Lots and Lots of Change

I have been "MIA" from my blog for the last few months and that's because there has been a lot of change in our house. Mostly good change but it's definately thrown me out of my routine and I haven't been spending as much time as I usually do enjoying my hobbies such as blogging, reading, photography, and scrapbooking. In fact for about 2 months I didn't do these at all. Why you ask? Well I'm happy to say that we are expecting our first child in February!!! I will be at the 35 week mark on Monday.

Now that I'm past those lovely 2 months of constant nausea and vomitting, I decided it's time to get back to what I love and start documenting and enjoying this journey - I know I won't have much time after the baby arrives but let's do it while I can! (Note: I wrote this months and months ago but couldn't hit the publish button....sad I know).

So here's the short version of the story. We began seeing an infertility specialist earlier this year and on June 17th after flying the red eye home from a business trip in Las Vegas, I went to the specialist to find out why we haven't been successful getting pregnant on our own. My husband couldn't join me because he was in St. Louis for the weekend watching the Cardinals play with a friend of his. The doctor explained the medical reason behind why we were having trouble conceiving and we came up with a plan to address the issue. I commented to him that I expected my period that week and it said that travel, jet lag, etc could be the reason. I decided that night to take a test just to put my mind at rest and what a surprise it was when I saw the test read "POSITIVE". I completely flipped out and ran around the house in utter shock yelling and scared the dogs a bit unfortunately.

I then decided that I couldn't tell this to David over the phone so I spent the next day planning a big surprise for him since I would tell him on Sunday which was also Father's Day. I spent the day buying baby items with a fatherly twist and finally fell asleep Saturday night. I got a call at 3 am from the friend that my husband was away with to find out that the taxi they were in to take them back to their hotel was in an accident and David was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. He said he would be fine but was complaining of neck pains but it didn't make it any easier. I wanted to scream on the phone "he needs to be ok, he doesn't know yet he's going to be a father" but I didn't. A few hours later I got to talk with him and felt much better. He was a little banged up and had a sore neck that would keep him in a brace and physical therapy for a few weeks.

Finally when he got home on Sunday, the dogs greeted David at the door with bibs around their necks that said "daddy's princess" and "daddy's rock star". I then gave him a gift bag with a card for him
to open. He was clearly in a lot of pain and wasn't very coherant when he opened the card that was signed from "Tanner, Stella, and Baby A" and didn't even flinch. I asked him if he read the card and he said yes but clearly he hadn't so asked him  again. He read it again and looked at me and said "are you pregnant" and I of course had tears streaming down my face and said yes. He looked very confused which I'd understood because I told him on the phone on Friday what the doctor had said.It finally hit him and he was very happy.

It was until the next day until it fully hit him thanks to prescription paid meds but when it did it brought tears to my eyes. Here is where the fun really begins.....

12 week ultrasound

It's a Girl!!!!!!!

(picture taken at 34 weeks)

Written August 2011, Posted Janaury 2012

You Capture - Youth

Each week I look forward to seeing what the photo challenge will be at I Should be Folding Laundry and this week was no exception. We were to capture "youth" and the first thing that popped into my mind was children of course but then I thought I should try and be a bit more creative. I had thoughts of trying to capture the notion around the "fountain of youth" which would be my drawer full of lotions and potions that are suppose to make me look youthful for the rest of my life. I ended up throwing that idea out the window and decided to share some pictures from my niece's 4th birthday as well as a shot from a baby shower I attended this past weekend. What can I say, children are adorable and I loved how I captured something so very different in these shots.

 Here's a shot of Emily enjoying herself at the baby shower. I really love the look on her face and her blue eyes shining through thanks to some sunshine that day.

 What's a birthday party without a cake cupcake? My niece turned 4 and she is not shy and relished the partygoer's singing to her and then of course it was time to blow out the candle. What did she wish for? Nobody knows but I'd guess it has something to do with princesses or something very girly.

What did the birthday girl want to do for her birthday? Go bowling of course so that we did. I love this shot of the girls so intently watching the ball slowwwlllyyy roll down the lane. Thank goodness for those bumpers!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

For about the past year I have wanted to photograph my peacock feather that was given to me from a very special person at work and decided that this week's scavenger hunt was the perfect time to do so. Those colors just won't screaming at me until I do. This week was a bit more challenging for me plus 2 days of headaches bordering on a migraine didn't help. I did however have a photography lesson on Friday so let's see if it resulted in some better photography.

1 - Diptych - Huh??? I had no idea what that was but a I looked up the definition and here's what it said. A diptych is a photograph that uses two different or identical images side by side to form one single artistic statement. The two images can literally be in contact with each other, or separated by a border or frame. After reading the definition I was still lost but thanks to Faith at Simplicity and her wonderful blog post this past week I was able to figure out what it was. Still confused, check out Pioneer Woman's blog post on the subject as well.

