These wildfires.....

For anyone who doesn't know, wildfires have been ravaging the western part of the state and in Florida for the last month or so. People's homes and lives have been lost, entire towns have been evacuated, there has been drought for 6 weeks and there are burning bans and water-reduction enforcements even here in Albany.

We're over on the southeastern part of the state and for the last week the air has been filled with a heavy haze, and the pervasive odor of smoke. It burns my eyes. It smells. It clouds up the sun and I just don't like it.
But I like it better than having my home and personal belongings burned to the ground.

So I'm trying to not complain.
And be thankful instead.
Things could be so much worse.

I'm lucky. My family is lucky. (I deter from saying that we're "blessed" because that would imply that those who've lost their homes to fire are NOT blessed, and what does that say?)
And the smokes annoys me, but a little annoyance is better than losing everything I have or being homeless.

Bring on the smoke.
It's a good reminder.

I take too much for granted.

Car Wash Anyone?

What to do on Memorial Day besides the usual cookout and relax in the sunshine?? Wash the cars, apparently, which Steve was inspired to do Monday afternoon. Who actually hand washes their car anymore?? Steve thought we should and the boys agreed, so we promptly put them to work.


A little child labor never hurt anyone.....

Get to work, A.J.!
And try not to fall in the giant bucket.
Sneaking up and spraying your little brother with the hose almost always backfires. Especially when your little bro is faster than you. Paybacks, man.....paybacks.

Look how dead and brown all our grass is.....it hasn't rained here in over a month.
I don't know about you, but when MY kid sprays me with the hose, my first instinct is to throw soapy water towards his face.
All's fine.....(Steve-0 missed with the soap) but Owen loses out on the water fight with dad. But it was fun.....



Small children for hire. Cheap.
Will wash your car, soak your clothes, and leave waterspots on your vehicle.
Call for more details.

Really Been Missing....

City Life.
Big time.

Coffee shops that aren't Starbucks. With live bands on weekends and college students and bulletin boards with concert flyers, roomate-wanted ads, business cards from all walks of life.
Botanical Gardens.
Jazz & Blues clubs.
Museums.
Concerts. Theatre. From Cirque Du Soleil to Stomp to Phantom of the Opera to John Mayer to Disney on Ice to Cher (or is it Sher? I can never remember).
The hustle and bustle of a busy downtown. Businessmen/women in their power suits, hotel staff, public transit, valet parking, deli's, restaurants, honking horns.
Dog parks. The hospital where Owen was born. The antique market. The fish ladder. Labor Days at the Grand Haven Pier.
Beautiful city parks that you can see the skyline from as you stroll along the river.
Diverse foods. Diverse neighborhoods. Gyros from PitaHouse, shopping in East-town.
College students everywhere. Colleges everywhere - 6 of them that I can think of off the top of my head. Life and vibrancy.
Cornerstone Volleyball Games, Basketball Games, Griffins Hockey Games.
Heritage Hill, Mars Hill, Ada Bible Church, Celebration on the Grand, city-wide festivals downtown, weekends on the beach at Lake Michigan, drinks at the B.O.B., Canal Street Brewing Company, Meijer, Purple East, Tapas Bistro, The Children's Museum. Beautiful architecture, old stone churches, wineries and the Amway Grand Plaza.
Art fairs, low-crime, sprawling suburbs, good schools, gorgeous autumns, a beautiful city with the perfect mix of sprawling countryside surrounding it - with farms, farmer's markets, horseback riding, state parks, and the beach just minutes outside the city.

I miss home. I miss Grand Rapids.

Flowers

A Beautiful Mind

Some of you may have seen this before, as it's been pretty popular on the net lately, but if not, you've got to check it out....it really is incredible.

Autistic Savant Draws Rome From Memory

Go Green

Casey beat me to it, but I was getting ready to post a blog about the beginnings of my efforts to reduce my impact on the planet. Sadly, as a country, we are gluttons for "stuff" and all things bigger, better, faster, more, more more!! and we are, as a whole, poor stewards of the earth.

