Oh My Goodness

I am tired.  Like headache, could fall asleep right when my head hit the pillow tired.  I think I have a problem with taking too much on.  Eh?  The real problem is that I like to make things for people for Christmas.  Now on its own, that's not a problem.  But, when it comes to having a baby running around and not being great at sewing, or really having the necessary space, it becomes a problem.

Let's see...so far I've made five scarfs (one still needs to be made and three of them need to be stitched by hand to close the gaps), three crowns, three ribbon wands, two pencil roll-ups, one train roll-up, one onesie, a few fabric letters, four small hand warmers, and two fabric memory games.  I still need to make a rice-filled heating pad, two recipe card boxes, more fabric letters, a car roll-up, and something for Miles.

Oy vey.

It makes me laugh, though.  I was so super stoked to get all of my pictures edited so I could work on Christmas projects and now I'm so super stoked to be done with all of them.  I'm just worn out.  These projects have messed up our schedule around here.  Anna doesn't go to sleep until midnight (which is fairly normal since I stay home with her so there's no real reason to wake up early if it's just a normal day), and she sleeps for 12 hours normally.  So, she wakes up between 12 and 12:30 generally.  The other day she didn't fall asleep until 1ish so she woke up around 1:15.  Goodness.  I've been going to sleep between 3 and 4 lately and I'm not a fan of that.  I really haven't even been very tired when laying down which leads to its own issues.  Usually I don't have trouble falling asleep, but since I've been doing so much right up until bed time I have trouble winding down.  Also, when I'm laying there with my eyes closed I'll start to think about where my eyes are pointed.  Then, when I do that they start to feel like they're looking in the corner of my eye, then I get uncomfortable and have to open my eyes and try again.  It's obnoxious and downright strange.

I don't think I'll have that problem tonight, though. 

Anna got to sleep around 11:30, and I would have followed shortly after.  But, Miles is running a paper route for our landlord this week so he's napping until 2 so I'm staying up so I can wake him up.  He doesn't want to take the chance of not waking up, and frankly I don't blame him.  With as tired as I am I probably wouldn't hear my alarm if it went off.

Oh!  Starting Monday (I think) I'm going to start doing the 30-Day Shred!  It's a workout video by Jillian Michaels that's supposed to be super spectacular.  In general I lack motivation, determination, and discipline so I think having an already set timeline will be helpful.  Also, I think the workouts are all only 20 minutes, so it shouldn't be too bad.  I'm stoked about it.  So, maybe one day I can post some before and after pictures...maybe.

Also, I'm sick...ish.  I woke up this morning feeling stuffy in my sinuses.  It got a bit better as the day went on, but sadly, it's back.  I've also been sneezing a bit and have a headache (though that's probably more just because I'm tired).  Anna's been stuffy lately so maybe I got it from her.  Oh well, I just hope we both feel better soon.  This is no fun.

Before and After

Yesterday I took some photos of Miles' parents' neighbors for them to send out with their Christmas cards.  I had to bring along my makeshift backdrops and stands and use my flash and diffuser.  First off, let me expand on how I am not at all satisfied with my diffuser.  There are times when I have pretty good luck with it and other times, like yesterday, that I absolutely hate it.  I think for it to work properly there needs to be white walls and ceiling.  Jack and Patsy have wooden walls and ceiling, so it made it a bit difficult.  But, I've been working on editing three of the shots (they're going to use only one pose for all of the prints) so I can show them on Sunday when we go to Bible study. 

Anyway, long story short:  I wanted to show a before and after.

For all intents and purposes this is the straight out of the camera shot.  I shot in RAW, so this was lightened and the white balance was fixed a bit.

That's finished!  The sad thing about this picture is that Jack's face is a bit out of focus...oops!  It's not terrible, but it could definitely be better.  In my defense, I'm used to shooting outside, so when I have to shoot inside I get all kinds of flustered.

In other news, I'm making peanut butter rice crispy treats tonight.  I think they'll be tasty, so I'm excited about that.  Amber is coming over in a bit and I'll be making dinner at some point.  I don't know what I'm going to make, but hopefully it'll be something good.

Listen to Me Whine

I never know how to start blogs.  So, let's get passed the awkward start and get into it!

Anna still isn't walking regularly.  I don't think she's ever going to walk.  She absolutely loves to walk around the house while holding our hands, but it HAS to be both hands.  If you let go of one of her hands she sits down and cries.  And, when you're done walking around with her she cries.  I think I've got a bit of a whiner on my hands.  She'll do a bit of walking from chair to toy and things on her own, but it's usually not more than two or three steps, and she'll hardly ever walk when pressured.  She's going to be 10 and still only walking while Miles or I hold her hands.

I really don't like when people say "So-and-so and I's blank."  That's just not correct.  Neither is labeling a picture of yourself with someone else "So-and-so and I."  It's me, not I!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'm not stoked, but I would be if I could actually comprehend that it was tomorrow.  Does that make sense?  November has gone by ridiculously fast and I can't believe it's almost over.  I'm making mashed potatoes for my aunt's house tomorrow.  Then, Saturday we're going to my grandma Pike's house and I'll be making a caramel macchiato cheesecake.  Fancy, fancy.

