One Earthy Mama

10 reasons why every young man should be a boy scout...

2009-01-21T01:51:00.008-07:00

I have such faith in this program. It truely has done wonderful things for my son. All of these were taken right before the boys left for their winter campout. They participated in a Mountain Man event. Everything you see... coats, knives, man purses were made by the boys/leaders, and occaissionally a craized mom ;)

Reason #1- You get to wear cool sunglasses!

Reason #2- You get to be a role model to younger children

Reason #3- Leaders who teach with love and patience

Reason #4- Laughter

Reason #5- The weapons, of course!

Reason #6- Friendship that lasts forever

Reason #7- Respect, dignity, and admiration

Reason #8- Clothes that make all the girls swoon!

Reason #9- The man-purse. What could be more manly than a purse!

Reason #10- It will change your life forever.

I literally peed my pants.

2009-01-09T22:12:00.001-07:00

I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard. You MUST read this. Warning: It might not be completely appropriate, but there is no language or anything. Just complete and under hilariousness.

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/05/this-made-me-laugh-til-i-cried.html

My Eagle Scout!

2009-01-01T01:02:00.003-07:00

We are so proud of him! He did it! He finished everything a few months back but we wanted to wait until we could have family (we love you Aunt Karla) come down for his court of honor. The picture above is him right before we left for the court of honor. His green sash is all the merit badges he has earned (minus three I haven't sewn on yet). The white sash symbolizes that he is a member of the order of the arrow, the BSA honor society. I know he isn't supposed to wear them together, but I made him wear them for the picture.

The coolest thing was that he got to choose a mentor. Someone who helped him through everything. Tom did a ton of work, mostly the hands on down and dirty stuff. But he decided that I deserved the mentor pin. I was so honored! He said that without me, there wouldn't be very much on his merit badge sash! That part is true. I am a merit badge nazi. ;)

So just wanted to share our good news!

I love having a girl!

2009-01-01T00:40:00.003-07:00

She is so not girly, but I do have fun anyways. I got her to sit still and put sponge rollers in her hair for our Christmas service at church. I got a cute pic of her when we got home.

These are the "real" Izzy. Binky in mouth, hair gone wild from her pulling a bow out, hand in her shirt babe. Her shirt says "rascal". This is another one I will have to frame.

Christmas Eve...

2008-12-25T01:13:00.005-07:00

Was CRAZY! The kids were absolutely insane. We made it thru though. I am going to post a few pictures from tonight. Then I am going to bed because it is 2:15am and I am sure they will be up soon!

They aren't in any special order. The ones of Zach and Izzy at the computer are them watching Santa travel on the NORDAC tracker. Everytime Santa would move to a new location, Iz would freak out and point at the screen. It was REALLY cute!

Our Family Photos...

2008-12-08T14:46:00.003-07:00

We had our family photos taken by a photog friend of mine and I am so happy with them! She rocks my universe. I don't have the files yet, but I do have a few to share. We went to Highland Park down in Dallas.

Well, we buzzed it.

2008-12-08T14:17:00.002-07:00

I REALLY didn't want to. However, he cut it so close to his head that we had to. I hate it. I can't wait until it grows out. :( I don't think he looks bad, persay. I just hate how he doesn't look like my little boy anymore. He looks old and different. I'm so sad.

So, here is a picture of my two baldies...

Oh. My. Gosh.

2008-12-06T18:48:00.002-07:00

Zach cut off his hair. Tomorrow is family pictures. Need I say more? I seriously lost it screaming at the top of my lungs. Everyone came running thinking someone was seriously injured. Apparently I overreacted. hehe.

The damage:

Earlier today after a haircut yesterday:

Halloween:

I got a haircut!

2008-12-06T10:57:00.002-07:00

We found a fabulous guy named Jason who works at Great clips. He is amazing! I know, I never post pictures of myself, but I had to share the hair. ;)

A very overdue update...

2008-12-04T23:06:00.003-07:00

As you can imagine, life around here is CRAZY! Hence the fact that it has been exactly one month since I posted on here. So for the sake of my sanity, I am going to update the best I can in one post.

Tom's second surgery went well. He ended up staying in the hospital two more days. It did the trick though. He came home on three courses of antibiotics and it seems to have kicked the staph right out. WHEW.

So while we were rejoicing the wonderful news that he was doing better, the bills start coming in. Apparently our great insurance? Not so great. When it is all said and done, we are looking at about $50,000 in bills from this little adventure. We thought we would have to pay $20. Yeah. After 7 calls to our ins company prior to surgery and never getting a straight answer, we figured the worst estimate ($1500) would have to do. Ofcourse that was only one surgery. Apparently we maxed out and had almost no coverage for the second. We are not very happy to say the least.

Then we find out that Tom's estimate of being out of work for a week was jsut "slightly" off. (me rolling eyes) He is out of work completely until the 22nd of December when he goes to see his doc again. There isn't even a guaruntee that he can go back then. So we are looking at at least 2 months of no work for him. Nice.

So there has to be a silver lining, right? Well, it turns out that because our income was $0 when we applied, Tom qualifies for Medicaid for a short period of time. Now all you who believe that anyone who uses "the system" should burn in hell, please keep your mouth shut. It will literally save our butts. Not only will he have proper medical care for the next few months to make sure that things are healed properly, but they will cover 3 months worth of past due medical bills. Yep, the $50k? Gone. PRAISE GOD.

So, just as Tom is getting better, everyone else falls under the bus. Ben got sick first with a terrible cough. After a week and a half, Izzy gets it. Only hers is REALLY bad. She sounds terrible and her chest is retracting every time she breathes. We opted to take her to the ER. We just couldn't tell if she was getting enough air. Now if you know me, you will know how big of a deal it was. I took Zach to the ER one time and it was a nightmare. I have never taken a child since. The only reason I really agreed so quickly was because they just opened a new Children's Hospital. That is a big deal for me. I want someone who knows how to handle a sick kid without tramatizing them and won't over react (Zach had a low grade fever from teething and they sd it was menengitis). So Tom took her in and they were fabulous! She had a chest x-ray to rule out pnuemonia. They were so gentle and loving. Turns out it was just croup. They gave her steriods. We only did three doses before deciding that the psychotic child was better without them. We switched back to homeopathy and she is doing fabulously. I hate steriods. Those things are insane. So Zach now is running a fever of 103 and feeling terribly. After some debate, we decide to treat him and Ben with the same remedies we used last year when they had whooping cough. It did the trick! As of today, everyone was doing pretty good.

Except me. Yesterday I started having stomach cramps that were pretty awful. I was up ALL NIGHT with them. Every 15-20 minutes I would be writhing in agony. Nothing helped. They continued today, although our homepath gave me a remedy this morning that made a huge difference. They were far les painful, spaced out farther and shorter in duration. I am hoping by tomorrow they are gone. It sucked. So I guess Dunk is next. We'll see if he avoids it all!

What else... Well I have been working like crazy. Still not quite as busy as I would like to be, but I have had a steady two sessions a week for a bit now. It brings in a little $$ that certainly helps. Most of my evenings are spent editing 100's of pictures. But overall, I LOVE it. I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I do. So that is a huge blessing. I am hoping I can stay busy. It is easy with Christmas coming. Everyone wants pictures! we'll see what happens after that.

Tom also started working for a company called ACN (www.pier3.acnrep.com) It is full commisions, but he is loving it and hoping it can fill in some of the gaps. He is an authorize dealer for telecommunications companies (direct TV, att, verizon, t-mobil, sprint, viop, etc) He has been busy doing that and is really making some good headway! We are excited about the potential it has for us.

Dunkan is doing great. We got word from BSA head quarters that his eagle was accepted!!!! His eagle court of honor is the night of December 18th and he is super excited. It should be fabulous. I am sooooo proud of him. Tom's sister Karla is coming down for it and it will be great to see her as well.

Oh I just realized that Ben was blessed November 2nd and Tom's best friend from NY and Ben's Namesake got to come down and stand in the circle for the blessing. That was awesome.

What else.... I can't really think of anything at the moment. I am going to try and do better at keeping up, but no promises!

Tom is having another surgery.

2008-11-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up. Tom developed an infection in his wound over the weekend. He saw the doc yesterday. They did labs and an MRI and called last night to say he needed to be at the hospital first thing this morning. Apparently it is staph again. This time they are more concerned because it is in his spinal canal.

He was at the hospital this morning at 10am. I haven't heard anything yet saying he is out of surgery. I will keep everyone posted. They plan to keep him overnight for sure and possibly longer if necessary.

Keep him in your prayers!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T01:10:00.003-06:00

Happy Halloween! We made it (barely) through one more! Yup, my children have an incredible amount of energy and excitement WITHOUT being loaded with sugar. You can only imagine what they are like after handfuls of Halloween candy! WOW!

So, you would think I would learn that inevitably Halloween is hot in Texas. But nope, I plan for it to be cold and then when it hits, it is too hot to wear our costumes. It was a nice 82 degrees this year. Izzy was supposed to be Ladybug but her furry costume wasn't gonna work. I decided last minute to make her a fairy and I loved it. She was so beautiful. Her wings were a scarf from the thrift store wrapped around hangers and I got a ton of compliments on them. They really were beautiful. I don't think she smiled once the whole time. She was quite confused on why we would get candy from cars at church!

My babe...

Benjamin ended up as a bug after a run to the thrift store at 5pm on Halloween. Gotta love it. His costume ended up costing $.50! Woot! I thought it was only appropriate that he be a "Ben Bug" as the kids were calling him.

Dunkan decided to go as a mobster. Doesn't he look grown up. I seriously think he has grown another inch. He also cut his hair. It looks really great. My handsome man.

