New Blog Anyone?

If you've never read THIS BLOG...you should.

And one of these days I'm going to link it in my sidebar......after I wipe the baby puke off my shirt, find a clean pair of shorts, clear the diaper bag off the computer chair and defog my mind to see if I can remember how to rewrite that HTML code stuff in my settings.

Yesterday's Senior

I always enjoy photographing my volleyball players because I can try new things on them, and I already know them and their personality, so it makes capturing them being themselves a little bit easier.
Here's Katie, and these pictures are just so....HER. She's fun, quirky, cute, and goofy. I think she told me she got some strange looks when she said she was wearing "train conductor overalls" for her senior pics, but when I saw them I said, "perfect"! And her gorgeous dress in these first two? What better accessories than pink converse tennis shoes?? Absolutely perfect.....

I haven't even begun proofing, but I couldn't resist pulling a few up to have a look at what we got. It was a fun, hot (95 degrees by 10 am!!) session - and it was very, just.....Katie! :)




s

The Deathly Hallows

JUST finished reading the final installment of the Harry Potter books.

Great googly-moogly!

It was outstanding.

Freaking superb.

Absolutely the best fictional story I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

J.K. Rowling is simply brilliant.

I still can't believe it.

What a great read.

I don't think I've ever actually been sad that book series is finished, but I could hardly put it down for the last 100 pages, it was so blasted good.

Haven't read the Harry Potter books?? Are you bloody mad?? Go buy them right now and read them all. You won't regret it.

13 Days

The only *halfway* decent shot of all 3 of them....I'll be trying again for a better one soon. *sigh*
This picture cost me a Take-Along Thomas and a Bob the Builder action toy.
Aren't his lips just divine?? *sigh*
I'm thinking of having this one blown into a big canvas for the nursery, but his squished left eye is bugging me a little....think I might try it again.

Minor Random Annoyance

Why don't the soap people make the soap pump reach all the way to the bottom of the soap bottle??
You're minding your own business, and go to wash your hands....
pump, pump.

Nothing.

But there's soap down there dang it!
And no matter how hard you pump, it just ain't come'n.

What a waste.
And how annoying.

Tax Deduction

For my brother Rob (the accountant)

Pump It Up

While I've been bemoaning my fatness (see post below), Steve has been hitting the gym with friend Dano and turning his own Flab into Fab, dah-ling. Seeing as how my gym membership was getting dusty the last few months of pregnancy and the upcoming 6 weeks of post-partum, Steve-o willingly (most of the time) has been hitting the gym bright and early at 7 am to work out with Dano and his iron-slinging harem of weight-lifting protégés, under my name.

Check out Steve-o....pumping, firming, and jet-setting the testosterone coursing through his veins like a herd of wild buffalo stampeding across the plains:(photos courtesy of Dano and the Iron Harem)

All joking aside, I'm pretty proud of him for sticking with this and striving towards a healthier lifestyle. He's been noticing the effects of those early morning workouts and is pretty darn proud of himself too. Way to go Steve-o!

Well Then.

Observation:
After I had Owen, I was wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans one week later.

Currently, if I even LOOK at my pre-pregnancy jeans, they stand up on their own accord and run screaming from the room.

Owen & AJ head to Grandma's

I came home from the hospital last Thursday, and the boys left with grandma and grandpa to go up to grandma's house in Atlanta on Saturday morning. I've been missing them terribly, but I doubt the sentiment is reciprocated! They are having a GREAT time up there with their grandparents!
Here's a few snaps from the hotel pool on Saturday a.m. before they left.....

AJ showing grandma how he can swim...



Look at that stroke! Perfection! :)

I love this one of Owen! He was tired and needing a break....(or so he says)....
Daddy coaxed him back in....
AJ was feel'n pretty cool that he could jump in all by himself with no one to catch him (it was only 3 ft deep)




Catch ya later!!

