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Important Life/ Business Update

Posted on February 24, 2010

To quote my friend, Sara, “There iz a baybe in ma belleh.  See?”

If you are thinking to yourself, ‘Wasn’t she just pregnant???’, the answer is yes.  Yes I was.  And now I am for one more, last time. 

If all goes well, this baby girl* (please see below) will be here at the end of September/October 1.

(*I am almost certain this baby is a girl.  Just a hunch.  Please note, however, that I predicted Jacob would be a girl, Molly would be a boy, and that all three of my brother’s girls would be boys. )

So, on to my business…

I am finding it terribly difficult to work right now because I am soooooooo tired.  So I am going to cut down my business indefinitely to just photograph kids ages ‘I-can-sit-up-by-myself’ through ‘I-am-almost-finished-with-elementary-school’.  So let’s say I am planning to photograph ages 6 months-10 years EXCLUSIVELY right now, because those are my favorite ages honestly.  And I reserve the right to change my mind and say nevermind- I can handle nothing but my own kids right now. 

Thanks for understanding, and a BIG THANK YOU to my wonderful husband, who works hard so that I don’t have to.  (I don’t think that’s the real reason he works, of course, but it works out well for me and my babies…)

15 Months

Posted on February 24, 2010

It’s hard to believe, but Molly is 15 months old today.  I have been seriously slacking in the documenting-my-kids’-lives department lately, so I thought I’d better write up a few of Molly’s Molly-isms at 15 months before I forget.

• Molly, as  I’ve said before, really was a fantastically easy baby.  I recently began to worry that she was, ummm, changing into a little toot- not sleeping well, being fussy, falling out onto the floor in a fit of defiance (Jacob would NEVER!).  Then I realized she had cut 3 molars.  A ha!  She has since returned to her sweet self… for now.
• She loves books.  Seriously.  They’re her favorite toys.
• She does not really like toy animals and dolls that move and/or make a lot of noise.  They scare her.
• She does not like automatic car washes.  They terrify her.
• *Someone* taught her to point her finger and make a shooting sound at certain people.  Good grief.  The joys of big brothers. 

(^^^insert shooting sound effect here^^^)

• She loves to be outside and has finally starting to enjoy riding around the neighborhood in her stroller (as opposed to trying to escape the stroller like she once did).
• She loves her big brother and her daddy.  She is offended if her dad leaves the room without saying ‘Bye’ to her.  And if her brother doesn’t acknowledge her, she will just take whatever he has in his hands away from him and ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!
• Her hair (a.k.a. The Mullet) is finally starting to really grow.  The other day she woke up with her first serious case of bedhead:

• She runs, she climbs, she DANCES {and if she climbs onto something and you tell her to “Get down!”… she starts dancing instead of getting off of the ladder/table/whatever}, she has a burgeoning vocabulary that mostly consists of the names of people she loves and farm animals she learned from the ‘Peek-a-Boo Barn’ iPhone app.
• Speaking of, she can totally turn on an iPhone and scroll around to find ‘her apps’, turn them on, and then play them independently.  Kids these days.
• Her top teeth are gapped and kind of crooked right now.  I LOVE them that way.

Happy 15 months!

The Barber

Posted on February 11, 2010

Jacob has been growing ‘grass hair’ on a pirate.  Mmmhmmm.  Santa brought him something akin to a Chia Pet and last week he finally got around to trying it.  Earlier this week, it was time for Pirate’s first haircut:

(This is the most random post EVER.  I know.  Also, why is Jacob wearing a Star Wars Clone Trooper costume while giving the pirate a trim?  Only he knows.)

Bad Driver

Posted on February 11, 2010

The fun starts early around here

Posted on February 8, 2010

7:33 a.m.

Stick fighting

Oh, speaking of fun, when the Saints won the Super Bowl last night, impromptu fireworks celebrations started going off around town.  We went outside to check it out and could hear people yelling and cheering.  Pretty neat.

Today’s Headlines ^^^

The Swamp Story

Posted on January 29, 2010

Jacob is not a reliable reporter of information regarding what happens each day at school.  Actually, he says he “can’t remember” what he did earlier in the day when I pick him up in the afternoon- unless they did some type of science experiment.  He starts excitedly relaying details of the experiments before he’s even finished buckling his carseat.  But in the absence of science experiments, he doesn’t recall a whole lot of what goes on at school (or doesn’t want to tell me…).

Monday morning before he got out of the car, I told Jacob, “Remember what you do today, because I’m going to ask you about it when you get in the car.”

Monday afternoon:

Me: So what did you do today, Jacob?

Jacob: Oh, you see those steps over there? (points to steps leading down a hill at a house neighboring his school)

Me: Yes.

