will you take a look at my sister’s tummy? 

I am in love with it!

First, she is a tiny little thing (which I have hated since, forever, that I was the BIG sister in one too many ways!) so this belly is especially funny on her small frame.  But second, it’s just huge!  She’s gained weight no where but there and MAN!

The best part?  She still has about 5 weeks left!  So it could get BIGGER! 

I always wanted a huge belly and mine sort of goes around as much as out and I swear I must carry in my back b/c my belly just doesn’t get that big.  I mean, it gets big, but not BIG. If I were Abbie I would just covet that tummy! 

So isn’t it ironic that I was jealous of how tiny she is normally and now how big she is pregnant?    Women are never satisfied I guess!

I wish she lived closer so that I could photograph her NOW!

Love you Ab and your big belly! 

I’m sure you’ve been wondering why I haven’t complained (too much) about lack of sleep lately.  It’s not that I am sleeping well, it’s that I think I’m in such denial about how bad our sleep is that if I wrote about it it would make it real. And then I might need to jump in front of a bus.

Parker is officially 15 months old and has NEVER slept through the night. Never. There have been a few nights that she’s slept almost all the way, like she’ll sleep until 4am but then that’s it.

And I know I have mentioned that Bailey didn’t start sleeping through the night until after Parker was born, which means it has been over 30 months since Chris and I have really had a good nights sleep. And because 29 months is no huge deal but 30 months has pushed me over the edge, tonight I have had it.

So currently, after much discussion, trials and tribulations, I am on the couch in the family room with the monitor next to me, Parker is upstairs in her room screaming and Chris and Bailey are happily sound asleep in our bed.

The issue?  Who the hell knows! 

Really, we’ve thought for a few months now that it must be some form of sleep apnia due to her breathing issues and adnoids, but now, almost 2 weeks out of surgery and she is not only no better, it just keeps getting worse, I don’t know if that was the issue at all.

And I will admit that it is probably all our fault b/c we will try a new method every few months, but coupled with the fact that we’ve gone so long without sleep, the fact that Parker can cry for hours on end for nights on end with no end in sight and that I’m pregnant and exhausted anyway, we give up after a week or so and go back to giving her a bottle of milk in the middle of the night to just shut her up. 

But today I was so tired from the fact that I haven’t slept more than 3 consecutive hours in the last 2 weeks I had a fit, threw away all the bottles (which Chris pointed out is stupid b/c another baby is coming) and decided this is IT!  Now, I have said that before, but this time I mean it!  Especially b/c the one thing she wants is frozen outside in a trash bag and I’m not getting it for her!

So although you have so many other things to worry about, please pray for sleep for us. Pray that Parker just gives up and decides that sleep is NOT over-rated, that I can stick it out for another week or so until she does decide sleep is wonderful and that Bailey does not decide she likes sleeping with Daddy more then Parker and won’t go back to her bed without a fight.  I know it’s a lot to ask, but I am SO desperate!

Desperate and exhausted. And although I would love your ideas (feel free to give them to me), I think I need prayer more b/c I’m not sure anything else will work!

It’s after midnight, she’s been crying for 30 minutes and I’m so thankful for cable right now! There’s always something on in the middle of the night!

I came across this website today and I am inspired to take action.

Hope Revolution.

Here is the back story:

Working out of the NYC office this week. This morning as I sat in a
coffeehouse off Broome, something caught my eye under the artwork on
the wall. Tucked under a painting I found a postcard that read:

Don’t fall victim to the space stealers. Oust the scum of our
streets. They are wasting valuable oxygen. Scare them off into the
sewers where they belong.

Handwritten.

This afternoon, it snowed. A bucket of tiny snowflakes fell from the
sky. In windows of the lofts across from us, I could see the faces of
others who were equally delighted in the beauty of it. It seemed the
whole city was quiet for about ten minutes as they fell.

Almost as soon as it stopped, the city started back up again. We heard
firetrucks outside our office window and the noise hasn’t stopped much
since. Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment on the corner,
and the newstrucks are lined up Broome Street. I don’t know much about
what happened, except the rumors that he may have taken his own life.

Something about today has shaken me up. I can’t put my finger on it.
It’s not the note, it’s not that I’m sad someone I don’t know is dead.
Or maybe I am. Maybe I’m sad at the idea that someone could just…
give up. Lose hope. I know I’ve been there many times myself, and it’s
a scary place.

I think tomorrow I will make some of my own notes and tuck them under paintings in coffeehouses.

And she did, and she wrote about it on her blog, and she inspired other people in other cities to do the same thing, and she inspired me.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to find a hand written note in the grocery store when you are trying to juggle two crabby kids, a cart full of food and not lose your mind?  Or to reach for the ketchup at a restaurant and find a note tucked beneath it?  Or to be using a gross public restroom and be encouraged?

