Ciao Bella

Hello? Is this thing on?

2012-01-13T15:22:00.000-06:00

Dear blog, sorry to leave you in the lurch the past two months. It wasn't you, it was me. Well, actually the two year old monster who lives in my house has been holding me hostage and has only released me on conditions of limitless Shrek watching and a finished big boy room.

I know we're all busy so I'll cut the "I've been so busy" crap, we all can relate right!? But we have experienced a few milestones the past few months that I am so excited (and/or relieved) about! Namely potty training, moving Brody to a big boy bed, saying goodbye to his "B" (pacifier), Jared's second office location opening, surviving swine flu and RSV, and counting down to little Emerson's arrival in March! Needless to say I am humongous, 7-1/2 months pregnant is not my favorite. And I'm afraid that it just gets worse from here. I've decided to parade my large-ness abroad and take a last minute trip to London with Jared in a couple of weeks. Yes, I'm crazy. But I wasn't going to let being 32 weeks pregnant keep Jared from seeing London for the first time! It's going to be so much fun, I can't wait!

I'll try to put up some pictures of Brody's new big boy room soon - lots of DIY projects, some unfinished, all in the pursuit of a not-so-kitchy but not too plain room for a little boy who eats, breaths, and lives everything sports. TRUST ME - I was dreading it like the plague. You'd have to hold me at knife point to get me to buy a matching sports themed bed set, which turns out was EXACTLY what Jared has envisioned/hoped for since we found out we were having a boy. Helllllooooo compromise! So details on that fun adventure coming soon...

I hate posts without a picture, so here is a picture of His Evilness. Not looking so evil in this one, actually pretty freaking cute if you ask me. He's got his act down, fooling us all. :)

Where did this big boy come from!?

2011-11-20T15:13:00.001-06:00

These are from his first day of preschool. :) He goes two days a week, for two hours a day, and has a little backpack and everything! I can't stand the cuteness, it's just too much. He even says "pre-cool". I can't take it. It's like all of a sudden he's this little boy who's all grown up!

The month before preschool was a whirlwind of potty training (yes, it's early. yes, I'm an idiot), hand foot and mouth disease (hideous and awful), Brody's 2nd birthday, holiday and newborn sessions, and a trip to Utah to shoot a wedding and visit family. I feel like we got a jump start on the holiday mayhem!

But the great thing is that he's completely potty trained, loves preschool, and can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa J in California over Thanksgiving. (Is it just me or did Thanksgiving totally sneak up on us this year?)

But preschool is really making me realize that time seems to be going by so much faster. Which I'm really banking on getting me through the sleepless nights this new baby is going to bring with her. Oh the joy. But it also motivates me to consciously slow down. Things aren't going to magically get less crazy or less busy, I'm pretty sure those things are just going to escalate at a faster rate. But if we can be happy crazy and happy busy I'm going to count that as a win. :)

So on days like today - with dishes piled in the sink, a to-do list a mile long, and a mangled peanut butter and jelly sandwich sitting next to my keyboard (thank you Brody) - I have a preschooler. Who poops in the potty. Life is good.

Bumeee!!

2011-10-27T12:37:00.001-05:00

That's how Brody says "jumping", but it's more like Bumeee, BUmeee, BUMMEEEEEEEEE MOMMY! I'm kind of glad the guest room is pretty much an unfinished box with a bed in it right now, it's the perfect place to bumeee.

I can't decide whether he looks more like Dennis the Menace or Draco Malfoy.

At least this keeps him busy for at least 5 minutes. At what age does "high energy" become "needs medication"?? Haha, just kidding. Sort of.

But really he's getting to that really fun age where he kind of listens to what I say or ask and answers back. He's my little buddy. He LOVES turning on music in the kitchen and having dance offs. His two favorite songs right now are Baby by Justin Bieber and Black Horse and a Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall. He sings along to both of them and it's to die for cute. We have a few of his funnier ones on You Tube, you can check them out --> here.

We find out what baby #2 is in two weeks, let's all hope for a calm, sweet little girl. Mmmmm K? Actually another little boy would be fun, Brody could have a partner in crime. So it will be good either way. My sister, Kellye, is due three weeks after me and they are having a girl!! (Their doctor does a Jack and Jill blood test and mine doesn't, boo) So either way we will have a little girl to play dress up with. :)

For now, I'll be running after this little maniac. Well, I guess he is kinda cute.

Vintage trunk love

2011-10-07T12:50:00.002-05:00

I found this aviator trunk from World War II at a flea market a couple months ago (it had pieces of the original shipping label still on it, so cool!). FOR $40!!! Flea markets usually bring out a fierce bargaining gene in me (from my mother's side) but I practically threw two twenties at the guy and carried this thing on my back the rest of the day. Well, not all day. And not on my back (thanks to my sister Kellye), but if I had to I totally would have!

Now what to do with it? Polish it up and stare at it's beautifulness was first on the list. I stared for a long time. What do you want to be lovely trunk? Then it spoke to me - I want to be an awesome console table with storage underneath to hide your husband's ridiculous array of playstation materials. I knew I loved you, trunk.

The problem was the size - not tall enough to be a table on it's own, but too tall to sit on top of any normal table. So I decided to take matters into my own I've-never-built-anything-ever hands, smiled really nicely at the Home Depot lumber guys, and attempted to just make a table that wasn't hideous. Oh boy.

And you know, it worked! Although a tad hideous, for my first venture into building stuff I'm just glad it's sturdy and level. :)

It seemed a little plain so I slapped some corner braces on the outside of a few slats to make a little lip at the top for the trunk to sit inside.

Much betta!

And the final before and after:

I was so in love with this trunk and I'm so excited that it's now actually a functional piece of furniture. I think Jared was pleasantly surprised too, could I be winning him over!? Possibly so...

Moral of the story - if you can't find it, make it. Even if the end product is more on the slightly hideous side than you planned. If I can do it, I PROMISE, you can do it too. Home Depot is your friend. :)

They say we all have a twin...

2011-09-20T13:26:00.000-05:00

When I got an email last fall about scheduling a family session and the "From" line said Tyan I definitely did a double take. Did I send myself an email? I've never met someone with the same name, let alone same spelling! It was so much fun finding out that we have so much more in common than just our name. We both graduated from A&M the same year, we got married within three months of each other, and we had our boys three months apart. Crazy!!!

So this is Tyan, her Yell Leader husband John (Aggies out there know how cool that is), and their adorable son Jack.

We had so much fun. They are the cutest, most gorgeous family. I love them.

Big squeeeeeze!!!!

Oh I love, love, LOVE, this one. Nothing like a beautiful mom and her sweet baby.

And a few more at the tail end of a Texas sunset.

Isn't she gorgeous?

I got to see them again about a month ago. Here's a peek at that session.

She's due three months before me. And she's having a girl. :)

Pregnancy Envy

2011-09-14T16:21:00.000-05:00

Pregnancy does not look good on me. I'm not one of those people who glow or seem more at peace while pregnant. I'm not a fan. Especially during the first trimester. My skin is breaking out, my digestive system is rebelling against me in every way possible, if I could forever surrender my sense of smell I would, and I'm ready for bed by 6pm pretty much every day. This is me whining.

But the good thing is that I'm blessed with examples of perfect pregnancies and parenting all around me. Maybe there's hope.

Exhibit A: my sister Melissa.

Tall. Beautiful. Did pilates multiple times a week throughout her entire pregnancy. Her labor was maybe, mmmmm, 6 hours start to finish? We call her Mrs. Duggar because apparently her body was made for this. If only I could hire her as a surrogate. That might be weird.

Exhibit B: my sister Kellye.

Also tall, gorgeous, very zen. Very at one with her pregnancy, and not sick one day. She definitely has the glow for sure. She's such a good mom and always so calm. If she wanted to raise kids professionally she totally could. I would hire her, she would be hired.

And Exhibit C: my sister Paige.

Not pregnant, but tiny and so pretty. She's pretty much a miniature person. And I'm sure she'll be a miniature pregnant person (which are the worst kind). Her jeans will fit until she's 8 months, I'm sure of it. She's moving to London next week so I'm going to live the jet setting, skinny jean & scarf wearing life vicariously through her.

Having sisters who are pretty much perfection is a blessing and a curse I think. It gives me hope that maybe, if I ever get pregnant again (I will need a serious pep talk), just maybe I won't want to die. Or I won't look like I want to die. I'll take one out of two!

Okay, I'm done whining now. :)

When the house gets quiet...

2011-08-04T13:30:00.000-05:00

things like this happen! By the time I found him he had scooped out almost all of the Vaseline and was rubbing it in his hair and all over his face. And thought is was HILARIOUS.

As soon as I saw him I knew I had a choice - go into immediate cleanup mode or grab my camera. Needless to say I chose to cleanup later, it was funny until he started chasing me around the room with his slimy self.

And then it started to coat his eyeballs...

So it was bath time. Have you ever tried to wash Vaseline clumps out of hair!? IMPOSSIBLE! Dish soap, peanut butter, and two beaten eggs later (the eggs worked the best) he was a little less slimy. I think it took a week before it was all out.

He keeps me on my toes, that's for sure. And it's really going to get busy this spring when he's not the only child anymore. Yep, Brody will be a big brother in late March/early April! We're super excited, and I'm sure Brody will be happy to recruit a partner in crime. I have a feeling the shenanigans have just begun. :)

Paige & Will

2011-07-29T17:30:00.001-05:00

Today is the last Murray wedding. I can't believe it! I'm sure my parents can't either. I think what makes a fun day even better is the fact that she's marrying the best guy. We absolutely love Will and he fits right in with the now complete group of brother-in-laws. And they just make the cutest couple!

I love that Will brings out Paige's silly side. While we were taking these he was constantly making her laugh. I love them together.

When I asked them to practice their first dance in the middle of this park I think it sunk in a little bit for both of them, you could just feel it. I love when I get to be there when moments like these happen.

The rest of the time there was this calmness about them. It wasn't the giddy/nervous/excited side of love but the comfortable, calm, quiet side. They just fit.

I love it because it reminds me that this is what it's about. It's about looking to the person next to you and being so amazed that they are yours and you are theirs. So today the last Miss Murray becomes Mrs. Simmons, and it couldn't be more perfect...

Little tiny...

2011-07-27T12:35:00.000-05:00

Remember this sneak peak of little Landry? Here's the follow up that I meant to post afterwards, I can't believe how fast they grow. He was the cutest little tiny with all that hair, now he's crawling and giving Brody a run for his money! But he's still just as sweet as the day we took these.

Featured on Design Sponge

2011-07-21T10:54:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite blogs, Design Sponge, featured my sideboard makeover on their site today. WHAT!!??!!
Click --> here <-- to check it out.

I'm not going to lie, I'm dancing pretty spastically around the house right now. :)

$69 dresser-turned-sideboard makeover

2011-07-14T14:38:00.000-05:00

I recently saw this dresser at Goodwill and fell in love. I love the lines, the long narrow shape (72" wide & 19" deep), the amount of storage, so many things! What I didn't love so much was the color of the wood, the 70's style mirror, and the fact that it was a bedroom dresser. We don't need a bedroom dresser. But we do need a dining room sideboard. So my wheels started turning and it was obsession level madness in full force.

I knew I was in for some serious painting and sanding time but that wasn't the biggest hurdle of this project. Convincing Jared that a) we neeeeeheheheeeeded a sideboard in the dining room and b) that such a "big hunk of turd" (direct quote) could be transformed into something remotely cool were the biggest tasks. And did I mention said turd weighs about 400 pounds?

