a mom and her camera

1 tiny peek...

this is a bit of a peek for leslie...

A bit of a change to my day as my MIL is sick and couldn't take the girls (feel better T!), so now I'm following the lead of two toddlers and a crazy man. And I don't think blogging and editing and design are on their agenda!

Going with the flow here...

my heart hurts.

Why? Because Chris had a fit this morning, wants to simplify our life and is making me PURGE.

At heart, I am a purger. I am also a collector, a scrap-booker, a memory keeper. And unfortunately those two things conflict. I have boxes in boxes of little momentos that I just can't stand to part with. And it's those boxes inside of boxes hidden in drawers that Chris is sick of. Which in complete honesty I don't totally understand b/c I am very organized in my collecting. Everything has it's own place. And most of my organizing containers are so incredibly cute, like old mason jars or wood boxes. Not much plastic. But he hates my containers too. He tells people they need a tetanus shots to come in our home. Whatever.

BUT, in some aspects I agree with him so I said we could do it. We could HAVE A YARD SALE.

It's been hard today, going through things and purging. Taking mini trips down memory lane as I throw out some secretly pack away others and sell the rest. And at one point I had to call my friend near tears and nauseous as I was packing up ALL MY SCRAPBOOK supplies to sell. ALL OF IT. Ugh. That was hard. I LOVE my supplies and have so much! But Chris promised that when I have more time and we have more money and I get back into scrapping I can buy more things. All I can say is thank goodness for digital scrap-booking!

Anyway, so now the kids are all sleeping and Chris is at a soccer game and I had a moment to take a break I think it's a good thing. My word for this year was simplify (click on the photo to read the text if you want) so this is right on target. The best things are always hard aren't they? Like keeping a good marriage, giving birth, purging.

If you have nothing going on NEXT SATURDAY OCTOBER 4th then come over to Glendale and shop all of our old crap! It's good crap. Most of it at least. I am actually going to post a list (possibly with photos) of the best stuff on here this week! OH! And our good friends the MacBrydes are cleaning out their house this week also and will be here selling their crap too! Lots of chairs (I randomly have an obsession with chairs), baby stuff, scrapbook/craft supplies, decorations, holiday items, and whole porch full of other random stuff! Fun times.

before i pass out

b/c i'm so so so exhausted i'm going to post a sneak peek from today...

had a great day, will talk more about it later. have. to. sleep. ugh.

s.l.e.e.p...

my muse.

I love Grayson.

I mean duh. He's my kid, my baby, my own flesh and blood, so yes, I love him. However, even in the midst of days when he won't let me put him down and cries every single time I do I still love him.

So today was one of those not-so-great baby days. I feel like maybe he's teething already as he's super fussy for no reason, chewing on his fist constantly and drooling up a storm. But who knows. Anyway, the only time he would let me happily put me down was when I was directly over him talking and cooing at him. It got old quick. SO what did I do to pass the time today? Not work if that what you think! Nope, he wouldn't let me barely open the computer. What I did get to do was take some photos of the little guy!

Which I guess means my day wasn't all bad!

I love the shape of his eyes when he smiles!

he's started playing with his toys! i can't believe he's this big already!


i love how the "3" from his toy is right there... my little number three!

OH YES! We got the kid's costumes in the mail the other day! Two little monkeys and a big banana! He's so freaking cute and the girls kept saying, "I eat Grayson, yum yum yum!"



And then as I was trying to think of other things to photograph I realized I never took a photo of him in his baptism outfit! So I threw it on him and took him into the yard to lay on a quilt. I love his little tongue poking through on that photo!

you know me and those baby toes!

ACHOO!


I LOVE that I caught this expression! This is him talking seriously with me! Sometimes in the midst of the coos and smiles he gets all serious and starts really babbling, like he's really trying hard to tell me something! Too cute!

SO. The day didn't go as planned which means a late night for me, but it's ok you know? It's ok. We had a great dinner thanks to my mom, the girls had a great day at her house and school, Chris got to go to bed relatively early, I got a few work-related items done and I got to take a bunch of photos of my son. A decent day overall. AND tomorrow we get to hit the yard sales as a family, C has a game, I have a wedding to shoot, the girls will be at my in-laws and Gray will be with my mom. It's a busy one tomorrow but I feel it's going to be great!

thoughts on a friday morning.

Do you ever wonder what other people think of your life? I mean no one really knows all the details, the ins and outs, the good the bad and the ugly.

I've had people tell me that I share too much on this blog. Word diarrhea. That I think a thought and post it. And what's funny is that there is still so much I wish I could share here. The deep dark parts of life that you tell no one. I want to share it. Get it out there so someone can comment and say, "hey, me too!" and make me feel all better. Like my booboo was kissed by blogland.

And not that there is really all that much going on right now to warrant this post. There is no huge secret I'm keeping. I just mean that you never really share it all. No one does. And I'm not sure you can. Because sometimes saying something out loud makes it too real. And that can be really really scary.

I think that is why blogs that are always bright and shiny make me want to vomit. And I think that's why Fern and I have become fast friends. She tells the truth. And I like that.

Anyway. I received an email this morning from someone that does not understand my life and it hurts a bit. And I want to respond with all the details to make them understand. But as I was typing and the email got longer and longer with deep truths and dark words I realized it doesn't matter. Because no one really gets it. And they can't unless they took over your life for you. Which makes me think about CJaneEnjoyIt who's sister was in a plane crash and is now raising her own infant along with three of her sister's four children. I'm sure that at least twice a day she stops and thinks, "oh, this is what she meant when she said life with four kids is hard." Or something like that.

