More random photos...

Another post of random photos!

This first one is a rainbow I saw two weeks ago coming out of Barnes and Noble. A couple days later I saw another one and had the SLR but couldn't get in a place to stop and take a picture before it was gone!

These are the sunset pictures I took while I was in the car coming home from Target the other day. The colors were beautiful! Horrible pictures but you can see what kind of color there was.

Recently I expanded Owen's reign in the house to include the entry way and hallway leading to his bedroom. I have this basket in the entry way that I keep catalogs in and he decided it would be a great place to play the other day!


And the other fascination in the entry way is the mailbox. We have a mail slot on the outside of the house which drops into a box and then there is a little door to it on the inside. He loves to play with this!


And finally, here it is, the NEW FRIDGE! Morgan said to me last night, it's the whitest thing in the kitchen! Which means we need to scrub the cabinets again!

For Father's Day I made Morgan a photo cube. I found an acrylic cube at Wal-Mart and then created 6 3.25"x3.25" digital layouts to put in the cube. Below are the six layouts. He likes to have pictures at work and I thought this would be a creative way for him to display them. He probably won't be that wowed by the layouts but he will like the photos!
It's been hotter than hades here in MN. O and I walked with Nikki yesterday at the lake around noon. It wasn't too bad with some shade and a breeze but I prefer cooler and less humid weather!

Today we are having lunch with the girls to celebrate Nik's birthday!

Funny stuff...

I was obsessed with this orange slice the other day! I really wanted to get a closer picture but it wasn't working out. And I wanted the light passing through so you could see more detail but that wasn't working either! So here it is. As it is. A lovely orange slice!
This is Ludwig. He in the one dog kitchen cleaning crew! He's selective sometimes though. He's not into carrots. Cooked or raw. Most anything else will do though. He's recently figured out that Owen is a food source. And tonight he was eating off of Owen's tray! Morgan of course thinks it's funny and doesn't stop him! And Owen thinks it's funny too. Owen has recently discovered he can scare Ludwig when he's standing by his tray by making loud noises! They are quite a bunch, my boys!

This is my sister. In a comment yesterday she mentioned some pictures we took on Sunday while we were at their house for dinner. So here are a few of them.

I love the telephoto lens! I can zoom in and get good close ups! Behind her is her cool car!

And these are said "funny" action shots she was talking about yesterday! Here's the history... You know how athletes jump up and knock their chests together?? Well one day Morgan thought it would be funny to do this to me. I can't remember when, or where or why but he did this. And just about knocked me on my bum! And being the perfectionist that I am, I decided we needed to get this down. So we practiced and we are actually pretty good!

Until Morgan decides we are are no longer knocking chests and changes the body part! He of course doesn't mention the change to me and this is the result! Why I find this funny I cannot tell you. But just the fact that I can do it is entertaining!

And then I decided that Miranda and her boyfriend should do it too! And they happily agreed! At least they looked happy about it!

And this chest knocking stuff takes a bit of coordination. Especially when you are short! Fortunately I am not busty so if we miss I don't get hurt!

So now I've shared some ridiculousness with you! It's good to have a husband and a sister that will do silly stuff with you!

Doing the Happy Dance!

Today our new fridge arrived! This is a wonderful thing! Our old fridge was very cold and so we just turned it down. Well, last week it got to the point where it was turned down as far as we could get it to go (it was stuck!) and it was still 28˙! So Friday night and Saturday morning we shopped for a new fridge. We found a good deal at Sears and they could deliver today. At 9:40am the delivery truck pulled up. At 9:55 am they pulled way! Old one out, new one in! I was not thrilled about having to spend that money after bought a new camera last month. I was thinking I was going to have to take my camera back so we could buy the fridge. Then I'd have to just wander around looking through my minolta 50mm lens imagining what all my pictures would look like through it! But thanks to Sears' free financing for 12 months we can have a new fridge and camera too!

Speaking of cameras. Here's a sunset picture I took last night. As I was leaving Target at 9pm the sun was setting beautifully. Unfortunately I did not have my DSLR with just my P & S and I was in the car. So I took a few pictures while I was driving!!! These are not those. When I got home I ran in the house, put on the 50mm lens, and headed out the door to go down the block to the boat landing. Luckily my neighbor across the street was out and he let me run in their backyard for some pictures.I will post my moving sunset pictures some other time!

The 2P's challenge for today is: If you could write a letter to your younger self, knowing what you've learned in life already, what would that letter say?

I love this question! At 33 I am relatively comfortable with whom I am. Not my body, but myself. I will probably never be comfortable with my body. But the person I AM, I am comfortable with. The first thing this letter would say is, boys are dumb. In some way all boys are dumb. And that is because they don't get girls because they aren't girls. The second thing it would say is, there are a lot of boys. So let the REALLY dumb ones alone and move on to one that isn't so dumb. Like one who has a few sisters. Next, it would say, don't take yourself or life so seriously. Have some adventures, live outside your box a little! And make some more friends that aren't so bitchy. THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO MY FRIENDS NOW! (side note... I was in a sorority in college. Lots of girls all together=bitchy friends!)

I could probably go on and on. Especially about boys. But the fact of the matter is the experiences of your life shape who you become. I am the person I am today because of a lot of the misadventure and mishaps and silly or dumb choices. I have few regrets about my life and the ones I do have, aren't that big. I also don't think you are ever too old to try something new or change something about your life. I left teaching thinking "what the heck am I going to do now!?" And the reality of that is the same as it was when my mom told me I could be anything I wanted to be. I can still be anything I want to be. I probably won't be a rocket scientist or the president of our country or any other country, but if I wanted to, I'd find a way to do it. I am my own worst enemy. We all are. And we make or break ourselves everyday. So I try to use my experiences to LEARN not the keep doing dumb stuff!

