Finally - Christmas Catch Up Post

I know this is way late as it is already New Years Eve, however, last night blogger wasn't allowing me to upload pictures and I needed to play catch up with my posts and also in my house. So here it is....better late then never right? Well I guess that's my opinion and it's my blog so I can say that right?

First off, Just wanted to show everyone how clean up on Christmas Day occurs in my family. Yes, that is the "MEN" doing the dishes. Every year, we have a HUGE Christmas lunch of prime rib, ham, salads, bread, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and yes, pies and goodies and oh yea, homemade icecream. It is so yummy. The last few years, after lunch, the men have been doing the dishes and cleaning up. It is so funny to see all of the men lined up at the sink washing, drying and putting away the dishes.

- This is two of my uncles and my dad (center) doing the dishes after christmas lunch -

After everything is cleaned up and put away, we always have a gift exchange game. Everyone brings one $20.00 gift and we draw numbers with #1 going first and the highest number going last. You can steal a present already unwrapped or open a new one. It is always fun to watch and see everyone be sneaky and try to hide the "good gift" so no one steals it.

This year I brought a snuggie. When these came out a couple of years ago, we always laughed at the infomercial on TV because they just plain out looked rediculous. I can honestly say that I would never buy one for myself, however if I were to get one, I would probably use it, as would most people. Well my cousin was the lucky one to open this gift. He is a sophomore in college and couldn't believe he got a snuggie. Well it ended up that his dad stole it from him, and of course instead of stealing something else, he chose to open another present and ended up with 2 snowmen mugs, hot cocoa, marshmallows and a blanket. It was SOOOO FUNNY to see his expressions. I can say I believe he was a little dissappointed in the gift game this year, but it was sure funny to watch him be dissappointed!

Well being at Christmas is just plain exhausting in the life of a 16 month old. She zonked out and took a great nap during the gift game. Isn't she just adorable? I think so!

This picture is actually from Christmas Eve Night. The grandkids all opened new pj's, slippers, and sleeping bags. They put in a Chistmas movie and enjoyed some popcorn. A new tradition started.

After the fun Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we headed out to my sisters for Christmas with my mom. The kids again enjoyed opening gifts from one another and from Grandma Resa and Rodney. Rylee deffinately had fun being "Toted around" by her cousins the entire weekend.

- Hunter is carrying Rylee aound the house -

It was so funny to watch R. interact with everyone. She had no problem going to her cousins Brooke and Hunter, However was holding a major grudge against her cousin Logan who kept stealing her bracelets and necklaces and blanket from her. She also would not go or even look at her Grandpa and was very hesitant to go to any other adults besides her Mom, Dad and aunt Missy. Even Aunt Aimee was on the bad list.

I can deffinately tell that she has been cooped up in the house this winter with little interaction from other people. Guess it's time for mom and dad to get a babysitter and give her some time with other people. Well, maybe we will wait until after flu season.

After the long time away from home, we were all glad to be home. Rylee is just loving her new ball pit and 200 balls along with her dora play tent/tunnel and Everything else she got for Christmas.

She spiked a fever yesterday afternoon and of course all of the doc's at her CF clinic are on vacation, so we took her to the local clinic and they said it looked like ear infection. Poor thing. So we are on another antibiotic for the next 10 days. One of these days all these darn antibiotics will be finished and we can go back to "OUR" normal life which is no where near everyone elses normal.

Well, wishing everyone a safe and happy new year's eve and a wonderful 2010 to everyone!

A new Experience - The Wrights!

The weekend before Christmas, I ventured out of town to take pictures of a family - I mean extended family! 19 People total and 9 kiddos. It was deffinately a new experience and a good one to get the jitters out. I now know that I need to be more assertive and creative with my placements and when doing a shoot that big should have an assistant to help keep the attention of everyone. I would say little ones, however when all the little ones were looking, it just so happens that one of the adults wouldn't be.

