Baby Photos

Once upon a time, I was organized. By organized I mean obsessed. When my husband and I got engaged we did not have engagement photos done. He did not want them. At the time I really wanted them to show our love. In reality, NOW I want them to document my skinny ass.  When we found out we were pregnant my dear husband agreed to getting newborn photos done because he didn't want to hear about those TOO for the rest of his life. 

I contacted the photographer I wanted in September, SEPTEMBER people. Bug was due in April, but I wanted to make sure that I got her. I wasn't sure how it worked and I wanted HER. Her work was amazing, and I wanted it. She was awesome and told me to contact her when Bug was born and she'd schedule me in within the first 10 days. I told her my due date, April 8th, with full expectations that we'd have them done around that date.

TWO WEEKS LATER, Bug was born. Since I was induced I e-mailed her before going to the hospital and figured out which day would work. We decided to do photos a week later (in reality, Bug showed up 36 hours after labor and AFTER a csection, so it was really 6 days since he showed up a day later than expected.) I am 99% sure that was also the first day I took a shower at home. See, the photos documented me being clean for the first time in who-knows-how-long and the baby Bug.

I'm embarrassed to admit how much the photos cost. Let's just say that our mortgage is less than the photos. Yep. I knew who I wanted! I also have (and will) never mention NOT having engagement photos. With an infant, moving to Alaska, and a million other things I never sent out baby announcements. In reality (and advice for anyone who is going to birth a child) I wish I would have gotten envelopes, addressed them, and had everything ready to go once he arrived. Nope. I packed boxes, nursed a kid, and tried to keep from losing my mind. No pictures.

Being the AWESOME mom that I am we finally got our photos sent to Alaska in August (she was kind enough to send them up then so we didn't need to move them.) We had two large ones to frame and FINALLY had them sent to get framed in November. Today I got them back.

What makes this so interesting? When I got home with the photos we hung one up. The other one was a close up of Bug in my dad's arms. It is very special to me. We sat it on the couch, and once Bug saw it he started to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. We tried to take it away to hang, and he THREW-A-FIT. He just kept chuckling at this photo. I'm not sure what he thought was so funny. He was in his walker and kept walking over to the picture and laughing. I don't think he looked THAT funny...

We finally ended up hanging it in our bedroom. He is still obsessed with it. I wonder if he knows that it is him.

AND because I paid a mortgage payment for them...... The rest of his newborn photos (we also got prints, AND every photo from the day in a 5X7 and 5 digital prints in black and white.)

 I would totally pay, and have them done again. See how she didn't make me look like the giant cow I was? TOTALLY worth it. 

The Bug vs the bug

I normally do not blog on the weekends. My husband is off, and we like to spend time together with The Bug. Well, we've all been spending LOTS of time together the past 48 hours and lots of time on the couch/bed.  The stomach bug has hit our house. It is MUCH less cuter than The Bug. My poor husband woke up sick Friday morning. You know that feeling when someone you love is sick...then the realization that YOU are next....yeah, that sucks.

I spent the better part of the morning praying that husband would feel better before I felt worse. Bug seemed oblivious to our illness and didn't seem to enjoy the time he spent outside the bathroom. The number of toys that were laying on the carpet outside the bathroom kept increasing. Trying A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G to keep him happy while I was busy praying to the porcelain gods.

Fun right?

By mid-afternoon we switched rolls. My poor, still not feeling good husband, got the Bug handed off to him. It sucks being sick, but it REALLY sucks being sick when you have a LO who needs you to take care of them.

Positive? I lost 10 pounds in 36 hours. Because THAT will stay off...sigh.

NOW. The Bug is sick. That sucks WAY more than me being sick. Today my hubby and I started to feel normal, and we hoped that maybe he was spared. Nope. Not that lucky. Poor little guy. He has never had diaper rash, but now his little butt is so red. He screamed and screamed tonight during diaper changes, and all he wanted was his daddy. It was sweet and depressing the same time.The boys snuggled on the couch and we went through 4 diapers in 30 minutes. We've been pumping him with fluids and other than that treating the diaper rash. It took my hubby and I about 12 hours to feel better, so I hope he feels better in the morning. Poor guy. It could be worse. It could always be worse.

