Hissyfits Photography Blog

I’ve seen these “Favorite Things” themed parties popping up on Pinterest and in the blog world – what little of the blog world I keep up with that is – and I’m fascinated! I’ve been wanting to have one since late fall, but as we all know, life happens and it doesn’t get done. I am, however, in the very beginning stages of trying to pull one together with a friend and I am SUPER excited. I have a lot of favorite things. Some are super cheap – some are not. Because I am always curious what fun finds others happen across {and because I am waiting on paint to dry and my kids are happily watching TV for a bit}, I thought it might be fun to post a few of my random loves!!

Nail polish. Specifically Essie nail polish. Or Sally Hansen “Hard as Nails.” Those are my two favorite brands by far. They both seem to handle the wear and tear known as life and don’t chip within hours. I have an entire tote FULL of nail color. Stuffed. Yet it is my number one guilty pleasure and a bottle always seems to end up in my cart. Does that ever happen to you? Right now I am wearing Playdate on my fingers. Fun, light, happy little spring shade of purple! Random fact about light purple I came across via a beauty blog :: it looks best on super short, manicured nails. That’s what “they” say anyway!! Made me feel good – mine are always super short these days!!

Essie Playdate

Looks like they have some fun new colors – I will take a bottle of each please! Because, you know, the other 12 bottles of pink I have are ever so slightly different!!

I don’t have the time or the patience to figure out how to get the bottles all lined up perfectly, let alone the names all lined up perfectly over the color, so here is a link to the new spring collection, Poppy – Razzi! You can check it out for yourself!

This lip balm. Hands down the best stuff EVER. I am currently scraping mine out of the bottom of the container waiting for our next trip to a town with a Victoria’s Secret so I can snag some more. I lather this on every.single.night.

Falsies mascara by Maybelline. I realize I look high maintenance with all of these beauty products, but believe me, I am far from it!!! I started using this right after it came out and have been hooked ever since!

Fresh Cotton room spray from Bath and Body Works. After we painted the girls’ room and hung their curtains {there are EIGHT panels}, it needed a little bit of freshening up!! Despite several rounds in the dryer, I just could not get rid of that factory smell that came with the packaged curtains! And so I ended up with a bottle of this! I am truly not sure if it helped, but as time has gone on, the scent has vanished! I still spray it almost daily just because I am paranoid and because it smells fresh and clean!

Good & Plenty. No, I don’t buy it in bulk and I don’t buy a box every time I am at the store, but this is my candy weakness!

Krylon Glitter Blast spray paint. Love love love this stuff. Would you believe it if I told you I glittered up a deer antler Chris and the kids found? Yep. Silver. I figure if I am going to use an antler as decor, that baby is going to shine! I’ll share that I searched high and low for this stuff and finally happened upon it at Michael’s. Print out a 40% off coupon and you’re set! I will also share that not all of  my experiences with this {there have been several!!} have been good. I am pretty sure that when the can reads “Shake for three minutes,” it means it. Otherwise it might keep shooting out when your finger isn’t even on the nozzle. Not that this has happened to me or anything!!!!

Mossimo Long and Lean tanks. I LOVE these. I wear them all the time. Even super pregnant because they are long enough to cover my ever growing belly!

Sonic. Enough said. Route 44 Cranberry Grape slush. Preferably at Happy Hour.

Okie doke! I could go on and on, but it is now dinner time and I need to get!! Any faves of yours that I MUST know about? Do share!!!!

So I have been meaning to do a “Ten on Tuesday” post for weeks now, yet here we are in March and I have yet to do it! I have been wanting to share my new obsession with you all and since it doesn’t appear that I’ll be getting to a “Ten on Tuesday” anytime soon, then I am just going to share!!

Have you heard of Pinterest? OH MY GOSH. It is seriously AMAZING! It is basically just social bookmarking. You create boards and then “pin” items in them. You can follow others and they can follow you. The sheer amount of over the top creativity and talent out there is overwhelming! I spent HOURS the first week or so I was doing this but now I just pop in and add pins once or twice a day if I have the time! {It only takes a second to pin something!}

Anyway, for anyone out there who wants to know a little bit more about what I like, here is my link. And if anyone wants to join, leave a comment and I’ll send out invites until they are gone! Sorry in advance for the time that will vanish while you are busy pinning!!