So after promising it would be cool and that he wouldn't hate it and if he did he could chop it up and set it on fire and that I wouldn't screw up the garage in the process, it was mine! For a grand total of $69.

I loved the straight clean lines of the drawers and molding but one little thing was kind of throwing it all off. The not-so-straight lower edge molding on the drawers.

So I grabbed a putty knife and pried off the the bottom pieces. I thought I could take the pieces to Home Depot or Lowe's, match it to existing molding, and just buy new pieces to tack on. Could things be so easy? The answer is almost always not quite.

There was no molding that even came close to matching so it was either pry off all the molding and replace it with something different or get creative. With a miter saw, some wood putty, and a Dremel I was in business.

I cut the pieces of molding at the joint with a miter saw and tacked them back onto the drawers in a straight line. Now I had gaps where the corners didn't meet so I glued some of the scrap pieces in the hole to give some support, and filled in the rest with wood putty. After the wood putty dried I used a grinding bit on the Dremel and carved out the wood putty so it looked just like the molding. This took a long. time. Because so help me if I made all those promises and it came out looking crappy.

After my brief, and hopefully last, stint in carpentry I sanded the whole thing inside and out. The piece is solid wood and I wanted to strip off the pretty thick coat of varnish so I used an electric sander. And coated the entire garage with a layer of dust.

Then it was time for primer and a few coats of white paint. Paint and primer are always my favorite because then it starts to actually look like what you had in mind at the start.

To spice it up at bit I decided to tape off a geometric border on the top, after the white paint dried, and go over it again with black paint. So when I took the tape off the white design would show through.

The final steps were just a couple coats of poly to seal it, re-attaching the hardware, and voila!

The thing that first caught my eye in Goodwill was the awesome hardware. I love that the handles are heavy and straight, a little industrial looking.

The border on top turned out really well! I think it adds a little bit of interest and helps the piece stand out in the room.

But my FAVORITE part of the whole thing!? The black paint on top isn't any black paint...

I didn't want it to look like a plain old sideboard, or for it to be too formal either. Chalkboard paint was the perfect solution to add some fun and quirky-ness, it just makes it more US. It will be fun at parties to draw arrows and write things like "delicious cupcakes" or "Brody's favorite", or to give kids something to do while helping set the table. The possibilities are endless! (This was part of my spiel to sell Jared on the whole idea.)

I painted the front of the inside drawers with chalkboard paint too for a little more labeling fun.

Brody loves opening and closing these doors, such a big helper. :)

The $69 dresser-turned-sideboard makeover:

Baby Rhys

2011-07-08T13:21:00.000-05:00

Is there anything better than a sweet, sleepy, chubby little munchkin? I dare say there is not. And he has to be one of the sweetest, sleepiest, chubbiest of them all. I pretty much love him.

And so does his big brother. He was so excited to tickle his toes and give him kisses.

Then he decided to show us his guns.:)

I love how his little legs are still all curled up. From shooting so many newborns after a few minutes of positioning them I can almost always tell which way they were positioned in the womb, one leg usually likes to be on top. Oh I love baby legs.

He literally slept the entire session - the wrapping, unwrapping, getting buck naked - all of it! The big boys are always the best sleepers but he takes the cake. Love you baby Rhys.

Equal Opportunity

2011-06-27T17:54:00.000-05:00

Because I pretty much have the cutest nephews EVER! Little Landry, I love him so much I could just eat him up.

So.....

2011-06-05T15:03:00.003-05:00

I'm behind. From the looks of things about two months behind! But, such is life. I just remind myself that being busy is better than bored, and that sanity is way overrated. :)

But between all of the shooting, traveling, diapers, laundry, and general mayhem, my newest nephew arrived. With the most blonde hair I've ever seen.

Jackson Murray Jorgensen, he is so sweet I could just eat him up.

Costa Rica - Day 6

2011-03-29T14:22:00.000-05:00

So I lied. I had all the best intentions of finishing these last two days up a week ago but it never fails - when I make plans, the AC goes out. I can pretty much count on it. So after spending the last week with the repair guys I am really wishing we were back on the beach!

Day 6 I conquered one of my major fears - heights. Apparently Costa Rica has some pretty amazing zipline tours, everyone that had been before told us it was a MUST do. Considering I have a hard time standing at the top of a step ladder without holding on I thought we might have a problem. But I didn't want to miss out so I figured if my harness breaks mid-zip and this is how I go out at least Jared would know that I tried to be adventurous!

As you can see, no harness mishaps this time so we're good. It was actually really, really fun. I did find myself looking down a few times planning which tree I would try to grab on to if my harness broke now.......or now.......or what.. about... now.... but that game got old quick since the trees started getting further and further away. We were so high up!! I should have taken some pictures along the way but I was too busy concentrating on my harness.

Here's the group on our way out. (Melissa and Dad stayed home with the babies)

Just a few from around the house after we got home. I loved the little water basin at the gate between our house and the beach, perfect idea for rinsing the sand off.

One of the days, I can't remember which, we had surf lessons so the boys spent the rest of the week trying to master the waves. I think Jared still prefers snowboarding, but man does he look good carrying a surf board. :)

Costa Rica - Day 5

2011-03-16T17:41:00.002-05:00

Beach day! Brody got things started with a little show to entertain Landry. It is SO cute how much he already loves his little cousin.

Then he decided to head outside to explore. I love his little diaper bum.

This is his face when I tell him not to put something in his mouth. He's pretending to listen....

... and then does something cute to try and distract me.

Then we got really dressed up (and by that I mean we wore something over our swimsuits) and headed out for lunch. So much for a picture of all of us looking, I think that's pretty much par-for-the-course with a 1 yr old. :)

Where for lunch, Paige? LOS MUNCHIES! So we called it. It was actually only a couple of picnic tables outside of a tiny general store but OH MAN did they have the best rice and beans you've ever had. In you life. Ever. Brody was a fan of the smoothies, not even Sean's turtle flute playing could distract him.

Then it was back on the beach.

Will and Jared tried to get Brody into boogie boarding. He didn't like it so much.

Probably as much as Jason liked this:

Brody's favorite thing to do was pick up shells/leaves/sunglasses and throw them into the surf. Each throw he would say "BOOM!" and make a funny surprised face. Such a big boy. I love that little dude.

To me days like this are like gold. Just relaxing and enjoying being around the people you love the most. And rice and beans.

Costa Rica - Day 4

2011-03-14T13:40:00.000-05:00

Sick of these yet? I feel like it's taking me 100 years to collect the pictures from everyone's cameras, sort, edit, and group them - but I promise I'm getting my stuff together! The last three days will go up this week and I will finally blog about something else!

In the meantime - day 4. Jared's favorite day. The girls stayed in for a beach/massage/pedicure day (Melissa took my mom for a doctor/sedative/eyepatch day) and the boys went to play golf. The boys actually left way before my mom's eye got bad, they're not the jerks that the last sentence kinda made them sound like. :)

They had a lot of stories about the crazy animals on the course, I think the alligator sign made everyone reconsider going after lost balls.

Cow.

I think it's funny that they each took turn taking pictures of their swings.

Iguana.

Remember when I was talking how surprised we were by the giant jungle bugs? Go ahead and add giant jungle frogs to that list.

Looks normal enough right?

HELLO!

Gross, dad. Gross.

Costa Rica - Day 3

2011-03-01T13:56:00.000-06:00

The highlight of day 3 was walking down the beach to the local surf shop. For Brody any day that involves a shoulder ride is a good day.

The whole gang. (minus mom and dad, they decided to ride bikes there)

Then Jared asked me "Is there drool running down my neck?" Um, yes.

It was the start of low tide so there was this super thin layer of water that the kids were playing in. It looked like a big mirror.

These little guys were totally zonked out, it was so cute. When I look at this picture it's just so crazy to think that Jared and Sean were best friends in high school, before we met. Who would have known 10 years later they'd be walking down the beach holding their little boys, who are cousins!?

The surf shop had the cutest chocolate lab, Loca. Brody was a fan.

One of his favorite tricks - sticking his belly out. He's pretty much obsessed with his belly button. It was hilarious until he realized that everyone has a belly button. Fighting with a 13 month old who's trying to lift up your shirt = not so hilarious.

I think he's been shopping with me too much. Haha.

There you go, that's more like it.

Obsessed.

A little walk down from the surf shop was this little hotel (I think 6 rooms) and cafe where we grabbed some lunch. And entertainment.

I LOVE how kid friendly everything was in Costa Rica. While we waited for our food Brody checked out the little lap pool and hammocks. Best. idea. ever.

Then it was back to the house.

Low tide is my favorite.

Costa Rica - Day 2

2011-02-21T13:40:00.001-06:00

I told you the bugs were huge. HUGE. These grasshoppers disappeared during the day but at night 5 or 6 of them would show up on the windows and scare the crap out of us. They were literally as big as your head. We were eating outside one night and one flew right into Kellye's hair, we all ran into the house screaming. The ladies that cooked for us were getting a kick out of it, then proceeded to tell us that the same thing happened to another girl but a barb from it's leg flew into her eye. WHAT!? We ate inside the next night. :)

Day 2 was mostly a pool/beach day - relaxing, hanging out, getting used to wearing a swimsuit in the middle of winter. I packed a bunch of swim trunks for Brody but when we saw this little wet suit at the surf shop we knew it was the perfect thing! I mean, putting sunscreen on Jared is an ordeal in itself, trying to wrestle two boys that don't want anything to do with it? Forget it! Next year I'm getting Jared a matching one.

Nothing too exciting, I love those kind of days. No watch, no schedule, no makeup. (maybe could have used a little makeup :)

Brody's thing lately is that he's WAY more interested in anything that is not a toy vs. actual toys. Cup in the pool? Huge hit. Empty (I swear it was empty) can of Coke Light = major fun. This kid is weird, but I love him.

Especially his chubby feet. He could sit and splash all day if we let him.

So the house that Melissa found was perfect for us. It actually was a boutique hotel that someone turned into a rental house. There was the main part of the house when you walk in - living area, kitchen, dining area - then a main large bedroom upstairs. On each side of the house were two separate rooms, four total, with their own bathrooms and deck that connected to the pool. This made it nice since we're such a big bunch, especially when it came to nap time for Brody. Put him in the pack-n-play and sit on the deck and read a magazine. Tanning during nap time - yes, please!!

The only interesting thing about the house was......the pit. I'm assuming at one point it was some kind of central fireplace for the hotel but the current owners decided to make it a seating area, that we affectionately named and created a gang sign for. So here we are in the pit, keepin' it real.

Pretty much every day ended down at the beach.

Costa Rica - Day 1

2011-02-08T21:17:00.000-06:00

This was my view as we flew from Houston to Costa Rica. Volcano!

We've flown with Brody a few times and have had really good luck, this time he was a little more squirmy and ready to get there. So there were lots of goldfish, lots of iPad, and lots of Hulk.

When we landed it was the craziest thing. I don't think I've exited a normal 747 onto the tarmac before, and I know for sure I've never waited for customs and baggage claim in a giant open air shed before. And I liked it! So did Landry. :)

What was also surprising (I think I should have expected) was that it was hot. Like HOT hot. I mean Texas in mid-January isn't super cold, I think we were in the 40's, but going from that to 80 is a jump. Needless to say we were all ready to bust out the swimsuits in the airport parking lot, especially since our driver was a tad late.

Honey keeping Brody entertained. (see his red little cheeks!? It was hot! Hence the no pants.)

Now daddy's turn.

Will chatting it up with the driver. Will got back from serving his mission in Chile last fall so he was our resident translator. Thank goodness for Will!!

Monkeys!!! On the side of the road right before we got to the house.

