83

83. That's how many hits my blog got today.

1007. That's the number of hits for this month so far.

5157. That's the total number of hits since I started blogging.

And how many comments do I have? Ok, I didn't actually count. But it's definitely not over 5000. Or even over 1000.

If you're going to stalk my blog, you might as well do it right and leave creepy comments. lol. (nice ones are okay too)

Under promise and over deliver

My website has different package desciptions on it. In those descriptions I have numbers. A mini-shoot gets you 5 photos, a shoot gets you 40 and a wedding gets you 100. I have yet to keep the actual numbers that low. For example, I did a wedding last weekend, but since I just did the photos right after the ceremony and didn't do the reception it was classified as a photoshoot (the one where you get 40 pictures). I just finished working on that one and there are 108 pictures. lol. I can't help it! If I have good pictures, I have to give them to you!

I did a mini-shoot (5 pics) last week too, and she's getting 11 pictures out of it.

Here's a few from the wedding. Thanks for the fun!

Very funny...

(note the sarcasm)

I was thinking about my job (working all night and the utter exhaustion that ensues) and I turned to the scriptures because all answers can be found there, right?

I grabbed the bible and just flipped it open. This is what I read. (Psalms 3:5)

5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.

haha.

Off to work in an hour and a half. Better get some sleep.

PS (re: Birthday Fever)

There are 12 more shopping days until Mistypalooza, so just in case you're taking notes...

Things I'm secretly hoping for.

1. A massage
2. A pedicure
3. A facial
4. A Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band CD
5. A massage
6. Shoes (size 8 1/2-9)
7. A purse
8. Sleep
9. Did I mention a massage?
10. To feel special

And now a totally unrelated and random comment...

I just found out that my husband is afraid of ants. 6 1/2 years of marriage and I never knew this. He has a good reason though. Similar to my cow story, he once found himself covered in and being bitten my millions of ants. See? Good reason..

Birthday Fever!

Poor Aria. Her birthday is last.

My sweet Nathan is now 5. His birthday was yesterday. We had lots of fun. We set up a scavenger hunt that he woke up to, to find his present. He got to choose all the meals for the day (all he wanted was pancakes, lol) and I made him an xbox cake. All in all it was a good day!

But Aria is having a hard time waiting. She LOVES birthdays. Really really loves them. Every single day she asks whose birthday is next. We run down the line of family members until we get to her Uncle Bud because his is right before hers. Then she says AND THEN IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

In December.

Every day she makes birthday cards for random people. Every time she asks me how to spell Happy Birthday *insert name here* I love you dear *insert name here* then she draws a heart and signs her name.

She looooves to give and get presents and loves parties.

Guess whose birthday is next? MINE! It's in less than 2 weeks and guess where I'll be? DISNEYLAND!

YAY!

Road trip!

Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go...

Sounds idyllic, right? Well, whoever wrote that song has obviously never been on a roadtrip with children. I have, though, and I know the truth.

It's supposed to be a three hour drive between my house and my parents' house. Doesn't sound so bad, but it's boring. We tried to play I Spy and it went something like this.

Aria: I spy with my little eye, sumfin.....that's green and on the ground and you walk on it.

Nathan: Grass!

Aria: Yes!

Nathan: I spy with my little eye, something that's....big and blue and has white fluffy things in it.

Dave: The sky!

Nathan: Yes!

Dave: I spy with my little eye, something that's black and really long and cars go on it.

Nathan: The road!

(you get the idea)....

So I Spy didn't last too long.

We tried to sing songs, but the kids would fight over the song that was chosen. They fought over the movie when we tried to watch one, Aria kept randomly screaming at the top of her lungs to see Gabe get startled. Then she'd laugh. I was trying to catch up on some sleep, but that was next to impossible with the "are we there yets" and Dave's neverending song. ("80 more miles and we will be there, 80 more miles and we will be there, 80 more miles and we will be there...." Sung for a mile at which point he'd drop his number. "79 more miles and we will be there, la la la!" Fun times, I tell ya.)

