Just click on the image to see it full-size! Merry Christmas everyone. Be sure to celebrate HIM this season!!!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Bags
No, not the bags under my eyes. We'll save that for a later post.
You probably don't know this about me - I think only Trevor does - but I LOVE BAGS. Purses, I mean. Square ones, rectangles, clutches. Pink, black, green. Small ones, large ones, in-between ones - but mostly small. Which brings me to this post. I need help picking a new one - a diaper bag - a classy one. My baby is two and I'm still not satisfied. I should mention my mom - she has been a tremendous help on my quest. My first diaper bag, a large, barn-shaped one, was from my mom. It was great - but HUGE. Perfect for your first baby - when you carry everything but the kitchen sink around everywhere. I nearly forgot Grant a couple times trying to make sure I got all his stuff. My mom even made me a great bag with a whole bunch of different compartments in September, and it matched a little changing pad I bought from a friend (at least I hope we're friends - haha) who makes adorable things - see her here. But it was too - shall we say... homemade. You know what I mean. So, I took the little removable piece inside that has a whole bunch of little compartments out, and put it in my cute Women's Conference bag from this year. It's mostly green with cream highlights, and an embroidered Women's Conference flower and logo. It's a cute bag, but now that I'm in the swing of things since adding numero dos, I can't take it anymore - I've got to go smaller. And I can't stand having a large over the shoulder bag either - I'm looking for a messenger style. I'm supposed to pretend that I don't know, but considering I bought it (half price!) and it's sitting in our bedroom unwrapped - this is what Trevor bought me for my birthday:
You probably don't know this about me - I think only Trevor does - but I LOVE BAGS. Purses, I mean. Square ones, rectangles, clutches. Pink, black, green. Small ones, large ones, in-between ones - but mostly small. Which brings me to this post. I need help picking a new one - a diaper bag - a classy one. My baby is two and I'm still not satisfied. I should mention my mom - she has been a tremendous help on my quest. My first diaper bag, a large, barn-shaped one, was from my mom. It was great - but HUGE. Perfect for your first baby - when you carry everything but the kitchen sink around everywhere. I nearly forgot Grant a couple times trying to make sure I got all his stuff. My mom even made me a great bag with a whole bunch of different compartments in September, and it matched a little changing pad I bought from a friend (at least I hope we're friends - haha) who makes adorable things - see her here. But it was too - shall we say... homemade. You know what I mean. So, I took the little removable piece inside that has a whole bunch of little compartments out, and put it in my cute Women's Conference bag from this year. It's mostly green with cream highlights, and an embroidered Women's Conference flower and logo. It's a cute bag, but now that I'm in the swing of things since adding numero dos, I can't take it anymore - I've got to go smaller. And I can't stand having a large over the shoulder bag either - I'm looking for a messenger style. I'm supposed to pretend that I don't know, but considering I bought it (half price!) and it's sitting in our bedroom unwrapped - this is what Trevor bought me for my birthday:
Now this is a mini-purse, for short outings. It has its own change pad, and could hold a few diapers, my wallet, phone, keys, but that's about it. Which won't be enough for longer trips, when I need my nursing cover, bottles, snacks for Grant, Grant's cup, extra clothes... therefore! Here are the bag designs I am choosing from - OR - I could wait until March/April when their new designs come out. Please leave me a comment - I want your advice!
Black & Lagoon
Black Damask
Cocoa & Clover
Silver & Apple
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Newsletter
If you're here because you have already received your Christmas card and you're looking for the promised newsletter, please be patient and check back!
It will be posted before Christmas!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Signing
I cannot say enough good things about Grant. He is the best. Within the last couple weeks I taught him to sign "love" for "I love you" and he signs it all the time now. He was upset with me for making him go to bed tonight, and as I was closing the door I said "I love you" and he signed LOVE and said "I love you" - of course it sounds nothing like "I love you", but I know exactly what he's saying. It was so sweet, particularly because he didn't even want to go to bed at the time. What a doll! The first time he signed was probably two weeks ago or less, and it is most certainly the best sign I have ever taught him - because it is so special when he signs it back. He's a sweetheart. And - let me take a few moments to brag, because I hardly ever do (I hope) - he puts away his shoes if he spots them out of the closet, he puts his jacket in the closet when we come in from outside, he unloads the silverware (minus the sharp things!) from the dishwasher along with the pots and pans, and will hand me the dishes to put in the cupboard, he takes Rachel's soother or blanket to her if they are anywhere but right on top of her, he "practices" spraying cleaner on the toilet and shower by holding the sprayer and making a "ffft fft" noise (apparently the noise the sprayer makes). He's so helpful and so hilarious at the same time. So that's my bragging moment about Grant. I love him to death, and I never, ever tell people how soon he started sleeping through the night, how agreeable he is, or how smart, clever, wonderful... etc. What every mom says about their boy.