Zach was going to go as a Ninja. He even had the whole sword set and everything. However, he had dismantaled and taken it all apart a week before Halloween and couldn't find all the peices that night. Good grief. So he wore his karate uniform and took his lightsabor. He was a very confused jedi I guess! It turned out his master (Bro. Jensen!) was there too. You should have seen the look on Zach's face! It was too cute.

And then we went to Costco and Walmart while we waited for Dunk to be ready to be picked up from his party. NEVER take children in costumes grocery shopping all hopped up on sugar past their bedtimes. Needless to say, it was a disaster. We won't do that again next year!

So that was our Halloween! LOL! Pumpkins and Pumkin Patch coming soon!

Jump!

2008-10-26T20:46:00.004-06:00

We played around this afternoon and the kids were having me take pics of them jumping. I wasn't using the right lens and it was dark in the room, but I got a few cute ones. I got some of them just messing around too! Oh and Dunkan declined the offer of having his picture taken while jumping! Can't imagine why? LOL!

One tired girl and no more naps

2008-10-26T20:46:00.003-06:00

Yep, we are trying to get rid of the naps. Not that I don't absolutely love them, I just don't love having her up half the night. So we are trying an expirement. If no napping means she sleeps at night, I am willing to give them up!

So on her third day of no napping, this is where I find her... on the floor with two binkys sound asleep at 5:30pm. I let her sleep for 30 mins because it was so cute. What a doll baby!

My miniature Papa

2008-10-26T20:44:00.002-06:00

For those who know my Papa (my grandpa) you can not deny the resemblence! Ben, with his bald head, ears slightly sticking out and those big blue eyes, looks just like my Papa. It makes me smile everytime I see him and think of my Papa. Miss you, Papa!

Sleeping angels

2008-10-26T20:43:00.003-06:00

Not much more needs to be said. They are so cute snuggled up each night. I love it when they sleep!

State Fair 2008

2008-10-26T20:43:00.001-06:00

coming soon!

Smiles!

2008-10-26T20:42:00.002-06:00

My little man is full of smiles these days. He even laughed out load at dinner the other night. We are thoroughly enjoying him. He is such a doll baby!

My baby girl is 2!

2008-10-26T20:38:00.005-06:00

So Izzy turned 2 this month! I can't believe how fast it goes. We didn't do much in way of a party, but we did do cake and a few gifts while my mom was here. Izzy got some fall/winter clothes, a new doll and a really cool microwave! She seemed very happy about it all.

And ofcourse, some pics! I was holding a baby and shooting in auto with a flash, so sorry about the quality. Bleh!

Oh the dust!

2008-10-26T20:38:00.004-06:00

So my mom came to visit and noticed how dusty our house is. Yes, I am a bad housekeeper. Well it turned out that it wasn't my housekeeping, but my vents and air ducts! She offered to pay to have them cleaned. It cost her $300 in Seattle and it turned out to be $89.99 here and it was the same treatment! Woot!

So the very nice man who came said this was the worst he had seen in 15 years of business. It was REALLY bad. Turns out we had mold too. No wonder everyone couldn't breathe. So they cleaned it all out and cleaned all our vents too. i don't have after pics yet, but here are the befores! YUCK!!

FW Zoo

2008-10-26T20:37:00.000-06:00

coming soon!

Tom's back surgery

2008-10-26T20:36:00.003-06:00

So about three weeks ago, Tom woke up on Sunday morning and could barely stand. We had been putting off surgery for quite some time due to the cost. Well it turned out that most of it was covered. So we went ahead and scheduled it. He went in last Monday. The surgery went well. The did a discectomy in L5-S1. They said that it had been out for a VERY loong time and was very difficult to get out. But overall the surgery went well.

He is recovering well. He has a tendency to do too much though and then hurts at night. We're working on that! Here's hoping this is the end! It would be nice if he didn't have to have any more surgeries.

My mom came to visit!

2008-10-26T20:36:00.002-06:00

coming soon!

It's done!

2008-10-25T21:34:00.000-06:00

So I decided to try out a flash palette for my web design for my photography biz. Good grief!! They were far more complicated than I thought, but I am very pleased with the results. It is finally finished. I am testing the trial version right now and will for about a month, I think. I want to see how easily people navigate thru it and how easily I can manage it before I make the leap. So, please feel free to leave me feedback! I would love to know what you think!

www.earthmamaphotography.com

Back in the game sooner this time!

2008-10-08T13:16:00.002-06:00

After some discussion about our current finances and our plan to start our own company this spring, Tom and I decided that I should go back to taking births sooner that previously planned! I am excited and a little nervous at the same time. I usually wait till the babe is 1. Ben will only be 4 months. Scary!

So, I am currently planning on accepting births (both Doula and Photography) as of January. I am doing maternity, newborn and family photography sessions now ofcourse. So if you know anyone interested, spread the word!

Are you sick of them yet?

2008-10-07T14:37:00.003-06:00

Playing around with my little model! He is getting so big! At our appt last week (at 3 wks old) he was 10lbs 2oz!! almost 3 lbs in 3 wks. Anyway, here are the latest...

Hot Air Balloons!

2008-09-27T23:22:00.002-06:00

Well the Plano Balloon Festival came again. We didn't go as it is kind of expensive. We usually go to the Balloon breakfast at the Black's, but Tom had to work and the kids were completely exhausted. There was no way I was dragging them to breakfast at 6:30 in the morning.

We did have some balloons go directly over our house this year though. The kids were walking the dogs when they saw them. Dunkan caught a few pictures... and good ones too, I thought! Way to go Dunk!

The roof of our house...
My Fav pic...

Ben's First Bath

2008-09-27T22:28:00.002-06:00

Well, I wanted to wait at least a week to bathe him for the first time. Instead, we waited two! He was finally needing one, so he got his first bath at two weeks old. He did great and seemed to enjoy it. The pics are a bit blurry since the two littles were trying to get in and see him too. He was quite the popular bather!

More sweet baby!

2008-09-27T22:04:00.002-06:00

Just some cute pictures of the babe! I especially love the one of Tom sleeping with him. THey were so cute!

We went to Family Camp!

2008-09-27T22:03:00.003-06:00

Well, we went to Family Camp this last week for the 3rd year. We went back to Lake Bistineau in Louisiana. It was alot of fun, although we were disappointed to get there and see they had taken out the playground and tree swing. That was a bummer. The lake had also been lowered, so no boating. We still had fun though.

We crocheted, played games, ate food, went on walks, fished, played baseball, ate, crocheted, slept, had a campfire, went snipe hunting, ate, slept. Well, you get the idea! My kids were disgustingly filthy at the end of every day. They were exceptionally tired. But overall, I think they had a blast.

I ended up getting a bad case of mastitis on Wednesday and spent the whole day dying in bed. A call to our homeopath, a long day of nursing, some pumping, some pain meds, a blessing and lots of sleep all did the trick and I was up again on Thursday, sore, but doing better. Man that stuff kicks you in the pants!

I have a TON of pics but don't have the energy to edit them all right now, so they will come soon. I promise!

Oh and Ben did better than expected. He was great for the car ride, was happy to be held by a million people and overall a cheerful baby! YEAH! Now to wait another year to go again.

Tom won a trip to the NHRA Fall Nationals!

2008-09-27T22:02:00.009-06:00

Tom buys all of his gas for his work truck at Tetco. They have a rewards programs and he will win things from time to time. A carton of milk, a bag of chips, etc. Well, last week he got a call saying he had won a four day pass to the NHRA which is drag racing. He went on Wednesday afternoon with a friend to actually drive a dragster ont he track. They were fully catered to and got to see the "insides" of everything. Unfortunetely, the track had some issues and he didn't get to drive, so instead he got a third ticket to go on a different day. Here are some of Tom on the track...

On Sunday (I know... they were Sabbath breakers!) Tom took Dunkan and Zach down to watch the races. What we didn't know though is how loud the regular drag cars were. They shook your whole body, set off car alarms, and were VERY loud. Here is a picture of Zach very scared. They ended up not staying for long because he was so scared.

The boys standing in the crowd. They had pit passes which meant they were right in the action. They got autographs and cool samples of stuff. That part was fun!

The flags flying on a gorgeous Texas day...

Izzy's Fall

2008-09-27T22:02:00.008-06:00

I was watching a friends little girl the other day and she was being so helpful watching Izzy. Well, Izzy got up onto the kitchen counter. She does this all the time and she will either climb down or wait for us to find her and get her down.

Well, the little girl visiting thought she would help and told Izzy to jump down and she would catch her! I don't think she realized how big Izzy really was and her 6 yr old frame couldn't catch her.

Izzy's face hit the tile floor. It wasn't pretty. It was a very loud thud followed but her crying. It was 15 seconds before I got to her and the bump was already the size of a golf ball and bruising. Poor baby. Here is a picture about 10 minutes after it happened. The bump is covered in arnica cream.

While at camp this last week, we noticed that her eyes were black and blue as well. Turns out she must have hit her whole face. Both eyes and the sides of her temples had brusing. She is one tough cookie! Here is the best pic I could get. She didn't want to hold still.

If only it taught her to stay off the counters. Sigh.

My gift

2008-09-27T22:02:00.006-06:00

These are the beautiful roses that Tom got me when Benjamin was born. Unfortunetely, I didn't get a pic of them right away, so they are starting to go quickly. Thought I would share how beautiful they were though!

My Birth Photography by Chantel Hayes

2008-09-08T23:03:00.005-06:00

My photos are done! My absolutely wonderful girlfriend who did my maternity photos also photographed my birth. She has done birth photography before and was taking a sabatical... I brought her back! This was the first time we had a professional do the birth and I am SO thrilled with how they turned out. You can find Chantel Hayes at cnhblog.blogspot.com.

