Jakki, a sweet blog reader and fellow blogger herself (her blog HERE) loves baby photos in black and white so here you go Jakki! A few of Mr Man from today!

The light was AWFUL but I'm kind of digging the ISO at 1600 lately… love the grainy look for some reason right now. Not even minding when they are slightly out of focus like the ones I got on a family walk this evening when the light was super low. There is something to be said about the imperfect photos that still are able to capture emotion and tell a story.

Not sure if it's b/c I spent all fall trying to get "perfect" photos or what, but I'm really in love with crazy actions, low light, grain, b/w and fuzzy. A phase? Maybe. It's art baby and ever changing!

So I've finished the website and am now waiting on an email from my host company telling me that it's LIVE. Starting to stress that I haven't heard from them yet. Praying my Jan 1 debut is still possible!!!

Kind of taking it easy tonight after working until so late the last few nights and feeling a tad under the weather. C and I played Seinfeld Scene It earlier and now I'm editing a shoot from last week. Hope you enjoyed this warm day if you were in St. Louis!

And now to make Jakki smile…

 
Oh I love this little guy! He lost some weight last week when he wasn't eating much but luckily he didn't lose all his yummy chub! Don't you just want to kiss those lips? Oh that makes me want to go wake him up and kiss him! Yeah right! Ha!

And these are from our walk tonight…

Love these two boys!

Chris was getting sick of me attempting to get an in-focus shot, he will put up with the camera for about 3 minutes before I get this:

I love how confused Gray looks!

For some reason these shriveled up berries really spoke to me.

And although it just about killed him, I handed Chris the camera and forced him to take a few of me. I need to do this more often so the kids actually see me in their young lives!

It was so windy and I love my crazy hair here!

And me and my girls.

Here's hoping I have a website up and running by tomorrow night!

Wow.

I want to write a novel about how excited I am to launch the website in a few days but it's midnight and my kids wake up in 5 hours with a nursing session or two between now and then. So instead I just want to mention that man oh man I am so excited!

Dreams coming true and all that jazz.

Also, for all you Jodified clients out there, even past clients who will have a "grandfather clause" to fall back on, the deal of the century is almost over! To review… if you book NOW for 2009 and get me a 50% deposit BEFORE the 1st of the year you will LOCK IN the 2008 rates ($250 and a FREE disk). I've had a lot of bookings already but I want to make sure you know that this is the best deal I will ever offer.

And does anyone outside of St. Louis want to be a Jodified client? If you are in the Kansas City (or surrounding areas) area I will be traveling there for a weekend of sessions in June! I will announce the date soon but please email me with interest!

Oh, and do you notice the look and feel of the blog is a bit different? Yep. Changes all around baby! NEW LOGO to be released soon (teaser on the new banner!), no more albums of client images, soon-to-be albums of my own family, etc. I will also be updating my blog+website links soon so please shoot me an email if you want me to link your blog or website here… I won't promise I will link it, but I promise I will take a look at your site and see if I love it!

So that's what I've been doing the last few days. Editing photos, website building, blog renovating, snot wiping, potty training, etc. Oh yes. We're potty training Parker. Lord help us all.

To leave you tonight, so I can go collapse into bed feeling pretty miserable (totally caught someone's cold!), here is a sneak peek from my shoot the day after Christmas…

Just a peek!

Keep voting! We've had almost 400 votes! Spread the word and tell your family and friends to help you win! One vote per person please!

This is such an exciting week… I've never yearned for the new year to come so badly!

Obviously I've taken a ton of photos this week and so I thought I would start the onslaught tonight with some I took today of my dad's side of the family…

Way to Go Christmas Kuhn Family!

My sweet niece playing peekaboo with her daddy!


My dad's brother, my Uncle John, Aunt Cate and cousin Chris (yes oh yes we have a cousin Chris and my sister and I both married men named Chris!) with his new fiance Megan!


These two have been married for a long time but totally act like they are the newly engaged couple!




Isn't she beautiful? And so in love!


My dad's younger brother, my Uncle Jeff, Aunt Cindy, Bea and Ben.

I love this one of the kids! Bailey LOVES Bea and Ben!

Thanks to Megan for snapping one of us!

These next ones just make me happy… my dad is being silly with all the grandkids who are off to the side and my mom is laughing at him! Love these!!!