I'm so incredibly tired of taking pictures.  I think I've just gotten burned out on it.  Actually, it's not taking pictures, it's editing them.  It takes so very long and I rarely have time to work on them.  Sure, I'm home 99.9% of the time and about 75% of that time I'm at the computer.  But, about 100% of the time I have a baby on my lap who doesn't like to let me get things done.  Sadly, whenever I have time to myself I do things like update my blog cough cough, or search diligently for nothing on pinterest.  I CAN'T HELP IT!  I have about four people I need to get back to with picture information.  This weather makes it difficult to plan anything, though.  I don't have anywhere inside to take pictures, so bad weather kind of means I'm out of commission.  The other thing is that I really just want a break.  I want to WANT to take pictures again.  I like to look forward to editing pictures...that's one of the things I like about the winter.  Also, I have quite a few things I want to sew and make for gifts.  Poor me, poor me!

Oh, oh!  So recently Anna has been pretty difficult to get to sleep.  Then, once she would fall asleep she'd wake up between two and four hours later, and either stay up for a bit of go back to sleep fairly easily.  Then, she'd wake up again about two or three hours later and I'd change her diaper and pull her into bed with us.  She falls asleep so incredibly easily when she's in bed with us.  (Sidenote:  Anna sleeping in bed with us always terrified me, as Miles is a pretty deep sleeper and he doesn't turn over, he rolls over and elbows are a-flyin'.  But, now that she's able to move herself around and smack Miles in the face, I feel better about it.)  Last night she fell asleep while eating (which she used to do every night, but had since stopped) and actually stayed asleep after I put her in bed (again, which she used to do but doesn't really do anymore).  I think she woke up once last night to get her pacifier back, but that was it.  She went to sleep just after 1am and is still sleeping...in her bed, mind you, at 11:23.  Amazing!  I wish she'd do that every night!  Here's to hoping this is her new schedule!  (Don't worry, I don't actually expect that to happen every night...but a girl can dream!)

Okay, enough.  I've got to work on pictures!

I fear that this is super boring.

I need to get in shape.  About two weeks I decided that I should start exercising and started doing a little workout I found on Pinterest.  I thought about posting about when I started, thinking that if I did I'd feel a bit of pressure to keep it going.  I think the idea would still work, but alas, I didn't post about it.  Really I should take before photos and update about it.  Maybe that'd make me stick with it?  I don't know, but I hope something will.  I lack motivation something awful.

Anyway, I've been thinking about Christmas presents lately...kind of.  I think I know what I want to do for Anna, but I'm not completely sure yet.  Generally I make presents the girls I see at my grandma Pistole's house along with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law.  The last couple of years that I've done it the presents haven't really been all that useful.  First I made small notebooks and magnets, then it was hot chocolate on a stick.  I fear that the hot chocolate was a fail because all of the ones I had weren't very good and wouldn't melt correctly...but they sure were cute!  I have an idea of what I'm going to do this year.  It's a bit different and not everyone would be getting it.  That sounds rude, but I have something else in mind for Miles' momma (I'm thinking maybe a new paper carrying bag or something with pictures of all of her grandchildren) and something else for my grandma.  I'm not going to say what it is, because 2/3 of the readers that I at least think I have would be getting one.  The problem is that I'm not sure if I'll be able to execute it correctly, so I'm attempting to make one for myself first then deciding from there.  Hopefully I can make it work because I'd like one.

That whole paragraph is just stupid since it's so vague. 

Well, I should be working on pictures right now.  It's hard to get them done, you know?  On a regular day I have the photo folder and Photoshop open and I get about two pictures done in an hour.  It's sad that that's not even a joke.  It seriously takes me that long.  Anna generally hates to be put down, so I hold her on my lap for most of the time.  She usually takes a pretty good afternoon nap, but that's when I get my shower and wash a couple dishes and maybe move around laundry.  So, by the time I'm ready to get to work she wakes up.  Also, the times Miles plays with Anna are usually when I can get a few done without being too interrupted...and wouldn't you know it, Miles hasn't been feeling great the last couple of days so that time has been erased.  I guess it doesn't help that I'm currently working on three different sessions.  I try to do a few from each session every day, but it's difficult. 

Today Miles went in at 6am and is working until 7ish.  I'm planning on vacuuming today.  Sadly, vacuuming is an event around here.  Seriously, it's a big deal.  Our carpet is somewhere between red and maroon so EVERYTHING shows and Anna is at the wonderful stage of eating everything she finds on the floor.  The problem is that she is afraid of the vacuum.  So, I have to hold her while vacuuming...20 pounds gets heavy after a while.  I'm excited about it, though.  I like to have clean floors.

Now it's almost time to get Anna down for a nap and do some work.  Here's to hoping for a long nap!

Pictures from the Farm

This is my favorite picture.

An upstairs storage space was filled with only jars.

It's still pretty outside, though.

Update, I guess.

It's currently 12:30am and I feel like it's closer to 4am.  I am tired.  That needs to be read with conviction because that's definitely the way I'm saying it in my head.