Overall though, I think I managed to get a semi-decent picture of the entire family and pieced together some others for the family. Here is a sneak peek for the very patient family. With the Christmas holiday, I didn't get a chance to look at them and edit them until last night/today, so here is a little preview.

This one is deffinately a favorite of mine. It took a while to get it together, but I love the way it turned out.

I know "Grandma" wanted a picture for a Christmas Card and since it is after Christmas, i quick put this card together for the "Holidays"

Here's a Picture of Grandma with all the kiddos. Now only if I could transpose the good picture of the adults in behind them this one would be perfect. No such luck though! I tried!

We did get the 1 picture of the entire family (the first picture) and a couple of other ones, and I edited lots of just the kids/individuals.

The family was great to work with and I would love to take more pictures for them as my experience and confidence with large groups grows.

I couldn't ask for a better family to work with on a large scale aspect. They were so cooperative and all such happy people! Thanks so much.

Wow Christmas has come and gone!

Well, no pictures but just a quick update......Christmas came and went just like the blizzard that we had did. I have lots to update on later...but for now just a note that we are still here, just being super bad at blogging lately with the holidays and craziness. I have pictures to edit, laundry to do, toys to put away, dishes to clean and much much much more.

We had an excellent Christmas. Little R. got way too many toys and is stocked up for the next 10 years I swear.....well only if she would stay 16 months for the next 10 years. She is loving playing with all the toys and enjoying being home.

Well more to come later including some pictures to document the fun times had by all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that the upcoming new year is plenty merry for all!

Wow! Really?

OK, So I have recently become the worlds worst blogger. Has it really been this long since I've posted?

Well, We have been some busy and tired people around this household. After our visit from the cousins, the party, and finally getting the house back to normal, we started to think about christmas...Wrapping presents, baking, packing for the fun filled vacation at grandpas and then aunties. Those were the thoughts anyways...Until....The fear of the major winter storm that is about to hit the area. We have about a 2.5 hour drive to get our destination. To say the least, we will be majorly bummed if we cannot make it.

And then of course there is our little peanut who always throws a curve ball into the plan. While the cousins were visiting she developed a minor dry cough. We played it off to the change of weather causing very dry air.....What can I say, I was a tad bit stuffy in the mornings too. Some days the cough was worse then others, but for the most part it remained very dry and sparse.

We had a clinic visit on Thursday and they were under similar thoughts about the cough. We were told to watch it over the weekend and check back in this week if things were not improved/worse. Well I called today as things are not getting better. She has been up 2 or 3 times a night with a stuffy nose. She gets so frustrated because she can't suck on the paci and breathe through her nose. Poor Little girl. So we added to her list of numerous meds, bactrim for 10 days to clear up a bacterial infection in her lungs and guess what - She does not like it. Anything that comes out of a syringe and a little orangesish/brown bottle - not good.

We also added zantac to help the enzymes work better, miralax to help with the stool issues, upped the amount of enzymes and now bactrim. We are still working on adding all of these to our daily routine/regamine. We don't like to overwhelm her system with 3 new things, so slowly we add a little every couple of days.

Well with christmas away from home, we decided to let R. open one present every night until christmas to make it not so overwhelming. She had quite a few presents from us along with from her grandma and grandpa and some friends and we decided we weren't going to haul them all for the ride. We initially were going to open presents here before we left and then just take the gifts from R. to the cousins and 2 or 3 from us to open with the family, however, we didn't think that opening them all at once was such a great idea. we will be opening presents for about 5 days straight, and she will be more then spoiled.

So we started a couple of nights ago. She got this awesome doctors kit from her godparents along with the movie Snow White. She has also opened some art supplies, puzzles, stacking bowls and nesting and stacking blocks and a "feel better baby doll that came with a stethascope, medicine, and thermometer. She has also recieved a tool set from the A.'s and some very cool stuff from her friend Reese who also has Cystic Fibrosis. They are pen-pal friends and love to get presents from each other along with sending some neat-o stuff to each other. R. got a very nice homemade Christmas ABC book, some bathtime tadoodles, a potty book, a doctor book, a pedicure set, an R. Magnet and a tic tac toe game. R. is really scared of the stethascope and doctors right now which is completely understandable.