I love that he just couldn't focus on me and kept playing with them!

I finally got a little focus!

A favorite!

Chris had the camera for a minute and got this of my sister, who will kill me for posting it, but I love it! Totally cracks me up!

My parent's really wanted a photo with all the grandkids, for a New Year's card, and b/c there were so many funny ones I have to post a few! Oh how imperfect posing with four kids three and under is! I love it!

So there you have it! One side of our crazy family! We love them all!

And a great idea… while at a family gathering, run outside and snap some shots! A great way to update your photos each year! We definitely have to make this a tradition!

It was 72 here today, completely insane, and Chris and I are sitting together getting work done WITH THE DOOR OPEN! In December we have our front door open letting in the air! Wonderful. Happy evening.

Hello Today. What day is it anyway? I seriously have no idea. It's the day before my sister leaves, I know that, and hate it. (MOVE HOME ABBIE!)

Just a quick fyi b/c what in the world would this blog be these days without a sick Allen kid update? Bailey is still coughing, damn pneumonia, but feels great. Parker is still coughing even though we're doing her breathing treatments religiously, but otherwise totally fine. Gray is definitely starting to feel better! He slept the last two nights really well and although is still really fussy during the day I can tell he's starting to feel better. The worst is when he starts coughing and can't stop, but those attacks are fewer and fewer as the days go on. See ya later RSV. Nice knowin ya.

Are all of you sweet people that sent us Christmas cards dying to know who Bailey picked? We spread out all the cards and I told her to pick her favorite… this is what she chose!

Congrats Nancy! A free photo shoot is coming your way! Just email me with dates and we'll get it on the calendar!

Thanks for all the sweet cards, we still don't have ours mailed yet and with my website deadline looming I doubt we'll get them out before the new year! Oh well, they are cute and you'll laugh when you finally get one! And all Jodified clients watch the mail in Jan for your special cards! AND if you'd like to get on the first ever Jodified mailing list please just email your address to me at (jodifiedATgmailDOTcom)!

TODAY: Had a fun lunch with the Kuhn family (my dad's side) for our gift exchange. My favorite gift of the day was Bailey's from our cousin Chris and his fiance Megan… the sweetest poncho that is screaming for a photo! I also grabbed each family and shot a few photos outside inbetween rain drops. I'm planning a large family photo wall in our family room… will share images soon. And now that the rain is pouring on the windows, a movie is on tv and the kids+husband are sleeping I need to get back to work!

Almost too depressed to blog tonight but since I've gotten some emails wondering how the kids are doing I thought I would do a brief update.

Around 8pm at my inlaws last night Gray started crying and didn't stop. By 9pm we were home (I think) and surprised the girls with their NEW bed… I have photos to share. SO we got them in their big girl beds and by 10pm Gray was crying again. I tried sitting in the bathroom with the hot shower going for steam, I tried baby Vicks on his chest, I tried suctioning his nose, walking, bouncing, rocking, anything to get him to calm down. My mom even came over in hopes that a new person holding him would help. Unfortunately the only thing to calm him down was C driving around for 45 minutes. But just an hour after they got home he woke up crying again. This time he wasn't catching his breath. He would take 5 small gasping breaths for every big one that actually got air in his lungs. After 20 minutes I started to get worried (not to mention that he's never inconsolable) and called the after-care hours nurse. The nurse asked me how long he sounded like that, she could hear him over the phone, and when I said 30 minutes she said, "go to the hospital. How fast can you get there? Should I call 911 for you?"

Holy Shit.

We called my mom (this is 1am now btw) and left the house before she even got there… I've never left my kids unattended but when the nurse said he wasn't getting enough air I freaked out and told Chris we had to leave NOW. My mom got there minutes after us.

Two nose vacuum sucking things, one breathing treatment and a prescription for MORE F-ING ANTIBIOTICS for his TWO RAGING ear infections later we were home at 4am with a sleeping baby.

The girls were up at 5:30am excited about Santa.

One hour sleep. On Christmas Eve.

We could barely keep our eyes open while the girls excitedly opened all their gifts from Santa. The day we'd been planning for, saving for and working for was here and we were too exhausted to enjoy it.

Right now I am laying on the couch working on my website (which launches in SIX days if I can find time to finish it!), Chris is sleeping, Grayson is sleeping (thank God, it's been a long day) and the girls are sleeping… although they spent the night, Christmas night, at my inlaws just in case Grayson takes another turn for the worse and we have to be up all night again.