Have I gone off the deep end? Am I going to join PETA and eat salads composed of grass and wildflowers from our backyard or sew my own clothing from tree bark or bathe just once a week in goat milk to conserve water?? No...not that extreme - but am I going to try to do a few things to lessen the depth of my footprint on the planet.

Lately I've been considering how many plastic bags we go through in a week. I *loathe* going grocery shopping (with the boys, it's a nightmare that causes me to break out in hives just thinking about it ) so I'll usually go to the grocery store once almost every day. Sound backwards? It's not....
Here's my logic: I'd rather run in the store while I'm out and grab enough stuff for dinner for that night, some milk and a box of cereal, then spend an hour and a half going through every aisle getting EVERYTHING that we need.
So, on average, I'm bringing home 2-5 grocery bags full of stuff EVERY DAY. That's a lot of plastic bags. And what happens to them?? You use them once to bring home your stuff, and then you throw them away.
Where they're carted off to the dump...to sit.
----- For about 1,000 years! ----
Seems wasteful considering that you only use them for the 8 minute ride from the store to your refrigerator.
Americans consume and throw away about 395 billion plastic bags per year. What a waste.

So....what can you do about it?
Go to the local craft store (Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc) and buy some canvas tote bags. They cost about $3-$10 each depending on the size. And if you're feeling arty-farty you can have your kids paint on them, or hot-glue some grass on it, or iron-on your Metallica patch that you've been saving since 1987.
I found some mesh tote bags at Target on sale for $5 each and they are just as big (if not bigger) than a regular size grocery bag. You can also buy bags online at various eco-friendly online stores at like ecobags, or reusablebags.com, or even on ebay.

What a great and easy way to teach your kids about recycling and being a good steward of the earth! And you'll feel good too....I promise. It's a small thing, but it really does make a difference.

For other simple ways that you can cut down on waste and make a difference globally, check out Stopglobalwarming.com. You'll find a whole list of things (big and small) that you can do today or in less than 5 minutes to make a change for the better.
I promise...we won't call you a tree-hugger, or think you're weird. Quite the opposite...you'll be pretty hip seeing as how "going green" is so freak'n IN right now. You'll be oh-so-cool.

Like me.

And really, who doesn't want to be like me????
:)

(click to enlarge)

Just Cooper

Just one I took of Cooper yesterday. He's grown A LOT in just the 3 weeks we've had him. His legs are longer and he's not so little anymore - he used to fit pretty nicely on our laps for a little snoozer, but now he's pretty gangly and his legs hang off you all over the place!

I'm still trying to get one of him and the boys, but with no luck so far....
2 boys with photographer's child syndrome + one rambunctious puppy = disaster.

Anyway, here he is....in all his 3-times-a-day-pooping, peeing-on-the-carpet, shoe-chewing, ankle-biting, cat-chasing, AJ-butt-nibbling, trash-can-picking, fly-eating, ball-fetching glory:

Senior Session

Whew! Done with most of the work for this senior session, so here's a few for you to see.

Now I'm off to help Steve-0 grade papers. He's totally swamped with end-of-the-year stuff. Doesn't help that he's doing the work of about 3 people as he helps run athletics, plans for a sports clinic, teaches, and comes home at night to do grading and other stuff. He needs a raise. Heck, so do I. :) I should get a stipend for being a part-time paper-grader, right?? :)

Anyway, here's "D". He definitely had the strong-and-silent type thing going on.
Isn't he photogenic?





And one of my favorites:

Bad girl!

I'm definitely supposed to be proofing a different session, but I can't keep myself away from Ginny's kids! I keep sneaking over to that file and opening up "just one more" to play with. I MUST get back to the other session that's in the lineup first.
Stay on task, stay on task, stay on task.......stay on--
But since I played with them already....here's a couple more. But seriously! That's it! No more! No more pictures! I'm off to proof my senior session. I'll put up a few of those for you to see as I get them done, so stay tuned.....

A Sneak Peek for G

I have a happy hard drive tonight that is free and clear and running with lots of RAM to spare. Granted it IS 1:30 a.m., but I can at least breathe easier knowing that all my clients photos and more importantly, our family photos are backed up and safe and sound should the computer ever (God-forbid) crash.

