Hissyfits Photography Blog » 2008

Oct

30

2008

Hanging In There!

I’m still here…just in over my head right now with a beautiful, yet oh so sassy two year old, who is getting pretty much my full attention these days. It seems as though I am either having to discipline the said sassy child, or I am cleaning up poop because she still refuses to go in the toilet. That pretty much sums up my life right now!! I was about two shakes away from having a nervous breakdown last night, but Chris came home and took over while I tried to find my sanity! I must say though that today was 100 times better. Yes, there were still fits, sassiness and poop, but it was by far better than any random day in the last three weeks!

I am totally and completely at a loss on what to do with Miss Gentry!! Nothing we seem to try even phases this one! Well, she gets mad and yells, “Go away,” and “Leave me alone,” but that is about it. Nice, hunh? Imagine what our life is going to be like when she is thirteen. I better start preparing myself now! Sometimes she cries, but most of the time she just hits again as I am sitting her in timeout. And recently she has even discovered that she can get up and run off…she isn’t glued to the floor!! Ahhh…the life of a mother! I told Chris that this is BY FAR the most challenging time I have experienced with kids!! He gets it…he was home for lunch a couple of days ago and couldn’t get back to work fast enough!! Does that give you any idea of how crazy it has been around here?!!!

But today? Today was thoroughly enjoyable! Don’t get me wrong, we had some moments, but for the most part, I was reminded of why I LOVE staying home with my sweet kids day in and day out! We got up, worked like crazy (well, I worked like crazy that is!!), and then packed a picnic and headed to a park for lunch and some playtime. I have never seen Huntler eat as fast as he ate today! He was all but shoveling it in to get it gone and off to the playground!!

Once we got there I realized how HOT it was though. In the shade it wasn’t bad at all, but if you are a child and running all over and in and out of the sun, it gets really hot, really fast. The kids were bright red and worn out!

Anyway, the picture above is my fave from the day, but here are a few more snapshots! They are NOT that great, but I just don’t have time to mess with them much!!

See her hair pretties?!! I made those!! Are they not the cutest things?!! I have several other sets of hair clips made or in the process of being made too! They are so fun and look SO darn cute!! Much better than just rubber bands!

And no trip to the park is complete without an injured child! I think he got “rugburn” on his leg from climbing up the slide and going down over and over and over again. Lucky for us I happen to have a stash of bandaids in my bag and that made everything all better!!

I know….that wasn’t all that interesting!! Sorry…that is my life right now!! I am super busy being a mom and also plugging away in my photography class! There is never a dull moment in my life right now! I was feeling bad about not updating as much as I was there for awhile, but honestly, MOST of the blogs I read haven’t been updating as often either. Must just be a crazy time for a lot of us!!

And now I should get to bed! It was a busy day and tomorrow will be another one!!

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Oct

26

2008

Rockin’ It Out – Country Style

So the little miss and I ran a couple of errands this morning and on our way home we had the windows down, the sunroof open and the radio blaring! What were we rocking it out to? Why that would be “Ocean Front Property” by George Strait of course!! While I like many different styles of music, country is by far my all time fave! Unless we are using the iPod, the radio is always set to a country station!!

So as I cranked it up a little louder when George started singing, Gentry and I started rocking like crazy girls! I am sure the people behind and beside me wondered what in the world was going on, but we were having fun!! I snapped this pic of her as soon as we got home! {Excuse the poor quality…it was taken in the garage and the lighting is horrible!} Anyway, I don’t think the fact that I let her have like 6 lollipops in about a 30 minute span had anything to do with the craziness, do you?!! But SHHH, don’t tell daddy!! Sis and I have quite the sweet tooth so I probably let her have more junk than a two year old should!

And in case you are wanting another fun song, Tigger’s ABC’s is a HUGE hit around here! The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I have replayed it five times now while doing this post and Gentry is shaking it like nobody’s business!!!

Okay, well, now that she has had way too much candy and junk, I should probably go find some lunch! The boys are at Home Depot getting some stuff for the yard…Chris is getting it whipped into shape for the winter!! And then this afternoon we are heading to a birthday party and the kids get to wear their costumes!! Hopefully I’ll get some fun pics!!