Tyler Enters the World....The Whole Story

Whew! Life has been a whirlwind the last week and I feel like I'm just getting back into the swing of things.
Going back to the last couple blog entries....as for the Baby Contest.....Denise was the winner, first guessing the correct sex, then being the closest in date and time. In the Den WOULD HAVE won....had he not (purposely) entered the year 2008. Betcha smack'n your head over that one, aren't cha now, D?? :) lol Denise....email me your mailing address and I'll send you your Starbucks gift card. :) As for the rest of you CHEATERS....may the fleas of a thousand camels attack you in your bed tonight. Shame on you!

Now...For those of you who asked....here's how our beautiful Tyler came about....

Last Tuesday morning I noticed that the baby wasn't moving around very much. I drank some OJ and went to lay down for a bit and monitor the baby's movement, a habit I've gotten into since reading about fellow photographer Blair Banks experience and subsequent Baby James Project, which you can read more about at the link to the right (and if you're pregnant, or know anyone who is, you should definitely read it). After 20 minutes of still feeling nothing, I decided to head down to the dr.'s office to make sure everything was all right. When I got there they hooked me up to fetal monitoring and tracked the baby's heart rate for about 30 minutes or so. By this point I had felt the baby move and was dreaming about a sausage-egg-cheese croissanwich from Burger King on my way home when the midwife came in and said that they were concerned about a few "dippity-dips" that the baby's heart rate had taken in the last 20 minutes. Dippity-dips. *snort* That midwife is so dang perky. But I actually really like her a lot. So they sent me over to the hospital for yet MORE fetal monitoring on the big dog hospital monitors.

I mentally canceled my sausage-egg-croissant fantasy and drove over to the hospital, calling Steve-o to update him. "I'm sure it's nothing" I told him, but he decided to call our rock'n babysitter Erica anyway, and meet me there.

When I got to the hospital, they hooked me up to an IV (which I *still* have a bruise from) and started a small drip of Pit to simulate some minor contractions, to see how the baby handled the stress of contractions. An hour later....baby had done just ok - Dr. Kitchens was monitoring MY monitor from his office and wanted me to stay yet another hour just to be sure things were a-ok. After yet another hour (by this point I'm salivating over the idea of lunch...Hmmmm, I think a Big Mac is in order after the morning that I've had), the nurse comes in and announces that the Dr. thinks everything looks fine and I can go home. Yay! I sit up (since my back is absolutely cursing my name for laying flat on it for the past 4 hours) and prepare to go home, when the baby's heart rate drops VERY low.....and stays that way for 7 minutes. Enter a new nurse, who literally runs into the room when the baby's heart drops and makes me lay back down. Steve and I eyeball each other skeptically, thinking that this nurse needs to go for some decaf because obviously, I messed up a monitor when I sat up and she's freaking out for no reason. She adjust me, adjust the monitor, said that Dr. Kitchens didn't like that and he was going to call back in just a minute. I said, "are you sure that it wasn't just because I sat up?" She was adamant that it was NOT just because I sat up. My original nurse comes in and says, "honey, you just bought yourself a ticket for a C-section"

"All I did was sit up!"

Apparently, sitting up was not the culprit, because my heart rate stayed steady, while Tyler's dropped, indicating that it wasn't the machine, but was indeed the baby.
Steve started making the phone calls, telling his parents to pack up and drive down from Atlanta, informing family and friends that we were having a baby. I was fretting over the fact that my house was a mess and I'm pretty sure that I have at least 2 pair of dirty underwear laying inside out and on the floor in the bathroom. Can't we wait and do this later?? AFTER I vacuum the floors and bathe my children, and pack a bag and...oh crap, I haven't even taken a shower yet today. And what about that Big Mac??
"No food. No drinks before surgery"

*insert curse word here*

So we begin the waiting....I try to mentally and emotionally rearrange my expectations for childbirth and prepare myself for the awful reality of a c-section ( I do NOT do well with surgery, doctors, hospitals, large needles, nudity in front of strangers, etc).