Today was a pretty good day.  Miles worked this morning for a couple of hours to do a bit of training.  He got home around 11:30 then ate some food.  He helped watch Anna so I could get ready for the day.  Really all I needed to do at that point was brush and dry my hair and brush my teeth.  Anna and I went to my grandma's for lunch today.  My uncle Matt and cousin Kenzie were there also.  We ate then I dropped Anna off with my momma.  She watched her for a couple of hours so I could take pictures of Kenzie.  I'm pretty stoked to get them uploaded and edited.  I meant to upload them today but that didn't happen.  Anna was pretty cranky this evening so there wasn't much that could be done other than holding her and feeding her some noodles and bread sticks.

I feel like I actually have quite a bit that I could update on today but I just don't feel like telling all sorts of unimportant stories.  Maybe I could do a shortened version from her on out?

Last Saturday I went with my mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, uncle and aunt to my great grandparents' old farm northeast of Maryville.  They just sold it so we all went up to see it again and pick through the stuff that's still there.  The house is trashed...super trashed.  I took a bunch of pictures and they're already edited, so I do plan on posting some in the near future.

Thursday I took some engagement photos downtown.  I have those uploaded and started on, so that's good.  The sad news is that I lost a lens cap somewhere down there.  I think I can buy one on Amazon if I feel the need to, though, for just a couple of dollars.  So, it's no big loss.

Thursday evening Anna and I went to Texas Roadhouse with my family minus Miles (he was working) for Josh's birthday.  They sang to him and made him sit on a saddle and yell "Yee-Haw!" but didn't give him dessert.  Boo!

Tomorrow Miles is working from 6-6 so Anna and I will just be hanging around home.  Hopefully she'll take a long nap so I can get some pictures edited and little done around the house.  Laundry is always calling my name.  Then, in the evening is a get together for Josh's birthday at my parents' house.  It's German themed...and sausage themed.  I think I'll make stromboli if I find the time.  Not that stromboli is really German or features sausage, but I have the stuff for it and I know I won't be able to get to the store beforehand.  I assume Miles will stay home and sleep a bit.  He'll be a tired, tired person.

Okay, now I should sleep.  Enough of this, yeah?

Goodnight!

Anna's Birthday

That's not from her birthday, it's just cute.

I spent way too much time on her party.  Really, I spent too much time on everything.  Her invitations took forever to finish.  I guess cutting all the paper and sewing a pocket was a bit ambitious.  Then I covered letters and numbers with paper, made paper bunting and four paper chains.  Oy vey, it was too much!  I think it turned out cute in the end, but I don't think I'd do that much again. 

The sad part of it was that Anna was a Little Miss Crabby Crabster Cakes during her party.  She wouldn't go to sleep the night before and wouldn't take a nap before the party.  She wasn't happy during the present opening session and refused to destroy her cake which made me a little sad.

We had a fairly good turn out, though.  There were quite a few people that said they'd be coming that didn't and some that never responded either way so it didn't surprise me when they didn't show.

There's the table all put together.

Her cake topper!

And her name!

The Dollar Tree had ice cream shaped sidewalk chalk.  How perfect.

Colored cones!

For root beer floats!

Toppings!  There were also sprinkles and cookie dough.

Mandy!  So, so serious.

Anna with my grandma Pike.  Sweet!

Aimee!

Anna received her second glow worm.  The glow worm is one thing that will calm her down when she's upset so once she latched on she didn't want to let go!

Yep, that's how the cake destroying went.  I ended up with more frosting on me than Anna did.

We thought that maybe we'd have better luck with a cupcake.  But, Anna didn't agree and just hit it out of my hand.

So, there you have it.  Make sure your babies get adequate sleep (if possible) before all parties!  Everyone will be much happier, I promise.

In other news, our dryer broke last night.  Today I'm taking a couple loads of clothes to my parents' house to wash and dry.  I'm going to be having some lunch there then going to the store.  We have a pantry full of sides and very, very few main dishes.  Tonight Anna and I are going to Olive Garden with my family.  Miles can't make it because of work so I'm either going to take him and pick him up or I'm just going to get someone else to come get Anna and me.  I think it'll be a good time.

Other things on the agenda include cleaning up the rest of the stuff from Anna's party and working and Aimee and Josh's family pictures.  I haven't had much of a chance lately to finish them up but hopefully I'll get to do that soon.  I took them so long ago that I should have been finished by now.

Okay, off to take a shower while I can.  Gotta get the ball rolling or I'll be playing catch up all day.

Concerning Motherhood

As of today it's officially been a year that I've been a mother.  Of course that's in the sense of having a baby outside of my body.  If you want to get technical about it than I've been a mother since December of 2009.  Either way, it's been a fun ride so far.

Okay, let's back up.  Today is Anna's birthday.  Seriously, she's one?!  That's insane.

It's funny to see her with her head back and her hands together crying like that...only because when she's really upset she still does that.  Ohh, my baby!