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Oct

24

2008

Sisters

Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend part of my afternoon with these two beautiful girls and their sweet mama! I met this family shortly after we moved down here…it is hard to believe that was two years ago and big sis was the same age Gentry is now and the baby was just a glimmer in her mama and daddy’s eyes!! With the chaos of life, we don’t see each other all that often, but yesterday we met up and I got some practice in!! {I think my kids were relieved to see the camera pointed at someone else for a change!!}

To be honest, we actually had this little shoot scheduled for one morning last week but it happened to be downright chilly that morning so we had to improvise and take the photos inside instead of out. If I had the right setup for indoor shots I am sure things would be better, but I just wasn’t happy, so we gave it another whirl yesterday afternoon! And I am SO glad we did!!

Other than the sprinklers that came on mid-session and soaked the baby, a little bit of spit up and a poopy diaper, things went so well!! And even with all the little mishaps, I couldn’t have asked for a better family for my first scheduled session! Seems kinda crazy to type that out! I mean, I take pictures ALL the time, but I have never actually scheduled a date and time to do so until these little girlies!!

This was one of the first few frames I shot and I just love it!! It is such a natural expression and the lighting was beyond amazing!!

I edited this next one to feel kind of fairytale-ish! Something about it just seems so magical to me! I wonder what she was thinking about!

I am not sure why in the world I haven’t thought to use this pose on my own two munchkins, but you better believe I am going to give it a try now!! As I look at the love big sis obviously has for baby sis and the way the baby would light up whenever she saw her sister come near, I can’t help but imagine how their childhood will play out. I can see secrets being whispered, dress up being played, making cookies in the kitchen after school with mom, fights over clothes…a lifetime of memories.

(I tried it three different ways just for fun!! Look at how different the black and whites are!!)

I am liking the depth of this first black and white!! But I prefer the softness of the second! I need to learn to combine the two!! Someday…

And another pose!! I am still learning how to adjust skin tones so I hope I didn’t make them too light!

And of course the baby!! She is just the sweetest little thing and holding her yesterday gave me that little twinge of wanting another one!! And Gentry just adores her!! She is fascinated by babies and was so eager and willing to help!!

And I just think this one is too sweet with her mama’s hands around her!!

Trinity, thanks for letting me spend some time with you and the girls yesterday! I had a great afternoon and hope I captured some priceless memories for you!!

In other news, I wasn’t lying when I said my blogging would be a little sparse these next few weeks! The kids continue to fight like crazy. I am hoping against hope that this is a phase and will pass {SOON!} because it is flat wearing me out. I have tried everything and nothing seems to help! I think it is just plain sibling rivalry. Gentry is just so darn mature and communicates so well that it is starting early! Factor in the terrible two’s and the fact that Huntler has always been an extremely sensitive child, and you have the makings for a stressed out mama!! And then Chris has been out of town {I can say that now because he is on his way home…I don’t like to broadcast that I am home alone!!} so I have had all of this *fun* to deal with on my own!

And in case anyone cares, the photography workshop and forum I am in have been amazing so far! I wasn’t sure I would learn as much the second time around, but this is an extremely talented group of women and I am learning tons!! So much that I am having to print most of it out
because I just can’t absorb it all!!

I guess that is really about it! It will probably be another quiet weekend on my blog as I have to get my first assignment done for class and I am in hopes that we are reseeding our lawn! Down here in the desert you have to plant a winter grass!!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

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Oct

21

2008

Look What Found Me!

HELLO!! Even though I just blogged Sunday night, for some reason I feel extremely out of it! Does anyone else ever do that?! Like they have so many things going on and that time just flies by and pretty soon two days have come and gone and you still haven’t done the things on your list from Saturday?! Yeah, well, that is me! It didn’t used to be…I was the one who was always on time to playdates and birthday parties and felt completely “put together” and ready for the day. Now I am the mom that is literally running out of the house with two kids (one who inevitably has a dirty face or messy hair!) and is still a good 15 minutes late to wherever it is I am going!! But such is life! We eventually make it and our tardiness really isn’t even noticed!!

