What Would I Do Without You?

"Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body".
~Elizabeth Stone

Looks Like a Storm's a Brewin'

This storm was amazing! It came rushing in out of the blue, darkening the sky to almost black as loud rolling claps of thunder hammered the sky. I ran outside into the downpour with my camera to try and catch it as it began to roll through. Within minutes the rain was coming down so fast I couldn't see the neighbors across the streets houses, and then came hail that soon slushed up and was coming in slurpee like quantities down the drainpipes! Yummmmmmmm....Slurpees.







(*be sure to say the title post with a thick New England accent....such as the people use in the movie "The Perfect Storm". For some reason I always have to do this when a storm blows in!)

A Little Randomness to Fill the Day!

I thought I would just toss in some random things that make me happy as I am counting down the days waiting for Rex's arrival.
RANDOM #1
This wonderful purse from Marieliz's Creations shop on Etsy.

My Sassy Brassy friend Meg went to the quilt market as a special correspondant and while that sounds sort of stuffy and grandmaish it is anything but. These hip designers of fabric amaze me...I don't think I really ever thought about fabric as being designed? I'm not sure where I thought the pictures/ideas/colors on the fabric came from but I surely never thought someone designed it!
Some of the most amazing designers were there with their wares which Meg covers extensively on her blog.
Through reading her updates I saw cute Patti from Modkidboutique (a fantastic childrens clothing designer). She was toting this purse in a picture, her mother had designed it out of Amy Butler fabric and Patti had a pic of herself with Amy Butler holding this fantastic bag!

Anyway long story short I emailed her mom and BOOM, it was listed that night and I snatched on up for myself! It is in production now and should be coming in the next week or two.
People seriously.....Etsy.....awesome!!!

RANDOM #2
80's music.
When you're feeling down get out the 80's music and go crazy!! I've been enjoying some flashbacks via my IPOD and ITUNES.
*B52's
How I love them! And if you're feeling like REALLY going back in time go to YouTube and watch one of their videos to go with it!

*THE THOMPSON TWINS
Was the lead singer gorgeous....yes he was. Did he marry the crazy looking he/she looking girl in the group.....yes he did....does that still confuse me after all these years....yes it does.
"If You Were Here" still as yummy today as the day it was released even though I still can't decipher half of the lyrics.

*Men At Work
At this point in life I am so beyond the Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Jive. I have rediscovered songs by them that I didn't know or appreciate as an 80's child. "Overkill" Gotta have it!

*Duran Duran
How many times did I take one of their centerfolds from TigerBeat and trick my mom with the ol' "Okay which ones are girls and which ones are boys." Falling down with laughter at the expression on her face when I had to inform her "Nope! They're all boys!!"
Put on "Reflex" and be sure to do the Reflex arms like the backup singers!

*REM
I {heart} you Michael Stipe! Go in your wayback machine with REM....back before "Stand". Hit the golden oldies that made them what they are. Put on "Superman" and sing it at the top of your lungs and at somepoint you will believe you are Superman!

*The Culture Club
Karma Chameleon....need I say more?

*General Public
So many great memories with your album spinning around on my record player in the background. I am pretty sure my friend Merri and I played "Tenderness" so many times in one sitting that the record started to melt.
(And you can't list General Public without mentioning English Beat!)

*The Cure
Robert Smith and that beautiful voice....those angsty lyrics that sometimes make you happy and sometimes make you confused as to what he is even saying! Hit the back catalog of music as well as the "newer" stuff. "Just Like Heaven" is still one of my "happy songs" and has been since highschool. It comes on and I just smile.
Inner Beauty is Overrated (Ally) just went to a Cure concert, you can see her slideshow of it on her blog. She was trying to rock the goth look but looked way to good to be goth!! She needed to paint her face white and at least smear her perfect MAC cosmetics around to make it seem as if she'd been crying in her bedroom over a lost love in Junior High! ;)