And here enters my beloved peacock feather......just love the vibrant colors and the texture.

2 - Books. I have a ton of books since I love to read and tried a number of different ideas with this but I kept coming back to how beautiful the pages were, especially since they were different shades of cream. I now tend to read books with my Kindle but I have a ton of books on my book shelves from used book sales that I still need to get to. So many wonderful books and so little time......

3-  Fill in the blanks prompt. Oh wow, all of my original ideas were all over the board and I ended up with a good shot for this since my house is full of these evil girl scout cookies, they are just the best!!!

When I think about how girl scout cookies are in my tummy, I just have to have one or two for breakfast!

4- A taste of Italy.
I suspect there will be a ton of pictures of pasta and other delicious Italian foods, but I wanted to snap shots of wine instead but with a major headache, I had to pull this from my archives from the holidays. I just didn't want to open a delicious bottle of wine and not be able to drink it - that would be a mortal sin in my house! Good wine should never go to waste.

5 - Reminders. This one stumped me because my to-do lists aren't very pretty to shoot so I started looking around my house and once I laid my eyes on my beautiful palm plant, I knew I had to shoot it. I got this plant from my Grandmother's funeral in August 2009 and every time I look at it I think of her. I usually am not successful with plants but this one is thriving in my dining room. I honestly feel like she's here with me every time I look at it or water it and that brings a smile to my face. I miss and love you Grandma!

Linking Up to Scavenger Hunt Sunday at Ashley's blog.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Sunday's used to be a day of lounging around and getting errands done for the upcoming week but since I've begun participating in Ashley's Scavenger Hunt Sunday challenge, it has another special meaning to me. When you really dive into photography you begin to see the world from a different perspective and the beauty that lies within all things. I love that participating in a challenge forces you to photograph things that you wouldn't normally capture. This week was no exception, another great challenge.

Capture the Sky

This was a bit tricky because Friday was the only day that I actually saw clouds and was able to shoot during daylight. Shooting a boring sky with no clouds wasn't what I wanted to go for so I was happy to see a few hours of clouds. I did edit this picture a bit to bring out the contrast a bit more which I usually don't do because I love SOOC. This is a sign that spring is on its way.

Everyday

Everyday I get to love my hubby and since unfortunately the dogs usually steal the spotlight, while we were driving to a movie I took the opportunity to snap a picture of him. A second after I snapped this picture I bumped my head which left a nice size goose egg on my head. Oh the things we do to get a shot.

 Furry

I was excited to see the furry prompt and knew I had two fluffy babies to use for this. In fact Tanner just got groomed and his coat was extra shiny. I decided to shoot this from a different perspective and I hope you like it. He is the cutest dog ever isn't he?!?!

 Signs of New Life

I walked around our lake and the neighborhood on Friday afternoon looking for new signs of life but all I could find was lots of snow and a few ice fishermen fishing on the lake. Being in the Midwest, I'm sad to say that it was hard to find signs of new life or signs that spring is on its way. I did however notice that my houseplants were thriving - that's a sign, right? OK it's a stretch but I tried really hard, really I did. 

Blurred

I had a lot of bokeh and motion ideas in my head but I decided to put a lazy susan to work and a bowl of jellybeans. It was fun playing around with shutter speed and noticed I got the effect I was looking for with the help of my extension tubes - I love those babies. Funny thing is that the jellybeans were all the colors of the rainbow but all you really see is the yellow and orange ones when I spin the bowl. Does anyone know why that is? I ate most of the red one's but there were plenty of green and purple ones that aren't showing up.

Linking up to Scavenger Hunt Sunday.

The Blizzard of 2011

The Midwest was slammed by a blizzard otherwise known as "the blizzard of 2011" and it didn't miss us in the Chicagoland area. It's hard to tell how much we got but it's around 18-20 inches with some very high drifts. Our backyard took the most beating from the storm with 4 to 5 foot drifts against our patio door and all around the deck. Tanner and Stella were very confused in the morning when we were scrambling trying to figure out where to start digging a place for them to go outside. Despite how much we hate snow, there actually was quite a bit of excitement in the house and around the neighborhood. We may never see snow like this again so might as well make the most of it!

David digging a spot in front the garage for the dogs. See how deep the snow is?

 We live in a split level home and the drifts along the side of the house looked like a wave from the ocean. I thought it was a cool view to capture through the window.

 In the winter we leave a shovel near the back door so we can shovel for the dogs when necessary. Look at how buried the shovel became overnight! This is after we shoveled 5 times the night before.

 Our front steps are buried - it may stay this way for a while. Guests can come through the garage in the meantime.

 A cool shot of the snow on the roof. I like how it looks like a wave from the wind.

 Me helping to shovel out a good spot for the dogs.

 David lending a helping hand too.

 David taking a break and rolling around in the snow.

 My cute neighbor having an absolute ball in all of the snow. They kept losing their boots in the deep snow but it didn't stop them from having fun. She loves posing for the camera for me.