She still has quite a bit to go and is loving all of the new toys. Here she is opening the doctors kit.



She still isn't quite sure what to do with the presents. She is getting a little more into it as we go, but still gets distracted and doesn't quite understand the concept yet. She seems to like the way the present looks wrapped.

Well thank you to everyone who has sent R. gifts. She loves them all. We are still hoping for some good news for the weather and Hope that everyone has a wonderful christmas and a Happy New Year. We will have a post later about a photoshoot for a family get together with 18 people...........

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Busy Busy Busy but Fun Fun Fun

We had a very busy weekend at our home! A birthday party, a christmas party, and three rugrats added to our precious one made for one interesting but fun weekend. We deffinately could have used one more day to relax after the weekend, but we will get that next weekend!

My sister, her husband and three kids along with my mom and her boyfriend drove to our house on Friday night. We had a party for Hunter's 6th Birthday. We had pizza for supper and icecream cake. My cousin Jordan stopped up for the party along with my sisters husbands son Zack. It was quite the houseful. We talked, laughed and watched the kiddos having fun! My sisters family and my mom and Rodney stayed the night making for quite the houseful with people sleeping everywhere.



On Saturday morning, my sister and her husband and my mom and Rodney got up and left bright and early for the cities. They were planning on spending the day shopping at the Mall of America and then heading to the Vikings game on Sunday, leaving us with 3 monsters for 2 days!

The kids were far from monsters. We were busy making food and cleaning and setting up for a christmas party we were hosting that night. The older kids played alot on the wii and their nintento ds's but it kept them content for the day.

Now this little stinker......I set out the sugar cookies (thank you Jodee for the recipe! they were perfect and still NO FAIL as even I didn't fail these cookies) and this little stinker kept swiping the gingerbread men. Finally after walking around with his 3rd cookie, I had to place them up so he could no longer reach them. I was running out of gingerbread men. He sure is a cute little stinker though.


Saturday afternoon the house began to fill. We had Rylee's friend Haven and her mom up, friends Abby and Shawn, and of course the Austriems.



The kids had so much fun decorating the sugar cookies. We only let them eat 1 but I have a feeling that ate more then that, as when Brooke and Hunter left yesterday they each only had 2 cookies left! Oh well........lots and lots of sugar every once in a while isn't a bad thing....IS IT?

Austreims brought up Rylee christmas present and let her open it. Ashton had to help her as she wanted to keep placing the big bow over the whole. I have a NO PEEKER on my hands. She loved the dora paper (even though she doesn't really know who dora is thanks to no cable tv) and she absolutely loved the present. They got her a huge set of black and decker toy tools. She has so much fun playing with them. I don't seem to have any pictures, but I'm sure they will appear in the near future!

And after an exhausting night of christmas fun, These two conked out by 9:15 on the air matress on the living room floor. Their dad called at about 9:30 to say goodnight but they were fast asleep. I guess lots of sugar and excitement leads to tired tired tired kids. Their little brother was asleep by 7:00 and guess what.....our little angel was asleep by..oh wait it was still 10:30 before she finally zonked out.

On sunday we spent the majority of the day cleaning, playing the wii, relaxing, studying for Brookes big science test today and keeping the house from becoming totally demolished again. R had such a great time playing with her cousins. Logan will be back in February to stay for a week when the rest of his family ventures to Florida. R. is really looking forward to it.

Love of my life!

Two posts in one day, but I had to. This afternoon, me and little miss took a great big NAP. Like I said earlier, I got home late and Little Miss got up early so we were both tired. We layed in her bed sleeping and I began feeling her stir so I just layed there waiting for her to come climb on me. She came up to me, looked at me and then pulls out the cutest squinty face ever. What a great thing to wake up to! I love My Little Squinty Face!

