Hissyfits Photography Blog

So I was on my way to bed but then decided to check just a few more blogs before snuggling up beside my little teeth grinding man {that would be Huntler, not Chris!!}.

{I borrowed this image from her parents blog so I could share her story. Click on “her parents blog” to link over…Chris is back at the office tonight and I can’t seem to adjust the color so my links aren’t showing up.}

Meet Cora. She is eleven months old and absolutely beautiful. She is fighting for her life.

I have had this little darling and her family on my mind all week. All week. Last week her parents took her to the doctor for a follow up because she wasn’t kicking her ear infections and just wasn’t acting quite right. Their lives were FOREVER changed in an instant.

It’s late, I’m tired. I’ve been crying all over again reading their update so I won’t even try to tell their story tonight, but please go check out their blog. And say a prayer for little Cora. Say a prayer for all of them. And hug your kids a wee bit tighter tomorrow. Life is far more fragile than most of us realize…

WHEW!! It is 11:26 PM as I begin this and I am flat worn out after one heck of a day, but I wanted to post a little something before heading to bed as I attempt to redeem myself from my lack of posting the last, oh, six weeks or so!! In my defense {not that I need to defend myself on my own blog!}, we have been out of town for FOUR of the last six weeks! Is that not crazy?!

First of all, I am loving my new look!! I HAVE to give credit where credit is due though!! My sweet and extremely patient husband did all the hard stuff and spiffed it up for me!! I got to do the fun parts like searching for sassy digital kits and creating the header as well as picking out what patterns/papers I wanted where and colors…he got to spend hours staring at the computer and messing with the html! Did you see he even figured out how to insert textured papers from the digital kit into the background of my posting area and sidebar?!! So I must say that it was a total combined effort!! And now I know to NEVER EVER EVER EVER attempt to change anything in the html until I have first downloaded the template. Lesson well learned! And thank you so much for all your help in getting my blog beautiful again honey! I truly appreciate it!

So, today was our last full day here in the KC metro!! It was jam packed with visiting friends {Sorry Gentry caused Owen to have a bloody nose Sarah!! It was so great to see you guys this morning!!} and doing a little last minute shopping at some of my favorite stores that are nowhere nearly as accessible back in AZ as they are here!

If you have been following along for any amount of time, you know that I love to shop! LOVE it! Not so much for myself, but mostly my munchkins. And to be completely honest here, moreso for Gentry girl than Huntler. We ALL know how sparse trendy boy clothing is in comparison to the girly stuff!! {Don’t worry…Huntler made a haul today and also right before we left to come out here…his shorts were WAY too tight so we had to revamp his summer wardrobe!! And the way the child has been scarfing down food the last three days, I am beginning to think he’ll have to have another set of summer clothes come June!! Our boy is in the midst of a growth spurt I do believe!!}

Anyway, despite my love affair with shopping, MOST of the time, what I buy is fairly reasonably priced. Most of the time…

Today I splurged…more than I should probably admit. I get emails from Janie and Jack each time they release a new line. Although 99% of the time I check out the newness, 100% of the time I delete the sweet notification and go about the rest of my day without thinking twice about it. I love Janie and Jack, I do, but what I don’t love is the price tag! And my husband likes it even less! But when I got an email this week and saw the cutest little swimsuit ever, my mind reeled with visions of my Gentry girl flitting about the back yard in just a couple months in this little bit of sheer cuteness! And it also reeled with the fact that I could drive the whopping five minutes to the store that it takes from where I type at this very moment and get the suit!

So I did. But in my moment of weakness, I also bought another entire outfit, complete with matching hat. {SHHHH!!!} It is by far the most expensive outfit I have ever bought either one of my children…ever. Well, other than the pettiskirt, but that is a different story all together!

Here it is in all its red and white polka dotted cuteness! {If you remember, she had a pink and white polka dotted suit last summer, but it was made completely different!}

And the little bum if you just can’t get enough of that ruffle action!!

And for the fashionista that she is, we of course bought the glasses!!

Here is the funny thing though! I made the kids try on all their new clothes tonight because it is MUCH easier to take them back here rather than once we get back to Arizona. Huntler threw a fit {yes, my kids throw fits} and griped the entire time while Gentry totally ate it up! She is such a girly girl!! When we were done she had to put her swimsuit BACK on and pranced about this evening in her suit and shades!! And my oh my how cute she was!!

