Hissyfits Photography Blog » 2008

Oct

14

2008

I’m Still Here!!

Hey there faithful followers!! I am so sorry I haven’t had much time to blog lately!! I have been overtaken by this need to get everything organized and in order and it is consuming me!! One would think I was nine months pregnant and nesting like a crazy girl (hi Rachel!!), but I’m not! Just clearing out some much needed space in my craft area now so I can WORK! I need to make room to get everything put away and organized so I have a little space to create!!

Anyway, I owe about 10 of you emails and I promise those are coming! I had my first “scheduled” photo shoot this morning with a sweet friend and tomorrow another sweet friend is coming by to do a little shopping in “Gentry’s Closet!” FUN! So, things are busy, busy!!

Okay, just wanted to pop in really quickly! But now Chris is waiting patiently on me to come watch something on DVR. So, I need to keep moving!!

I’ll be back soon though! Promise!!

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Oct

11

2008

My Lil’ Punkins

Yes, I am aware I didn’t spell that correctly!! I have spelling OCD, so I generally read through my posts like three times to check for mistakes!!

Okay, so we just had THE.MOST.FUN morning in forever!! The temperature today is in the 70′s and I am wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt! And I didn’t break a sweat!! YA-HOO!!! The kids are in jeans and look absolutely darling in their fall fashions!! Are you getting the picture yet that I am beyond thrilled about this fabulous weekend weather we are having?!! It will be short lived once again…highs back in the 90′s next week, but for today, I am enjoying every single second of it!!

When I saw the weekend forecast earlier in the week I told Chris we HAD to go to the pumpkin patch. We have been the last two years and let me just say it was far from ideal. We had “fun” because it is a fun idea and just being together and doing something different from the daily routine is always fun! However, trekking around a pumpkin patch in 95+ degree heat with the sweltering sun beating on you just isn’t my idea of a good time. Never has been. Last year I was so grumpy from the heat that I wouldn’t even do the mini maze with Chris and Huntler. I parked the stroller in the shade and Gentry and I waited for the boys to get done. But this year, my friends, this year was FUN! We did it all! Corn maze, bounce house, slide, kettle corn and Sprite, duck races…everything except the petting zoo because the kids are both terrified of animals…and I mean terrified! Gentry let out quite the scream when the ostrich started walking towards her…and we were on the outside of the fence!! Poor girl!! Then Chris took her to look at the goats. Hysteria.

This is also the first year we went without the stroller. It was so easy. The kids both walked and it was just easy. And on top of it all, Gentry wore her panties and even pottied in the port-o-potty. Nasty. So, so nasty. But when you are potty training and the girl has got to go, you go. We went four times to be exact. Two of which she pottied and the other two just for fun I guess!! No accidents again!! The munchkin has got this potty thing down!! YAY!!

Okay, so on to some pics!! There are over 300 that I still need to look through, but I have a present to wrap and a party to head off to in just a bit, so this is all I have time for right now!!

I snapped this one right after we got there! I decided that we should do pumpkin pics before the rest of it so the kids were “fresh” and happy. Plus, there was no one else in there and I remembered that last year it was a mad house when we left. Thank goodness I thought about this because by the time we left, the kids were exhausted and the place was c*r*a*z*y!!

Okay…tell me this is not the cutest hat EVER?!! I mean, look at it!! I bought it awhile back at Pumpkin Patch (how funny is that?!) and this was the first time she wore it. Granted, she only left it on for like two minutes, but that’s okay! I got this amazing shot during those two minutes! And she had cute little hair pretties in anyway because I wasn’t planning on her wearing the hat all day!!

And here is Huntler looking ever so dapper!! This was taken in the corn maze!! I LOVE corn mazes! Not so much the maze part I guess, but they sure are fun places to take pictures!! My subjects weren’t really wanting their pictures taken by this point, but I did get a couple of good ones!!

Trying to take their picture together is next to impossible!! But, I gave it a try anyway. (This one is straight out of the camera…)

And here they are in the exact same place a year ago! Just as distracted and unwilling as they were this year!! I just thought it would be fun to include an older shot of them!!

And on that note I better go get that present wrapped and start getting some things done around here!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!!

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Oct

10

2008

Today

Today I woke up before 6:00 AM to the sounds of a cement truck just behind our house working away.