Anyway.....TWO photo shoots on Saturday, one of them being my good friend Ginny's kids.
I treated myself after finishing the hard drive cleanup by taking a peek at what we got on Saturday so I couldn't resist grabbing one of each of the kids to have a play at.
Now that they're on here, I'm seeing the color is a little wonky, but seriously - I pulled these up and did a quick 5 minutes edit and slapped 'em on here. Your real ones will be better, Gin.
But anyway....a sneak peek for you. They sure were fun....I don't know if I've ever been around kids that were so ready and willing to have their photos taken. I only WISH my boys were half as cooperative!!
Anyway.....here ya go!

Name that Puppy (again)

This weekend we got Cooper's pedigree papers so now we have to send in our end of the paperwork to officially get him registered.
Obviously, we're not going to change his name, but we need to spice it up a little bit so that he fits in with his pedigree line. Basically, he needs a ridiculous sounding fancy name to put on his papers.

Lemme give you an example.
Cooper was sired by Hunter Buddy Stone. The dam was Zeus's Cool Hand Daisy. Their respective parents were: Hunter Duke Etheridge, Rockroad's May Do Your Thing, Zeus's Cool Hand Luke, and Bosworth's Lady Daisy.

So....we'll keep the name "cooper" in there somewhere...just need to spice things up a little. It's a fun game...we've tossed around quite a few names this weekend....like:
Cooper's Magically Delicious Wonderland (brainstormed during wholesome breakfast of Lucky Charms)
Cooper's Delicious Treat
Forever Poop Coop
Cooper's Island Safari
Twinkle Tinkle Little Star Cooper
Vicious Cooper Seabisquit


So....let's hear your ideas! If we use your name, you'll get a special surprise of no monetary value whatsoever....but we will admire your creativity. Crazy, funny, odd, slightly offensive...we don't care - let's hear your suggestions! Cooper needs a fancy-schmancy pedigree name!

What have I done??

So, I impulsively signed up to be on the national bone marrow donor registry. I don't know what prompted me to do it, but I did and I'm left with mixed feelings about it.
From what I understand, the procedure is rather uncomfortable and leaves the donor with a sore back for days after. But when I consider that so many children and adults (although admittedly it's the children that pull at my heartstrings and led me to sign up in the first place) in this country that can be helped or even healed through bone marrow transplants, I thought - these kids have CANCER - kids that are the same age (and younger) as my babies -- If I was a match for someone and could potentially give life-saving marrow to someone, shouldn't I do it? What if the shoe were on the other foot? And my baby needed marrow? Or my husband? Or me?

But it's uncomfortable. Possibly painful. It's inconvenient and could take a lot of my time and efforts.

I guess sometimes I just like to feel like I could do something meaningful.
Important.
Life-changing.
When's the last time I felt that way?

If you want to sign up, you can do so here: Bone Marrow Registry
Just enter in your name, address, general health information and they send you a kit to swab the inside of your cheek (to determine your marrow type) with a return address envelope and they add you to the registry.

Helpful Hint of the Day-RSS Feeds

Ok, so I actually don't do a hint of the day, so this will be my first ever.
Lemme just tell you about RSS Feeds, an abbreviation for Really Simple Syndication.
Basically, an RSS Feed-site streamlines your internet surfing options by compiling any new "stuff" from blogs, podcasts, news feeds, etc onto one main website. The reader can then check the subscribed feeds to see if any of those feeds have new content since the last time it was checked, and, if so, retrieve that content and read it on one site.

Basically, if you read about 787 blogs a day like me, instead of clicking over to each and every blog multiple times throughout the day checking for updates, you can go to your feed-site where there will be a list of all the blogs that you read and will tell you if any of them have posted new content. It's a BIG time-saver and you really should try it.
I use bloglines, but you can also use Yahoo, GoogleReader, Netvibes, etc.
If you STILL don't get it, click here for an easy to understand and short video visual.

Go....sign up for a blog-reader and streamline your internet time. It will give you more time to change the oil in your car, launder your linen napkins, knit wool socks for winter, learn to sculpt pottery, sign up for yoga class, and floss your teeth (because really, who has time for that anyway?). Go! Do it now! You can thank me later.