Amazingly, I loved them in color. The lighting was perfect and there were so many bright and beautiful colors that I almost left them in color. But alas, I didn't. I may still go back and post some in color so you can see, but the slideshow is in black and white.

So I had chosen my music forever ago and have been working on everyone else's slideshows waiting anxiously to do mine. It is done! So for those not faint of heart, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: There aren't any "yucky" shots. There is however bare belly, shoulders, some nursing shots, and, ofcourse, my double chin. If this makes you uncomfortable... don't watch it! I tried to edit as best I could, but that chin was pretty stubborn. LOL!

If you are good with all that, enjoy the miracle of birth.

REMEMBER TO PAUSE THE BLOG MUSIC BELOW (it is in the right column)

More!

2008-09-06T21:32:00.003-06:00

I can't help myself... I love having my very own model to practice on at home! I am sure you will get sick of them as I build my portfolio! LOL!

I even caught a smile... at 4 days old!

Sadly, he did not get my feet. So far Zach is the only one blessed with them. All the other kiddos get these monsterously long and skinny things...

A few more pictures!

2008-09-05T12:54:00.001-06:00

I took just a handful of newborn photos today. I only had a few minutes before he was very unhappy with me, but I promise, more are coming! So here are two that I got while he was happy... Isn't he beautiful!

Ben has made his arrival!!!!!!!

2008-09-04T13:39:00.009-06:00

I want to start off by saying this is Thomas. I have never posted on Elizabeth's blog so some of you may not know me. Lets just say I am the husband of the embodiment of love, beauty and strength. I am going to be brief but I want to put my spin on the birth of our 4th child Benjamin Warren Boyce on Sept 2nd, 2008 at 6:55pm. He was born at home surronded by people who loved him even before they meet him. I am going to borrow a phrase from a very special person- " Born at home, never touched by a stranger".

The same special person, who goes by the name of Kristine, wrote an amazing letter to Elizabeth and I am going to share part of it, the letter touched me more deeply then she will ever know.

"I kept flashing back to Jennifer Block stating something along the lines of birth being backbreaking, humble work and this is not medicine, this is BIRTH. I thought this over and over as Elizabeth was leaning into Pam who was supported by Tom with Vonette on one side and me on the other breaking her back from the pressure she needed and sweet little Dinah on the floor, on her back with her hand pushing back the cervix…perilously close to being drowned by amniotic fluid at any moment. What doctor would have done this for Elizabeth? What hospital would have allowed this primal scene to take place as it unfolded with the perfectness that this birth needed it to be?"

I am including some pics for the world to see, Elizabeth will come on and add more when she is feeling up to it. One last thing- to everyone who has been a part of this from helping with the other kids, to those who have brought meals, and just called to say congrats, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Yep... it is September and I am still pregnant.

2008-09-01T20:01:00.002-06:00

Just in case you are like one of the many who thinks I had a baby and didn't tell you! LOL! I am still pregnant!

I have actually had pretty strong contraction this weekend. They are still irregular though. I am hoping this means he will make his appearance soon!

We are doing great health wise. No issues. He is moving a ton and really active and I feel great. Just tired. Even my swelling has gone away! Yeah for that!

If I haven't had him by tomorrow then I call my midwife to schedule another sono for either tomorrow or for wednedsay. We are just checking to make sure he is still doing great! I may also consider going to see the acupuncturist this week to try and get labor going. I have done massage, chiropractic, a few herbs, homeopathy, belly dancing, mexican food, and some "other" things (wink, wink) with no real results. I hate to push the kid out if he isn't ready, so I am trying to just be patient.

So, I promise, when I have him, there will be a big post here that says he has arrived. When in doubt, check here. I will probably send out a mass email too, just to cover my basis.

On an ironic note, enrichment night at church is tomorrow night. I went when I was overdue with Isabel and it drove everyone nuts. I think it is hilarious that I will most likely be there tomorrow night, once again, overdue! LOL! Oh and everyone I know who was due AFTER me, has already had their baby. I guess I have to be next. There is no one else to have a baby!

Ok, off to bed.

No baby yet... Looking to September!

2008-08-27T11:24:00.002-06:00

We had our Sono today and our little man looks great! I am almost 42 weeks according to our guesses, but he was only measuring 39wks. He is just a slow cooker!

But oh boy is he cute! We could see his face and hands and feet and what a doll he is. He was sucking on his big ol'e toe!

So his fluid levels, movement, breathing, heart rate, etc were all just perfect! So now we wait. I would be surprised if he comes before September. Everyone can stop panicking everytime I call!

I will try and get the sono pictures posted in a bit... when the kiddos who are out stop whining.

Pregnancy Photos!

2008-08-24T19:32:00.004-06:00

I did two sessions. One with the Family (Thanks Bianca!) and one with just me (Thanks Chantel!). I will admit the one by myself was a lot more relaxing, but I do love having Tom and the kids in the other photos.

So without further ado, here are some samples!

With the family...

By myself...

(This one is my FAV!)

Bleh.

2008-08-17T20:54:00.003-06:00

For all of you who were excitedly thinking I had a baby... no luck. Instead I am sick. Blah. Yep, those last few days of not feeling well, were me actually not feeling well. It is like the flu, only I haven't thrown up, thank goodness. However, I am dehydrated from the "other" symptom and seem to be causing some great contractions! Let me tell you contractions and an upset stomach do NOT go well together.

So, I will keep everyone posted, but I doubt this kid is coming anytime soon.

Maybe?

2008-08-16T19:21:00.002-06:00

Well, I kept telling everyone all week long that I wanted to make it to Sunday and have this baby then. I had three due dates. The first was based on LMP and my sonos and was last Tuesday, August 12th. The next was the one my midwife gave me, August 16th. Then I had figured my own early on and it was August 17th. So depending on how you look at, I am right around 40 weeks.

So you all read my previous post. This weekend has made up for it. Tom and I went away last night. It was so nice! We went to the Hyatt and stayed in a beautiful room and I soaked in a bathtub half the night and we slept til 10am this morning. Ahhhh. The kids did fantastically and even slept through the night at Dee's house. Dunk stayed at Aarons. THANKS EVERYONE!

Then this evening we went and did Maternity photos. I kept putting it off and putting it off. Not sure why, but a lovely mama from one of my local boards offered to do them for me. I obviously don't have any yet, but will share when I do!

So, I think everything is ready! I am finished working, have all my stuff, had my night out, did my maternity photos, etc! Let's have a baby.

Interestingly enough, I started feeling pretty miserable yesterday. Huge, sore, stomach off. I am hoping it is a precurser to labor. Tonight is yucky too. I haven't had any appetite and have visited the throne many times. About an hour ago my contractions started picking up a little and we REALLY painful when this little man would move during one. That wasn't fun.

So I am off to make some peanut butter balls. They sound yummy. I would laugh if this kid actually came when I told him too! Say a prayer!

Yesterday stunk.

2008-08-09T09:12:00.002-06:00

I had a crappy, emotional, bad day yesterday. Why, you ask? So many reasons!

First off, I obviously never posted about my car accident. 18 days ago, I was driving in Dallas with the two little ones. I was lost and trying to figure out where I was going. I was behind this huge semi truck and couldn't see anything, so after crossing thru an intersection, I went to change lanes. Well, there was a small car in my blind spot and I ended up hitting her. Thankfully we were only going about 20 miles per hour and it didn't seem to do much damage. It was my fault though.

So our ins. has been awesome! They have just been great about everything. Our rate will go up a little (about $15) but they have been quick and effecient. For the most part we were happy with Service King in the repair... until yesterday! We finally got the call saying our car was done (about $5000 in damage-yuck) and we went over to pick it up. Now my advice is to never leave fast food in a car for 17 days in triple digit heat. Had I known I would get into an accident, I would have cleaned it out first!

Anyway, we get the car and start driving home. It quickly becomes apparent that it is NOT fixed. The alignment is HORRIFIC. If you let go of the steering wheel for even a second the car swerves dangerously to the left. I was so not happy. Tom took it back in this morning and we now have a rental again. NOT HAPPY.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Tom and I were supposed to have a night away yesterday night. We had a girlfriend coming to sleep at the house with the kiddos and we were going to a hotel and going to sleep ALL. NIGHT. Then yesterday morning Zach woke up throwing up. Yep. I felt bad for the poor kiddo, cause he didn't feel well, but I was seriously annoyed that we weren't going to get to go. At least I never paid for the hotel room. Now I have to wait another week to have this baby so we have a chance to go next weekend. Sigh.

Tom paid a bill he wasn't supposed to. He was trying to be helpful, bless him, but he didn't consult the budget sheet like he was supposed to first. His doctor told him he would probably need surgery on his back again. His new prescription was $300 (GAG! We're not filling it.) I had to pay for extra gas for the stinkin car rental. Tom didn't end up getting any work yesterday which means will be short for paying bills. My best friend is in Mexico and I couldn't even call her to cry about it all.

The list goes on. I was so emotional and cried the whole afternoon. I hate days like that. I know none of it is really life shattering. It just felt like a lot of disappointment in one day for one very hot and pregnant mama.

So pray that this baby waits so I get another shot at a night out with my hubby. I need it.

No baby yet and MAN is it hot.

2008-08-01T21:16:00.003-06:00

I think the title says it all! I am now 38 wks and feeling very large and uncomfortable. Sleeping fine, but having a ton of contractions that make me very cranky. I am so cranky, even I don't want to be around me! I think everyone will be glad with Benjamin makes his appearance.