This picture was taken four minutes short of two hours after she was born.  I wish I had a picture of the first time I held her, but this is the closest I have.  Granted, it was still almost an hour after she was born that I actually got to hold her.  If I had another baby I'd definitely try to shorten that time somehow.  I remember when they finally brought her into the room and handed her to me I had no idea what to do.  She was crying and boy was I fumbling for answers.  The nurse that was checking me out after the C-section was standing and staring at Miles and me.  Not staring in a weird or mean way, but just watching, which made it more awkward. 

I was definitely nervous of how I would take to being a mother.  I've never been the one to take care of people.  Instead I was always the one being taken care of.  Maybe it's because I'm the youngest?  I'm not sure but I bet that's part of it.

I'd like to think that I'm a nice fit for Anna.  My goal is to always do right by her, you know?  I like to think I'm good at separating myself from my current upset baby to take care of the task at hand...does that make sense?  Not that she's upset now, but when she is.  For example, cleaning out her nose, getting shots, bathing (seriously, what happened to my bath time loving girl?), etc.  Let's just say I'm not the mother than cries when my baby gets a shot.  Maybe that sounds mean.
This has gone downhill quick.

Anyway, the point is that I love my babesies.  Yes, I call her that.  And Anna Girl, Sweets, Babes, Darling Girl, Bubby...  Miles calls her Anna Baby and Miriam Girl. 

Her birthday party was supposed to be today, but Miles came down with a pretty severe case of mono on Tuesday night so we've rescheduled it for next Saturday.  He's with his parents right now to lessen Anna's exposure to it and because they can take better care of him that I can with Anna demanding my attention.  We're going to visit him today after we take a trip to IHOP and Target with my momma, sister, brother-in-law and nephew.  I'm excited to get out for the day and excited to see Miles.  I do like him, you know.

Toxic

I think I may be toxic.  Tonight Miles and I were supposed to go on a date night.  I'm not sure what we were going to do, but I assume getting dinner was part of it.  Last night he started to feel not so great and woke up today feeling horrible.  He hasn't gotten any better, and really seems to have gotten worse.  I say that I think I'm toxic because we were supposed to go to Kansas City for Valentine's Day and he had the same kind of sickness.  Apparently spending time with me makes him ill.  That's sad.  Hopefully he gets better soon.

Saturday is Anna's birthday!  I'm stoked, but I have soon very much to do.  I bought some things yesterday and today for the party.  Hopefully I have almost everything I need...other than the ice cream.  We don't have a very big freezer, so I'm going to buy it either Friday or Saturday.  Actually, I still need to get her a present.  I want to get her a play kitchen so she can stand at it and play, but I'm not sure if that'll happen or not.  We'll see, I guess.

Today I got her some cute clearance clothes from Target.  They were all $3 or under, so it was a pretty good deal.  There was actually a dress thing that says "I love sprinkles and cake" or something like that on it.  I thought it might be cute enough for her party, but I guess we'll see.

Oy vey.  Maybe I should be doing some laundry while Anna sleeps.  Yeah, I probably should.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It is cold outside!  It went from being super hot to pretty chilly.  I guess it's not really cold as much as it is just 'pretty chilly.'  I just don't like how cold it makes it in here.

Anyway.  That title has a double meaning, I guess.  For one, it is cold.  But, for two, I've been watching a this video:

A lot.  Lots and lots.  Seriously, Anna loves videos from The Glee Project.  For the majority of the day she sits on my lap and we watch them singing.  It's ridiculous.  I don't know why she loves it so much, but she definitely does. 

In other news, I am excited for this coming week.  I think I'll be doing another round of newborn pictures of Nehemiah.  We tried Wednesday, but it wasn't hugely successful.  Let's say I felt super prepared until I started trying to pose him.  Then, I realized that I am so out of practice on simply handling a newborn that trying to actually get him to do what I want while staying asleep wasn't going to happen smoothly.  So, I've watched a few videos on posing babies, and I'm going to watch a few more, and we're going to try again.  Hopefully we'll get the pictures and poses we want! 

Also, this week will be basically dedicated to Anna's birthday party.  I have tons to do to get ready, so I'll have to focus on that quite a bit.  In between the party planning I am going to be redecorating the bathroom.  Woot!  I have money from my birthday that I was planning on using for things for the house that I wanted to get.  But, I've realized that $70 or so won't go far in four or five rooms, so I'm just going to focus on the one instead.  I'm going to figure out some kind of wall art for behind the door, make a simple curtain panel for the window, change the shower curtain, rug and trash can and make a candle holder thing from blue mason jars!  Yay!  I'm excited.  Maybe after that I'll get to do something to Anna's room and actually make it look cute.

Okay, I should really stop writing.  I have pictures to edit then I need to sleep.  Tomorrow will be slightly hectic, but that'll be good.  It's nice to get out of the house every once in a while.

It's the day of updates!

(That means I've updated my photography blog, also.)

Let's see.  I haven't lost that pesky 8 pounds.  WHAT?!  But, I've worked SO hard!  No, that's a lie.  I haven't done anything yet.  I still drink my coffee with a pound of sugar in each cup and snack on cheese puffs all day.  But, -GASP- I'm out of cheese puffs as of yesterday, so maybe the pounds will start melting off...?  I don't think so.

