A Friend's wedding

A few weeks ago I got to be a part of a friends wedding by being the photographer. It was really fun. This is a friend I went to college with and have know for over twelve years. I have really fond memories of college but there are people that God brought into my life that I will never forget. Actually I met one of my best friends there. Miss Sarah at SassyFrazz, well we have been inseparable ever since. Anyway, at the wedding I got to see some people that I hadn't seen in years, meet their husbands, their children and get to sit and visit with them all at the reception. I know it probably sounds cheesy but I left with my heart filled. It really was so fun. We laughed quite a bit. A lot of these girls I had lived with and boy did they have some funny stories. A few were quite embarrassing. NO I am not going to share. All though I probably have shared worst on here. Well I just had to write an update. I meant to write about it after the wedding but I have been busy doing stuff. I don't know what... just stuff. So if you want to see some of the pictures go here.

A few details!

As you all well know Don and I are expecting are second. Thank you for the congratulations and the support. We are so so excited. I marvel a lot at what it's going to be like to have two kids, to see Brody as a big brother. Part of it is bittersweet in that it means my baby is getting big enough to be a big brother. 

As far as the details go. I am 6 weeks along. Very early. I greatly covet your prayers for protection over our little pea pod. However, I am not someone who can keep a secret for 12 weeks, not a secret about a baby anyway. My first Dr. appt. is next Wednesday, Feb. 4th. I am NOT the least bit excited. ;) Hehehe....

I feel pretty good. Actually I felt great up until this week and a few things hit me like a ton of bricks. I will start out with the fact that, to date, I have had no morning sickness. Actually it's been the opposite, I am hungry ALOT! Actually almost all the time it feels. Which is a little concerning but I am trying to be careful what I eat or at least watch my portions when I give in to something naughty. :) As far as a couple of the negatives, well I hit a wall this week and have been really tired. I know I was tired with Brody but not quite like this, I am sure some of it has to do with having a toddler. :) Also my emotions went a little crazy. However, if that is the worst of it then I can deal. I have been praying a lot about managing my emotions while I am pregnant so that it's not excuse to be crabby. I have also been continuing to exercise and the days that I get over the hump of being tired I almost always feel better afterwards. This week was a little tough. I have only gotten to the gym twice but I am happy to say that I have continued running and that feels really good. I am going to talk the midwife next week to find out how long into my pregnancy I can run and hopefully I can keep it up. So that's it. It will be fun to blog and report about the doctor visits. 

OH BABY!

Not Me Monday

Oh boy people you aren't prepared for this week. I have some doozies in here. Seriously if you are going to tell all then you might as well go for the it. So if you want to join along and share with the blog world everything you DID NOT do this week go to MckMama's blog.

This is untraditional but I must give you a bit of information. We have a washing machine but not a dryer. It's a long story but you need to know this. I wash clothes in the morning, go the gym exercise and shower, then come home go to the laundry mat and dry the clothes. Well I would NEVER allow myself to get soooo far behind that I had no clean underwear. I would never proceed to wash all the clothes but still want to follow my routine and wonder what am I going to do. So I would never proceed to blow dry a pair of my underwear just so I could go to the gym before the laundry mat. Seriously, who allows themselves to get this behind on the laundry!! NOT ME!!

I am not the type of person to talk in my sleep. ONLY REALLY WEIRD PEOPLE do this. I would never go away for a girls weekend and talk in my sleep either, that would just creep out the person I am sleeping with. I most certainly wouldn't cozy up to her rub her chest while whispering in her ear "Hello my little boy." That would be absolutely embarrassing and I would never do that. I most cerainly would never blog about rubbing another womans chest either. 

So back to the underwear, the gym, and dirty clothes. I would never be getting dressed at the gym and realize that I did not bring a pair of clean underwear with me, nope I brought a dirty pair instead. I would proceed to wear the dirty underwear because my choice was either that or the pair I ran in. ONLY stinky dirty people who smell would do something raunchy like that , NOT ME!! 

I most certainly would not kill my truck for the millionth time while I was at the gym today. What kind of mom can't learn to turn off her lights and would strand herself and her son for the 3rd time while at the Y! I would never ask a man, a complete stranger, for a jump. That would be embarrassing. 