Wow I sure love him! He's the best!
Wow I sure love him! He's the best!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Giveaway
Here is a fantastic giveaway from Baker Photography! She is giving away an entire makeover day to one (or two) lucky moms, complete with hair, makeup, and a PHOTOSHOOT! Head on over quick to get your entries in before Sunday, November 14th!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Best
A typical day:
8:00am - Feed Rachel, leave her sleeping in our bed
8:15am - Go into Grant's room where he is up playing. Be greeted with a huge poopy mess. Get that all cleaned up, get Grant dressed.
8:30am - Try to get self ready for the day: hair, makeup (yeah right!), clothes... find that you have no clean underwear. Start putting together a load of emergency laundry. Add Grant's and Rachel's poopy clothes that have been sitting in the bathroom sink to the load. Try to tame wild mess that is known as "hair".
9:00am - Forget to put laundry in. Try and convince Grant to eat something for breakfast. Grab a granola bar amid the battle. Clean up Grant. Clean up breakfast. Clean up kitchen counters.
10:00am - Try to leave for grocery store/Moms & Tots/Rhyme Time/doctor appointment and find that Grant is poopy and Rachel is not dressed. Change Grant and Rachel while holding own bladder.
10:30am - Grocery store: Try to distract Grant long enough so that yogurt containers and anything packaged in cardboard makes it home in one piece. Try to convince Grant to stay in the cart for just five more minutes. Try and convince the store clerks that you know what you're doing while they tell you where you can and can't put your carseat. Wish you could tell them where to put it. Try and convince Grant to leave the toy aisle.
11:00am - Having run out of distractions, ditch the cart in the middle of the grocery store in order to leave WITHOUT any groceries.
11:30am - Arrive home empty-handed and with no idea what to make for lunch. Try and convince Grant to eat something for lunch. Feed Rachel. Attempt to feed self. Sneak a treat when Grant's looking away. Clean up Grant. Clean up breakfast.
1:00pm - Get Grant into bed for his nap. Feed Rachel. Hold Rachel until she stops crying.
1:30pm - Work on business stuff: bookkeeping, filing, make sure everything is ready for the next day.
2:30pm - Work in family stuff: bookkeeping, filing, pay all the bills, make some phone calls.
3:30pm - Hold Rachel. Get some photos edited (I wish!). Squeeze in some time to play a dorky computer game so that I've spent a couple minutes doing something that is all about ME.
4:00pm - Let Grant out of his room again. Change another diaper. Call Trevor to see what time he'll be home and what he wants for dinner. He has no idea. Big surprise.
5:00pm - Throw something together that's easy and will use as little dishes as possible, e.g. perogies with veggies, spaghetti and veggies, fish with rice (we've nearly given up fresh stuff altogether. Sigh.).
5:30pm - Shovel dinner down throat while Rachel cries. Try and convince Grant to eat something for dinner. Clean up Grant. Clean up dinner. Avoid looking at what used to be known as "the floor".
7:00pm - Finally. Bedtime for Grant. Get through his bedtime routine.
7:30pm - Remember about the laundry. Get some laundry in the wash. Clean up kitchen and living room some more. Have some ice cream with Trevor. =)
8:00pm - Sit down with Rachel to watch some TV. Fold some laundry.
10:00pm - Get self and Rachel ready for bed. Get Rachel settled. Read scriptures. Crawl into bed.
Repeat every 24 hours.
It sure doesn't SOUND like anything special does it? It sounds downright dull to me. You may notice a big discrepancy between the title of my post and the description of my day. BO-ring! BUT there it is.
This week has been a not-so-good one for me. It's because I got ultra sick last Saturday night, late, and didn't make it to church Sunday. Trevor really saved the day and took BOTH kids to church with him (thanks honey!) so that I could nap worry-free. It was a huge help. He knew he had to do it, because he missed work the week before since he was really sick and work is crazy busy, so he couldn't take Monday off for me. So I didn't get the little pick-me-up I need every week from church, and I've had a much harder time with the kids; that is, I have a lot less patience and a bad attitude.