On another note. Owen discovered my belly button today. He's not that into his and he discovered his "other part" about a month ago and thankfully he isn't that into "it" either! But my belly button is something to get excited about! And jab his finger into! OUCH! I think it must be all the FLESH surrounding my belly button that makes it so exciting. Another reason to do something about the flesh!

Hooray!

Owen's test went well today and everything is A-okay! He was a very good baby! Morgan was able to go with us and that helped a lot. He had to hold him down a bit but not too much and after the cool Christmas lights and the Elmo video lost their charm I pulled out the graham crackers and they worked their magic until the end.

We were supposed to meet with Owen's doctor tomorrow to discuss the results but we were able to meet with a cardiologist at the heart clinic after the echo. He said everything looked great. There are no anatomical abnormalities with his heart and the cardiologist said that his episode is rather common with children his age. It's like sticking your foot in a lake. If it's cold your foot will turn purple. We did have a fan on his room that day and he must have gotten the chills. Morgan has a condition called mitrovalve prolapse and the doctor said Owen does not have that. Morgan's isn't serious but it's nice to know that Owen doesn't have it.

Tonight I made a great purchase. It was also a real bargain! I've been watching 50mm lenses on ebay. It's a fast lens which means it's good in low light. They weren't staying cheap enough on ebay for my budget so I decided to check out the local camera store and see if they had any. They did so I stopped in to try one out. I liked it instantly so decided I would buy it. It was way cheaper than on ebay too. $49.99. Well, the bargain part is that it was mismarked! Normally they sell them for $99.99 but someone priced it wrong! So it was my lucky day!

Here is a couple of test shots. The first is with my normal 18-70mm lens and the second is with the 50mm. Both are with rather low light from a single upright halogen lamp in our downstairs.
Huge difference, isn't it!? I adjusted the white balance on the second one just a bit but otherwise I shot them both with the same settings. Our camera has super steady shot built in so that helps but it's mostly the fast lens. I'm going to try it out on Owen tomorrow in the living room. We don't get good light in there in the late spring and summer so I'm hoping this lens helps with some of that. I don't like to use a flash so I try to make the most of the available natural light when I can.

Lastly, the 2P's challenge for today is: If you could own the world's largest collection of anything, what would it be?

Interesting question Bonnie Rose! And difficult for me because my first reaction would be "where the heck would I keep all that!?" No matter what it is! I think I'm going to go with gnomes. That way I could keep them outside in a large garden and go out to visit them whenever I want! I'm sure some of my friends are shaking their heads right now!

Have a great Friday!

Sleep...

it's a wonderful thing! Which is the 2P's challenge for today! What one wonderful thing happened to you today?

I got to sleep through the night! Owen is hit or miss with sleeping lately. But this week he's slept all night, twice! We have a well established bedtime routine and he's on a pretty solid schedule as far as eating and napping but he still wakes at night regularly. I've given up trying to figure out exactly what it is because I don't think there is one cause. He's growing and developing and that can affect sleep. We just keep sticking to the routine and schedule as best we can. The hard part is when he wakes in the middle of the night he won't usually be comforted by Morgan. So we both end up getting up. And he can be very difficult to put back down because he wakes when I put him back and then starts the crying and screaming all over again. I'm hoping these nights of good sleep are a sign of some progress!

Below are some of things I've been working on this week. The first is my DOM card from last week. The theme was traits we aspire to or our strengths. I chose patience because everyday it seems I need a little bit more!

These are two pages from my All About Me Album.

Blah...blah...blah...

Is what this post will mostly be about. I don't have a topic today, just a variety of things! Yippee for you, eh!?

First, here is my breakfast from this morning. This is one of the things I love about summer. Fresh berries! I could eat raspberries, black raspberries, and blue berries until I'm sick! They are wonderful on ice cream! But this morning they were on plain yogurt and I added a little granola.

These are my crocs. And this is why I love them. That and they are comfortable. But they are washable so when they get all dusty and dirty I just throw them in the sink and give them a good scrubbing! You can't do that with white tennies now can you!?

This is Owen playing in the backyard yesterday with his make shift sandbox! It's sand.... in a box... so it counts! He enjoyed it and got good and dirty.

On Sunday we took Owen to a park for a hike and to play. He was a crank that day and needed some fresh air. Here he is in the nets. And yes, he's a biter!

And this is Morgan in the nets. He loved them too! I did not go in the nets. I had the camera and the diaper bag and the camera bag. So no climbing for me! The boys had a good time though!

And this last picture is Owen having his first popsicle ever! He loved it. I tried giving him one the other day but he wasn't too interested. Maybe he likes them better with Grammie!

The challenge at 2P's today is: Blog about 5 of the songs you have downloaded/heard/bought recently, that you love, and you feel they are SO WORTH the 99 cents you paid for them... blog about 5 songs that you just love right now...

Well, I'm not a big music listener actually. For as many years as I spent dancing you'd think I would be. I listen in the radio and O and and listen to music and dance together but I like the sound of quiet. Or we listen to public radio. But I did download two songs the other day for Owen. Rockin Robin and ABC by the Jackson 5. So we've been groovin' to those! I also like songs that I can sing real loud to!

