My busy season has officially begun!

Today I had a mini session this afternoon and I have a senior session tonight. I’m doing a shoot Saturday with my family (yes my family!!! so excited!) and then there are two a week (give or take) until November!

B.U.S.Y.

And here I am, wondering how in the world I’m going to actually get it all done! The shooting is the easy part, it’s the backlog of edits that will get me behind. I need to just buy stock in Mountain Dew and get on with it.

{ If you are considering booking me for a photo shoot before Christmas PLEASE work ahead and email me soon so I can get you on my calendar! I know Christmas cards seem eons away, but then it’ll be November before you know it and you’ll be calling me begging for me to squeeze you in and then casually asking, "can you rush those please?" The answer? NO. I’m giving myself longer with edits this year and I’m booking almost half the clients I booked last fall simply due to the fact that with the added child in this house I don’t want to overload myself and let people down. I have a couple slots left in August, 4 in Sept and 3 in October! And then the calendar is closed! }

And just to put a smile on Jennifer’s face (and her sweet sweet mom’s) here is a sneak peak at my mini session I just got back from…

Do you remember the fruit bowl baby?

He’s grown!

He was 7 days old in the first photo and now he’s 6 months… I can’t wait for the 1 year photos!

Chris has the kids all day for me as I’ve been editing wedding photos like a mad woman and I just pop out to feed the little man… thanks honey! Seeing as the daddy at home days are limited I’m using them to work as fast as I can!

Tomorrow is Friday and then it’s the weekend so let’s finish up Thursday with a BANG!

I finally had a break from the oh so fussy Gray Man tonight and got Aaron’s album up… check this cutie out!

And these are to make my mom smile… the other day Bailey left her bear, Teds, in my mom’s car.  We realized it at nap time so Bails called her to ask her to bring him back. I told her to wait on the porch for Grandma and she was so cute I grabbed the camera…

Waiting…

She sees Grandma…

Watching her pull out and waiting for her bye-bye honk…

"I love you Grandma!"

my skinny jeans fit!!!

i by no means feel skinny, but they fit!

and that’s all that matters to me right now!

Oh thank goodness yesterday is but a memory already. That was one hell of a day I never want to relive. Screaming baby, crabby/fighting girls, pee on the floor twice (once from each girl), two clogged toilets, getting nothing done… really I think the bad day was more on me not being able to handle a normal day at our house for some reason. Maybe I’ve hit my no sleep limit or something. I was just as crabby as the kids and all together we just weren’t meshing.

But today is a new day. Grayson is happier and C’s mom rescued me and took the girls! It’s truly amazing what a little peace and quiet around here does for my soul. Gray is sleeping, iTunes is playing softly, the house is picked up, a shower is in my future and I can check email/read blogs for a few minutes uninterrupted.  So nice. Thank you Wednesday for not sucking like Tuesday did. I appreciate it!

Last night I had a great time with Emily. Face time with another woman feeds my soul too. And I love our friendship b/c she truly understands my love of photography and blogging… two things I can’t talk with many people about. Thanks Em! It was great to see you!

Before I lose this quiet time I’m going to shower. I am all for blogging, but showering is nice too every once in a while!

I’m in a GET MOVING mood so we’ll see how much I can tackle with one kid today! Laundry, LOOK OUT! Floors, a mop is in your future and Toilet just get out of my way! Some Kuhn Const. work and wedding edits are on my list too. Slow down time so I can savor this LETS GO day!

Today has sucked balls. I hate that saying, HATE IT, but that’s exactly what this day has been. Totally sucktastic.

The girls are bored of being home so much but it’s too hot to play outside or go to the park, I can’t do the three kids at the pool, I don’t want to attempt the mall my myself and there was NO ONE that could come pick them up to take them somewhere, and I tried calling a lot of people! So all day the girls bickered and made messes and cried and whined all while Grayson decided that sleeping is overrated and crying is way more fun. I just walked around and around with him while trying to balance coloring or snacks or games with the girls. Basically I wanted to just walk out the door and never look back.

But alas, they are all sleeping right now. Thank you God. I needed this. And tonight my friend Emily is coming over to eat Imo’s and talk photography. LOVE THAT. Can’t wait. Thanks Em for giving me a light at the end of this very long day.