But I've been meaning to write this post for a while, because, while it goes up and down, since General Conference at the beginning of October, I've had a much better attitude and been generally happier about my days. This is because, before bed every night, I ask God to give me just one more day with my precious little children. In fact, I plead with Him to allow me just a small, little bit more - one more night from which we all wake up, still alive, and get to have the day I just described above. With that in mind, when I wake up in the morning and hear Grant playing in his room and Rachel is still breathing - that day is the best day of my life, simply because it is one more. One more that I have with my little ones, while they are genuinely little. One more hour to kiss their sweet little cheeks. One more afternoon where they are still small enough to sit on my lap to read a book or look at a picture. One more bedtime until I have to worry about what they're going to find on the Internet or what time they're going to be home... one more day until I'm not their whole world anymore. I'm always going to be praying for just one more day like that.
8:00am - Feed Rachel, leave her sleeping in our bed
8:15am - Go into Grant's room where he is up playing. Be greeted with a huge poopy mess. Get that all cleaned up, get Grant dressed.
8:30am - Try to get self ready for the day: hair, makeup (yeah right!), clothes... find that you have no clean underwear. Start putting together a load of emergency laundry. Add Grant's and Rachel's poopy clothes that have been sitting in the bathroom sink to the load. Try to tame wild mess that is known as "hair".
9:00am - Forget to put laundry in. Try and convince Grant to eat something for breakfast. Grab a granola bar amid the battle. Clean up Grant. Clean up breakfast. Clean up kitchen counters.
10:00am - Try to leave for grocery store/Moms & Tots/Rhyme Time/doctor appointment and find that Grant is poopy and Rachel is not dressed. Change Grant and Rachel while holding own bladder.
10:30am - Grocery store: Try to distract Grant long enough so that yogurt containers and anything packaged in cardboard makes it home in one piece. Try to convince Grant to stay in the cart for just five more minutes. Try and convince the store clerks that you know what you're doing while they tell you where you can and can't put your carseat. Wish you could tell them where to put it. Try and convince Grant to leave the toy aisle.
11:00am - Having run out of distractions, ditch the cart in the middle of the grocery store in order to leave WITHOUT any groceries.
11:30am - Arrive home empty-handed and with no idea what to make for lunch. Try and convince Grant to eat something for lunch. Feed Rachel. Attempt to feed self. Sneak a treat when Grant's looking away. Clean up Grant. Clean up breakfast.
1:00pm - Get Grant into bed for his nap. Feed Rachel. Hold Rachel until she stops crying.
1:30pm - Work on business stuff: bookkeeping, filing, make sure everything is ready for the next day.
2:30pm - Work in family stuff: bookkeeping, filing, pay all the bills, make some phone calls.
3:30pm - Hold Rachel. Get some photos edited (I wish!). Squeeze in some time to play a dorky computer game so that I've spent a couple minutes doing something that is all about ME.
4:00pm - Let Grant out of his room again. Change another diaper. Call Trevor to see what time he'll be home and what he wants for dinner. He has no idea. Big surprise.
5:00pm - Throw something together that's easy and will use as little dishes as possible, e.g. perogies with veggies, spaghetti and veggies, fish with rice (we've nearly given up fresh stuff altogether. Sigh.).
5:30pm - Shovel dinner down throat while Rachel cries. Try and convince Grant to eat something for dinner. Clean up Grant. Clean up dinner. Avoid looking at what used to be known as "the floor".
7:00pm - Finally. Bedtime for Grant. Get through his bedtime routine.
7:30pm - Remember about the laundry. Get some laundry in the wash. Clean up kitchen and living room some more. Have some ice cream with Trevor. =)
8:00pm - Sit down with Rachel to watch some TV. Fold some laundry.
10:00pm - Get self and Rachel ready for bed. Get Rachel settled. Read scriptures. Crawl into bed.
Repeat every 24 hours.
It sure doesn't SOUND like anything special does it? It sounds downright dull to me. You may notice a big discrepancy between the title of my post and the description of my day. BO-ring! BUT there it is.
