It's All About Alex

North Dakota

2009-11-14T09:01:00.006-06:00

Alex and I are in North Dakota with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Eric!

We got up here yesterday afternoon. Once grandma got off of work we headed to Fargo to stop at a few places. I love Hobby Lobby and was hoping to find some baskets for the babies changing table but had no luck. I got lots of great ideas for photography props and even purchased the cutest little bench.

After Hobby Lobby we headed to Toys R Us. I wanted to check out there great special on Hasboro games but they where all sold out. We checked out a few of the Power Wheel Toys and it took us awhile to get Alex away from them. I think she sat in and checked out every single one. After Toys R Us we headed to Fleet Farm Toy Land. I love it there, its the best place and has the best prices. I ended up getting a few games and Grandma got a few things. There are so many toys there, Alex was in toy land heaven.

We headed back home to Grandma and Grandpas house and watched some TV and played Hungry, Hungry, Hippo. Alex was screaming and loving the game. We didn't end up going to bed until about 10:30pm.

Today I am shooting a wedding. This is why Alex and I came up here ( as well as to spend time with grandparents ) because Grandma landed me a wedding. I will be shooting from 1 to 5 today and the weather is looking great. A little sunny but I will work with that over rain. We will have dinner once I get done and then we will head home to see my husband and Alex daddy. He couldn't get the time off so he is working while we play / work.

The pictures I posted are in the running for a Christmas Card. I am pretty sure I am using two of them and the top one is a guarantee. I laughed when I posted these pictures to facebook because our cousin Katie said that the first picture was "False Advertising" because Alex never sits that still. We only wish she did so I will just keep taking that picture on.

So what picture out of the bottom two should join the first picture on our Christmas Card this year?

Not As Hard As I Thought

2009-11-11T21:23:00.004-06:00

Last year taking Alex Christmas pictures was a task at hand. We did them at my moms house and I think my mom was running all over while I waited to capture the perfect shot.

This year was 100% different. Alex is used to the camera and she is starting to take direction well ( when she wants to ). I asked her on the way home if she would like to take pictures tonight before dinner and she said yes. I still don't have her outfit for Christmas picked out 100% but I had enough stuff to take the pictures and make it work.

She listened, she posed, she yelled, she jumped, she danced, she gave me goofy looks, SHE DID PERFECT!

The top collage is filled with my favorite pictures. I adore and love them. They are perfect and she just looks stunning. One, two or three of those pictures will be our Christmas Card this year!

I did a vintage texture to them and I like it. It's different but its fun and funky and looks neat!

The collage above are some of my other favorites. They show her personality. We worked on posing and she didn't really know how to put her hands on her hips with out pushing her stomach forward. She really let her personality shine in these photos.

I wasn't sure what all I got while I was taking them but I knew I had gotten a few good ones. To my surprise I got some GREAT ones! I may try a black background for some fun or even some outdoor ones or some pictures at my moms house.

I have another outfit that I am going to try that's just fun, not for Christmas at all. I am having Alex blog turned into a book and I need to find the picture picture for the cover. One of these might be it or it might have to be another photo session. I need to capture that perfect picture that lets her personality shine. Almost exactly like 4th image in the 1st collage. That is truly my daughter ( crazy, wild, loud, spunky and goofy ).

Hope everyone else is having fun thinking about and getting ready for the Holidays because I know I sure am! I have started to think about shopping and have my list of what I am thinking about getting the people we buy gifts for.

You can click on the images to make them larger. I have to decide what to use for our Christmas Card!

Thank You!

2009-11-11T08:43:00.005-06:00

To All Those Veterans and Everyone Else Who Is Still Serving Our Country. We appreciate you and all you do!

Know that the time you spend away from your family and friends is truly appreciated. We don't only think about you today but everyday!

Here are a few pictures of Alex uncle Nate.

He is in the Air Force and is Stationed in Clovis, New Mexico. He was recently married this past summer ( on Alex daddy's Birthday ) and he will be deployed at the end of this month.

We don't know a lot about where he is going ( over seas ) but we do know his mission or deployment is for 3 months. He should be back in the States around the time when this little baby is born. We are hoping they will make it home shortly after we welcome this new bundle of joy!