At 5:15 I leave Steve-o behind to get scrubbed up and I go into the O.R. to get prepped for surgery. First big task: A Spinal.
Oh God.
I HATE epidurals, spinals, whatever. I think they are more painful than childbirth itself. The "little prick" they give you to numb the area first is much more painful than like a "bee sting". Maybe a monster mutant Optimus Prime Killer Bee from the heart of Africa, but certainly like no bee sting I've ever known. Then they pull out the 4 ft long needle that they thread into your spine to numb you from the waist down. By this time I'm trembling uncontrollably. The nurse soothes, "oh, honey...are you cold?"
Um....no.
Slightly apprehensive at the idea of thick needle being jammed (painfully) into my spine is more like it.
After 5 excruciating minutes, it was finally over and I laid back to get prepped for surgery. They put up a paper "tent" thing across my chest so I didn't have to see anything (thank God) and started to get me ready.

Humility is.....

Being laid out on a table under a very bright light. Completely naked. Weighing more than you have in your life. In front of 8 strangers. 2 of them men.

At this point in time I'm feeling......hot. Extremely hot. Sweating even. And then...nausea. Light-headed. Tunnel vision.
"I don't feel good"
"what's that honey?" (everyone in the south calls you honey)
"I. don't. feel. good. I'm going to pass out"
The anesthesiologists eyes widen. "Oh! Don't do that!" as he grabs a bag of something and squeezes it into my IV. Instantly I feel better.

Doctor: "Let's get started. Can you feel that, Tammi?"
Me: "no"
Doctor: "how about that?"
Me: "no"
Doctor: "Good, because I've already started"
Nurses: chuckling.

Ha Ha. Hardy har har. Freaking HILARIOUS.

Enter Steve, camera in hand and we sit and wait. Steve tries to settle me by quietly talking about our honeymoon. It worked.
And a few minutes later, I feel some tugging, the nurse says, "get your camera ready, dad".
A cry.
"It's a boy"
Steve: "It's a boy!"
Me: "It's a boy?!"
Inside my head: "holy crap! I have 3 boys!" :)

Tyler announced his entrance to the world by promptly peeing all over the place as soon as he hit the air in the O.R.
Apgar scores of 8 and 9 and a perfectly healthy, beautiful baby boy is ours.

Good thing we monitored that heart rate. Good thing I listened to my gut and came in that morning. Good thing his heart rate dropped *just* before I was about to leave. The dr. said that there was merconium (simple definition: baby poop) in the sac (that's bad) and that the placenta had also started to calcify (simple definition: harden and quit working). Had we left that morning and not gotten Tyler out, things could have potentially ended much differently, and/or tragically. We were grateful that things came about the way that they did. And we are grateful for Tyler, who honestly is the quietest, sweetest, most easy going baby ever.

I'm Back! With a lovely New Addition!

Just a quick note for now to let everyone know I'm back among the land of the living! Tyler and I came home from the hospital on Thursday afternoon and have been enjoying our time getting to know one another. He is perfect in every way....easygoing, sleeps for long periods of time, minimally fussy, alert and beautiful....he's an absolute dream. Owen and AJ especially are quite enamored with him and of course Steve-o is also enjoying time with his new son.

More to come this weekend, but here's a few snaps for now.....

New Baby Boy Nowack

Hello everyone who avidly reads my lovely wife Tammi's blogs. I will try to write on her behalf, but will lack her creativity and ingenuity.

We are excited to welcome Tyler Quinton Nowack to the world. The story is crazy about how it all came about because any of you that are readers know that we have both been dreading being two weeks late fully understanding that this was our reality because all of our other children have been this late. However, Tyler, wishing to be unique since he is the third born, had other plans. I will let Tammi tell the story when she retakes her post of most creative blog writer in all the land (or at least in the Nowack house).

All this to say that we are excited to have our new addition. He was born at 6:01 PM on July 10th. He weighed 7 lbs and 4 oz and had APGAR scores (this is for my nursey sister-in-law who I thought would appreciate this priceless info.) of 8 and 9. I was informed these scores were splendid because babies rarely receive a perfect 10 (although Tammi and I had no vote - silly doctors!)

So without further ado, I present to you the birth, not the full birth because that would be gross and everyone would probably cease reading directly afterwards, of Tyler Quinton Nowack.

And just a quick FYI we will be taking meal sign ups starting below...we will post the menu in the coming days! Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers!

I am ready for surgery (not really...I get really queasy during these things)

Tammi so excited to have her 2nd C-Section (Yeah right!)

