Jack and Mommy's Adventures

It's always easy to complain about the "hard days" we have with our children, and when the children are right around the age of 2, those days are frequent; but today I had an absolutely wonderful day with my son, and felt that I should write about it.

Daddy has been out of town for work the past few days, and usually when Daddy is away Jack wants HIM HOME to play, so that's an automatic negative. This week, however, Jack has asked about Daddy several times, but overall has been a real joy for me. We've had our moment, don't get me wrong, but I've found myself more calm, cool and collected with him this week. Like this morning, for example, we all know how much time goes into laundry, folding it, and putting it away, it's ENDLESS. Today I had stacks of clothes on my bed waiting to be put away, and while I was on the phone, some little stinker decided to throw every last item onto the floor. He found this very comical, and honestly, so did I. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw his smiling face, proud of what he had done, not understanding (well not COMPLETELY understanding) what the problem would be. I laughed and said, "Jack, can you pick these clothes up and throw them back on the bed?" He keeps doing what he's doing and say, "Ummmmmm...NO!" I laughed so hard to myself, and having captured the moment with my iPhone sent the photo to several family members to enjoy.

Beyond that, we had our first Pee Pee in the Potty moment this week. Each morning when it's time for Jack to get dressed and change his diaper, he asks if he can sit on his potty and go Pee Pee. I always say yes, and until this point he had never once actually gone, so I thought it was really just a fun thing for him to do and pretend at this point. Well, we played this game, and I went into the restroom later on in the afternoon and saw the cup was full of pee pee. I was astonished and couldn't wait for Jack to wake up from his nap so I could show him what a great thing he had done, praise him, and kiss on him. I was hoping this would be a trend each morning and I could actually go somewhere with this, but this morning he was back to his old tricks. OH well, we'll get this potty thing down once he's ready, as for now, it was just a fluke.

Today, Jack and I shopped on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, and enjoyed some time near the fountains. We only made it to a few stores, as it was 95 degrees outside. Jack wanted to take his shoes off and walk in the water in the fountain like the other big kids he saw, but I dodged the bullet on that one. I could see it turning from feet dangling in the water to a full on swim, so we decided to make a run for it at that point. We went from there to dinner at Kona Grill (mommy had a craving for sushi, cooked of course). My little guy is absolutely obsessed with edamame, so he enjoyed that amongst other things, but what really made me laugh was seeing him try to pick up the beans with his chop sticks. He actually got one while holding the chop sticks in one hand, I was super impressed. He wants to do everything we are doing these days, and is truly growing up before our eyes.

Tomorrow my little munchkin turns 2 years old, and I'm so sad that he's not all that little anymore, but I'm so excited to see the changes and developments he will have in the next year. He's so incredibly sweet, always kissing my belly saying "nite, nite, baby" or "hi baby". He constantly wants to give hugs and kisses and just lately can't stop saying, "hold you", when he wants to be picked up.

Other things he loves at this age:

-Fall asleep in mommy's bed

-Play baseball and have mommy or daddy hit the ball "up high"

-Hit golf balls (and I'm not kidding, this kid is GOOD!)

-To count, but usually stops at 8 for some reason.

-To dance and use the end of his golf club and a microphone

-He is obsessed with "driving" our vehicles, and goes as far as putting the keys in the ignition, and asks us to close the door.

-Always says, "nice shot" when we are watching sports on TV, and calls the hole in golf, "the pocket" like on a pool table

-Go into the pantry and pull food out when he wants to snack, even when he shouldn't be hungry.

-Reading books at night time

-Talking on the phone, or even pretending that he's talking

And so many other things that I can't think of right now. I'm so tired, and I'm sure pregnancy brain is kicking in right now, but life is great, and we feel so blessed to have this amazing little 2 year old boy in our lives!

LOVE YOU, JACK!!!

First Baby Belly Photos

Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 15 Weeks
Size of baby: The size of an apple
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 3-4 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I'm still wearing my regular clothes, although those with expandable waistbands are most comfortable.
Gender: ?? We find out July 8th
Movement: No not yet, but I'm super excited to start feeling him/her move.

What I miss: Eating NORMAL

Sleep: I'm sleeping well so far, although making a trip at least once a night to the restroom.

Symptoms: Some slight aches and stretching in the round ligament area, upset tummy if I eat or drink certain things, or don't eat frequently enough.

Cravings: I like a great deal of food besides MEAT..YUCK!

Best Moment this week: Hiking Pinnacle Peak with my husband in Scottsdale, AZ, and stopping to take our first "belly picture". That and hearing Jack say "nite, nite, baby" or "nite nite, sissy" (he thinks it's a girl I guess). :)

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the sex of this baby and starting to buy things for him/her, and looking forward to getting more of a belly so that others can tell that I am pregnant.