I love this idea.

To write my city love notes.

And after the tragedy at City Hall in Kirkwood I think this is the perfect time to write love notes to Kirkwood.  Maybe it will bring a little hope back, at the very least I hope it will bring a smile to the faces of those that find them.

Today Bailey had a painting extravaganza and I think I am going to cut them into 4×6 size cards, write notes on them and keep them in my diaper bag to distribute when I’m out and about.

I wonder what other simple things people can do to brighten a stranger’s day?  Any ideas?

as an ice storm is predicted for the next few days I can’t help but dream of spring.

just needing a bit of warmth…

Saw my OB today and found out I am 23 weeks. I could have sworn I was 21 weeks, or maybe 22, but I really didn’t think I was 23 weeks along. This poor poor third child. I also gained 6 pounds this month. I hate to say how much that surprised me, but my nurse assured me that the fact that this is the only weight I’ve gained during this pregnancy so far and I’m in my 23rd week that my body was due for a big jump. I don’t know if it’s that my body was due to finally gain weight or the oreo/ice cream/chocolate sauce love affair I’ve been having lately. Either way I’ve now officially gained baby weight. Great.

My attempt at a self-portrait yesterday…

Tonight I will be dreaming about sitting in a field of tulips on a warm spring day while eating ice cream dripping in chocolate sauce and crunched up oreos, kids no where near me and a great novel in my lap.

Since I just mentioned it, I’m sure you noticed the "prayer" button on my sidebar for Noah Lauer.  Deb asked me to create prayer cards for him to pass out at his baptism this Sunday and I used the front of the card for the button.  Here is the card:

Front:

Back:

{smudged for privacy}

Anyway, if you would be interested in keeping this incredible prayer chain going by posting a Noah button on your blog also, please email me (jodified@gmail.com) and I will send you the button.  This little boy needs all the prayers in the world so join me in lifting him and his family up!

So after realizing that my shirt was on backwards I think my day got better. I think.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I work every afternoon at Kuhn Construction Co., Inc., my parent’s company. They needed help this spring, we needed extra money, it works. So anyway, today I came across this HUGE issue we completely missed and it will take weeks of detailed monotonous work to fix the issue. Great that I found it but the work will suck. Not fun at all. I started with them to redesign their website, create their advertisements, etc. I love the design part of my job, not so much what I worked on today for SEVEN hours.

So that part of my day wasn’t fun.

Luckily when we got home the girls were good… ate dinner, took baths, Parker went to bed easily (although she is screaming right now), Bailey got to stay up to watch Dora, she went to bed great, I mopped, did a load of laundry, emptied a sink full of dishes and finally got onto the couch to play with my blog.

Notice the new buttons on the side?  You can click on any of them to be redirected! LOVE LOVE LOVE that I FINALLY figured out how to do this on Typepad! 

So now that I can get more creative with the blog watch for more changes!

I’m so tired and this day was so long… it wasn’t all bad, but it definitely wasn’t a day I go to bed smiling about! Can you tell my mood tonight? 

Tomorrow will be better. I just know it.

Before 7am this morning Parker found a can of soda Chris left out last night and poured orange soda all over the living room carpet and herself, Bailey cut her finger while brushing her teeth (still trying to figure out how this happened) and bled all over my white towel, Parker found a cup of water (she’s obviously getting taller and what was once out of reach isn’t anymore) and poured it all over the floor and herself (outfit #2), I wore my shirt backwards for the first 5 hours of the day before realizing it (having already been to Bread Co and the KCCI office to work) and Chris won’t get home until 9:30pm tonight.

This is going to be a long day.

Sometimes I really struggle with what to title a post that is going to cover multiple random thoughts. And lots of times the title ends up sucking big time, so today, no title. Deal with it.

We do have two children, but from the last three days photo 365′s you wouldn’t know it! Bailey has become obsessed with dressing up, and every day it’s a new and more interesting combination. There are many days when I let her go out of the house dressed up b/c i don’t feel like arguing and I secretly like her new sense of style!

Isn’t that a riot?

I love it.

What I also love?

I got my first BLOG award! If you are not an avid blog reader you may not know about these, but basically there are all of these awards out there that bloggers can award one another and I got one last night!

Thanks Fern!

There is an official website for this award and everything.
Go Smell The Flowers! says, "This badge serves to acknowledge others
who are, in their own way, smelling the flowers. They maybe regular
visitors to this blog, one of the 20 founders blogs or
someone that could contribute here who is yet to visit! Maybe they have
recovered from an illness, written a book, made waves in the
blogosphere, won the lottery, made a major shift in their life, won
promotion, quit the rat race, raising a family, discovering their
greatness and on it GO!s as more examples from around the world start
to surface."