A little scare...

On Friday Owen slept rather late. I went in to get him around 10 to 9. He never sleeps this late! I had heard him in his room a couple of times but he wasn't upset so I let him be. I try not to rush in the moment I hear him. When I went him he sat up and looked at me and then stood up with his blanket. He was not excited nor upset. He gave a little whimper and just curled in next to me. I sat with him in his chair for a bit and then we went into the living room and opened up the blinds. Usually this perks him up. He was only interested in cuddling up in my lap. He was very lethargic. He had never been like this before. He felt a bit cool and clammy. I took his temp but it was normal. So we cuddled for a while before breakfast.
While he was eating I noticed that his hands, feet and lips were purplish. I had already called my mom and then Morgan. Morgan told me to call the doctor and just see what they had to say and after the purple color I did!
After back and for with the nurse and her talking to the doctor he seemed to perk up and his color went back to normal. But because he did turn purple, especially his lips, the doctor has scheduled us for an echocardiogram to be sure everything is fine with his heart.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you this scared the daylights out of me. I think he just got a chill while he was sleeping. It had been rather warm in his room and we had a fan running. But the thought of there being something seriously wrong with him just scares me. He doesn't have the test done until Thursday and we don't meet with his doctor for the results until Friday. This just seems like such a long time to wait!

He has also been baby-cranks-a-lot lately. My mom says he's exerting some independence. He knows he can get around on his own so he wants to do his thing and not what we want him to do. Especially get his diaper changed! I've taken to counting while I'm doing this so I don't lose my temper! Everyday is a test for more patience!

Happy June 1st!

The first official month of summer. I know, it's not summer yet, technically speaking. But summer starts this month. And for a teacher June is summer!

Today's 2P's challenge: With the summer beginning. Let's blog about something we are looking forward to happening.

Well, today something very exciting is happening that I am happy about! My friend Nikki and her husband close on their new house! New to them. AND the part that I'm happy about is they will be 4.5 miles from us! And since they are finished with school next Friday that means all kinds of fun summer stuff can be done with my girlfriends!

Nikki has agreed to be my buddy for The Summer 2007 Loser Challenge. This is a little challenge that Lori, Maggie and I came up with a couple years ago to help motivate us. It was very helpful in getting me in shape for pregnancy. Hopefully it will be just as helpful in getting me back in shape from being pregnant! And I decided I needed a buddy because I think it will be helpful to have someone to get some exercise with. Lori and Maggie live a ways away and are planning to walk in the am before summer school. They live fairly close together but 30 or so miles from me and Nik. And I'm not going to walk at 6 am in the morning!

Anyone else want to do the challenge!? We could have a virtual group too!

I'm also looking forward to taking a few small trips with Owen and Morgan. We are planning to take O camping. My mom will most likely be taking some vacation again so we will get to do something fun with her. Owen will be walking soon and that will be very exciting. And in July I'm going to Wisconsin for a girls weekend! With The Girls!! It's very exciting but bittersweet since I will be leaving O for a couple of nights. He will be fine with Morgan but it will be different!

I am not looking forward to hot, humid weather! MN can be crappy like that in the summer and I'm more of a spring/fall kind of girl!

On another note... I've posted this week's challenge on the Funky Photo Friday blog. Go check it out!

20 more things...

Noelia had this posted on her blog and I meant to do it the other day but forgot! So here it is now.

20 Questions...

1. regular or diet soda:
Diet Coke with a LIME please!

2. salt or pepper:
Pepper but only on cottage cheese

3. hot or cold weather:
I'm more of a fall/spring girl so neither! Although I'd rather put more clothes on then be too hot with all of them off!

4. dogs or cats:
We have a dog. I grew up with both. But now that I'm older and I take care of the dog and clean up after the dog I'd have to say neither!

5. dieting or exercise:
Neither.

6. cooking or doing dishes:
Neither. I'm the cleaner and that doesn't include dishes.

7. sleeping or shopping:
Both.

8. Red Lobster or Outback Steakhouse:
Neither!

9. classical or hip hop music:
It depends on the mood!

10. dancing or playing sports:
Dancing. But I consider that a sport!

11. back rub or foot rub:
Depends on which one hurts!

12. fruits or vegetables:
Both.

13. Grey's Anatomy or House:
Grey's

14. coffee or tea:
Tea

15. curling up with a good book or a night out on the town:
Again, depends on the mood. I love books. But I like to go out on occasion too!

16. Straight hair or curly hair:
I'd like some curls but mine is mostly straight.

17. skirts or shorts:
Pants!

18. burgers/hot dogs or Chinese food:
Burgers, burgers, burgers!

19. vacationing in Switzerland or Mexico:
Switzerland

20. sports car or SUV:
Sports car!

This week's struggle...

My DOM card for this week is a struggle. The theme is your redeeming qualities/qualities you aspire towards. That is a difficult theme for me.

First, I don't often focus on my redeeming qualities. I'm usually focused on what I should be doing or how I can be better. Either personally or in the activities I do. And since I think that my best can always be improved upon I'm always striving for better. I guess that's the curse of perfectionism.

So I don't know if I can think of what my redeeming qualities are without having a qualifier. For instance, I think I'm funny (don't we all!) but I'm sarcastic too so this can be hurtful to people who are sensitive. So funny/try to be less sarcastic.