Our home for the week. Melissa, travel agent extraordinaire, found the perfect place. If anyone needs help booking straight up awesomeness give her a call, she can do no wrong.

Ahhhh, the light. Every afternoon there was this warm golden glow coming from the ocean through the trees. I wanted to bottle it and bring it back with me.

Landry and Jason both worn out from the trip.

Things that initially surprised me when we got there: it's the jungle, for real! Monkeys, giant bugs, huge trees and plants, amazing colors, and crazy looking birds - real jungle. Another thing - we didn't meet one rude or impatient person the entire time. Everyone is SO NICE. The town we stayed in is SUPER small so everyone knows everyone - the lady who owned the surf shop was also our excursion arranger, tour guide, masseuse, and emergency medical contact (which we actually needed when my mom got an ulcer on the inside of her eyelid day 4 - yikes!). No worries, she got some good drugs and woke up feeling better.

I didn't know what to expect when we got there but I immediately fell in love with everything about Costa Rica - the people, the food, the weather, and that LIGHT! Oh, that light.

Frijolito

2011-01-22T21:20:00.002-06:00

Brody's new nickname, "little bean". He was a BIG fan of Costa Rica. It helps that he was already a big fan of a) being naked and b) anything water related, but I think the amazing black beans and rasta music were the clenchers.

Just a few, more from the whole trip coming soon.

*lindsey, these are for you. :)

Off the grid

2011-01-08T00:49:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow morning we're Costa Rica bound so if you send me an email or leave a message we'll talk next week. :) That's if we don't get eaten by crocodiles or fall off the zip line, I'm just hoping Jared keeps all of his limbs intact. The temptation could be too much though.

This was my entertainment today as I packed. Yes, he is wearing what look to be homeless clothes since his bags are already packed. And yes, it does look like he was mauled by a dog since he had an unfortunate run-in with a sippy cup a few days ago. Falling onto it while running. But he is the cutest homeless sippy cup victim I've ever seen, that's for sure. :)

What we have been up to....

2011-01-05T16:14:00.003-06:00

Holy shmoley, I can't believe it's been over a month of non-blogging. It's been toooooo long friends. It's been a month of busy-ness, mayhem, madness, and all kinds of fun. Here it is in a nutshell:

Holiday sessions and orders galore (busiest holiday season TO DATE)
Visiting Jared's family in San Diego for a week
Refinishing awesome furniture finds from Goodwill
Making a quilt from scratch (with the help/patience of my awesome mom)
Making a quiet book from scratch (with the encouragement/peer pressure of my much-more-talented-when-it-comes-to-sewing mom)
Spending Christmas and New Year's with my family in Tyler
Brody catching a horrendous stomach bug in Tyler
All of us catching the horrendous stomach bug once back home

But probably the coolest thing we did during the past month was meeting the AMAZING Bobbi and Mike during our turn on the other side of the camera - our 2010 family pictures. Let me just say it gave me a whole new appreciation for my clients - the whole "What to wear!!????!!?" dilemma!? Sheesh, I broke out in a sweat just thinking about it. Add to that the anticipation/nervous excitement of meeting THE BOBBI AND MIKE and my eyeballs about exploded. So exciting, so much fun, so perfect. We are doing this every year.

I'll post some faves when we get them all but for now there is a sneak peek up on their blog - click HERE.

As for this month we are catching our breath, leaving Saturday for a week in Costa Rica, finishing a few pieces of furniture still waiting for last coats of paint, posting many, many, many favorites from recent sessions, and getting galleries up for the remaining friends/family sessions still waiting to be done (I love you for being so patient!). And planning a wedding for my sister, Paige, who just got engaged!! Woohoo!

So 2011 is going to be exciting - new nephew AND new brother-in-law. (Did I tell you Melissa's having a boy? I love that there's going to be a little gang of boy cousins.) This is going to be fun. As fun as a chocolate donut food fight. :)

PS - How crazy is it that Bobbi and Mike's session before ours was with Sarah Q and her adorable fam. Sarah is the one who took these and these when I told Jared I was pregnant!

Sweet little ones...

2010-12-01T21:21:00.000-06:00

There's just nothing sweeter than a newborn. Ohhhhhh, I love them. And there's going to be another one in the fam come next summer! No, it's not me. My sister, Melissa, is pregnant!!! Oh man, I'm so excited. I can't wait - they are going to have the most tall, gorgeous, supermodel children. And I'll be photographing them every step of the way. :)

Here's another supermodel in the making. Sweet Kendall, she's as perfect as they come.

Birthday week

2010-11-19T10:02:00.001-06:00

Looking back through all the pictures from the past year it's crazy to see how much Brody's changed! I love the chubbiness of his cheeks and wrists in the first two months. He was the cutest little roly poly, these days he's getting tall but still has the best chunky buns and thighs. He usually plays with his toys in a squat position so I think he's pretty proud of them. They may be big, but they're strong! I'm afraid he comes by them rightfully, on his mother's side. Haha.

Happy Birthday my doodles....

2010-11-15T21:29:00.000-06:00

I think I'm in denial, today my little munchkin is one. Has it really been a year already? I can't believe it. And then again, I can't remember what life was like without him. A year ago today Jared and I were dancing around the hospital room to Jay-Z on my iPod "labor mix" trying to get my contractions to progress, and just a year later we have a walking, talking one year old with 16 teeth (whole story coming on that, who breaks 8 TEETH in ONE WEEKEND!?). But the truth is if I could have a pack of Brodys I would in a heart beat, he is such a happy, sweet little boy. I can't believe he's already one, wow.

So far one year old is the most fun age ever. I am so loving watching him run around and play. (The whole crawling to walking thing wasn't nearly as traumatic as sitting to crawling. The increased destruction is only marginal.) So far his favorite things are books, balls, anything with wheels, his toy phone, and eating paper. I hope he grows out of the last one. He is babbling like crazy and has a few favorite words - mama (currently his name for both Jared and me), ball, bird, mum-mum (his favorite snack), and bo-bo (his bunny he sleeps with). It seems like he's doing something new every few days.

So, in honor of Jacox tradition I've decided to declare this "birthday week" and do a few posts with pictures from his first year and some of the cute things we love about him. Here are few to kick things off...

Happy birthday sweet boy, we love you more than words can say.

I am buried alive...

2010-11-12T09:40:00.001-06:00

... in pictures of beautiful people. Just how I like to be buried. :) I think there are 12 sessions on my desktop waiting to be edited, and 9 more to be added to that before Thanksgiving. I have a feeling that there will have to be a diet dr. pepper intervention of sorts after this holiday season. :)

This is Mary Jane. She is an opera singer, loves traveling and tall heels, will be moving to Paris with her husband next year, and is one of the nicest, funniest people I have ever met. Is it fair that she is stunningly beautiful to boot? Stunning.

Happy Fall

2010-10-28T08:23:00.000-05:00

Fall is my favorite. There's nothing better, especially in Texas, than stepping outside in the morning and getting little chill bumps. We usually have to wait a little longer than everyone else for it to actually be fall but when it comes it's like magic's in the air. Ahhhhh, I love it.

This year fall gave us a pretty good head fake. A couple of weeks with waking up to the 40's and getting into the 70's during the day really got me thinking it was actually here - bring on the jeans and cardigans, bust out the grill, and let's actually use the backyard. It was awesome. Then it was like a mean trick - days back in the 90's, humidity galore, and I was in jeans. Disgusting.

So this is my letter to fall.

Dear fall, please come back. We really like you. Remember the good times we had a couple weeks ago? Maybe these pictures will remind you. I hear you're coming back this weekend, I hope you'll get comfortable and stay awhile. Love, Tyan

Mmmmmm, rope.

This is what Brody was doing right before he started walking. We called him our little silver back.

And just like that...

2010-10-19T13:44:00.000-05:00

he walks! I can't believe it, he's getting so big so fast. (can you tell by the too small shorts? It was laundry day. :)

He's been taking steps for a couple of weeks now. Two or three here and there. Then last week he just decided he was going to walk! It is so cute. Most of the time it's with his arms straight up in the air, like they're in his way or something.

And usually he's screaming the whole time. I'm not sure if it's because he's so excited to be walking, or if it's because he's mimicking what I did when he walked for the first time, or if it's because his new favorite thing to do is play chase. Probably a combination of the three. But I love it. And he couldn't be more proud of himself.

Oh the irony...

2010-10-12T14:18:00.000-05:00

Even more ironic - he bit me while I was blogging this. Heeeeeee's a biter.

What is it with this kid and the fridge?

2010-09-24T12:19:00.003-05:00

And the dishwasher, the trash can, the printer (he can just now reach). Basically anything that's not a toy he wants to play with. Toys do not interest him at the moment. But as soon as he hears the dishwasher door open he is hauling it from wherever he is in the house with his cute little janky leg crawl.

He started crawling between six and seven months with one leg up, foot flat on the floor, and the other leg bent like a normal crawl. He uses the leg that's up to launch himself forward and then the other leg scoots along like normal. He looks like a little pirate with a peg leg. Lately he's started putting both feet flat on the ground with his bum in the air like a little silver back. It is hilarious.

So usually I have about three seconds to throw something in the dishwasher before he's trying to pull the door down and grab the forks. And if the door is already down he's crawling on it trying to get inside. I think I didn't appreciate the sitting-up-but-not-yet-crawling-stage enough. And now that he's standing up and trying to take steps I'm realizing that life as I know it is over and the house has probably not seen the worst of the messes. I'm just glad he hasn't figured out how to take his diaper off yet, haha. Oh, I dread the day.

I have no idea where he learned how to do this. Okay, I do. Or I thought that I did. I thought "Okay, he's seen me have one every now and then. Or every day. So he's just copying what I do." But he seems a little too excited, no?

Sometime after that is when l I saw Jared GIVING HIM A SIP. Oh no, no, no, nu uh, no way did I just see that. Now I know who the culprit is here. He has his daddy wrapped around his little finger.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this is just the beginning.

PS - I am overwhelmed and humbled by all of your sweet comments and messages about the previous post. To be honest I was really hesitant about putting it up and worried that it wouldn't come across the way I had intended. So thank you, it's awesome to know that we're all in this together. Perfectly imperfect.

It's cool to be the janitor

2010-09-21T08:34:00.002-05:00

My dad is an incredibly hard worker. He grew up on a cotton farm, went to college, lived in his car part of one semester because he couldn't afford rent, sold Bibles in the ghetto, graduated, worked in Houston, then in Waco, then New York, and then started his own stock broking firm in Tyler 25 years ago. He is a self made man who is as selfless as they come. I've learned, and continue to learn, a lot from watching how he works, lives, listens, loves, and smiles through just about anything. There's one time in particular that's been on my mind a lot.

Growing up my dad always went to the office early, in high school he would drop me off at seminary (6:00am) and go to work. His office is in one of the biggest bank buildings in Tyler, which he bought sometime after moving in. To us the coolest part about him owning the bank building was that on Saturdays if he went up to the office we got to go with him. We would sit across the desk and draw or fill out pretend stock orders. It was so fun to go with him and see just a few other people there in jeans and t-shirts when it was usually filled with people in suits.

Walking in one Saturday someone said hi to us as they walked by, and we smiled and said hi back.

"You know, they think I'm the janitor." My dad said to me and smiled. I was shocked, why??

"I get here earlier than everyone else during the week, I come in on Saturdays sometimes, and I drive an old truck."

Then he shrugged and said, "I kinda like it."

He wasn't trying to teach me anything, but it was an amazing lesson. He loves what he does, takes care of his family, serves others, and doesn't care if people think that he owns the place or is the janitor. He doesn't waste time worrying about it or making an effort to put on any type of appearance whatsoever.

