What The?!?!

Heard in church this morning (in regards to communion):

...."it's a celebration, but it's a quiet celebration"

Huh?

Isn't this a profound oxymoron?

I think I have different ideas of how the Last Supper and the subsequent celebrations (via communion) of Christ's sacrifice for the sin's of mankind should look like...and it's not quiet.

Thoughts?

I'm Dying Here People....

I only consistently read about 5 other blogs that belong to friends and acquaintences, and lately, you people (you know who you are) have been sorely lacking in regular blog updates.
Come on people!! It's Christmas Break! Things are winding down...the rush of Christmas is over and we're in the thick of the "boredom" stretch before New Year's. Shari - you are at serious risk of being removed from my links because you haven't updated your blog in about...oh....3 months!!

I'm dying over here people. Do you know the sinking feeling in my heart when I go to your blog and see nothing new? Do you understand the melancholy I experience all day to not have an update, albeit small, from the lives of my friends? Do you realize that I gorge myself on stale Christmas cookies and leftover turkey for hours due to the horrible depression I experience to not see an udpated blog?? Do you know what it's like to scream obscenities at your computer when it shows you that SAME OLD BLOG??

Time to get with the program friends....let's get crack'n! Let's see your holiday pictures, tell me every minute detail about your trip to the dentist; share with me the horrible things your mother-in-law said about you over Christmas dinner; explain the train that your child attempted to flush down the toilet - after he used it; bemoan the 12 pounds you gained over the holidays; dish on your new's years resolutions.
And while you're at it - let's make a new year's resolution to update the blog on a regular basis. Repeat after me: I must blog today, if only for Tammi's enjoyment.

And if you don't have a blog - GET ONE. Come on...all the cool kids are doing it. You wanna be cool, doncha??

A Few Christmas Pics...and Happy New Year!

Our Christmas was great. We didn't travel anywhere, so there was no flying, no busy airports, no crabby children, no rental cars, no driving all over the place. We stayed home and made our own dinner, we sat in our pajamas all day and just enjoyed being together. It was the first Christmas we've stayed home all day and had it be just us, and it was nice.
We're leaving today to go to a weekend basketball tournament with Steve-o so I might not post again until after New Year's, so in case I don't - Happy New Year's everyone!
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Owen's favorite Christmas present: Some new Thomas the Tank Engine Track, and some new trains. He's also trying to play with new toys and keep up with new movie CARS.








And A.J.'s favorite Christmas present: A battery-powered motorcycle from grandma and grandpa Teis. This was a HUGE hit with A.J. (no surprise there). Steve went outside for about an hour to call all his family members and AJ rode up and down the street with Steve the whole time. He's got some serious mileage on that thing.

Merry Christmas to All!

Merry Christmas to all my readers (all 5 of you anyway)!
Here's the Christmas card that didn't make the cut. I got outvoted by Steve and Casey - they liked the other one better. Maybe someone who's seen both could chime in and say they like THIS one better, so that I can have one small victory in my heart regarding Christmas card creation/selection. Click to enlarge if you need to.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow with their family and loved ones!

Merry Christmas from the Nowacks!

Our Christmas Tradition

Every year, the Saturday before Christmas, we make about a bazillion sugar cookies and then deliver them to family and friends. I can't remember how or when or why this tradition began, but it's our yearly ritual.
After AJ and Steve-o got home from AJ's last gymnastics class for the year, we got to work making about 15 dozen cookies. It was a messy, all day affair, but it was fun. Here's some snapshots of our afternoon project.
Click to enlarge any of them.

Oh yeah, the baby

With the holidays, and running after two very active boys, I sometimes forget that I'm pregnant.
Heading into my 14th week now, so here's a little info from Your Pregnancy Week By Week:

Your baby's body systems are starting to work on their own. The digestive system practices moving food along the intestines and the renal system and he can create and eliminate urine. He also continues to practice "breathing" the amniotic fluid in and out of its lungs (remember this part for later). Your baby has tiny, soft nails on its fingers and toes, is growing hair and may even suck his thumb. Your baby is approximately 10-11.5 cm (3 ½ -4 inches) and weighs approximately 1.5 ounces.