Above is Nate and his wife Heather. And below is Nate and Grandma Darlene ( she is in the jet ).

We miss you Nate, We wish You lived closer and we will be thinking about you while you are away. Be safe, stay strong and we can't wait to see you when you get home!

We Love You

Alex, Chad and Erin

21 Weeks

2009-11-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: THIS POST WAS WRITTEN YESTERDAY ( and yes I now I am a few days late )

Another week has come and gone . . Another week has started . .

I am so glad to be 21 weeks and as much as I think I might like being pregnant the main part of me knows its rough, hard and takes a lot out of me.

The belly and the baby are most definitely growing. The kicks and taps are getting a lot stronger and more frequent. I feel them the most in the morning or at night while I am laying in bed. Just those little kicks make all the rough parts worth it.

My energy is coming back, I am feeling more like myself but just with a bigger belly. I love having the belly, I think a pregnant belly is so cute! I think I will be doing actual pictures this time around but not until 7 or 8 months.

The baby room is almost complete. My husband put together the changing table this weekend and now I am in search of the perfect baskets for it. I will take pictures once we have everything figured out and put where it belongs.

I felt weak, lightheaded and dizzy today. It lasted for several hours and I am so glad it has passed.

I think we have it narrowed down to 3 girl names. Boy names, I have never heard of those! We are so far off on boy names it really sucks. Any ideas on boy names?!

Here is a collage of the past 3 weeks. Is there a difference, I don't know my belly just looks funny. I need to get better at taking the exact same picture in the same direction!

13 Years From Now

2009-11-09T13:45:00.006-06:00

We might be running for our lives . . or at least staying off the streets!

These girls won't be driving a battery operated Barbie VW but instead they will have a real divers licenses and they may even have there own cars. We don't want to think that many years ahead though and we like the idea of the battery operated Barbie VW. We like the idea that we can stop them, catch them and keep are eye on them at any or all times.

One of Alex best friends Keylee turns 3 on Thursday. I took her pictures on Halloween weekend and they turned out great.

Keylee had a family birthday party this past Sunday and she got her own car. She was so excited and Alex was just as excited when she saw Keylee driving up our driveway to pick her up! Alex jumped right in and on they went.

They loved going down the hill because the car went a lot faster that way.

Keylee was nice enough to let Alex have a turn driving. There where a few moments when we thought they might hit a car, try to go off roading or tip it over.

But they lived and they loved it. Alex can't wait to get out there again and take it for another ride.

I am thinking Alex might need/want one for her Birthday!

We hope Keylee had a great Birthday Party and can't believe she is already 3!

To My Husband . .

2009-11-09T08:48:00.003-06:00

Every time I shoot a wedding . . It brings be back to this day ( the day pictured above ) . . This exact time ( as pictures above ) . . As I watch the bride and groom step out on the dance floor to dance their first dance as husband and wife . . No matter what song they pick . . What type of dance they do . . It fills my heart with joy . . Brings me back to our wedding day . . Wishing it was you and I out on that dance floor . . Not dancing our first dance as husband and wife . . But just to be in your arms at that exact moment . .

Shooting weddings and seeing the happiness and love in the eyes of the Bride and Groom brings me back to all the reasons I love you and just shows me how much more I love you now then when we stepped onto that dance floor as husband and wife for the first time.

I Love You

Getting Ready . .

2009-11-06T19:07:00.005-06:00

FOR CHRISTMAS

Alex and Chad are getting the house ready for Christmas. While daddy was on the roof Alex was working on his surprise. She went through this entire string of lights ( unplugged ) and took out all the old bulbs.

She had so much fun doing it and was so excited so show her daddy the surprise she had just for him. We had to order new LED bulbs because so many of the other bulbs where burnt out and these ones will not cost but a penny to run.

The UPS man showed up today and my husband got right to work. We still have more lights to order because he didn't know if he was going to like them. Alex loved watching her daddy up on the roof and was just so excited about the lights.

She kept saying "That looks great Daddy"!

I am glad my husband does this because there is no way I am getting up on that roof. We where lucky that today reached 61 degrees and we got to get some lights up. Last year we where putting lights up in the snow and cold.