*Depeche Mode
Perhaps the only good memory of my brother....that he and his bizarre friends (with names like Gandalf, Duck etc) were obsessed with this group so after they would depart his cluttered bedroom for parts unknown I would hustle downstairs and gather up all of their Depeche Mode albums to listen to while they were gone!
They have gone through so many metamorphisis as a group....you have to get a little from each phase. The super synth "Just Can't Get Enough" happiness for me! To the brooding songs from "Black Celebration"...."Question of Lust"....too beautiful for words!
My brothers friend Duck was pretty sure he was Martin Gore from the band. And when I think back now man he really did look just like him. Same hair, build, etc. He (Duck not Martin Gore) was the one who really took my brother on the spiral of despair as a teen, it was all downhill from there. So I didn't feel so bad taking Ducks import Depece Mode albums and hiding them in the my closet so that he would never see them again mwahahahahahaah.

Well will stop here for today on music or else the list might go on and on and on. Would love to hear your 80's faves!)

RANDOM #3
SLURPEES

I seriously wondering if there is crack or something in Slurpees? I have now been addicted to them since childhood. In highschool when all of my "cool" friends were getting their Ginormous SUPER BIG GULPS filled with Coke....I proudly filled my Slurpee cup up with a smile and enjoyed my day! Bri and the kids are on the way home with one for me as we speak.....I'm getting all tingly!!

That's all the randomness I can muster for a Saturday!

American Idol

G: "Mom I really want that one guy to win American Idol."
Me: "Which one?"
G: "David."
Me: "They're both named David."
G: "The Enchilada Guy."
Me: "Ohhhhhhhh David Enchilada." *holding in laughter*
G: "Yeah, the Enchilada is really good......Mom, what's an Enchilada....is it like a Taco?"
Me: "No, the other David is David Taco, so a Taco isn't like an Enchilada."
G: "Okay!" *Big Smile*

Needless to say someone wasn't too happy when the Enchilada guy didn't win....but her mommy was very happy that David Cook won!! I just had a nice talk with her about the fact that The Enchilada was young and would go on to do many wonderful things with his life so we shouldn't be sad that he didn't win American Idol and she seemed okay with that :)
If only all problems in life were so easily solved!

The Joys of Having an Older Sister

G: "Hey Little One....look in the hose, do you see the water coming out yet?"
Little One: "Not yet?" (looking into hose)
G: "How about now?" (cranks on hose while little sister is still looking down the barrel.)

The Balance is Restored to the Universe!

They're baaaaaaaack!!
And not a moment too soon. I cannot even begin to express how much I missed these two little faces (and of course I missed their Daddy's darling face too!!) I missed their laughter, witty ways of expressing their opinions, the way they climb all over me like a jungle gym and snuggle in for some love. I missed their big beautiful eyes looking up at me and the soft steady sounds of their breathing after they've gone to bed.
An adventure to Disneyland with their Daddy and Grammie, Poppa and Aunt was where they had flown away from me to. The night before they left the three of us (the girls) bawled like babies in each others arms. Bri looked at the three of us sobbing and hugging and all he could say was "this is the saddest thing I've ever seen, I don't even know what to do!" And the next morning they drove off and it felt so strange to be the one left behind.
This trip was planned before we got pregnant with Rex, I knew the moment we found out that he was on the way that there was going to be no way I would be going with the family on this particular adventure. Eight months pregnant schlepping it around the giant-ness known as Disneyland in the heat (it was mid 90's the entire time they were there.) was not something I have ever aspired to do!
They had so much fun and their Daddy took such amazing care of them (as if I had a doubt!) They had the joy of having four adults looking out for them and granting many of their wishes, what could be better. But they still missed their mommy, and their mommy missed them!!
When they came back last night it was as if everything with the universe was right again! Our little family was back together and I felt like I could fully breathe again. I had the best sleep last night then I've had all week.
Today I snapped a pic of them with their baby brother (above) whom they also missed. Hard to believe that the next adventure we take he and I will be along for the ride!
I love you girls.....welcome home :)

Day Three......