Anyway, Anna was sick?  She either had a cold or was just having some teething complications over the last couple of days.  She was clingy, whiny, had a slight stuffy/runny nose, and didn't want to take naps without someone to lay on.  There were a few nights where she slept horribly, therefore I slept horribly.  But, the night before last she slept a little better and last night she only woke up once and went right back to sleep.  Awesome.  She's acting like she's feeling better today, and I'm a big fan of that.

I was planning on uploading some pictures, but they were just going to be the same ones I put on my photography blog, so I think I'll hold out.  Soon, though, I'll try to have an interesting update.  Dare to dream.

8

I think I want to lose 8 pounds. Currently I'm weighing in around 133 (usually my scale says 131.5 but I think our floor isn't level and I know it's more than that). Sure, 133 isn't too bad, and it was my pre-pregnancy weight, so I guess I should just be happy that I got back to it by doing nothing other than sitting. But, I feel like a blob of blobby blobberness. Like the sound that would be used to describe me would be "bleaahh." Yes, that's how I feel. And that's how I feel about 80% of the time. Anyway, my goal is 8 pounds because I feel like 125 is a good, healthy weight for me. Yes, it is.

So, now the hard part. How am I going to lose weight? I don't know. Exercise, I guess. Diet? Not really, but I could stand to cut out a majority of the junk I eat. Really, all I eat is junk. I only cook about once or twice a week. Miles works in the evening and he's not hungry when he wakes up. I rarely have the desire to cook a real meal when it's just for me at the time and Miles would have to heat it up. And, it's hard to cook with Anna crawling around everywhere. She'll keep herself entertained for a bit, but he's a little adventurer. Also, you can pretty much forget about cooking with raw meat when she's on the move. Rescue Anna with raw chicken juice on my hands? I don't think so.

Anyway, I've always felt like it wouldn't take me all that much time/work to lose weight if I actually tried. That's only because I am one of the laziest people ever and I gain weight super slowly. I mean, really, 8 pounds isn't very much. Really it's not about the number, it's about getting the flab of my tummy and legs and having more energy. And maybe fitting into more of my clothes comfortably wouldn't be too bad.

Yes, I need to do this. Realistically the only way I'll do it is if I get Miles in on it. Not that he has to lose weight, he's going to have to keep after me to make sure I exercise and quit eating junk...and cook. Even cooking not-so-nutritious meals would be better than what we eat now.

Yes.

Also, I want a Nikon D7000. It's about $1,200 so it's naturally not in the budget, but ohhh if it was. It's 16.2MP and it takes super clear photos when set to high ISOs. That'd be amazing for wedding photography. High ISO = Faster Shutter Speed. I look at the pictures people upload to Amazon and the more pictures I see the more angry I get at my D80. So, long story short, if you want to go ahead and buy it for me that'd be cool.

Now I should work on editing some pictures so I can go to sleep around midnight. I like to go to sleep before 2am. I also like to wake up a little bit before Anna. Let's try to keep that going.

Scratch That...

I tried doing that photo challenge. It failed for a couple of reasons.

Reason 1: It's hard to set time aside for such a project when Anna is crawling around the house looking for things to destroy.

Reason 2: Some of the challenges were fairly stupid and in order to do something not equally stupid it would have taken a lot of time...like my "What I Wore" assignment.

So...maybe some other time...or something.

In other news, today I'm going to Weston with my grandma, momma, Aimee, Anna and I think we're meeting Kris and Kenzie down there. I'm driving since we have the car seat in the back and it's not as simple as the infant car seat to install. "I'm driving..." is also know as "I'll be stopping for gas and a quick car clean up" on the way to pick up the ladies.

Anna is super tired right now. She's not really letting me put her down for anything. She fell asleep later than normal last night and woke up earlier than normal. Oops. I tried to lay her down while I took a shower, but she wasn't having it. She'll be out on the way down there. Hopefully she'll be in a good mood today.

Maybe I should finish getting ready. I have about half an hour left and I need to dry my hair, get Anna changed, call around to announce my departure soon, and move around clothes downstairs. Doing laundry is extra difficult these days when Anna's awake. Looks like today I'll be doing some laundry with one hand again! If only this girl wasn't so heavy...

Photo Challenge Day 2: What I Wore

Naturally I'm behind...go figure!
I actually did do the day two challenge on day two, but the pictures were stupid and I didn't have a time to do anything better. So, I redid it yesterday. I also did day three's assignment (clouds) but those pictures were stupid, too. Today I might try to go check out a couple places to take pictures, so maybe I can get some pictures of clouds while I'm out...and do day four's assignment!

I saw an idea like that before on Flickr. I was trying to find the girl that posted it, but I can't remember what her username was...so it seems that I'm out of luck and disappointed. Anyway, I tried to use my shorts and flip flops in this picture, too. But, the shorts were too dark against the house so they just looked like the outline of shorts and the flip flops were too small to see any kind of definition whatsoever. Also, if I had known where I was going to set up this picture, I would have picked a different color of shirt.

Maybe I'll try something similar again in the future.

That's a during shot. Fancy!

