Monday, November 30, 2009

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!



Monday, November 23, 2009

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!

Monday, November 16, 2009

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!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

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!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

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!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

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.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

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!

Friday, November 6, 2009

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!




Thursday, November 5, 2009

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!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Brownie Mini's and A New Winter Coat

I am totally not a make everything from scratch type of person. I'm actually not one that really enjoys baking all that much. But, like most people, I do enjoy baked goods! So we resort to the box mixes for brownies and cakes.

I came across this box of brownie mini's at the grocery store. It comes with it's own disposable pans that you put the brownies to bake them. It also comes separated so that you can simply make 6 brownie minis or 12 brownie minis. How convient is this!

Little miss R. Helped to make the brownies. Well, she helped as much as she could possibly help. She sat on the table and watched and tried to get into everything. So 17 minutes later we had wonderfuly delicious mini brownies. We did push a peanut butter cup into each one of the brownies. Yummo - peanut butter cup brownies.



Rylee's uncle Robert's girlfriend, Star (did you get that all) works for a columbia outlet store, So she decided to give Rylee a columbia coat and snow pants for christmas. Yes, she got to open this package a little early! We tried it on, and it fits almost perfect. It should last her all of this winter and maybe part of next winter! I was so excited. We put it on her with her cute little boots and snapped some quick pics.




This morning I bundled her up in her new coat and took her out to the back yard to swing. She loves to swing. She also loves pushing the swing. We are still working on the walking and being ok with walking on the grass. She usually just stands their until someone will pick her up. Silly girl. It's like she doesn't realize that she has shoes and jeans on. She was deffinately not a fan of the grass this summer with sandals and shorts, so I think she is still scared of it.



I am attempting to shoot in manual mode on my camera, and it's proving to be a little challenging. I can't get as clear of pictures as I could in auto. I struggle with the settings and confuse myself when I think I understand it. The pictures turn out ok, but I am such a perfectionist that I want the pictures to be outstanding. I guess, practice makes perfect, and I have a lot of reading and practice to go...So off I go.
Happy Wednesday





Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Random Ramblings

My daughter is very much addicted to TV. I know. Not the best, but when you are home all day and the TV is on the whole time for background noise, it will happen. She loves the commercials that have blue backgrounds and the neat sounds of other commercials. She really likes Jeopardy. Weird I know, but it is the blue background and fun music. We have been watching a lot more disney movies and some PBS as we don't have cable...No Dora or Diego here. We have Word World, Super Why, Caillou, and Sesame Street.

Here little Miss is with her daddy watching TV.





So the other day I was trying to bake some potatoes for lunch and it's very difficult to open the oven to get the pan out with a very interested 1 yr. old toddling behind. I ended up sticking her in the booster chair and letting her color for a little while. She wasn't having the coloring so much, so after about 2 minutes, the colors and paper were on the floor. I then resorted to painting with pudding.....banana pudding. Yes, messy, and something that did require me to give her enzymes first, but she enjoyed it. And it was nice and Yummy.






Here she is so intently coloring...You would think she would have been interested in it for more then the two minutes that it actually lasted by the way she was concentrating so hard, but no....Not at all.


And soon after starting we decided that the crayon does actually go under my chin. See, It stays!

I told you, it stays! Look, NO HANDS!



Coloring is so much fun! Well I am off to start making the meatloaf for supper and some yummy brownie bites for desert. Deffinately not part of my diet, but oh well!

Monday, November 2, 2009

The Sweetest Couple Ever

My friend Abby wanted to get some Christmas Card Shots. We met up yesterday afternoon and snapped a few shots. It was getting a little dark out, so my hopes of going downtown didn't happen, but we did get some pretty good shots. Hopefully we can do another quick session someday soon downtown.

Here are some of my faves.





I love this one. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. I had to keep telling Shawn to act like he liked his wife. He is such a guy, but does a wondeful job of cooperating when asked.






I hope you like them Abby. I have a couple more for you, but you'll have to wait to see them! Thanks for letting me snap a few Sweet Shots!