So…WHEW!! I don’t have all that much time because I have about six sets of hair bows upstairs to attach to clips and a WHOLE LOTTA reading to do for my photography workshop. I logged on last night and there were over 200 comments on the forum already. And so I just checked again and there are over 300. OH MY! I emailed Chris at work and told him that he was going to have company on all those late nights he pulls because I just can’t keep up with the forum during the day. My kids are FAR too demanding right now and fight like cats and dogs. I have to be extremely present or an all out war erupts. I know it will pass, but most days it is about enough to drive me crazy!! Anyway, there are some really, really talented photographers in this workshop and I KNOW I am going to learn so much…I am just going to have to sacrifice a little sleep in the name of learning!!

So, I should probably tell you again that I may not be posting every day for a few weeks. I just simply cannot do it all!! I try…but let’s face it, I am human!!

In some super FUN news, these darling little paper trees found their way to my mailbox yesterday afternoon!!

Are they not simply adorable?! I haven’t figured out what I am going to do with them yet, but I put them up high so some little hands don’t manage to ruin them!! Anyway, I won them a week or so ago over on Trish’s blog. She makes some DARLING creations!!

I love these little houses! I think they would make the cutest little party favors!! And she just blogged about a really neat advent calendar too!

Okay, well, that is about all I know!! I should head upstairs and get back to work while Gentry is napping and Huntler is resting!!

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Oct

20

2008

Giving Credit

Although I would LOVE to take every ounce of credit for this super cute new layout your eyes have landed upon, I simply cannot! Don’t get me wrong, I did a TON of work on it and other than a couple of *minor* tweaks, the header, signature and sidebar tabs are completely mine, but my computer whiz, html smart, genius of a husband came to the rescue and whipped my blog into award winning shape!!

I did manage to get the background in, but as for resizing my header, the tabs, adding in all sorts of details that the average person won’t even notice…Chris did all that! But, I notice and that is what truly matters!! He happens to be a lot like me in our perfectionism so every last detail was attended to! But I LOVE LOVE LOVE this new wintery design! Keep in mind it was mid 90′s here today and feels nothing like winter, but I am trying to get in the spirit! And my next photography workshop is scheduled to start tomorrow so I really wanted the new look completed before that! I have a few things I want to add in my “Daily Reads” and a couple of new links to share, but other than that, it is done and ready to get me through February or March…when I’ll redo it again! Although it was fun, it is not something I will be doing every other week by any means!!

So anyway, although the traditional red and greens for the holidays are nice, they just aren’t me, ya know?! I mean, our Christmas cards are going to be turquoise and orange this year…{GASP!} Yeah, TOTALLY not your typical card!! But so me and so FUN! Can’t wait to mail those babies out!

Okay, well, it is late and I need to get some rest! We are having root beer floats in the park with our playgroup in the morning {yummy!!} and then our window is FINALLY getting replaced tomorrow afternoon and another friend is coming shopping through Gentry’s clothes! And that doesn’t even count all the hair pretties I want to get attached to clips and projects to wrap up…or my photography workshop! Oh, and did I mention I am way behind on reading blogs too?!

But for now I am off to bed! Let me know what you think of the new design…HINT, HINT!!

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Oct

19

2008

New Signature

Just testing my new signature.

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Oct

19

2008

Bear With Me!

Hiya! Okay, so I am working on redoing my blog ALL BY MYSELF and am getting ready to get started! So what that means is if you log on and don’t recognize it, bear with me while I try to figure it all out!! I have no clue what I am doing when it comes to html so I am muddling through!!

Better get to work!!

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Oct

17

2008

All Sass

So, my darling daughter and I had a fun little photo shoot this morning while Huntler was at school! She took a HUGE morning nap (as in almost three hours…but no afternoon nap) and woke up happy and raring to go! And I was able to get all sorts of things done during that precious nap, so we headed outside for some fun in the sun while we waited on Daddy to bring bubs (one of Gentry’s nicknames for Huntler) home from school! Since this sweet girl woke up at 5:15 AM, she was plum worn out by the time 8:00 AM rolled around so she crashed…and Chris had to take Huntler to school because I was home with the sleeping beauty! I missed her 5:15 wake up call…I was sleeping with Huntler who woke up in hysterics at 1:00 AM and was burning up. I gave him some Motrin and cold water and snuggled in with him and he woke up fever free and feeling fine. Not sure what in the world that was all about, but he was fine so we let him go to school!!

