a mom and her camera

photos+words-words=photos

words are coming... for now, some photos...

home sweet home.

I'm here. We're here. But for some reason I'm having trouble sitting down to post photos+words of Grayson's first days. Maybe it's the lack of sleep or the fact that he's breast feeding 23 hours a day or that there are just so many feelings/thoughts/emotions/stories that the actual words fail me.

I promise I will be back to give the details and show off the photos.  Until then, thank you for this grace period to get to know little Grayson.

halleluia.

grayson richard allen is here!

6.12.08

9:18am

8lbs. 6oz.

21 inches

---just figured out the wireless---be back soon with details and photos---

am I really blogging at 5am again?

UGH.

Who knows what will happen, but i've been up for an hour now with contractions that are kicking me in the ass. sorry for the cursing, but these mothers hurt!

quick update so i can keep breathing...

bailey is good, fever down and no hospital stay. had her third round of shots yesterday and they will call today to check on her and see if she needs oral antibiotics. she ate better yesterday and had some energy back so i think she's on the mend.

my 39 week apt was fine, no change really. no weight gain which was funny b/c chris was there with me for the first time and when the nurse said that he looked her straight in the eye and said, "i think there is something wrong with your scale."  HA!  Also no change in the dilating dept, still 3cm.  They asked if I wanted to consider induction as early as tomorrow and I said no, I want this baby to come at God's timing. Especially b/c I'm going to TRY to go natural and pitocin (sp?) makes that all but impossible.

ok, need to walk.

good morning... will these stop or is it baby day?

sit still grayson.

Bailey's fever is still right at 105 even though she's now had two days of antibiotic shots at the pediatrician the last two days to kick this bladder infection in the tail.  If it doesn't break by tomorrow they think they'll admit her to the hospital. For the first time in weeks I'm now hoping Grayson waits a few more days so that I can concentrate on her getting well and be there for her.

So if you are praying today that I go into labor, although I truly appreciate it, let's wait until I know she is in the clear to continue praying for a baby.  And if you are in the prayer mode... a few for Bails would be appreciated!

I have some things to post but I've been up since 3am with her and now that everyone in the house is sleeping I think I may join them. After I have some Ben and Jerry's first.

i'm a cake.

Ok, not me exactly, but one of my designs ended up on a cake! How cool is that?

Thanks for sharing Sarah!

And although I've already posted twice today, I'll be back later to post some Jodified stuff. Schmitt album, Vikki and John's album and some new designs!

105 at 5am.

I can't believe it's morning already. Does this count as morning when the world is sleeping and it's so dark outside still? I guess so.

Bailey woke up early with her fever right below 105 and just crying about her "peepees" which she's been crying about for 3-4 days now.  I'm really afraid this is another UTI so we'll be calling the doctor as soon as 8am rolls around.

Everyone keeps talking about Google Reader and although I like to run it old school by opening up each blog I read and waiting anxiously for it to load while hoping the author has posted something new, as my list of blogs grows I know it will save me time. And what better time to mess with something new on the internet then when you're sitting in the dark, on the couch, next to your sick kid and watching Noggin?

It's Monday. Officially. And I guess this day has started, for me at least. So we should get this day moving... but maybe a tad slower than usual!

is tomorrow monday already?

Meet Tony. This is C's best friend from college at Truman State University where they were Betas together.  They have a million and one hilarious stories from that time in their lives, some I was there for and others, thank goodness, I wasn't! Tony was the Best Man in our wedding and is Bailey's God Father. He's one of my most favorite people on this earth.

Meet Lauren.  Tony's wife.  She is incredible. She's finishing up pharmacy school (they will soon both be pharmacists!), dealing with a baby husband, a brand new house (they had one built!) and is honestly one of the most beautiful women I know.  We've only gotten to know Lauren over the last couple of years but I have to say that I have never seen two people more created for one another than the two of them! They are just perfect for each other and I love watching them love each other.

They live in Louisville, KY and came in town Friday night right at the time we were heading to the hospital in "labor". We obviously never made it there b/c my F@#$@!% contractions slowed down on the way there enough that I knew it was false labor. Again. But by the time we got back home I was exhausted, it was late and we all pretty much went to bed. So Saturday was the big day to spend time together and although things didn't go exactly the way we planned (due to heat and a sick Bailey) we had a great day.  Once the girls were up from naps and shipped off to my parent's the Maker's Mark was brought out and the party began!

We all watched the Belmont Stakes (coming from KY they are HUGE fans), the guys enjoyed drinks on the porch (Tony drank from the Rigazzi's fish bowl!), we had naps, showers, dinner and then headed off to DMB!

I love this shot I caught of them walking to Busch Stadium together...

Before Dave started...

I love the color in this photo... right as the concert began...

I think my favorite part of a Dave concert is the violinist... he's amazing and my favorite band member to watch...

I loved when they turned the lights on the fans b/c I hate using my flash and I was able to capture some of the crowd...