I would also never tell the girls all weekend long all of my not me mondays and then forget most of them. NOT ME  I would NEVER do any of these things!!! Have a great NOT ME MONDAY!!

wintertime fun!

I stole this.... Ask me questions

So my friend Melissa when she goes away tells people who are reading her blog to ask her questions. Anything that they want to know about her. So if you have a burning question for me now is the time to ask and when I get back I will work on answering your questions!! THanks for the idea MIS!! ;)

So Long Farewell!!

I am sooooooooo excited. I am going away this weekend with my friend Melissa to go see my friend June in Duluth!! Wahooooo. I get to go with just Melissa. I don't have to bring diapers, wipes, play pen, and everything else!! This is my first full weekend away from Brody since he was born and I have needed this for the last several months. I did have one night away when he was about 6 months old. That was also Melissa, she is so good to me. I can count on her to come with me when I need time away. Thank you so much Miss!! 

So anyway we are going to run around outside and take pictures, go to a movie, watch movies, eat food, and play games. I can't imagine what it will be like to sleep through the night, wake up when I want to, eat my food without having to give half of it away, be able to eat without feeding somebody else. Whew!!  OH and go to the bathroom without someone walking in and pulling the bathroom apart while I am sitting there. Yep, this weekend is going to be fun!! :)

I am way behind on posts so I will do my best to try to catch up over the next few weeks. There are several things that I need to write about. One of them is Christmas!! Hahaha.. yep I still have to finish my Christmas post, I photographed a friends wedding from College and there are a few of you that I am guessing will be interested in seeing some of the pictures and hearing about the wedding, of course you all know that my friend Sarah had her  baby but I since have taken more pictures and went and spent the whole day with her. AND hopefully after this weekend I will have some fun and interesting pictures to post from Duluth. So I will see you all when I get back!! 

Brody Update

I couldn't remember if I had updated about Brody and I hadn't. We went back to the Dr. on the 6th and my concerns were confirmed. He still had an ear infection. So he went back on antibiotics. The Dr. wants him to come back after a month. Tomorrow is his last day on the medicine and then we go back on the 9th of Feb.. The same ear is infected and his other ear has fluid in it that isn't draining. I will say that he has been sleeping better which I am hoping is a positive indicator to the antibiotic working. When we go back to the Dr. if he still has an infection then she said we are going to want to see a specialist. At that time we will discuss the possibility of tubes. Clearly our hope is that the infection will clear and we can avoid tubes. I know that many parents have children that have had tubes in their ears but it's really unsettling to me. I hate the idea of him having to go under anesthesia. YUCK!

So please continue to pray for healing and that God will protect his hearing. This is my biggest concern because of the length of time that it's gone on and the history of problems in my family.

Thank you. 

JP ramblings about the Brodemister

I just want to document a few little tidbits about the boy. In two days he will be 20 months old! Which means that in four months he will be 2!! It's really pathetic because I have been dreading him turning two. Seriously, what am I going to do when he is 5, 13, 18, and well I just can't go beyond that.

Anyway here are some things  that he says and does right now that if I ever forgot my heart would ache.

Just the other day for the first time in front of Grandma Janet and Grandpa Rob he signed monkey and made monkey noises. It was cute and hilarious. 

He loves to say baby and got soooo excited to see and meet baby Cole. :) It was darling. 

Everytime we are going to eat I tell him to go to his chair and he squeals the word chair with delight. I don't think I have ever seen anyone so excited to eat. 

He tries to sing ABC's but just says the letter B. :)

When he "jumps" he walks through the house and picks one foot up off the ground with a sort of spring but isn't actually jumping but happily says jump jump over and over again. 

He still doesn't call me mom but I hear him say mom or whine momma. He is saying it more and I am guessing that soon my darling boy will call me mommy. :) 

He repeats a lot of words  but doesn't quite speak in sentences. 

Some other words that are his favorite are bye, grandpa, more (which is somewhat of a new word.) bear, baby, daddy, and unfortunately I can't think of more right now but if I do I will have to add them later.