Photo Challenge Day 1: Self-Portrait

Okay, so on Pinterest I've seen quite a few different photo challenges. Nothing comes of the challenges, except for pictures. So, I decided that today would be a good day to start with it being the first of the month and everything.

I was taking pictures with my wide angle/macro lens attachment. I've learned it should really be called the "I will make it look like you only have a nose" attachment, because seriously...look at this:

Ouch.

Anyway, I haven't updated in quite a while, so I thought maybe I should do that.

Let's see. We've moved, Anna's crawling (and as a bonus, she's throwing fits), I'm working on getting my photography back up and running, and that's all I can think of right now. I actually should be doing something with my photography-related things...like messaging people back, adding information to my "website", figuring out prices for weddings...you know, productive things.

But, yes. Anna is crawling. Naturally she crawls mainly to the things she's not supposed to mess with. Like the DVDs, the wood burning stove, the cords under the computer desk, the trash can, Miles' guitar, and the phone charger. It's a lot of chasing her down and a lot of tantrums. Today we've realized that if you say "no" to her when she's not doing anything wrong she'll cry, but just saying it when she's doing something she shouldn't doesn't matter. Weird.

I think that's all I have right now. Maybe I will do something productive. Ehh. Yes, yes, yes, that's what I need to do. Just to get it over with.

Horrible Timing

This is a horrible time to update my blog. It's storming (though I think we're close to the end of the storm), I'm tired, and my back hurts. I think that means this will be short and maybe a little sweet.
I like that picture of Anna. I think she looks a ton like Miles' dad there. Seriously, she looks exactly like him...but a baby...and a girl.


Saturday evening we went to Zach's wedding in Independence (I think). It was a pretty good time other than the head during the actual ceremony. The whole shebang was outdoors which was pretty enjoyable at the time. I must say I'm paying for it now, though, as is Miles. We've since been attacked by chiggers. Surprisingly, Miles has a ton more bites than me, but they're multiplying fast for both of us. Boo, I say. I'm already tired of my legs itching. Hopefully Anna doesn't get any. So far she's clear, but they seem to keep popping up, despite our best efforts to wash everything down.

Tomorrow we're starting our moving process. We'll be doing the first loads of things and unpacking some stuff. I think I'll be doing the unpacking for the most part to empty up boxes for more packing that needs to be done. I feel like this month has been a lot of hurry up and waiting and hurrying up again. This week will most likely be pretty packed, no pun intended...or was it?

The weekend will be pretty full as well. Friday at 4 is a wedding rehearsal that Miles and I both need to go to. We're reading some passages during the ceremony and Miles is also playing a song with his mom. Saturday Miles gets off work at 12, then Collin's birthday party is from 1 to 3. Ashley's wedding starts at 4, then her reception is right after. Oy vey. I foresee us being super tired. Especially since Miles will have to be at work at 6am.

Okay, now I should sleep. My state of awareness isn't getting any better, go figure.

I Hate Paragraphing!

Let me tell you how much I'm loving Craigslist right now. I guess I don't really have any reason to love it, but I do. When Miles and I were looking for places to rent we checked Craigslist multiple times a day to see what else was there. Now I check often to see what kind of furniture people are selling. I've found a few good deals, but haven't acted on anything. It doesn't make much sense to me to buy furniture just to have to move it again in a couple of weeks. We're also going to put a few things up on there in the next couple of days. Maybe we'll make $10!

Speaking of moving...As far as I know we'll be moving into the house across from Zach's old place. Last week all signs were pointing to us moving into a house on Monterey, but Miles told the landlords that we were going to take the weekend to think and pray about it before definitively saying yes. Saturday at 5:15ish we went to look at the other house and it seemed to fit us much better. There's carpet throughout the house, which I hated initially but after thinking about how Anna will be trying to crawl and walk and knowing how often she decides she's tired of sitting so she'll just fall back I think carpet is much safer. The carpet isn't exactly attractive, but it's in good shape, so it's acceptable. The kitchen is tiny. When I say tiny, I mean teensy tiny tiny. But, there's a pantry and a dishwasher, so those make up for it. The bathroom is pretty big and really clean, so there's two pluses. The basement is bigger, cleaner and brighter than the one on Monterey...perfect for a ping pong table cough, cough. And the bedrooms...OH the bedrooms! There are two pretty big rooms with two walk in closets each. My thinking is that Anna's room will have one closet for her clothes and toys and the other closet will be my craft space. Our room will have a closet for our clothes and a closet for Miles' instruments and things. Perfect! Now we need a crib for Miss Anna, though, so I've been scoping out Craigslist (it all comes around) for one.

I'm excited to move.

I'm also excited at the thought of having family over for dinners and games of ping pong. We'll have the space for that now! Woo!