And I've been thinking a lot lately about my inability to lose the rest of my pregnancy weight. Which leads me to think about the way I think and the self talk I engage in. Basically I wouldn't talk to anyone the way I talk to myself. I wouldn't expect the same things from others that I expect from myself. Why do I expect perfection from myself and not others? Because it's not attainable. And I know that. It's not for anyone. Not even me. No matter how hard I try.

Perfectionists banded together in a group are the worst. I was in a cohort of them for grad school. Mostly perfectionists. And the ones who were, were women. The men not so much. We had a reputation. Professors would come to the first class KNOWING about us! In one class I was 2 points away from a perfect score for the class. I was hoping to make up the 2 points so I could perhaps get an A+ to make up for an A- I had gotten in another class so my average would be closer to a 4.0. It didn't work out that way. I think I graduated with a 3.7 GPA. But I don't remember. And that's the thing. It doesn't matter!

So I'm embarking on another Weight Loss Challenge! I'm going to try to be easier on myself. I'm going to write a plan so I can be successful rather than setting myself up for failure. I wouldn't set someone else up to fail, so why do I do it to myself?

And a lovely weekend...

was had by all! Unlike how the forecast was supposed to go, the weekend turned out to be beautiful. It is now rather warm and muggy but the weekend was great! I love it when the forecasters are wrong.

We didn't do anything terribly exciting. Friday we took the boys (Owen and Ludwig!) for a walk. Saturday we did a little bit of nothing! I got to do a little shopping and got some new shorts. Well, on tall people they would probably be shorts. On me they are half pants. Not the most attractive look on my stocky little legs but cooler than pants and they are comfortable. I can probably hem them too.

Sunday we worked outside. Morgan got his garden ready for some planting. It had been unused for a couple of years and I told him if it didn't get taken care of this summer it was going to be turned back into grass!
Yesterday was more yard work and Owen played outside in the "baby yard" I made for him. Basically I fenced him in with some decorative fencing. The stuff that's about 10 inches high. So he had a little area to play where he wouldn't get into things he shouldn't. Then he had a swim in the pool.
Then we made a memorial day dinner of grilled chicken, potato salad, green salad, and chocolate cake. My friend Maggie joined us for dinner. It was nice to spend some time with her as I don't get to see her everyday anymore like I had for the last 5 years! Thank you for coming Maggie!

Today I'm back to house work. I'm finally getting caught up on the laundry. I don't dirty as many clothes as when I was working but I think Owen just makes up for that! And Morgan dirties twice as many because he works out during lunch! And I've got towels and bed linens to catch up on too!

So after a wonderful weekend it's back to the work of the home! I do love that I don't have to leave the house for this work though!

As I type...

Tom's cookies are baking in the oven! Who is Tom, you may ask!? Heck if know, but he sure makes damn good cookies!

We get them at Trader Joe's. They taste like the ones Mary used to make at school. And they come the same easy way too! And they are all natural! Which is something I always worry about when eating a cookie! (ha, ha, ha! Maggie is saying... yeah, right! ME TOO!)

This is what it looks like...

YWhen Owen gets the cranks!

Yes, it really does happen despite all the smiley happy pictures I post of him and no matter how happy he is when some of you see him in person!

He was a bit clingy and crabby yesterday and this was a little fit he threw when I wouldn't let him have the camera. I have to find more cooperative subjects to practice photographing because he does not hold still! Unless he's outside and it was raining yesterday. And truthfully, how many pictures can you take of your own child playing in the yard! So I'm going to start bugging my friends with children and pets to photograph them! And after school is out I'm going to take some pictures of Maggie because she's going on a man hunt! (she's going to be SOO happy I wrote that!) And Nikki is getting a new puppy this weekend and they will need pictures of her or him, I can't remember if it's a boy or girl!

I've got a new design project this week. Nikki's mom has hired me to do announcements/invites for Nik's dad's graduation party! He just graduated last Saturday with his MBA from St. Thomas University. I'm going to use a picture on the front and I'm pretty sure I have pictures in front of that same tree when I graduated with my MA from St. Thomas!

Don't forget to check out the Funky Photo Friday Challenge for the week!

All caught up...

Week 16... get some one to contribute.

I asked Noelia to make an "A" for me. I had intended to have my sister do the "R" but I kept forgetting to give her the specifications so I just did a glittery one! And the "T" is a metal letter from Making Memories. The flourish is American Crafts.

Week 18...nature

I printed off the picture of the iris from my garden, added a rub on, wrote the word "beautiful", date stamped, sanded the edges and VOILA, done!

And finally week 19... surprise

For this card I used a paint sample strip and cut it to the size of my cards. Then I used a left over picture from Owen's mini album. And my theme for the theme is (as you can see) motherhood. Because everyday brings a new surprise, wonder, and delight!

I also finished up Owen's Mini Album. You can view it HERE.

Yesterday was an interesting day. The weather was hot and humid. About 2pm I put Owen down for his nap. It had just started to rain and I thought I'd get a picture of the rain and wind and while I was standing in the door (it was shut, I didn't want to get my camera wet!) the tornado sirens went off!! Owen must have gotten scared because he began to fuss (he hadn't fallen completely asleep yet either) so I didn't have to wake him when I ran in and got him. I grabbed a big heavy blanket and we went downstairs. Fortunately our basement is finished and our family room is down their so we played and watched TV. The whole severe part of the storm passed us in probably 5 minutes but not too far from us was some severe damage, power outages and some injuries. No deaths though, thank goodness. Apparently it was not a tornado but a microburst (which I will not explain, because I barely understood it myself!) and it went through a construction site where the workers had taken shelter in their construction trailers and those are none to sturdy. One was blown to bits and landed on a minivan and another was over turned. It's amazing no one was hurt!