Today I was up and out of bed by 6:10 and actually managed to get a shower before anyone else woke up.

Today we were ready to leave for school earlier than normal and weren’t rushing around like crazy as we are on the “average” school day.

Today I talked with the director of the school about the possibility of putting Huntler in three days a week because he LOVES it so much.

Today I decided that even though he absolutely loves school, I am not ready for three days a week yet!! Next year…

Today I went to Sonic and ordered myself a Route 44 cranberry grape slush and a lemon slush (it doesn’t stain!) for my favorite shopping girl!

Today I went to Target and bought two more packages of girly panties for my two year old. And the October/November issue of Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion for myself!

Today I said goodbye to an entire van load of toys. I also said goodbye to that phase of my life. Kinda weird, ya know?

Today I was asked twice in the consignment shop exactly how many kids I have. Apparently the massive amount of toys seemed to be far more than what two children need. Little did they know that there are even more toys here at home that are still being played with!!

Today I earned a whopping $142.10 in exchange for the boatload of toys. I was happy. The shop was happy. It was a good situation for all involved.

Today my darling daughter went potty at 8:30 when we dropped Huntler off at school and didn’t go again until we got home around 11:45. She tried but apparently wasn’t comfortable in any of those bathrooms because she never went!!

Today I put that same darling daughter in time out more time than I can count. (We are experiencing a bit of a hitting phase around here and I just can’t seem to get her to stop. She doesn’t hit anyone but family – usually poor Huntler – but this is something we HAVE to get under control!).

Today I managed to get the house put back together after ransacking it in my attempts to create space.

Today I made a tent for the kids with blankets and chairs and we played underneath it.

Today Huntler laughed and giggled as he took my picture…I must have looked funny!

Today I took pictures of both Huntler and Gentry taking my picture with a play camera. (Tomorrow I will share some of those pictures!)

Today we played outside for over an hour and enjoyed the 90 degree weather.

Today my sweet four year old said he was too scared to go to his bed and is snoring beside me as I type.

Today…

So there are a few of the things I did today! What did YOU do?!!

*And after all of that I am flat worn out and turning out my light and snuggling in!! I’ll be back sometime tomorrow with pictures!!

Until then, enjoy!!

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Oct

9

2008

The Longest Day of My Life…

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t really the longest day of my life, but it was most certainly one LONG day around here today. Seriously. I am worn out, frustrated, grumpy and just unwinding on the computer while Chris deals with the constant fighting and complaining. It was one of those days that although I am sad to be packing up and getting rid of “baby toys,” I would have lost it by now if there was a third child in the mix. Two is good for us…

So, since my posts have been rather, umm…boring lately, I thought I would give you something fun to look at tonight!

First of all, I JUST saw this paper over at Sassafras like 10 minutes ago and I will be stalking their website until it comes out! I am *IN LOVE* with this stuff! The first thing I thought was, “Oh my gosh, some of that line will probably work perfectly for Gentry’s Candyland party next year!” I mean, gingerbread men, gumdrops, candycanes…hello fun stuff!! Oohhh! I can’t wait until the entire line is out!!

And yes…I am already planning her party for NEXT year!! I was going to go with Candyland this year and have several of the favors already, so next year it is for sure! I have to do it while I still have control because as we all know, Huntler had an opinion this year and I didn’t get much say!! Anyway, I think I may try to add a little vintage twist to it too! How fun is that?!!

Also, my sweet friend Rachel sent me a link to this fun little ribbon site, The Ribbon Retreat, a couple of weeks ago but I have been so busy that I haven’t had much time to look at it. I bookmarked it, but then never went back to it. So a few days later, another sweet friend, Julie, sent me a tutorial for these loopy flower bows I mentioned to her…from the SAME site Rachel sent me. So, I did some checking and that site has some GREAT tutorials for any of you bow making mamas out there!!

Here is the loopy flower bow I am getting ready to tackle! I was going to wing it, but having ribbon lengths and simple instructions will make it SO much easier!!

I have also been lusting after some of these little bugs!! How CUTE are they?!! I can’t wait to dig out my ribbon stash!! BUT…I gotta get this toys and clothes mess under control first! Our upstairs is trashed!!

And in case you are wanting a few more tutorials for bow making fun, here you go!! HAVE FUN!!