This week has been a not-so-good one for me. It's because I got ultra sick last Saturday night, late, and didn't make it to church Sunday. Trevor really saved the day and took BOTH kids to church with him (thanks honey!) so that I could nap worry-free. It was a huge help. He knew he had to do it, because he missed work the week before since he was really sick and work is crazy busy, so he couldn't take Monday off for me. So I didn't get the little pick-me-up I need every week from church, and I've had a much harder time with the kids; that is, I have a lot less patience and a bad attitude.
But I've been meaning to write this post for a while, because, while it goes up and down, since General Conference at the beginning of October, I've had a much better attitude and been generally happier about my days. This is because, before bed every night, I ask God to give me just one more day with my precious little children. In fact, I plead with Him to allow me just a small, little bit more - one more night from which we all wake up, still alive, and get to have the day I just described above. With that in mind, when I wake up in the morning and hear Grant playing in his room and Rachel is still breathing - that day is the best day of my life, simply because it is one more. One more that I have with my little ones, while they are genuinely little. One more hour to kiss their sweet little cheeks. One more afternoon where they are still small enough to sit on my lap to read a book or look at a picture. One more bedtime until I have to worry about what they're going to find on the Internet or what time they're going to be home... one more day until I'm not their whole world anymore. I'm always going to be praying for just one more day like that.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Announcement
Here is the announcement I made for my sweet little girl. I used a template designed by Simply Couture Designs which I purchased for use in our business, and then using photoshop I made a matching back for it (made up of entirely stripes, the same stripes pattern that is on the front) AND a matching thank you card - see below. They are super adorable, and they should be shipped to my house today from my printing company (two sided stuff has to be press printed, so they will be like real cards rather than just photo paper) - I have an account with a professional photo and press printer, which is how I'm able to print them, and I decided to pay a few extra bucks to get the Pearl coating. They are going to look fantastic.
I have not yet updated my photo blog to include all the baby announcement templates I have, but I have a whole lot more than what is shown on the blog, and some that are on the blog may be taken down.
I am SO happy with how these turned out! Eek!
Here is the back - nothing too fancy.
Front side of thank you card - this is just a flat card, I can do folded as well but wanted to keep costs down.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
GIRL!
Our little girl was born at 9:18am on September 9, 2010. She was 20" long and 7 lbs. 3 oz. I promise to blog all the gory details, but for now I am relaxing and enjoying my time with her. She sleeps all the time, so things have been quiet around our house and it's been great. Grant is adjusting just fine! We love love love her and are so thrilled that she's a girl. And without further ado, we named her...
Rachel Elizabeth Curtis
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Grind
I'm sure I'm not the only one who can't properly enjoy the last few days as a mom of only one thanks to the ill effects of the last weeks of pregnancy. Poor little Grant. He's the one who really suffers here. Trevor is still working ridiculously long hours an hour out of Lethbridge, and tonight he's staying over at the hotel there since he has to start work at 6am - and who can blame him for not wanting to get up at 4:30am on a regular basis?
Monday we did manage to get out of the house. Trevor and I are starting a business this month - more on that in a minute - so Grant and I went to Wal-Mart (shudder) and Staples to look for a certain piece of furniture we need. I hate Wal-Mart. I nearly bought Grant some new church socks, but I don't want to give them my business and there's no way I'm standing in line to buy one thing when I have this much pelvic and uterine ligament pain. Ugh.
Tuesday we made it to the mall, where we had lunch. We didn't even browse a single store, just had lunch and took a sort-of walk inside. I thought I might not make it back to the van it hurt so much to walk by the time we left. And that was after mostly just sitting to eat lunch. Pathetic.
Today was Wednesday, and I declared it a stay-at-home day. Grant asked to watch Baby Signing Time after breakfast, which is the only thing he will actually watch. It'd be nice for me if he'd start to like TV, he'd have a funner day enjoying his shows and we are paying for cable; might as well watch Treehouse! But he's just not interested. I also tried to pique his curiosity by putting on Finding Nemo after Signing Time, but he wasn't interested. With Trevor not coming home for dinner, and me not having gone grocery shopping this week, we went to Denny's at 5. Grant was rowdy and I once again thought I might not make it home - the walk from the van to the house carrying Grant could have killed me. Thank goodness he's good about going to bed - or at least staying in his room once he's put in there.
Tomorrow might be another stay-at-home day, which is tough with such an ACTIVE little boy. He just wants to terrorize the entire neighborhood EVERY SINGLE DAY. At least once the baby comes I'll be able to walk again. There's got to be some way to speed up time....