I think we are almost ready! I have all my supplies, the pool, etc ready for the birth. We have our doula and birth photographers on stand by and my homeopath is also planning on coming. It will make for a full house, I am sure! We have pretty much worked out the details and are excited for it to arrive! I still want to have maternity photos taken and need to make my frozen meals, but otherwise, most of my stuff is taken care of! I have some work left to do still and am trying to take care of those loose ends, but I am making great progress!

It has been terribly hot. We have had triple digits for most of the month and it is getting old. I would love for it to cool down, but alas, we do live in Texas.

Baby B seems fine. He is head down and ofcourse posterior (facing the wrong way) which is how Zach and Isabel were born. It will probably make for a longer, harder labor, but at least I know I can birth them that way! I am not too swollen, in fact it has gone down alot in the last week. My blood pressure is a little high 124/90 but not terrible considering I am pretty stressed out and not really resting. Slap on my hand, I know.

So since the last time I took a belly shot, I was 11 wks along, I figured it was probably time! This is me at 38 wks exactly. I took it in a mirror, so sorry for the quality! Amazing what a little photoshop can do! I honestly don't think I look that big, but Tom and Dunk both swear this is my biggest belly ever. I am measuring pretty small (only 33.5 cm instead of 38cm) but I am carrying him completely out front, which probably makes it worse.

So enjoy! I will post maternity photos as soon as I get them!

Cloth!!!!

2008-08-01T13:10:00.005-06:00

WOOHOO!!! I recently ordered some things from an awesome work at home mom. Since I have this little baby coming soon and needed some more mama cloth. I was searching on diaperswappers for some and came accross a mom that not only made those, but cloth cleaning supplies as well.

I was so excited! Tom finally talked me into getting a swiffer sweeper which he LOVES. However, they are so expensive and wasteful to keep using. It was killing me! So I found this lovely mama who makes reusable cloth pads for swiffer sweepers. I was thrilled.

So I placed my order... I ordered 4 mama pads, a little zipper bag to keep them in my purse, two sweeper cloths, and one mopper cloth. The mom making them had a death in the family, so it took a little longer to get here, but as a thank you for waiting, she included an extra liner pad and some peppermint bath soak! Woot!

So, I know you are all dying to see pics. I am just so impressed with her workmanship and quality. I am soooo picky about what I want and these are better than I expected! I love them! Kuddos to Kim Lingerfeldt of All Things Cloth. You can purchase her stuff at www.allthingscloth.com and I highly recommend that you do!

The Mama Pads:

My wet bag for my purse:
A sweeper in action:
The other sweeper and my mopper pretty side up:
The grabby side up:

Zach's 4th Birthday Party

2008-07-14T21:23:00.004-06:00

We had another BBQ at our house and this time we celebrated Zach's 4th birthday. He was so cute! I think this was the first year that he actually could anticipate a party, gifts, etc. He had a great time and could hardly sleep that night because he was so excited about everything he got to do.

As always, so pics of the event. BTW, spiderman cakes are exceptionally difficult to make, so no comments about my plastic stand-in!

4th of July

2008-07-14T20:37:00.005-06:00

Well, I wasn't there for the 4th. I had a client go into labor and so we had the kids do a few sparklers that morning before I left and then Tom took over duties. My clients baby was born at 9:06pm just as the fireworks shows were all going off around town. I was home in time to put kids to bed. Great day!

So Tom ended up cleaning the whole house and then hosting the big BBQ we had. Poor guy! His only day off and I abandon him with kids, cleaning and cooking. I think he had fun anyway. So here are the few pics I took before I left. My girlfriend Jen took some at the fireworks show since I wasn't there. THANKS JEN!! Enjoy and I hope your fourth was fantastic!

Melted plastic and matches, anyone?

2008-07-13T01:34:00.002-06:00

All in one day. And I am sure you can guess who was involved. Yep, Zach. We were cleaning out Dunk's room while he was at EFY and Izzy was sleeping. Zach had been playing legos quietly on the floor. I happened to turn around just as he held up a lit match. Flames! Apparently Dunk had left his match kit for scouts out. Zach got it open, found the striker pad and lit the match. Ofcourse once it was on fire, he dropped it burning onto my carpet! It didn't do any damage and I blew it right out, but can you imagine! We had a long talk about fire safety after that.

Well, as if that weren't enough.

That evening, Tom got home from work and set his big plastic cooler on the counter next the stove. We were on the couch chatting about what needed to be done that evening. Zach went into the kitchen to get a snack out of the cupboard. Tom hollered for him to get down and he trotted out shortly after.

What we didn't know at the time was that he had moved Tom's plastic cooler to the stove so he could reach the cupboard. That wouldn't be an issue normally, except that the knob to the stove was actually on the stove. We normally keep them up to prevent the kids from turning on the stove. Apparently when Zach climbed up he sat on the knob and turned the stove on.

A few minutes go by and Tom sees white smoke pouring from the kitchen. I took the babies out front as soon as we realized it was plastic. Tom had to get his respirator from his truck because the few minutes he was in there trying to get it taken care of made him sick. It didn't catch on fire, thankfully, but it did melt the entire cooler all over our stove. I can't imagine if Tom hadn't been home. It would have been bad, especially because I didn't know that fumes from melted plastic was a very poisonous thing. Thank goodness. He rocks.

Poor Zach was very upset. We weren't mad at him, because it truly was an accident, but he kept saying how sorry he was. He was also very concerned that his dad was "dying" inside the house because it was on fire. I can only hope he learned a lesson that day!

On the funny side, we had his birthday party today (I know... bad mom for making it a month after his real b-day) and some friends of ours gave him a smoke detector! We all got a great laugh out of it and joked that maybe we should just find a way to attach it directly to him!

So for now, I still hold the record of being the only one to REALLY catch our house on fire. Thank goodness... I have to hold the record for something around here!

There once was one... now there are two.

2008-07-13T01:31:00.003-06:00

Children who can climb on my counters, that is. Izzy can now get on all our counters, in sinks, on dressers, you name it. She is driving me CRAZY!!!! Her infatuation is with water, so most of the time she climbs to sinks, turns the water on full blast and plays in it. Thankfully the water running gives her away and she doesn't get to do it for long. However, she can throw a monster fit when she wants to. And, ofcourse, everytime she has to get down, that is what she does! Screaming and crying. She waits till you walk away, turns around and gets right back up. Sometimes I wish she didn't spend so much time with Zach and that she wasn't such a quick learner. Man alive!

Almost time!

2008-07-09T21:30:00.003-06:00

We are getting close to Benjamin arriving! I am about 35 weeks... which means only 5-7 wks to go! In theory, he could come as early as 1 week, but knowing my luck, that just won't happen. LOL!

We are getting ready for the birth. I got my supply list from my midwife and we are slowing buying the things we need. We are still deciding on whether to rent a pool or to just buy one. They aren't really very expensive (about $100), but I am quickly getting to crunch time and need to order soon if I am going to.

I emailed the birth photographer and still need to have my maternity photos done. I feel like I have put off this stuff for too long! I still have one more client who needs to have her baby before I can really relax and concentrate on my baby. Funny how that works.

I have been a crazy nesting lady too. I haven't cared a lick about my house for 8 mths and all of a sudden I looked around and it was disasterous! I have gone crazy cleaning and sorting and my garage is full of stuff for the garage sale we intend to have in a week and a half. WOOT! Can't wait to purge.

I should be posting belly pics. I just haven't had the time to take any. My belly is getting big, but not as big as I would expect. Who knows. He is just growing at him own rate.

So, that is about it for my baby... we are all looking forward to meeting him soon!

Dunkan and High Adventure

2008-07-09T21:14:00.003-06:00

So my poor baby had quite a trip! Dunkan went on High Adventure with his Scout troop. They went to Possom Kingdom Lake and went rock climbing, then they took canoes down the Brazos river for 3 days, then came back to PK lake and spent the day water-skiing and tubing. It was quite a trip!

First off, they could only pack enough to fit in a 5 gallon bucket. This meant clothing, toiletries, TP, sleeping stuff, etc. Food was packed seperately. This way if their canoes tipped, everything stayed safe. Apparently alot of boys brought sleeping bags or mats that were out of their bucket. Dunk followed the rules and didn't but wished he had. He took a queen size sheet and a small blow up air pillow to sleep on.

If you know my babe, you know that he burns VERY easily. His red hair and fair skin are not a great combination for a canoe trip. We bought the top notch sunblock... 50 spf, waterproof, sweatproof, lasts 8 hours. It is good stuff. Apparently, the first day of the trip, he set it on his pack and forgot it when they moved camp. Being the dilligent good kid that he is, he applied sunblock borrowed from a friend several times a day. The sunblock... NO AD. BLEH! That stuff is worthless! It wasn't even waterproof. Needless to say the burns were bad. His arms were the worst. They had blistered and then popped and were full of puss. He had tiny blisters covering his arms, legs, feet, neck and face. Here are some pics, but the lighting is terrible and it doesn't look that bad. He is covered in a salve, so that is the white on his face.

As if it wasn't bad enough, the next evening he finally showered in a cool/warm shower. Later that night he came in to say that he had a few bug bites that were bugging him. I told him to put Tea tree oil on them and see if that helped. In the morning he said he had a little rash. He pulled up his pant leg to show me and the poor kids was covered in hives! Little rash... whatever! A little digging determined it was poison ivy. Unfortunetely, it can take up to 4-6 days from the time you are exposed to the time it appears. The shower didn't help it either. By midday, it was over his entire body... arms, legs, back, face, neck, etc. Our wonderful homeopath, Vonette, got him on some great remedies and he was feeling significantly better within 24 hours. Withing 48 hours, it was almost completely gone and his sunburn was nearly gone as well. Man I LOVE HOMEOPATHY!!! Nothing else even compares to working that well.