Anyway, back to this one…

And please excuse her bread crumb face in just about every single one of these photos! She was snacking on a roll and lemonade while we were sitting outside and I didn’t clean her up…nor did I Photoshop her into perfection…she looks pretty perfect to me crumbs, bruises (she ran into the wall…she definitely has my sense of clumsiness!), scratches and all!!

So, I am needing some help from all you crafty souls out there and also anyone who has any input on potty training and hitting.

I am sure you would never guess by the beyond ornery smile and the gappy little teeth that this child gives us a run for our money on a daily basis. She used to be so good and easy…but now she has turned into a hitter, among other things. We absolutely can NOT get her to stop hitting. So far it is only us, but still, we have got to get this under control! We never had these issues with gentle Huntler, so it is all new. We have tried time out and it is officially NOT working. She finally cries these days when we stick her off by herself, but the hitting continues. I told Chris today that I am about ready to lose it…I just don’t know what to do with her. I mean, we could spank her, but since the habit we are trying to break is hitting after all, it seems a little hypocritical to spank her. ANY ideas for us?!!!

Okay…moving on to Gentry issue number two. And I do mean that literally…number two! We can NOT get her to poop in the potty. She pees like a champ and has had very, very few accidents, but she refuses to poop. She knows when she has to go and she does tell us and she’ll try to go on the potty, but she just isn’t getting it or won’t. I am not sure. I refused to put a diaper on her at first, but now when she starts mentioning she needs to go, I stick a pull up on her so I don’t have as much of a mess to clean up. I know, I shouldn’t do that, but seriously, she would just go in her panties anyway, so I don’t think I am confusing her? Any ideas out there?! Remember she just turned two in July and we are so, so proud of her and don’t punish her in any way for having accidents…she is doing WONDERFUL for as young as she is, but it would just make my life a tad bit easier if we could get her to just do it all!!

And here is the little bean studying some bird poop on the sidewalk! The things that interest a child!!

Now for the crafty part!! I am working on some hair pretties for Miss Gentry and was wondering about spray glitter. I have TONS and TONS of regular old glitter, but I think it would be fun add a little shimmer to some of these hair accessories I am working away on!! Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations of something specific that works really well?

The BELOVED “b” had something on it!! And so close to her favorite cor-ner…imagine a Southern accent as you say that! And yes, she calls it that!! “Where’s my favorite corner at Moms?” And yes, she calls me “Moms” more often than not!! Silly, silly girl!!

And look at the sheer orneriness in this face!! This would be the same face that sat so innocently on my lap watching the world pass us by this morning who giggled and said, “I toot on your lap.” What??? At least she followed it up with a, “Sorry Moms.” She may be FULL of spunk and sass and down right exhausting most days, but what did we ever do without her?!!

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Oct

16

2008

Today

I had so much fun with this last week that I decided I am going to just randomly pick one day each week and journal the mundane things I do! That way, one day many years from now when I look back at this I will remember the small, yet meaningful, pieces of my life with a four and two year old.

Today I was woken up at 2:20 AM by the sweetest little guy I know. His hands were on the edge of the bed and he was saying, “Mommy, I can’t find all my stuffs.” His four “stuffs” as they have come to be known around here are his blue blanket that goes everywhere with us (the one I bought when we found out he was a boy), his spare blue blanket that he found in a drawer and now totes around, his Thomas the Train blanket (which is just hemmed fabric that my mom whipped up for him) and his puppy…which I bought at Carter’s when he was just a tiny thing! Those are his four stuffs. The puppy was missing…he had been left on the floor of our bedroom at bedtime and wasn’t missed until the wee hours of the morning. So, after Huntler piled in our bed and tossed and turned for 15 minutes, he decided to head back to his room…I followed with the four stuffs in tow and we all slept peacefully until…

Today I was woken up once again by the sound of construction at daybreak. These crews get up and at ‘em EARLY!! The sounds seem especially loud since we have been leaving our bedroom window open at night because of the fabulous weather!!

