And here's a video!

If you listen closely, he says his name and slide and, of course, YAY!!!!! LOL!

Catching up!!

Oh my goodness, let me apologize to all of my blog readers!! I've completely neglected my blog for over a month now! Life just got a hold of me I guess, so let me catch you all up. Where do I begin....

Okay first let's talk about my parents...Their house caught fire last month. The fire started in the kitchen. They think maybe the stove was left on or a faulty light switch next to the stove shorted out. No one was home. The neighbors called the fire station and the fire was put out before the entire house caught fire. The entire kitchen is gone and the rest of the house has smoke damage to it. They've been working day and night to restore the house. I feel awful for them b/c they haven't been able to enjoy their house since Hurricane Katrina. I almost feel like it isn't fair that this happened to them, but I have to remind myself that everything truly happens for some sort of reason. We may not understand why it happened now, but once they bounce back and can look back they'll see and understand God's plan. Thanks to everyone who helped my parents to clean and rebuild.

Now about me...I've been SWAMPED with photo sessions, which is a good thing for me b/c I love what I do and I love to watch my work get better and better. I love learning my camera. The best thing about all of the sessions I've had is that mostly all of them were through word of mouth. That says alot about my work! Things are starting to slow down a bit so I'm thinking of new marketing strategies for the summer season.

I have some AWESOME news about one of the most important men in my life, my husband....Daddy hasn't had a cigarette in 21 days!!!! I am so proud of him. Daddy has been smoking for over 20 yrs and decided on his own, 21 days ago, to stop cold turkey. It was quite hard for him in the beginning, but now I don't think he even thinks about having a cigarette. Thank God for that!

Now about J :D He's been doing so much lately. I've noticed that my son is no longer a baby anymore. He's a big boy!!! He understands just about everything and he does things that Daddy and I thought he was too young to do. For instance, a few weeks ago, my 16 month old son played football with his older cousins (ages 4 and above!). He would run back and turn around for the ball and hold his hands in the air to catch the ball. Then even if he didn't have the ball he ran for the touchdown and would stop and cheer. Now how did my baby get that much sense to know how to play football?!?! I was floored! He got tackled a few times and I grimaced each time for him, but he just got right up and rubbed his head and continued to play. He also has become quite the mocking bird. He repeats EVERYTHING!! My cousin was taking his picture and told him to say "cheese". I'm the type of photographer who doesn't tell her clients to say "cheese" so I had never told J to say it. Imagine our surprise when he said cheese and sported the BIGGEST smile I'd ever seen and posed for the camera!! Also, he's developed an obsession with our dogs. When they come inside we usually point them to the kitchen and say "Go". As soon as J sees our dogs, he points his little finger and says "Gooooooooooo!!" This was really funny last night when we had to wake J up at 11pm b.c one of the dogs got himself stuck under J's crib. J woke up and saw Kodi under his bed and pointed his finger and said in the sleepiest voice "Gooooooooooo,gooooooo!" He's so funny! He also repeated something last night that we hope he never says again!!! Daddy was telling Kodi and Kaci to "sit" for their treats. J just watched. A few minutes later, I was in my room and Daddy was doing dishes when we heard J tell Kaci "shit"! We both were like WHAT?!?! LOL!! We know he was trying to say sit, but it didn't come out right. Hopefully he doesn't say it again! We got him a new pool over the weekend and everytime he sees Daddy through the french doors filling it up he yells, "Yay!!" and does a dance. Then he gets in his pool and does all sorts of tricks! He's been in it everyday since Monday and I put him in for about 30 minutes and when I take him out, he hasn't had a tantrum yet. I'm so impressed. Maybe 30 minutes if enough for him. But he loves it. I'm uploading some video footage of this cuteness and I'll post it here for your viewing pleasure. He's been going on the potty very well lately, but I can't say that he's potty training b/c he doesn't have the ability to tell me he has to go. We just keep an eye on him and watch for clues. One main clue is when he goes into his bathroom and puts his potty ring on the toilet. Usually if you put him on the toilet he will use the potty and we do a happy dance. I don't expect to be buying pullups or big boy undies for another year or so, but at least he's getting used to the idea. We've recently realized that he has a strong attachment to his blue blankie, as a comfort item. We actually found out the hard way on Mother's Day weekend. We were on our way to my mom's for the weekend and were driving right in the middle of his nap time. I thought I'd planned this perfectly, thinking he'd sleep the entire ride. Well I could see him getting sleepy but instead of falling asleep, he started to melt down. It got so bad that he started almost hyperventilating. It killed me to see him like that and I was figthing back tears. I held his hand and he rubbed it on his face then I just knew what he needed. I dind't have a balnket for him so I gave him his little jacket and he immediately pulled it up to his face and calmed down and fell asleep. Daddy was astounded. So now we know that blankie has to travel with us if we take long car trips. We'll be driving to Fl next week and I know that blankie will be the first thing I throw in the truck!! Well, honestly, J is doing so much that I couldn't possibly catch you up with everything in this one blog post, so I'll leave you with that until next time, hopefully tomorrow. I'm going to update my photography blog now, so if you have that link, be sure to check it out in a few minutes! Enjoy these pics!

