Recent holiday photo shoot

Because a few of you asked to see the entire session :)

Feeling Festive

Look at me getting all crafty for the holidays! One of my life goals is to be like Martha Stewart, only more exciting. I realize I am a long way from pursuing that, but here's to a start!

Christmas stuff has been on display at the BX since October, so I have been anxious to start decorating. I've been trying to talk myself into putting up the tree, but I think I managed to convince myself that is not a good idea. I remembered the deal with having cats around Christmas time (if you have ever owned a cat and a Christmas tree at the same time, you may know the nuisance of which I speak), and then there's the whole kids thing. I'm sure they will do their best to knock the tree over. Also, our designated Christmas tree area doubles as the kids' play area (and triples as my studio), and our place in general is not very roomy. I can see me having to move the tree around a lot. I will be pleasantly surprised if our plastic aspen makes it through to next year.

So since I am forcing myself to put off the tree trimming until at least the beginning of December, I've been trying to make our home festive in ways that will be easier for me to keep from inevitable destruction. I threw together this lovely centerpiece:

A hurricane filled with potpourri (so it smells festive too!) with a candle in the center. I was pretty proud of this.

And bought some Christmas-y linens:

  Green and red cloth napkins that are more for looks than function (of course), White and gold-striped table runner (I have a giant poppy painting with a touch of gold hanging in my dining room, so this compliments the piece well), and red tablecloth (which is actually just the usual tablecloth, but yay that it works for the holidays!)

I also bought a wreathe for the door, a cute little fake tree that I plan on using in my holiday photo shoots, and a lovely fake poinsettia arrangement:

I feel it should be said that I've been going a little fake-plant crazy lately. I bought 4 for my living room recently. But they really add something to the space without adding anymore responsibility:

As you can see, I have more than enough responsibility around here:

I do believe this pile is made up of our entire wardrobes. Fun for me!

But the laundry can wait until morning. Right now I will bask in the gratification of subtle holiday cheer, and this decadent slice of tiramisu from Macaroni Grill (which I would love to take a photo of so I can be reminded of such sweet bliss for all time, but the camera is downstairs and I am enjoying this little treat in the comfort of my room).

Happy holidays :)

Where the Wild Things Are nursery inspiration board

I decided to make this nifty little inspiration board to gather all of my ideas for the Where the Wild Things Are-themed nursery! I've been wanting to create this look for the room since I was pregnant with King, but with the move so close to his birth it never got done. I won't know if the new baby is a boy or girl until it's birthday, but I feel this stuff is gender-neutral enough for the kid who will be sharing a room with King anyway. If it does turn out to be a girl, I'll probably throw in a few extra little frilly touches for her.

1) White country style changing table 2) Espresso crib with CoCalo Baby Bali bedding 3) Ikea Anno Unni "tree" curtains 4) Where the Wild Things Are light switch plate 5) Espresso glider 6) Where the Wild Things Are inspired throw pillows 7) Tree lamp 8)Where the Wild Things Are plush toys 8) Framed pictures from Where the Wild Things Are book

What will you be, little one?

Bella is the goofball.

She likes to play practical jokes, make funny faces, and she says some pretty random phrases just to make people laugh. She will shake her bottom while saying "my little butt!" in one of her special voices until it generates some kind of reaction from you. She sings Katy Perry songs and reenacts music videos to the best of her ability. She will tell her favorite knock knock joke for a simple chuckle: "Knock Knock" "Who's there?" "Orange" "Orange who?" "Banana!" She likes to hide my dishrags and yell "you'll never find it now!" (and I usually don't). She comes up with sentences like: "Mommy, thank you for taking me out of your uterus" and "I shouldn't have to depend on daddy!" She will announce it every time she farts. When she is in trouble, she knows exactly what to say to soften me up: "I just don't have anything to say." And then there are those laughs. She has the high-pitched squeal, the evil "Swiper" laugh, the fake laugh with three ha's, and the giggles. She looks like me, but she is very much like her daddy. She was blessed with that comedic wit I always wished I had.

In contrast, King is quite serious.

He is content just to play with his toy cars on his own, yet he is also very clingy to his mama and doesn't actually like being alone. He loves to give kisses, and is absolutely enamored with his big sister. He is very much a ladies man. You can see the slightest blush as he bats his eyes at the girls. When we wake him in the morning, he climbs up as fast as he can and gives the biggest smile and a cute little giggle. He will always be happy to see you. He loves animals. For as long as he has been alive, he has been gentle with them. He always pets them softly and has never pulled a tail or yanked out fur.  He looks like his daddy, yet he is more like me: quiet, empathetic, and tender-hearted.

They compliment each other perfectly,

and love each other unconditionally.