It is one of the few things that can always make me smile. As in yesterday, while we were attempting to take a nap, well I was attempting to get stink butt to take a nap, I would tell her to lay down and she would stare at me for almost 2 minutes straight faced and then all of the sudden, squinty face! I couldn't help but smile.

This picture is of R. and her dad at the Parade of Lights prior to visiting Santa. I held the camera up and she instantly made the squinty face. This of course is the end of the squinty face so you don't get the full effect, but still, you should be able to get the main idea. She is so cute - and I can say that because she's my daughter and I love her!

A Night Out!

Last night, I ventured out, on my own. My sis was in the area and so I drove the hour to meet up with her for the evening. I left when hubby got home from work and then drove the hour to pick her up at the hotel. We went out to eat at the Olive Garden and then to the mall and target for a little more christmas shopping. My sister hasn't started christmas shopping yet so she has a lot to do yet. I still have a little to do for the nephews and one of them is having a bday also...so we need to buy some more for that too........

Otherwise we had some great conversation, and I enjoyed my Night Out. I got home around 11:00pm which is way past my bedtime. R. skipped her nap yesterday so she went to bed early and guess what that means - Up early in the am. So I am running on low today and feel a nap coming on today. NO NAP SKIPPING!

Time to go play and get some stuff done. I still need to make a list of exactly what I need to finish shopping for christmas!

Happy Tuesday!

Soundly Sleeping and 15 months old!

I just realized as I sit her wide awake, that my I hadn't updated on the sleeping issues we had been having with our dear daughter. As you may or may not know from previous posts, R. had struggled with the whole sleeping arrangements since she was sick and in the hospital at 5 months. Well she is now 15 months, and we are finally getting a routine down. We bought her a Queen bed and literally, problem solved. She has been sleeping SOOOOOOO.GOOD! She loves her bed and has only fallen out once. OOPS. We have since put up a guard rail on the side of the bed. She sleeps the majority of the night and usually wakes me up in the am to come snuggle for another hour or so. We are loving it!

I also took some 15 month pictures today! They turned out pretty good considering what we have to work with for an indoor studio and a 15 month old girly. She does not cooperate for the most part, but I was able to snap a couple of decent shots to hang on the wall!

This is by far the favorite.

And my second favorite. Notice the lens cover in her hands. She either has to have something in her hands, or else the hands are in the mouth!

And finally, an O.K. one. She doesn't have the best ever smile or facial expression on, but it works. Once I get a few "real" lights - not lamps - and some backdrops I will be able to do some better shots. But for what I have, it works.

To bed it is for me! I'm sure the diva will be up early and wanting attention! Good night to all!

Santa Baby

Thanksgiving is over, so it's time for CHRISTMAS! Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. On Saturday night we ventured out with little sassy and took in the Parade of Lights. It was a little chilly out and we wish we would have taken R's snowpants to keep her little leggies warm, but it was only about 30 minutes for the parade to be done. Closer to the end of the parade, R. and I wandered over to Santa's House to get in line to sit on Santa's Lap. We went over at the right time because we were second in line and were able to get a picture with Santa and get the heck out of there before exposing her to all the nasty germs. I am so glad we could get a picture of her with Santa without taking her into the mall/WalMart/etc.

Rylee and Daddy watching the parade....Or smiling for camera happy mom!


The only decent picture of The big guy and R. She really decided that he wasn't OK after the initial sit down.



And the freak out! The candy cane only helped a little. She still wanted down and out of there!



This afternoon we spent 45 minutes playing at the park. Well about 15 minutes playing at the park and 30 minutes walking to and from the park at a 15 month old speed. She would not let me carry her.