We left my parent's house early tonight with a crying Grayman and I cried all the way home. I cried in the shower holding my wheezing baby boy too and I want to cry now. To not have everyone home on Christmas makes me incredibly sad. To be so far past exhausted that I can't enjoy life right now makes me sad. To be so worried about Gray makes me tired. And sad.

The girls, I hope, are still too young to really understand how stressed we are with Gray. They had a blast opening all their amazing gifts today and had a ton of fun with the entire family over at the Allen's tonight. I hope they don't realize they should be home with us tonight.

Anyway.

It's just hard. I looked back and I think that Parker got her first cold before Halloween and since then we've had stomach flu, strep throat, colds, pneumonia, asthma and RSV hit our house… with no breaks. And of course in the midst of my busy season when I'm already stretched thin. 

Sorry to vent to you all. I promise tomorrow will be a better day!

And speaking of tomorrow…

I will have the girls choose the Christmas card that is their favorite and that family will win something (I honestly can't remember what I said so I will have to go back and look!) fun! I will announce the winner no later than tomorrow night.

And he's crying again.

EDITED…

I got the sweetest comment from my friend Becky (thank you for your perfect words) and an email from Terri, my MIL, with this video link. That and the fact that Grayson woke up but went back to sleep fairly easily is making me smile. Just wanted to share that I'm not completely depressed tonight!

Last night at our family Christmas party Chris and the girls put on a little play. Well, they sang a song and pretended to hit their heads on a table, but in our family that equals the best Christmas play ever.

Ok ok ok. It's definitely not the best, but it sure is the funniest!

And at the very end, please notice  the TWO 32oz Mnt Dew cups over to the right side of the screen! Oh yes I certainly ordered soda from Imo's b/c I was shaky from lack of sleep! (And is it strange that the shakiness hasn't worn off? My hands are shaking as I type this. One more day of crazy to get through enjoy!)

ANYWAY. GO HERE and watch Bailey, Parker and Chris in their first attempt at a Christmas play!

So funny.

In 20 minutes Christmas is here and we are busy being Santa (and taking an email break+blog break!)…

Merry Christmas!

Our good friend Donna sent Christmas cards out this year with this photo (from the Soulard Mini's) and the caption "perspective is everything."

That is ringing so true for me today. Yesterday I started out my day with a NILMDTS shoot. Can you imagine losing a baby two days before Christmas? I can't.

It made all the illness seem to melt away and put my life back into perspective. Major perspective.  Even when I spent from 9pm-1am in the ER with Grayson (and Aunt Abbie who came along to keep me company! Thanks Ab!) who was wheezing really bad and coughing too much and who has a double ear infection now on top of RSV (they cultured him and it was positive). RSV is scary. I hate listening to his breathing, or lack thereof. But at least he's breathing. And he's alive. And he's still smiling.

TODAY: Merry Christmas Eve blogland! We're wrapping gifts and coughing and watching movies and wheezing and eating yummy snacks and sneezing. Heading to my in-laws to infect hang out with all of them tonight which we're excited about… there's something about my inlaw's home that I love; super cozy and warm. Because I had no wrapping time last night (which was my designated wrap session) C and I will be up late tonight playing Santa! Love that. Some hot chocolate, White Christmas and gifts to wrap… I love spending late nights with him!

I hope your families are well, your shopping is done and your heart is full today.

ps… keep voting and spread the word to your family and friends!!!

***staying at the top until contest is closed… scroll down for newer posts!***

First, thanks for all the encouraging comments. I love hearing your stories about how you dealt with your child's ear infections or your ideas about what we could try! I always love ideas + advice!

Second, the point of this blog….

A MAJOR AWARD! (Christmas Story anyone?)

The Contest: Picking the best photo of 2008!

The Award: (No, it's not a plastic leg lamp) an 11×14 print on foam core of the winning image!

SO, here is the deal…

I've gone through every session I've had this year and chosen my top 10 "moment" photos! "Moments" being defined as what I pride myself on… capturing the moments of a family together that define true life… the not-so-perfect moments if you will! (FYI, this was incredibly hard b/c there are ones I love in each session and there were some sessions I had multiple favorites, but I had to keep it to a reasonable number!) I am going to post them all here and then give you until the first of the new year to vote!