This has been on my mind as I've been catching up on blogs that I like to follow and keep noticing something. There are blogs that I love and can't wait to check, and then there are those that I only visit every once in a while because whenever I do I always end up feeling more and more inadequate/uncreative/out of shape with each scroll down the page. It just seems like a lot of people's blogs or facebook pages are a sort of monument to their own wonderfulness - their perfect lives/houses/bodies/talents/kids/husbands/businesses/etc. You know what I mean? I don't doubt that they are super talented, or amazingly creative, or look super hot but sometimes it feels like more and more people are consumed with portraying perfection at all times when that's just not reality. At least not my reality.

Yes, I like to write about things that I love like fun family trips, adventures of becoming a stay at home mom, new clothes, favorite images from sessions, or exciting finds from Anthropologie or J.Crew. But maybe I haven't been as willing to share the real life stuff in fear that I might seem less perfect than everyone else. In reality some days I don't change into real clothes until just before Jared gets home from work. Or I wear "nicer" jammies like yoga pants and a shirt that's mine (as opposed to Jared's) and call it good. I hate ironing and cooking, which means I'm fine with wrinkled clothes and Lean Cuisines. (Disclaimer: This is not a reflection of my mom who is an amazing cook and whose clothes are always perfectly pressed.) I struggled for a long time with postpartum depression, and still have hard days every now and then. I can't arrange frames on a wall without 14 people's opinion, and I can barely sew a pillowcase without wanting to set my sewing machine on fire.

I don't mean for this to sound like a pity party in the least. I love my life and recognize that I have more things to be grateful for than I can count. But real life is happy, sad, fun, hard, and everything in between.

The last thing I want is for someone to come to my blog and feel like my life is, in any way, better or more productive or more beautiful than theirs. Because it's not. We are the same. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you have it WAY more together than I do. The important things, I have to remind myself, are to love what I do, take care of my family, and serve others. If I'm having an "I'm the janitor" kind of day I'm not going to go out of my way to make it look like I have it all together, because it's okay if people think you're the janitor. I still have to work on "kinda liking it", but hopefully this is a small step.

Good Morning

2010-09-20T07:30:00.002-05:00

I've been putting Brody in our bed for his first morning nap the past few days. I like having him close since I'm usually putting laundry away or doing other morning chores, and I LOVE cuddling him to sleep (only every once in a while since it does go against everything babywise, but hey, I make the rules right?!). He's just so sweet and cute and sleepy and I can't get enough.

It's funny how much this little boy loves sleep! I'm counting my lucky stars (and know I probably used all my points on this one and that the next one will be a nightmare, haha). We're still at three solid naps a day, some days it's four - two in the morning, two in the afternoon. I think during the two hours at a time he is awake HE IS AWAKE. and BUSY. Oh my gosh, is he busy. He's into everything, and just discovered that the toilets have water in them. all the time! He thinks it's awesome, I think we need toilet locks asap.

But what I love almost as much as how much he sleeps is how happy he is when he wakes up. It definitely takes him a few minutes to actually wake up, but after stretching and looking and scratching and staring, he looks at you like "HI! Let's play!". I was taking pictures of him sleeping in our bed the other morning and he started to wake up so I just kept snapping. This is soooooo him.

So cute

2010-09-13T21:03:00.000-05:00

I could eat his toes. Love this little man.

P.S. - Now accepting bookings for 2011. The remaining 2010 shooting schedule is filled to the brim! (If you would like to join the waiting list for holiday openings please email me)

And here he is

2010-09-04T16:39:00.000-05:00

Landry Sean Hatch
7lbs 9oz
20 inches
September 2, 2010
4:30 pm
Cutest thing I've ever seen.

Oh believe me, LOTS more coming.

Today is the day

2010-09-02T09:50:00.038-05:00

Brody gets a cousin. I meet my first nephew. And Kellye becomes a mom.

I'm pretty sure she's the most beautiful pregnant person ever.

I love having sisters, and I especially love that all of us are so different. Melissa is the funny, fashionable, smart one. Paige is the super organized, social one with perfect hair. And Kellye is the nurturing, calm, yoga one. The one all of us feel close to and connect with.

She collects teacups and loves olives.
She's married to her best friend, who also happens to be Jared's best friend from high school.
She has the most perfect skin you have ever seen.
Her favorite color is purple.
She has a long-haired dachshund named Wellington.

And today she will fall in love.

with a little boy named Landry.

Baby Caroline

2010-08-28T09:43:00.000-05:00

Oh sweet goodness, I love babies. and gorgeous parents. and cable knit sweaters. and a little 5 o'clock shadow. Welcome baby Caroline.

Robyn and Josh: Engaged

2010-08-19T09:21:00.000-05:00

My favorite thing about being a photographer is getting to see all the ways people love each other. The still, deep love of a new mom and baby, the rambunctious, crazy love between little brothers and sisters, or the honest, all-consuming love between a couple. These two have all of these, AND THEN SOME!

They are the definition of a perfect match. Robyn and Josh, I am so so happy for you. Thank you for being true to exactly who you are - smart, fun, silly, happy, and so in love - and for letting me be a small part.

Belly to baby

2010-08-13T09:25:00.000-05:00

I love meeting clients like this ...

And then seeing them again like this ...

Such a beautiful, beautiful family.

Giveaway - Word Posters

2010-08-02T10:47:00.000-05:00

AND THE WINNER IS .... queenoftheclick! Congratulations! What a cute idea to use them in a classroom. Love it.

I can't believe this Saturday the moving truck takes our stuff to our first house! I'm excited to get there and revamp so I've been brainstorming about some new things that will make a big impact for a small price (Pottery Barn style on a Target budget as they say). In the process I've designed a few posters with my favorite sayings, proverbs, wise words, etc.

The plan is to print a couple of them out to put in big Ikea frames with white mats (one above the fireplace and one hanging in the office maybe?) and then switch them out every few months. They're nothing fancy but I think they will make the space feel bright and modern, and remind me of the important things that are so easy to forget.

SOOOO.... if you think one of these would look great in your family room or in a small frame on your desk or nightstand here's the deal. I'm giving away the 16x20 printable files for all four posters AND the winner gets to customize one poster to the color of their choice. (smaller sizes available as well)

TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post with your favorite quote or saying. What words inspire you every day?

For extra entries: Post this sentence... awesome giveaway from Tiny Bird at http://www.tinybirdblog.com ... on Twitter, facebook, your blog, etc. and come back here and leave a comment with a link to your post.

Winner will be picked Monday morning, 10am CST.

Knock, knock

2010-07-16T11:37:00.001-05:00

Anyone home?? Sorry to leave you for so long! As you can guess life with an 8 month old is filled with lots of lounging, blogging, shaving my legs - you know, things like that. HA! I wish! Throw in a couple of weddings, maternity and newborn sessions galore, Texas heat in July, and the fact that we're moving in exactly TWO WEEKS - it's kind of pandemonium around here. AAAHHHHHH! Okay, sorry, what was I doing? Yes, yes - trying to blog.

It's fun crazy though. The fun part is watching Brody grow like a WEED! He's 8 months old this week and busy, busy, busy. I feel like the first few months there were exciting milestones every couple of weeks, these days I feel like he's doing something new every two days. He laughs like crazy and is so expressive. He has the Jacox eyebrows and knows how to work them! It's pretty entertaining.

A few weeks ago he said his first word, which I had no influence over might I say. I'll give you one guess. Jared swears I've been repeating it to him while he's been gone at work, but I've given equal opportunity to mama, baba, and dada - he just chose the right one to say first. :)

He's also starting to grow some hair, finally! He was a little baldie for so long. What's funny though is that it's growing in faster at his crown than anywhere else, so he has a permanent spike in the back. We've tried sticking it down with water or lotion but it won't budge. He's our little Jimmy Neutron. :)

He's also super interested in people, or just a big flirt. Standing in line at the grocery store is like center stage, he's always looking around me or behind him to find someone to make faces at. Which was really cute until he recently discovered the full range of his voice. How do you stop the high pitched, loud as he can get, crazy screeching!? Oh man, I would love to know. Thank goodness he's not as entertained by it lately, but he still loves to bust it out in the checkout line.

When I cover his mouth and say no he does this - his "Who, me?" face. Also known as the "Hi mom. I'm 100% pure trouble, aren't I cute?" face.

THE wedding

2010-07-02T14:06:00.000-05:00

All I can say is A.MAZ.ING. Absolutely everything about this wedding was BEAUTIFUL! The colors, the flowers, the stunning bride, the awesome bridesmaids, the weather - literally everything was perfection. I felt like I was in a dream the whole time, a brightly colored, everyone's dancing, love is in the air kind of dream. It was amazing.

The best part of all is that Julia is the most joyful, kind, and humble person I have ever met. She deserves all of the best things in life and I just couldn't be happier for her. I feel so lucky to have been there.

California bound...

2010-06-22T15:51:00.000-05:00

So when you get a call asking if they can fly you to Orange County to photograph their wedding and yacht reception - you say YES! We're about to leave for the airport and I'm super excited, although I am going to miss this little one to pieces. He'll be having lots of fun with Honey and Papa until Sunday. Miss you my doodles!!

Fresh

2010-06-19T00:40:00.001-05:00

Something about moving always makes me want to throw out everything and start all over. Ever get that urge? We're moving up to The Woodlands in a few weeks so I'm definitely getting to itch to rethink everything and start fresh. My goal: nothing brown allowed! I've always had an idea in my mind of what our dream house would look like, but for some reason everything I've accumulated in the mean time is brown! So moving forward it's new house, new rules.

These are some rooms/looks that I love.

I know for sure we will have these chairs. They're kind of an obsession, okay they're a full blown obsession.

Sweet little one...

2010-06-17T17:33:00.004-05:00

It was all I could do to keep myself from scooping up this little guy and taking him home in my pocket.

One more...

2010-06-14T11:20:00.002-05:00

... because it makes me happy.

Beautiful Sabina

2010-06-11T13:17:00.000-05:00

I don't know how I am lucky enough to meet the most GORGEOUS people EVER! Ms. Sabina is stunning, funny, and just SIXTEEN. Sabina, when you're a famous supermodel someday just give me a shout out in your Vogue interview. :)

How is this fair...

2010-06-04T08:52:00.000-05:00

Let's make this one multiple choice. This beauty just got ...

A. Engaged
B. Her Aggie ring
C. Her HS diploma
D. Her driver's license

my two boys

2010-06-02T12:34:00.000-05:00

I love that Brody's fitting into his "big boy clothes" these days, and that Jared is pretty much his favorite person in the whole world. It is so cute - when Jared comes home from work, no matter what mood Brody's in, he squeals and giggles like he just can't believe it. Six months is such a fun age.

giggles + bellies

2010-05-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

Baby Zoe

2010-05-26T09:55:00.001-05:00

Oh how I love her. So cute, and petite, and just perfect! Much like her mama. Welcome to the world little Z.

Nap Time

2010-05-24T14:20:00.000-05:00

Nap Time. This has been the trickiest thing for me to figure out how to do consistently so I've just determined that I like a fluid method - one that changes depending on Brody's needs, my needs, vacations/visiting family, sick vs. healthy, etc. In other words I am not going to wreak havoc on everyone involved for the sake of keeping to a strict nap schedule or routine, but when I can without any havoc wreaking I will. :)

So when all is normal (ie: Brody and I at home during the day) I keep to the strict eating schedule (previous post) and watch for signs that he is tired in between. He will usually scratch his eyes, get fussy, and turn red like Jack-Jack from The Incredibles. Since he is generally happy all other times of the day I know this means he is ready for a nap.