I guess overall, I just pray that we all try to understand each other. And understand that for everyone their own reality is just as hard as our own. Or sometimes harder. And if we can do that then I think there will be more forgiveness and less judgment.

And that is my soapbox for this morning.

Climbing down...

Bailey is happily at school and Parker is enjoying time with Grandma. The little man is asleep in his carseat after passing out from all the screaming our early morning errands evoked. I had to have a bit of word diarrhea and now I'm off to finish the Kreidlers edits (sorry I didn't finish yesterday Amy!) and then get the Barnettes done also. I need to get some photos off this computer and backed up b/c it's starting to act funny and I don't want to have crash #2 in 2008. All of that can happen if the Man has a better day than yesterday! Please no more screaming Grayson. Thank you. Oh, and Soulard Mini's... I swear your info sheet will come via email today/tonight. It's technically FIRST on my list!

Lots to do with the hours slipping away already!

And I've been requested NOT to post about ANYTHING from last night so I won't. Until tomorrow maybe. But MAN did I cry at ER. And laugh out loud during The Office. And chat with Fern online throughout Grey's... which was GREAT b/c we're on the same page with loving some and hating others!

Oh, and I think Grayson nursed for at least 3/4 of Grey's so my whole plan of passing him to C for a bit failed! Anyway.

Happy Friday.

5

5 minutes people. It's on in 5 minutes. Get off the computer and go watch!

OhBoyOhBoyOhBoy!

That was me the second I woke up and realized the day has finally come! GREY'S ANATOMY SEASON PREMIERE! Heck Yeah! Whew. I'm excited. And Chris is under strict orders that unless Grayson is not breathing he is to leave me ALONE! Two hours. To myself. Well me and McDreamy and Meredith and George and everyone. Oh man. Oh, and did I mention that DVR was installed just now? Because seriously, The Office and Grey's and a million other shows are now on at the same time! Anyway.

Moving on!

I got two invites done yesterday and today. I love marking things off my TODOLIST!

Now if the Grayman will sleep I am moving onto editing. And album design. And a few other bits and pieces.

If you signed up for a Halloween mini (these are full!) check your inbox today for more info... and if you signed up for the Soulard mini's (I have 2 slots left at 4pm and 4:30pm) check tonight b/c yours will be coming soon!

Oh, and we got the kids costumes in the mail yesterday! Can't wait to take photos and share them!!!

Gray and I are bouncing to "I'd Rather Be With You" by Joshua Radin today (it's not on YouTube that I can find but it's HERE if you want to check it out!)

A big mountain dew is in my horizon which means this poopin fool and I need to get dressed and get movin! Happy Grey's Day!

heck yeah! it's a school day!

Man. I love Wednesdays! The girls both go to school and for a few glorious hours it's just me and the Man. I get work done on the computer, something that doesn't happen much at all on Monday or Tuesday. It's 7am and we're leaving in 15 minutes. Love it.

Emily... I finished your photos! Here are just a few more to show you (and if you can believe there will still be some you haven't seen on your disk!)...

I've posted this last one before, but he's just too cute! If you click on this photo to enlarge it you can see me taking his photo in his beautiful eyes. I love details like that in photos. The hidden details.

So Barnette and Kriedler you are up next, and both will be done by the weekend when I have another wedding on Saturday and a family shoot on Sunday. Also trying to finish up the wedding album for Vikki and John. And working on a bunch of business design stuff. And am picking up my first COMPLETE hand-made Christmas gift for the girls and Samantha! Will share that later today maybe. Lots going on. It's my busy season and I'm loving it!

Halleluia Wednesday! Hoorah for school! And we're off!

sixteen hours and going strong.

I've been awake and working non-stop since 6am. An insanely long day, but surprisingly a good one!  Hit the grocery store for some much needed food with the kids. Had a fun visit with my BFF Jessica who ended up taking Parker on two errands with her which was a great break from the instigator. I've gotten 14 loads of laundry washed+dried+put away in the last two days. Awesome. Not much work-work done, but the kids are clean, the house is clean, the clothes are clean and there is food in the pantry. All in all it's been a good two days.

And now I'm kicking it in high gear on Jodified. Just finished an invite for KCCI (will post when approved) and am currently working on Vikki and John's wedding album. I also got Emily's photos done last night before I passed out at 1am on the couch. Hoping I can hit the hay earlier tonight.

Will post more interesting things tomorrow!

Hola. Mi Llama Jodie.

Is that right? I always sucked at Spanish.

So this is me. From a week or so ago. With the uncooperative, looking-away-from-the-camera, GrayMan. I was going through our summer photos and I think I was in about 10. Total. And that includes me GIVING BIRTH in June! It's insane. And sad. It makes me really really sad. These kids will have a million photos of their childhood, but they won't know they had a mom. So I'm changing that. At least once a week I am going to take a photo, even a really bad one like the one below, so at least I'm documented as a part of this family. And maybe in 2009 I will do the "take a self portrait everyday" challenge or something b/c sheesh!

And I just love this photo... he's  showing off this monogram. Love it.

So it's Monday. And we're starting this day off right! Good mojo flowing today.  Thank goodness! I needed a good Monday. Hit it.