Weekend Update #2

I never did finish "Weekend Update #2" and I hate having things unfinished. SO, here are photos taken on our trip last weekend. Mostly photos (by mostly, I mean all)  and I'll leave it at that! Have a great weekend everyone! 

Merry Christmas!

When I went to upload the photos for this blog post, it said that there were 33. Eek! Apparently I like to take photos....a lot...and these are only the photos that I posted! 

Christmas was wonderful! It was a bazillion times more fun with the Bug, even though he wasn't that into it yet. Christmas Eve we went to the candle light service. Bug met a girlfriend there and spent the entire service flirting with her. Not really what you should do during church, but the kid had good taste. 

When we got home from church we let Bug open one gift. It was from his aunt and uncle. They recorded The Night Before Christmas in one of the Hallmark Record-able Story books.

Once Bug heard his aunt, he was obsessed with grabbing the book and turning the pages. After 15+ times, we finally took the book away. (Sorry Auntie! We let him have it again, I promise!)

Bug went to bed at 11 pm (shoot me.) He was so wired from church and books that he would-not-go-to-bed. His dad and I were falling asleep before he was. We tried to tell him that Santa would not come if he wasn't in bed, but he didn't care.

But, Santa did come! Bug wasn't really sure what to make of it when he walked into the living room.

Until his dad put him down. SO-MUCH-STUFF to get into!! He was pretty excited! Santa brought him one gift, and mommy and daddy got him a gift. The rest of the presents were from family and friends. We are all very loved!

Bug got a tool bench from Santa. I was actually surprised that he was so interested in the actual toy and not the wrapping paper. It was hard to break him away from the toy and have him open gifts from his family.

Wardrobe change #1 (Keep that number in mind...)

Now for some random photos of Bug opening his gifts from his family. This little guy sure is loved!

Bug was really enjoying Christmas, and apparently he was having too much Christmas. He puked all over the floor. See, I'm that mom that takes photos of her kid's puke. Be happy that there is only one, and not of poop.

In addition to puking all over the floor, he puked ALL over himself. We were not sure what to do, so we put him in the tub.

Which looking back, turning the water on, wasn't the best idea....especially when he LOVES the water...trying to get him out of his wet outfit sure was fun. We're new at this parenting thing. I was super helpful and laughed while taking photos. Did I mention I have the best husband ever? I do.

In addition to being soaked, Bug had also decided to poop. So now we had a wet baby with a poopy diaper in the tub. Christmas kept getting more awesome! My poor husband was covered in puke. Love you honey!

(Have no fear Internet, no water was on when this photo was taken)

After wardrobe change number 2 (there were three total) we got ready for dinner. We had friends over, and it was wonderful. I am glad I told them to BYOT (Bring your own Tupperware) because we had a ton of food.

Our friends brought their puppy, and Bug was 99% sure that she was the BEST THING EVER. At one point Bella kept bringing her toys to Bug and tried to get him to play with her. There is a hilarious video of it, but because some person I have never met, nor is one of my friends, commented that it was 'so unsafe' and some other crap that wasn't true, I am not going to share it. People like to assume the worst, and hell if I am going to end up on the nightly news.

Our cats don't really like visitors. I couldn't find one of them during the party...he decided that hanging out in the bathroom was a good option. My husband informed our guests so there wouldn't be any hilarious unfortunate accidents.

I bought a 20 pound ham (it was mispriced and almost a $1.00 less per pound. Makes sense right?) I'm pretty sure we had 15 pounds left. It went home with friends and we are making soup! Yum! 

My wonderful MIL got me a subscription to Taste of Home (did I tell you that I got it?! I did! Thank you!) I made Thyme Honey Carrots (aka - YUMMY) for dinner. They were so tasty!! I think that the farm fresh carrots helped. They were so sweet and yummy!

I also made a Chocolate Almond Ginger torte. It turned out okay. The crust was a little dry, but I don't know if that is just the recipe or what. It was super rich, and the filling was delicious.

Like any good Christmas party, there was beer. Bug decided to sneak into the box and take a few swigs (joking internet, JOKING.)

He was totally tanked after a bottle (STILL JOKING PEOPLE, STILL JOKING, it's not even a beer bottle, it's Ginger Beer.)

He won the chugging contest! (J-O-K-I-N-G)

It was a wonderful Christmas. 2013 was a wonderful year for us, and I hope that 2014 treats us even better! Merry Christmas everyone!!