After keeping track of how often this happened over a few days I noticed that he is normally awake for two hours at a time, give or take a half hour or so. The only exception being first thing in the morning - exactly an hour after he wakes up he is ready to go back to sleep, like clock work. I'm sure this varies baby to baby, but usually they all have a max time of being awake before a level 5 meltdown ensues.

He sleeps for 45 min - 1 hour at each nap with one big 1-1/2 to 2 hour nap mid day. So this equals up to 3-4 naps a day, which makes us both happy.

In my experience the hard part isn't trying to figure out when they're tired, it's trying to put them down for a nap without losing your mind. One babywise method that really has helped me is putting them in their crib when they're AWAKE. This way they learn to fall asleep on their own and don't require endless rocking, singing, bouncing, etc. to drift off. This is really hard at first so I eased myself into it by putting him in his crib and holding his hands while I shushed him until he was calm. He gets a binky only for naps so that usually helps too. Nowadays I put him in his crib, give him his binky and bo-bo (a little Rabbit that he loves) and turn around and walk out.

There are times when he will cry or fuss when I walk out (maybe once or twice a day) and those times I give him 10 minutes and then go back in to check on him, put his binky in, and walk back out. He has cried for longer than 10 minutes only a handful of times.

Things get tricky when we visit family or when he's sick and wants to be held (which is my life right now since he has hives, poor little guy). Asking grandparents to put a sleepy baby in bed and walk away is like asking me to grow three inches - it would be nice, but it's not going to happen. So sometimes we go off the plan and it takes a day or two to get readjusted but that's fine with me. So here's an example of his normal schedule.

6:30 Wakes up in his crib. Put him in bed with us.
7:30 Wakes up and has a bottle.
8:30 - 9:30 Nap
9:30 - 10:30 Play time
10:30 Bottle
11:30 - 1:00 Nap (usually his long mid-day nap)
1:30 Bottle
2:00 - 3:00 Play time
3:00 - 4:00 Nap
4:30 Bottle
5:00 - 6:00 Play time
6:00 - 7:00 Optional nap or Play time
7:30 Bottle
8:00 Bath
8:30 Bedtime

Carrie and Marcus:: Engaged

2010-05-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

I love, love, LOVE, seeing people as happy together as these two are. Marcus plays tennis for A&M and Carrie is quite an athlete herself, so she gives him a run for his money. :) They are so, so funny and 100% perfect for each other. I just loved tagging along and watching it all happen.

Self Portrait

2010-05-12T09:55:00.001-05:00

I know these are 100% out of focus, turns out I'm not so great at using the self timer on my camera. But I almost kind of like them better than if they were in focus. Tara Whitney calls them "inbetweens", in my case they were a happy accident that, turns out, depict everything perfectly. I was putting Brody down for a nap and it was just him and me, being still. There's just nothing in the whole world that can make you feel as loved as a soft little baby cheek on yours as they fall asleep. It's my favorite thing.

If you thought that was an innocent face...

2010-04-27T10:21:00.000-05:00

..... oh how you were mistaken.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty....

2010-04-26T13:09:00.002-05:00

Did someone say SCHEDULE!!??

First off let me say that I am completely about doing what works for you. I am not someone that pretends to have this all figured out by any means, so any and everything I talk about when it comes to what works for us is simply that - what works for us. If it doesn't work for you that is totally fine with me, and don't feel bad if it doesn't. When it comes to babies everyone, I repeat EVERYONE, has a different schedule/opinion/routine/trick/belief system that works for them and they want you to know how amazing their schedule/opinion/etc is. It can get overwhelming to say the least. But the best advice I have ever heard is "Your way is the right way." (I'm trying to get Jared to repeat this as well, haha)

So, what works for us - I heard a lot about the Babywise method before Brody was born and it seemed like everyone who used it was a huge fan. When he was about six weeks old all I heard was "sleep through the night" and I was sold. Buy me the books, teach me your ways - I am all yours Babywise.

I honestly had no clue what it was or how to implement it and trying to figure it out from the book was no help. My baby wants to eat all the time, I am getting zero sleep and will never sleep again the rest of my life, I am sick of pajamas, I want my makeup, will someone who knows how to do this please just TELL ME because this book wants to explain the philosophy behind the method for forty chapters! So I facebooked a couple of friends that I knew would explain it to me in short sentences with no big words. They were a lifesaver!

Part One: Sleeping through the night

There are a few basic principles of Babywise that work together towards the goal of getting on a schedule, sleeping through the night, and having a happy baby in general. In the beginning I was most interested in the sleeping through the night part. The two most helpful things I learned about this were:

1) most babies can sleep through the night after they have doubled their body weight and
2) if you work on getting the schedule down during the day they will work out the nights themselves.

The second piece was my key since I was unsure about the whole "crying it out" situation. Considering his health issues I didn't think letting him cry and wail until he figured it out was the best thing. More on this later.

So what schedule exactly? The basic schedule for us is EAT - PLAY - SLEEP and repeat every three hours. The length of each stage changes depending on the time of day, but this pattern really has helped us know when he's tired or hungry since the two can get easily confused. The thing that we remained pretty firm with is feeding him every three hours starting at about 7-8 weeks. Before then he needed to eat on demand to gain weight as a lot of babies do.

So we started with feeding him every three hours (sometimes I would cave and feed him 20 minutes early if I couldn't hold him off any longer) and trying to keep him awake for "play time" afterwards. Sometimes awake time only lasted for 15 minutes but the goal was to not let him fall asleep while eating. If he was asleep and it had been three hours since he ate last I would (gasp) wake him up to eat, but only during the day. This accomplished three things - reinforced the schedule/pattern, gave him the opportunity to eat enough during the day, and helped him sort his days and nights out by not sleeping all day. For the first two weeks he still woke up every three hours at night and I would feed him. I tried to remember not to stress and concentrate on the daytime schedule. Then at nine weeks he slept through the night for the first time - HALLELUJAH! I was beyond ecstatic, SLEEP! I've missed you! This is when I learned the second important piece:

You will have good days/nights and bad days/nights, just plan on it and keep your eye on the goal. After that one night of sweet sleep he changed his mind and wanted to wake up every three hours again. But now I knew he wouldn't die or starve to death without eating all night so instead of feeding him I put the binky in, put my hand on his belly and shooshed him, and went back to sleep - repeated as necessary. Probably after two weeks of this it was back to whole nights of solid sleep. The heavens opened, angels sang, it was a miracle. Sleep - I'm sorry I ever took you for granted. You are wonderful and I love you.

In a nutshell these were the things that helped me in the early days:

If someones advice doesn't work for you that's just fine. Check it off the list and try something else.
Work hard on getting your day time schedule down and the nights will work themselves out.
EAT - PLAY - SLEEP
Be consistent with the length of time between bottles/nursing.
Don't be discouraged by bad days/nights, it takes practice for everyone involved.

Next time - Part Two: The Anatomy of a Nap

Like I said in the beginning, this is just what works for us. I am fully aware that Brody's sleeping and happy temperament probably have more to do with luck of the draw than my efforts or his schedule, but for now everything's working out great and I get to sleep at night. So either way I'm happy (and grateful). :)

Is my hair on fire?

2010-04-16T08:50:00.001-05:00

I feel like the past two weeks have been a complete blur! A crazy, happy, busy, tired, wonderful blur. Welcome to parenthood I guess.

Latest happenings:

Brody insisting on sitting up before rolling over
Rice cereal and applesauce
Back on schedule
Sessions, sessions, and more sessions (now booking for July/August)
Sleeping 11 hours a night (Brody, not me)
Getting excited for vacation
Brody's first swim suit
Baby season (my sister and friends are all expecting!)
Laundry
Laundry
LAUNDRY

We call Brody the ninja barfer. No burps, no fuss, no warning. You'll be holding him and he's smiling and laughing then BAM. Hits you like a ninja. Hence the laundry.

I've been getting a lot of questions about what has been working for us as far as Brody's schedule so a post on that is coming soon.

I also need to put up more pictures! He is getting so big. For now, here's one from a recent engagement session with the most gorgeous couple. Seriously. How is this fair.

Miss Beaux...

2010-04-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

I can't believe she is three! She looks so grown up to me, and oh the stories she was telling! So cute and so so funny. Love her.

Little Miss Beaux

2010-04-06T10:51:00.002-05:00

One of the cutest, funniest three year olds ever. I just love her. Lots more coming.

Little man

2010-03-24T21:23:00.003-05:00

Brody gets to spend this weekend with his Honey and Papa (my parents) so I'm preparing to go through some serious withdrawals. Last weekend he was in College Station with Grandma and Grandpa J (Jared's parents) so he's been spreading the love around! Good thing he's got a lot to share (and that he likes car rides :). He's my favorite.

Beautiful People

2010-03-23T15:02:00.005-05:00

I loved getting to catch up with some friends from school, how gorgeous are they.

Someone's figured out....

2010-03-22T17:37:00.004-05:00

....the jumpy jump! He's loving it these days.

I can't believe he's already four months old, time goes by so fast. He's so happy these days I can't even stand it! It's like he just wants everyone to be happy, I totally love it. What's new: giggles galore, drool, grabbing his feet, just rolled over for the first time last week, more drool, teething, screeching screams that he thinks are so funny, and a brand new room in the works. He keeps us busy!

We tried rice cereal for the first time a couple of weeks ago and he was not a fan. We might wait a couple more weeks and try again, we're in no rush to switch to real people food. I've heard that's a whole new adventure so we're enjoying the simplicity of bottles for a little while longer. Yes BOTTLES. Have I talked about this yet? I meant to at some point but I don't think it ever happened.

Before Brody came I was totally planning on nursing for the first year, and when he got here we started off without a hitch. :Side note: Who knew your milk doesn't come in for 4-5 days after delivery? What? Has anyone seen the pictures of me five days after he was born? Hello. I was not prepared for the national geographic-ness. So a few hours and a breast pump later I was good to go. We were doing fine the next couple of weeks and then Brody's whole incident happened. After he got out of the ICU we found out that his suck-swallow-breathe reflex was underdeveloped so it was taking us a really long time for him to eat, and when he did nurse it was stop-and-go the whole time with a lot of wheezing and choking.

So at that point I thought about switching to formula. If you google "switching from breast feeding to formula" you will discover that breast feeding is a religion, and if you don't believe you are going to hell. It's crazy-ville, like scare-the bejeezers-out-of-you crazyville. So we kept trying for a few more weeks until my oh-so wise friends, Megan and Kris, both told me that switching, if I wanted to, was TOTALLY OKAY. And it might actually be a good thing. At the time not only was I stressed about him having a hard time eating I was completely overwhelmed with fear and worry that what happened that night would happen again. It was a really hard time. They both said that if switching would take any pressure off then I shouldn't hesitate. So at eight weeks we switched to formula and haven't looked back.

And guess what - it's great!! He's happy, I'm happy, we're all happy. Ever since he's been gaining weight like a champ and hasn't been sick other than a little cough a few weeks ago. I completely understand the benefits of breast feeding and plan to try again next time, but if it isn't a good experience for anyone involved I am 100% pro-formula. I had no idea there were so many opinions out there. I've just decided to follow some great advice I got at one of my showers - YOUR way is the RIGHT way. :)

Sooooo beautiful

2010-03-17T18:33:00.002-05:00

I don't think I've ever seen Melissa look more beautiful than she did on Saturday. She is just so gorgeous! It was such a great day, we could not be more happy for her and Jason!

Heading to St. George....