I have been keeping busy; there is lots to do on our business once Grant goes down for his nap and occasionally I can get a few things done while he's awake. If I'm tired, I'll nap when he does, but I've been mostly okay for the day. We'll have to wait until this big project Trevor is working on is over and we've adjusted a little bit to a new baby and a new routine before launching, but we are going to rent Canon camera lenses (and other equipment) from our home. There is nowhere to rent these things in Lethbridge, and lots of people who think they are photographers, including me! (And some that really are, of course). So we are excited about the business (our new "baby"), and about our real new baby! I can't wait to meet our latest addition and FINALLY found out if it's a boy or a girl - I might go crazy waiting. Please come soon! And in the meantime, while you're waiting for a post about our new little munchkin, check us out at www.lethbridgelensrentals.com.
Monday we did manage to get out of the house. Trevor and I are starting a business this month - more on that in a minute - so Grant and I went to Wal-Mart (shudder) and Staples to look for a certain piece of furniture we need. I hate Wal-Mart. I nearly bought Grant some new church socks, but I don't want to give them my business and there's no way I'm standing in line to buy one thing when I have this much pelvic and uterine ligament pain. Ugh.
Tuesday we made it to the mall, where we had lunch. We didn't even browse a single store, just had lunch and took a sort-of walk inside. I thought I might not make it back to the van it hurt so much to walk by the time we left. And that was after mostly just sitting to eat lunch. Pathetic.
Today was Wednesday, and I declared it a stay-at-home day. Grant asked to watch Baby Signing Time after breakfast, which is the only thing he will actually watch. It'd be nice for me if he'd start to like TV, he'd have a funner day enjoying his shows and we are paying for cable; might as well watch Treehouse! But he's just not interested. I also tried to pique his curiosity by putting on Finding Nemo after Signing Time, but he wasn't interested. With Trevor not coming home for dinner, and me not having gone grocery shopping this week, we went to Denny's at 5. Grant was rowdy and I once again thought I might not make it home - the walk from the van to the house carrying Grant could have killed me. Thank goodness he's good about going to bed - or at least staying in his room once he's put in there.
Tomorrow might be another stay-at-home day, which is tough with such an ACTIVE little boy. He just wants to terrorize the entire neighborhood EVERY SINGLE DAY. At least once the baby comes I'll be able to walk again. There's got to be some way to speed up time....
I have been keeping busy; there is lots to do on our business once Grant goes down for his nap and occasionally I can get a few things done while he's awake. If I'm tired, I'll nap when he does, but I've been mostly okay for the day. We'll have to wait until this big project Trevor is working on is over and we've adjusted a little bit to a new baby and a new routine before launching, but we are going to rent Canon camera lenses (and other equipment) from our home. There is nowhere to rent these things in Lethbridge, and lots of people who think they are photographers, including me! (And some that really are, of course). So we are excited about the business (our new "baby"), and about our real new baby! I can't wait to meet our latest addition and FINALLY found out if it's a boy or a girl - I might go crazy waiting. Please come soon! And in the meantime, while you're waiting for a post about our new little munchkin, check us out at www.lethbridgelensrentals.com.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Fun
Grant and I FINALLY got to do something with Trevor this summer. We've been to the Canada Day celebrations, petting zoo, stampede, etc... WITHOUT him because he has been working so much! The extra work and the added bonus that it's out of town mean a lot of serious debt repayment's been happening, but it's been sad to not have him with us! Fortunately, he did get Heritage Day off (that funny holiday at the beginning of August - I only learned this year that THAT'S the one that's called Heritage Day...) - and we were invited boating with our friends! It was so much fun. Grant even went off the front of the boat when Trevor was supposed to be watching him. It was all good, because the boat was docked and he had a lifejacket on, but I hear stories like this all the time that begin with "My dad was supposed to be watching me and my sister, but..." Mostly I just thought it was funny that he leaned too far forward and went right over!
Anyway, the pictures tell the rest! We took over 1000 pictures (our camera takes 8 per second!) and then had to go through them all to get rid of the junk ones!