Back in the Saddle

Oh...and I have a senior session tomorrow and boy am I R-U-S-T-Y!! It's been awhile since I've done a paid shoot and I'm actually feeling a little nervous.

*gulp*

Fortune Cookie: A Long Night Awaits You....

So....I've been totally procrastinating backing up the hardrive and all my pictures. I've still got all of 2006 pictures on there (full size too, which is HUGE) and a bunch of other crap that I really REALLY need to backup. I've been crossing my fingers that our computer won't crash in the meantime and I'll lose everything. Uh....not smart.

Anyway, computer is kicking my butt into gear FOR me now - telling me I'm too low on RAM to save anything of significant size.
So....by necessity, I'll be backing up and cleaning up the hardrive all night tonight.
A pain in the butt, but it needs to get done so I'm sorta glad that I now I have to do it.

*sigh*

My Mommy's A.....

Check it out. The boys have been sporting these shirts that Steve got them (for me) .
Cute, huh?


Not that you can tell I'm a photographer on here, though - yuck, my conversions look really muddy and AJ has been anti-photographs lately. Grrrr..

But still...the shirts are cute. :)

And if you're wondering where Owen has been - he's sick and actually just ventured outside last night for the first time in 2 days. I asked him if he wanted me to take his picture to and he said, "no.....not today, mama - I'm sick"

Poor little lamb. :(

Another Bust

Man, we are really on a roll with the crappy movies lately.

Music & Lyrics - Bottom line?? LOVE Hugh Grant - Drew Barrymore drives me nuts. Bad movie - poorly written - even adorable Hugh Grant's witty one-liners couldn't save this movie.
Ugh.
Skip it.

Jobs, jobs, more jobs....

My friend Amy posted a few days ago on her blog about a time when she used to work at Taco Bell and an unfortunate band-aid-in-the-beans incident that she once had. Her post on Taco Bell got me thinking about the many, many, many jobs that I've had in my now 28 years on this planet. And when you consider that I've only been working "real" jobs since I was 16, I've only actually had about 12 years of working experience.
Here's the thing. Working is SO over-rated. I don't stick with things for very long - I'm slightly flaky, unless it's something I *really* like -
like my husband.
or kids.
or photography, or volleyball. And that's about it. I suppose I'm easily distracted, or bored, or afraid of commitment, or whatever.
Just before I wrote this blog, for example I was cleaning out the tadpole tank. Yes, we still have them, dangit - I HATE those stupid smelly tadpoles. Apparently, we chose 3 of the mutant deformed tadpoles that will NEVER EVER turn into actual frogs. Anyway, in the middle of cleaning their vomit-in-the-mouth-inducing tank I decided to take a break - and fold the laundry, play with the dog, check on the kids, and then go outside. Why was I going outside again? Oh yeah, to get a rock to put IN the tadpole tank to encourage the little freaks to turn to frogs so they could climb up on it and we could be rid of them. Tadpoles....tadpoles....Oh yeah! I WAS cleaning them out - like 45 minutes ago. They're probably tired of swimming around in the dixie cup so I head back to finish cleaning their tank so I can return them to a more roomy environment. See what I mean? I don't finish things often...

What were we talking about??

Oh yeah, jobs.

So....I got to thinking of all the many, many, many jobs I've had in my lifetime. So I thought I'd try to list them off. Some of these jobs I may have been at for 1 shift, some of them I may have had for a few years. All of them are real, many of them are accompanied by fabulous stories. Just ask if any stick out to you. I'll try to keep them chronological, but I'm sure I may mix some up and I'll definitely forget some. Mom and dad, you can probably help fill in the details for me if I miss something or get something out of order.

Summer of '95 - 16 years old - My first "real" jobs:
1. Burger King Employee - I SO wanted to be a burger maker, but I was delegated to cash register, blast it all. Apparently they thought I was just too darn cute in my Burger King visor to banish to the back near the hot and greasy grill - best to stick her up front where she can put on a cute face for the Burger King Corporation. And handle large quantities of money. Did I mention I didn't even know how to make change when I got this job??
2. Old person's home kitchen help - I did this job simulataneously with BK. I used to go from BK from 6 am until 2 then over to this "retirement center" from 3 until 7.