The most important thing to me is to maintain a close bond with my family. I pray for my children to always be best friends, and to always know they can count on any one of us for anything. The Lord has blessed us immensely with these two, and we very much look forward to the third :)

Baby Raney #3

Some of you may recall my letter to dear old Aunt Flo from a while back, and I must have upset her back then. My how she can hold a grudge, because she won't be showing up anymore (for at least the next 35 weeks anyway). I was really not ready to announce it to the world yet. REALLY not ready. But Brian is pretty excited about it, so he told the world. And now everyone will know. Might as well write about it.

This was a huge shock/surprise, and I'm a little embarrassed to be completely honest. Feeling a little dumb as well. Can someone please tell me how I passed Anatomy & Physiology with an A last semester, when I don't even know that you get pregnant the week after your period and not the week before? I had forgotten to put in my nuvaring, and Brian just happened to come home on what I later found out was my most fertile day of the month. I thought "no biggie, just had my period. We are good to go!" Then 2 weeks and 4 days of waiting for "Flo" my boobs started to get a little perkier, my legs started cramping, and I started to feel the groin pain from the end of the last pregnancy. I thought I better test.

I had a test from the last time, and it must have just been too old because the digital hourglass flashed for about 2 minutes and then the test just turned off. I thought I was just being paranoid anyway, so instead of running to the shoppette, I went about my bid-ness and eventually went to bed telling myself to stop worrying/googling pregnancy symptoms on my iphone (I have found no matter how many times you get pregnant, you will still end up googling everything about pregnancy until the day your child is born).

The next day I went and bought another box with 2 tests, and thought about buying tampons too just in case but they didn't have the ones I wanted. So I checked out with the box of tests and a carton of milk. I took the first test as soon as I got home. Another error. These tests hate me, and I'm out of pee. So I waited a few hours, assumed I couldn't really even be pregnant since I wasn't running to the bathroom every 5 minutes, took the test anyway, hung around for a while expecting another error message or "Not Pregnant" to show up in the results window, picked up the test when I noticed the hour glass stopped flashing, and dropped it immediately as I hit my hand to my chest and gasped. Then I just kept saying "oh man" over and over and over and over. I picked up the test and read it again. I looked at that test at least 5 times to make sure I was reading it right, then I rubbed my eyes and read it again. I looked as close as I could for the faintest appearance of the word "Not" But there it was, clear as day: "Pregnant" in digital copy. Later I took a test at the hospital just to be sure, and they confirmed it. I even half expected them to tell me the result was negative. I had really thought I was just being paranoid. This was quite unexpected.

The shock is still there, and I don't think my mind has really accepted it yet. Three kids is a lot to dwell on. And the more I dwell on it, the more I get this hunch that it's twins. I'm really really really hoping THAT is just me being paranoid.

I wasn't ready to announce it because I didn't really want people to say anything negative to or about it. I wasn't ready for the obvious and inevitable "you know how that happens, right?" comments. I wasn't even ready to hear "congratulations" yet. I'm still processing it. It's unplanned, and just under 5 weeks in, and there is always the big possibility of miscarriage this early. So you won't see anything about it on my facebook status, at least not for a while. The 5 people that read my blog can get an inside look at how I'm feeling. And I'll get excited enough to post on the bump blog every now and then I'm sure, although not nearly as often as before considering I'm already extremely busy with 2 kids and the photo business. Which reminds me, I will have to figure out a way to incorporate the new kid's (or kids') name(s) in the business. Maybe a special photo package or promotion.

ps: After all this I'd still use nuvaring. I know everyone with an unplanned pregnancy was on it, but this was totally my bad. I loved it as a birth control option.

just sayin'

I'm suffering from bloggers block. I know, blogs are just for random musings. You don't really have to have anything to say, you just do it anyway. But I feel like I should have something of importance to speak on. Anything.


And yet, nothing.


"If you want to be a writer, you must always be writing." So since "Publish a novel" is on my bucket list, I must say something. Anything. Even if it's about nothing.

ho. hum.

I sat here for another hour plus minutes trying to enhance photos. This darn computer is getting the best of me. I don't think I can handle another crash, while there are CDs to burn. Crash, and burn! I think if it weren't for the frustration it's causing, I would have never had the guts to raise my prices. It's just not worth it to be stuck enhancing all day long without more compensation. So thank you, lousy computer.

Did I tell you we got another dog? His name is Charlie. We've had him for a whopping 3 days now, and already we are sending him back. I know. I know. But he bit Bella...twice. And he ate my shoe. And he jumped on the baby. Leo was already not a dog person, that just set him over the edge. Other than all of that, Charlie is a great dog. Potty trained! Loving. If he and Bella weren't having such a hard time together I would just pay the $70 for obedience school and we could deal with the jumping and sandal suppers. But those two just do not get along. She hits. He barks. She cries. He nibbles. She cries some more. I have the worst luck with dogs!

We're looking into shipping Fluffy here. To her motherland. I miss my baby. But I don't know if my dad is ready to give her up. He misses me.

It's 1am. B is in Hawaii, and I am totally jealous. I miss my friends. He did try to get tickets for us though, no luck. Thought that counts. He thinks a lot. Miss that fool.

A lot of missing going on right now.