Alright friends, it is now nearly midnight and I have to get some rest! Tomorrow brings more packing and getting ready to head out!!

So it seems as though we have been having a bit of a love fest around here lately. I mean, there are four of us crammed into 1/5 of the amount of space we have at home {yes, our house is big} and to say that the walls seem to be closing in is an extremely accurate description of how I am feeling with each passing day! Not that I want to sound ungrateful or complain. We are so, so fortunate that the kids and I were able to load up and come to Kansas with Chris, but after 11 days, I am ready to go home. {Don’t get confused here…I desperately want to move back to Kansas and being back in KC has really got me on a kick, but it is now the time in the adventure when everyone is ready for their space, their beds, their toys, their routine, their own washer and dryer…you know how it goes!!}

I am sure the fact that we have all been sickly doesn’t help matters. Or the fact that it is FREEZING and we can’t hit the park or head downtown to take pictures. My dreams for some fabulous photo ops got pretty much crushed this trip!! Darned blustery coldness and sick germs!

I love winter. I think I love fall a tiny little smidge more just because we can still play outside and our fingers don’t come close to falling off on the walk to the car, but I do love winter. I always have. I remember walking to campus my senior year of college {I lived about 3 blocks away} and LOVING the cold wind on my face and relishing in the frigidity {I think may have just made that word up?!}. There is just something so invigorating and refreshing to me about the cold. I can’t really describe it and I am sure you most certainly don’t understand it, but oh how I love it!

However…the two years and four months we have lived in Arizona have thinned my blood drastically and I have been SO cold this trip! As in freezing my bum off cold and holing up inside! Although I am excited for the time when we move back, our first winter here is going to be a little on the rough side! Can you say HELLO huge heating bill?! Just ask my parents…they got their bill from when we were visiting at Christmas…it was a “little” more than usual!! Sorry guys!

Anyway…since we are all getting a little bored, we have been having a little fun with the camera inside!! I am now more convinced than ever that when we move I need a room with white bedding and amazing light! Although this hotel suite {two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living area and a full kitchen} isn’t home, it does get some fantabulous light!!

And a sidenote here…the editing on both of these was really fast and they are completely different from each other! I was just messing around in Photoshop while my nuggets sleep the day away!! {Hence the texture and the out of ordinary full color image!!}

Ahh she is her mama’s girl!! She wasn’t talking to anyone, just pretending!!

I think learning to make those fun fabric headbands is in my not so distant future! I bought this one on Etsy and I LOVE it!! Plus, it is reversible!! Can’t beat that!

I have something else up my sleeve to share soon, but I am waiting on permission to use someone else’s photograph!! So this will have to do it for now!

Chris should be “home” soon and I am hoping I can sweet talk him into fixing my blog while I go out and do a bit of shopping?! {He worked until midnight last night and didn’t get the chance!} Thanks for all your sweet words on what I have done so far!! You guys are the best!!

After COMPLETELY screwing up my layout and causing all sorts of problems, I have been given strict instructions to leave it alone until Chris can help me!! OOPS!

When we redid my blog back in October I changed the background without a problem one. This time, I seemed to mess up EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING people!! My sweet {and oh so patient!} husband was able to get it back in readable order for the time being, but has to head back to work so I am going to leave well enough alone and wait until he can help me again!!

I can hardly stand to look at it all crazed and imperfect, but such is life!!

I am SO not good with doing my own installing and messing with html!! Bear with me as I update my blog the next couple of days or so!!

So I missed the first two, but I am hopping on this little Random Picture Challenge from Brittany over at 4 Little Men and Girly Twins. 

Seriously? It was seriously TEN days ago the last time I posted?! Oh my word!! I mean, I know I haven’t been on the computer as much and I know that my life has been beyond crazy lately, but what I didn’t realize was that TEN days have come and gone since I last poured my heart out on here! Goodness!!

It seems as though my absence has worried a few of you…thanks for noticing and checking in on me!! I have some wonderful friends out there!! And now for a little bit about what has been going on around here and why I have been missing in action for so long!!