The 2P's challenge for today is: What word describes your knowledge of the Internet? Vast. I'm pretty good at finding people and things out here on the invisible highway.

Learning to use utensils...

I don't know if it's too early, too late or just right for Owen to start using a spoon but we're giving it a go. He likes to hold the spoon and he can get it into the yogurt and into his mouth but for the most part he likes to "direct" with it a lot! Now that the first year is behind us my books have "expired" and I'm on my own. I could go find another development book but I'm winging it for now.

Last night he decided he wasn't going to bed and cried his little head off until someone went in for him. The second time Morgan just got him up. We ended up taking him for a drive which turned into a trip to Target. Owen thought this was just the best, smiling and laughing all the way! It did tire him out though and he fell fast asleep after I put him down. Maybe he just wasn't tired yet. I don't know. But I told him if he was trying to manipulate mommy and daddy we would eventually figure it out!

The 2P's challenge today is: let's blog about relationships. What are some of your most treasured relationships? Right now??

Well, I certainly value the good and stable relationship Morgan and I have. I am also happy to have a good relationship with both my mom and my sister. All three of them are there for me whenever I need them. They love and support me.

I treasure the relationship I had with my grandfather. My father was not around while I was growing up and I think my grandpa filled that place. We were like 2 peas in a pod. I am glad to have those memories.

I also treasure the relationship I have with my best friend from college and The Girls. (Maggie, Lori, and Nikki). All of them are great friends. They get me. And that's something that you don't find in friends all of the time. We all share similar senses of humor but are different enough that we balance one another out.

BJ and I have been friends for 12 or 13 years now. She was the RA on the floor I lived on my first year away at college. She is also the only sorority sister I am still in touch with on a regular basis.

The Girls are just The Girls. They are like unofficial sorority sisters. Co-workers by chance, friends by choice. I'm sure some at work would say we are a clique but we have always invited other people to join us in our fun, they just don't! Maybe that's because we are just too fun!

I've known Lori the longest. She's like the very smart and experienced Big Sister. Maggie was the best teaching partner I could have asked for. Smart, funny and sarcastic. It was just a bonus that we became friends. And Nikki is the youngest. I like to think of her as our Dirty Little Sister. She knows lots of things that middle schoolers know, hence the "dirty" part!
They are all very supportive and would do anything for me. I hope they know I feel the same way about them.

DOM Week 20...

This week's theme is change. Not one of my favorite things. My mom and sister can certainly attest to that! Given my dislike for change I did surprisingly well as a teacher, adapting day to day with all of the changes that can happen in a school. The changes I dislike the most are probably getting older (myself and my loved ones), gaining weight ( I should just be able to pick my weight and have it stay constant!) and the weather!

Now I only have three cards to do to catch up!

Here is an iris that bloomed in my front garden this week. I did a little tweaking in PSE. Mostly giving the background a little texture. I have another one blooming by our light pole. I love irises. They remind me of my grandma. She had loads of them growing in her yard.

Post #180!

Wow! That's a lot of writing! I think of my blog as a journal of sorts and this is the most I have ever written in any journal, ever!

My photo blog is up and ready for action! So jump on over there and check out this week's challenge.

And here is a little spring from over at my mom's house. My grandma used to have a large mound of bleeding heart and this is from that plant. It's one of my favorites. I have one in my front garden but it is no where near this big and beautiful!

A little advice for my friends...

or anyone who reads this! If you ever get the idea that ordering refill inks for your color printer ink cartridges, PLEASE DON'T DO IT! I repeat DO NOT DO THIS! What a freakin mess! At the moment I have 5 different colors ink on my hands, the kitchen counter, and the floor! It is not worth the time, effort and clean-up to do this. Buy the real thing, stick them in the printer, and print on my friends! Thankfully they are returnable! Minus the shipping costs of course! So I will stop at Target after work and purchase new ink cartridges for my printer, which hopefully I have not ruined! And if I did I'm screwed because there is no way Morgan would let me buy a new printer after just getting a new camera!

It's a lovely day in the neighborhood today. Sunny, 63˙ and a lovely breeze. Owen and I will be going out to play soon as I hear him waking up!

Tomorrow watch for my new photo blog which will be participatory!

I'm obsessed...

with my new camera! Here are couple more pictures of Owen that I took yesterday.

Lori and Maggie gave him the walker/car for his birthday. He loves it. It's a good inside or outside toy!

The first picture is a little bit dark so I changed the setting for the second 2 and those came out a bit too warm. I'm still learning!

The 2P's challenge for today is: What are three things on your desk that shouldn't be?

I guess that depends on who you ask! But it's actually not to bad today. There is a box of checks, my H20 bottle, and pens & pencils that should be in the basket. Not a very exciting list! If we were to examine the table in my craft room it would be a much longer list!

Just when I thought...

spring was over it reappears! Yesterday it was about 85˙, sunny and windy. Today the high is supposed to be 61˙ and it's currently 52˙. What a change!

For Owen's birthday my sister gave him a pool. So yesterday we filled it up in the backyard and played! I think Owen was in there for about an hour playing with his toys. His favorite was this orange cup!
At one point he had picked a dandelion and had that in the cup. He's really gotten the fill and empty concept down!