I didn’t make it to drop off the toys yet…Chris was late getting home and the chaos that unravelled this afternoon didn’t allow me to get everything done that I wanted. I HOPE to make it by Once Upon a Child in the morning after dropping Huntler off at school. We’ll see!!

The potty training continues to go well! We had one accident this afternoon…# 2. She knew she had to go and wanted a diaper but I refused to get her one, so she went in her panties. It was traumatic for her (she cried and cried) so hopefully next time she’ll go on the potty chair!! But no wet accidents for the second day in a row! WHOO HOO!

Okay…the kids are beginning to wind down finally and I have a few more things to do in their rooms before bedtime so I should get!! And then I am off to take a HOT bath and relish in the peace and quiet!!

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Oct

8

2008

Success

Wow…is it already Day 4 in this potty training adventure?! Yesterday was PERFECT!! As in, not an accident one!! I think I am still in shock!! I was even SUPER brave and let her wear panties when we took Huntler to school and again when we ran to Walgreen’s before picking him up. I really wanted to go to Target, but wasn’t brave enough to go that far with her! I obviously don’t give her enough credit because as we were strolling the aisles of Walgreen’s she said, “I need to potty.” And off we went to the bathroom and she went just like a big girl.

So that was yesterday morning. After having to change her sheets on Sunday I have been putting a diaper on her for naps and bedtime because I hate washing sheets every single day. So, yesterday she woke up DRY from her nap and went straight for the potty chair when she got up! YAY!!

Fast forward to 2:40 this morning. I wake up to hear this, “MOMMY…I need to potty!!!” from across the hall. So I run over and grab her (she is standing in her doorway) and haul her to the potty chair and she went!! Her diaper was wet then, but she woke up and realized she needed to go again. When she woke at 6:30 this morning she was still dry and hasn’t had an accident yet!!

I hate to brag too much and I certainly don’t want it to seem like I am rubbing it in, because I am not. I am just SO proud of her and how well this is going!! I know it has absolutely nothing to do with anything we have done and everything to do with her being ready. My friend Lacey is potty training her daughter who is the same age this week and she is not having such an easy go of it. So Lacey, just remember that it took us THREE times to finally get there with Huntler and he was well over three years old. Gentry is our easy one!!

In other news…I am clearing out toys like crazy. For some reason something just “hit me” yesterday and I decided it was time to let go. Not that it is easy…I sat there in the midst of totes of baby toys and cried and then started crying all over again when Chris got home. It is hard to let go…I know I will ALWAYS remember some of those toys and the fun and memories created with them, but when you have huge plastic totes of toys stacked up to the ceiling in your closet and then random toys in your kids’ closets, it is time to get rid of some things. Or a lot of things in our case. I am not saying we will never have another baby, but it isn’t going to be right away and there is no sense in hanging on to everything. Plus, I saved my all time faves and we still have TONS of toys!!

So if I can get that project wrapped up we are heading to Once Upon a Child this afternoon to make our delivery. If I can reach Huntler’s clothes I am taking some of them too. I still can’t bring myself to part with Gentry’s yet…at least not at a consignment shop! A couple of friends are coming to sift through the fun girly stuff next week. Then I’ll see where I am at.

Not that we are moving any time soon at all, but I just keep thinking that it sure will make things easier when we do if I have kept up on keeping our stash minimal. Plus, I am not much of a packrat anyway. I HATE clutter and stuff sitting around!! Once I get through all the clothes and toys, I have several other projects lined up to do!!

And those projects are not going to get done with me sitting here at the computer! I need to get myself ready and get back to work!!

I PROMISE to post some pictures soon!! I know how boring all of these wordy posts are!! I have been on the upstairs computer a lot and none of our pics are up here!!

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Oct

7

2008

Day 2 Is Over and On To Day 3

Well, we survived Day 2 of potty training the littlest and it actually was quite “easy” in the whole scheme of potty training!!

After I posted she pottied several more times in the potty chair and even went #2!! All on her own! I was in the bedroom and she followed Huntler into the bathroom and the next thing I know, she is running back in to me and saying, “I pooped on the potty Mommy!” WHAT?!! So I of course went to check things out and sure enough, she did!! She got THREE stickers for that one!! {She has some constipation issues so we weren’t going to push her…we would be perfectly happy if she would just potty!! So anything extra is just a bonus!!}

She did start to potty once in her panties, but caught herself again and that was it. It is 9:30 Tuesday morning and no accidents since she caught herself yesterday! YAY!! She isn’t waking up from her nap or night time dry, but we are SO SO proud of her and how well she is doing!