School Year, Summer 95-96:
Well, I had to pay for volleyball shoes and stuff, so working during the school year was a necessity. I needed something flexible, early in the a.m. or after school.
3. Bakery Assistant - yum. bagels. doughnuts. coffee. yum. And there was this unfortunate incident of floor mopping with an ammonia-bleach mixture. I almost passed out and I had a headache for hours.
4. Ice Cream Girl - Super popular ice cream stand in town - Doozies. It was THE hot spot for high school girls to work during the summer. I actually kept this job (summers only) for about 4 years. And I'm still waiting for my bonus.
Nevermind about that.
5. Kindergarten Tutor

'96-'97:
Still Ice Cream Girl, but also
6. Wooden Rocker, Resident Aide - which is basically a nice title to describe the person that feeds, showers, wipes butts, changes linens, chases after the escaped dementia patients (yes, it happened - several times), wards off the happy hands of dirty old men, wipes the tears of confused and sad old ladies, and plays along with Pearl, who was convinced that her cabbage patch doll was a real baby. Oh, and run like heck when Arlene thinks that you're hitting on her dead husband and chases after you with a cane. She was wicked fast - for an 84 year old.

Here's where things get interesting. I move away to college. Having the time of my life. FREEDOM!!! Mom and Dad say, "time to get a job". Dangit.
But I don't have a car - so I need to find something on campus.
My older brother Rob (i.e. the "golden child") went to the same college as me and HE worked with so and so at food service ALL FOUR YEARS he was there. What the --??? Who actually DOES that? Anyway, he had such a great experience, built up such a nice repor with the manager, blah, blah, blah --my parents are strongly encouraging me to start there. Ugh. So I do. And I get the job. Washing dishes.
7. Cornerstone University Food Service - dish washer. Gross. I held out for about a week, thinking that (1) they would see that I am quite OBVIOUSLY not the dish washing type and should definitely be promoted to a cook or manager, or (2) that I am a the little sister of the "golden child" and at least give me a little special treatment just for being in the same family, but they never saw the light so I quit after about 5 days. Did I mention it was gross??

Here's the thing about the dishwashing job. Gross though it was, at least I was hidden from my peers back in the bowels of the kitchen - I'm a freshman in college, and I'm cute, and I'm trying to make a good impression, you know? A girl's gotta look out for her rep. Seriously.
So next.....
8. Cornerstone University - housekeeping. Yeah. Bad move here. Now I'm doing gross stuff AND I'm within sight of anyone on campus. Once again....'bout a week here.
And so I find my job home for the next 2 years,
9. Cornerstone University - Switchboard operator. "Thank you for calling Cornerstone University, how many I direct your call?" Perfection. Talk on the phone, get the buzz on the first things going on at the school, flirt with the security guards, and do my homework so that I have time for socialization and other college....stuff.

--Somewhere about in here I meet Steve-o, in case you were wondering--

Back home for the summer and once again,
Wooden Rocker - resident aide. But also
10. McBride Homes - resident aide, 3rd shift. Similar to Wooden Rocker but instead of being a nursing home environment, it's a small house, with about 4 residents. And it was 3rd shift, so I basically just sat on my duff watching MTV all night and then made breakfast for the residents in the morning. And I kinda liked the whole 3rd shift thing. And occassionally things would get spiced up with a confused resident wandering the halls or night, or mistaking me for his mother, or wife (yikes!). Stuff Eddie's pipe and light it for him before bed. That's about it.

Back to school -sophomore year.
Still at Switchboard, but then I get a car and want to spread my wings.
11. Meijer - cashier. I applied, got the job, sat through a 6 HOUR TRAINING. The training was so boring, I didn't go back.
Switchboard is getting old, so I quit and move on to
12. YMCA Soccer Coach -
13. Youth Advisor. For the life of me, I can't remember the name of this organization. But I spent spring break with them in Panama City. It was fun.