Anyway, the pictures tell the rest! We took over 1000 pictures (our camera takes 8 per second!) and then had to go through them all to get rid of the junk ones!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Seven
I am very happy to say that it is only seven (long) weeks until we meet our new baby - I am getting so excited. I've had a couple of dreams that it's a boy, and a couple of dreams that it is a girl! I can't wait to find out which one it is! I appreciate that it will be more convenient if it is a boy - we have a few girl clothes, but not many, and we have all the boy toys, blankets, accessories, etc, in addition to clothes, as well as the fact that Grant's room is painted in a definite boy theme and matches his very-boy-like furniture. I'm mentioning this because either way, they are going to share a room. I cannot give up the computer/craft room; having it is so nice and there's no other good place to have the computer, my Cricut and craft stuff, and all my sewing things. I have also heard that putting the kids in the same room helps them sleep better, maybe because they are soothed by hearing the other's breathing?
I've gone back and forth between wishing for a girl or boy... I would love for Grant to have a brother so close to him in age growing up, and when I think about the hobbies, activities, toys, clothes, milestones, friends, etc., that they could share, it gets me hoping for a boy. But today is a girl-minded day. A couple of nights ago I had one of the dreams where it was a girl, and I was SO thrilled. There are a couple other newborn girls in the ward, and I just love looking at them. There is a whole new level of cuteness that comes with having a baby girl - the hair bows, ribbons, headbands, diaper covers with ruffles on the bum, frilly socks, pretty dresses, leggings, and everything in a delightful shade of pink pink pink.... I could go on and on. We have a teensy pair of black Mary Janes that nearly make me pass out from the cuteness. I took out some clothes to take to the hospital today - a few girl things and a few boy things, and the girl things are just SO fun. I already did the boy thing, so a girl would be so darn exciting.
And speaking of this baby, I have NO idea what we are going to name him or her! I think our boy name list is down to just a couple, but not our girl list, and I'm not letting you in on what we've narrowed it down to either! Even in saying that, I've realized that we certainly haven't narrowed down middle names for a boy, but we have it down to two for a girl. Sigh! I don't want anyone to know, aside from the master list that makes up the above poll, before we announce our baby's birth and name together. We'll have to take our list with us to the hospital... and either way, I'm SUPER excited for our new baby! Trevor and I love holding newborns, and I know we are going to fight over him/her every week at church!
I have also been thinking a lot of photography lately, spying on other photographer's and overanalyzing all their pictures! There is no way I'm going to jump in head first to the wedding market without a LOT of practice, so I'm offering to do retakes of wedding photos, outdoors, any location, for only $40. I should have started doing it sooner! That way I can practice with a bride and a groom, and no one gets disappointed on their wedding day - not by me anyway. I know a couple of people who call themselves wedding photographers who have really disappointed their clients on their wedding day, which I think is just awful! So I am going to really hone my skills, both shooting and editing, before even thinking about offering wedding packages! I have lost a lot of sleep in the past week thinking about others who charge in Lethbridge, while using what I consider sub-grade (non-professional) equipment. Some of that can be made up for with some camera skills and some editing skills, but only to a certain extent. I know the pictures we take now are a million times better than what we could get out of our little Rebel and I simply love the lens I use for everything. Speaking of which, there will be new pictures of Grant soon! I took some earlier today.
Grant is a very funny little boy, he loves doing the actions to "Popcorn Popping" and will start to do them as his way of requesting that we sing the song. He is soaking up his new signs very quickly, and I need to teach him more this week; he loves signing, which is a huge lifesaver since he's taking his sweet time with talking! He tries hard to be obedient, and is getting much better at the whole "cleaning up" concept. He just has a toddler rail on one side of his crib, and will happily get out of bed most mornings and play in his room so I can sleep in a little bit! It is heaven.
Now that I have blogged your ears off, I've got to get downstairs and finish my creation for Trevor's birthday! There are a few things to wrap and a cake to finish; thank goodness the ward BBQ is tonight because there is no way I would get supper made too!
And finally, for those of you who are getting just a little tired of the ED ads... some parenting help from my favorite columnist.
The Questions that Parenting Books Don't Prepare You For
I've gone back and forth between wishing for a girl or boy... I would love for Grant to have a brother so close to him in age growing up, and when I think about the hobbies, activities, toys, clothes, milestones, friends, etc., that they could share, it gets me hoping for a boy. But today is a girl-minded day. A couple of nights ago I had one of the dreams where it was a girl, and I was SO thrilled. There are a couple other newborn girls in the ward, and I just love looking at them. There is a whole new level of cuteness that comes with having a baby girl - the hair bows, ribbons, headbands, diaper covers with ruffles on the bum, frilly socks, pretty dresses, leggings, and everything in a delightful shade of pink pink pink.... I could go on and on. We have a teensy pair of black Mary Janes that nearly make me pass out from the cuteness. I took out some clothes to take to the hospital today - a few girl things and a few boy things, and the girl things are just SO fun. I already did the boy thing, so a girl would be so darn exciting.
