It's the Little Things

I feel like a lot has happened since I last updated.  We had snow, Christmas Eve, Christmas (usually in that order), a sick toddler, and...well that's basically it.  It seemed like a lot at the time.  Miles has been filling in for just about everyone at work, so he's been gone in the mornings and nights and that's always a bummer.  Usually he works 6am to 6pm on Saturdays and comes home super worn out, but today he only worked to noon.  That's nice, but it stills means he's taking a nap at the moment.  Anna just went down for the count, too. 

Let's recap the holidays thus far.

Sunday the 23rd we went to Miles' aunt Trisha's house.  We actually got there almost on time, which is weird for us.  Usually we are late on account of attending other celebrations right before.  It was a good time.  We ate food (wonderful) and Miles and I played a bit of pool.  I beat him the first game and the second game was cut short because neither of us could make any shots and Anna was getting cranky. 

Monday was Christmas Eve and not much was happening around here.  Kristi was visiting from Iowa with her son Xavier. 

He's super cute and I hadn't seen him for probably a year or so.  The plan was for him and Anna to play, but Anna got super sleepy while we waited for them to get here.  Looking back it's probably good that Anna wasn't up and around since she was sick soon after.  It was probably brewing at that point.

They were here for probably a little over an hour then headed back to Kristi's parents' house for the night.  We were supposed to see them again on the 26th before they went back to Iowa, but Anna's sickness was really starting to show and I told Kristi it'd probably be best to avoid us.  Hopefully they'll be able to come back soon and I can take pictures of Xman outside. 

Next was Christmas day.  Miles had to work 8-noon, so we stayed home from my Grandma Pike's house.  I wanted to be able to wake up Anna and open presents here before heading out anywhere.  She eventually woke up a little after noon and we started with stockings.  I fully intended on taking photos of this, but she's not a big fan of opening presents yet.  And I really don't think she felt all that great.  She sat on my lap for 80% of the time and the other 20% I was opening my presents or hers so there wasn't much room for a camera.  We're not huge present buyers.  I always feel like making or buying something with some meaning or importance is ideal...quality over quantity, I guess.  Anna got a few filler presents:  a Toy Story puzzle, an Elmo holiday book, a Sesame Street holiday coloring book and markers, and some candy.  Miles bought her a Buzz Lightyear toy that we both expected her to love.  He bought it on eBay and it also came with a small plastic Woody doll.  Of course Anna became way more attached to the Woody doll over the Buzz doll.  Wouldn't you know it?  Miles and I also got her a little toy dog that walks and barks.  Anna was absolutely terrified of that thing.  We thought she'd like that, too!  Anna is apparently always throwing us curve balls...or we just don't know her as well as we think we do.  (Sidenote:  Anna is no longer afraid of that dog, now she's just unsure about him.  She went up to him today and said, "Hey, puppy dog!  What are you doing?!") 

After we were all done at home we headed to my Grandma Pistole's house. 

We got there around 3:15 (3 was the time we all agreed on) and hung around for a few hours.  Anna was putting on a show for everyone in the basement.  She was dancing and singing and doing quite a lot of talking.  She still jabbers a bunch but there are more words you can catch now.  Once Kris, Matt, Kenzie, and Dallas showed up we opened presents.  Anna hit the jackpot.  Of course it felt like I hit the jackpot since Anna won't open presents.  She was starting to get cranky at this point and was ready for a nap.  After presents we went up stairs and got ready to eat.  I tried to get Anna to nap on the couch while every one else got their food.  Naturally, I failed.  After Miles was done eating the replaced me on the couch and I ate some food.  Miles and Anna both eventually fell asleep and it was super adorable.  Now would be a good time for a picture but I don't have one...whoops.

After we left my grandparents' house we headed to my parents' house.  No pictures of that either.  I'm failing left and right.  Anna/I hit the jackpot again.  My parents bought Miles and me a new microwave (score!) since the tray broke in our previous one and our food kept burning on the edges while still being frozen in the middle.  After a couple of hours there we headed home.  Miles wasn't feel well, and Anna was starting to act like she didn't feel well either. 