Back home for the summer, and once again it's
14. McBride Homes - 3rd shift. But this time I get placed in a home out in the middle of nowhere that apparently was used in the filming of House on Haunted Hill. It was without a doubt the most disturbing night of my life. I went home the next morning, told my mom I was never going back, burst into tears when she scoffed at me, and then refused to speak about it again. It was horrific.
15. Doozies - manager. Ahhhh....Ice cream. A nice reprieve from psychotic people.
16. Wooden Rocker. Ahhh...my sweet old people who make me laugh. A nice reprieve from pscyhotic people with knives and haunted eyes...ahem. I digress.

Back to school - junior year.
17. Volleyball Coach - Northpointe.
18. Happy Elephant Child Care - child care worker. Yes, the name is ridiculous. But it was a lot of fun.
19. Intramural Director - Steve and I did this job together. He did most of the work.

Summertime:
Still Doozies, and elder aide.

School - senior year
19. Elder Care - 3rd shift. Can I just say that I DO NOT recommend doing a 3rd shift job and going to school full time?? It was really hard. I was going to work from 11pm until 7 am, I'd come home and shower then go to class from 10 until 3:00, sleep for a few hours and do homework, and then go back to work. It sucked. That was actually the one and only time I ever walked out on a job. It was about 2 am - I was bored out of my mind and the other 3 people that I worked with at this MASSIVE nursing home were really....er....weird, to say the least. So I took out the trash, and called Steve on my cell.
Me: (whispering) "I think I'm going to walk out"
Steve: "What? Why?"
Me: "I hate this job. The people I work with are weird. I'm tired. I'm bored. I'm taking out the trash and I'm going to get in my truck and drive home"
Honestly, I was feeling some major guilt because I was brought up to not ever do things like...well, walk out on a job. I needed some validation that it was ok.
Steve: "go for it"
20. Student Union Activites Desk Manager - thank you Jayne Crawford. 21. Internship - Liz's House Social Worker- Transitional Housing for Homeless Women and Children

Steve-o and I get married, and then
22. HeadStart - social worker.
Here's when I realize that I don't LIKE social worker, and get completely jaded by the career as a whole. Had some major issues with incompetent boss (who was fired 2 months after I left) so I moved on to:
23: Rainbow Child Development Center - infant wing supervisor. Not quite in my field, but enough so that I don't feel like a total loser.

Surprise! I'm knocked up!
Owen comes and I don't work for about 2 years. AJ comes in the meantime as well and my only job is MOM...and I begin developing the whole photography thing.

Living in Florida now and it's
24. Books A Million - customer service. Gratifying to know that I'm still a competent adult and am capable of more than diapers, drool, and dishes. Regain confidence lost during mommy-hood and begin to entertain the idea of photography as a business.

Move to Georgia.
Books a Million for about 6 months while we get settled in and then actually begin to call myself a photographer.
25. Tammi Nowack Photography is born.

Whew! See what I mean?? And I'm pretty sure that I'm missing one or two in there....they'll come to me tonight. I think there's a hotel in there somewhere (it last about 1 shift I think). So...who can beat me?? Let's hear about your job 'o the month.

Movie Opinion

Last night we rented Dream Girls. Not because we had any real desire to see it per se, but only because it was nominated for so many academy awards we thought it *must* be good.
Right??

Well, we didn't like it.

At all.

It started out as a movie, turned into a musical, gave me a migraine from a few too many "power singing" moments (it's like listening to the climax of the National Anthem in the key of C at the Superbowl, with your ear pressed right against the 12 foot tall speakers).
Thing is, I LIKE musicals. A Lot. Rent, Chicago, Sound of Music, Newsies, Phantom, whatever-- I dig it. But this one? Ugh. We fast-forwarded through about half of the movie. And if I have to listen to Jennifer Hudson's caterwauling for 2 more seconds, I'll pull of my own ears with needle nose pliers. Although by that point it won't matter, because my eardrum will most likely be blown, along with a few of Hudson's vocal chords.

Bottom line: I was glad when it was (finally) over.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Mom.
Love you.

Some Mother's Day Humor

This video makes me laugh out loud every time I see it.
Enjoy. :) lol

The First of Many.....