Alright…as you know, we were out of town for two weeks over Christmas. Two weeks…the longest we have ever been gone! It was so, so great!! My heart and home will always be in Kansas and I cherish our time there!! But all good things must come to an end…and so we made the 18 hour trip back to Arizona!! I mentioned before that anyone who has ever gone anywhere knows that while it is fun and exciting to go, there is just no place quite like home!! And you also know that although I will never consider Arizona home, our house is most definitely our home and it was nice to get back into our routine and settled back in…as short as that time was!! { Confused? Keep on reading!!}

So, we had barely been home a week when Chris had to leave for business. His trip had been scheduled for weeks and although I wasn’t thrilled by any stretch of the imagination {I never am when he has to go out of town!!}, I had accepted it and planned to make the most of it. Long {emotional} story short, what was supposed to be a three day, two night trip turned into a five day, four night trip…and really six days if you count the fact that he didn’t get home until long after the kids were in bed and was back at work early the next morning!!

That was last week. The LONGEST week of my life!! When I posted last Tuesday I was beyond exhausted and stressed. I love my kids more than mere words can convey, but days and nights on end with no help or break whatsoever simply wears on me!! To you I am probably just some babbling blogger, but I am human!! And we are talking NO break here people…as in they slept with me, followed me to the bathroom, didn’t take naps…NO BREAK!!

Anyway, while Chris was gone we obviously talked on the phone quite a bit. However, I about fell over when the conversation of heading back to Kansas came up! {After all, we hadn’t even been home for two weeks yet!!} Chris needed to go back for business and the kids and I could go…or we could stay home for some undetermined amount of time alone again! No thanks!! That was just a little too fresh on my mind to sound even one bit appealing!!

So I did something I NEVER do…I acted spontaneously!! For anyone who knows me, I am about as far from “fly by the seat of my pants” as it gets. My friends can attest to that!! I can’t just pack up and meet for lunch or at a park with an hour notice…I need at least a day! I KNOW it sounds ridiculous to many of you, but it is just me. I am an extreme “Type A” personality and I am a planner. Always have been, always will be. All of the trips that we go on I start getting ready for in advance…way in advance.

So for Chris to say, “How do you feel about going back to Kansas and leaving this weekend?” on a Wednesday is a bit of a stretch for me!! And I won’t say that I didn’t struggle with it. I did. I mean, as much as I LOVE Kansas and cannot wait to move back, it is hard traveling with kids and the thought of spending 20-some hours on the road again when we had just done it {Kansas City is even further than where our parents live and where we spend the holidays} is a lot overwhelming. It wasn’t until Huntler told Gentry fourteen times in a row the morning that Chris was coming home “Daddy will be home tonight!” and was bursting at the seams with excitement that I knew we had to go. For their sake if nothing else!! I know I really miss him when he is gone, but so do the kids!! There were MANY tears shed during those five long days!

So here I sit…back in the city I LOVE!! I wasn’t sure if I should post that we are out of town, but considering several of our neighbors know we are gone and are keeping and eye on everything and the fact that we have a state of the art security system {that is uber sensitive and goes off if the trash can lid is shut too hard or a child runs into a door!!}, I am here and telling my story!

Kansas City…oh how I have missed it!! We have been back to Kansas eight times now since our move close to two and a half years ago, but it has been nearly two years since I have actually been in KC!! Our family lives about three hours away and many of our friends have since moved out of town as well, so we never find ourselves up here when we are home. To tell you the truth, I had forgotten how much I love it here! While home for Christmas Chris and I were talking and daydreaming about our life once we move back. We had actually even talked about the fact that we might like to live closer to our family when we make it back to the sunflower state! And as great as that sounds, the sights and sounds of this place where we first started our life together is pulling at me!!

To be able to hop in the car and drive to at least four Target’s in the time it takes me to get to the one closest to us in Arizona is a dream!! To shop at Archiver’s and eat at Panera once a week would be amazing!! To be within ten or fifteen minutes of a Hobby Lobby or JoAnn’s sounds perfect! Oh, and then there is the fact that there are TWO Baby Gap’s and TWO Gymboree’s that are super easy to get to! And the fact that there is now an ice skating rink at one of my favorite shopping centers {also home to one of those Baby Gap’s and Gymboree’s and a Janie and Jack!}. And then there is this adorable little salon where I had Gentry’s hair cut a couple of days ago and would LOVE to have her hair cut at permanently! This lady SO knows what she is doing and even used thinning shears on my sweet girl!! {I was getting her hair shaped back up into her little stacked bob!! OHHHH how CUTE she is!!} I could go on and on and on about the things I miss in this city!!