The 2P's challenge for today is: What scrapbooking technique out there, that you haven't tried yet, but u can't wait to try it? What technique out there do you wanna learn/try?
Well, there's not a lot of them that I haven't tried! Or I don't think so. But to be honest I don't keep up with trends too well! Except for paper. I love paper. But I like the look of transparencies and want to try a little something with those. Probably with some paint and stamps.

I'm terribly behind on my DOM cards. I have three to do to catch up. So hopefully I will get those all done this week. I've also got to clean up my craft room after several tornados seem to have been through! That always happens when I'm working on more than one project at a time!

On a positive note, I did get the circle journal I had finished up on Sunday so I could get it in the mail today. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures!

Grateful...

The 2P's challenge for yesterday was to share something you are grateful for as a mother. I'm simply grateful to be a mother. Lots of women know from a rather young age (in my opinion) that they want to have children. I was not one of them. As a matter of fact until not to long ago I was almost certain I didn't want children. I didn't want to take care of someone else. I did that everyday. I did that when I was a kid. My sister is 7 years younger and after my parents divorced I spent a lot of time with my sister and taking care of her after school while my mom was at work. It was not fun being the live-in-babysitter. And now as a grown-up I can see the necessity of the situation. It was important. But as a 12-17 year old I did not enjoy it. So I wasn't eager to have a baby that needed to be cared for. And Morgan knew this going into our marriage. But he also hoped I would change my mind.

I can't really put my finger on what it was that changed my mind either. Probably a combination of things. Friends having children. Working with children. Having nephews and a niece. Being at a place in my life where I had accomplished some of the educational and professional goals I had. And after I got pregnant I remember thinking to myself, there is no turning back now! And I wouldn't want to. Having Owen is one of the best, if not the best, decisions I've made. Every day is special because of him. Sometimes the specialness is a challenge but it's not boring. My home is now a classroom where we both learn and explore and discover. I love that. The world changes when you have a child. Your own personal world especially. Life is no longer about you. Your needs and wants are secondary, at least for a time, to the child's. And I'm learning everyday how to fit it all together.

So I'm grateful for just being able to be a mommy. Because I almost missed out.

I've got a lot to learn...

about this camera! After 45 minutes in the camera store and looking at 4 different cameras this is what Morgan and Owen gave me for Mother's Day! I had been reading and researching and looking at DSLR cameras for a few months now and thanks to Owen being a nice little tax deduction we had a little money to spend on a camera.

I went into the store intending to get the Olympus E-volt 500. I really liked the Canon Rebel XTi but at $1300 for a body and nice lens it was twice what I wanted to spend. We also couldn't afford the Nikon D200 and I had heard some not so positive things about the D40. So then the sales guy showed us the Sony Alpha 100. It's relatively new and was also on sale with a promo to purchase a telephoto lens for $100. It is a well built camera and the lenses are supposed to be exceptional. Now I would not normally consider Sony to be a camera manufacturer but not too long ago they purchased Minolta/Konika and after much work they've produced the Alpha which is compatible with any minolta auto focus lens. They are also producing 19 new lenses to fit the body including several Zeiss lenses.

Like most camera manuals the manual tells you all about the features and what all the buttons are for but it doesn't define all that stuff which is part of what I need to learn. I can use a film SLR but not with as consistent results as I'd like. So I've got a lot of learning to do! Luckily there seem to be a couple of well written books about the Alpha that should be helpful in accelerating my learning curve!

Here is one of the pictures I took today of Morgan and Owen with the new camera.

The issue with digital photography...

there aren't any proofs! Well, there are but they aren't printed proofs. Which means I had nothing to bring home to show Morgan. And they are not viewable online unless you purchase a package!

Owen's portrait session went well. The pictures are great. But I can't show you! Because I have not proofs! Owen was a great subject. He even did well with the outfit change. My mom went with us, and that helped a lot. It's always nice to have another set of hands!

So now I need to decide which ones I like best and how much I'm willing to spend on the pictures.

TGIF...

It is Friday, right!? I am never certain of the day! My mom and I are taking Owen to have his first professional portraits done today. Up until now I've done his pictures myself. In the garage or outside. But I decided I wanted to have some done in a studio. It should be an adventure!

Below is my latest completed project. It's a T-shirt for my best friend's daughter. Her birthday was the 8th and her party is tomorrow. Should be a little quieter than Owen's birthday party! She doesn't have any siblings or cousins!

I think Morgan took the camera to work today so I can't take a better picture of it right now. But the dark fabric is a chocolate brown with teal blue flowers and the middle is a cream with small leaves. The eyes are brown buttons and the beak is stitched in orange.

Here is my latest toy. We used one at the Donna Downey class I took and it was amazing! It punched through 8 sheets of cardstock like butter! And it sets eyelets and snaps the same way. I tried out the eyelet setter yesterday and it just smooshed it flat. No hammering! The only thing I dislike about it a bit is how wide the handles are. I have smaller hands so it's just a bit wide for a comfortable grasp. But I'll manage!
And this is a little album I made for Owen's birthday party. I took 1 picture from each month of his first year and put on the right side. On the left side I put pattern paper and a little journaling. I will post the finished album another day.
The base of the page are some coupons I got in the mail from Target. The backs were all solid colors and then the coupon was on the front. I just covered the coupon part with the picture and paper.And the 2P's challenge for today:

TWO Things About Me.

Two Names I Go by: Well, it's hard to get a nickname from Heather. But Morgan calls me Honey and my sister calls me Sissy.