Just popping in to say I am still here and still snapping a photo each day {actually I take many, many more than just one}!! I have five edited and on my desktop just waiting to be blogged but just haven’t gotten to it yet!! I am crossing my fingers I can get it done tomorrow!

Enjoy your weekend!!

Shamu Rocks!! And, I’ve been away!! Which would help to explain why I have been missing here on the ole blog the last few days!! We just got back from a quick trip to California where we had OUR family pics taken {more on that later!} and a fabulously fun day at Sea World!

While I tend to homework, laundry, suitcases and children, I’ll leave you with these two snaps from yesterday!

I reluctantly agreed to sit in the soak zone. Luckily we were way at the top and stayed dry!!

Did you know that Sea World  has  a night show – Shamu Rocks – and it does in fact, TOTALLY rock? Upbeat music, bright lights, sooo cool! Such a fun way to end our day!

So many of you have asked about “the blanket” I have been using with Brighton! It is from Pier 1 several years ago. I was talking to one of my photographer friends about it and she asked around on a forum she belongs to and managed to find one for me that was brand new – still had the ribbon tied around it! That in and of itself is crazy but when you consider I got it a good two years after it came out, it is even crazier!

Anyway, I came across these rugs at Land of Nod last week. They aren’t exactly like the blanket and they are obviously smaller (and expensive!!), but they do have the same feel! Either one would work for a backdrop if you had a little one laying on it!

I tried and tried to get the photo off of their website, but I couldn’t, so here is the direct link!

For months now I have thought it would be super fun to set up a little contest for all of those interested to log their thoughts on “what” they think this baby is and when it will make its grand entrance! Now that I am over 35 weeks, I decided it is time to create the game and get this party started!

Let me preface this with some information. When I was at the doctor on Friday, I had not started to dilate at all. Despite the tons and tons and tons of contractions I have been having, nothing is happening.

As far as my guess goes, I say girl simply because the vast majority of people I talk to think it is a boy!! I have had dreams where it has been a boy and dreams where it has been a girl, so in the spirit of fun, my guess is girl! There is no intuition or anything like that, simply a good old fashioned guess!

And the weight? That number popped up in one of those aforementioned dreams! Because someone will want to be scientific in their guess, I’ll go ahead and share that Huntler was 6 pounds and 11 ounces and Gentry was 7 pounds and 8 ounces. I gained less weight with Huntler than I did with Gentry. And I have gained more weight with this baby than I did with Gentry. And the nurses and doctor are all convinced it is big! {I weighed 9 pounds and 2 ounces so I am bracing myself!!}

Length? Total guess. And no, I cannot remember how long Huntler or Gentry were!

And the birthdate. My actual due date is July 1. Huntler was 8 days early on his own and I was induced 5 days early with Gentry. Once I reach 36 weeks, they will let me deliver whenever I happen to go into labor. Obviously, I am hoping for sooner rather than later on that one! Anyway, originally I picked June 20th as my “perfect delivery date,” but I moved it up to June 10th!! I will be 37 weeks on the 10th. Chris, Huntler and Gentry all have birthdays that fall on the 20th or 30th of the month – and I just think it would be fun for this baby to have a birthday that fell on a date that ended in “0″ too. If the 10th comes and goes and no Baby Thumper, then I am aiming for the 20th!! It happens to be Father’s Day this year too!

So there is that. I should also say that Chris is not guessing a gender. He doesn’t want to. But because you can’t leave that part empty, we just left it with the default of “boy.” Huntler and Gentry picked most of their stats on their own. Huntler thinks this is one big baby!!

For those of you whom I don’t know playing along, be sure to leave your first name and last initial and put “blog reader” or something to that effect in your entry!! Hopefully that way when we figure out who wins, it won’t be super confusing!! I’ve never done this before so you’ll have to bear with me!

Alright…so here is the link:

ExpectNet

Our game is called: LittleGrahamCracker

I am pretty sure you have to register in order to participate, but it is super easy!! Let me know if you are trying to play but can’t figure it out and I will gladly help you get going!