Here is a picture of the lights on the top of the house. We still have the main peak to do and the side of the house. We also have 2 more trees to get lights up on.

We aren't done yet but we accomplished some and we wanted to show the progress that was made.

Thanks Honey For Putting Lights Up Again This Year!

Don't forget to check out the post below for a cute little Santa Alex!

Tis The Season

2009-11-06T13:46:00.002-06:00

Yes its that time of year again.

The photo shoots are starting to line up again and November is looking like another busy month for me. Which is good but tiring and draining.

Alex is almost always around when I have photo shoots and she loves to watch all the kids and interact with the families. She is pretty good at making some of them laugh and sometimes she is good at getting in my way.

Today I did a shoot for 3 cousins ( its a gift for the grandparents ) and Alex was feeling a little left out. So at the end I let her put on a Santa Hat and I took a few pictures of her.

I only took about 13 pictures and these are my favorites. She is in a diaper because she had peed and decided she was just going to wear her diaper until I could change her.

Diaper and a Santa Hat go together perfect!!

Alive

2009-11-06T09:05:00.003-06:00

I am stressed, worn out, going nuts, feeling alone, worried, losing it, and so much more. I could go into way more detail but I will keep it at that.

Maybe its just this pregnancy, maybe its just me!

Did She Really Say That?

2009-11-02T10:36:00.003-06:00

Alex tends to say some funny and not so funny things. I have not updated about her vocabulary in a long time but this girl is a talker! We took her Nuk away almost a week ago and my goodness she talks more now then ever before, saying things I had no idea she knew existed.

While we where at the Dr. office waiting in the car for my friend Anna to come Alex saw a nuk and said "Holy Shoot you better throw that away". I burst out laughing and hide the nuk, I thought it was funny but don't want her saying Holy Shoot.

Last week she told me "I hate you" but then said "I still love you though"

She now tells us that "You can't say those words" or "They said a naughty word" and she will even say it to the tv when she hears them say something like crap, stupid, and a few other words I can't remember.

Yesterday when she went poop on the potty she was so excited that she told everyone in the house and started saying "WHO ELSE, WHO ELSE"! She wanted to tell more people she we called grandma Char and then when our friends Shane and Rachel came over she had to tell them.

She is famous for saying "I know Mommy" when I would tell her she needs to pee or poop on the potty as I am changing her diaper. "I know mommy", but yet wouldn't do that. Now she is peeing in the toilet though so maybe she wont say she knows because she does know!

Last week while Chad and I where driving to my Mom and Step Dads house the song Paprazzi came on by Lady Gaga and Alex started saying "papa, papa, papa razzi", Chad and I just started laughing. She is known to sing songs like Single Ladies, Use Somebody and a few others!

The list could go on but those are just a few things that are on my brain right now. My husband just called and said that he and Alex where running around looking for Christmas Lights. He also told me she has no diaper on and he brought no change of clothes. WISH HIM LUCK!

The Half Way Mark

2009-11-01T19:14:00.005-06:00

20 Weeks marks the half way point

Seriously time is flying by and I am loving it. This hasn't been the best pregnancy but the one thing I love about both of my pregnancies is that time goes by so fast. Yes there are some fun things about being pregnant but really I just want really want to meet this little one that we now call stubborn!

There are two things different this week then the past and that is that one, the baby is starting to kick a lot more and a lot harder. More often during the day and for longer periods of time. That is one thing I love about being pregnant, I love when the baby gives me a little nudge and just lets me know he or she is there. The other thing that is different is that I am noticing Braxton Hicks Contractions a whole lot more. They are stronger and lasting longer and sometimes uncomfortable.

Sorry the pictures aren't the best. Next week I will do a collage and compare weeks 19, 20 and 21.

UPDATE 1 : Alex has peed on the potty 5 times today and pooped twice. I think she is so close to being fully potty trained. She doesn't want to wear diapers and she loves wearing big girl undies. We are so proud of her accomplishments today and can't wait to not have to put her in diapers.