I'm totally out of focus and we used a flash (I wasn't about to try to explain manual settings to Tony at this point in the night!) but I love that Chris agreed to a photo with me!

AND, last but not least...my all time favorite photo EVER! 

We had a blast, I survived the heat (and all the pot smoking around me... there were even two girls in front of us who would blow smoke in each other's mouths... I thought I would die!) and I'm so glad we were all able to go together!  I think this was the best birthday present I've ever arranged for Chris!

NOW, to make an already long post even longer, I have to tell you what I accomplished today!  The one HUGE chore I've been putting off for oh, at least 2-3 months, is putting away the girls laundry.  I know that sounds horrible, but it I knew it wasn't as easy as just putting clothes away. I needed to pack up out grown clothes for friends, get rid of stained clothes, reorganize their closets/dressers to make the putting-away system easier, etc.  So I've procrastinated. Until today.

This is the before shot:

It really was much worse than that but with my 50mm lens that shoots good indoors in low-light I couldn't zoom out enough for you to really see the entire mess. Or maybe I just didn't want you to!

So for 3.5 hours this afternoon I put away, reorganized, packed away, threw away, vacuumed, scrubbed, rearranged and labeled. Now their closet is combined leaving the other closet for play, which is what mainly happened there before anyhow, the dressers are reorganized with a much better system (and labeled so that anyone could put the girls laundry away), the beds were moved so the baseboards could be cleaned and the floor vacuumed, the bathroom was cleaned and reorganized, Chris took care of cleaning the playroom, I filled 2 trash bags for donations, 3 bags of trash and one box was packed away with things to save in the attic.  3.5 hours people! That's impressive! Especially if you consider that Bailey has had a fever over 103 all day and this afternoon was no exception and we had to do dinner/bath/bed for the girls at the same time.  I couldn't have done it all without C's help!  Anyway, this was the last BIG chore that I wanted to get done before Grayson comes so now I really feel like the waiting has begun.  Especially b/c I also finished ALL my work this weekend too for Jodified (more of that to come tomorrow)!

Here is the after of that same corner:

Here is what Parker did for a while as I worked...

So cute.

So tomorrow is Monday. Which means nothing really as Chris is actually home for most of the day! We're tackling the mound of laundry still to do and probably laying low if Bails is still sick. And of course praying I go into labor!

the garden.

Not much to say so I'll just share some photos from our walk at the Garden yesterday...

If you are in or around St. Louis today I hope you are surviving the heat.  I get nauseas just walking outside which makes me really nervous for tonight's concert. We actually tried to find someone to take my ticket b/c last night, for an hour and a half mind you, my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and we actually left for the hospital when they decided to SLOW DOWN. Let me just tell you the words that came out of my mouth when I knew it was false labor AGAIN. So today I just feel wrecked and the heat isn't helping. I want to go tonight, and I am going, but I'm afraid of how the heat and the people and the music and the heat and the walking will make me feel.

Anyway, will post photos from tonight tomorrow hopefully! Maybe from the hospital! Could Dave send me into labor? :)

hello friday.

No baby yet, in case you were wondering. Although yesterday morning my contractions were FIVE MINUTES APART FROM 3am - 7am! If I had just gone in I'm sure they would have let me stay but I just KNEW they would taper off and sure enough, by 8am they had slowed considerably. They left me feeling weak and queasy the rest of the day though so thanks to Chris, my mom and my inlaws I was basically kid-free yesterday which gave me time to rest and work.

And work I did. I am 14 photos away from being done with all photo shoot edits! I have a couple design items still to finish up and get in the mail but I can taste maternity leave and boy it tastes good!

I don't have their album up yet, but here are a couple photos from an infant shoot I did last week for the Schmitt family. If you look on the side bar you can see their maternity sessions from a few months ago... and I hope to get their album up by tonight.

TODAY: It's Friday! I'm not sure why that still excites me now that C's home more for summer, but Friday always seems so open for possibilities. We're headed to the Botanical Gardens this morning for some RAW flower photos, fountain playing for the girls and possibly a chance to walk the baby out (although I'm not holding my breath on that one). The rest of the day will be laundry and cleaning as we have house guests this weekend... C's friend from college (the best man in our wedding and Bailey's God Father), Tony and his beautiful wife Lauren are coming in town tonight for our big night tomorrow when we go see DAVE MATTHEWS BAND play at Busch Stadium! My parents bought the tickets for C's birthday (which is in August) and I invited Tony to come up from Louisville. DMB is C's all time favorite band and he's beyond excited for this concert! I was excited, but the thought of standing in 90 degree heat all night just has me thinking about swollen feet. Isn't that sad?

It's going to be a crazy busy weekend with Uncle Tony and Aunt Lauren so I'd better get off the couch and get moving!

*Grayson, hold off two days now buddy or Daddy will not be at your birth b/c DMB comes first!