Now…I was NOT going to post this photo because I really, really do NOT like it, but the truth of the matter is that I am too tired {lazy?} to put on a cute outfit and redo it. So this is it. And to be honest, this is totally keeping it real. I have bought like one maternity skirt and two shirts and that is it…along with a few things my mother in law ordered for me. Seriously. I have been wearing regular clothes pretty much my entire pregnancy. It is more than obvious from this photo with a good chunk of my stomach showing!! But it is hot. The kids don’t care. Chris doesn’t care. We see no one most days. And I do NOT dress like this to go out in public…I do try to make sure that most of my stomach is covered!

This was taken at 35 weeks and 1 day.

And what fun is a contest without a little prize package? With the help of my super talented mom and sweet friend Julie, I have created a fun little gift for the winner of this! I did in fact take individual photos of each item, but I am once again too lazy tired to edit each and every one…so this is going to have to work! Plus, I am neither good at nor enjoy taking photos of “things!”

Yes, most of the items are girly. It is so much harder to make boy things – that is the only reason!!

So here is what the winner gets:

TWO fabulous “Messy Pins” made by my uber talented friend Julie! She is in the process of switching her shop over from Etsy, but here is the link to her new locale! She hasn’t added much yet, but I am sure if you don’t win and really, really want a messy pin or clip or headband {we have TONS of headbands and LOVE them!!}, she’ll totally hook you up! Just tell her I sent you!

My super crafty and creative mom whipped up some goodies of her own! The little white top is absolutely DARLING!! It is a lap shirt made by Gerber and is size 0 – 3 months! I can’t believe how tiny it is! She stitched cute rick rack all around it!

She also sent the cute little monkey burp cloth – it has an equally cute pattern on the back {which you would be able to see if I had the energy to post more pics!} and is made of flannel.

The magnet clips are just that – magnet clips.

And under those magnet clips? A set of three girly washcloths. They are made from different flannel prints and have terrycloth on the back! DARLING!! It has been hard for her not knowing what we are having because she can’t make anything up yet! Anyway, if you see something from her goodies you have to have, shoot me an email and I can help you out!

And of course I added a couple of my own pieces! The headband and the two yo yo hair clips! They are on alligator clips. I have about 50 of the yo yo’s made and ready to go, but once again, I am just lacking ALL motivation to complete them. So, if you love them, I am sorry but I am just not in the mindset to be crafty these days! My time is spent soaking up my little loves before our world is rocked and resting!

Whew! So there is that! This is ONE prize – winner gets all! Obviously it isn’t stuff that everyone could use, but if you win, take what you want and share the rest!!

And thanks again Mom and Julie for your additions!!

Have fun!! I can’t wait to see everyone’s guesses!!

Wow…I feel like I JUST published my last Ten on Tuesday post!! I can’t believe that was a week ago already! Considering I am supposed to be taking it easy and not tearing through the house with the sweeper in one hand and a toilet wand in the other, I have a little more time to update my lovely blog here! Not that I have much to say because since we aren’t doing much, there isn’t much to blog about!!

So here we go…

1. I did not get Chris an anniversary card. I realized late in the afternoon that I didn’t have one in my “stash.” So I emailed him that I am a loser wife who doesn’t even have an anniversary card for my husband. I also referred to myself as lame in the same email. He wrote back that he didn’t have one for me either so he was equally as lame. We called it even – no cards!

2. I am not a fan of flowers. I think they are a waste of money actually. I would prefer to have something that lasts more than three days. A plant you ask? No. Not a plant either. We have seen MANY plants come and go in this house. I can’t keep them alive. We are currently down to one…and a teeny little cactus that sits on our kitchen counter. I am waiting on the said plant to just go ahead and die so we’ll be down to none!

3. Taking it easy is about the most impossible task ever. I am not cut out to sit and rest. I didn’t realize how much I really do during the day and that I must pick up for 5 hours and clean for another 3. It’s insane.

4. Next week is Huntler’s LAST week of preschool. Then we’ll have a kindergartner on our hands. And a preschooler. And a new baby.

5. Have you seen the commercial for the new Birthday Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches? I saw it last week and have been craving them ever since!

6. We bought Moon Sand over the weekend for the first time. Actually, Gentry bought it with her allowance. Have you ever had that stuff? M*E*S*S*Y!! By the time it was all said and done, Chris had to haul the sweeper out and spent 15 minutes sucking up pink and yellow grit from the tile!