Tornadoes are scary!!!

Well Friday started off as a normal day. It was very nice out side and I planned to take J out to play and work on a few pictures during his naptime. Daddy was going to be on his way home from St. Louis that morning so I planned to cook him a nice dinner. My friend called maybe around 10:30am to ask if Daddy checked the weather channel in case some of the bad weather was headed their way. I told her I would call him and check with him. He hadn't heard of any bad weather yet, and I fugured it was just some rain and thunderstorms. I heard a tornado siren going off shortly after speaking to my friend so I turned on the weather channel and saw the huge band of bad weather sitting over Jackson. A few weeks ago, the tornado sirens went off throughout our city and nothing happened, so I figured it was just sensitive and no big deal. No need to panic. I got J dressed and we went outside in the backyard to blow bubbles. I believe one of my dogs followed me out, but I can't recall at this point. We blew bubbles for not even an entire minute when all of a sudden the sky turned black on one side. It was very strange b/c one side was bright blue and the other was suddenly black. Then the sirens went of again, so I grabbed J and ran inside to look at the news. As soon as we got inside, the lights started to flicker then went out. This is when I got nervous and then the wind just started howling and the house started shaking. I grabbed J and ran to the bathroom, jumped in the tub and hovered over him as I listened to the scariest sounds I've ever heard in my life. The wind was blowing like a frieght train, I could hear things popping and flying against the house. Everytime the wind picked up I felt the pressure in my ears and the sound was louder and louder and I was freaking out crying, but at the same time telling my baby that it would be okay. I got my dad on the phone b/c honestly, I thought the roof was going to blow off and we would be in trouble. I seriously felt like this tornado was sitting on our house. My dad talked me through it, told me it shoudln't last long and to keep ducking down in the tub. Then the pressure was sucking the water from our pipes. This freaked me out b/c I thought water was coming into the house. It was pitch black, so I couldn't see a thing. I felt like I was having an anxiety attack. It only lasted for 5 minutes, but I swear it seemed like an eternity. Once the wind stopped, it started hailing HUGE golf ball hail. That lasted a few seconds and then calm and COLD!! It went from being 75 degrees to 55 degrees in all of 5 minutes. That is so scary!! Once I calmed myself down, I fixed Jayden a sandwich and sat him in his highchair b/c I didn't want him to know that something different was going on. At this point he remained oblivious. While he ate lunch I looked around to be sure no windows blew out and no water was coming in from the roof. Outside, I found the dog's kennel mangled, the fence knocked out on one side, and our garage door was either blown in or sucked in. I'm thinking sucked in b/c of the severe pressure I felt in my ears during the tornado. My car is stuck in the garage until an insurance adjuster comes out to view the property and get the door fixed. The electricity stayed out for most of the day but came back on just before sunset. My neighbor across the street checked on us often and some of Daddy's co workers stopped by to drop of lunch and a weather radio.

We drove around the city today and the scene reminds me of Katrina. It's really depressing to me. There are lots of blue tarps up all over, tree removal trucks on every single street, sight seers all in our subdivision, and several businesses are closed due to damage. Mother Nature can be so cruel. This was always the joke after we were relocated due to Hurricane Katrina. Everyone said, "You cannot run from Mother Nature. If it's not a hurricane, it'll be an earthquake, tsunami, or a tornado. Mother Nature will find you." That proved true for us yesterday. But if I am left with the choice in the matter, I say send me back to the coast!! I will take a hurricane anyday over a tornado. Hurricanes give warnings and I can run! I may lose material things, but I will definitely escape with my life. I didn't feel like I would yesterday and that is one scary feeling. Please keep those who were affected by this tornado in your prayers.

The dog's outdoor run was pulled up from the ground and mangled. Thank God I hadn't let them out like I usually do.

I can't believe the wind so easily twisted the metal that way!

Fences are knocked down all around the block

This is the house on the corner from us with pretty bad roof damage.

And this is located on the outside of our subdivision on the road where the tornado hit land.Look closely and you can see a house under those trees with the second story exposed :(

My brown-eyed boy

Everywhere we go, people comment on J's expressive brown eyes! We agree that they are absolutely beautiful. And he sure does know how to use those beautiful eyes to get whatever he wants!

Little Miss S

I just had to share this little sweetie pie! She will be a year old next month! Happy Birthday S!!