UPDATE 2 : We are still NUK free, she has asked for it a few times and today she didn't get a nap so she was extremely tired tonight. She just fell asleep and was crying for her nuk. This is the first time since we took it away that she cried for her nuk and cried herself to sleep.

Chad and I could not be more proud of Alex and how much of a big girl she has become!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T11:26:00.008-06:00

Halloween 2009

Cutest Little Bug Fluttering Around Town!

What a fun filled night we had. It was a little chilly but there was no rain or snow so we can't really complain. I bundled up in my winter snow suit and was ready to go out for the night. We got some great pictures of Alex before we went outside. We loaded her up with layers and layers so she would not get cold. The Layers would include a turtle neck, sweat shirt, tights, pants, booties, hood, lady bug hat, costume and her gloves. She never once complained she was cold.

We went out with all of our neighbors. They hooked a trailer to the back of the riding lawn mower and decorated it. We had 4 families total which combined 7 kids and 4 adults. We walked, we rode, we ran, we skipped! We made our way to close to 25 homes.

Alex was so cute running from house to house saying "trick o treat" and "thank you". She made me smile and laugh the most when she would say "On to the next house".

It was so much fun watching her and just noticing how much she has changed in the last year and how independent she truly is. I had a smile on my face the entire time because she was just so cute and just had so much energy and personality out there. She made it longer then any of the other young ones and she only had to be held towards the end.

Grandma Char came up during the afternoon to spend some time with Alex and play. Grandma Darlene and Grandpa Mick came up in the afternoon and are here for the weekend. Alex just loves spending time with her grandparents.

We had 43 costumed kids come knocking at our door. Once we where back form making our rounds Alex loved to answer the door and give away LOTS of candy to each little goblin!
We hope everyone else had as much fun as we did on Halloween!

Breech

2009-10-30T14:29:00.003-06:00

The truth is I am frustrated, sad, let down but know that my baby is healthy.

Its hard to think about planning, getting everything ready and just feeling prepared when we have no idea what we are having. Lots of people choose this route but for me and my husband we really want to know. The baby is breech and not moving, he or she is sitting on its feet with its knees against its chest. I think this baby thinks we need this extra stress and excitement in our lives. If this says anything about the babies personality we might be in for some trouble.

I have thought about paying for another ultrasound, going to a place that does 3D/4D and have also heard of a new Gender Predictor Pee Test. Is any of it worth it, will my husband come home tonight and talk names so that at least that is off of my stress list. No matter what I do there is not guarantee they will be able to tell us.

It's not even the not knowing that is killing me, its how bad I wanted to know and need to know that is killing me. If that makes any sense at all. I didn't even think that the baby wouldn't show, the baby would be stubborn. I just thought we would go in and come out knowing boy or girl, blue or pink!

We are talking names and I don't know when or how we will ever pick. Its going to have to be one boy name and one girl name. Chad is convinced its a girl!

Stay tuned tomorrow for some 20 week belly pictures and Halloween Pictures!

Really?

2009-10-29T12:28:00.003-06:00

IS THAT IT? IS THAT ALL?

No more pictures like this of our sweet little 2 1/2 year old!

It took my daughter to pull my hair ( way harder then I ever could have imagined her pulling ) and throw this huge tantrum for me to finally put my foot down and say NO MORE NUK!

She did fine all day and nap time was only a tiny bit hard with a few tears shed and she was asleep without it. The car ride home she asked for it once but then talked my ear off the rest of the way. While we where at home ( daddy works late on Wed. so its just me with Alex ) she had asked for it a few times but no tears where shed.

She would say she wants her Nuk and I would remind her why she lost it. She would then tell me in her sad little sweet voice, "I know mommy but I really want it". I almost caved in a few times when she stuck her little lip out. BUT I STOOD STRONG.

When my husband came home he had her apologize to me and she gave me the biggest huge and said she loved me. It was super sweet.

She did have a hard time falling asleep without it. She didn't shed any tears and she didn't ask for it but I think she is so used to it that she just couldn't fall asleep. She was up until almost 11pm talking and tossing and turning.

Today has been AWESOME! I mean it has been PERFECT! She talks to much more now then before and she has only asked for it once.