Two Things I am Wearing Right Now: Pajamas and undies!
Two Things I Want (or have) in a Relationship: Laughter and honesty
Two of My Favorite Things to do: Make things and eat
Things I Want Very Badly At The Moment: Well, I need a bath so I'll put that and I'm a bit obsessed about getting a new DSLR camera.
Two pets I have: I only have 1 pet and he's more than enough. And I'm sure Maggie would say he's the size of TWO!
Two things I did last night: Worked at the mortgage office and worked on Ella's t-shirt
Two things I ate today: a banana and a little debbie snack cake (yes, I know it's only 9:30am!)
Two people I just talked to last: Owen and Morgan
Two Things I'm doing tomorrow: Waking up and going to Ella's birthday party
Two longest car rides: Bozeman, MT and Portland, OR
Two Favorite Holidays: Halloween and my birthday week!
Two favorite beverages: Milk and Diet Coke with Lime
Two favorite scrapbooking tools: My see through grid rulers and my CTMH scissors
Two favorite scrappin companys: SEI and Cosmo Cricket


Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers, grandmothers and aunts, and honorary mothers and aunts!

so much to write...

so little time! It's already Wednesday! I've had hardly any time to blog this week! Owen's party was great! He had a good time and I can't believe he's one already. I'm sure I've said that a dozen times. I cried Friday night about it too. Morgan said it's not like he's going off to college and I looked at him and sobbed "but he will be!" Someday of course but time certainly does fly when you are a grown up!

Here are a few pictures from the party.
Owen wasn't into unwrapping his presents. I thought he would be since he likes to get into stuff but he wasn't. So I did the unwrapping, with some help from my niece, and my mom did the assembling and Owen did the inspecting!
Here is a cake shot. This is after I dragged his highchair back into the kitchen. He had a lot of frosting stuck to his hand and was shaking it to get it off and getting it on the carpet in the dining room!
And this is Owen riding in his new red wagon from Grammie (my mom). He loved it. For the most part. He's got to be strapped in and decided at the park he didn't like that and made a fuss. So my brother-in-law carried him while I pulled the wagon. Then my nephew jumped in the wagon and I pulled him. You may think this is no big deal but my oldest nephew is 11 and he's taller than I am and weighs more too. So it's a sturdy wagon! I got revenge though. After a bit I dumped him out and got in with Owen and made him pull us both!
And finally for today, the 2P's challenge is: It's summertime.
Let's talk dream cars.. what's yours?

This is my dream car. My summer dream car anyway. I love Minis. They are little and cute. And this is actually the one I would get. I went to the site and built it myself! Very cool site. They have a 90/10 policy you need to agree to for a convertible. Basically you need to drive it with the top down 90% of the time!
And it's a dream because 1.) we can't afford it or it's insurance and 2.) I don't think it would be a good car for Owen to be riding around it. No matter how fun it might be!

There are lots more things to write about but I've got a circle journal to write about and 3 years worth of clothes for Owen to find a home for! My SIL brought a bunch of hand-me-downs for him and I've sorted them all over the dining room table and living room but now I need to store them! Fortunately I won't have to buy Owen another GAP sweatshirt for at least 4 years!

A light at the end...

After the epidural I was able to dilate to 10! The nurse checked me and said my cervix was gone. I looked at her a little concerned and said "what!? WHAT does that mean???" She told me it was good. That now we could start the pushing. Wooo Whoo! I looked at the clock and it was 1am. I decided (another silly thing!) that I would have this baby out by 1:30am. So we began the pushing which was not difficult but a little odd when you didn't have any feeling. Luckily I didn't have any "accidents" which I heard frequently happened during the pushing. I think this was due to the fact that I hadn't had much to eat in the previous 34 hours! Did I mention the vomiting? In order to have the epidural they gave me this stuff to keep me from getting sick. Well, it didn't work! This vomiting continued for about the next 10 hours! Anyway...

1:30am rolled around and I looked at the nurse and asked her about how long this pushing stage lasted and she said about 2 hours! Sheesh! So I kept pushing. My doctor had been in a couple of times to check on me and the next time she came, about 3am, she checked me and the nurse had been able to see Owen's head but he just wasn't getting any farther, my doctor turned Owen (he was facing the wrong direction) and I pushed again and he turned back and we did this a couple more times and she looked at me and said "he's not coming out this way." And I asked "so now what??" And she said C-section. Yes, you read that right. C-section. I had been in labor for about 35 1/2 hours. This was the exact thing I didn't want. I couldn't watch the videos in the class. During the C-section one I had to leave the room. But I was also exhausted beyond any exhaustion I had every experienced. And I didn't have any other choice. I had already had all the drugs. The IV's were in and the epidural too. So they shot me up with the morphine and we prepped for the surgery.

Again, great nurses. Fabulous anesthesiologist. She held the little tray for me when I threw up during the surgery! I asked for a tummy tuck but my doctor said I didn't need it because of the second baby. I laughed! Owen was born at 3:50am on May 5th.
I'd like to say the saga ends there. But it doesn't. After I was out of surgery, about 4 hours later I hemorrhaged and needed to have a blood transfusion before they would let me leave because my hemoglobin was so low. And before the transfusion they had to redo the IV because it wasn't in right anymore. And I had to get a shot before I left! I am NOT an needle person. I get sick just thinking about having to be poked! So I guess when you HAVE to do something you find the strength to do it. The thought of going through that again, well, I don't like it. But I wouldn't have to go through the 36 hours of labor again. And they would know to watch me for the hemorrhaging. So it wouldn't be as bad. But I would know about the needles ahead of time and that would bother me.