2010-03-12T10:32:00.003-06:00

....for my little sisters wedding!!! We could not be more excited for her! Jason is the best and they are just so right for each other. LOVE them. Congratulations Dr. and Mrs. Jorgensen!!!!!

This will also be Brody's first time on a plane, keeping our fingers crossed! (and baby Tylenol close by)

It's love.

2010-02-26T13:10:00.000-06:00

Before getting married I had checked some things off my list of things I wanted to do in my life like college, living abroad, and working, so it seemed like I should have been ready as soon as we got married to start working on the family part of the list. But I wasn't right away and that was okay, we didn't feel rushed and we had PLENTY on our plate to keep us busy. We waited for three years - to some people this seemed quick while others thought what took us so long. The important thing was that we made the decision together when both of us were ready and it felt right.

So we found out we were pregnant probably three weeks after we talked about it and we were SO excited, and surprised it happened so fast! Then a couple months in I started having this fear - I kept hearing that having a baby changes your life, but .......... I LIKED my life! I loved our life together, I loved working, I loved being creative and learning new things, I loved our life! So the thought of everything changing was scary to me - how would I know if I would like my new life as "just a mom".

This may not make sense to some people. I think some are blessed with the ability to love motherhood even before experiencing it, they can see themselves in that role and know they will feel happy and fulfilled. Most of the people I know are like that, but I was freaking out. I was afraid that defining myself as a mom would somehow make everything else I've ever done, or loved, or was good at just disappear. But the miracle is that not only did becoming a mom NOT obliterate everything I was before, but it gave everything I was, and am, and will be greater purpose and clarity. Marrying Jared is the only moment I can compare it to - I am so much more of my authentic self with him and, now, with Brody.

I am a mother, and I love it.

Happy Birthday, Love.

2010-02-22T10:44:00.002-06:00

You are my favorite person in the world, and Brody's favorite too. :) We love you tons and tons.

SOLD

2010-02-20T15:09:00.004-06:00

I am selling my Canon 50mm 1.8 lens, the "nifty fifty"! It is a really awesome lens that is in great condition, perfect if you are upgrading from a kit lens or if you need a super fast, sharp prime lens. Check out the specs here. I took the pictures in the previous post with it. :)

I'm selling it for $50 plus shipping. If you are interested email me at tyan@tinybirdphotography.com.

I love this face....

2010-02-16T16:30:00.003-06:00

Bath time

2010-02-11T13:21:00.004-06:00

We love bath time! He has loved his bath from day one, it is so cute. Putting lotion on afterwards - not so much. He fights me every time! Like a true boy I guess. I think he gets it from his daddy, putting sunscreen on Jared is like wrangling a four year old. :) Love you babe!

As far as his health goes he is doing AMAZING! The ENT said that we are in the clear as far as surgeries go so no more for Mr. Brody! He's eating well and gaining weight like a champ so he finally has baby rolls....I love baby rolls! They are the cutest thing ever, ever. Which is another reason I am glad he likes his bath - we have to thoroughly clean those cracks!

Lately he's discovered his little voice and makes the funniest squeals and giggles. He has the "Mariah Carey" and the "Squeaky Door", although the "Mariah Carey" is his favorite I would say. He even closes his eyes when he really gets up there, now we just need to work on his non-sensical hand waving and he'll have the impression down PAT!

He absolutely loves Jared, he always has a huge grin when he sees him walk through the door from work. And if he hears his voice in the other room he gets so excited. I think I need one of those mission impossible voice changer things so when he gets sick of me in the middle of the day I can just slap it on and voila, happy Brody is back! But really I wouldn't need it that often, he is usually either so happy he can barely stand it or he's asleep.

He's actually been sleeping through the night for almost two weeks now, it has totally changed my life! A little after 8 weeks I started doing a modified version of the Babywise plan (whole other post on this coming) and he slept through the night for the first time a week into it. Then at 10 weeks he slept through the night again and didn't look back! He goes to sleep around 8:30 or so and sleeps until 7:00 then during the day he takes at least two hour and a half naps - on most days three naps. So I'm glad we've found something that works for us. He's happy, I'm happy!

I love my job

2010-02-09T13:17:00.003-06:00

Who knew you were allowed to have this much fun as a mom!? I love it.

9 weeks old

2010-01-28T08:28:00.000-06:00

How it all went down...

2010-01-22T08:16:00.002-06:00

Now that I'm beginning to think in complete sentences I figure the next step is to write in complete sentences! These last two months have been a roller coaster and I'm finally feeling like I'm getting the hang of things, or at least getting a little more sleep. Life is good! And thankfully Brody is doing great! He is smiling up a storm and has just discovered his voice, which I LOVE! I never knew how fun it would be to just sit and make funny faces and noises at each other. It is so much fun!!

I just realized that I never wrote about the delivery! So here goes - The day after I posted the last picture of my hugeness Jared and I were running all over the place doing errands. We were at Garden Ridge and a lady asked me when I thought the baby would be here and I said "Hopefully TODAY!" Little did I know that later that night we would be on our way to the hospital to meet our little Brody.

It was about 9:30 that night and we were watching football on the couch and I felt a cramp that kept coming back.

Me - "I think I might be having contractions."
Jared - "Oh my gosh, did you see that play!?"
Me - "Love! I think I am having contractions!!"
Jared - "Is that what you just said? I didn't hear you."
Me - "Yea, I'm pretty sure these are contractions. We'd better start timing them."
Jared - "WHAT!? Like you think you're having CONTRACTIONS!?"

It took a minute for it to sink in, it was so funny! Both of us had been talking about how it would happen, where we would be, if my water would break or if it would just be contractions, that it didn't even seem real that it could actually be happening. The even funnier thing is that we both immediately started cleaning the house, I mean spotless! I think I was trying to take my mind off of the contractions, which were coming every 5-7 minutes, and I think Jared was excited and trying not to freak out!

So after about an hour of cleaning, stopping for contractions, and cleaning some more I started to pack my toiletries in the bathroom. Jared passed by the door and asked what I was doing.

Jared - "What are you doing?"
Me - "Packing! Getting my toiletries together to put in my bag."
Jared - "Really!? It's really happening!???"

Love him. So we packed our stuff and headed to the hospital! When we got there my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart but I was only dilated a little past one. So the nurse told us that we needed to walk around the hospital for the next 3 hours and she would check every 30 minutes to see if I was progressing. Lovely. So we walked, and walked and walked, and jumped up and down, and walked some more. I was not leaving!! At 2:30 or so walking got a little boring so we just cranked the iPod in our room and had a dance party, no lie! Jay Z and songs from Glee did the trick! I was dilated to a three and they officially admitted me.

I had the best nurse in the world (what up Sara!) who gave me Demerol and Phenegren as soon as we knew I was staying. God bless her. Demerol is just the best. It kicked in pretty much immediately and I was out like a light, and then my water broke.

Me - (on the verge of drooling, eyes closed, slurring quite badly) "Jared, my water just broke."
Jared - "What??"
Me - (more slurring, uncontrollable arm waiving, eyes still closed) "My wattterrrr broke. Call Sarrrraaaa."

So when I woke up three hours later the contractions were MUCH stronger. I was only dilated to a three but the nurse asked if I wanted to go ahead and get the epidural or wait and just get have more Demerol. I do love Demerol. I was thinking about just going that route but thank goodness my mom all but answered for me "GET THE EPIDURAL. Are you crazy?". Yes, I'll have the epidural please.

Did you know that they don't let you have anyone in the room with you when you get the epidural? No one! Just the nurse! By then Sara had left and I'm pretty sure I was much older than my new nurse, and owned far less eye makeup. That didn't stop me from balling like a baby on her shoulder when it took THREE TRIES to get the dang thing in! What the!? I was not prepared. Everything I've read and everyone I've talked to says that the IV hurts worse than the epidural. The IV hurt pretty freakin' bad so I thought the worst was over. THE WORST WAS NOT OVER. But boy was it worth it. SO WORTH IT! It was amazing! Thank goodness for good drugs!

The rest of the day was pretty mellow. Then at 4:00pm I was dilated to 9 and they wanted me to start pushing. I was expecting about three pushes and then TADA, like you see on TV. Hahah, I wish. It took about an hour and then there he was. I really can't describe the emotion, relief, and exhaustion I felt in that moment. But when I saw Jared holding him after they finished cleaning and weighing him there was nothing more beautiful in the whole world. My two boys. I was in love.

Most of these are taken with our iPhones, sorry!

Ready for Brody to get here!

My mom and sisters.

Our first family picture.

First kiss.

Our little boy!

My two boys.

My dad holding him for the first time.

My mom and Brody.

Home from the hospital, my mom was such a huge help!

Sophie's not quite sure what to think just yet.

A much needed nap for both of us!

Our Happy Boy!

2010-01-10T21:51:00.000-06:00

8 weeks old today!

Coming to a mailbox near you....

2010-01-09T15:42:00.002-06:00

On a side note: I seriously underestimated the power of sleep deprivation, hence the lack of posts. Hopefully this will change soon. :)

The best gift

2009-12-24T23:19:00.003-06:00

I got an email tonight from my friend Cheryl Muhr with a link to our pictures she took when Brody was five days old. What an amazing Christmas Eve surprise - I am in love with every. single. one.

Click here to view the slideshow.

I have so much to be grateful for.

I am so grateful.

There are no words...

2009-12-13T18:12:00.003-06:00

I don't have the words to describe how much I love my strong little boy, or the words to express how grateful I am for Jared and the husband and father that he is. This has been the longest week, and there are no words that say how thankful I am that it is over and we are all here together.

A week ago today was the single most terrifying event of my life, a living nightmare. I was asleep and Jared was putting Brody in the crib. He woke me up to tell me that Brody had gotten choked and how he pulled him out of the crib to make sure he was alright. Just as we were talking about taking him to the pediatrician the next day Brody started flailing in his crib, he wasn't breathing and his little body struggled to grasp for air. Jared grabbed him and did everything he could to get him to take a breath. He was turning blue and I was frantic as Jared tried and tried again to get him to breathe. We called 911 and finally he gasped for air.

As I waited downstairs for the ambulance to show them where to go I had no words as I prayed the same prayer I prayed for the next four days straight. Please Heavenly Father, please, please, please.

Monday morning he underwent surgery at the best children's hospital in the country. Our parents all got there right after he went back, I have never been more grateful to run into my mom's arms than when I saw her down the hallway. The surgery went great and we got to hold our little boy as he came out of anesthesia in the recovery room. He looked great, he was in great hands and we knew we were in the best place we could be to help him.

About two hours later in our recovery room it happened again. The nightmare replayed when I laid him down to change his diaper. His body went rigid as he flailed to take a breath. Luckily the nurse walked in right as it was happening and called for the rapid response team. We spent the next three days in the ICU, our parents by our side helping us take shifts and keeping us sane. I really can't describe the terror and fear I felt just watching him and holding him and pleading please, Heavenly Father, please, please.

After countless tests and workups the doctors can't find exactly what caused the episodes, they say that his airways my have been swollen and weakened by the reflux he was having from the pyloric stenosis which the surgery fixed. I was comforted when Dr. Stein, the attending physician, said that this is his past, not his future. We continue to meet with his pediatrician, ENT doctors, and the surgery team in the next couple of weeks so we can keep a close eye on him. But when we were being released to go home I was overcome with panic, how can I ever sleep again. How did I sleep through the first one, how could I ever live with myself if something happened and I wasn't there.