SO. a few catch up items I promised…

Let’s start with a few photos from yesterday when I liked my children:

Love these. I got this idea from HERE and although I think these are cute, hers is WAY more beautiful and amazing b/c 1. she is a better photographer clearly 2. her daughter is older and the baby younger at the time of the photo and 3. Grayson was starving, hence the fist in mouth he’s got going on. Love her BLOG too so check her out!

Also, I wanted to share a great idea for making meals more fun that I got from HERE.

Muffin Tins! I finally bought two 6-cup tins b/c all we had was a 12-cup and used them last night for the first time. The girls LOVED it! Bailey kept saying, "this is awesome dinner Mommy!"  Theirs had 2 toasted raviolis, cheese cubes, nectarine cubes, cucumber and pepper slices, ranch dressing for dipping and apple sauce.  We used them again for lunch today and it really makes me think about what I’m serving them.

Ok, I swear I have the felt fish game to share but Parker is screaming and I have minutes to grab her before she wakes Bailey. I’ll try to post the game later tonight…

I don’t really curse that much but lately I’ve noticed a lot of "hells" on here and I think I’m happy with it. And it’s a good thing because holy hell people, this is some post I’ve got coming up…

First things first. Last week I mentioned the fact that, at least in our life, we’re going to look back 20 years from now and see all these adorable photos of the kids but none of our REAL life. I’ve decided that I take too many nice shots of the kids and am missing out on the parts of life that I’m going to forget. I already forget how the house looked on a daily basis when Parker was an infant and I really don’t remember the details of our house in Spokane when Bails was a baby. I also don’t remember what my body looked like after Bailey or Parker except that I know I wasn’t happy… and I had NO stretch marks after those kids. It’s a shame really b/c it’s these tiny details that I would love to know about my own childhood and my mom doesn’t remember either.  SO I challenged you and myself to take a moment and photograph the not so appealing parts of life. We’ve got the good, how about the bad and the ugly?

Fern answered the call HERE and so did Tara HERE.  Check these brave ladies out! And it’s not too late to take the challenge yourself… Abbie? Erin? Emily? Maureen?

SO here’s mine :::

I am absolutely ashamed that I let food run so low at our house. It’s gotten even worse since Grayson’s come b/c running to the store is such a task now. There are days I can barely throw together a meal and this is exactly why we live on Imo’s Pizza so much. I did make it to the grocery store this afternoon (and have a great story to tell later) so it does look slightly better now.

Poor Chris. This is what he wakes up to. Ratty hair pulled back haphazardly, a maternity tank top with the huge nursing bra straps showing and a baby always with me. Very attractive. See mom? No need to worry about #4 coming anytime soon!

This is by our front door and drives me crazy. There are always a million bags hanging there and it always looks cluttered. Without a lot of storage in this house though I haven’t found a better place for all that crap, but I digress. That’s not what I’m admitting today…

THIS is. Do you see the bunnies? Yes, it’s July and I still have Easter decorations up. Just on this one shelf. Somehow I managed to take them down everywhere else.  What is wrong with me and my lazy self?

The girls laundry is my constant downfall. I’ve gotten ours and Grayson’s under control, but I always have at least one basket of clean clothes at the bottom of the stairs and at least one in their bedroom just waiting to be carried up or put away. It’s the chore I just never get to.

And speaking of laundry… our laundry room was right off the kitchen in Spokane but here it’s in the dark and scary basement so in an attempt to be down there as little as possible I’ve given up cleaning the dryer. It absolutely grosses me out, but I never do anything about it.

I have no idea how to use make-up so now I look tired all the time and can’t cover it up. Attractive huh?

OK ladies, hold onto your hats.

Oh yes. My stretch marks. Oh yeah, AND the nice dark line from my belly button to my you know where. These little beauties are all Mr. Grayson Man. Thank you very much sir. And somehow this photo makes my tummy look incredibly flat, but trust me, there is a good chunk of pooch there.

Was that ugly enough for you? Seeing just a few of the ugly parts of my life was actually very liberating and slightly refreshing. I’m not hiding anymore. I hate food shopping, my laundry is out of control, my dryer is filthy, I look like crap 100% of the time now and oh yes. Hell Yes. I have stretch marks.