THE NUK IS GONE! PRAISE THE LORD!

This was one of my biggest fears and I am glad now that she pulled my hair and made me so stinking mad and upset because we don't have a nuk anymore. We don't have to remind her to take it out when you talk, or that she doesn't need it, or that it is going to ruin her teeth.

We have a big girl on our hands. Next is Potty Training and she is making progress with that daily.

I think she is pretty close to being ready to be a BIG SISTER!

Bye . . Bye . . Bye

2009-10-28T20:00:00.000-06:00

What do these pictures have in common?

That's right she has a nuk in her mouth in all the pictures above!

Well today we had a big issue while at work. Alex, Parker and Sophia where watching Dora. Alex had her nuk in so I took it away from her as she is only to have it at nap and bed time. Once I took it away she threw a huge fit, I let her do her thing and I sat on the ground. Once I sat down on the ground she ran at me and started pulling my hair with both hands as hard as she could yelling who knows what. It hurt so bad that I almost lost it, this was the first time that I wanted to yell, scream and pull her hair right back. The first time she had actually really hurt me on purpose. I stepped back for a few minutes and let her continue to throw her tantrum. I put her Nuk away and we will never see it again.

We are done with the Nuk. After the incident this morning there is no way that I can give it back to her. I talked to my husband and we are both on the same page that she will no longer have it. He is a lot stronger then me and she doesn't hit him or be mean to him like she does me.

She has asked for it a few times and I have stood strong and have told her multiple times why she no longer will have a nuk. She cried a little bit at nap time but then just talked herself to sleep.

Please, please think about us tonight as I know it will not be fun nor easy getting her to sleep without it. She is 2 1/2 years old and she doesn't need her nuk anymore.

I am the one that needs to hold my ground, be strong and just say no. I can and will do this. There is no turning back!

Wordless Wedensday!

2009-10-28T09:29:00.001-06:00

My Weekends

2009-10-27T20:46:00.009-06:00

My weekends have been packed full of photo shoots. The past 6 weekends I have had anywhere from 3 to 5 photo shoots. I have barley had any time with my family because my Sundays are so busy.

I love it and I hate it.

I hate being away from my family and not being able to spend Sundays with them like I want. I hate it because I spend hours each week in front of my computer when I could be playing with Alex, or snuggling with my husband.

I love it because I am making new clients, meeting new people, seeing old faces and taking amazing pictures. I love it because I get to put smile on peoples faces and I get to hear how much there family members love them.

This is so important to me because I want my business to grow and I want my business to take off. It's important to me because it brings in extra money for my family, money in which we need more then anyone knows. It's important to me because I am passionate about this and I love it.

I am glad my family supports me and has put up with my busy work schedule. I am so glad to have parents and in laws like I do because they have helped with Alex when I need it. My family has been amazing and I appreciate it so much!

Whose Stubborn?

2009-10-26T17:20:00.005-06:00

That would be our Child!
Yes that's right this little one growing inside of me is Stubborn.

She or He was breech and had its butt / private areas up against the placenta. We couldn't see anything. She got all the measurements she could and then let me go to the bathroom in hopes that the baby would have shifted, but nope this baby is staying put. The Ultrasound Tech had my roll on each side, tilted the table back as much as she could, and was jabbing at my belly and still no moving.

Well the babies arms and legs where moving and kicking but he / she was staying in it's main position. Most be one nice comfy position!

Everything looked great with the baby and that is what really matters. We don't have a level II Ultrasound scheduled like we had to have with Alex witch is nice. The baby measured right on track with a March 20th due date.

The OBGYN said everything looked great. My numbers and everything about my pregnancy was going great. She did ask if I had felt any contractions and when she mentioned it I thought she was nuts, this early on. But I think I have felt a few and that just seems odd to me.

I have to this date lost a total of 12 pounds but did gain 2 pounds this month from the 4 weeks prior. So we are on the right track but I hope to not gain much more weight then I have already lost. There's to WISHFUL thinking.

The good news is, because the baby was positioned so weird and would not move we go back in on Friday for another ultrasound and please, please, please BABY SHOW YOUR STUFF!!