On the way back from the park we walked on the bike trail. At one point you have to walk under the road in a tunnel. Miss obstinant walked through the tunnel and then turned and walked back through and over and over again. I finally had to pick her up and carry her kicking and screaming for a while. When I finally put her down to walk again, she turned to go back to the tunnel. I have a feeling I will be searching for a crawl through tunnel for a little Miss Sassy for Christmas this year!

Once we got home we took a quick swing in her pink swing and now she is busy with a ball. I am amazed at how well she has done considering she had 4 shots this morning at her well baby appointment. I feel so bad for her but after a nap and some yummy food, The shots don't seem to be phasing her! MY LITTLE TROOPER!

Well Happy Monday everyone!

Catch Up!

It's been a while since a last posted. I have been busy taking pics, attending CF Family day, christmas shopping, cleaning, wrapping presents, buying a new bed, etc. etc. etc!

First off, I set up a make-shift studio in our basement to snap some pics of the girly this winter. It gets soooo cold here, and so the outdoor photo shoots are soon coming to a hault until nicer spring weather apears again.

I wanted to get some of Miss. Sassy in her Christmas Outfits. I love how this one turned out considering what we were working with for photo equipment.

Again, I stole the idea for the legwarmers from Bethany at HissyFits Photography. I love them, and just knew my little glamour girl had to have a pair. Some other little lucky cutey pie might just be getting a pair for Christmas this year.

A totally different subject, but we put Miss R. in a big girl bed. She is such a smart little girl, and has both me and her dad wrapped around her finger. She has completely figured out how to get us to let her sleep in bed with us. So, first we changed the crib to a toddler bed. She slept in the pack and play next to our bed for a while, then we tried the toddler bed again, and still no luck. She was aways waking up by about 12:30 or 1:00 and crying until we brought her into bed with us. So last week, we ordered her a big girl bed. And I mean big girl - It's a queen sized bed. We were thinking a twin bed, but when we checked them out, the queen was the same price, and it is a comfortable bed...so we went with it.

We got the bed on Friday and got some bedding for it this past weekend, and wouldn't you know. She slept all night Friday night, she woke up 2 times on Saturday night, however she was very overtired and fell back to sleep after we layed with her for a while, and she slept all night last night.........It's to early to determine if it's a success or not, but it's not a failure as of this point. Hubby and me are really enjoying our bed back - no tossing toddler in the middle. She is all over the place while she sleeps!

We also attended a CF family day program at our local CF clinic. It was very interesting and had some very inspirational speakers one of which is Jerry Cahill from the Boomer Esiason Foundation. He is a 53 year old man living with CF. He was very inspirational and informative. We also got a chance to look at the different vest companies and talk a little bit with them as our little darling will be getting one soon.

And finally, yesterday I did one last outdoor session with a family of four. The two boys I had in daycare and they are both true boys. Dad was one of my fraternity advisors in college, and Mom is one of the personal bankers that we use. The family is so much fun, and I think the pictures are turning out great! These are just a sneak peak at the pictures

This one was such a great picture. We asked the youngest boy to sit on the bridge and he layed down...when we called over the older boy, he instantly posed like this. I told them that they make my job easy as posing and placing the people is one of my weakness at this point. I am working on being more confident and assertive.

And here is a couple of the boys being boys - climbing trees. This park has the best tree climbing trees in town - or I have been told this by all of the kids that I have photographed.

And last but not least, I have been cleaning, wrapping presents, re-evaluating my routine during the week, laundry, organizing and anticipating putting up the christmas tree. I am a firm believer that Christmas can't come until after Thanksgiving, but this year I have been a little weaker in this belief. I keep thinking I will put the tree up, and then decide to clean and prepare a little more, so it might get up before, or maybe after. Either way, it's coming upstairs in the next week!

Phew! That was a long one. Hope you enjoyed the weekend, and Happy Monday!

Wow Wow Wubbzy

Hope on over to A Mommy Talks and check out her giveaway. She is giving 3 of this movie away.

Leave some comments on her blog and enter to win!