Also, your baby's blood is beginning to form in the bone marrow and blood vessels are beginning to form on various parts of the fetus, connecting one to another. The joints and muscles allow your baby full body movement so your baby is able to move around. The baby's neck is getting longer and his chin is no longer resting on his chest. The eyes and ears continue to move into place (where were they before?? I have an alien growing inside me!!!). The hands are becoming functional and reflex movements often occur. Nourishment now comes from the placenta. So remember, some of what you eat and drink is getting through to baby. The doctor could tell if your baby is a boy or girl using special tests (but we won't find out).

Amniotic Fluid is an amazing substance. It completely regenerates itself every three hours. We do know that it is partially composed of urine from the baby (mmmm....urine. tasty.), but where amniotic fluid in general is made we are not sure. Modern medicine still has some surprises left.

Alright. That's all I have to blog about today, because - surprise, surprise! My list still isn't done. Back to work.....

All Aboard!

Special Thanks to Grandpa Nowack who sent the boys the Lionel Special Edition Polar Express Train set, complete with puffing smoke stack and blowing whistle. The cars would light up with silhouettes of the passengers inside and it also had lamps and tiny figurines from the movie. Needless to say, the boys LOVED it. We've just spent the last two hours unpacking and playing with it. Big fun. :)







Owen was EXTREMELY exited, to say the least. I thought his head was going to explode:






And I just thought this one was cool. Notice that beautiful bokeh. :)

I'm Bored

Feeling bored?
I am...even though I have about 20 other things that I SHOULD be doing right now (see yesterday's blog), but I just can't seem to motivate myself to get started on them.

So I found this site: Things to do when You're Bored.

I think I'm going to go make myself a crown now.

Forgive me this boring blog....

I'm swamped with the "It's-almost-Christmas-and-I-have-8 million-things-to-do-in-the-next-48hours-panic" that inevitably comes every year.
I'm also a total list person and am completely unable to function throughout the day unless I have 6 small pieces of paper telling me what I need to get done floating around my purse, car, pockets, Ayden's mouth, etc.
Forgive this boring post that will not interest you whatsoever, but I'm putting together a to-do list Blog, so that I can see it and look it every day and motivate myself. This stuff WILL be completed by Friday. No excuses.

1. Package and Mail Gifts to: Grandparents, My Parents, Steve Parents.

2. Package and Mail Client Order to Michigan.

3. Re-Order damaged portion of client order and mail to Michigan when it arrives.

4. Package and deliver 2 local client orders.

5. Buy Cat food and feed the poor cat, who hasn't had food since yesterday afternoon. Hopefully this will be accomplished BEFORE Friday, for the cat's sake.

6. Finish Christmas Shopping for Steve and the Boys. And Casey. This is anxiety-inducing if I list out all the things still left to buy, so I'll just leave it at that and try to avoid the ulcer.

7. Buy the ingredients to make about 500dozen Sugar cookies to bake on Saturday afternoon, after A.J.'s gymnastics class. It's a Nowack Family tradition....the cookies, not the gymnastics.

8. Plan our Christmas-Day meal and buy all the stuff necessary to make it. This DEFINITELY will be done before Friday, in an attempt to avoid the madness at the grocery store the two days before Christmas. Speaking of Dinners...if you have a good recipe, send it my way. I was thinking we'd do turkey (since neither of us care for ham), or steve had suggested ribs. Just this morning I was thinking Duck sounded good. I've had it a couple times before and it's really yummy. Where the heck could I get a duck? Does Sam's Club have them? Hmmmm.......

9. Maintain the somehow-miraculously-clean state that my house is currently in so I don't have to RE-clean everything tomorrow for Book Club.


10. Frantically search the address book, computer black book, dayplanner, whitepages.com for the remaining 4 addresses/phone numbers that I simply cannot locate to send the last of the Christmas cards. Jan Wortz? Brad Wortz? Katie Minkner? Eric & Jodi Mikel? Are you out there?? Please, if you're reading this, send me your address and save me some Holiday grief......

11. Friday =Relax. Enjoy Christmas with my friends and my family. :)

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*disclaimer* this list may, and most likely will, increase in size at any time. Please do not be alarmed by this sudden change in blog appearance.