Okay, Huntler is at school and the window guy should be coming soon, so I need to get some laundry put away and play with Gentry while I can!! I HOPE to post some pics and something a little more interesting later! I have just been SO busy lately!!

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Oct

6

2008

Keeping Track

Okie doke…so in an attempt to keep track of all of this in my mind {because believe me, one accident blurs into the next rather easily!!}, I am recording it here so I’ll have it forever!! And this way by the time Friday rolls around and I have forgotten how bad Monday was, I’ll be able to look back and see how far we’ve come in just a week!!

Day 1 of potty training Gentry was much like Day 1 of potty training Huntler…except he was just over three and three months and she is just shy of two and three months!! Seems a little odd to me that we just got him potty trained in January of this year and here we are already working with Gentry!! {We tried with Huntler a couple times before January but he just wasn’t ready. His communication skills were so much different than those of Gentry – She is much more verbal and expresses EVERYTHING and he simply did not!!}

Okay…so back to Day 1 and so far on Day 2!

Day 1:

1 poopy accident

3 wet accidents right in a row

Woke up wet from nap

1 wet accident after nap

Pottied on the potty 3 or 4 times (see, I am already forgetting!!)

Day 2:

Tried to potty right after getting up…didn’t go. However, five minutes later she went in her panties!! AHH!! She realized right away and said, “Uh oh.” Okay…back down to the laundry room to start the washer and scrubbed the carpet with Resolve. Here we go again!!!

Like five minutes later she started to go again but caught herself and finished on the potty chair! WHOO HOO!! We still had to change her because she was wet, but at least she realized what was going on!! YAY!! So, that was three and a half hours ago and knock on wood, she hasn’t had an accident since then!!

Now, I have been running back and forth to the bathroom with her every two seconds because she says, “I have to go potty” and then sits on the potty chair for all of 4.2 seconds, but as I am doing this, it is all coming back to me! Huntler did the SAME thing the first couple of days! I think they are just trying to figure it all out! So, she has pottied once on the potty chair and I of course made a HUGE ordeal out of it and we pulled out the sticker chart!!

Here’s to hoping the afternoon goes just as well!!

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Oct

5

2008

Potty Training the Princess

I am not sure what in the world we were thinking, but a random remark I made this morning now has us cleaning up mess after mess after mess and washing load after load after load of laundry!! We are doing it…for good this time! We are potty training Gentry!

As they so often do, things started out perfect! I mean, two hours and no accidents?! You go girl!! She tried to potty several times but didn’t need to. We were on a roll! And then it happened. The first accident. Poop. Not fun. Not fun at all. We had no idea how to go about cleaning that little mess up and let’s just say I have a true appreciation for all of you cloth diapering mama’s out there!! Thank goodness I am not pregnant…I may not have been able to stomach that one. Yuck. So, about a million baby wipes and one pair of cute princess panties later, things were good! We managed to make it over an hour or so again and then what started out as one accident rapidly turned into three in the span of about twenty minutes. Just pee…but messes nonetheless! Looks like our next Target trip we are going to have to restock our Clorox wipes and buy some more panties. At this rate I won’t even get the first load washed and dried and we are going to be out!!

So, clean sheets are on her bed and the little nugget is upstairs trying to get to sleep. But…I keep hearing closet doors or dresser drawers slam shut so I am beginning to worry about what exactly IS going on up there!!

But isn’t she cute?! Even though she had peed through four pair of undies and one set of sheets in super short amount of time?!! Looks like we won’t be going anywhere this week! After all of this work today, we are going to stick this one out!

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Oct

5

2008

My Favorite Four Year Old

So forget the fact that I said I wasn’t posting again until at least Monday! And while you are at it, forget the fact that I also said I was going to paint this weekend! The weather is far too P*E*R*F*E*C*T not to enjoy, so I charged my camera battery and took off with my favorite little man this afternoon for his four year photos.

Since it was just the two of us and Daddy and sis were home snoozing, we took our time and drove over half an hour to reach our top secret location! Okay, so it isn’t really top secret, but the landscaping around here leaves a lot to be desired so we had to drive around until I found what I wanted!! Huntler quietly watched Thomas (go figure) in the back while I drove along and enjoyed the pure cloudiness!! Did I mention that I am LOVIN’ this weather today?!!