Cheer for a Cure!

After the hockey game saturday night, hubby and I started talking about all sorts of things we could do with fundraising for our CF walk team. Of course the Carnival came up as did many other things, but the one thing I immediately took action on was the idea of Cheer for a Cure.

I contacted a cheerleading organization about hosting a fundraiser for CF. They are going to work with us and host a clinic called Cheer for a Cure. They will be doing the clinic on a Saturday and then the participants will perform at a game that night. We are so excited beyond belief about the amazing opportunity.

We are going to have T-shirts made that say Cheer for a Cure and get some ideas going. Dates will be posted later and Bam...we have a fundraiser! YAY

On the note of the hockey game, we raised $3472.50 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! What an accomplishment. A CURE WILL BE FOUND SOMEDAY SOON!

Weekend Where did you go?

I love being a stay at home MOMMY......I love it! However, I still really enjoy my weekends while my hubby is home and I can have some ME time. This weekend went by so FAST.

Friday night I made a run to WalMart to pick up some shower cleaner for my friend Kristi. She insists that this brand is the only kind that works because they have water that turns their tubs and showers ORANGE. And guess what, She cannot find it anymore on that part of the state. Well, Me to the Rescue. I ran out and picked up 15 bottles for her.

We ordered Pizza for Friday Pizza Night and my cousin Jordan came up to visit. We hung out until or normal 12pm when Miss R. decided she could go to bed. She has totally got her nights and days mixed up these days.

Saturday we woke up and worked on our normal routine, nebs, breakfast, playtime and cleaning. My mom was on her way to watch Miss Sassy Pants, while hubby and I drove to the hockey game. The Stampede Hockey team were hosting a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We ended up making a good chunk of change for the CFF - I'll post an exact number later. So we sold pucks for the chuck-a-puck fundraiser and watched a the hockey game and quick came home to see my darling sass...who was, yes, still awake at 11pm. IMAGIE THAT! So off to bed we went.

And today, we woke up, got grandma on the road, ate lunch and now little miss sass is taking a nap. Hubby is out hunting - well he's out shooting his guns at rotten apples, and I'm left here, with no ambition what so ever to do anything. I really need to get some laundry done, clean the living room, steam the floors and start organizing the play room. Instead, I'm laying in bed with my daughter, checking facebook, reading blogs and typing this. Oh, lazy Sundays.

When the hubby gets home it's off to start working.

I can't believe the weekend is almost gone.

Happy Sunday I guess...Soon to be Monday!

ADDITION: I can't believe it, I just looked and realized that this post was my 50th post. WOW! That's alot!

Copy Cat Me but way Cuteness

I have to start this out by saying that I so Love Love Love, the style and craftings of Bethany over at Hissyfits Photography. I totally stole these leg warmers straight from one of her posts here . I loved them, and after buying this super cute sparkly sassy skirt and this sparkly red shirt, I thought that these leg warmers would be perfect.



So I searched through her entire blog looking for where I could remember seeing those little cuties on her little cutie. I finally found it and it said she had bought them at Target. Well, I figured, what is the chance that I will find the exact same things, So I began looking around for red and white striped knee socks and some white faux fur. After about 2 weeks with no luck, I wandered into Target to do some Christmas shopping and guess what I found. Red and White striped knee socks with the fur on top. Just like she said. Well I quick snatched them up, came home and looked online for a tutorial on making leg warmers. About 20 minutes later, TaDa! We have the perfect Christmas Outfit!

Thanks so much to Bethany for posting such creative things that I can "copy" to make my little sassy pants just as adorable as your little cutie!

All I Want For Christmas

Yesterday I went CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! I am so glad to be almost done before Thanksgiving, as the stores are so out of control after Thanksgiving.