The day after Christmas Miles worked in the morning again.

Anna had too much work for only one computer and played with her new flashlight from Ma and Papa.  Then we headed to my parents' house for lunch.  Anna was happy for the most part until we were about to head home.  She was super duper cranky, was warm, and acted like her mouth hurt.  I got her some medicine and we came home.  Once we were home she acted better and I got her some yogurt before I was going to give her a bath.  Well, right when I stood up to take her upstairs she threw up all over me...twice.  I gave her a quick bath and set up a bed for her on the couch and put on Baby Einsteins.  She fell asleep and I cleaned up the rest of the mess.  She woke up a few hours later and acted perfectly normal. 

Thursday Anna woke up happy.  She had cereal and acted normal again.  She played for a bit then acted tired, so I put her down for nap.  She slept for about 15 minutes before waking up crying.  I brought her downstairs to sit with me when she got super fussy.  Time for round two!  I had just made her a bed on the couch again and was getting Baby Einsteins ready to her when she threw up all over the couch, Miles' pillow, and her blanket.  At least this time Miles was here to help!  He cleaned up the living room while I cleaned up Anna.  I got her laid down on the couch while Miles went to the store to get her some soup and gatorade.  She fell asleep for a few hours and woke up acting a bit better.  Friday she had a few moments of fussiness (I keep typing fuzzy instead of fussy), but was better overall.  And today she's basically normal!  Of course normal Anna is a handful already, but hey, that's much better than a super sad sick baby Anna. 

As for the rest of the day...I think I'll finish my chips and dip then take a shower.  We're in desperate need of a trip to the store so I think I'll do that.  I took down the tree yesterday and cleaned up a bit today.  Of course there's always more cleaning to do, so maybe I'll do that, too.  Eh, we'll see.

P.S.  The whole reason I titled this post "It's the Little Things" wasn't even mentioned.  Let me touch on that. 
1)  I was happy that Anna's first bought of vomiting mainly landed on me since we have carpet.  Never before did I think I'd be happy to be puked on over it landing on the floor.
2)  I bought new trash bags and they stretch to fit around the top of the trash can.  The last bags we bought kept falling and were super annoying.  So, these new bags make me happy...way happier than trash bags should.

Catching Up

Sitting at home 95% of the time makes me feel like I have nothing to write about.  I've been trying to take pictures of typically mundane things just to post them.  The only issue with that is that it's hard to get the desire to upload photos of nothing.  Yowza. 

Well, my work for the year is on the decline.  That is amazing.  I have one set of family photos to edit, and one wedding to edit, then I'm done.  Well, unless something else comes up.  With the weather being so warm and nice, another session wouldn't be too strange or hard to schedule.  Either way, it'll be nice to not have photos to edit for a while.  I'm sure when that happens I'll just end up with a ton of photos of Anna being cute.

Speaking of Anna being cute:

She got in trouble for drawing on the wall, so this was her solution.  Notice how close to edge of the paper she gets.

I thought she'd like this.  She really was not impressed.

Yep, she's cute and I like her.  I wish the photos would show up bigger.  So, soon I'll be changing the layout of my blog.  I kept starting on it, but it will take way longer than it should and I can't justify spending the time on it now.

So, Thanksgiving is Thursday, as it is every year.  Sadly, I feel like I'm at the age where I should contribute to the dinners I attend.  The dinner with my mom's side of the family on Thursday I'm making mashed potatoes.  The dinner with my dad's family I'm making a chocolate cheesecake, and I have no clue what to make for Sunday.

We'll call that good.  I have a few more things I could possibly write about, but hey why write it all now?  Maybe this way I'll write again soon....maybe.

25

Well, it's been almost a month since I've updated.  I'm still boggled as to how I ever updates more than once a day at the beginning.  What in the world was going on in my life that I felt it needed to be typed out ASAP?  Yikes.

