't an error in the developing process. At the same home they report a child's footsteps on their second story, doors closing, and things moving around in the house and yard. Oooohhh... I'm sure there are lots of skeptics who have quick answers for all those things, but don't tell that to Jenny and Mitch because they would definitely disagree with you. I've had one personal experience, and so have plenty of other people I know. On top of that, the previous owner of our home died, we presume, in our bedroom. We haven't seen or heard her though, but she comes to our minds all the time. What does that mean?

So, is it wrong to attempt to communicate with "spirits"? I'm torn on this. I don't like the idea of messing with, or provoking evil spirits. I have seen people on Ghosthunters physically (and emotionally) touched, sometimes knocked over, by something. I would not particularly enjoy that. However, some of the things they communicate with seem to be harmless, passive, or even playful. On on the TAPS vs. GHI debate - I realized that usually we are only able to tune in at the tail end of Ghosthunters (USA), and therefore we have gotten to know the GHI team a lot better. Last night's "forced" extended watching of Ghosthunters was definitely interesting, and they seemed to catch some good stuff. Some of the respective team members have been on both shows, depending on which season they are showing an episode on. Since Lucy was in bed earlier than normal we could check it out more. The show itself, as well as many of the commercials, are a bit scary for her.

Even if you are a total skeptic, I believe this show is something worth watching. The team members have had loads of personal experience and evidence captured, but each time to visit a new location their initial reaction to something they see or hear is to figure out a non-paranormal cause. They never jump to conclusions without painstaking investigation. And each week you watch it, it gets a little less frightening. The first time we did, we were totally freaked out...

Random Bullet Points

2009-03-12T07:39:00.003-04:00

The tiling is on pause because Ron needs to add some silicone by the threshold of the basement door, and the next tiles to go down need to be cut with a wet saw (which can't really be done while kids are in bed). I walked on what is done so far, and my handiwork held up underfoot with no problems.
Ron bought a six pack of beer last weekend and didn't really like it (Shiner Hefeweizen) but drank the final bottle last night anyway. What a trooper.
Barbie's feet are very sharp.
We have a working record player now, with a built-in pre-amp (Wow, modern! Actually, "normal!" but I've never had that before), so it can plug right into my stereo and it's ready to go. I will again be able to enjoy listening to my vinyl collection, which isn't half bad, I must say.
GHI wasn't on last night?! Just Ghosthunters. The TAPS team spends too much time goofing around, and I like Robb and Dustin much better. Oh well, there's always next week.
Our basement is essentially spider-free and has been for months. What a difference from the set of Arachnaphobia we moved into over a year ago! I've just observed that the more time I spend down here working on home-improvements. Kelly and Heath should appreciate this when they visit...
Lucy went to sleep at 7 PM last night, and stayed in bed till 7 AM. That's really nice!
I'm being summoned loudly. Have a great day!