Jacob: Well at the bottom of those steps is a swamp.  Today, our class walked over there and saw it.  We didn’t see any alligators or anything, but it was still pretty cool.

Me: Wow.  That’s really interesting.

Jacob: I know.  It was fun.

Tuesday afternoon:

Me: What did you do today, Jacob?

Jacob: Today we went back to that swamp!  Mrs. K brought some old rubber boots and we each got to take a turn slipping them on and stepping into the gooey swamp mud!

Me: Really?

Jacob: Yeah, just at the edge.  There’s no alligators or anything.

Me: Oh, hmm.  Okay.

Wednesday afternoon:

Me: What did you do today, Jacob?

Jacob: Today we went back to that swamp AGAIN!

Me: Seriously?

Jacob:  YES!  And today we had a MUD FIGHT with the swamp mud!!!

Me: (*It is at this point that I realize that I have been fooled by a four year old for three days in a row.*)  Jacob, there is not any mud on your clothes.

Jacob: Mrs. Kathy washed them.  She gave us some other clothes to wear while she washed them.  They were a little big, but it was just for a little while until our other clothes were clean.  You should have seen how muddy my clothes were!

Me: Jacob, I don’t think this story is true.  What did you REALLY do today?

Jacob:  I can’t remember.

Overcompensating

Posted on January 29, 2010

Something happened to Jacob at school this week that made me remember this story from my own school days:

When I was in seventh grade, I was a ’starter’ for the basketball team (probably not because I was a talented player, but because I was taller than all of the other girls).  After our first game of the season, my mom and brother encouraged me (again and AGAIN) to “Be more aggressive.  You’ve got to be more AGGRESSIVE!”  Our next game was against my school’s cross-border rival, Logansport, hometown of low-down creatures such as Sal Vazquez.    A particularly *tough*-looking girl and I met at center court for the tip off.   Once the ball was in play, the other girl turned her back and took off down the court.  I recalled what my mom and brother had said: “Be more aggressive!!!”  So without any provocation whatsoever, I pushed that girl face-first down to the ground.  For no reason.  At all.  I received a technical foul.  And if I remember correctly, the crowd booed me.  Amazingly, the girl didn’t stand up and punch me in the face.  I never tried to be “aggressive” again.  And no one ever encouraged me to “be more aggressive” again, either.

So back to the Jacob story:

At the two parent-teacher conferences I have attended this year, his teachers have expressed their concern that Jacob doesn’t talk in school.  (-which, of course, leaves me befuddled since he speaks INCESSANTLY at home.)  Earlier this week, with the best of intentions (just like my mom and brother), I encouraged him to “speak up more frequently in class”, let his teachers know that he understands the information, “don’t be afraid to talk”, etc.

Every week, I receive a weekly behavior progress report from his teachers.  The top half of the sheet lists various ‘Needs Improvement on’ behaviors and the bottom half lists several ‘Doing Well in’ behaviors.  He’s never had any ‘bad’ behaviors checked; he usually gets “Working Diligently” and “Making Wise Choices” checked among the positive behaviors each week. This week’s report was different, though.  At the top of the sheet, his teachers had marked that he needs to work on “Talking without permission”.

I asked him about it after school and he told me, “You told me to talk more!”

Indeed.

(^grain intentional there^)

From Christmas

Posted on January 25, 2010

I know it’s almost February now, but I am just getting around to working on my family’s Christmas picture.

Every Christmas day at my mom’s house, we all pile onto the steps and porch of the small cabin behind her house after lunch for a group photo.  I usually misfire my camera’s remote several times and we all laugh.  (They are laughing WITH me, not AT me, right?  Hmmmm…)  This Christmas, for kicks, I also forgot to bring my tripod so I had the pleasure of trying to set up the shot without knocking my new camera off the hood of a Camry.  Then I slide into my spot, scoop up Jacob, smile, and hope that at least ONE of the about-four shots I get before everyone starts to scatter turns out to have at least 75% of the participants looking in the general direction of the camera.  It’s actually great fun for me; it is probably a dreaded event for everyone else.     

So, without further ado, the photo that documents the remote-misfiring, child-scooping, smiling, squeezed-between-two-trees moment where we all smile at a Canon-7D-sitting-atop-a-midsized-Toyota-sedan:

(Note to Keith and Jake: You guys are not going to be able to get married or have lots of children.  Sorry.  We don’t have any extra space between the trees.  Okay? Great.  Thanks. )

Well fed

Posted on January 21, 2010

Aren’t girls fun?!?

Posted on January 11, 2010

These two pictures were taken back to back within a time frame of about 15 seconds MAX.  For real.

When I uploaded pictures (taken over the holiday break) and saw the mood change between these two, I had to laugh.

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