Anyway, I figured I should type something now since I'm not in the middle of any projects.  Let's see...what is going on in my life now?  Well, my birthday is tomorrow and I'll be 25.  I forget that I'm not actually 25 already.  At times I feel like I never passed 19, but then I'll feel like I've been 24 forever.  Tonight my mom is having a dinner for me for my birthday.  We'll be having roast beef, homemade noodles, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and egg noodles.  Seriously!  I was jokingly telling her all of the food I wanted her to make for me and she said she's do it.  Amazing!  I think I'll probably gain 20 pounds tonight alone.  It'll be worth it!

Yesterday Miles took me out and about.  We started off by eating at Cheddar's, which was pretty tasty.  Next we went to Old Navy with the intention of buying a purse.  The purse I'm using now I bought for about $3 at Kmart before I even got pregnant with Anna.  The problem is that I hate about 90% of purses that I find at stores these days.  Anyway, Old Navy was a bust, so we moved on to Target.  We checked out their clearance, tried on a few dresses and some dress pants.  The dresses were tragic and the pants fit my waist but were too loose on my legs.  Then we stopped by TJMaxx.  I usually don't really like TJMaxx but I was surprisingly successful.  I found a pair of comfy dress pants to wear to the weddings I'll be photographing in the upcoming months for $20, and a dress for $15.

It had some snags on a few of the frills, but I snipped them off and it's perfect!  Now I just need a reason to wear it!

Another thing on my mind is Anna's birthday.  I had previously decided that I'd put on a super simple party for her since it's going to be a fairly busy month for us.  Turns out, I'm just not happy with that.  Go figure!  I'm still not planning on doing anything too fancy, but I just can't leave well enough alone.  I worked on her invitation the other day.  I would go ahead and make them, but we're unsure about the location and time as of now.  I'm thinking that I'd like to have it at our house since the kids could play on the swing set in the backyard, but I'm not sure if there's enough seating.  We'll figure it out.

I glittered up an A for her!  It'll be hanging somewhere for her party.

Alright, now I need to go be productive.  I see vacuuming in my near future...and hopefully some cleaning of tables and desks.  This place is cluttered!

Stuff and Things

I keep meaning to write a new entry, then I remember I never have anything to write about.  So, this time I'm going to post some pictures!

Okay, so something I've thought about possibly pursuing is real estate photography.  Most of the pictures of the houses for sale in town are terrible, so I thought it'd be a good thing for me to learn and maybe one of these days I can try to make some money off it.  I took some photos of our house the other day as practice and I think I'm happy with them.  Of course as far as photos go, they're not too exciting, but I'm still posting them!

Our terrible kitchen.

The living room - please excuse the mess.

The living room pt. II - again excuse the mess.

So in the pictures of the living room you can see the lights are on, right?  Well, I found a video that shows how to take two photos, one exposed for the natural light and one exposed for the lamp, and merge them to show both forms of lighting.  I like it!  The bad thing about these photos is that since I have to do long exposures all of the dust and dirt in my camera shows up, so I have to edit that out.

That is just Anna being cute.

And our backyard.

I'm really wanting to take pictures of big fireworks this year.  I don't think I'll be seeing any huge displays, though, so that's a bit of a bummer.  I also want to go to some waterfalls for photos.  We are lacking waterfalls in the area, though.  Maybe I'll just have to take a trip to Rochester Falls very soon. 

Anyway, it's Sunday.  Ever since we've moved into this house last year we always got a paper on Sunday.  Now we've never paid for the Sunday papers, they've just always shown up.  Well apparently our subscription is up.  No paper today, bummer.  I like to see if I know anyone that's getting married, divorced, or has gotten a ticket.  I guess it'll just have to be a mystery today.

My Baby Won't Sleep

So, here we are.  It's 1:45am and Anna won't sleep.  Oy vey.  She went to bed around 12:30 and was almost asleep when I laid her down.  Usually when she's like that she'll fall asleep pretty quickly, but apparently she wasn't up for that tonight.  I would let her just ride it out and fall asleep on her own, but Miles has to work tomorrow morning so she can't just sit up there and talk for half an hour. 

Since it's technically Thursday, this evening I'll be going to IHOP with my mom and possibly my sister.  We're going to get the potato soup because it's delicious.  Usually I'd get the chicken fried chicken with the soup beforehand, but I never eat much of the soup since I have the chicken coming.  This time it's just going to be the soup, and I'm stoked.  So stoked that I'm writing about it.  After I leave IHOP I'll be going grocery shopping.  We are out of just about everything.  Well, not really everything, but all snacks and things that don't take forever to make. 