Summer Time Fun

The weather here in Kansas has been absolutely beautiful for the past week. I can't explain how happy it makes me to drive with the windows down, to wear flip flops, and to take my child outside of the house without layers of clothing. We've truly enjoyed spending time outside, and since Jack never really wants to come inside, we've spent most of our time in the driveway and the yard.

I thought it was time for an update on our little guys development, so I've included photos of some of his favorite pastimes. He absolutely loves playing golf with the real child clubs that were given to us by Uncle Chuck, or with his plastic set. He's gotten quite good, and was actually hitting a golf ball with his real clubs today. Seriously? I even miss the ball sometimes and my "almost" 2 year old is hitting it...A-Mazing! :)

He's also having a great time playing baseball. Everyday we head out to the backyard and he asks for Mommy and Daddy to "hit". He likes to throw the ball to us and wants us to hit "up high". It's so cute, and how could I go wrong....he throws....I hit.....he runs after the ball....easy peasy! LOL

We've been enjoying the police cozy coupe, and he asks everyday if he can drive "Jack's car" in the driveway. He likes to take it down to the bottom of the driveway and go as fast as possible off the edge into the cul-de-sac (not real safe, but he lives on the edge I guess).

BUT, his favorite pastime is of course "driving" Daddy's truck. He will do anything to sit in the truck and pretend to drive. Not only does he know how to put the key in the ignition, turn it on and off, but he buckles his seat belt, messes with the radio volume and moves the steering wheel as though he is really driving. Best of all, he'll ask to give the truck a kiss nite-nite almost every evening, he's such a sweetheart!

So that's an update on our little angel, he really is a great kid, although mommy is struggling a bit with the fact that he rarely listens to anything I say. I should go ahead and take the word "NO" out of my vocabulary because he couldn't care less if I told him "no" or to "stop". I'm hoping terrible 2's doesn't last long.

I'm getting exhausted, so not only am I NOT going to proof read this blog post, but I'm going to end it rather poorly by simply saying, Good Night!! Mommy and the bun in the oven need to get some rest! xoxo

P.S....we are 14 weeks pregnant today!! I feel like this pregnancy is going so slow! :) Can't wait to find out if it's a girl or boy!!!

Patton Family Session

I had the opportunity to work with the Patton family a few weeks ago, and the entire experience was absolutely perfect. First of all, what a gorgeous family and secondly, they couldn't have been more laid back and easy to work with. We had a great time and were lucky to have an absolutely beautiful day at the Crossroads in Downtown KC. These are some of my favorites from our shoot, and I can't wait to work with the Patton's again in the future!

Baby Brother Graduates

I am so incredibly proud of my youngest brother, Cameron. I spent the weekend back in Indiana for his COLLEGE GRADUATION, that's right, my baby brother is now entering the "Real World"...WOW!!!

We had an absolutely wonderful weekend together as a family, and couldn't be happier about all that Cameron has accomplished in his college career. He is now gearing up for a move to Columbus, IN, where he has already accepted his first job! Love you, Cameron!

Family Fun at the Farm

It's been a while since I've posted, things seem to have been hectic lately. We were all finally home for the weekend, so Nathan and I decided to take Jack to Deanna Rose Farmstead in Overland Park. I've been wanting to take Jack there for some time now, so it was great heading out there as a family today. Unfortunately, the weather was less than pleasant, so we didn't last as long as usual. Jack did enjoy petting the horses, feeding the goats, and checking out the cows, chickens, birds, sheep, etc. Mommy and Daddy forgot quarters for the feed machine, so we were all scavenging the ground for pieces of feed that people had dropped, how embarrassing. HAHA

It was a wonderful weekend, although we didn't accomplish anything that we had planned to outside the house, because of the rain and the cold front, so hopefully during the week this week we'll have some nice weather and time to get outside to plant flowers in the front entry pots, and power wash the patio, deck and driveway, it's all MUCH NEEDED. Oh the fun aspects of homeownership. :)

My Photography Portfolio

I am so excited to share some of my most recent photos for my Be You Photography portfolio. I had a wonderful turnout of clients last week, and had the opportunity to photograph some absolutely gorgeous kids. We intended for the weather to cooperate, but unfortunately a storm rolled in, only to cloud up the skies and cool down the temperatures. All the kids were troopers, and did so well considering the chilly temps.

I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to spend my days with such fun and amazing children, and to help parents capture moments that will serve as memories for a lifetime!