Sorry to let you all down, I know everyone was so excited, as where we but the baby is healthy and that's what matters the most!

19 Weeks

2009-10-24T15:29:00.005-05:00

Has it already been 19 weeks? Time seems to be going by pretty fast even though I have not been enjoying this pregnancy that much. I am slowly starting to show and the little one growing inside is starting to move, kick, poke and jab!

Some of the things that are annoying about being pregnant . . I pee at least 3 times a night even though I stop myself from drinking anything at least an hour or 2 before I go to sleep, the same spot itches in the middle of my back on my spinal cord, as well as a different spot ( but always the same ) hurts on my spinal cord if I apply pressure to it and my left boob hurts so bad sometimes I cry.

The other thing that I am going to miss so much is sleeping on my STOMACH. I always sleep half on my side / half on m stomach. The last two nights I have had to put a stop to that because it just feels funny and is not comfortable. It will only get worse so I might as well get used to it now!

Right now and as of lately I have been craving salads. Not just a normal side salad or a Cesar Salad but those nice big expensive salads. To name a few would be :

Wildfire Chopped Salad

Redstone Rotisserie Chicken Chopped Salad

Champps BBQ Chopped Salad

Tucci Benucchi Chopped Salad ( this one has pasta in it )

I think that's it, but I think about them all the time. Salads and smoothies but way more salads then anything! They are all chopped salads but all so different and my mouth is watering just thinking about them.

Other then that I am just doing what I normally do. I am cutting way back on pop and trying to drink a lot more juices and water. I really can't eat that much of anything, I eat maybe 3 small meals a day with 1 snack. I never feel that hungry.

I am still throwing up at least 3 times a week, I just don't think that will go away!

Of course the BEST thing about being pregnant is when the little one kicks. I love being able to feel his/her kicks and I can't wait for Chad and Alex to feel this little one.

TWO MORE DAYS UNTIL WE KNOW THE GENDER!!

Back To The Zoo

2009-10-23T16:46:00.008-05:00

We went to the Minnesota Zoo last Thursday. Cole had the day off from school so he picked to go to the zoo. He loves animals as do all the other kids. I love that they can run around and I can just try to keep up with them. Of course my mom came along and we all had a great time!

Not the best picture of all of them but at least I got one :)

Fall Leaves

2009-10-21T17:50:00.004-05:00

I have a feeling that this may be the only time we get to enjoy a big leaf pile this year. As we have already had snow fall a few times and the rain just doesn't want to stop. We watch from inside a nice warm house and the wind takes the leaves down.

We didn't even get to see all those pretty fall colors we love. But we did get to spend a good hour on Tuesday afternoon sliding down the slide into a giant pile of leaves.

Alex made some great faces and had a lot of laughs. She loves this giant leaf pile and I loved taking pictures of her!

I just hope this isn't the last time we get to have this much fun. If the rain goes away, there are a lot of leaves to be raked up and a big pile that would be calling the kids names!

Just hopefully we can have one more day with the fall leaves.

And I can get a few more pictures like these.

Hope everyone else is able to enjoy Fall and not just skip over it and into Winter!

Craft Ideas

2009-10-20T11:17:00.004-05:00

I have decided to pull together ideas for crafts to do for the upcoming months. We always do more projects in the winter time because its so cold here. It is also fun because there are so many Holidays and there are always lots of great ideas out there for Holiday Crafts.

Today we made Ghosts. We used toilet paper rolls, cotton balls, glue and little colored balls. It was super easy and the kids loved it. We then hung them up so they are floating ghosts!

October

Ghosts - black paper, white paint and sponges
Spiders - egg cartons, pipe cleaners, eyes, glitter and black paint
Pumpkins - orange and green paper, glue
Bags - brown paper bags, new paper adds, glue
Candy Corn - White paper, orange and yellow paint
Pumpkin - paper bag, new paper, string, orange paint
Witch Hat - Purple paper, black and purple paint
Cats - black paper, eyes, pipe cleaner

November
Turkey - brown and colored paper ( hand print ) - Circle with colored hand prints
Feather Headband - brown and colored paper
Leaves -
Apple - paint with apples
Glad Monster / Sad Monster - Book goes with it

December

Lights - Colored paper, green string
Candy Cane - Red and white paper and paint
Stockings - Paper, glitter, paint
Santa - red and white paper, cotton balls
Reindeer -

I need more ideas for November and December. Easy things as I am doing these with a 4 year old and 2 two year olds. So they can not cut stuff but love to do art projects. I would also love ideas for fun foods to make!