Sweet baby D

I had the pleasure of photographing this precious little boy this weekend! He was just so sweet.tiny, and soft! He has totally kicked my baby fever into full gear!!!

I'm still bloggin!!!

Whoa, it's almost been a month since my last blog!! SHAME ON ME! I've just been so so busy this past month since I started building my skill in photography. I'm learning alot as far as what works and what doesn't and I'm having a blast doing it!! I get to practice with my very first newborn on tomorrow, and best of all I get to spend time with his new Mommy :D What?? Do I really get some girl time?? LOL!

J is doing great! He is currently 23 lbs and is steady on the 50th percentile of his growth chart, which is great for a kid who never eats! We saw an allergist last week and she ordered blood work to test for ALL SORTS of allergies (foods and air borne). They took 3 vials of blood and my kid was not a happy camper. The Dr told me that the reason J is probably so picky is b/c he knows when something is hurting his stomach. So he may enjoy something one day and I think I've found his favorite food, but he'll reject it the next day b/c it probably upset his tummy. Poor kid :( His results should be back by next week and I mentioned to the Dr that I hope it's just an intolerance instead of a full blown allergy and what she said blew me away! She told me that an allergy would be easier to deal with in the long run b/c he can out grow an allergy, not so much an intolerance. Also, if it's an allergy, they can test him yearly to see if the allergy is going away, and they can do "challenges" in the clinic. That can't be done with intolerance. Then she said, "His reactions (bloody stool, vomiting, crankiness) are not typical allergy symptoms, but more intolerance symptoms. God please don't let my child have Milk and Soy intolerance for the rest of his life! At this point, I'm praying that his test come back positive, so that we can have a clear answer to all of his pain. On a good note, he's completely off of the formula! He's drinking rice milk, which does have calcium (the enriched one) so he won't need an extra calcium supplement. At first I was worried b/c he would not drink the rice milk, but now he loves it! He even asks for it. Last night we left him home with my friend while Daddy and I had a Valentine's Day dinner. I got home at 7:30 which is the time he usually gets some milk, but I had to stop at the store to get him more. Well he was waiting for it b/c when I walked in the house he ran to me and grabbed my hand. I picked him up to kiss him and he pointed to the kitchen! So I put him down and he grabbed my hand and took me to the kitchen and pointed to the microwave. I have to nuke it for him b/c he doesn't like anything straight from the fridge. When I put it in the microwave, he started dancing! He was so happy, and so am I :D

Now for some more good news. Daddy and I are ready to add to our family again. We have been going back and forth with adoption vs. IVF. We knew with our first child, that we didn't want to try IVF b/c we wanted to be parents and were afraid of the risk and gamble with IVF. At this point, we feel that we may be prepared to take the risk with IVF. But then when it came time to call the Dr to get started on my protocol, we chickened out! So we prayed, talked about it, and prayed again. It started weighing heavily on my mind last weekend and something told me to pull out the folder I had from the Dr's office, that I tucked away in my drawer. When we calculated the risks, we compared the costs of both, knowing that no matter what, in order to add to our family we will have to spend at least 10k, but we needed to see it as an investment...investing in family. Another adoption would cost us at least $15,500 (assuming our agency fees haven't gone up) whereas IVF would cost us approx. $9,660, possibly cheaper if I can get the meds donated. However, the $15,500 would gurantee us another child, whereas the $9,660 would be like playing roulette, and we are not gamblers by nature. We know the statistics on IVF, and my success rate is high b/c of my age and the fact that all of my problems exist outside of my uterus. We also know the statistics at my Drs office...many women get pregnant with just one IVF, more than half have success with the second, and a very small percentage have had more than 3 IVFs before succeeding. But Daddy and I knew that at $9,660, we couldn't afford to do more than one...that is until I was moved to open up my info packet again. This time I really read through my paperwork and found something I hadn't read before. Embryo freezing and Frozen embryo Transfer (FET). If I have any leftove embryos in great condition after IVF #1, we can freeze them for up to a yr for $650. Should IVF#1 not work, or I miscarry, we can try a FET for $1,900. So I'm an optimist. Here's how I look at it. We can go through IVF #1 hoping for extra embryos to freeze and if we do have extra, we have a cushion. If we don't have extra, I know that it's God's plan and prayerfully, IVF #1 will be all that we need. Ideally, I'd love to have enough embryos frozen to have at least 2 FETs to fall back on, but that would surely be out of my hands. However, I feel a sense of peace now and I'm going to step out on faith yet again. We will probably start the first IVF cycle in April. It's a long protocol, so if I start in April, I may not conceive until may-june. This is ideal b/c by the time the baby (or babies)will be born, J will be two years old, which is how we wanted to space our kids anyway. So keep us in your prayers and hopefully I'll be posting a blog in the near future in ALL CAPS!!!