Now, b/c I also have been wanting to share some other bits and pieces I’m going to keep writing, although I know this is already the world’s longest post.

Too cute. Grayson passed out in the midst of me putting laundry away earlier tonight. I think I have a photo like this of all three kids!

Have I mentioned that this is going to be a handmade Christmas in this house? I’m either making the gifts or buying them from people making the gifts… buying a lot from ETSY. So one plan is to make some felt food for the girl’s kitchen. I have recruited the help of my very talented MIL, Terri, b/c she actually knows how to sew, but I am going to do some by hand just for fun too. This egg is all I have so far but it’s a start! I will post more as I create them.

And last but certainly not least… I have to show you Gray’s new trick! He’s such a strong baby for 6 weeks!

He can even lift his chest off the ground!

Tonight I’m going to bed early b/c I am tired. Very very tired. Tomorrow I will post the fish game, our great dinner idea (that has nothing to do with cooking), my grocery store story and some adorable photos I snagged today of B and G. So with that and a few stretch marks I’m out of here!

A shot of vodka? No, but it might take the edge off my ONE HOUR OF SLEEP. Yeah, no big surprise that I need sleep.

Last night we had one killer of a thunder storm that put Bailey in our bed at 11pm, before I’d even gotten in there. And then Grayson was up every two hours, for at least an hour. I think he was having boob withdrawls from not nursing all day Saturday. And in the 45 minute time slots I got to lay down Bailey was kicking me or rolling on me or it was thundering so I spent most of the night watching Roseanne on Nick at Night.

Am I crabby? Yes. Am I semi-pissed off at ALWAYS being so freaking tired? YES. Is Chris gone ALL day today? Yes. Have I already called my mom and begged her to come play with the girls for a little while? Hell yes.

I have my not-so-nice life photos to post today, but seeing as I look like death warmed over I’m contemplating being brave enough to photograph myself also. Do the kids really want/need to see how awful they made me look 20 years from now? Do I really want to remember? Probably not, but when one of my girls calls ME after no sleep, too many kids and an absent husband I could pull out the photo of me looking like hell and tell her she’s not alone. If only I didn’t have two huge zits on my chin.

I also have a fun, if time consuming, craft project for all you super-moms out there…felt fish for a fishing game and felt food for your little kid kitchens. Oh yeah, I was up until midnight hand sewing felt fish/food. Have I not introduced myself? Hi. My name is crazy. I also go by guilt-ridden-super-mom. Or Jodie is fine too.

Ok, Parker is screaming from her bed where I threw her in an attempt to force the crabbiest kid on the block to nap and Bailey is sitting next to me begging for an art project. I guess it’s time to close the computer and start this day from hell.

If you read this blog then you might also read some of the ones I’ve linked which means you might have read that Baby Noah needs prayer right now. But for those that haven’t heard, here I am asking for prayers.

Friday he was rushed to the hospital, has been admitted and that’s pretty much all I know. So if you were already praying for this incredible little boy, please keep praying. Pray harder.

And pray for Josh and Deb, his parents, b/c I can’t even imagine what they’re going through right now.

She hasn’t blogged (do you blame her?) but click on Noah’s prayer button on my sidebar if you’d like to know more about their story.

You were hot and sweaty and sticky and buggy and humid and exhausting. You were also fun and beautiful and exhilarating.  I will admit I wasn’t sure I was cut out for you. I take photos of families and babies and things I can re-shoot if something were to ever go wrong, not the most special day of someone’s life.

But you know what wedding?

I kicked your ass!

Sincerely,
Jodie

I have over 1200 photos to sort through… more to come this week…

And a HUGE thank you to Erin for shooting with me! THANK YOU ERIN!

Recovering today which means a quick nap now while the kids are sleeping…

Has anyone out there ever used acupuncture to turn a breech baby?  Or has anyone had a breech baby in general and had any recommendations from their doctor on how to turn the baby? Or has anyone had a breech baby and would be willing to email with a friend of mine to share your story?

Please leave a comment as she reads this blog! Thanks!

Off to shoot my FIRST WEDDING! Can’t wait to post photos/stories tomorrow!