And those are just the things…not the people! Although only one of the friends I have stayed in touch with actually still lives here, the others are close…as in a couple of hours at the most. Lisa was in the area and popped in at our little hotel suite on Tuesday to chat and then we went to the mall and let the kids play. It was just so easy and so fun, ya know?! I am SO ready for that to be a regular occurance!! I think we sometimes forget how truly blessed we are. We get so caught up in preparing for the next phase of our lives that we take things for granted. I know I am guilty of this…in the past and even right this very moment. I had no idea how perfect and simple my life was before we moved. How “good” we had it! Great neighbors who became the best of friends. Evenings outside while the kids played until dark and the adults chatted while looking on. Stories told…memories made. I am trying hard to stay grounded and cherish the memories we are making on our Arizona adventure as I know this time in the lives of my kids is so fleeting, but I would be lying if I said my mind wasn’t a million miles away {okay 1252 to be exact} and dreaming of the life I long for back here in Kansas.

Last night we drove by our old house. It wasn’t so much the
house itself, but the drive there when the memories came flooding back. Several very specific ones, others a little more blurry. I didn’t cry, but my mind was overwhelmed with yesteryear. As I sit here now, alone with my thoughts {or as alone as I can be in an 875 square foot hotel room with two small munchkins!!}, so many more of those memories are coming back, and so are the tears. A huge part of me that was tucked away has been opened up and I am reminded of so much. So, so much.

And so now you know…things are good! My blog is getting neglected, my workout routine abandonded and my goals for the new year put on hold, but we are good! My kids are getting SO much of me right now and we are enjoying our time in this city we love.

And what is a post without some pictures? You didn’t think I came all this way without my camera now did you?!

Here is my favorite little guy at the park yesterday! You know in Kansas, the weather can change in a heartbeat! Wednesday it was too cold to be out, yesterday it made it up to 65 and then today it is cold and breezy with a high of 32 that was reached this morning and the temperatures are falling as I type!!

And the little bean as we have been calling her lately. She was shielding her eyes from the mamarazzi!

And a couple of Trig and Taverli from when we were back at Christmas! With the chaos that was my life last week I had NO time to work on editing images OR my new blog design! Soon I hope, soon!!!

And on that note, have a happy weekend my friends!

So if you have been following along for any amount of time, you know that I am pretty much always in a good mood. My posts, although very real, are generally pretty lighthearted. That is me. That is my life. And although I am not truly happy here, I am not truly miserable either. Does that make ANY sense whatsoever?! I am trying to make the most out of it, ya know? I mean, despite the heat, the dirt, the dust, the scorpions, and the sweltering sun, there are things to love about my life here in the desert. I mean, had we never moved out here, I never would have had the opportunity to meet some amazing mamas…the girls I call my friends. My life will forever be enriched because of the impact that each and every one of them has had on me at a time when I needed them the most. So thank you to Kelly and Mistie {who have already moved on}. And thank you to Jessica, Lindsey, Rachel and the rest of you great girls whom I have come to know and love. I am so, so blessed to have each and every one of you in my life.

That being said, I am pretty much having a terrible week. It is only Tuesday…believe me, I know. But sometimes you can just tell these things, ya know? In about a 30 minute time span this morning I managed to spill Huntler’s cereal all over the floor, had to wipe away tears while talking to his teacher and then officially broke down and cried my eyes out at Chris’ office. And after I thought I had cried as much as I needed to, I found myself forcing back the tears time and time again as the morning wore on. It is just one of those weeks. 

So what is a girl to do when it seems as though the weight of the world is on her shoulders you ask? Why load up her favorite Gentry girl and participate in a little retail therapy of course!! There is nothing better than a ribbon sale at Michael’s! Especially when the designs are all brand spanking new and the colors are so bright and cheery you simply have to smile!