In between a lovely breakfast with Cindy and a too fantastic lunch with Kristin I kept my vow of taking pictures. I have to say today it was hard to drag myself to my destinations....in and out of the car is getting exhausting. It is like a large whale might feel once it gets itself beached. It's that sort of "Oh crap what now?" When you're halfway in the car and halfway out.....no committment either way but you know you have to do something because otherwise you'll just be sitting there until someone walks by and offers to pull you out/push you back in your car....or they just pull you out of the car, leave you lying on the pavement and take off with your car!! (For those of you who know my mother you will know that second part is what she would tell me would happen if I got beached in my car. Then she would give me the advice to roll across the parking lot while flailing my arms so that I would be a much more difficult target for the carjacker to hit with my car he has just stolen.)

Anyway I digress.....I am glad I forced myself to get out and get food. I'm back in the no eating, dry heaving, only want to consume liquid phase (I'm not sure I ever left that phase now that I think about it?) So going to get breakfast and dinner actually forced me to eat something! And of course the company was was perfect!
Here are todays photos....

I vowed to take pictures today

While the chickens are partying it up I promised myself I would do a few things for me while they are gone. One of them was to take some pictures. Since I was about nine or ten I had a fascination with photography, but my fascination lay in more artistic style landscape/building photography. I loved old run down shops or the random beat up car by the side of the road. Tilting barns and whatnot grabbed my attentnion as we would drive to California for family vacations.....and if something had rust on it the rustier the better!! I've been enjoying taking these types of pictures since I've been pregnant. Places catch my eye and often I'm too tired to go back or I have the girls with me or I don't leave the house (with this pregnancy) to go back and get the shot so today was the day I was going to fit a few shots in.

I adore the one with the lone shoe hanging from a strand of lights. I just happened to spot it while I was taking some other shots and how could I not stop and study this oddity. The shoe looked like a replica French style book from the early 1900's. There was just one dangling at the end of the strand of lights....all of it hanging from a building that had virtually been demolished. It almost seemed like an art exhibit in it's own right. I put different versions of two of the pictures to show the colors and then the dramatic side.

I did do a few other things today for just me but currently I am suffering from some serious side cramping (I think this giant baby I'm carrying is just getting too big and too low for my ligaments to hold him up anymore!) So I'm going to go and lay down and put my feet up.

Haircuts and a little Exploring

Before a great adventure it is imperative (in my opinion) to get a fresh haircut! The chickens agreed, feeling frisky and much lighter with their cute little do's. I try to let them have a say in their haircuts.....G has been wanting longer hair but when she gets up in the chair she always tells them to make it short in the back and long in the front....Cute Kisty did an amazing job on her little A-line, the back is fantastic!! Little One's hair has been getting quite long, she loves to tuck it behind her ear and flip it around so I thought for sure she would want to keep a little hair on but she hopped up in the chair and let Kisty know that she wanted it "just like G's".
Afterwards we did a little exploring and I shot some pics to play with while they are off on their grand adventure!

The Backyard in Bloom

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden. ~Ruth Stout

Remember back in the day when I was a photographer? ;)

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away I used to be a photographer! Then I got pregnant and could no longer go through a day without throwing up so the photography thing was put on the back burner while I got to be really good friends with the commode :) Way back in December I committed to two clients for February appts (this is when I tricked myself into thinking the sickness wouldn't last that long.) Between the weather and sickness and numerous other things I finally was able to get this shoot done last weekend!
Was it fun....yes it was!! I've known "A" since she was in her mommy's tummy so hanging out with her was like kicking back with an old friend and sharing a beer....hmmmm well no not a beer....sharing some milk! We laughed and laughed and when she asked me to sit in the back seat with her as we went on location I gladly said yes. She even asked if I could be in a few of the shots with her and her mother but I explained that I wasn't sure how we could do that if no one was behind the camera!
I am LOVING how these are turning out, it was fun to be inspired again in this way and to have that feeling of excitement at getting home to see how the shots turned out.
I am not sure where my photography business will go after the baby comes. Right now I am concentrating on trying to keep the baby in for eight more weeks and battling some depression and contractions and whatnot....you know, the usual.
So right now here is a sneak peek of this session!