Not allowing me to upload pictures right now. Will try later!

Any help would be great.

One Week From Today

2009-10-19T09:13:00.003-05:00

We will find out if we are having

A BOY

or

A GIRL

That is if this little one growing inside me is willing to let us have a little peak. We are both very excited as my husband wont even talk baby names until we know what we are having. I have lots of girl names that could easily use but the boy names are a hard one.

As far as my pregnancy is going, its OK! I am still throwing up at least 3 mornings a week. I am still tired and the baby is starting to move a lot more. I have started feeling the small kicks and can tell when he/she is closer to the top of my stomach because it gets super hard and I feel like I can move him/her around. This baby is already starting to kick, hit, or sit on places that hurt.

I am still a little sick, the cold/cough is just hanging around for fun I think.

Every time we ask Alex about the baby she says its a boy and that his name is Jacob. As much as I love that name its just a little to common for me.

As easy as it would be for us to have a girl because they will be ALMOST EXACTLY 3 years apart and we would have almost everything for a girl ( except for a little fun shopping would need to be done ) I know that we are most likely only having two children and I would really love to give my husband a son and I would like a little boy myself.

The most important thing is that the baby is healthy and growing strong!

Wait for an update later in the evening Next Monday as we should hopefully know what we are expecting!

Who Doesn't Love A Newborn!

2009-10-18T16:19:00.007-05:00

I know I love a newborn. I love one that will sleep through most of the photo shoot and let me prop her, move her and position her in all different ways and stay asleep or barley fuss at all.

This little baby Rachel is only 3 weeks old and I had the opportunity to do her newborn shots on Saturday morning. We had a great time and her mom, auntie and grandma oohed and awed at every different prop and position I put her in.

Go back up top and take a look at that 1st picture. The picture with that little bear in it. This little bear is in memory of Rachel's big sister. Her sister passed away from SIDS a few years back. Rachel's grandma has her own company ( just something she does on the side ) making bears. She takes clothing from someone that has passed away ( it can be a new born, a teenager, a grandma, mom or dad, anyone ) and makes the bear ( the entire thing ) out of clothing that people have sent her. So that little Pooh Outfit was once worn on her big sister.

They asked me to place the wings on the bear because they know that her big sister is watching over her. It brought tears to my eyes to hear the story.

I was just pleased and happy to be able to take this little newborns pictures. I was glad that we where able to incorporate her sister into some of her pictures. I know this was important and special to them. So it meant a lot to me.

The pictures turned out amazing. What a perfect little baby she was!

Where Is Your Child?

2009-10-17T13:22:00.003-05:00

Well right now my daughter is in North Dakota with her daddy visiting Grandma and Grandpa! I am sure they are having a blast while I am home in a much to quit house getting a lot of work done!

But yesterday is a different story. I had work to get done and bags to pack so I decided to let Alex play in the kitchen sink. I filled both up and let her pick out some of her toys to bring into the sink. I pulled up a nice chair and put some towels on it so she could reach the sink and have a good time playing with the warm water and her toys.

I had no intentions of her getting INTO the sink.

About 20 minutes after she had been playing ( I was in the office so I could hear what she was doing and I would check on her every so often to fill up more water or wipe up some of her spills ) she yells to me

"MOMMY I SPILLED"

I came out into the kitchen and this is what I see

Alex had taken off her outfit off and gotten into the sink.

When I came around the corner all I could do was laugh and say your in the sink. These where the faces I got from her because she was so proud of herself.

She was having a great time and loved that she was in there playing with her toys and spilling water all over the place.

I let her play in there for about 20 more minutes and then we got out and cleaned up the water mess that was all over.

The mess was so worth it.

She had a blast, I got some work done and these pictures are priceless!

Just another great story for us to remember Alex amazing personality!