Friday I'm starting the 30 Day Shred for the second time.  Hopefully this time I get some results and stick with it longer.  Last time was in January, I think, and I didn't get any kind of results.  Maybe it's because my diet didn't change at all and I was only using one pound cans of beans.  Yeah, that's probably why.  Now I have 2.5lb weights and I'm planning on cutting down on the junk food.  Hopefully that will help.  I have apples, bananas, grapes, carrots, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries, and lettuce on my grocery list.  Granted the lettuce won't be touched by me, it's still a pretty good list.  I found some recipes for strawberry slushies, so I plan to make those.  Hopefully the fruits will replace random sweet things I would usually be eating.  Now to find something to replace the salty things.  That will be tougher.

Saturday is the day of my mini-sessions at Krug Park.  I have a total of three people signed up.  Their times are 2:00, 3:30, and 5:30 and they are half hour slots.  Seems as though there will be quite a bit of standing around.  It seems that people aren't so interested in me for mini-sessions.  Maybe we can try again later, or maybe we should just do it this one time and forget it.  I guess we'll see.

This post is looking super boring with out photos.  Maybe sometime soon I'll update again and actually have something to look at....if I remember.

My Actual Day Off

Last Thursday I had a "day off" for Mother's Day.  There wasn't really anything specific that I was wanting to do, so I just got ready and headed out. 

First I stopped at Salvation Army.  They usually have a few cute things for little girls and they're the cheapest thrift store in town that I know of, so I picked up a few things for Anna. 

Second I went to Old Navy.  Mainly, I was on the hunt for an outfit for Anna for family pictures.  I found a couple of cute things there, but nothing that was simply perfect for the pictures.  I ended up buying a pair of jeans for myself for $12 and a pair of striped pants for Anna for 97¢. 

Third I made my way to Target.  I found a tan shirt and flowered skirt for Anna there.  The skirt featured the same red as my dress so it was perfect.  I bought those and a box of strawberry fruit snacks then headed out.

Fourth I stopped by Taco Bell and picked up a double decker and a crunchy taco...both without lettuce.

Fifth I drove to Wal-Mart.  I ate my double decker in the car before going in.  Our freon needs to be recharged, but we can't do it ourselves since the car is a '94, so it was pretty toasty in there.  After I ate I got some more shopping done.  My list consisted on diapers, hand soap, lunch for Miles, straws, and cereal.  You know, the typical things you buy on a day off, ha! 

I had planned on stopping by Jesse James Antique Mall, but I had nothing specific I wanted there, and I was running out of time, so I headed home.  Anna was sleeping when I got home, but after about an hour I went upstairs to see her.  We played on the bed for a while, then I brought her downstairs.  After a bit Miles packed her up and took her to my mom's so he could go to work.  Anna hadn't been feeling great last week, so I was worried she'd be a bit cranky.  I texted my mom and told her that if Anna wasn't agreeable it'd be fine to bring to over to me.  Around 9:30 I got a call from her and I could hear Anna in the background just crying and saying, "Mama!  Maaamaa!"  Talk about heart breaking!  Needless to say, my mom and dad brought Anna over.  She was happy to be home.

While Anna was over with my parents I edited some photos, did some laundry, and washed the dishes.  So, all in all it was a pretty good day off.  I've realized that I just like my baby too much to be away from her for that long.  We're friends!

Anna was not excited to be taking pictures.

Now I should wash some dishes.  Bleh.  Dishes are simply the worst.

My Day Off

This Sunday is Mother's Day, so Miles is giving me Thursday all to myself.  He has to go into work from around 9:30 to about 11, so sometime after that I'll be heading out.  That makes me happy.  The problem is that I'm short on friends.  I thought about going to KC to see Cassie, but she'll be in class until 1:45 so we'd only see each other for about an hour before I'd have to head home.  So far my to do list for Thursday looks like this:  get some Taco Bell (dreaming big!), walk around Jesse James Antique Mall, Target, and Old Navy.  We're planning on doing family pictures Friday so I'm going to look for an outfit for Anna.  I also need to pick up diapers and hand wash while I'm out.  Yay!