New baby Tyler

New Momma and baby

Our new family (look how excited AJ and Owen are....astounding isn't it?!)

New baby resting peacefully (some of the last of these moments once it gets home to 2 big brothers eager to play)

The Baby Contest!!

The first ever Random Musings blog Contest has arrived.
The concept is simple....the person who most closely estimates the arrival date of baby Nowack, AND the sex wins a fabulous $10 gift card to Starbucks. Yes, I understand that a $10 Starbucks giftcard will only actually purchase about 2.3 drinks, but this IS the first ever blog contest so cut me some slack for its humble beginnings.

Casey is under the impression that I should also require that people put in a time, "because multiple people might guess the right day and the right sex". I think that the odds of that happening with the 8 people that read this blog are slim, but just in case I have a few surprise lurkers out there who decide to join in the fun, go ahead and put down the time too. Just in case.

Here's some background info for you:
Baby's actual due date: THIS Thursday, July 12.
Ultrasound results as of today: Baby is guesstimated to weigh about 7lbs 4oz. Head is down but has not dropped.
Doctor assessment as of today: "I think you're er....maybe dialted 1 inch" (please note, I think he just said that for MY sake, so that I wouldn't actually tear the infant from my own loins in desperation after leaving the office).

So here's the lowdown:
In the comments section, guess the birthdate, birthtime, and sex of the baby - don't forget to leave your name! The person who has the most facts correct after the big day will be the recipient of the Starbucks gift card.

Go forth and guess!!

Working, Working.....

I'm trying to wrap up the post-processing on the last of my senior sessions before this baby comes (wishful thinking) so that I can rest easy for a few days and not have to worry about senior sessions while I'm in the hospital birthing my child.
Anyway, was working on this one tonight and came across this image of Saturday's senior with her boyfriend. I rather like when seniors bring a friend or boyfriend with them...it helps to loosen them up and make them feel relaxed so that it's not just them and this enormous pregnant woman with a camera. :) LOL Here's "T" with her boyfriend...aren't they cute??

Upcoming Fun.....

Tomorrow I have yet another appt with the ob, where I will probably hear (again) how I'm nowhere near close to having this baby. But in order to pass the time until I do have it, we'll have the first ever Random Musings contest, with a legitimate prize going to the winner......so stay tuned for details!!

Playing Hookie and Other Weird Thoughts

First of all, confession time: Yes, it is 11:26 am, and yes, I should be in church.....but after a particularly restless night of horrid back/pelvis/hip/tailbone pain, the last thing I wanted to do this morning was sit in a hard straight-back chair for 2 hours in church. So when Steve got out of the shower this morning and asked me, "are you coming to church this morning with us?" I responded (into the pillow) with a "mmrrffffppphhhh" - so he loaded up the boys and went without me. I've spent the morning sitting in the recliner, stretching out on a yoga mat on the floor (ok, it was actually just a folded up blanket, but yoga mat sounds SOoooo much cooler), and taking the following picture for your visual enjoyment (and mine):



What is it, you wonder?? An aerial view of a moon crater, perhaps?? A loaf of uncooked bread dough with a hole punched in the middle?? A molecular photo of cell-cycle in progress?? A secret and horrific peephole into the underworld??
NO! I say!!
It's my bellybutton.

When I was younger I always wished for an outie bellybutton, but alas, I was cursed with your everyday, run-o-the-mill, boring, atypical innie. Until....that fateful month during my pregnancy with Owen when I looked down to see not only the humungously large bump of my growing fetus, but another smaller bump visible through my tshirt....my bellybutton - gloriously popped inside out and turned temporarily outie for a few short months, visible for all the world to see! YES! And it's oh-so-cute (nevermind the gall-bladder surgery scar above it, or the stretch marks around it, which are hereditary so I'm not to blame)...but it IS an outie...for a bit longer. And I like it. A lot.

And I'm really glad I skipped out on church to document it.

Go Read This

Found this interesting article.....check it out:

5 REASONS NOT TO DRINK BOTTLED WATER

Project 1Buck

Many of you may remember the post I did a couple weeks back for Project1Buck.