And speaking of this baby, I have NO idea what we are going to name him or her! I think our boy name list is down to just a couple, but not our girl list, and I'm not letting you in on what we've narrowed it down to either! Even in saying that, I've realized that we certainly haven't narrowed down middle names for a boy, but we have it down to two for a girl. Sigh! I don't want anyone to know, aside from the master list that makes up the above poll, before we announce our baby's birth and name together. We'll have to take our list with us to the hospital... and either way, I'm SUPER excited for our new baby! Trevor and I love holding newborns, and I know we are going to fight over him/her every week at church!
I have also been thinking a lot of photography lately, spying on other photographer's and overanalyzing all their pictures! There is no way I'm going to jump in head first to the wedding market without a LOT of practice, so I'm offering to do retakes of wedding photos, outdoors, any location, for only $40. I should have started doing it sooner! That way I can practice with a bride and a groom, and no one gets disappointed on their wedding day - not by me anyway. I know a couple of people who call themselves wedding photographers who have really disappointed their clients on their wedding day, which I think is just awful! So I am going to really hone my skills, both shooting and editing, before even thinking about offering wedding packages! I have lost a lot of sleep in the past week thinking about others who charge in Lethbridge, while using what I consider sub-grade (non-professional) equipment. Some of that can be made up for with some camera skills and some editing skills, but only to a certain extent. I know the pictures we take now are a million times better than what we could get out of our little Rebel and I simply love the lens I use for everything. Speaking of which, there will be new pictures of Grant soon! I took some earlier today.
Grant is a very funny little boy, he loves doing the actions to "Popcorn Popping" and will start to do them as his way of requesting that we sing the song. He is soaking up his new signs very quickly, and I need to teach him more this week; he loves signing, which is a huge lifesaver since he's taking his sweet time with talking! He tries hard to be obedient, and is getting much better at the whole "cleaning up" concept. He just has a toddler rail on one side of his crib, and will happily get out of bed most mornings and play in his room so I can sleep in a little bit! It is heaven.
Now that I have blogged your ears off, I've got to get downstairs and finish my creation for Trevor's birthday! There are a few things to wrap and a cake to finish; thank goodness the ward BBQ is tonight because there is no way I would get supper made too!
And finally, for those of you who are getting just a little tired of the ED ads... some parenting help from my favorite columnist.
The Questions that Parenting Books Don't Prepare You For
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Photos
Here are some photos from the past two months. Grant has grown up so much since these first photos, I can hardly believe it. He is so good at signing now and always tries to sign new signs as soon as I show them to him. He has had a lot of trouble getting used to going to nursery at church, but this past Sunday he was so good! They have bubble time at the end, and he actually played and chased the bubbles for the first time ever- I am so proud of him!
This summer, Trevor is overseeing a big wind farm near Pincher Creek, so he is working 12 hour and up days, and we are getting so lonely without him! It will be a great way for us to get ahead with our debts though, since he gets paid by the kilometre for driving all that way, as well as given a lunch allowance. We are hoping that the project will be finished just in time for the new baby, and Trevor will be able to use vacation and all this overtime he'll get this summer in order to take some time off!
May 2
May 3
May 4
May 14
May 14 - Grant wondering if he can go outside!
May 14 - picnic lunch at the park!
May 17
Blurry, but too cute to delete! May 27
May 29
May 29
June 12 - Walk in the park
Me on June 20th - hello third trimester!
June 24 - Grant's first trip to the petting zoo
A baby llama! Just a few days old!
This picture is deceiving - he didn't have that much fun at the petting zoo.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Note
FYI - I want to have my cutesie blog backgrounds again, so I'm reverting to the standard blog template... I modified it so that I could have my pictures extra large on here, but it probably looks crummy on most of your computer screens anyway, so I'm going back to the default size that blogger sets.
Just wanted to let you know, so that if you go back to old posts you might find that the pictures look funny and don't fit in the blog text.