Yesterday I had an interview of sorts with Generation Photo. It kind of just came out of nowhere. A girl I had some classes with at Missouri Western sent me a message asking if I'd want to do some part time work up there, as they were needing two part time photographers. I made a makeshift portfolio and resume and headed up. We were supposed to meet with the guy together, but he ended up changing times at the last minute. It was so last minute that I was actually already there, so I went in anyway. I was told to come back when Stacie would be there so we could talk schedules...so I went back. Again, things were changed. She ended up just talking to him on the phone and I guess he was getting ready to call me right before I walked in. Luckily that place isn't far from our apartment. My decided hours were 9:45-1 Monday through Friday, and 12ish-3 on Saturday if needed (they're only open til 1 on Saturdays). He said he was supposed to talk to another girl today about the job, but that Stacie and I were the frontrunners and that he'd call me about it today. Well, I haven't heard from him, so I'm not sure what's going on. He did say he'd rather have one full-time employee than two part-time, so I guess if that girl was going to be able to do that then maybe he went with her. I can't say I'm too heartbroken at the thought of not getting it. It seemed like it would have been a good fit and everything came so easily, but if it's not supposed to be, all's well. I can always get a job at Kmart!

Okay, now I'm burning up and am getting tired. To bed I go! I'll most likely have to wake up in an hour or two to feed the babes again, anyway. Might as well get a little shut eye before that happens!

Ouch

I think I've pinched a nerve. Or something. Editing pictures and feeding Anna in this computer chair have been detrimental to my health. I slouch constantly and now my shoulder/neck muscle thingy hurts and has a kind of numb feeling to it. It's the same numb feeling that my c-section scar still has. Weird.

It's been awhile since I've written anything, which is weird because I actually have a few things to write about.

Let's see...

Miles and I are moving (Lord willing). We're currently on the hunt for a 2 bed (at least) house to rent with either a garage or basement, washer/dryer hook ups, and central air. That's really all we ask for. Miles called a few places today to get more information. One place doesn't allow smoking outside...weird. Tomorrow we're going to check out a house on Monterey at 1. I have high hopes for it, so I hope I'm not disappointed. The downside of it is that we'd pay everything...and I mean everything. But, I guess I do expect that. The upsides seem to be more plenteous. There's 2 bedrooms, a backroom type thing (hopefully that means one of the rooms can be for Anna), a basement, a small yard (which is good when you have two people that don't like mowing), a swing on the porch, and it's only a few blocks from Bartlett. That's promising. Hopefully it's cute inside.

Miles also called a lady that's renting the house across from Zach. I think it was an office number so I'm pretty sure she was gone for the day, but hopefully we'll hear back tomorrow. I'm stoked to get out of this apartment. We just have too much stuff and I'm tired of constantly tripping. I'd also like to get Anna into her own room. We need to get her a crib or something of the sort. The co-sleeper we've usurped from Mandy has been spectacular, but Anna is getting too big for it now, so we're going to have to find something else.

In other news, Miles gave me a project. He's given me the job of redoing the living room. My plan was to cover our existing pillows with grey, white, and yellow fabrics (mainly yellow), get new curtains (which we did buy some white ones), paint our coffee table light grey with a chevron white and grey pattern on top, paint a tray I bought at Goodwill bright yellow, find a bookcase and new lamps and get rid of our side tables. We might be getting rid of our loveseat, but I'm starting to think we should wait to see where we end up and how much space we have. Either way, I think I am just going to put off redoing the living room until we move. Might as well decorate it to fit the new space and not this one.

I also think I want to do some embroidery. Maybe on some pillows? Or something. I don't know...but I do like the idea. I just want to make things!

I think Anna will be getting her first tooth in the next couple of days. I don't know how long it takes for a tooth to pop up once it starts, but while feeding her tonight she was super cranky and I noticed a little red spot on her bottom gums. Hopefully the pain wasn't for nothing and we'll see a tooth soon. That'd be exciting. Also, she's been biting me while eating the last couple of days. Is that a sign?

Okay maybe I didn't have as much to say as I thought.

Before and After...Again

kiy65y5

I guess that's what Anna has to say today.

Anyway, I don't think I really have all that much to say today...so I'm just going to post a before and after of a family picture I took a couple of weeks ago.

This is before I did any editing:

And this is after:

Woot!

And I've designed a new "CD cover" for Miles' new "CD." I quite like it.

Today it's super warm outside. Yahoo says it's 85 and will get to 90. Eek. I guess it's okay...but 75 would be much more appreciated. The bad thing about any kind of warm weather is that our apartment is like an oven. Our air conditioner kind of cools down the living room but that's about it. Luckily, today it's still cool enough for a fan to do a pretty good job of cooling down a room.

I'm supposed to meet up with Stephanie today. I'm not sure what time, though, because today is one of those days where everything takes forever. Anna had been fighting her nap for about an hour and a half, and now that she's finally down she'll probably sleep for a bit. After she wakes up she's going to be eating some pears then we should be on our way. I also need to head to Wal-Mart and the post office. I'm sending my grandma Pike a Mother's Day card that she will receive two to three days late. Oops, maybe I should have thought about doing that a few days ago, eh?

Sidenote: I really like Galatians 1:10 - For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. - I think it's a pretty good reminder.