Then there are the potty breaks. Before we left, I said "who has to go potty?" and they responded "Not me!" I double and triple checked and pleaded with them to just try. Nothin' doin'. So we drove away. Not ten minutes later Aria yells "I have to go potty!" So we stop at a "potty station" (her words) and she takes care of business. While there, I ask Nathan about 6 times if he has to go. No, no, no. So Aria's taken care of and we leave. 10 minutes later....yup, you guessed it. Nathan has to go. So, we find a potty station for him and he goes. I check with Aria again. She says no.

Silly me for believing her. Maybe 30 minutes later she has to poo. I beg her to hold it in for a while because we're at that stretch of road with nothin' but sky, grass and pavement. She does and we finally find another potty station. She goes while I call work to let them know I'll probably be late (hence the reason I was trying to sleep...I had to stay up all night to work). We get moving again. I'm thinking that can't possible need to go again. We're an hour away. Everything will be fine.

Then... the silence is broken by the angry cry of a baby that clearly states "FEED ME!" So, we stopped again. I nursed Gabe and we resumed the drive.

I managed about 20 minutes of shut-eye and we were home and I left for work.

Over the river and through the woods, my foot. Pshaw.

Let's play "Name That Bootie"

Here ya go....the cutest little bootie ya ever did see. Plastered online for the entire world. Who does it belong to? I'm sure you could easily guess, but I'll give you a hint...he's little, and cute and oh so mischievious.


Did you guess Gabe? Cuz you'd be right. Here's the rest of that picture. This is Gabe, my 7 month old CLIMBING THE STAIRS.

Did you catch that? SEVEN months old, CLIMBING the stairs.

Why do I feel like this is the beginning of a very long and adventurous 18 years?

It was bound to happen

You know when you hear those stories about other peoples' kids and you heave a mental sigh of relief because your sweet little angel has never done that...

well...

I just got a call from the police department, Nathan called 911. Twice. We had a talk about how you only call that number when there's an emergency and I asked him if he thought there was an emergency.

His response? "Well, my bedroom light burned out."

Do people actually use those?

You know those eye cover thingies that you see in the movies when the snobby lady is abruptly awakened from sleep and she's all rumpled and pushes it up onto her forehead?

Yeah, I want one. I like it to be dark, dark, dark when I sleep so I tend to put my head under the covers, but that doesn't work so well in the summer heat. Plus, it gets stuffy under there. Hard to breathe.

So one of those eye cover thingies would be cool.

Tween!

What a cool kid! He's only 12 and he's in the local children's chorus and he's been in some traveling broadway shows and even had the lead role in Oliver! He was laid back, easy to
talk to and very respectful. Good job, Mom!

These are his headshots... oh, and props to Rach (my sister) for a great looking haircut
and style!

I can't decide between these next two, what do you think? It's the same picture, just cropped differently. 1 or 2?

Our poor kids!

I overheard a conversation between two mothers at swimming lessons today. They were discussing the various activities that their pre-school aged children were involved in.

Obviously, they're in swim lessons (5 days a week for at least 2 weeks, but they were both at the last session and are planning on the next, so that's daily for at least 6 weeks). During the conversation I also heard mention of Kindermusik, park days, dance classes, more swimming and Art Fest. (remember, these kids aren't even in school yet!) Last week a little girl came to swimming lessons in a baseball uniform and left in a dance leotard.

What are we doing to our kids?

What ever happened to just playing? Using their imagination and creativity and just being kids? We've got them so over scheduled and over worked at such a young age! Why are we pushing them to do everything?

Is it because we think we can do everything? Well you can't. And neither can your kids. I vowed today to just let my kids be kids. We're doing swimming lessons for their own safety (everyone should know how to swim) but other than that, nothin'.

Aria wants to take "Vallerina" classes in the fall and I'll probably let her since Nathan will be in school and I'm not starting her in pre-school yet. Sports will come when they're a bit older and can understand them more. Music lessons of some sort are necessary, in my opinion, but not until they're ready to commit to them and they have the finger dexterity and/or breath capacity to succeed.

You want your kids to learn everything? Take them to the library. That's what books are for. When they find something they're passionate about, then shell out the cash for lessons, but keep it simple. Let them set their own pace and you just step back and encourage them.

Stop breaking both of your backs in this misguided attempt to create a race of super-humans that can "do it all."