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Oh, and can I just say, that as I'm typing out this blog, I'm having a lunch of Tortilla Chips and Salsa. The Salsa is called La Mexicana Hot Salsa and it's got to be the best store-bought salsa I've ever had. It's in the frigerator section of the store - over by the produce, and it's TA DIE FOR. I just finished off the last of it, and I'm seriously considering drinking the 3 ounces of salsa juice that's left in the bottom of the container - it's that good. Yum. Try it.

Santa Came Early This Year

Some gifts defy sense....and the worthy-ness of the receiver. I am one such receiver. "Santa" came along and rocked my socks this year. I am definitely undeserving...completely grateful...stunned...humbled.....truly blessed. In many, many way...by many people and a few very close ones.

I heard a quote once....something like: "It isn't the size of the gift that matters...but the size of the heart that gives it". If this is true,my Santa has an ENORMOUS heart, which I know to be true.

What is there to say?? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A million times over.
Oh...and you are loved. Not just for what you've given, but for who you are.

*sigh*

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"The only gift is a portion of thyself" --Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Grouch Takes some Pictures

Considering my precarious emotional state today (i.e. extreme crankiness) I knew it was probably NOT a good idea to attempt pictures of the kids. (See Photographer's Child Syndrome Post), but I had shoo-ed the boys outside for some "fresh air" (read: sanity for myself) and the lighting conditions were so perfect, I decided to give it a go.

Last week it was REALLY cold here...like, high 30's and 40s during the day and around freezing at night. After living in Florida, and now here in Georgia, we haven't bought winter coats in about 3 years, and I was feel'n the brisk air run through my sweatshirt and knowing that the boys were in need of some warm coats. Of course, I went out and bought them coats last Saturday and it's been a pleasant 70 degrees ever since then. Anyway, their coats look so cute, I wanted some pictures so I forced them to put them on (I'm not a mean person - it HAS cooled to around 60 and there's a nice breeze) so I could take some pictures.

Here's AJ....his new coat has a furry hood which makes him look remarkably like an Eskimo, if you ask me. :)






Here's Owen. Couldn't decide if I liked black/white or color better.....

I'm Grouchy

I'm tired. For most of the day.
I'm nauseous. For a lot of the day.
My husband is gone. ALL the time.
My house is a total dump. Constantly.
My children are fighting and whining 24/7.
I've barely done any Christmas shopping.
Obedience is rare around here lately.
Spankings and other forms of discipline are not.
AJ is whining and hanging off my arm as I type.

I'm grouchy.

And I don't wanna talk about it.

Little Peanut #3

Went to the dr. this a.m.
As any woman of child-bearing age knows, a trip to the ob/gyn is no picnic. I'm still cringing from the experience....not to mention the number of times that i heard the word "panties", *shudder* among other cringe-inducing proper medical terms.I'll stop at that.
Moving on to happier thoughts....here's the little bugger. I'm 9 weeks along, everything looks great. He/She was wiggling around during the ultrasound so that was fun. I even got to see him/her in the 3D ultrasound technology for a minute, but they don't let you keep copies of those...they're just trying to seduce you to fork over the $150 (non-insurance covered) cost of the 3D ultrasound. I politely passed, but it WAS really cool.

Official due date is: July 12.

Here's info I found online about what's going on in my human incubator:

The baby is now approximately 13-17 mm crown to rump length, or about 0.51 - 0.66 inches. S/he also weighs in at 1 gram! Toe rays are present as the toes begin to form. Gonads have become testes (for boys) or ovaries (for girls), although it's still too early to determine the sex. Baby will move away if touched through the uterine wall, and can spontaneously move as well. Ossification (hardening) of the bones may begin. Eyes/eyelids have formed but are firmly sealed closed until further development. He or she now has all the major organs, muscles and nerves.

Here's the very first picture ever taken of our baby. Click to enlarge.

*Blink*

The *Blink * theory is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant.

This is an interesting idea to apply to photography, because how many times do I pass on an opportunity to capture a moment I love because the lighting isn't ideal, or the angle is weird, or the kids have snot all over their face? Or how many photos do I put in the computer trash bin because they're out of focus, or someone else would think it's weird, or it doesn't have much visual impact - it's just a foot, or a blur of a child running by?