7. Huntler bought a new chapter book with his allowance. He was sooooo excited to take his money up to the register and pay!! He is going to be through the entire series of books before July rolls around at this rate!

8. Gentry’s birthday invite is really coming together cute! I can’t do it all this year so I am using a designer on Etsy who is totally rocking it!! SOOO happy with how it is coming along! I’ll DEFINITELY share her name and more later!

9. Anyone familiar with Batman? That’s the theme Huntler has chosen for his party this year. I am clueless when it comes to Batman. So is he. He just heard that someone else had that kind of party and now wants it. Although I wasn’t thrilled with Madagascar, at least I have seen it 100 times and could create a cute party around the theme!!

10. ANOTHER one of our neighbors is moving. We have seen SOOO many people come and go on this block in our 3 1/2 years here it isn’t even funny. I am trying not to be bitter, but praying that our turn is coming up soon.

A quick update – I posted on FB a ton yesterday so all of my FB friends were in the loop as the drama unfolded, but here is a recap of our day yesterday for everyone else, and for myself to look back on and read one day when all of this becomes just a blur!

It started out as a typical Friday around here. Get up. Eat breakfast. Check Facebook. Check emails. Check blogs. Take a shower. Get ready. Get the kids ready. Send Huntler off to school. Make beds. Do laundry. Pick up. The same stuff I do every morning. Throw in my 33 week doctor’s appointment and it was just another Friday morning.

On the drive to the doctor’s office I noticed I was having stronger than normal contractions and they were coming often. I was probably having them all morning since I had a few Thursday night that took my breath away, but in the hustle and bustle of the morning and my refusal to sit still for five minutes {I am NOT a good rester}, I didn’t notice until I was strapped in the car and forced to sit! I did notice that my stomach was tight and crampy, but once I sat I could tell that I was having consistent contractions. While sitting in the waiting room I continued to contract so I decided I should probably tell my doctor since I was there anyway. However, there was no need to tell her because as soon as I pulled my shirt up for her to check the baby’s heart rate and measure my ever growing belly, she could see me contracting.

On the bright side, at least I wasn’t over-reacting and imagining it! To be safe, she went ahead and checked me. I wasn’t dilating yet. That was a good sign. So she sent me home to drink water and rest and gave me instructions to head in to labor and delivery if they didn’t stop in 2 to 3 hours so they could hook me up to monitors and see what was going on. Two hours later, I finally made it home. Since I was out anyway, I had to mail off a client order at the post office, get a Sonic drink, stop at Chris’ office, pick up Huntler and then swing through the drive thru at McDonald’s. See, I am not a good rester!! Anyway, once we were home, I did as told. I guzzled water and laid in bed watching cartoons for over three hours while I updated Facebook from my phone and willed my contractions to stop. But they weren’t going anywhere! And so I called Chris…

Gentry girl was already in her jammies of course so in the midst of contractions that hurt so bad I could barely walk, I had to get her dressed and ready, along with myself. And we were off to meet Chris at the hospital. Yes, we took the kids. I really didn’t even want Chris or the kids to go, I was fine with going on my own, but he insisted that he be there. Anyway, they got me into triage right away and started hooking me up and things moved quickly! I was contracting every 2 – 3 minutes so they immediately gave me a shot of Terbutaline. And although I wasn’t dehydrated, the doctor on call preferred to error on the side of caution and ordered me to be hooked up to an IV and get fluids. Turns out it didn’t hurt anything and was probably good because that way I had to be there longer and they could monitor my contractions.

After I received the first shot and was hooked up to the IV, Chris and the kids left to go eat and piddle around for a bit. They stopped back by an hour and a half later or so to check on me and then headed home. They were totally fine there, but bored. I know there is no way we can take them with us when I go into labor and actually have this baby, but everything yesterday worked out fine!

Long story short, the first shot stopped them but only for about 20 minutes. So then came shot number two. I was STILL contracting more than they were comfortable with so I received shot number three!! At that point I had received the maximum they could give me but luckily they FINALLY stopped! I was checked twice while there and didn’t dilate any which was also a good sign.

