Blogging is Keeping Me Sane

So, some of you are probably like "wow...Kelly is really keeping up her blog!" I have too...it is keeping me from going insane. I'm okay, I just need a release and blogging is it right now!

Determined

I gave in. I am disappointed in myself. It just sounded so good. I'm sitting here with a tall glass of milk and a piece of chocolate cake.

I've got to get rid of all the sweets in this house. I should only be eating healthy stuff after the tons of sweets I've been eating this holiday season. It is really the only thing that sounds good to me. Darn that syncare nurse who told me it was okay to walk into a room and demand a large pizza...Darn her! Today I'm going to put everything into the freezer and hopefully forget about it. I know, I know...some of you are probably thinking "you're pregnant. don't worry about it." Well let me tell you, just because your pregnant doesn't give you the excuse to eat chocolate all day long and not take good care of yourself. I've got to start taking better care of myself these next weeks. I'm determined! I also only have 5 more pounds until I've above the recommended weight gain, so that is motivation in its self.

Today I'm going to clean this house. I'm hopefully going to do laundry (hopefully). I'm going to start taking Christmas decor down. I'm determined.

It is New Years Eve. Is it bad that I'll I want to do is stay home and do absolutely nothing but curl up with my husband and watch a movie? hmmm....

I feel so incredibly impatient...I could barely sleep last night because of it. I'm trying very hard to be patient and let everything roll off my shoulders. It is so hard. I'm determined.

Erika and Rex

My sister-in-law Erin emailed me one day recently and asked if I'd take some photos of her little munchkins while they were in town for Christmas. I immediately said yes. No one in our family ever asks me do to photos for them...I've volunteered a few times but no one has really ever asked. I jumped at the chance to do them because I'm trying to practice doing indoor portraits with available light, something I really need to work on (and after doing these photos, I realize I still do). It wasn't the perfect day: cloudy, gloomy, etc but we gave them a whirl anyway. These are my personal favorites. All the photos capture their personalities so well, especially Erika. Click here to see the all of the pics.

Thanks for asking me Erin. I had a great time and I needed the practice and chance to try some new things out. If we come up this summer, I'd love do some more for you. I hope you enjoy them and find some ones that you really love!

Rex had Grandpa Allen's hat on...he looks like Indiana Jones.

Erin and Rex reading.

Rex...his sweet little face.

Erika

I love these candid ones of Erika.

This is such an Erika expression!

Going on 9 Months

By next week, I’m going on 9 months pregnant. I have three different due dates so knowing exactly when I’m really 9 months pregnant is quite the magic trick.

My pregnancy has been uncomplicated and easy going until now. I still don’t have it as bad as many other women but I can’t help but complain about my ribs, belly, and back hurting. Honestly, a month ago I would have told you that I would do this all the time. I loved it. I felt beautiful. I had (and still do) the best skin I’ve ever had. I wasn’t too uncomfortable. I was sleeping. Oh, and my all of my maternity clothes still fit.

I’m ready. When the doctor told me that my latest due date was probably the best to go by I wanted to die. I got out to the car, called Kyle, and then just started crying. I don’t want to be patient (or pregnant) anymore.

Yeah, I still have things to do. A ton actually, but nothing that couldn’t wait.

However, I will be patient. I so do not want to. It will be worth it. I know it will. I can’t wait to meet my little boy. I can’t wait to be his mommy. I love watching my sister-in-laws with their babies. I know I was made to do what they do. I hope I’m good at it. I know what kind of mother I want to be, but I hope I can be it in the moment when I’ve had no sleep or when he ends up writing on the walls with crayons.

I’ll be patient. I don’t want to, but it will be worth it!

Our 2008 Christmas

This Christmas was very eventful. I'm exhausted. When Kyle and I got home from church this morning we totally crashed. We took a three hour nap which energized us to the point that we now don't feel like going to bed. It was so nice though.

Kyle and I spent Christmas Eve at home relaxing. We did go out and deliver some Christmas fudge and no bake cookies to neighbors. On Christmas morning, we got up at 7:00 (because Kyle woke me up). Kyle is going to be one of those dads that is so excited about Christmas that he wakes up the kids before they're ready. I look forward to those days. It will be very amusing. We opened gifts and had a pre-brunch breakfast before we went to Kyle's parents house. Kyle's dad always likes to make bacon and eggs for everyone. However, eggs and the smell of bacon just didn't do anything for my pregnant appetite this year. I really enjoy spending time with Kyle's family. We all have so much fun talking and joking around. Oh, and the food at Kyle's family gathering is always to die for. Sometimes, I think that is half the reason why some of us are so religious about family gatherings. Nothing beats Carol's (my mother-in-law) homemade dumplings or noodles. When everyone arrived later in the afternoon, we exchanged gifts and ate dinner. I love to watch the kids open their gifts. Carol really loves to go shopping for them. She always gets them pj's, another outfit, and at least one toy. She must be so broke after the holidays. She buys gifts for 17 grandchildren! She made baby Leo a beautiful crocheted blanket. I'm so excited about it.