Today I employed blink. AJ was sleeping on the air mattress in the computer room and I was working. I turned around and there he was - fast asleep, peacefully dreaming. How many times have I taken pictures of him sleeping? What would make this one any different from a million others?? *BLINK* I followed my gut and quietly snapped a few. It took 8 seconds. I didn't fiddle with settings, look for the best angle, I just took them. Are they technically perfect? No. Do they mean much to anyone but me? Probably not. But I'm glad I listened to my heart, and I'm glad I took these pictures. This is A.J....sleeping, taking a nap in the middle of the day. Normally he doesn't do this, but he has been fighting a cold for a few weeks now, so he's been more tired than usual. Or maybe he's growing. But daytime naps are few and far between for him, and I want to remember this time of siesta in the middle of my baby's day. Snuggled up with a warm blanket, binky plugged into his tiny mouth, chest gently rising and falling.

Photography doesn't have to be your medium - journals, blogs, scrapbooks, art...there are many ways to follow your gut and in a thousand different circumstances.
Blink. Follow your gut.

Today he is 2 years 8 months old, and I want to remember that.

Time for Some Jeopardy

Ok...everyone knows Jeopardy. And everyone knows the Jeopardy theme song.....so - go ahead. Start humming it. Out loud. I'm not moving on until you're humming it....doo-DOO-doo-doo-DOO-doo-doo........




Time for the question...or should I say the answer.


I'll take Irony for $500 Alex.



Answer: Steve and Tammi Nowack




Question?? Well, do you have it???

And the Question is: Who is the most fertile couple on the planet?





Yup. We're pregnant. Baby Nowack #3 should be here in July. Above you see preggo tests number 4 and number 5. When I called the dr. a few weeks ago to schedule an appt. this is how the phone conversation went:
"I'd like to schedule an appt. with Dr.----. Oh, and I'm a new patient"
"Ok...and the reason for your appt"
"I'm got myself knocked up"
"Oh, and are you sure?"
"Well....let's see: no period, sore boobs, constant nausea, 5 pregnancy tests...yup, other than a dead rabbit, I'm pretty sure"


Oh. And at the grocery store, apparently they now hide pregnancy tests behind the pharmacist's counter. After I looked for one up and down the aisles for about 10 minutes, I finally walked up to the counter and discreetly asked for a pregnancy test, all the while looking over my shoulder hoping to NOT see anyone I knew - I felt like an underage kid trying to score a pack of smokes as I kept twitching around in anxious anticipation...expecting one of my friends to walk up to me at any moment. This mission was VERY incognito.
Anyway, she showcases like Vanna White an entire 18 foot high shelf with no less than 427 different kinds of pregnancy tests. She smiled with a look of pity as my pupils grew twice their size. Quickly looking over my shoulder again, I fervently said, "Whatever. I don't care. They all look the same. Just give me one"
She proceeded to grab two, and was a little too perky when she exclaimed,
"This one is very reputable, but THIS one comes with THREE in it!" As if she was sharing a secret on the level of national security. Good heavens! THREE?! No!! Indeed I have discovered a treasure trove of HcG hormone predicting magic!
I bought them all and took them home. I took them throughout the next week and EVERY SINGLE ONE was positive. After I finally accepted the fact that yes, I was pregnant, I went back to the same grocery store for prenatal vitamins. After I had scoured the vitamin shelving unit for 13 minutes, I decided to seek help. Ironically, the same person was there.
"Can you help me find the prenatal vitamins?"
"Oh - sure they're right over----" and then she stopped and took a good look at me.
"Ohhhhh" she said, with a knowing smile.


"Yeah....Ohhh. It's me again"


We're still getting used to the idea. Ready or not....the countdown begins. #3 is on its way.

I Kid You Not

This afternoon I drove the boys downtown to play at the play park. As we're driving down there the boys are in the back saying, "ooohhh, the city - we're going to the city".

Well, we drive by this government building downtown - I'm not sure what it is - but it has a fountain and some flags out front.
From the back seat, I hear Owen point it out and say:


"Oh - THERE'S the United Nations"



What the ????

Sneak-Peek for Spees

Just starting weeding through my shoot with Steve's brother and his family. Here's a quick peek.


Sloan...


Sammi...


The Happy Couple...awww...aren't they cute?


And this one just makes me laugh. :)