No one really knows why I was having all of these uncontrollable contractions, but chances are this baby is going to come early. It just needs to wait until 37 weeks!!

Anyway, after about three hours in the hospital I was back at home and watching Friday Night Lights by 7:45!! I was shaky and wound up from the meds, but fine. They did not put me on any kind of restrictions, but I know I have to take it easy and be smart. So here is to being as relaxed as I can and not overdoing it!!

So we don’t have a Sienna, but we DO have a minivan! I saw this on Julie’s blog and had to pass it on! The kids and I were cracking up!

WAHOOO! I’m back!! You would not believe how much more time I feel like I have now that my sessions are all but wrapped up and my focus has changed to “us” instead of work! What a sense of relief I am feeling right now!

With that being said, I am FINALLY back and ready for a “Ten on Tuesday” post!

1. I am officially freezing Chris and the kids out. At 30+ pounds over my normal weight, I am burning up. All the time. When I am pregnant is the ONLY time I am ever hotter than Chris. Most of the time I am freezing…even in the summer. But not right now! I am glad this baby is due early in the summer so my hormones and body will have time to adjust and be back to normal before July and August when it is REALLY hot!

2. I have created Sonic MONSTERS. My extreme love affair with the Route 44 Cranberry Grape slush has rubbed off onto both of my littles. If you happen to hear either one of them talking about Happy Hour, they are referring to the 2:00 – 4:00 time frame where Sonic has all of its drinks half price. If only it weren’t such a chore to load up and make the trek, we would be there EVERY day during Happy Hour! So, it is probably a good thing it takes 15 minutes to get there!!

3. Huntler is consumed with talking about death. It is really stressing me out. And him too. The other night after we had put him to bed he came back to our room to ask what would happen to him if I died. Really? Just as I was typing this post he came over to talk about dying again. I don’t like to even think about this kind of thing, let alone talk about it. And considering it is upsetting him to the point of tears, it isn’t something he should be thinking about or talking about either. Hoping this phase passes and passes quickly.

4. Chris randomly happened across the Top 10 Baby Names of 2009 and offered to let me change my mind to something a LOT more common if I wanted! HA HA HA! He was totally kidding – he likes unique just as much as I do and we are both super excited about the names we have picked out! {Although he totally got the boy middle name wrong when we were talking about it!!}

5. Speaking of the baby, I can NOT wait to find out what it is!! I am soooooo looking forward to that moment when the doctor or Chris or someone tells me “It’s a…” And then we’ll have a name and a face for this crazy little kicking machine!

6. In my need to get things done, we got out the car seat and stroller a few days ago. They are already getting lots of good use. Technology has definitely improved in the last six years!! The car seat slides into and out of the stroller so much easier than our old one!! Not to mention the handle on the car seat is much easier to operate!! It’s the little things that get us all excited!

7. My sassy little fashionista wants to wear pajamas EVERY single day. I haven’t bought anything from Gymboree in forever and really want to get her a couple of things from the new line, but what’s the point? I don’t foresee that we’ll be trekking all over in the 115 degree heat this summer with the baby so I guess jammies are fine. It isn’t like her closet isn’t stuffed to the gills anyway…

On a side note, I FINALLY packed up her long sleeved, fleece and footed pajamas on Friday. THOSE are the ones she really wants to wear all the time! And yes, it is cold inside, but it is well into the 90′s outside!

8. Huntler is having Beach Week at school this week. Next week is Spirit Week. And then comes the time to say goodbye. He has a little graduation ceremony at the end of the month. He is super sensitive so I have a feeling that saying goodbye is going to be a lot hard on him. Hopefully we will be able to keep him distracted since the baby will come soon after that.

9. Gentry’s dance costume is in and darling! We {the parents} have been invited in at the end of class the last three weeks to watch the routine! It is super cute!! Her teacher suggested that we bring in a CD and have the song burnt {burned?} onto that and also to video tape it. Still debating on what to do because she REFUSES to perform in front of us. The only thing that might get her going is that Huntler will do it with her.

10. That’s all I’ve got today!! We are having a lazy day…pizza rolls and pop for lunch and then we watched Madagascar 2. I wore myself with my cleaning binge yesterday and today we are taking it easy! If only it were cool and cloudy it would be perfect!!