Each photo is numbered 1-10 and all you have to do is look at them and vote over on the sidebar! So easy!!! Feel free to encourage your family and friends to come by and vote as there is only ONE VOTE PER PERSON! Please!

Also, these are just MY favorite 10! They are my favorites for different reasons so please don't get your feelings hurt if you don't see your family represented! I love you all!

Here we go!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

Let the voting begin!

You will not believe this. Seriously.

Grayson is on EAR INFECTION NUMBER 4!!! Holy F-ing Shit.

Yeah. I cursed.

I'm mad.

His ears were totally clear on Friday. Today they are both BOTH puss filled and excruciating. I feel so bad for him. And of course now they are talking about tubes and of course now I am freaking out.

"Hearing Loss"

and

"Speech Delay"

and

"Extreme Pain"

were all terms tossed around loosely today.

We see the chiro on Wed and will update you on her opinion.

I just feel so defeated.

I warn you, this will be filled with some of the worst photos ever…

Where to start? Bailey is still sick but the fever is gone as of yesterday and I think she's on the mend. Parker and Grayson are now coughing (the cough is worse than it has been for Parker so it tells me this is something new) and I think I'm at least getting Gray into the doc this morning as he is also wheezing and that worries me a bit b/c of RSV. Since I don't remember life without sick kids this all isn't bothering me too much!

Here's Bailey from Saturday when she was quarantined with Chris at home (I had the little ones at my mom's)…

(Photo taken by Chris)

And I told you about a painting I did for a friend of mine… she has three little girls…

and she calls them her monkey's. When I saw this idea (yes, I totally stole the painting idea!) HERE I knew I had to paint it for her as a Christmas gift. So I did…

I didn't have any kind of canvas and I love how Kal Barteski paints on anything so I just grabbed a piece of scrap paper and went at it. I love it! Sorry the photo is so horrible. Then I had a frame I got for $4 at Target last summer so I put it in there, painted the edge of the mat with blue paint and then glitter modge podge, wrapped it and gave it. Of course I don't have any other photos to share. On the back of the frame I wrote something like, "for my friend and her three little monkeys…" but she didn't see that right away and was a bit confused as to why I was giving her monkeys. Oh well, it's the thought that counts I guess!

In other crafty news, the girls and I made our first ginger bread house out of graham crackers and Chris didn't like how little I let them help. But to my defense, every time they added something we had a cave in and then they'd get upset! So they helped with the candy a bit but I did the construction. Anyway, he was unhappy with the way I was doing it and demonstrated it the next morning when he totally chomped a bite right out of the top (just so it wasn't too perfect anymore the big jerk!)

Oh, and did I mention that he took this photo too? He's been hyjacking the camera this weekend and although the photos are a little rough, I love that he's actually thinking to take a photo… he usually hates me and my camera!

And to end our terrible photo parade…

We took the kids to see Santa a few nights ago (Thursday, before we knew how sick Bails actually was). While waiting GoGo (my MIL) let the girls toss money into the fountains…

I love how completely out of focus this one is!

We got there at 5:30pm to find this sign… and he was late which drove me crazy!

But he got there and we were first in line so it went fast. Two things… 1. I will not take my camera next year and just pay the $50 for photos b/c getting three kids on his lap and taking the photos didn't work well and 2. Santa is not always jolly when he has three kids crowded on his lap!

So classic!

TODAY:  The girls and I are about to start the gift wrapping mania and YES I am letting them help so if you receive a gift from us and there is tape all over it but no paper, don't judge! Grayson is sleeping after coughing all night and in 5 minutes I'll be calling the ped to see if we can get in or not. Chris is going to go sweep the back porch in 10 degree weather b/c he's anal and needs a break I think. And yes it's not even 8am yet. Our playdate with friends is canceled due to coughing and we're hoping we can see Samantha today even if we don't touch! Dinner tonight at our house with family to round out the day! Oh and I have 100 Christmas cards to address. And the Jodified New Year's card to create. And my website to work on!

TWO THINGS…

1. Gift certificates with this years pricing will only be sold until 1.1.09 so order yours today!

2. If you have booked a session for the new year at this year's rates your deposit is due in my hands before 1.1.09 or it's not booked. This is also your last chance to lock in these rates!

Have a good Monday!