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.

"I did it overnight/it couldn't happen any quicker"

I just scheduled 2 more shoots for Bella Leo Photography- Ok, now I am apprehensive and just a little scared. I am booked every weekend from now until the end of July, and I have one session scheduled for August. It's all coming so fast, and I feel like I'm not really ready. I know I can do it, and I believe everyone who says I have a talent for this. But am I really good enough to be charging people right now?

When I doubt myself, Brian likes to say I'm fishing for compliments. I'll take them if anyone is giving them. But honestly I'm more looking for the constructive criticism. Someone who can tell me, "not your best work, try again." There is so much more to learn. Although Ruby said it best: "gotta start somewhere." I'm not going into this with all the knowledge I will gain on the other side.

The question still remains: good enough to charge? Can I honestly sell my photos to people and not feel bad about it? How much would you pay for an amateur photographer?

If we ever make it home forever

I have greatly appreciated my time away from "the Lope"- but Sacramento is still home. Always has been, always will be. I have dreams of travel to even further off countries- but I do want to settle down soon. And so much more so when I think of all the fresh produce I could be buying in California.

On the journey to perfect mothering in this day and age, I am bombarded with news articles, blogs, and emails mostly pertaining to one of my favorite subjects: Food! I have one email address solely devoted to "junk" mail containing recipes and food articles. Specifically the healthy stuff. The horror stories of how our food is raised, salmonella outbreaks and other contaminants are enough to push any mother to go organic. And it's precisely what I wish I could do.

The commissary is not my favorite place to get food, but it is the most convenient (especially considering the fact that we live in a foreign country). It takes so much work to go anywhere else. If I were home I would be able to read labels and know exactly what I was purchasing at the farmer's market. I would find someone raising chickens locally and purchase my eggs from them (or live in Elverta and have my own coop). I would have a vegetable garden and grow my own perfect big red tomatoes and delicious cucumbers. I am fed up with purchasing produce that rots the next day.

I used to not really care about the whole better food movement. I thought the moms who bought only organic were pretentious and self-righteous. And then I really started to pay attention to the food I was buying, and the money we wasted every week tossing vegetables. It seems it would be more worth a few trips to different local markets to make sure our bodies are getting the best.

So if we ever make it home forever...if we can buy our house and settle down, I want to start my vegetable garden knowing that we won't have to uproot along with the carrots. I want to find out "what's new at Denio's Farmers Market and Auction..." and I've always wanted to shop Whole Foods, Fresh & Easy, and Trader Joe's. I don't even know if Trader Joes specializes in natural foods, but it's a trip I'm willing to take.

Anything beats this crud from the commissary.

(I do love the military life though)

it's update time!

Whew, I'm back! Somehow my gmail account was hacked and spammed everybody, so gmail disabled the account. But I got it back so now I can blog!

Over the weekend I did my first two official shoots for Bella Leo Photography. I had a shoot for a dance class on Friday:

And Saturday I did a maternity shoot:

There are more pics on my website www.bellaleophotography.com

I've been getting a lot of emails requesting sessions, and I have quite a few booked already. I'm pretty excited.

And I now have a studio! After I switched Bella's room, I figured the playroom would also make a great room for the studio. It would work out perfectly for family pictures. While mom and dad get their pictures taken, the kids can hang out and watch a movie or play with the toys in there:

Right now I just have 2 pieces of fabric on a curtain rod (2 of each white and black). I'll be ordering some different colored muslins once I get more business. Sometime this week I'm getting my white fluffy fabric (perfect for baby photos). That room gets a lot of natural light and I have my external flash, but I'll be ordering umbrella lights soon as well!

I think the anxious feeling from my last post was just feeling like I wanted to get this done. It felt so good to have real clients again. I noticed today I'm a little antsy. I almost feel like I need to be taking pictures. I'm addicted. That's one reason why my prices are so low; it's not about the money for me. I have to charge so I can keep upgrading my equipment. But I simply do this because I love it.

It has come to my attention....

My photos in the last post may or may not have been showing up for some people. So they are reposted if you care to revisit.

Thanks Crotchie.

Tik Tok (ps: sooooo NOT a Ke$ha fan)

Lately I've been feeling like I'm in a state of limbo, and almost like there is this clock ticking for something. I'm just trying hard to figure out what. It feels sort of like it has to do with leaving Okinawa, but I may just be attaching the feeling to anything to make sense out of it. Brian has a few options that would cause us to move. But either of those options would keep us here for at least another year.

I do like it here a lot; There is just that subconscious clock ticking, and whatever it's for I want to make sure that I am doing the most I can with my time. I want to get as much education as I can, make my family as happy as they can be, and serve the Lord in whatever way he needs me to. I feel like there is so much to do, and it's hard to do everything while we are living in Okinawa. I'm sure I'll figure it out. I've just never been one to wait very long. Maybe it's a test.

Well today I had to do SOMETHING. I'm getting really bored and it's hard to wait...Seriously, I don't think I really got the feeling across very well. It's just this really strong urge to get things done before time is up. So today, I rearranged all the bedrooms to keep myself distracted. Bella hasn't been going to bed right away lately. She turns on a movie, takes out all her toys, and plays dress up with her clothes. This is what her room looked like today (and actually right now, but after everything else I've done this afternoon, I need to save one project for tomorrow):

Except there was a bed in the corner on the right, but I didn't think to take before and after pics until I had already moved it into the other room. So all I have are afters:

 Hard to see, sorry. She was playing with the blinds before she finally decided to take her nap, and I didn't want to mess with the lighting because I was worried she would wake up. That TV in the corner doesn't work at the moment, and I will be getting rid of it. I just ran out of strength to get it out of the room. And on the other side:

Leo's playpen has been strategically placed in front of the closet so she won't try to pull everything out. That's our junk closet, and I really don't want to see what kind of disaster she can mix up with whatever is in there.

I also rearranged the master bedroom:

Little People Big World marathon!

It has been getting really hot at night, so I moved our bed under the a/c, which meant I had to move the dresser across the room so it would all flow together nicely. The dresser was by the bathroom door (where the nightstand and laundry baskets are now) and the bed was centered against the cement wall you can see in the top photo. Excuse the fact that the blue/brown pillows don't really match the comforter all that well. I bought the blue/brown bedset like 2 months ago and then found that white one last week and fell in love with it. But I knew Brian would be upset about it, so I thought of him and didn't buy new pillowcases or the matching throw pillows right away :)

I don't know what else to do at this moment. I thought about signing up for another class, but Bella has soccer coming up next month. I don't know how much of my time that will take, and I don't want either thing to be neglected in the slightest. It's hard for me to multitask because I like to give my all completely to a project. It needs to be one big thing at a time.

So I'll wait, maybe rearrange more furniture. Or get all creative and artistic and start taking pictures of random objects to hang on my walls. I do have FIVE photo shoots coming up between now and the end of July. I'm sure that will keep me pretty busy.

mmmmmm dooooughnuuuuts