Tomorrow should be pretty good.  I'll be doing engagement pictures around 4:30, then we have a volleyball game at 7:30 (I think).  Anna likes to play in the sand so she does pretty well out there.  Our team rotates out so my dad watches her and whoever is out sits by her.  She's a cute one, that girl.

I curled my hair today to see if I could.  It worked!

 

I curled it around noon and it stayed all day.  My hair has never stayed curled very well, especially not after I curled it, so this is a step up. As of now I'm planning on curling it again for the pictures on Friday.  Hopefully it works then, too.

It's been really nice out the last few days.  Anna wakes up and one of the first thing she says is, "Swing!"  So, there's been a lot of swinging and walking around the back yard in our lives.  Yesterday I thought it'd be good to take pictures of her in her green lace jumper.  Seriously, it's adorable!

Oh, she's gorgeous.  She's also singing along to songs.  Particularly, "Somebody I Used to Know."  I love that song, so we listen to it a bunch around here.  It's ridiculously cute when she sings.  She'll also bring Miles' ukulele to him and say, "Play for me."  Of course it sounds more like "Pay me," but still!  She's perfect!

Also, on Saturday the moon was supposed to be super big.  It ended up looking more like a fairly normal full moon when I saw it.  Maybe I missed the window?

 That's cropped in a bit, too.  Eh.

Now I sleep.  It's 3:30 and if I stay awake any longer I'm just going to keep eating junk and get no sleep.

Pretty Vases from Jars!

So, my parents are having their 30th anniversary on April 23 and my sister and I are organizing a celebration for them.  Aimee is responsible for the majority of the food and I'm responsible for the decorations.  I'm super stoked to get the chance to decorate an event like this.  How much fun would it be to do that for a living?  I'd think lots...but I might be wrong.

Anyway, I've made a ton of tissue paper flowers and about 10 vases out of different glass containers to use as table centerpieces.  I thought I'd do a small post about the vases I made.  It's really not even to explain how to make them, but I guess just to show them?  Something like that.

First off, you have your jars/containers and sainted glass foiling tape.  I bought my foiling tape at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon, so it was about $3.60 for 36yds.  Not too shabby for how long one roll will last!

Next you use the tape to create a design on the container.  I stuck with vertical and horizontal stripes for mine.  I tried some diagonal stripes on an old frappuccino bottle and they just turned out kind of wonky.

And last, you just add in your flowers!  I've since added origami kusudama flowers to each container, and threw in some different shaped jars for a nice mixture of size.

I just love them!

 

I'll definitely have to remember to take some pictures of the tables all set up before the dinner portion of the party.  I'm excited to see it all come together!

 

In other news...Happy Easter! 

I've Fallen Off...Again

Yep, I've failed and stopped exercising.  Yikes.  I think it was a lack of seeing results that made me stop.  But, I've got a pair of 2.5lb weights and plan on starting back up very, very soon.  The weather is going to be insanely awesome this week, so I'm actually thinking about running a bit in the morning.  I don't know if I can realistically pry myself out of bed early enough to get out and do it, but right now I think it sounds like a good idea.  I don't live too far from Central, so I could easily drive there, run/jog/walk for a bit, then come home and shower. 

All I know is that I've got to do something.  I'm back to my feeling-like-a-blob stage and I hate it.

A couple of weeks ago Miles and I went for a walk on the parkway and veered off into a bike path.  It was more of a hike that way, which we both like more.  Neither of us knew the path was there and it was crazy pretty!  I need to get a senior girl in a flowy dress to go back there to take pictures.  It'd be perfect for that.  Miles and I took some pictures of each other since he might be helping me in the future with some wedding photography.

The shoes in the second picture look terrible.  I'll definitely need to get a new pair before we do family pictures this spring.