I also have to say that throughout this Morgan was wonderful. Beyond wonderful. I could not have done it without him. And he watched the surgery too. He saw Owen come out. Colleen commented that it doesn't matter how they come into the world and that is so true. I did not feel bad that I had the C-section. I worked hard and that is just how it had to be. So on Saturday we will celebrate my little O's first birthday, on Cinco de Mayo, with a Fiesta!

Have a great weekend!

and the labor continues...

But the post I posted yesterday I should have posted today! Oops! I had the right DAY of the week but the wrong DATE! Last year May 3rd was a Wednesday! Anyway...

After we came home from the hospital my contractions continued so I did not sleep well that night. Nor did I eat much. Morgan slept fine. I decided not to make him stay up with me and be miserable too. Eventually he would need to be helpful. I tried all kinds of things to ease the pain, which I didn't anticipate, but not much was helping. I was in and out of the shower and tub I don't know how many times until I just didn't want to be wet anymore! I tried laying in the recliner and on the couch and on the floor. I sat on my big ball. Sometimes something would work and then the next contraction it didn't. I had read this book, now I can't recall the title, but it was an old book, written in the 70's, and I had convinced myself that I could do it without medication. That God had designed my body to do this and I would be fine. I would NOT be a PANSY! Well no matter how many women you talk to you can never understand the kind of pain it is until you experience it. I had been an idiot! I don't know how I had convinced myself that squeezing a child out of "there" wouldn't hurt!

I think I finally woke Morgan up about 6am and told him I couldn't do this labor thing on my own anymore! So he tried to help me through the contractions. Around 1pm I told him we were going back to the hospital and I wasn't coming home until the baby was out!

I had finally dilated to 4cm! Yippee! I could stay! Although I think I would have sat in the waiting room of the ER if they had sent me home again! I continued down this slow, painful labor path until I was just about hysterical and wasn't progressing anymore and gave in to the drugs. This was about 5pm. The first one they gave me, I can't remember the name of it, but it helped me sleep, and I dilated to 6cm. Then that wore off and my other options were another dose or an epidural. I chose the second dose. Unfortunately the second dose didn't do anything. And I was stuck at 6cm and in pain again. I have to stop here and tell you that the Nurses I had were fabulous! I can't believe that women do that everyday. Help pregnant women go through that. I'd be a wreck all the time. They were calm, cool, and so supportive. But my nurse finally said the only thing left was an epidural. So I took it. This was about 10pm. I think. I'm fuzzy on the time frame now. Let's just say I should have taken the epidural right off the bat! Maybe it was the other medication, maybe it was my exhaustion or a combination of all of it but the epidural didn't hurt and it did wonders...

I will finish up my story tomorrow. I have to shower and get a bit more cleaning done. Morgan's parents and sister and her family all arrive today.

One year ago today...

I went into labor at the mortgage office about 1pm. I didn't really know what was going on. I just kept feeling like I had to pee! But there wasn't much... well, pee. So I went home and on the way I stopped at Artsy Tartsy (I can't remember for what!) and finally called Morgan on the way home and told him I thought I was in labor. He was going to Nikki's house that night to play poker with her husband and buddies. So I told him to just go and I would call if I needed him. I think it was about 8pm when I called him and told him I thought I needed him to come home. I was having some bleeding so I had called the clinic and got the on call nurse who basically scared me into hysteria by telling me I should get to the hospital (by ambulance) fast. I called my mom who helped me calm down and then I called Morgan and he came home and took me to the hospital where we spent 2 1/2 hours pacing the floor trying to progress beyond 1 cm. I didn't though so they sent me home...

Week 17...

Emily's challenge for this week was "Your bedroom". Either your bedroom now or your childhood bedroom. I just about choked when I read it! Our bedroom is my least favorite room in our house. Because of the reason on the card.
After we moved into our house we painted a lot. But not our bedroom. We hadn't decided what to do. Well, while I was pregnant Morgan decided we should paint it. He wanted me to have a comfortable place to breastfed and relax. But the color scheme he wanted was "blood & sun". That's what he said. Instead we got Weinermobile. Now I know you must be thinking "it can't be that bad!". Trust me, it is. It is slightly better now that we've rearranged the furniture so that it isn't all against one wall. And we did put a picture back up. And Morgan cleaned up his piles of "stuff"(insert another S word for stuff). The curtains still aren't done. Which I was making but had a hard time getting down on the floor to cut the fabric while I was 9 months pregnant. We have a beautiful duvet color that I wanted to use as our focal point for decorating. It's a paisley one from Pottery Barn. Morgan forgot about that while choosing paint colors. Well, not exactly. I told him red paint would be too much red. I think I'd rather have too much red instead of the Weinermobile. I tried to get on that show Take Over My Makeover. But they only film in CA. But I really think they'd come if they saw the room.

The 2P's challenge for today is:
What do you do around your house to usher in the spring/summer?
Anything special?
I like to clean. I put all my winter clothes and shoes away and get out all the spring/summer stuff. And I marvel at all the stuff I forgot about. I don't think it's going to be as fun this year because most of it doesn't fit.
I also love to open all the windows up and let in the fresh air. Today the breeze was blowing in and the smell of it reminded me of being at my grandma & grandpa's house. Just a lovely, fresh scent. Not stale and wintery.

My big monkey shirt is almost done. I had to blow him up 200%! I'll post a picture of me and the shirt when I'm done!