Archive for the ‘personal’ Category

i took a few minutes to fill the house with little vases filled with the flowers I got for mother’s day.

i handed each of them to the girls.

Abby sat them around the house.. filling the whole house with little happiness.. love it

Emily did this..

love it.. love it so much i didn’t scooch it a smidge to the left

happy day everyone.. mothers or not

baby Amelia is FOUR weeks today… she is completely asleep.. i should be.. i will be shortly..

this weekend I wanted to attempt family pictures.. nothing special, just all six of us…. well.. they didn’t turn out… because – well, I am in them.. i should have had a drink first.. to relax a bit.. so dang stressful… and I’m the one who makes it that way.. i totally don’t do this with the families I photograph.. but NOOOOOOO.. i become a horrible tense mom.. AND i forgot to check and make sure of one very simple thing – to make sure TOM is taller than me in the pictures.. it’s a very simple thing – he should be higher than me – he is in real life!  but he was sinking down a bit and I was sitting WAY high.. they look stupid.. i look stupid.. Amazon woman stupid…

and no.. i will not share one right now.. if i get one that IS good this weekend, then i will share and you can see what i mean..

BUT … i DID get some great images of the kids.. and one great one of emily and tom…

Emily thinks she has a unique talent.. she can spread her toes apart – far.. someone once commented on this and it has been a “must show” ever since.. she was showing tom as I was making sure the light would work in our room… i love the outtake..

a few of the kids..  and Amelia

please note emily’s spider earrings.. and dirty feet bottoms..

 real life y’all… it’s all about real

and abby – this is so perfectly abby.. she adores the baby

and the cooper.. Amelia looks a lot like he did as a baby…  chubby..

and all four… daddy is a complete distraction

but i love that image.. the expression on Cooper’s face is perfect..

and of course.. one for me.. i love this

love

love

Sticking to her older siblings style, Amelia decided not to arrive early.  We checked in for the c-section at 5:30 on March 25th.  There were a few complications – all with me during the surgery.  Amelia came out needing a little oxygen and that’s all.  She weighed 8 pounds and 11 ounces.. 18 1/2 inches long.. short and chunky..

she is an amazingly calm and easy little girl.. I’ll share more later..  iphone snapshots of the babe and her siblings and how life and recovery has been since Amelia’s arrival..

for now, a quick post of images I took when she was 8 days old.. i knew the “session” the hospital photographer did was not going to be what i wanted (oh.. yes, i WILL share those too), so i really pushed things and finally, I had a few bits of energy and decided to try a few pictures…  keep in mind, i’ve had my 4th c-section with some semi-major complications, so I was really unable to move Amelia around much, or heck, move myself around much.. or bend at my waist or do much of anything except this very minimal shot.. i love the way they turned out..

she has more hair than any of the kids..

some teeny feet…

a little bit closer

 cooper kept an eye on both of us.. making sure we were okay..

she really is just so sweet..  we are so thrilled that she is finally here and healthy… the kids are a HUGE help.. as is Tom’s mom who is helping keep the house running, and big kids moving..

that’s all for now..

Saturday morning the girls woke and wanted to get ready that moment.. the daddy daughter dance didn’t start until 6:00pm.. they were excited ALL day.. This year they choose their own dresses, told me how they wanted their hair, and choose their shoes..We had a lot of fun getting ready.. They danced their shoes off – destroyed their socks and tights and spilled pink punch all down their dresses.  Successful date night! ..

oh.. and i guess i should show daddy with the girls

taking pictures inside – in the dark with excited fast moving kids – not easy.. apologies for the bad pics..

when Cooper was on the way we moved when from South Carolina to Oklahoma when I was 33 weeks pregnant.. YEAH..  we also had TWO mortgages, and not a lot of extra cash – he had a super cute room… when abby was born, we JUST sold the South Carolina house and were beginning to recover from going through a ton of savings.. so – we didn’t have a lot of cash to make a nursery as i really wanted to.. when Emily was on the way – she had a cute space, but it really wasn’t her own.. they all had lovely little nurseries, but not like I really wanted.. an ugly glider…  pre-made bedding – cute, but not exactly what I wanted.. not exactly.. a bit matchy matchy

when we decided to try for another babe and were fortunate to have a healthy babe on the way –  I wanted a cozy relaxing space… i really wanted a space that I would be comfortable spending time – rocking, relaxing.. just being with the baby… and not feel “ugh, go to sleep baby so I can go… ”  .. so… off to Pinterest I went to find some type of inspiration.. I fell in love with a wall with a cool pattern on it.. and after the girls stripy paint job that Tom did flawlessly, I thought he needed a bit more of a challenge.. he he.. he shook his head at me.. a lot.. we went with the same (left over grays) we did in the girls room..