Cutest Baby Ever

I should go to sleep. It's almost midnight, which normally for me isn't too late, but tonight is different. Last night Anna went to sleep around 10, which is about right. Around 1:30 I decided I should head to bed. Apparently Anna didn't agree with that idea. Right after I dozed off she squealed and naturally I was scared out of my sleep. That happened a few more times before Anna decided she was done with sleeping for the time. Oy vey. She was awake until 5 aka I was awake until 5. Then she woke up at 10 today (luckily I do have the luxury of sleeping in...if Anna sleeps in).
Tonight she went to sleep around 9:30 probably. She fought it a bit, but not too bad or for too long. Again, I should go to sleep. I'm tired.

I'm still awake because of a few reasons, though. I need to clip my nails. Yep, that keeps me awake. I keep scratching Anna when I'm changing her diaper and I never have time when she's awake to do it. And, I'm working on some family pictures I took yesterday. They're looking pretty good so far, so that makes me happy. Today before Miles got out of bed I took Anna outside and set up a little photo shoot. Then after he woke up I finished that and put Anna down for a nap. She slept for a good couple of hours so that was nice. I edited the pictures I took of her (I should have worked on the family pictures, but hey, I can't help it).

Oh, oh! Sidenote: Kristi had her baby! His name is Xavier Michael, he weighed 6lbs 8oz, was 19 in long, has tons of hair, and is super adorable. Seriously, super adorable. I wish she was in town, but she's in Iowa and is too far for me to drive with Anna. Boo, boo I say.

Let me tell you a few things I miss about being pregnant.
1. People let you go in front of them in line.
2. It was socially acceptable to sit around and do nothing all day.
3. I was entitled to my 'cravings' and wasn't seeming spoiled.
4. I loved feeling Anna move around in my tummy. Loved it!

It is much better having her out here instead of in there, though. Also, I can't say I miss having basically five shirts that I fit in and only about two pairs of pants. I don't miss having to pee all the time, being extra hot, or taking an hour to roll over in bed. Most of all, I don't miss all the trouble I had to go through to put my jeans on. Seriously, it was the hardest part of my day.

Oh, I love that girl.

And, now I'm going to sleep. My neck is being a huge jerk to me these days.

Picture Post!

This month has gone by super fast...yet not so fast. If that makes sense, which, to me, it does. Easter is this Sunday, so family things are happening this weekend. Sunday we won't be doing anything out of the ordinary, but Saturday we'll be attending a few festivities. Well, something like that. Miles has to work at 6 Saturday evening, so he probably won't be making it to my grandma's for dinner. The Easter egg hunt is at 1:30 on Saturday, and I might be taking Anna to that. I thought it'd be good to go see that side of the family when I can, since they're be getting together on Sunday, and as I already mentioned, we won't be going. I guess we'll see!

Sidenote: I've found a recipe for Samoa Bar Cookies that I want to try. Now, I'm not much of one for Caramel Delights, but Miles likes them. Maybe I'll try them soon. Also, I bought a bundt cake pan at DAV so I am wanting to make another coffee cake, but this time using that pan, obviously. I have to take a trip to the store tomorrow, so maybe I'll pick up the things for it and make that happen.

Miles has been recording a song with his keyboard sounding like an organ today. It's made me realize that organs remind of the cartoon version of "Robin Hood."

Approximately 2 1/2 months ago I was talking about my Valentine's plans for Miles. I hinted at something I was trying to make him, and how it wasn't working. Well, I figured it out...back then...and finished it...back then. So, we've finally gotten them hung up, so I think it's a good time to post pictures of it.

There are four frames total: two that have Hebrew words for love and two that have Greek words for love. It took forever to finish them. I cut out all of the letters, which was super tedious. But, I think they look pretty good now, so yipee!

Let's see...what else can I share?

There's a picture of my grandma with Anna. Anna had just woken up, so I'm surprised she's not completely out of it in this picture, but I think it's a good one!

I've been taking Anna for walks lately, so here's a few pictures from that!

Here's one super cute picture of Anna:

And the glasses I got from DAV the other day. One was marked for $.79 and the other for $.99. It made absolutely no sense. The cashier said they were priced by different people...but once I got home I inspected only to find the same handwriting and little symbol under the price. Silly DAV, stop being so dumb!

I took Anna to Earthstock today. My momma's school/business program put on this concert for Earth Day. Miles was wanting to do some recording, and the weather caused a photo shoot cancellation so I was able to make it after all! Aimee, Josh, Collin and my dad were all there as well, so that was good. My mom was wanting me to come take a few pictures, so I did just that. It took a while for me to find out the best aperture/shutter/flash/ISO/lens combination. I didn't get as many good pictures as I would have liked, but I got a couple I'm happy with.

That's the singer from Antennas Up. He was okay, but not as good as...

This guy, who is apparently the guitar player. He sang a song with Tommy and the High Pilots who played right before them. He was surprisingly good and was strangely and sadly not the singer for his own band. Come on, guys, you should figure that one out on your own.


This dude is from the band Ludo, who I've actually heard of and listen to on occasion. It was an unexpected sight, as was the drummer from this band who is also from Ludo. He was an awkward fellow.

I've noticed that the majority of guys in bands wear jeans that don't fit. Strange trend, I think.

Now my neck/back hurts and I'm tired so I think I'm going to head to bed. Yep, definitely heading to bed.

Oh, and I still want to quilt.