So, needless to say, he had quite a trip. He said he still had a great time. He figured out how strong he actually was because he didn't have any muscle soreness at all and most of the guys were sore after the first day. His physical fittness merit badge really helped! I will admit, he is getting quite strong!

Catching up... Tom and work

2008-07-09T21:07:00.003-06:00

I have been so busy this month... it has slipped away!

Thought I would update everyone on Tom's work situation. He did not get the job with Meyers and after FINALLY getting ahold of them, it seems to be the best thing.

He is working at Home Depot on the freight team M-F from 4am-8am. They pay reasonably and we get Full benefits for the whole family. Medical, Dental, Vision, Short term disability, and 401K for all of us with no yearly deductibles thru United Health Care for $275 a MONTH! Isn't that amazing! We are so thrilled.

Then he heads straight to Little Giant Bee Company. He is working there killing bees. He basically drives all over the metroplex (about 200 miles a DAY) killing bees. Ofcourse, he is crazy and loves it. It is hot though, especially in a bee suit. He starts at 8am and then gets off between 6 and 8pm. He is literally exhausted. He is doing the bee stuff M-Sat and thankfully has Sunday off for Church.

He then comes home, showers, scarfs down leftovers from the dinner he just missed, helps get kids ready for bed and crashes. Then he gets up and starts all over again at 3am the next day.

He is amazing. He works so hard for us. I know it is difficult to keep this pace. I just hope we can find a job that will give us benefits and great pay so he doesn't have to do this forever. What a man. We are proud of him, even if it is hard to never see him!

Keep him in your prayers!

I entered the baby wearing contest!

2008-06-30T21:52:00.001-06:00

Let's hope I win!!!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

That's how I feel too.

2008-06-08T23:16:00.002-06:00

Well, I had an 11 hour birth that I got home from at 3am. I was wiped. Well, Tom had gotten the kids to bed around 9:30pm and Izzy woke up crying around 2:30am. Well her crying woke up Zach and they both realized I wasn't home. This meant they needed to cry more. Poor Tom was so frustrated. Thankfully, I was already heading home. So by the time I got changed, cleaned up and into bed, it was 4am. They fussed and moved around and kept waking each other up until about 5am. Yuck. Then Tom came in and woke them both up at 8am (two hours earlier than they normally would get up) for church. Neither of them were very happy about it. Dunkan had been gone to teen conference and was just as tired.

So after church, Dunkan went to bed around 1:15pm. Izzy was asleep by 2pm and Zach "wasn't taking a nap!" I was too tired to fight him. So I made Zach a bowl of pasta and he sat in the family room to eat. I noticed it was quiet. I turned around to find this...

Well, I figured I would lie down for a few, too. It was already 3:30pm and figured Izzy would be awake anytime. Well, she woke me up alright... at 5pm!! I couldn't believe we all slept that long! Dunkan was still sound asleep and I had to go in and wake him, poor kiddo.

So, yeah. I totally understand Zach. I could have slept on the floor too.

Our season pass to the pool...

2008-05-28T21:09:00.002-06:00

Yep... our pool is finally set up! Since it was August last summer, we figured we would get a head start and we have already used it a ton. Thanks mom!

So I thought I would share some photos of my babies. They were all out there swimming the other evening while I got eated by mosquitos. Grrr. I hate them and they love me.

Dunkan and Izzy smiling

Izzy being a ham...
Izzy being a ham 2...
I just loved this one look at their tongues!
This one turned out cool... he was popping out of the water and smiled at me. He is totally covered in water too.
This was so funny. Izzy tried to climb out of the pool. She didn't want to get out, just play on the ladder. She went to climb out a second time and Dunkan says to her, "No Izzy." and she starts bawling like this! Then he says, "Yes Izzy." and she starts laughing! He did it few times and she reacted the exact same way. Now that is manipulation!
Izzy kicking with Dunkan's help...
"Look ma... no hands!"
On her brother's shoulders...
Zach falling back into the water off the ladder...

Well, that was easy!

2008-05-28T21:04:00.002-06:00

I know I mentioned in a previous post that Isabel was using the potty. It seems to have stuck! I will admit that I am a bit surprised. She hasn't had an accident in a few days and does both pee and poop on the potty without any promptings at all. Seriously! Yesterday, she had on a diaper and a cover since we had been out running errands (it still scares me to put her in panties) and she comes running to me naked. She is yelling "I pooooo'ed!" and sure enough, she had taken off the cover and the diaper and had gone pee and poop in her potty. Well all be darn'ed.

So we are now trying to guage her sleeping time. The trick is that she pees as soon as she wakes up, so if we get the diaper off her asap, she will sleep dry too. Interestingly, she seems to be sleeping better as well, although that was the case when Zach potty learned as well. I suppose it isn't comfortable sleeping in your own pee.

So that is her exciting news of the week! I'm not holding my breath that it will stick, so we'll just see. We may have some new baby regression. I'll keep you all posted as I am sure you are waiting on the edge of your toilet seats! LOL!

Tom's Fishing Trip...

2008-05-28T21:00:00.002-06:00

Tom went with a friend to do some work a couple hours away. In exchange they got to stay in a cabin and fish in their lake! He loved it ofcourse. They also tried hog hunting... in the rain! No hogs! They ofcourse didn't have cell service, so I didn't get the daily updates, but they worked and fished and then fished some more! In a couple of hours they were able to catch upwards of 40 fish a piece and big ones too! They were just doing catch and release, but still had a blast. They both agreed that it has spoiled them. Poor babies!

Here is a cute picture. There is video coming apparently!

Tom's Job update...

2008-05-28T00:44:00.002-06:00

So we have been going crazy with interviews! Finally! Interestingly enough, I know why.

Around here, I do the budgeting and balance the checkbook. Tom is the one that actually writes out checks and pays the bills. So the other day I am trying to figure out why there is so much money in our account and I find a stack of tithing checks! Like 3 months of them!! I gave him grief for that one. It doesn't count if you aren't actually paying it! LOL! So we sent in a big ole stack. I am sure our bishopric wasn't thrilled to process those.

However, a week later, Tom has 3 interviews! Right now he has taken a job at Home Depot working the 4am-8am shift. It was all they had and the benefits rock, he just only works 20 hours a week. He also took a job managing a kiosk at Stonebriar Mall. The owner is LDS and we are currently working out a possible partnership. Tom is thrilled with that possibility. I personally don't know much, but we are supposed to all meet this week and hammer out the details. So he is working there 30 hours a week.

He interviewed for a commercial sales position with Myers Pest Control and we still haven't heard anything. Tom knows the owners and was pretty confident that it went well. WE just know things always take longer than they say it will. He would work a normal weekday shift there. He would get a company car (YEAH!), gas card, medical, dental and vision benefits and it pays very well. If he gets this position, he will quit the Home Depot job, but keep the mall job. It will be insane if he is working 70-80 hours a week, but we will be able to get ourselves back on track much more quickly. I really want to finally pay off some things, like student loans! Go Dave Ramsey!

So he has been busy. The gas is killing us. We are filling up our tank almost 3 times a week. Ouch! It costs $70 a pop. If he doesn't get a job with a company car soon, we have talked about him getting a motorcycle. As much as I hate them, I don't see any other solution that would allow him to commute so much and have us not go flat broke again. We are waiting til we here for sure on the Myers job though.

So, keep praying! We know there is a reason for this crazy year and we have to have faith that things are moving forward and what will be, will be. We appreciate everyone's love and support!

Field Day...

2008-05-23T23:43:00.004-06:00

Today was field day for our homeschool group! Tom ended up taking Dunkan and Zach since I couldn't walk and I kept Isabel. It just seemed easier than having to chase after her. The kids had a blast. It was pioneer theme and they even came home with awards! Dunkan with a 2nd place ribbon and Zach with a medal! Here are some cute pics taken by Tom!

Dunkan and a buddy laughing at something...

Zach ready for the potato sack race...
Zach's group on the line ready to race...
Dunkan watching a friend work on a knot...
Zach climbing the rock wall. He gave up on the last two activities. This was 8 ft tall!
Holding up his medal at the park...

Testing out my new camera lens... Zach holding the medal and I set it so he would blur in the background. It worked!

I just wish I could have gone to enjoy the heat and humidity, I mean fun!

OUCH!!

2008-05-23T23:29:00.003-06:00

So I had a birth that lasted 36 hours and when I left, she still hadn't had her baby. Whew. I was exhausted. Unfortunetly, that isn't why I left! After only the first 30 minutes of being at the birth, I managed to step wrong off the handicap ramp and seriously injured my ankle. Had I not been with a mom in labor, I would have passed out from the pain. I thought I would die. It was swelling badly and continued to hurt terribly as I hoped around the birth center all night. Tom brought me an ace bandage in the morning and insisted that I get an x-ray later. I said it was dumb! I didn't want to waste my time in the Er and have them say, "ice it." So around 11:30am, my client goes to see the acupuncturist to get her ctx stronger. He also happens to be a chiropractor. I had told Tom I would just call ours, but this one offered to look at my ankle. He had previously worked at a local hospitals injury clinic. He took one look and said, "OH! That is bad!" He felt around (ouch!) and said there was a good chance I fractured or broke something. He also suggested that even some sprains need special care and I should definetely get it x-rayed. Sigh. Fine.