And when you happen to have six pregnant friends and two other friends that just had baby girls, you buy pretty little boxes to stick their gifts in!! I SO love these kind of things for baby gifts! There were some darling boy ones too, but I happen to have a couple of other boy boxes already stashed away so I exerted some self control!! 

So that was the damage I did while at Michael’s. Plus a couple of HUGE, over the top flowers to make into headbands for Gentry. We were really just wasting time while waiting for Pier 1 to open…we would have been better off waiting in the car or outside!

{I was looking for a bright, woven type blanket in Pier 1 that I have seen on COUNTLESS photographers websites. I struck out.}

And since we still had an hour left until we needed to pick up Huntler from school, Gentry girl and I stopped at Kohl’s. Can I just tell you that I LOVE that store?! They have the most fun household goodies and 90% of the time their clothing selection is awesome! I don’t think I ever leave without buying something. Today was no different!!

Check out how CUTE these little capri pants are!! Green with white polka dots?!! And navy, pink and white diamond-ish shapes?! I am so glad that Gentry still wears a 24 month or 2T in shorts and pants because these were in the baby section that only goes up to 24 months! WHEW!! But, her shirts came from the big girl {as in bigger than toddler} section! Please tell me that other people’s kids wear different sizes! 

And one last bit of shopping happiness to share! Have you seen this new Gymboree stuff yet?

It was so thoughtful of them to come out with pretty much an entire line I adore just in time for me to redeem my Gymbucks. I mean, really, I would have been perfectly fine if they would have come out with something less my style! I am sure my husband would too!!

So if you are still following along through all that, here are a couple of pics of the munchkins from when we were back in Kansas for Christmas! Lisa, I am sure you are thinking, “Oh my, she has turned into one of those bloggers who ONLY blogs about stuff and never shares pictures of her kids anymore!!” Believe me, I have not!! I just haven’t taken any of my kids worth sharing since we got back from our Christmas trip!! We have been out and about but I have been leaving my camera at home so that I can actually enjoy myself and my sweets!!

So here they are…my silly boy, my sassy girl and my adorable family. I am so, so grateful for each of them. So grateful for the happiness they bring to my days during weeks like this one. So grateful for the constant reminder that although I am having a rough go of it, there is most certainly someone out there who is having a much worse day than me. Grateful for the reminder that even though he isn’t the most romantic of guys, my husband does love me…more than I know. I have an email in my inbox right now from him saying just that! And ya know what? I love him more than he knows too.

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How FUN is this orange?!  I could almost squeal I love it so much! It is very “me!”

So while I am thinking of it, I would love to hear any ideas you guys might have about Valentine’s! I know there are some amazingly crafty gals out there who read my blog and I always love to get inspired by others! I’ll of course share my ideas too!

My big dilemma is that I can’t decide whether to do digitally designed cards or actually create some with paper! AHHH!! Decisions, decisions!! Either way, I want them to be fun and unique! I am thinking they will more than likely be digitally designed cards but have some sort of 3D elements attached or included. Still thinking on that! Maybe I could even use my sewing machine to do something?!! Hmmm….

For Huntler I am definitely using trains. Big surprise!! I checked out the Thomas cards while we were out today and they say things like, “I’ll Choo Choo Choose You,” and “Miles of Smiles for my Valentine.” I can’t remember them all right off the top of my head. I should have written them down!! Any ideas for me?

And then there is Gentry. She is right there with me in the whole owl/bird obsession! But she also likes turtles and frogs. Oh and of course, Tinkerbell and all her little fairy friends that she collected at Christmas! And candy. And cupcakes. And just about everything out there! Needless to say, I am still thinking on her! 

Huntler will have a party at school {at least I am pretty sure he will!} and then our playgroup already has a party scheduled, so at least I know we’ll be able to give them out! I just need to figure out exactly what I want!

Okay…Gentry girl is having some nap issues so I should try to go round her up again and then get busy! Our morning out means that NOTHING got done around the house!

Oh and one more thing…I owe about 15 people emails. If you are one of them, I PROMISE I haven’t forgotten you! I have been so consumed with my big cleaning project and now getting all the Christmas decor put away and just life that I have not been good at replying! I hope to have them all returned by tomorrow night though!