Anyway, since it was just a whopping 80 degrees, I was able to style my young model in some FALL FASHIONS!! I bought these for his birthday but honestly wasn’t expecting him to be able to wear them for at least another six weeks or so! And chances are, after this weekend, it will warm back up and he won’t wear them again until mid-November. But for today, they were perfect! (By the way, I bought the red shirt and vest from Pumpkin Patch…that is my new all time favorite place to buy boy clothes these days! They have darling girl clothes too!!)

So…stop number one was out in the middle of the desert. We pulled off at some cattle guards, parked our car and started trekking around…all the while keeping watch for snakes and scorpions!! I am not exactly a “nature loving” kind of girl, but seriously, that type of scenery makes for some great photos!

I have to be honest with you here in that I took over 400 photos and there are MANY that just plain stink, but I did get a few stand outs!! One of these days it will click for me (I hope anyway!!) and I’ll start getting oodles of great ones! But for now, I am happy with what I can get! And they are far more fun than boring studio shots!!

I seem to have a habit of getting off the topic! This first shot is from our first stop. I tried to pose Huntler around a cactus, but it just wasn’t working at all, so we wandered off and found a tree and a little group of cacti. Most of my shots here were hideous, but I managed to salvage this one!!

After leaving this lovely locale, we loaded up and headed down the road not even five minutes to hit this fence I saw on our way to the first stop! The fence is actually just a segment of wooden slats that is placed on the outside of a chain link fence for some reason? It is rickety and tattered, but that is the look I love!! It is basically at this little run down restaurant/stop and I am sure everyone coming and going was wondering what in the world I was doing there! Especially those who saw us when I had “the chair” out!!

This picture is not that great, but I just wanted to share it and ask if anyone else thinks it is crazy that I hauled it out?! Chris is absolutely appalled and wants nothing to do with helping me when we take Gentry and her polka dot chair out!! I tried explaining to him that I have seen TONS of shots on photographers blogs where they haul their HUGE living room couch around! This is just a tiny little kid chair!!

(Huntler was “reading” Tip and Mitten…this was my dad’s book when he was a child and I took it along because I wanted a vintage book for this shoot!! Don’t worry Mom…they don’t get to play with this book…it was just out for this special occasion today!!)

And I am going to toot my own horn for a mintute…this next one just looks so professional to me!! I am so happy with it!!

I had to bribe my favorite four year old with McDonald’s to get some eye contact, but it was worth it!! I was hungry anyway, so making an extra stop was fine with me!!

This last one I took at the little greenbelt area we took the kids to a couple of weeks ago. I LOVE that area for picture taking!! For these we pulled out the hat! I think he looks so darn cute in hats and lucky for me, he loves them! Both of the kids do!! YAY!!

I still have a couple of hundred to sort through, but here are a few that caught my eye right off the bat! And now I am going to get!! I believe we are having “Family Movie Night” tonight and I need to figure out snacks…and a movie too!!

I am hoping it is cloudy and cool again tomorrow like the forecast calls for! You better believe the munchkins and I will be BACK out enjoying it again!!

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Oct

4

2008

It’s Official

We are going to FREEZE this winter!! I just went out to haul off some stinky diapers (my first time out today) and I was almost cold!! And it is 80 with a slight breeze!! The fact that it is overcast and dreary of course makes it cooler than if the sun were shining and it was 80, but OH MY we are in for it when we head home to Kansas this winter!! Just think how bad it is going to be when we move back!! We will be so accustomed to the heat that the seasons are going to seem crazy!! (Don’t worry…I don’t care how crazy the seasons seem…I can’t wait to get back to the sunflower state!!)

Anyway, for those of you back home reading this and laughing at me because I think 80 is bordering on needing a jacket, just think of the difference between 75 and 50…a 25 degree difference is huge! So, take an average summer day of around 105 down here and knock of 25 degrees, HELLO it is cool!!

Okay, so I wasn’t planning on updating, but Chris and the kids are running errands and I just had to share!! Back to getting myself ready so we can head out and enjoy this fun weather later on! I better get my camera battery charging! I am feeling refreshed and invigorated!! It is amazing what stepping outside in PLEASANT, non suffocating weather will do to a person!!

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Archive for October, 2008