When my mom told me at the hospital that my aunts had gone in together and gotten a monitor for his crib that signals if they stop moving or breathing I sobbed. I am so, so grateful to both of them for an answer to my prayer. I had no idea how I would ever sleep again, or if I could even function without constantly watching him to make sure he was breathing. After being home for a couple of days now I can honestly say that it has saved my life and sanity to have that monitor. We could not be more grateful.

I also want to say thank you for everyones thoughts, prayers, notes, and messages. We have felt your love and continue to feel it as Brody gets better and grows stronger. We are so glad he is home and count our blessings.

I never anticipated how much I could possibly love him. Or how much more I love Jared, when I thought there was no possible way to love him anymore than I already did. They are my whole world and my whole heart. I look back on the week and it makes me grateful that we live close to family, for their love and support, thankful to the doctors and nurses at Texas Children's, and most of all relief that it is all over and we're all here together.

The day after he got home he found his thumb!!

He's Here!

2009-11-21T11:52:00.003-06:00

Two days after the last post Broderick Michael Jacox finally arrived healthy and happy! Born Sunday, November 15 at 5:03pm - 7lbs 5oz, 20.5 inches. After 38 weeks and 19 hours of labor we are SO glad he is finally here!

UPDATE: Yesterday we drove to Austin and had a session with the AMAZING Cheryl Muhr, she is absolutely incredible and I have been dying ever since we found out she could fit us in. This morning I got this preview from her and I'm just dying! I can't even stand how much I love them both, and how much I love Cheryl for the amazing blessing that her photographs are.

Here's some scariness for your Friday the 13th.....

2009-11-13T13:55:00.003-06:00

Yikes....38-1/2 weeks. It's HUGE!! So I'm pretty much ready to get him here, let's do this! I had my checkup yesterday and my doctor said she thinks it could be this weekend, hallelujah. If not she said she doesn't think I'll make it to my due date in a week and a half so that was good news too. Now it's just a waiting game.

Waddle and wait. When I used to hear pregnant women say they couldn't walk fast towards the end, or they couldn't paint their toenails, or tie their shoes I would think to myself "Yea, okay. Sure." but never did I imagine that it is ACTUALLY TRUE! I am a full on weeble wobble, like one of those Lego's that has no legs just a round belly that he rolls around on. I feel like a spectacle.

And do you see how swollen my hands are!? So none of my rings fit and I look like one of "those" girls whenever I'm out in public with no ring on. Awesome. But other than that we're good.

I woke up last night at 4am with a contraction and totally freaked out, but it was only one so false alarm. The funny thing is I've been wanting to go into labor so badly for the last 2 weeks that I thought when it happens I'll be so relieved. But when I thought it could be happening all that I kept thinking was "Okay, how ready am I for this? Can I really do this, I mean really? Do I have to? Can he just appear in the little bassinet next to our bed and we skip all the breathing and cursing and what not?" Come to find out I'm actually really really nervous about the whole pain aspect of this, maybe I should have thought through that part a little more. Maybe that's why you get so miserable at the end - so when the pain comes you don't care because you just want to be done. I guess we'll just have to wait and see! (and hope the anesthesiologist is waiting on me when we get there)

A few more...

2009-11-09T16:56:00.002-06:00

of these cute girls! I was so glad to get them in before this baby gets here, any day now!

Now booking sessions for January/February 2010!

Come back ankles, I miss you....

2009-11-05T15:30:00.004-06:00

So this is what they mean by "You may experience some swelling in the final weeks", um yea. My ankles and toes look like sausages. Thank goodness this little guy is getting here soon, my body is starting to revolt! The crazy thing is when I put my feet up at night Jared can push on my ankles and leave dents, like if you needed a little salsa bowl for your chips you could make one in the side of my ankle. Sick.

Other than that things are pretty good, although I'm definitely large and in charge. There's just not much cute about 38 weeks pregnant. It's just crazy how big your belly can get, it feels like every morning I wake up rounder!! I had a checkup this week and they said he could be here any day now. So our bags are packed and everyone has directions to the hospital, now we wait.

So even though I feel like a turtle with my shell on backwards I am thankful that all in all it has been a pretty easy pregnancy. I still only sleep with one pillow (someone in our birthing class was up to SEVEN), I don't have to get up in the night to go to the bathroom, and IT'S GOING TO BE OVER SOON!

On a side note: I know a whole different reality is on the other side of all of this but if I have to hear someone start a sentence with "JUST WAIT" one more time I will bite them. Why do people enjoy telling pregnant women "Just wait, you think you want to die now? Just wait. You think you're tired now? Ha." Why? Even if it is the truth, LIE TO ME! I don't care!

Okay, now that I got that hormonal rant out of the way! Things are good and we are so, so excited. Jared thinks he will be here the week before Thanksgiving, I'm betting this weekend or early next week. Any other guesses?

Too cute

2009-11-02T14:26:00.002-06:00

I have been proofing like crazy lately and realize I haven't posted ANY from the last few months - until I get my act together here are a couple of the cutest girls.

Houston Digs

2009-10-28T12:33:00.005-05:00

So we've finally gotten the place unpacked and cleaned to the point that it's not too embarassing to put pictures up, it only took two months! We were totally pumped to find a loft right downtown, it was exciting to do something so different in a new place. There's still a few finishing touches we're lacking but as of now we're moved in and finally HOME!!

We turned the dresser in our bedroom into Brody's dresser/changing table and we're going to put the bassinet next to the bed. It's going to be cozy, but it's really perfect for the amount of time we'll be here and to try something new and fun!

"Grande Soy Hot Chocolate w/ Sugar Free Hazelnut, No Whip... AND FAST!"

2009-10-15T08:03:00.006-05:00

I say this at least twice a week now, and every night in my sleep. This is a problem. Up until about three weeks ago the only serious cravings I had were in the first trimester (still finding pieces of potato casserole in my eyelashes). Then I was pretty much back to normal, don't get me wrong I can go for a Chipotle Salad Bowl at any time of day really but I wasn't sending Jared out in the middle of the night or anything. Okay, just once.

And although Brody's cheeks look like I've been scarfing candy bars left and right I've been trying to keep it pretty healthy, until the GSHCWSFHNW, that is. (nice acronym, huh?)

I was flying to Tyler for the weekend and right in front of my gate there was a Starbucks. I hadn't had one of their hot chocolates in forever so I decided to grab one while I waited. As soon as I sat down and took a sip it was all over. I picture Brody saying "Where has this been all my life!? You've been holding out on me???!!!" Now he demands it. In record breaking 95 degree weather and suffocating humidity during a walk outside he yells - "Hey Lady! GSHCWSFHNW...... PRONTO!!".

So hopefully I can keep it under control for the next few weeks, I guess it would help if I removed the Starbucks Finder App on my phone.

Our little guy!!

2009-10-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

I've been torn about the whole 3D ultrasound thing. Sometimes it looks really cool and sometimes they look like a smushed alien, so I wasn't quite sure if we were going to get one or not. But Jared really wanted to so a couple of weeks ago we decided to get one and we are so glad we did!

This one was at 31 weeks. Look at those lips! He definitely got those from Jared!!

These are at 33 weeks, he's definitely got a set of cheeks on him!

He's got his little foot in his mouth in this one!

7-1/2 months

2009-10-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

x

These were taken about a month ago when I was 7-1/2 months. Growing by the minute!!

Jared's Man Trip

2009-10-08T09:28:00.005-05:00

The day after we got home from Destin Jared flew to Utah to spend a few days with his uncle and brother as a graduation gift from his parents. Looking into his suitcase as he packed for this trip was hilarious. Ripped jeans - check. Unnecessarily large hunting knife - check. Camo boots - check. Unknown number of other camo objects - check and check. He was so excited to hang out with the boys and conquer the great outdoors on their camping trip.

Of course, I was excited for him to go but also nervous that he would come home with broken bones and/or several near death experience stories. I've learned to expect these things when he's around mountains, vertical cliffs, or pretty much any male friends/relatives. He just loves adventure and channels his inner Bear Grylls whenever possible.

So when he got home and told me about the camping trip and how safe and careful they were I was so relieved! And happy he had a fun time, of course, but more relieved than anything!

Then he slipped in the comment "And since the road was closed on the way back we just hopped on the side of an 18-wheeler headed that way and rode with him down the mountain." Um....I'm sorry, did you just say you HITCHHIKED and RODE ON THE OUTSIDE SKIDS of an 18-WHEELER FOR 15 MILES!! Is that what you just said!?

So I'm glad my hitchhiking husband made it home in one piece this time. I think I might need to go on these little adventures in the future. :)

Much needed VACATION!

2009-09-29T08:35:00.003-05:00

So the day after graduation we hopped in the car and drove 10 hours to the most BEAUTIFUL beach ever - Destin, FL. We've been going there as a family every summer since I can remember and it has been fun the past few years to keep the tradition alive. It's so great because it's so close but feels like a world away whenever you're there. Everything's just better in Destin!

Of course Jared had to represent and built a sand replica of Kyle Field.

Kellye and Sean - so cute.

Beautiful Paige - who literally just got back from being in Europe for two months, and Italy and Greece for two weeks with my parents. She hadn't even been home yet, that stinker!

Melissa and Jason - we love him!! They are so perfect for each other.

Marissa and Ryan, friends of ours from A&M. They are expecting their first little one in March!!

And us, I was 6-1/2 months here.

What was crazy to think about is that next year we'll have a little Brody with us on the beach! It was fun to watch all the parents with little toddlers running around in the sand, it made it so real to us that he's actually coming and that EVERY aspect of our lives is about to change. Which is really exciting and terrifying at the same time actually. The fear of the unknown is the scary part but thinking about being on the beach with our little family next year is SO exciting.

Update- Graduation!

2009-09-24T15:11:00.003-05:00

*tap* *tap* Is this thing on? After sufficient slacking I've finally gotten it together enough for an update on the past month at our house! Hopefully this will be a trend to more frequent posting, I cross my fingers. How can it be that I feel like I have less time and less motivation WITHOUT a full time job than with one!? I think I just need to get it together!

So here it goes - Aug. 14th - GRADUATION! This was one of the most exciting and fun days ever, I was so so proud to see Jared in his cap and gown walking across the stage. It really was overwhelming - just thinking back on all the hard work, late nights, and stressful finals that Jared's been through the past three and a half years. This has been the day we've been looking forward to since we got married and it was finally here, and he earned every bit of it.

I just can't put into words how proud I am of him and how much I love the man that he is and has been through it all. I married a hard worker, Grandma Miller told me that he was and asked me if I was ready for it when we were engaged! I always knew he loved to clean on Saturdays and organize the garage until it is magazine worthy, but as I watched him walk across the stage it made me realize how hard of a worker he really is. When he makes his mind up to do something he does it, even if it's not easy or fun, and I'm thankful that I'm the lucky one that gets to be his wife.

Isn't that cake awesome!? Jared's mom, Lori, ordered it from a local bakery and it was so cool! So the next day we jumped in the car with my sisters, their husbands/boyfriends, and some friends of ours and headed to Destin for a week on the beach. Pictures of that tomorrow!

Dear H-E-B,

2009-09-15T16:39:00.002-05:00

I love you.

For everyone that lives outside of Texas I'm sorry that you can't experience the amazing-ness that is H-E-B. It's a good reason, among many others, to move here! When we moved to Houston three weeks ago and were driving around trying to find our way around we passed this beautiful new H-E-B (in the picture). It's not the closest grocery store to us, I actually pass a Kroger and Super Target on the way, but it is SO worth it to drive the extra bit.

Not all H-E-B's are the same, they just started building these new Central Market style ones that are seriously beautiful. They have the best produce, amazing meat and cheese departments, and pretty much anything else you could ever want. Some of our favorite recipes have come from their cooking stations they have throughout the store. Love it!!