They're over half way to getting the $$ needed to buy a computer for the Black Hills Neighborhood community center, so if anyone if willing or has a minute - pop over to the their site and give a mere $1 so they can meet their goal before their deadlines is up (in 11 days) so they can meet their goal. If everyone who gave $1, gives just $1 more, the goal will be met! And I can't wait to see what the next project in store is.....

Read more about it and give a dolla' here.

Come on....all the cool kids are doin' it......

Progress

Score one for us!
Cooper went all day yesterday and did not pee or poop in the house ONCE!
Yessss!!!!!!!!!

Of course, this throws out my theory that he has a bladder/bowel problem and brings to light the fact that he is probably, in fact....a little stupid. Oh well....better late than never, right??

Aydenisms....

Embarrassing kid-speak moments - you know about those, right?? You hear the stories...your toddler blurts out something about an overweight woman, or why does that lady have a beard? or his face looks funny, etc. etc that makes the parent cringe and hope that everyone within a 2 mile radius goes temporarily deaf for the 3 seconds it takes for your kid to blurt out a most embarrassing socially-inappropriate comment. Luckily....I've never had one of those with either of my boys. Yet.

Until yesterday. We're at the 4th of July celebration and taking a break indoors with the kids in the back play room. AJ suddenly blurts out, "I gotta go potty", doing a potty-jig and holding himself as he sprints down the hall for the one (and only) public bathroom. I get up to follow him, and alas, there's someone in there (not surprising when there are 112 people on the property and only one bathroom)- but AJ is pounding away on the door - "Lemme in! I gotta go potty!!" I shush him and tell him he's going to have to hold it for a minute because someone else is in there going potty. The pained expression on his face told me what he thought of that idea. And lemme just tell you that AJ is one of those kids who will hold his urine in until the whites of his eyes are turning slightly yellow and his bladder is on the verge of spontaneous combustion before he will finally take a break from whatever he's doing and demand that he MUST, that very SECOND, go potty. And you sure as heck better find one. Or else.

I tried to distract him by showing him how to cross his legs to pinch off the urge and he tried it, although he nearly toppled over in the process and probably leaked out half the pee in there anyway. Not a moment later, a very large and friendly man opens the bathroom door and says that he can hold it and allows AJ to go in first. I thank him and help the dancing AJ into the bathroom to go potty. As I'm hurrying him to finish up so the other guy can come back in and do his thing, he decides, "no wait mama....i gotta poop" so he has himself a seat (backwards) on the potty to do his thang. I sigh and hope that the man outside can hold it himself for a few minutes more.

After AJ finishes, as he's washing his hands and I'm helping him get his clothes back on (because as you know, all men have to poop completely naked), I tell him that when we leave the bathroom that he needs to be sure to say thank you to the man outside who let him go potty first. Wanting to be sure that he understood my instructions and didn't barge past the man and forget, I said it again to him.

"Ok, AJ...when we go outside, you need to say thank you to the big man out there who let you go potty, ok? Because he was very nice to let you go first. Do you understand?"

"Yup"

We open the door.
The nice man is outside waiting.

What does AJ say??

"Thank you big man. I had to go poop"

Happy Fourth of July!

Hope everyone is having/had a fabulous Fourth of July! We've spent the day with Casey's (incredibly large) extended family at their annual Fourth of July bash at Aunt Ida's house. You can read about last year's celebration at Aunt Ida's HERE.
Anyway, Steve-o and I were feeling very blessed to be welcomed into the Perkins family celebrations and were commenting on the way home about how welcome we feel whenever we go over there, even though we're not family. They're a great bunch of people and we really enjoy their company (all 257 of them. Ok...not quite that many - maybe like, 85).

Here's a few snapshots from today.....

AJ mow'n down on the corn and bbq....


Steve-o and Owen tak'n a break by the water's edge......
Owen sighs and he's forced to eat his corn before he can have any cupcakes for dessert....
Casey showing Owen how to use the tire swing....
He liked it. :)
AJ jumping off the dock....
And even Owen got brave and jumped off the dock several times too....
And a silhouette that I liked....

Happy Fourth of July!