Sunday, December 14, 2008

Fevers, pigtails and Buddy Holly

Weird combination, no? I'll explain.....

Fevers.....
When we got back from the wedding yesterday, we found Luke lying under a blanket on the couch, still in his pj's from the morning (it was 6pm!). He was hot to the touch and rather lethargic. :( Poor baby! The thermometer revealed a 101.5 fever, but there were no other symptoms, really. Gloria reported that he had played much of the day, ate lunch, and napped well, but woke from his nap complaining that his tummy hurt. He refused a snack and just wanted to curl up on the couch to watch tv until we returned home. Hmmm. His fever continued through the night, despite Motrin, and when I crawled into his bed to snuggle with and comfort him sometime around 4am, he was HOT, HOT, HOT! So...no church for us today. He has been feeling 'ok' since he got up, but a little on the sensitive side which tells me he doesn't feel 100%. Not sure what is causing the fever...but I'm sure the next 24 hours will reveal something.

Pigtails.....
Ellie is wearing her hair in her first official set of pigtails today! :) That is just a fun little thing for me to share! :) She still has that fine, long-in-some-parts-and-short-in-others baby hair going on, but I decided to attempt some low piggies today and I think she looks ADORABLE! :) Just like a sweet little GIRL! I LOVE it!


Something about Ellie's smile here makes me think of Gloria (Meemaw!)






And lastly...Buddy Holly....My mom celebrated her birthday on Friday (don't worry Mom...I won't publicly share your age!) It was my parent's 38th wedding anniversary that day as well! Unfortunately, my dad was out of town all last week on a business trip, so my mom was going to be alone much of the day. :( As a cool little surprise, my sister Kim arranged for a singing telegram for my mom! Knowing that my mom most likely would NOT answer the door to a strange man dressed up like Buddy Holly, the kids and I arranged to bring her a yummy lunch so that we could be there with her when her birthday surprise arrived. The telegram guy came right on time and serenaded my mom for a good 10 minutes with his Buddy Holly impersonation! My mom was SO surprised! She LOVED it! (Thanks, Kim! It was a perfect idea!) Here is a little video clip....but again, don't forget to pause the playlist on the sidebar first!


He was a little kookie, but it was a lot of fun and my mom thought it was great! You were such a good sport too, Mom!!! Happy Belated Birthday and Happy Anniversary! Love you guys!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Catching up...

We've had a fun few days 'round here! With Christmas shopping pretty much completed on Sunday afternoon, we spent that evening decorating our Christmas tree with Luke. Ellie is still a bit too young to participate in that part, so once she was down for the evening, we set our minds on beautifying our tree! Luke helped hold each strand of colored lights as I wrapped them round and round the tree and he squealed with delight when he got to climb to the tip-top of daddy's big ladder to place the star atop the highest branch. Our tree is just a tad bit crooked this year :( so Ty had to help along Luke's placement and straighten out the star! But Luke was full of pride for having dawned the finishing touch on our tree! He was so much more into decorating this year, which was A LOT more fun for me! He was interested in each and every ornament and the story of where it came from or who gave it to us. He LOVED looking through them as they sat on our table, awaiting to be placed on the tree and was so well-behaved when we asked him not to touch certain ones! The best part came when we were all done and we scurried to turn off all the house lights. He had crawled up into my lap as Ty turned out the last lamp and in sheer, breathless delight he exclaimed "Ooohhhhh...Mom!! It's beee-uuuu-teee-ful!" And it was!

On Monday, we baked some Christmas cookies and worked around the house much of the day. Nothing too exciting there. I was surprised that day when Ellie hardly seemed to notice the tree and took very little interest in touch or exploring it! Yay! She still has yet to really pay it much attention! Amazing to be for a little girl who LOVES to get into just about everything! But so far so good! We'll see how long it lasts! :) LOL!

And last evening, Sarah and Laura came over to 'rap while we wrapped'. After all of our kids were tucked tightly into bed, they came over to sip tea, each snacks and, best of all, to catch up on lost time. (We were hugely productive too in wrapping all of our Christmas gifts, which was AWESOME!) But the best part was just to be together and spend some time! It was well after midnight when we finished! :)

Today, we got to meet up with Sarah and Hudson again to celebrate Hudsy's birthday! We got to revisit the awesome Cabazon Dinosaurs and the boys had a blast! There is a whole new section open now with an amazing collection of dinos to explore and even one that the boys got to RIDE on! They dug for dinosaur bones in the huge sandbox together, and even Ellie enjoyed getting dirty in the sand with the boys! It was a fun morning! We came home for naps (I even got one today.....it's been months and months since that happened last!! It was great!) and then Luke spent the rest of the afternoon playing with his cowboy guns in the backyard that he got at Cabazon today (that was his reward for filling his bean jar again!) When the sun had sunk far into the horizon and the air was much too chilly to stay outdoors any longer, Luke came in and I was able to record this little video of him practicing his bible verse we've been working on this week. I am so proud of him and I just had to share!!! Ellie wanted to say hello too! :) Oh! And don't forget to pause the music on the sidebar to the left before you watch this!

Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, for unto us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

This kid has SUCH a good memory! I am constantly amazed at the things he is able to recall and memorize! And to hear him recite Scripture.....oh! I am so proud of him!!!