If you know Brody then you know that he loves to talk. It's pure jabber of course but HE thinks he is saying something and it's important. He speaks with authority and in a deep growly little voice. :) So many people tell me that they can't believe how dark his tone is. It's so true. Well the point of this is to tell you a story. 

I was busy in the kitchen. Probably cooking or washing dishes. I spend much of my time doing this as I am sure many of you are probably nodding right now.  I noticed that Brody was awfully quiet. Again I imagine that many of you can imagine where I am going with this. I walk into the living room and diapers are thrown about. He got into my big Costco box of diapers and was having some fun with it. I looked at him, and I took a breath in and I said "Brody, somebody threw these diapers everywhere."

Brody's response in his deep mischevious growly voice was "hehehehehe." literally that is how it came out. 

We don't really eat a lot of treats at our house but it so happens that I made cookies this week. I asked Brody after lunch today if he wanted a treat. He very happily repeated TREAT like he knew exactly what I was talking about. It's like it's engrained in them to know what cookies and ice cream are. So anyway,  I broke apart part of a cookie for us to share and put it on his tray and he looks at me and with awe in his voice says "ohhhhhh."

Ok... so there are a few more words he said bathtub tonight for the first time and like I said above he also said treat today for the first time. He also says rooster, car, ball, signing time, no (of course). Again he says a lot but some of these are the ones that he says over and over again. :) 

Ok I am almost done but I am sorry I just can't help myself. Right now he is also into yes and no. More no then yes. However he gets them mixed up and sometimes I can understand what he means and sometimes I have no clue. He is hilarious. I will ask him if he had fun at the YMCA and he says no. Very matter a factly. The other day he was whining and I asked him if he was practicing his fake cry and very seriously looked at me and again said "NO". He has really gotten into saying no but shaking his head yes. Talk about confusing. BUT it makes me smile. 

Well I think that is all I can remember for now. This was really for me but if you hung in there thanks for enjoying my Brody stories!! :)

My First Hijacking!!

OK... this is really fun!! I hijacked another blog and got to share some really exciting news, you are going to want to see this. So click here!!

NOT ME MONDAYS!!

It's that time again to spill out all of my dirty little secrets. Oh geez... I am not sure if I am ready for this week but here goes.

 I didn't stay inside for two days and not go anywhere. I most certainly didn't consider taking a shower a productive day. I most certainly didn't leave the house only because I absolutely had to on Friday and Saturday. If I hadn't had to go somewhere I most certainly wouldn't have stayed in the house four days in a row.

I would NEVER show up at a wedding with my zipper down. Never!!

I would never turn the bachelor on and watch it with Brody. That is completely irresponsible as that is not a show that a child should watch but like I said I would never do that. I would never let my little boy watch one guy kiss a bunch of girls. uffda...

I would never in the midst of not leaving my house pig out the last week on naughty food like nachos, pizza rolls, chili dogs and consider washing it down with beer. I would never do that, it's completely pointless when I am working so hard to loose weight, nope I also wouldn't throw in a couple star crunches and A LOT of episodes of Heroes. :) NOT ME!!

A BABY IS COMING!!

I wonder if it will be a boy or girl? What will their name be? Oh the anticipation is enough to drive a person crazy. 

I am so excited because all these questions will be answered tomorrow!! WAHOO!!! My darling friend Sarah is going to be welcoming their 4th child tomorrow. I can't wait to hear the news and if someone is willing to watch Brody she wants me to be there. Keep your fingers crossed. ;)

NOPE NOT ME!!

It's that time again. NOT ME MONDAYS!! I hope you will join in and share with us everything that you DIDN'T do last week.. :) You can check out Not me Mondays here. 

I would never pick up a dirty diaper and a dirty pair of socks with the intention of putting the socks in the laundry and the diaper in the trash! Then later I would never discover the socks in the trash and not be able to figure out for some time who and when the socks got into the trash. 

I would never while I was blogging hear the dog barking outside and realize that I had forgotten her outside for the second time today. I most certainly would never let my dog out the door not on a leash in a yard that isn't fenced in and then forget about her out there. That would be irresponsible and I would never do that. 