This year, we are taking a different approach for our little ones Christmas presents. Up until now (which has only been a year) we have been buying Rylee toys. And by toys I mean, walking to the toddler isle at WalMart or Target and picking out whatever looks appealing and fun. Of course, I have always bought her books, but this time around I wanted to buy her something a little more educational, Something that can help with her fine motor skills and muscle development. I figure that she will be getting enough of the other toys from her grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles and friends.




To start Rylee will be getting a table and chair set from Santa. Many of the activities and "toys" we have picked out and bought are ones that will need to be played with at the table. First off she will be getting this box of mega-blocks. Boy did I hear about this from her dad, as he despises mega-blocks and only likes legos. The lego brand, however, did not have this pretty pink and purple set in the "duplo" size. They only had pink in the regular lego size which is way to small for this girl.





This wooden pounder is another "toy" that she is getting from her mommy and daddy. I was going to have my dear hubby make her one, but when I found this one and saw the price, I knew he could not make it for that price. So we bought it.

This is the only real toy looking toy that she is getting from us. The story behind the tool bench and why my little girly girl is getting a tool bench is because while out at my friend Kristi's, Miss R. found a toy screwdriver and carried it around the entire nine days we were there. Then on Halloween when the A's came over trick or treating, little A was a "worker man" and the minute he walked by R. she swiped the saw out of his tool belt. The A's are getting her a tool box, but when I saw this tool bench, i couldn't pass it up. We also bought one for R's cousin.



And this is the biggie. This is a huge set of bristle blocks. They are the parents brand, and I believe their are 68 or 70 pieces in this set. I also bought her a starter set of just the pieces that has about the same amount of pieces in it. She should be able to build and build and build with this.




We are placing on the wish list a Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, a Tag Junior and Tag Junior books, Little People, and wood puzzles.

I am so relieved that I got the majority of the shopping done. Just a few more things to go and some online ordering and we are DONE!

Day One Recap!

Well day one of potty training went ok! We went number 2 in the potty and then about 2 hours later we went number 1 in our pants :( we put a diaper on at nap and woke up dry! We went straight to the potty and pee'd in the potty! YAY! When daddy got home, mommy went to pick up the albuterol from the pharmacy for our nebs and got home and we sat on the potty again but no luck, and what would you know, about 10 minutes later we pottied in our pants again. About an hour later, Little miss sassy went and hid in the corner and once again, pottied in her pants! Silly girl. And then it was time for a diaper and pj's. So overall, 2 success's, 3 accidents, and numerous attempts!

So an alright day! We are taking a trip tomorrow, so we will in full diapers all day! We will start again on thursday!

Potty Chair Potty Chair, Can I sit on YOU?

Today is Day 1! We are officially beginning to potty train! Miss. R. will be running around in training pants while at home minus naps and nights! She went number 2 in the potty this morning as she is very predictable with that one. We are still working for number 1 but we have not wet yet at all. We have been sitting on the beloved (or not so much) potty chair about every 20 - 25 minutes and nothing. I think I need to get her a soft seat for the big potty. Our small chair seems to hurt her bum.

We will keep trying. She seems to like being in training pants and LOVES her Abby cadabby and Dora undies! She grabs onto them and totes them around - All 15 pairs!

Wish us luck. we have a couple more hours before nap time so maybe we can make it in the potty once before we go nappy nap.

How Sweet It Is....Sneak Peak

Yesterday I had the priveledge to photograph this sweet family. Again, this was another one of the girls that were in my daycare group. I got a giant hug upon arrival. I really do miss those little girls and they are getting so big! This family was such a great shoot for me. They are so photogenic! And it was so easy! :) I loved it. They are such a sweet sweet family and we got a ton of great photos! Here are some previews for mom! Thank you so much and your family is so cute!



As you probably notice, I use this pose alot with families. It is so cute, even for a butt shot as dad kept calling it! I love how it appears that you are all watching the littlest one walk.



And walking back towards us. Again, I love how everyone is looking at the wee one!