So my client ended up going from the Birth center to the hospital. When we transported, I had the midwife drop me off in the ER and they headed to labor and delivery. I told them I would meet them up there. A few hours later, I did! No major breaks, but they could really tell if I had any small fractures from the x-ray. They molded a splint to my calf, ankle and foot and wrapped me all up. They said I needed to go see an orthopaedist asap to have it all checked out. Good grief. They also gave me crutches. Do you know what it is like using crutches 7 mths pregnant? IMPOSSIBLE!!! I have given up on them and am hobbling around. I was going to kill myself on them. I went home soon after as I was more hazard in the labor room then help with my big old self.

So want to see pictures? These are tonight, 48 hours after the initial injury. Swelling has gone down a TON! It was 3x this size yesterday. You can't see the bruising well in teh pics because of the light, but I pointed it out.

All bandaged up...

The good foot for comparison in swelling...

The bad foot...
Side view...
The inside of my foot. I couldn't believe it bruised on this side too! WOW!

Public Service Announcement: This is your foot. This is your foot on pregnancy hormones after falling. Any questions?

The Joy of being a little sister...

2008-05-20T22:21:00.002-06:00

to Zachary! Poor thing. This is the result of a hose in the hands of a 3.5 yr old. Thankfully she survived! LOL! For what it is worth, Dunkan is right in front of her and she is diving into him to be saved. Dunk saves the day!

Benjamin's Quilt!

2008-05-19T23:44:00.004-06:00

Look at what we got in the mail today! Tom's mom quilts and does a beautiful job. She made Benjamin (yes, he has a name now!) a quilt. It is beautiful. I forgot to take a picture of the back, which is a fun light blue color with colorful doggies and cats. So cute! I am not exactly sure what size it is. It looks like it is bigger than a crib size, but not big enough for a twin. Plenty big enough for a baby though! I am sure he will love it... now to find a place to display it for now!

Oh and the picture of Tom is him smelling the blanket. He thought it smelled just like "mom's house" when it arrived. He is so funny!

My boys...

2008-05-18T23:39:00.002-06:00

I just love them! I have so many pictures that I haven't had a chance to work on, so I thought I would get some of them done. The first two are at the same place as Dunkan's photo shoot in Ennis. I was telling Dunkan how I needed him to pose and Zach was trying to copy him. He just loves his brother so much! The one of Tom was just a Saturday afternoon when we were hanging out at the park fishing. I just loved it. What a guy he is and so handsome!

Just for fun!

2008-05-17T19:48:00.002-06:00

Have You Ever...
Gone on a blind date (nope!)
Skipped school( Yep)
Watched someone die(No- thank goodness.)
Been to Canada (Yes)
Been to Mexico(No )
Been to Florida (yes)
Been lost( yes)
Been on the opposite side of the country(Yes )
Gone to Washington , DC(Yes)
Swam in the ocean(My whole life!)
Cried yourself to sleep(yep)
Played cops and robbers(yep)
Recently colored with crayons(yes )
Sang Karaoke(yep )
Paid for a meal with coins only?(yep- but only fast foods)
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't(yep)
Made prank phone calls(yep)
Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose(yep)
Caught a snowflake on your tongue(yep)
Danced in the rain(yep)
Written a letter to Santa Claus(yep)
Been kissed under the mistletoe( yep, by my hubby)
Watched the sunrise with someone you care about(yep)
Blown bubbles(yep)
Gone ice-skating(yep)
Been skinny dipping outdoors(yep)
Gone to the movies (ofcourse, and recently too! Gosh it is expensive.)

1. Any nickname? Lots of them... E.A. (my initials), Eli, Liz, Mom, Big E
2. Apple or PC? PC
3. Favorite drink? Grapefruit juice or Cran Apple, otherwise water
4. Tattoo? Nope. Never even considered one. The whole pain thing got me.
5. Body Piercings? Just my ears
6. Birthplace? Seattle, WA
7. Favorite vacation spot? Hmmm, probably camping or on the ocean somewhere tropical
8. Ever been to Africa? nope
9. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? No, but I have eaten a pie for dinner
10. Ever been on TV? no
11. Ever steal any traffic sign? no
12. Ever been in a car accident? yep, three
13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door
14. Favorite salad dressing? ranch or homemade italian
15. Favorite pie? apple or pumpkin
16. Favorite number? 16
17. Favorite movie? Chasing Liberty
18. Favorite holiday? thanksgiving or christmas
19. Favorite dessert? A danish cookie that is a damily recipe
20. Favorite Food? Enchilladas
21. Favorite day of the week? Don't have one
22. Favorite brand of body wash? Ivory soap
23. Favorite smell? peach or cinnamon
24. What do you do to relax? Work on photos, read
25. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Here... more kids, bigger house maybe as a better photographer
26. Furthest place away this will be read? NY?

Izzy is potty learning!!

2008-05-17T19:34:00.002-06:00

And against my better judgement! I am so not one to push the potty thing. Zach was 3 and decided on his own. It was a breeze. However she is driving me mad with it. She screams "PEE!" at the top of her lungs all day long. I really thought she just didn't want a diaper. It just occurred to me about 2 days ago that she might actually have to go pee. So the last two days I have let her go without a diaper... and she pees on her potty!

Now she has had a few accidents. They upset her a lot and she cries about it, or laughs. Just depends on her mood, I guess. Silly girl!

So I will keep you all posted on how this goes. I am not thrilled, but if she really wants it, I suppose I should cooperate. I would hate for her to have to go to counselling as an adult over bathroom issues because I refused to let her potty train! Good grief.

Dunkan's Photo Shoot

2008-05-16T19:23:00.001-06:00

I love taking pictures of Dunk. He is so photogenic and easy to photograph. Downside is he is never around! Busy kid. He indulged me long enough to get these gems. I had some new techniques I wanted to try out and we were both thrilled with the outcome. He doesn't even look like my baby anymore! The first one is our favorite. He says it looks like it should be on a CD cover. He's right!

Trying some lighting techniques!

2008-05-16T19:00:00.003-06:00

While I am waiting for my new low light lens to arrive, I have been playing with lighting techniques. I finally decided that I had to have the lens to continue with my birth photography.

It is too hard to get what I need in low lit rooms!
The following were taken in our sunroom midday. I used a sheet to drape the background and positioned her near the windows. Not as sharp as I would hope, but that is a lens issue. Enjoy!

And the same technique, only this is an older photo. This one was unintentional, but one of my favs. Look at my little baby girl!

So how are we really doing?

2008-05-11T23:08:00.003-06:00

I know that most of my posts are just pictures of what we are doing. It keeps everyone long distance knowing what we look like, but I thought it was time to let everyone know how we were actually doing!

Hmmm, where to begin. Tom is still out of work. We are on 11 months of being jobless and it sucks. We have been blessed to recieve workers comp from his injury, but that ends the first week of June. He has 3 weeks to find a job before things get nasty. Poor guy. It has been rough. I have been on call for the last 8 months and am getting a little tired. I have a 2 week break right now that has been nice. The good news is that Home Depot has hired Tom to work 20 hrs a week. His shift is from 4am- 8am. We will also get full benefits. He hasn't done orientation or anything yet, so we don't know details. The up is that he can still get a daytime job in addition to this. The down is that it doesn't really help in the moolah department. We are hoping it comes with another job too! He did find out that he was in the running for a city of Dallas position, but hasn't interviewed yet. We don't know much. He has also interviewed for a Mall manager position that has potential. So, things are progressing!

So, for each of us...

Tom is hanging in there. He has been pretty depressed with how things have been. When your whole purpose is to work and support your family and you can't, it begins to take it's toll. He has done some soul searching on what we are supposed to do. Should he go back to school, start his own business, get a job, etc. Not sure he knows yet, but it is a matter of prayer. He is trying to get his health in better shape. He is currently doing a 48 hour cleansing fast and will follow it up with a fruit, veggie, and chicken diet. It works well for him. We are working on putting together a specific work out routine for him as well. He is currently the Teacher's Quorum adviser and wants to be in better shape for some of the things they plan to do in the next year or two. He has been a tremendous help around the house as well. He is doing most of the cooking and handles the laundry, in addition to whatever else needs to be done. I have been gone a lot with clients and that puts a lot of it on him. In terms of his seizure... it appears he is fine! We went through all the testing and they couldn't find anything wrong. This means he is driving again as well. WOOHOO!! That was rough for everyone.

I am surviving. I told my sis the other day that two people in a family can't both have breakdowns at the same time and the craziest person wins. Since that is Tom right now, I am just hanging on till things in his life get put together again. I hate being broke. Money majorly stresses me out, and since I do our budget, it is a double whammy. Add to that this pregnant belly, sleepless nights at births, and well, I am just tired. This pregnancy hasn't been as easy as the last two were. I am not sleeping as comfortably for some reason. Plus I have had braxton hicks since 9 wks. I finally got a maternity belt that helped ALOT, however it has caused back problems. My sciatic nerve is killing me. So I hope to see my chiropractor this next week. Baby is moving a ton now though and that is fun. I need to eat better, exercise more, sleep more, be under less stress, drink more water, etc. It just seems like too much sometimes. I do keep busy with the kids (more to follow on that) and doing my birth stuff. I am working on my photography and have done a few photoshoots recently that were a lot of fun. I love being at births as well. There is nothing better than seeing a slippery wet baby fall into this world. It is such a miracle. As exhausting as they are, I love every minute of it. I am still serving in the primary and that has been a struggle with Zach. He is an angel if I am not there. I am always there. I have majorly slacked on housework. I am just tired of it. I have been trying to do better and trying to get back into my routines for planning meals, couponing, laundry, etc. It will be a hard adjustment when Tom goes back to work. I am trying to prepare now.