Today I watched Nik Wallenda set a world record on the Today Show while working out on my elliptical! Thirty minutes! Whoo hoo! And the best part of the entire thing? The kids didn’t even fight while I was on it!! That is RARE! I usually have to get off and break them up or find something for someone to do so I can finish! I did have to get off just once to take Gentry potty, but that was it!!

Today I did two loads of laundry…one of which was Huntler’s sheets. Tonight he is snuggled in a cozy clean bed. Ahhh how I love that feeling! I am quite certain he doesn’t have a clue!! But isn’t he so cute here?! This is typical, deep in thought Huntler!

Today I gave into the tantrum that Gentry was throwing in the kitchen and traded her cups because she didn’t want the one I chose for her.

Today I scrubbed our shower with the help of that above mentioned fit thrower! {Yesterday I cleaned the rest of the bathroom.}

Today I “made” pot pies for lunch. I had to heat them the “old fashioned way” in the oven because our microwave quit working. Ugh…not sure what is wrong with it, but man I miss that thing!!

Today I returned emails and chatted with my mom and Lisa on the phone.

Today my heart broke when I read this post on this blog. It is a very long, detailed story that I simply don’t have the time to go into, but it is an amazing journey and one I check in on each and every day.

Today I picked up a whole lotta toys that I did NOT drag out!

Today I decided which pictures of the kids I am using for our Christmas cards and sent them in. Yes, you read that correctly my friends, I am already thinking about Christmas cards! I have been for weeks now, haven’t you?!

Today I edited every single one of these pictures you are seeing in this post. Yesterday I took these pictures. {Huntler was totally not into the whole “natural” thing so the pictures of him are cheesy…as if you couldn’t tell that on your own!!} You also may notice that they have a bit more pop than my normal vintage take!! The color in Gentry’s dress and at the greens at the park we were at were just so great that I had to leave them bright and fun!!

Today as Huntler slid down my back after giving him a piggy back ride, he proceeded to tell me, “You are like a big fire pole Mommy.” Thanks Huntler. That makes me feel better than you will >ever know!!!

Today I made roast, potatoes and carrots for dinner. {YUMMY!!}

{This is one of my faves of Miss Gentry from the day!}

Today I told Huntler it was okay for what seemed like the 479th time when Gentry called him “Haunter” (as in haunt) instead of Huntler. He gets quite upset when the “l” doesn’t get pronounced!! His name is not Haunter…it is HuntLER as he tells Gentry over and over and over again!

Today I unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher and hand washed several things.

Today I ran the sweeper downstairs.

Today I watched The Biggest Loser on DVR.

Today I wished I had all the answers Chris needed after a very stressful day at work but came up short.

{I am not sure what to think about this pic…I was working on some sun flare and there was some major flare on her hat…it is different for sure!!}

Today I WORKED hard so tomorrow we can PLAY hard!

Today I cherished many sweet moments with my beautiful kids.

Today I am getting ready to watch Lipstick Jungle and work on some felt posies!!

And that is what I did today!! It seems like a lot when it is all spelled out!! What did YOU do today?!!

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Oct

14

2008

Here’s Looking at You!!

Ahhh!!!! I am seriously feeling like I am about to explode because I have five hundred things to do, but I wanted to get my blog updated really quickly, so here I am!!

First off…here are some pictures I took of the kids last week! They found this camera rattle in the baby toys I was getting rid of and latched onto it! So, we kept it!! They had more fun with this $5 rattle than anything else for a couple of days!!

And here are a couple just for fun from that same day!! (Do you like the fact that Gentry was running around in her panties in the FRONT yard???!!)

I was hoping to/planning on sharing MANY more from Huntler’s four year photo shoot, but I have only had time to proof these two in the last week!! Seriously, WHERE is the time going???

Okay….well, that is about it for now! Gentry is napping and Huntler is resting and I need to go get my bathroom cleaned and get started back in on my cleaning/sorting in my craft area!! Once that is done I will feel MUCH better!! But then my next photography class is starting up and will consume nap time!! I need another me!!

But seriously, I have a ton to do and promised the kids a trip to the park when Gentry wakes up! So, I better hop to!

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Archive for October, 2008