Here is my little (well growing up way to fast) girl that was in my group at daycare. She is just the little model and was posing up a storm. She kept saying, here Nicole, I can stand here or I can sit like this! I feel that we will have a future one on one photo shoot just for this little model in training.



And the wee one...her little sister. I just love her chubs and her sweet smile!



And finally, mom and dad. You guys were so easy to work with. I very much appreciate you guys allowing me to take some family pics. There are more to come, and I am working quickly to get them done.

It was such a beautiful day our and I had an awesome time working with this family. I hope more photo shoots are in our near future! Off to work on some more pics! Have a great remainder to the weekend!

Haven and her Mommy and Daddy

Havens mommy had asked if I could take some family pics for the wee little one! Of course she wanted to cooperate the entire time. Or maybe not. We did get some pretty good shots in my opinion. This was one of Haven's not so finer moments of the shoot! I just had to get her pout and cry on camera.



Here is Haven and her mommy. So cute!



And looking at the camera. This is one of the few where Haven was not pulling at her mommy's necklace or shirt. I think I remember Miss. R. going through this stage with the camera....



This has got to be one of my fave family pics from the shoot. Haven is sitting up like such a big girl and has a beautiful smile!



OK, so I am a big fan of the walking pics and love the way this one turned out!

Here's Haven and her Daddy!

Again, another one of her daddy and her. She is such a darling little girl.

Well theres a sneak peak for Havens Mommy. She'll have to wait to see the rest until she gets the DVD tomorrow!

Thanks for letting me take pics of your little family!

Fall Weather is Wonderful

You will probably see alot of pictures that look similar to this one, except they will have snow in the background instead of grass. Like I said previously, Miss SassyPants recieved her winter coat in the mail at the beginning of this week, so we have been trying it out. It's been such beautiful fall weather that it is perfect for us to play outside and have some little photo sessions.



Yes, those are easter eggs and an easter bucket, but it was the first thing I could find in the toy room to grab that would distract her enough from the swing. We have lots of pictures with her by the swing, in the swing, and pushing the swing. I wanted to practice taking some pictures of her playing, so we grabbed the easter eggs and bucket and went to town.



These days she is very camera shy and doesn't like to look at the camera for anything. Any time I get the camera out, she turns away and it takes some very pathetic and rediculous actions to get her to look at the camera. Sometimes this is as close as we get.



This was when i was saying Rylee to her to get her to smile. Everytime I said it, she would open her mouth like she was going to repeat it. Silly Girl. I never did hear any sounds come out but that's another story. I do like how this one turned out though!



Today was pretty productive for myself. Miss R. is taking a late nap basically because she refused to settle down after lunch, so she fell asleep at about 2:15 and is still sleeping. I even had to go and check on her as she's been sleeping so long and that is very unusual but she was still breathing. Good thing. So i took advantage of my time and packed up some of the Halloween Decorations, cleaned off the Island (again...it seems like that is a never ending task), made a sticker book for Rylee's Treatments, and made some packets of goodies that will be used to take to the doctor.

I have had a basket full of books, pencils, notepads, tiny craft kits, bubbles, and other little toys that I have been pulling out of and placing into a bag for when we go to her CF visits. Sometimes they can take 4 hours, and that's a long time in a small room with no toys. So I decided when she was first diagnosed, that I would bring along a bag of "New Toys" for her to play with....Something special for her. These toys mainly come from the dollar store/dollar bins at Target/Clearance isle at Walmart. They are all little cheap things that will work to keep her attention and don't cost a lot of money.

So today I emptied the basket and decided to package them into trusty ziplock baggies so all I have to do is grab a bag. Smart thinking huh... Well I thought so. But today as I was catching up on all of the blogs I like to look at, I cam across a couple of montessori type activities that I thought would be fun to add in like pattern activities, sensory activities, and playdoh activities. I have never really looked into the montessori ideas but the more I have read about them, the more I really think they are educational and fun learning ideas.

Well, it's Pizza night here, so I better get it ordered! Yummo-Pizza!