Dunkan is incredibly busy. He is finishing up his eagle paperwork for scouts in addition to all the current activities they are doing. He works two full days a week at a book warehouse handling shipping. He is loving the freedom of having his own money, after he pays tithing, savings, and mission fund! He is taking a Financial Peace University class (Dave Ramsey), attending a book club, playing piano, and whatever else pops up in a week. Youth conference is coming up soon and they are running a 5K, so he is training for that. He is also going to EFY in July and can't wait for that. His cousins are coming down from NY to go with him and he can't wait to see them. He has become your standard 14 yr old and my sweet cooperative 11 yr old has disappeared. I am totally uncool, have no idea how much we ruin his life and basically make him miserable. On occaision we will get a smile out of him, but for the most part his vocab consists of grunts and mumbled singing as he listens to his MP3 player. Oh how well I remember that! I try to be patient, but I can seriously se why I drove my mom nuts! Life just isn't that bad in his world! The great part is when he wants to join in, he is such a joy. We laugh and he plays and is a kid again. It is also fun to see him grow into a man. He is taller than I am and so polite and hard working... outside the house! He even has his first real crush. A girl named Stefaniee from church. Apparently it is mutual, but as neither can date for 2 more years, they are safe! Mostly they walk around on the phone with each other not talking. I keep asking why they are on the phone if they don't actually talk, but he can't explain it either. So cute!

Zachary is doing better. He had a few weeks where his life was in serious jeopordy, but has gotten through it with the help of our homeopath! Well, actually he was only in danger from his parents who couldn't stand his tantrums and crazy behaivor! He seriously lost it for awhile there! He is full of life and so busy. He is better now in terms of just being into everything. He now has a purpose. His days are filled with bike riding, digging holes in the yard, collecting "snea snails" and then putting them, alive, all over my counters, drawing with chalk outside, cutting things with his pocket knife (nail clippers), tackling his sister, and talking incessantly. He is incredibly athlectic and seems happiest either moving or being outside. We do our best. He is very funny when he wants to be and just as mean when he chooses. He loves his brother so much that he wants to follow him around every minute of the day and do exactly what he does. Dunkan loves it. Not. He is a good big brother as well and tries hard to take care of Izzy when he isn't hurting her. He is getting excited about having a baby come too. He hasn't really enjoyed moving from nursery to sunday school this year and church has been a challenge. We just got him new teachers and he seems to be doing much better. He loves having friends over and will do that as often as he can. Tom says that he better make us rich some day. Sometimes I wonder what it is that he will put all that passion and drive into. Makes you wonder.

Isabel is my snuggle bug and does her best to keep up with her brothers. She has gotten very active and is running, climbing, opening drawers, flushing toilets, etc. Not nearly as busy as Zach, but in her own ways keeps me busy. She is much more interested in emmulating everyone around her. She wants to cook, go "pee" on the potty (or my floor, most likely), help clean, vacuum, etc. She has a deep affection and infatuation with animals. None of the other kids have been that way. She LOVES our dog Amy who is so patient with her. She loves stuffed animals, pictures of animals, zoos, strays, you name it! She is working on naming them all and associating their sounds. Speaking of sounds, she has quite a few of her own now. She can say so much. Her biggest words are "dangerous" and "spiderman" and her favorites are "no", "don't", "me", and "mine". Are you surprised? She is often the victim of a random tackle, being hooked up to a dog leash, being pushed off the couch, counter, kitchen table, etc. and has learned quite well how to fight back. She is much more empathetic though and will be sorry for her own transgressions. She is so snuggly and I love to put her to sleep. She just curls up in your lap, a few minutes of rocking and you are holding this sleeping gorgeous babe. She is still napping 1.5-2 hrs a day and is sleeping fairly well at night. She recently cut all 4 molars and is now cutting all 4 i-teeth. Yuck, but at least it will be over soon. She has also been a lot more attached to mom lately and doesn't happily go with everyone else. She has been going to nursery at church though and has done very well. That has been a blessing!

Hmmm, did I miss anything? Not sure, but it is late and I am TIRED!! So now you all know what is going on with us. Hope all is well with each of you!

Photography fun...

2008-05-11T22:49:00.006-06:00

So I belong to a photography group and we have been doing weekly assignments. I love it! It has helped me to understand some of the basics a little better. I hope to actually take some classes after this babe arrives. It will give me something to do while I am not taking clients. My plan is to expand my birth photography and start doing more maternity and newborn photo shoots. This would allow me to take on more clients without having to be on call all the time! Fingers crossed!

So here are some of my recent ones.

Studying aperature (making the background clear or blurry)

Studying shutter speed (Catching things in motion or showing the blur to demonstrate motion)

Our topic was "spring" and we could do anything we wanted. These were my three favs.
If only I had gotten all of his head. Would have made the shot better.
Lastly, this was using a headshot technique. The background is the cement in our driveway. It is a bit dark, but it is hard to capture a rapidly moving target! I love the expression in her eyes.

A must see!

2008-05-05T23:15:00.001-06:00

For every woman who has given birth, will give birth or knows someone who will. This is an amazing film. I just can't say enough! It is long, but well worth the hour and a half it takes to watch it. Enjoy!

http://quicksilverscreen.com/watch?video=45525

A picture is worth a 1000 words.

2008-05-02T22:31:00.001-06:00

Nothing more said. LOL!

Texas Bluebonnets!! My Favorites!!

2008-04-28T09:29:00.005-06:00

I LOVE BLUEBONNETS!! Last year we went camping in April and saw fields of them. I was so excited. I soon realized they were the state flower and came every spring all over. So this year we actually went to Ennis (South about 45 minutes) for the Texas Bluebonnet Festival and took pictures of the kiddos. I took a TON so I will try to be selective! LOL!

Dunkan's Eagle Project is DONE!!!

2008-04-28T08:58:00.007-06:00

For any of you who have ever had a child complete an eagle project, you know what an undertaking this is! Dunkan did a great job and really learned alot in having to "provide leadership". That is the real learning part of all this! So he had his actual project on Saturday April 12th and the weather stayed beautiful for us. It was really windy so we all ended up with sun/wind burns, but it was a fine price to pay!

The guys started at 9am and I came along shortly after with dounuts and juice. We made sure to have gatorade and water as well. I think Izzy and Zach enjoyed the dounuts the most. Dunkan had set up building stations for tables and benches and so everyone assembled everything. They tried to get some staining done, but the wind made it very hard to keep it from going everywhere. Dunkan decided to have us wait and to finish for their scout activity on Wednesday night. So without further ado... here are some pictures!

The Finished Project...

Lastly, I thought I would share what my house looked like. Tornado Eagle Project hit hard. This was all the night before the project. It was 1am before we finished prep stuff and no one wanted to clean up. Tom would DIE if he knew I showed anyone these! Our house never gets this bad! LOL!

The Garage...

The backyard...

The kitchen and dining room...

The family room and kitchen counter...

We are so proud of him. He did a great job and has really demonstrated dedication as he worked through all of this. I think it was way more hard work than he thought. He just has to finish a few things and he should be good to go!! I'll update when it is all done!

I'm behind!

2008-04-28T00:05:00.001-06:00

Yep, I have a million pictures to post and things to update everyone on. I will get there! Be patient!

A swingin' good time!

2008-04-27T23:58:00.004-06:00

We spent some time at the park on Saturday with the kiddos. They fished and then went swinging. The fishing pictures are soon to follow, but there were some awfully cute swinging ones, so I did those first. Enjoy!

My wild haired girl!

A little unsure and annoyed that no one is pushing him.

What an awesome big brother! She LOVES him!
Dunkan's favorite tree to climb at the park. I thought this turned out cool.
More wild hair and an adorable smile!
Now he loves it!

Tornado Sirens! Yeek!

2008-04-17T20:41:00.002-06:00

Yep... for the first time in the over 3 years that we have lived here, our tornado siren went off tonight. It was about 9:30pm. Zach and Dunkan were already asleep and Izzy was with us. We ran back to my closet which is the only closet in the house that isn't on an outside wall. Tom grabbed our radio and some pillows. Amy wouldn't fit in the closet so she sat right outside the door. It was a tight squeeze, but the kids did great. We told Zach is was a closet party and he wanted to go call his friends and have them come for the party too!

It went off within a few minutes. The storm is still coming our way. Winds up to 60mph, Baseball sized hail and tornados, oh my! I think we are in Kansas, Toto!

We have said a prayer and hope this passes through with no damage to our home, car or to us!

Here is a picture of my closet for kicks!

The news you've been dying to hear...

2008-04-02T21:07:00.004-06:00

We have a healthy baby! Ok, ok... I know that is important, but you all want to know if it is a boy or a girl! A picture is worth a 1000 words, so I will post the pictures for you...

Now, the real question is... Who can tell where the proof is! LOL! I tried to circle his "manhood" for you, but I couldn't figure it out. Tom is so proud.

If that hand means we have another 6 hours of pushing again... I am done! It is awfully cute though.

Itty bitty baby parts!

Izzy can wear pig tails!

2008-04-02T20:56:00.003-06:00

My baby is sooooo big!!! I realized the other day that her hair was long enough for pig tails. Here she is wearing them for the first time. What a doll she is too!

Dunkan's almost an Eagle!!

2008-04-01T11:05:00.002-06:00

He has been trying to finish his Eagle Project Overview since December! He has been so incredibly busy, it has just now gotten done. His overview has to tell everything that will happen at his Eagle project. Safety, details, methods, materials, etc. Pretty in depth. He has to have it approved by 4 different people. The last person to approve it is VERY tough. He has only approved projects the first time around on a handful of occaissions. Dunkan expected to be turned down several times.

So he went last Tuesday evening and had him review it. His first words were, "This is very well written." YEAH!! Dunkan needed to change the date on the paperwork, add in who donated his hardware, and his safety hazards and then have it signed! That was it! We were so thrilled for him and all his hard work thus far. He has stayed dedicated.