That is all for now!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Already?!
All the frustration from the last post has passed, and while my life is overall extremely boring and I have nothing of any interest to blog about, here I am again. Recent highlights include catching up on the TV series Glee, thanks to surfthechannel.com, (which means on Tuesday I can actually watch it on TV for the first time ever!), Grant getting many more teeth (all at once), Grant learning to run and being totally obsessed with being outside, Trevor riding his bike to work all this week (yay!), and me finding a new little something to do. More details to follow at the end of this post.
Also, thanks SOLELY to facebook, I just found out that one of my younger sisters moved to California for the summer?! I knew she was looking for a job in Calgary... and that was the last I heard of it until just a moment ago when I read a note she wrote detailing her first couple days in Fresno! No hard feelings that I had to find out on facebook, but that big green monster is definitely rearing its ugly head. The weather here in the past two... wait, what am I saying?... the past... oh, NINE months has been mostly ridiculous. It seems as though in spring or fall, when it is actually not BONE COLD or swelteringly hot, the days the rain lets up always yield to the dreaded WIND. Although I suppose if I'm complaining about the heat, Fresno is not where I want to be either. I'll still take hot over cold any day, including when my aching self is six months pregnant. Two months from now I may be singing a different tune.
As for Grant, he is a little boy who knows what he wants, but he is also quite open to suggestion. There are the non-negotiables: if he sees juice, his blankie, pens, sunglasses, scissors, or 'real' utensils (knives! forks! spoons! The ones Mom and Dad use!) - if he wants one of these and cannot have it, he can pitch quite a fit. But he does have his agreeable side! He'll switch to a different toy if you suggest it, and will dart off course faster than an ant for an Oreo if you say one of his key words: boots/shoes/sandals, jacket, outside (remember the latest obsession with the great outdoors), blankie, cookie.
He's also at the continuous bumps and bruises point - it's taken him a while, but now his forehead cannot be found a single day without at least a couple bruises demonstrating one of the four bruise-color stages of healing.
Now for the follow-up I promised earlier. I have begun making the following two simple craft items and selling them. Very exciting for me. I'm keen to replace my delivery of Lethbridge Living, which is exhausting despite only being every two months. If you're interested and you don't live in Lethbridge, I can certainly give you a shipping quote before you order. You can find me at www.facebook.com/skyecurtis or skyecurtis@hotmail.com, and more info is available here, such as pricing, delivery time, and color options. Happy shopping!
Also, thanks SOLELY to facebook, I just found out that one of my younger sisters moved to California for the summer?! I knew she was looking for a job in Calgary... and that was the last I heard of it until just a moment ago when I read a note she wrote detailing her first couple days in Fresno! No hard feelings that I had to find out on facebook, but that big green monster is definitely rearing its ugly head. The weather here in the past two... wait, what am I saying?... the past... oh, NINE months has been mostly ridiculous. It seems as though in spring or fall, when it is actually not BONE COLD or swelteringly hot, the days the rain lets up always yield to the dreaded WIND. Although I suppose if I'm complaining about the heat, Fresno is not where I want to be either. I'll still take hot over cold any day, including when my aching self is six months pregnant. Two months from now I may be singing a different tune.
As for Grant, he is a little boy who knows what he wants, but he is also quite open to suggestion. There are the non-negotiables: if he sees juice, his blankie, pens, sunglasses, scissors, or 'real' utensils (knives! forks! spoons! The ones Mom and Dad use!) - if he wants one of these and cannot have it, he can pitch quite a fit. But he does have his agreeable side! He'll switch to a different toy if you suggest it, and will dart off course faster than an ant for an Oreo if you say one of his key words: boots/shoes/sandals, jacket, outside (remember the latest obsession with the great outdoors), blankie, cookie.
He's also at the continuous bumps and bruises point - it's taken him a while, but now his forehead cannot be found a single day without at least a couple bruises demonstrating one of the four bruise-color stages of healing.
Now for the follow-up I promised earlier. I have begun making the following two simple craft items and selling them. Very exciting for me. I'm keen to replace my delivery of Lethbridge Living, which is exhausting despite only being every two months. If you're interested and you don't live in Lethbridge, I can certainly give you a shipping quote before you order. You can find me at www.facebook.com/skyecurtis or skyecurtis@hotmail.com, and more info is available here, such as pricing, delivery time, and color options. Happy shopping!
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