Oh!  I've ordered two ruffly diaper covers from a seller on Etsy (I ordered last Saturday and she just shipped this Friday...talk about making me impatient!).  They're super cute and I should be getting them tomorrow.  I think on Thursday I'll be taking some newborn (eeeek) pictures.  I'm so stoked!  Okay, I'm stoked and completely nervous.  I would love, love, love to be great at newborn photography, but it's definitely something that requires tons of practice that I just simply don't have yet.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a few more babies lined up in the future and I can get better at it. 

Now I should shower.  We'll be going to Bible study in about an hour and I am so incredibly far from being ready.

Goals, Not Resolutions

I've made a list of talking points for this entry.  That's how scatter-brained I am these days.  I can't even remember what I want to say long enough to say it.

Anyway.  I've been thinking about what I'd like for myself this year.  I'm about a month late for this kind of post, but I don't care too much about that.  It's taken me this long to come up with what I have so here goes.

First off, I want to start on a quilt this year.  A full blown fabric-scrap-pieces quilt.  I don't know when, for what, or for who (whom? those will never make sense to me), but I do know that I want to start on one.  If I thought I'd realistically get close to finishing a quilt this year I'd go for that, but I'd rather not be that big of a failure.

Back on the topic of me and exercising.  I started the 30-Day Shred by Jillian Michaels on January 2nd and stopped on the 15th because my knees were hurting.  We've since had a talk, I told them that they were being big babies and they've gotten better.  Yesterday I restarted the workout in hopes of not hurting myself so I can actually finish the 30-day challenge.  Here's to hoping!  I've made a few goals for myself that are basically dependent on me finishing the shred, so maybe those will keep me going.

I want to be able to wear pants like these and have them look cute:

Specifically I want to wear them for family photos.  We didn't get a chance to do any photos this fall, so I've told Miles I want to do some this spring.

Another goal is that I want to be able to wear a skirt that I've made myself.  Now I don't have to be in shape to do that, but for it to fit correctly, I think I might.

That's the pattern that I have.  Joann had a 99 cent sale on all Simplicity patterns, so I bought a few.  I think the top left skirt could be cute.  I wish they had a real picture of it, though, instead of a drawing.

Another pattern I bought was for this dress:

I think it's way cute.  The bad thing is that I'm not very good at sewing, so this one will have to wait.  Let me make a few skirts before I try tackling something like that. 

Other weight loss goals I have include being comfortable in a bathing suit (or as comfortable as possible), fitting in jeans that I've never been able to wear, and wearing actual shorts this summer.

I do have some other goals that are not centered around losing weight.  Those mainly focus on photography.  I'll be getting a Nikon D7000 (which I'm way too incredibly stoked about, but I won't get into that) when we get our tax refund back and the cameras are in stock.  Seriously, no one has them in stock...what's the deal?  Once I get that camera I'm going to try to book a few weddings.  I have one booked in August, one in September, and a possible wedding in November.  I'd like to get maybe one for June and one for July.  June would be hard to plan for though, since our family will be going to Colorado for a week or so somewhere in there.

Anyway, I've decided that once I get the camera I'm going to try to do a photo challenge.  I've attempted one before, but I lost interest in the challenges, so I'll either have to find a good one or make one myself.  We'll see.

Oh!  And, I've decided that I should change my photography business name.  If I'm going to actually make money I need to make it an actual business, right?  Alysa Ramsay Photography just doesn't work.  I have way too many syllables in my name for it to flow.  Also, not that I've had any unsatisfied customers, but in the even that I did I'd rather them be made at my business than my name.  Does that make sense?  I think so.  Anyway, the name that I'm thinking about now is Bountiful Eye Photography.  It's not really much shorter, but it is one syllable down.

Here's my potential logo:

I like it right now.  I may hate it tomorrow, but hopefully not.

Oh, and here's a cute baby:

Her hair is barely long enough for pig tails so I had to take advantage of it.  Seriously, how cute is she?!

Tomorrow I am taking some family/maternity pictures at 2.  It should be a good time.  I'm bringing a small yellow rocking chair I bought for Anna, a small chalk board, and a couple of blankets.  Maybe some bubbles, too.  We'll see.  If only I had my new camera for that shoot!  Come on government and camera places!  Work together on this!