I still can't believe he is as close as he is. YEAH DUNKAN!!!

Tom's First Fish...

2008-04-01T10:58:00.004-06:00

Well, not in his life, but in this fishing season! He begged and pleaded to get a fishing license. I finally agreed and off he went to Wal-mart to get one. This ofcourse was in the fall. So here are the stats...

$38.00 Fishing License

1 Fishing pole

2 New hats

17 Fishing Trips

51 Hours fishing

3 Hours cleaning fish

and...

5 fish totaling about 2lbs, in one morning.

He was very excited to have finally caught something, so ofcourse he had to bring them home.

I think he has decided that next time he will catch and release! LOL!

So that breaks down to $19/lb for White Bass. Hmmmmm. Poor guy.

So here is a picture of the proud moment...

20 Week Update and Belly picture

2008-04-01T10:55:00.002-06:00

20 weeks!!!

We are half way there! I, ofcourse, am tired and seem to be having a ton of mini-contractions that drive me nuts. Otherwise, feeling fine! We should have our sonogram this week and may find out what we are having. The kids are excited!

So here is the most recent picture of my belly... getting bigger!

Movement... the epitomy of Zach's life

2008-03-23T23:04:00.003-06:00

For those of you who know Zach well, you understand what I mena by this. He loves to MOVE! It is almost painful for him to sit still. Sadly, I can totally relate to him. I feel the same. So when he has the chance to be outside (his other love) and move, he is one happy camper. Had you seen this kid the whole morning, you would never guess this was him. He spent the morning crying over EVERYTHING! Then he got a soccer ball and some bubbles and his world went right again.

I was so excited that these shots came out. I was shooting for active scenes, so they aren't as crisp as I would like, but it certainly catches that movement that defines him so well...

Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T22:41:00.007-06:00

We hope that you each enjoyed this easter and the joy of Christ's resurrection. We, ofcourse, spent the morning and early afternoon at church. We then came home and gave the kids each an easter basket and then let them hunt for eggs outside. No Easter Bunny around here! They seemed to have a good time. Here are a few pictures of the fun!

Zach sharing an Egg
After the one egg

Zach being a gentleman
Walking together

Dunkan smiling at the camera

Dunkan picking up eggs

Izzy holding her easter basket

Izzy looking at her eggs Mmmmm. M&M drool
Zach opening his eggs
Upclose

Dunkan opening his eggs

Izzy sharing with Dunkan
Then... Izzy stealing from Dunkan!
Opening eggs together

Tom's Seizure

2008-03-23T22:09:00.000-06:00

For those who may not know, Tom suffered from a Grand Mal (or clonic tonic) seizure on Wednesday night. He was at the church for scouts and thankfully surrounded by a lot of men who knew exactly what to do. He was unconscious and seizing for 5-7 minutes. The paramedics were called and he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He remained there for several hours while they did CT scans and bloodwork. Thankfully the CT scans came back normal (ruling out a brain tumor or such) and bloodwork was fine. They did a whole toxicity screen.

They recommended that he follow up with a neurologist and have an EEG done to determine if it could be adult onset epilepsy. SCARY! He is doing alright. The following day he had a terrible headache and couldn't get out of bed. He has sense had some short and long term memory problems. We are hoping he is healthy and fine and they are just due to stress.

Please continue to pray for him. We recently discovered there may be long term restrictions on his ability to drive. This will make his job search very difficult and our home life very stressful. We are praying that it will work out. We are also praying for an answer to our lack of insurance issues. Please keep him in your thoughts.

We see the neurologist tomorrow and hope to have more answers. I will post when I know more!

Thundersnow?

2008-03-06T13:35:00.001-07:00

Ok, so our current weather advisery says that we could get 1-3 inches of snow by 5pm today! WoW! The funny part... it may at times be accompanied by "Thundersnow"! LOL! What the heck is thundersnow?

Gotta love Texas.

Is it SNOWING??

2008-03-05T19:09:00.002-07:00

Now, mind you, exactly one week ago, it was 86 degrees. The air conditioning was on! Then Monday night, the temp dropped and the sleet started. By 1am, the ground was covered in snow! The kids woke up Tuesday morning and got to play for a bit. It didn't last long and by noon it was in the 50's again. Today... 65. Go figure. I have never lived any where with weather this wacky!

So here are some pictures of the kiddos in the snow. This was the first time Isabel had ever even seen it. She was very unsure about the whole thing! LOL!

Isabel in Zach's old snowsuit...

Snow on our bushes with Dunkan in the background (antique finish)...

Dunkan throwing a snowball...

Zachary learning how to make a snowball...

Isabel after being laid in the snow (an not happy about it!)...

Dunkan's Odyssey of the Mind Competition!

2008-03-04T00:42:00.003-07:00

Dunkan and his team had their Odyssey of the Mind competition on Saturday. They competed regionally in Prosper and are heading to state in April. State will be in Houston. They are so amazing! I just couldn't get over the fact that everything came from them. Costumes, set, script, props, make-up, etc. We totally underestimate what our kids can accomplish when we step out of the way and let them work their magic!

Here is a slideshow of the pictures I took from the competition that day...

Izzy went pee on the potty!

2008-03-04T00:39:00.002-07:00

She managed to get Zachary's OJ yesterday and so her rash was back in full force. We let her go diaper free this evening and she was standing there making this grunting noise and an uncomfortable face. We ran and got her potty. She sat down and peed!!! We were so excited. Then she managed to pee on her bed, the floor and on the cover to her potty 6 times. Oh well. It was a moment of success!

There is always tomorrow.

Recent pictures of my big monkey!

2008-02-19T20:42:00.002-07:00

Who now can climb as much as Zachary! She is driving me crazy with it! She is speaking alot more now and can say "peek a boo, earring, baby, more, no, shhhhh, nightnight, bye, dog, Amy, Zach, Baba, etc etc" She is getting so big!!!

Dunkan has head gear

2008-02-19T20:41:00.002-07:00

I would post a picture of him wearing it, but I think he would kill me. It has been pretty miserable. He can't sleep and hates wearing it. Pray that it gets better, because he has to have it on for 14 hrs each day! Poor baby.

So instead... a cute picture from his Odyssey of the Mind meeting where you can see his braces at least. BTW, you can't really tell here... but the kid is huge! 5'5 and 155lbs now! He is bigger than I am! So not fair.

Plus he has a job working in a book warehouse moving boxes and shipping out items, so he is getting strong!

Don't ask.

2008-02-19T20:39:00.001-07:00

Yep... I would tell you if I knew, but I have no idea what he was doing. This was a wedding of a friends and he decided to either take a nap or was knocked unconscience during the bouquet toss.

Who knows... just typical Zachary!

Baby #4's First Picture!

2008-02-13T23:28:00.002-07:00

This is our little babe! Sorry it isn't that great of a picture. I took a picture of the actual picture from the sono. And no, we don't know what we are having... still too early!

Enjoy!

There is only ONE!

2008-02-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

So we had our sono today because I have been measuring on the big side (about 6 weeks bigger than I should) so we wanted to make sure I wasn't carrying twins or that my dates were off. No problem either way!

Just one healthy baby

And I am measuring right at 12 weeks, which is what I am.

Now for my atrociously large belly... just consider it "baby fat"!

Our official announcement!

2008-01-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

Well, we are expecting baby #4! We found out just a few days before Christmas. I have popped out really quickly and so we hope to see our midwife soon just to make sure my dates are right and whatnot. I am 11 weeks along and due sometime in late August!

Here is a picture of my belly today... (I took it myself, so sorry for the blur and bad angle!)

Only in my house!

2008-01-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

Lately I have had a lot of births and Zachary has been very interested in all of the details. I pulled out his birth book and was showing it to him. He has seen the thing 100 times and never thought anything of it til the other day. The book is a series of black and white modest pictures that depict my labor and his birth. One picture shows me pushing and the next one I am hold ing him in my arms all naked and wet.

So Dunkan is telling him what is happening in the pictures and he says how "You broke out, Zach!" So Zach stops and says... "How did I do that! How did I break out mom!" I simply told him that he came out of my vagina. Now he knows what a vagina is because we use correct body terms. He looks at me completely exsasparated and says, "Oh great, mom. I don't want to be in your bagina!"

I couldn't help it! Dunkan and I were totally dying with laughter. I told Zach that he had nothing to worry about... he wasn't going to have to be there ever again. He walked away like he wasn't completely sure of that.

Oh the joys of being a doula.

New sidebar- Zachary'isms

2008-01-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

Check out the new sidebar that I just put on. It has all the crazy, silly, and downright strange things that come out of Zachary's mouth. He provides us with unlimited amounts of laughter!

So I will continue to update the ism's that come out of his mouth.

More wedding pictures!

2008-01-07T00:23:00.000-07:00

Most of these are posed family shots rather than candids. Still beautiful though! Enjoy!

The Wedding of Bethany and Huey Hooks... Pictures!

2008-01-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well, for those who didn't make it, these are the pictures of them right after the sealing on Thursday morning. Hope you enjoy them!

This was the "I'm cold" huddle!

The Dress... it was gorgeous!

Mom putting up the bustle on the dress.

More soon to follow!

I'm an Auntie again!

2007-12-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

My neice was born this evening at 6:15pm in Idaho. Her name is Sydney Elizabeth and she weighed 7lbs 5ozs and is nursing well! I will post a pic when I get one!

Bethany's Bridal Shower

2007-12-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

We had a bridal shower for my best friends daughter who is getting married in less than a week! It went so fast. I did the photos at her bridal shower and have finally finished putting them into a slide show. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com