But the best part of H-E-B really isn't the selection, the awesome layout, or the freshness of everything - it's the people. When I went today I was really blown away by how nice everyone was, just plain nice! The guys stocking the fruit were happy and smiling, the meat counter guy was friendly and helpful, and the checkers asked me at least three times if they could take my groceries out to the car. (I don't think it's because I'm huge pregnant or anything :)

I don't say any of this to try and change where you grocery shop or rub it in your face if you don't have an H-E-B, when I left there today I was just overwhelmingly thankful for the little things like nice people. It's sounds so silly. But with moving to a new city, a much much bigger city, going from working or being in school full time for the past nine years to being a stay at home soon-to-be mom, missing family and friends, and feeling a little overwhelmed in general it's just really nice to go somewhere that feels like home, where you always know what to expect, and where people are nice to you for no reason - even if it is a little out of the way.

New email address

2009-09-05T20:07:00.002-05:00

tyan@tinybirdphotography.com

If you've sent an email to my tamu account the past few days please resend to the email address above since I can't get them. Thanks!

What the freak man

2009-09-02T19:51:00.003-05:00

I know, I'm a huge slacker. I apologize for the lack of posting, the past few weeks have been RIDICULOUS!

Ridiculous in good and bad ways, the two weeks of vacation was pure bliss. The white sand in Destin is my favorite thing in the world. What was not so glorious was coming home to boxes upon boxes in our new loft in downtown Houston, having no internet the first week of moving in, and having to switch to Comcast (oh how I miss you, DirectTV).

We've gotten through most of the boxes with just a few more to go so that is happy news. I'll be sure to put up pictures of the trip, Jared's man trip to Utah, the new loft, and the growing bump asap. It's still touch and go as far as free time to post but I promise I'll be better! And to my clients who are waiting on their galleries and orders - I love you and totally understand if you hate my guts! I would be saying "what the freak man" as well. But they are coming, I promise!

Moving to a new city and Jared's new job are the two things that are most exciting right now. We LOVE being in downtown Houston around tons of new shopping and restaurants. It's a really fun adventure since it's the biggest city either of us have lived in. Jared is doing marketing for a medical center and is LOVING it. I think he's loving the position as much as he's loving not starting class this week with the rest of A&M. I really couldn't be more proud of him and am so so glad that he loves his job.

So that's the update for now, life is crazy but good!

Let the countdown begin...

2009-08-04T16:10:00.004-05:00

I like counting down to things and scratching things of lists, even things that aren't that fun to do - if I put it on a list then the prospect of scratching it off motivates me to do it!

So here are the lists I have going as of today:

Days until Jared gets his Aggie ring: 8
Days until Jared graduates: 9
Days left of working full time: 5
Years I have worked full time: 5
How excited I am on a scale of 1-10: 500 million
Weeks until we move to Houston: 1
How much I have packed: 0
Sessions to proof before we move: 3
Number of cats we currently own: 1 (Chauncey is a free man, story to come)
Pounds I have gained these first 6 months: HA! Nice try.
Days until Destin trip: 10

Like I said, I like to count things. Honestly I just can't believe that it's finally time to move on to the next part of our lives, I mean Jared and I have been talking about graduation since we started dating. It hasn't really hit me until just recently that this means a big change for me too. I have been working here in College Station full time since graduating in 2004 - getting up and working 8 hours a day has been my life for five years. I have loved it and plan to continue working in different capacities part time or from home in the future because I love it, but the days of having to or needing to are quickly coming to an end. Which is exciting and weird all at the same time.

To top it all off we get to have a new little guy join our party too. That is the most exciting part.

My session with this new little one made me realize that November can't come soon enough.

For your Monday

2009-08-03T13:51:00.002-05:00

This skit makes me laugh so hard! Even on days like today when I locked my keys in my car at OfficeMax, thank goodness I like browsing for office supplies!

Obsession....Carmindy's Foundation

2009-07-28T07:57:00.001-05:00

A while back I blogged about Carmindy's Under Eye concealer and how great it is, I still love it and use it everyday. So with the way my skin is handling the wash of pregnancy hormones (not well, by the way) I thought I would give some other things from her line a try. This time - Your Skin Foundation.

I am a loyal, die hard Bare Minerals user so I felt a little guilty cheating with new foundation. But I won't lie, I was looking forward to a break from tap, tap, swirl, tap, tap, buff, buff, buff, swirl, buff.

Why I went with this is because I wanted something with a little more coverage, easy to apply, good for extra sensitive skin, and lasts the whole day without touch-ups. I was prepared to try a lot of different things since I was expecting a lot, but after two trips to CVS to find the right shade (you can open, test, and return any cosmetic item at CVS!) and a week of wearing I am sold!!

It goes on smoothly without that glossy look some foundations have, it covers well but looks totally natural (I use one pump for my whole face), and lasts all day. I put it on after my moisturizer and then dust some Bare Minerals Mineral Veil on to set it (and make myself feel better about cheating on my old friend). Usually I can tell if my skin doesn't agree with something pretty quickly and this has been great so far. I'll keep you updated if that changes anytime soon.

I want to try the airbrush foundation next, I think it will be great for vacation makeup. Quick and easy!

Take a guess

2009-07-24T07:18:00.001-05:00

Five stars to the first person to guess right.(Emily you are not allowed to guess:)

ANSWER: Pee-Pee Teepees! Good call Marissa - definitely not to be worn as a hat! My friend, Emily, sent this link to me after having her first boy a few weeks ago, I love Tanis' suggestion to hold them in place or they could go shooting off. Good tip!

We're a serious bunch...

2009-07-22T07:37:00.001-05:00

I was going through last year's photos the other day and came across these from Kellye's wedding last June and thought they were kind of awesome. (just like that run on sentence was awesome)

I guess this is what you get when you combine a morning wedding in Houston, driving three hours to Tyler, getting things ready for the reception, a few hair meltdowns, putting on silk dresses in 105 degree weather, and staying up way too late. Plus sometimes we just get a little loopy when we're all together. I think Melissa is the instigator. :)

I love Melissa's hair in that last one, it's so incredible. It reminds me of the sidekick on Xena Warrior Princess. Don't act like you don't know who I'm talking about! And the shirt, classic. No comment on my extremely gay expression.

Then I started to get a little tired.

I just wonder what kind of institution my parents want to send us to when we do things like make headbands and costumes out of dresses that my mom hand made with no pattern (each one the same, but a little different - crazy skills). I guess it's a slippery slope...

Sneak Peek - Catherine and Zach

2009-07-20T07:34:00.000-05:00

I had to stop while working on these and put one up. I love couples who look like supermodels, and yellow shoes.

Hello There!

2009-07-16T07:56:00.007-05:00

I'm 5-1/2 months and the bump is officially here! Here's what is happening lately:

Soccer Player: He is kicking like a wild man! I really, really love it. It is so much fun at night to sit with Jared's hand on my belly and feel him putting on a show.

Fun Stuff: My back is killing me. I'm pretty sure the extra weight in front, belly and bazoombies, is throwing me off when it comes to sitting up straight. And I'm usually a rock hard sleeper but lately not so much. I got a Snoogle body pillow and that helped at first, but now it feels in the way most of the time since I switch sides back and forth during the night. Any suggestions?

Also, the pregnancy books totally freak you out about laying flat on your back - EVER!!! It means sudden death for everyone involved. So during the night when I wake up on my back I panic, hope I'm not dead, and turn to my side worrying like crazy. This happens about 15 times a night. So I asked my doctor about it and he said that it's not as terrible as they scare you into thinking, but it's not a good idea to sleep flat on your back all night. Of course that's the way I feel most comfortable, go figure.

Non-maternity Maternity Clothes: I've really been loving tunics in general lately, Jared got me this Anthropologie one for my birthday and it completes me.

Really any kind of blousy top with white pants or skinny jeans works for me. I have an obsession with white pants. I also love that there are cute sandals and flats GALORE right now, I found these at Payless and they are totally comfortable! (sometimes shoes from Payless aren't so comfy, but these get an A+)

I was actually wearing these sandals with the dress in the top picture, which brings me to my next obsession - maxi dresses! Dresses are my best friend with this crazy Texas heat. The less fabric touching my body the better. What's great is that non-maternity maxi dresses are basically the same as maternity maxi dresses, and I love all of them equally.

Maternity Clothes: I so wish I could be one of those people that wears their normal clothes as long as possible before finally breaking down in the last two months and buying official maternity clothes, it would save so much money! Most of my clothes still fit but just not the way that they did 5 months ago, or even 3 months ago for that matter! And to me, that's just depressing. Even though I know full well that is is totally normal and fully expected it, it still just sad when your pants won't zip up, or the shirt button between the girls is threatening to pop off and take someone's eye right out.

So over fourth of July weekend my wonderful, amazing, fashionista mom knew just what I needed and we set out on a quest for cute maternity clothes. The bump, bazoombies and I were so happy.

We hit Motherhood Maternity and actually found some really cute things! The funniest part is they have a strap on bump in every dressing room so you can see if what you're wearing will fit in a few months. I totally freaked my mom out when I came out of the dressing room looking like I was about to go into labor. It was hilarious.

We also went to Target so she could help me register which was really fun. They have some really great maternity things too! Just for fun I tried on a pair of jeans with the stretchy panel that goes all the way up, I just wanted to prepare myself for the hideous-ness that is to come. Lo and behold they were actually cute!! Outside of work I usually live in jeans so I've been prepared to pay the same price as normal jeans if I found a cute maternity pair, so at $29.99 I snatched them right up and was so proud of myself for saving so much money. They are in the top of the closet ready for when I need the full stretchy panel of joy in a month or two.

So I held out 5-1/2 months, I'm still wearing most of my pre-pregnancy clothes (thank you bella band) and mixing in maternity things here and there. Now I'm ready for the next 3-1/2 months! (but not so much for the whole labor and delivery part)

Baby Jacox

2009-07-13T13:21:00.003-05:00

Here he is! (sorry these are so grainy, I took pictures of the ultrasound print outs with my iPhone since I am incapable of working our scanner!)

Doesn't he have the cutest little profile! (I'm not biased or anything) It was so awesome to get to see him moving his little mouth and squirming around. I could have laid there all day looking at him.

His little leg.

Another profile shot, he has his hand up next to his head. It was so cute, he kept moving his little fingers and stretching them out.

This is the first time Jared has seen him since the 6 week ultrasound so it was definitely fun to see how big he is, not a little bean anymore! He's actually about 10.5 inches, almost a whole ruler. Crazy. And talk about kicking, he is all over the place. Jared felt him kick for the first time a couple of days ago so now it's fun to sit and feel it together.

It's still really surreal but now that none of my pants button it's becoming a little more real! I'll post some pictures of the bump soon, it's so fun that there's actually a bump now. Over fourth of July weekend my mom and I went maternity clothes shopping and got tons of cute stuff. Yes - cute maternity clothes! They exist! It was SO MUCH fun. We found mostly dresses and cute tops, I'm still loving my regular size white linen pants but I found some cute jeans and capris that I'll be living in pretty soon.

It's just SO freakin' hot here right now!! We've had several record breaking days with temperatures above 105 (every day is above 100), it is miserable. And unless you've lived in Texas it's hard to understand the nasty, humid, suffocating heat that basically makes it impossible to keep your hair straight or your makeup on. It's just so gross. So we'll just count down to our Destin trip in less than a month and crank the AC!

Pictures...

2009-07-10T07:40:00.000-05:00

... of Baby Jacox coming soon! We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and he is a handsome one!!