I would never get caught with my pants down sitting on the toilet in the bathroom. I have manners and would shut the door while I am going potty. I would also never practically fall off the toilet when my husband walks through the door of the house because I was in the bathroom with the door open going potty which is in direct site of the door when you walk into the house. Who does that? Certainly not me. 

I would never join a challenge at the YMCA that states that I wouldn't gain any weight over the holidays and then end up gaining a lb more then I did when I started. I would never consider telling the girl behind the counter that there are feminine reasons why. Even though I had eaten half of pizza one night when I got hungry at 9:30pm. I am most certain eating pizza that late at night, among other holiday treats, had nothing to do with gaining an extra pound. Besides I wouldn't ever use my feminity as an excuse for weight gain. Nope NOT ME!

Some Holiday Pics!

Thanks to my sister we actually got a family picture. :) AND EVERYONE is looking at the camera. 

He was so frustrated because he couldn't pull his toy out of the whole in the  box. :) What a guy!

Aunty RaRa and Brodes playing out in the snow together! Aren't they cute.

Ok. So I know that I didn't take alot of pictures. These were from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but I will have more to post from Christmas with my mom. Those will be coming soon. I took quite a few more. :) Stay tuned!! :)

Shhhhhh!!

Welcome to 2009 everyone! I am sitting on a cold hard floor in a dark hotel room. It's 9am and the boys are sleeping on the bed and I don't want to disturb them. I thought I would start to update on our holiday happenings but I will first ask for you to pray for my precious boy. Once again he hasn't been sleeping well. He is really congested and we are pretty sure he is running a fever but our expensive thermometer at home isn't working!?? Errr... and currently we are out of town so we aren't real sure what is going on with him. He has a Dr. appt. on the 6th to have his ears looked at again and I have a sneaky suspicion that he still has his ear infection. I am worried that it's the same one since October which isn't good. :( I will keep you posted in the mean time I appreciate your prayers for healing, comfort, and rest for my boy. Thanks.

As far as holiday happenings they have been like most everyone elses. BUSY!! :) My darling little sister lives in the cities and because we celebrate early with my dad and stepmom she joins us for Christmas Eve and Christmas every year for the last few years. I love it!! :) This year she came over on Christmas eve in the afternoon and helped watch Brodes while I was baking a ham. That night was the cooking and the cleaning was done we hung out and watched elf. :) That was fun. Christmas morning was a bunch of hustle and bustle. I made french toast strata for breakfast, made a pie, we opened a few presents and we were out the door by 11am. On to the in-laws!! :) We were the first to arrive and our nephew who had to leave for collage was close to running out the door. We got there in time to give him his present and hugs goodbye. It was a really fun time. The kids were playing video games, pool, and Brodes was the master of the stairs at this four level split home. :) Brody is a little behind in conquering the stairs because we haven't had stairs in our house so it's been a bit of a process. Soon though he is going to be running up and down them, it's coming sooner then I want it to. After we stuffed ourselves like Turkeys we turned around went home and Brody had a few gifts left to open. He is hilarious. He didn't quite get the idea that you rip the wrapping paper, he would bring me his present and wiggle and bounce with excitement until I opened it. I would try to start the paper for him and then help him rip it but he still wasn't quite getting it. Honestly it's like he got so excited that he couldn't allow himself to process what he needed to do he just wanted mommy to do it so he could see what was inside.

Christmas has been really so much fun this year. We have started some traditions that I hope that will stick and some that we want to do next year.

First of all I shared with you all that we went to the Live Nativity. We will do this every year as long as there is a Nativity within a reasonable distance. I love this one, it's probably my favorite.

I found two Christmas books that i really like and outside of reading the Bible story we are going to read another Christmas story every year before gift opening. The book will only be read at this time of year and hopefully it will be something that our kids will look forward to. ( I say kids only because we hope that we will get to have at least one more. :) We will see what God has planned for us.

I make a fun yummy breakfast every year for Christmas and this starts off our day.

Someone shared with me that they have a tradition of giving their children 3 gifts like the wisemen brought 3 gifts to Jesus. I think that this is such a great idea because you can tie the gift giving back to Jesus and keep it under control. :)

There is a bit more then a stirring going on from the boys and I have to run. Post pictures later.