1.
If you are awarded the flower smeller badge, pop the flower smeller
badge up at your blog and award it to 5 others by writing a post with
links to the 5 blogs or websites that you choose.
2. You can award
this badge to a maximum of 5 people per month from now until eternity
as and when you come across more flower smellers.
3. Link to this post so that people can find the origin of where the award started and find their way to this community.
4. Proudly display the Flower Smeller award with a link to the post that you wrote announcing your award.
5.
All flower smellers – be prepared to be approached to write a 500 word
account of yourself to feature in our 2009 book – The Flower Smellers -
that some of our founders will be featured in. As more badges are
awarded we’ll start a blogroll of "Flower Smellers."

AND this is what Fern said when giving me the award, b/c since I get to toot my own horn for a minute I’m going full force!

"Jodie at a mom and her camera,
who runs her own business and is months away from being at home
(growing that business) with three kids under the age of three. That is
hard core, people. But instead of complaining about it (my preference)
she is all positive and excited and loving life."

SO! Now I get to award FIVE people who I think are awesome bloggers! Here are my five:

1.  Kal at I Love Life. She is this amazing artist that seriously has a love of life I wish I had every day. She’s not afraid to put it out there and I love that she’s learning to balance work and a brand new baby right now b/c as I’ve found out first hand, it is REALLY hard! AND, I truly love bloggers that are dedicated enough to write every day… which she does really well even with an infant!
2. Katie at More from the Mohrs. She’s an incredible mom who makes everyday toddlerhood funny. Their son, Elliot, is cute and the focus of many of her posts, but it’s not All-Elliot-All-the-Time either… she is open and honest with her struggles as a woman/parent/wife. Her honesty and trust in the Lord inspires me.
3.Emily at My Little World. Emily is the first blog-friend I’ve had the honor to meet and she’s awesome! Her blog is a great mix of the adventures of becoming a new parent, creativity, baking (she’s obsessed with cup cakes right now!), photography (she’s amazing!) and family. And she lives here in St. Louis!
4. Jessica at The Juice from Teguz. Now, yes, she is my best friend, but she deserves some kind of award for the work she’s doing! She lives and works in Honduras as a missionary helping young boys find the Lord, become educated and learn what unconditional love really is. She’s amazing! And maybe a blog award will make her blog more often! 
5. Deb at Our Cup Runneth Over. Deb is going through the biggest struggle of her life as just a week or so ago they learned their 6 month old son was diagnosed with a degenerative brain disorder. It just breaks my heart. The reason I think she deserves a blog award, however, is b/c she is actually blogging about this time in her life. That takes some serious guts and the most amazing part is that all of her honesty has produced the most incredible prayer network! There are people praying for her little boy all over the world! A true example of how God can work through any kind of network, even blogs!

So those are 5 blogs (including Fern’s of course!) that I read daily. And ladies, especially Deb, even though there are "rules" involved in this award, please don’t feel stressed out about this! I hope you feel as special as I did when I saw my award on Fern’s blog!

And thank you Fern, again and again, b/c there are days when I actually consider starting a second SECRET blog that I tell no one about just so that I can complain more and talk about my body in graphic detail and just VENT! But then I get to read your blog and I can always relate in some way and comment or email you and it makes me feel better!

Ok, I ALSO have dining room photos to share but work must come first so I will either get back on here later tonight or will just post them tomorrow. Thanks for indulging me in this HUGE long post!

You know you’re pregnant when your idea of a small snack is three crunched up Oreos in a bowl of vanilla ice cream drowning in chocolate sauce!

Oh yeah baby!

I just wrote a new post over at Jodified Designs, but b/c most people just read this blog I thought I would mention my big news over here too!

When I do a photo session for my clients I include a disk of their entire edited shoot in my package for them. That means that they can get as many prints for as many people as they want at no additional charge.  HOWEVER, a lot of people have out of town (or even in town) family and friends that may want a print or two from their shoot, and having to do the work themselves can be time consuming. SO, I’ve done the work for them and created a print ordering site!

Very exciting!

I obviously do not recommend this to my clients themselves, b/c it would be silly not to use the disk themselves to save money! But they can certainly send their friends and family there!  The other added bonus is that I only include 15 photos in each clients online album on the Jodified blog, but at the print site I will include every photo from their shoot… so it’s a great way to preview their photos also!

TO check out my new site, use the link on the sidebar called "order prints".

*I will not be adding old photo shoots, just all future shoots… but if you are a client I’ve worked with in the past and are interested in this new feature, please send me an email or comment on this post and I will get your album up there!