(most iphone pics.. some better than others..)

first.. patching, prepping.. with lots of help..

then the base coat for the pattern and the color for the 3 solid walls. please keep in mind – i have foggy – not accurate pregnant brain… and well, we had a few hiccups through this..

the first hiccup being.. um.. “I um.. had meant that um.. the solid walls should be the dark color.. “… tom just looked at me.. said, “yeah, i think that will be too dark”.. I had to advocate for the darker.. i wanted cozy.. restful..

see.. here are the freshly painted basecoat with the light walls.. it’s very – sterile and hospitalllllly.. tom suggested i think about it whilst he taped the pattern…

do i tell him i think the squares are a bit smaller than i want?  he’d already asked me twice to make sure.. but i realized it was a bit smaller than i wanted..  um.. nah.. we will just go with it..

and he sent me to the store to get more of the dark gray to be sure we could cover all three of the other walls.. (perhaps, PERHAPS, he just didn’t want me to change my mind any more.. )

at this point – i was NERVOUS!!

and Emily and I were working on another project..

the light..

so.. the light was one of those purchases I made with out telling tom.. i was not sure how it was going to turn out..

it came unassembled.. with all these spokes and 80 of the white things to clip on..

i enlisted help.

i took it in to tom.. and handed it to him.. he smiled.. and said, “wow.. really??”

but he was won over – it looks so cool.

ultra crappy pic of the finished walls with the happy girls and the light..

So.. i mentioned a couple of hiccups..

I THOUGHT i wanted a white crib to go in the room.. well..

um.. no.. it just was wrong..

totally wrong..

so we got our dark wood crib back out.. the same crib all the kids used.. and it felt right.. tom left BOTH cribs in there for a weekend to let me think about it..

in the meantime, I’d asked Anslee of Sugar & Blue to make the bedding for the nursery.. she sent me to a few websites to find fabrics.. i found some – told her to go with it.. mix it up.. she made the skirt, sheets, blankets, pillows and the birds for the mobile.. and i got some extra fabric to make burp cloths, washcloths, and random other things.. i figured i’d be in crazy nesting mode – i was right!

i was HOPING all would turn out as I pictured.. i don’t love girly girly stuff.. and I was sooo hoping the pattern would be soft, and feminine but not too girly.. i’d only seen it online..

it is perfect.. i just love it.. as usual – Anslee hit exactly what i was hoping for..

here’s the finished room.. i still am on the hunt for an ottoman – but haven’t found the perfect one yet..

the kids have a stash of books and pillows under the crib.. they sit under there and read.. they did it when Emily was a baby too

the simple mobile.. i told Anslee – blobbish birds… they are sooo dang perfect..

I’d thought i was going to put some things on the walls, but i think it would be too busy.. for now..

a view from the chair..

yes, i needed a tv.. i like to watch tv.. when emily was a baby, her room was also the guest room/play room.. so there was a tv in there.. it was wonderful.. i would turn the sound off and when she needed a bit more cuddle time, or was sick.. i was content to just sit and hold her..  I could watch important shows, like the Bachelor..

rest assured, tv for me, not the babe..

i really love how it turned out.. tom worked super hard to get it all done so i wouldn’t go insane..

now.. we just need the babe…

we had two rounds of company… lots of cooking.. lots of hugs, fun, laughter, tears.. decorating – undecorating.. but we made it through.. we had a wonderful time just being… for the first time in years, I was able to actually stop working when i said i was going to and just be part of the family..  just enjoy my kids and tom.. it was lovely..  calm.. relaxed.. if you know me, this is not something that comes naturally..

we’ve been working on the baby’s room.. because um.. well, we hadn’t done ANYTHING to the room since Emily moved in with older sister Abby in November.. the room is now painted.. furniture ordered.. bedding being made.. it will all come together soon enough.. the pregnancy is going well… although, i’ve been told to take it easier as i’m not 30 anymore and my body is not exactly fond of being pregnant..  tom and the kids are taking really good care of me and baby-ing me quite a lot..

as a result of this needing to slow down, I’ve had to cancel the next Workshop at Maize Rec.. i hated to do it, but I just can’t push myself..  I’m so thankful to the people at Maize Rec and those taking the Workshop for being so understanding..

i have a few photography design projects to finish… and some (quite a bit) blog posting to catch up on.. but no sessions/running around until well after the babe gets here…

i didn’t get my good camera out at all over the holidays.. not for Christmas.. not for new years.. nothing..

i did take lots of photos.. just with my iphone… i’ll share more later..

but i hear the oven timer going off – that means emily’s brownies are finished..