After Kyle's folks we went to my Mom's house. We ate another dinner with her and just visited. It was very simple and peaceful. Mom got me one of those willow tree figurines of a pregnant lady. It's beautiful. I put it on my dresser when I got home. Hopefully it will be a good reminder for me that I'm beautiful (big belly and all) too.

The Friday after Christmas, I took photos of my niece and nephew. I'll post those in a couple of days. Kyle and I went and looked at some furniture stores. We're trying to find a rocker recliner for the baby's room but my picky taste keeps getting in the way of finding one that I like. We spent the rest of the evening at Kyle's parents so we could visit with family that came from out of town.

Saturday was so eventful! I had a portrait session in the morning. My family's Christmas was during the day and evening. We left early so we could meet up with some of my high school friends for our annual dinner-reunion at the Crawfordsville Apple Bee's. I love seeing them every year. I always miss them. I know I don't show it very well but they mean the world to me. I don't know if I'll ever find such good friends like they are and were to me.

So yeah, as you can see from the length of that post, we had a very eventful Christmas season. Here are some photos from the season for you to enjoy:

It was so cold and windy that day. I look like a mess.

32 weeks (I think)

Our Christmas Tree. It was a lot wider than we thought it would be.

I love white Christmas lights.

Our "ginger bread" house. We made this at a chruch class where we talked all about traditions. It was a good class.

We were excited to make fudge.

Pretty photo of fudge making ingredients.

The baby was excited about fudge too.

A lot to do with VERY little motivation

So, I have so much to do and very little motivation (not to mention energy) to get it done. It is already 3:00 in the afternoon and I'll I've done today is take a shower, scrapbook 1.5 pages, and eat a breakfast burrito for lunch. Here is what I need to do (making a list helps, right?):

Today:
Dishes
Wash baby clothes
Make goodie baskets
Fix dinner
Clean up my scrapbooking mess in the dining area
Clean the bathroom (it desperetly needs it)
Make the bed
Write in the good-oh journal (I've been slacking but working really hard to do this)

In General (especially before baby comes):
Fix a client's senior portraits
Make crib bumper
Finish baby quilt
Pack hospital bag
Make pediatric consultations (no, I still haven't done this)
Organize bathroom closet
Take pregnancy photos for documentation (tomorrow, maybe?)
Frame/matte photo for dad
Document baby's room to blog and scrapbook
I'm sure there are other things but I can't remember them all!

I have no excuse for some of these things. Kyle has been so helpful that it has taken a load off of my daily to do's. Although I'm so grateful for all his hard work, I can't help but feel like a bad wife when he does it all after a long day of work. But with an aching back, active unborn baby, and sore ribs it is so hard to be motivated. I'm hoping for that nesting instinct to kick in soon. Well, I'm off to go make the bed, clean, and all that.

The Most Impatient Person Award goes to...

ME! Yes, I must say I am probably one of the most impatient persons in the entire world, especially right at the current moment. These are some of the things I'm impatient about:

1. Christmas...even though I know what I'm getting, I can't wait to open gifts.

2. Baby Leo coming...I can't wait to meet the cool little dude.

3. Shopping for regular clothes again...I've seen so many things I wish I could buy. Oh and to mention that winter clothes are my favorite so I'm in torture right now.

4. Baby Leo being old enough to play on play grounds and go swimming and such things.

5. To have a baby girl/sister to baby Leo...however I think I'm patient enough to wait another year or so to get pregnant again.

6. To not be pregnant.

7. For Kyle to be done with school officially...only 3 more days/2 finals left.

8. To buy a house...I like our apartment but can't wait to have a permanent address. It is also hard when we keep looking at houses online that look like such good deals and we still have 2 1/2 months before we get to officially start looking!

9. Have I mentioned to not be pregnant anymore.

10. For my birthday which is about 3 weeks away...I don't know why but I'm really excited about it this year.

11. Waiting for my hair to get long again...I cut my hair a little shorter than normal last spring and it still hasn't grown all the way out yet! Isn't your hair supposed to grow really fast when you're pregnant?

So there is my little tangent. I needed to get that off my chest. Phew.

Little Bitty Lily

Lily is my niece. She is a little cutie and a little rascal. I've been meaning to take photos for her parents for quite sometime and I just now got around to doing it...9 months after she was born. These are two of my favorites from a little just-for-fun shoot I did. She is still so small but I love it because when she does things it is amazing. The whole time you are thinking "she's so small, she shouldn't be able to do that." She is getting quite the personality. She loves the veggie tales theme song. It is so fun to watch her watch it. She also loves to eat (she doesn't show it all). She gets so excited and impatient when it comes to meal time. It is awesome. Click here to see more from this shoot. I have to worn you: the photos aren't amazing but they sure are dang cute!

Clark's Senior Portraits

Clark is my brother-in-law who is constantly surprising me. He is graduating early in January from Harrison High School. I can't believe what an awesome job he did during this shoot. I thought he would be one of those people who would be really difficult to photograph because of their fake cheesy smiles and unnatural looking poses but he was just the opposite. I had a lot of fun with him during this shoot. Way to go, Clarky-pooh!

Greg's Senior Portraits

Greg is a senior at Harrison High School this year. These are a few of my favorites from his session.