Cooper's first casualty: the cord that powers our cable modem.
He chomped right through it two days ago. The problem is that it's a strange voltage (10.5) and unlucky for us, every single electronic store in the city is out of the necessary adaptor we need to hook it up. Good news is that a phone call into our cable provider yesterday and they kindly offered to next day air us a new one. For FREE. Knocked my socks off. Imagine that - actual customer service! How refreshing.

Anyway, in the meantime I'm using my laptop.

And the neighbor's wireless.
Thanks, neighbors.

As for Cooper....in the meantime....he has a great affinity for sandals.
And my hair.
Which he's chewing on as he climbs all over me while I try to type this.

Isn't he fun??? :)
Everyone needs a puppy to spice up their life a little.

It's A Boy!

No, No.....not our baby. Not our human baby anyway!

Meet Cooper.

He's my birthday present! Steve came home yesterday after work with this little bugger in his arms and a red bow around his neck.
I've been telling Steve-o how much I miss having a dog for quite a while now...how it'd be nice for the boys to have a dog, blah, blah, blah - really laying it on thick. At Christmas-time I suggested it again and he said NO WAY. I (sort-of) resigned myself that it would be awhile before we were once again canine owners and tried to put it out of my head. It really is a little impractical....new baby 2 months away, young children, potty-training a dog, business of life, etc. etc......but I happen to think the best gifts are highly impractical. :)
He's really good...only had one accident in the house so far (thank goodness the majority of our house is tile!) and is really good. Fun, but not too crazy rambunctious and the boys absolutely ADORE him. Especially A.J. - who I think it fast becoming best buds with little Cooper. AJ refuses to go anywhere in the house unless he's sure that "ooper" is right on his heels. The two of them sat and watched a movie this morning together and Cooper is constantly covering AJ's face with doggie kisses. Last night Cooper slept curled up beside Owen all night long.

I think he'll fit right in, don't you? :)
A little out of focus, but it makes me laugh. Taking a picture of this puppy is like trying to take a picture of a fart in a tornado.
Right after I took this one, he bounded toward my camera and licked the lens. *ahem*
He has a few lessons to learn about what is and is NOT ok in this house.

Birthday

Who IS this gorgeous bald baby, you'd like to know?? Look at her gorgeous face and beautiful intelligent brown eyes??? Who can it be??

It is moi, of course.

In celebration of my birthday, which is today, by the way, a few pictures of the cutest female child to ever grace planet Earth.

Who doesn't love having their photo taken on a giant carved turkey?? That's memories, right there people.....
Check out the bangs that start in the middle of my head.
Ah.....the 80's....hello tightly curled bangs.
Hey, I had to do SOMETHING with them while they were growing out. Can't have bangs in the middle of my head forever.
Ok.....things started getting ugly here.....I"ll stop before I really start to scare you all.
Besides, being the neglected middle child, there are approximately 8 more pictures of me after this anyway, so it doesn't really matter anyway.

Yup. It's me. In all my glory. I'm 28 today.
And I don't feel old.

Yet.

Maybe next year. :)

Go Casey, it's 'yo birf-day......

Gonna partay like it's yo' birf-day.....

In honor of your birthday, I broke out the old pencils and painstakingly sketched this likeness of you today. And then I scanned it into the computer.

Ok, Ok....it was really a photoshop action that I never use, and I wanted to try it out and see what it did.
BUT......I had PLANNED on making a pencil sketch of you and it looked EXACTLY like this in my mind.

Happy Birthday.

Geek.

:)

2 Whole Months!

Guess who's potty-trained?!?! Hooray!
He's not batting 1000 quite yet, but almost. He'll go potty all day for me as long as he gets Skittles as a reward. :)

And here's the other good news.....We will enjoy a full 2.5 months of NOT buying ANY diapers. Ahhh....like winning the lottery. :) I was thinking today that not counting the next two months, that by the time baby #3 is potty trained, we will have been buying diapers for approximately 7 years straight - and that's IF we don't have any more after #3.

I should buy stock in Pampers.






















Anyway, way to go A.J.! He does so great and he's so proud of himself when he goes. He thinks it especially cool to go outside and pee in the grass. Um...yeah, we'll work on that.
Sorry for the obnoxious watermarks, but I'm not mess'n around with pics of my wee babe in his underoos. :)

Hooray for big boy underwear!