Oh! I almost forgot the mention that on Sunday Luke also got to sleep in his new 'big boy' bed for the first time! We will be painting and decorating his room (finally!) for his birthday present this year and part of that included him moving up to a full size bed! His crib, which converted into a toddler bed, also converts into a headboard and foot board! And while we are still waiting on the conversion kit to arrive (its been 12 weeks already!!!!) we decided to just go ahead and move the box springs and mattress into his room for now until the rest arrives (hopefully) in a few weeks. For now, I bought him a warm set of camouflage sheets and he is just over the moon about it all! He LOVES it! Ty and I do too....having the big bed makes reading stories before bed MUCH more cozy since we call can snuggle there in bed together! :) I have been (for months!) on the search for good, new bedding for him, but am having little luck in finding something that is both affordable AND generic enough to last the next several years. While he would love firetrucks or dump trucks or trains now, we know that in two or three years time, bedding like that will lose its luster so to speak. So we are looking for something very boyish, but simpler, like stripes or something, with red, blue and browns as the main colors. I totally know in my mind what I am looking for, but have yet to find it under $200 for just the quilt! Yikes! Pottery Barn Teen has the best options at this point, but unfortunately we can't afford what we like there right now! :( So the hunt will continue and the painting and such will just have to wait until the bedding is purchased, so we know what colors to go with. If you all have any good websites to share that have cute boy bedding, please,please, PLEASE let me know here in the comments! I am in need of some serious help!

So that's life for us this week! So far, at-least! Nothing very poetic or inspirational from me lately! :) Just normal life, I guess! :) Ellie and I will run errands while Luke is in preschool tomorrow and then it'll nearly be the weekend again! We will celebrate my mom's birthday and my parents anniversary this weekend, and Ty and I will also be getting away for the day on Saturday to another San Diego wedding (what's up with all this stuff in SD lately??) I am not complaining one bit though...I always relish time alone with my honey! :) Hope you guys have a good rest of the week! Night!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Wrapped up

I officially finished all my Christmas shopping today! Hooray!!! And suffice to say that I did pretty well at avoiding all those dreaded crowds and long lines! :) (Very few things make me grumpier than long lines and crowds at Christmas time!) I'm sure like many of you, a good chunk of my shopping was done online this year (isn't cyber shopping GREAT?!) So now its off to get my holiday baking done and wrap up those gifts...and with plenty of time to spare! Yay!!!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Tagged

I have an online fellow blogger (Hi Kristin!) who often participates in a game of tag via her blog and it's always fun to read. A few days ago, she was tagged with this mission and asked anyone who was interested to play along. AND...since I'm am now a free woman (!) I decided to indulge in a little game just-for-fun!

If you are a blogger you now have a mission. As soon as you read this, drop everything, grab your camera and take pictures of where you blog from. NO CLEANING!!! THEN, tag some lucky ducks and spread the love.

So...keeping in mind that I JUST finished working and haven't gotten to the clean up part...here is my desk (as scary as it looks!)

Actually, from a bit of a distance, it doesn't look quite as bad as it looks upclose. But everything under the sun is currently littering my desk...here's what's there..
-a coke from lunch
-books from the coffee table in the family room to be returned to the bookshelf here in the office
-my glasses
-my calendar (aka, my life)
-bills to be paid
-receipts to be filed
-pictures from a recent order that need to be put away
-forms from a recent shoot that need to be filed
-a copy of our wedding vows
-a little piggy bank from my Apples of Gold bible study to remind us to be a good steward over our money
-a spool of ribbon from those fancy little napkin rings I made for Thanksgiving....waiting to be put away
-the phone
-catalogs to go through and throw away
-the video camera
-a wedding invitation
-my christmas list :)
-my to do list (that is currently buried under the mess that needs to be added to my to-do list! LOL!
-a check that need depositing into the bank
-and then just the usual 'desk' stuff
Phew.....I need to tidy up!
But anyway...this is my little spot where I blog from. And about 50% of the time, this is precisely how it looks! :) We're all human, right?! So now I'm going to tag a few of you...if you're willing to play along. (And btw, I still haven't figured out how to type your names and link it directly to your blog, so here's just a list!) Diana...Kelli...Sarah...Kim B. Have fun!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Back to a normal way of life....

Today I am celebrating the fact that my photography work for this season is now COMPLETELY DONE! Yaaaaahooooooooooo! I rushed home while Luke was at school today to cram in as much work as I possibly could in hopes that I might get it all done. And when I pressed (send) on my final order just a little while ago, I literally did a victory dance all around my house! LOL! Its that feeling of relief, accomplishment and exhaustion that I used to feel as I'd walk out of my last final for the semester in college... having studied for hours and days...into the wee hours of the morning or before dawn to get it all done! It has been a long few months for me! Wonderful, but LONG! I am very much looking forward to FULLY being my husband's wife and my kid's mom again! And while I know that I have not just recklessly abandoned them these last couple of months, I can't help but feel as though I have failed to fully be there for them in the ways I strive to and that this hectic lifestyle we've been living for awhile now is...well....too hectic! After all, the whole reason why I stay at home is to make sure my family is and feels that they are my first priorities. I'm not one to enjoy the super-busy, always on the go lifestyle. I like the quieter side of things where there is time to enjoy the simple pleasures of playing with my kids, cooking for them, taking walks, adequately taking care of my responsibilities around the home and to be with friends. And I'm so, so, SO looking forward to getting back to those things! I have learned much these past several months...in my photography...about myself, and about the things that are most important. I am so grateful for those lessons and for the blessings God has laid before me! My photography stuff is wonderful....I love doing it, but it is not my purpose and it is not my goal. Its time to get back to the really good stuff! :)