My neighbors front steps are worst than ours. Her she is again posing.

We hope that everyone else is safe and sound from the blizzard. We know someone who got stranded from driving into a snow drift and was stuck for 24 hours. Just glad I wasn't one of those stuck on Lake Shore Drive all night long. I have a fear of that happening so I left work plenty early on Tuesday and then worked the rest of the day from the safety of my home.

P.S. So glad that the groundhog didn't see his shadow!

A new addition to the Family?

We are very excited and while it's not finalized, I still can't wait to share the news with everyone. Tanner may soon have a sister to keep him company when we are away! We have been looking to rescue a dog similar to Tanner for quite a while and we found Carmen while searching the web and it was love at first site. Carmen is a 7 year old Maltese and is a puppy mill dog who has not had any human contact until recently. Her foster mom had nothing but good things to say about her progress and we think her personality will be a perfect match for Tanner. We get to meet her tomorrow and see how the two of them do together. Because Carmen hasn't had human contact until her rescue, she's skittish and is working on trusting others. She has shown no aggressive behavior but rather gets scared if you move too quickly towards her or try to pet her. We know it's a big job and will require a lot of patience but we are up for the challenge. When we got Tanner 6 1/2 years ago, we got him from a pet store because we didn't know any better. Thanks to Oprah and the many stories she has done on puppy mills, we have vowed to only rescue. I'll keep you posted on how the visit goes tomorrow.

P.S. We are likely going to change her name to something different after finding out that Carmen meant "drama queen". We have 7 names on the list at this point but I'm hopeful we can widdle that down once we meet her in person.

A Mother's Day Floral Daytrip

For Mother's Day I took my mom to one of my favorite Greenhouse's - Dieder Farms in Buffalo Grove to pick out a hanging plant. I picked this place because they have the largest, most beautiful hanging plants you ever did see. When we walked in, my mother went crazy! She was so overjoyed that it took her a while before she could pick the winner.

After my mom picked out hers, we then found the perfect hanging plant for my MIL and then another for myself. I'm hoping that this time I can keep it alive longer than a few weeks. I didn't realize you needed to water them so much.....live and learn right?

Happy Mothers Day Mom and MIL!!! We love you both and hope the flowers bloom all summer long for you.

Happy Birthday David!

David celebrated his birthday this past Friday and he told me about a hundered times that he wanted a Pastel de tres leche (three milk) cake for his birthday. That's all he wanted! He even "hacked" into my blog to post the recipe that he wanted me to use after a bit of research after the best receipt. Well it sounded like an easy request until I realized I would be out of town the entire week and wouldn't get home until Friday afternoon. I made it home just in time to rush to the grocery store and get the cake in the oven before he got home from work. While the cake was baking I had about a 1/2 hour to run into my craft room and whip up a really cool birthday card for a really cool guy. I literally had the card in the envelope and was sealing it shut when he walked in the door!

For those of you unfamiliar with this cake, it's a spongy, delectable cake that oozes a sweet milk from within. You bake the cake, let it cool, and poke lots of holes into it and let the "milky" substance slowly soak into the cake. The milky topping in this recipe used included evaporated milk, sweetened condenced milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and rum. Interested in giving it a try? Check out the recipe I used here. Enjoy!!!

The birthday boy eagerly waiting to dive into his cake!

Happy Birthday David!!!

Bulls vs. Mavericks Game

David and I headed down to see the Bulls play the Mavericks at the United Center. We got tickets from some friends at the last minute and they were awesome seats! We sat on the floor behind the basket in the 8th row. We also had aisle seats so I was able to take lots of pictures in addition to cheering the Bulls on. We didn’t cheer loud enough I guess because they didn’t win but we sure tried.

Here’s a few pictures of our fun date night.

David – brought out the Bulls hat for the game.

Me – waving my “brick” sign and balloons to distract those shooting free-throws. It worked once!

 At the beginning of he game, Coach Lovie and his new recruits showed up at the game and waltzed right by me. I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture with them but this counts I guess. Chicago welcomed the new players to town with a round of applause – hopefully they’ll live up to that next year.

Did you watch the game? Did you see me waving my sign and balloons? Probably not but that’s ok, it was an awesome game but best of all I spent it with David.

Proof – I Did It!

I knew you wouldn’t believe me without photos and I made sure this time we got some. This is the second time in a month that I have went ice-fishing. I know it’s hard to believe but lately I’m willing to try anything once, especially if it means getting out of the house during the dreary winter months!

   Here I am using my auger drilling skills, the ice was really deep and I thought I was going to fall in towards the end but I never let go of the auger – rule #1.

Even thought I was bundled up, it got a little cold with the wind on the lake and I decided to fish in the ice shack instead, it was really warm in there! The twins that live next door decided to join me but unfortunately “the fish were sleeping” according to the kids. I think they were right. The hubby and I got a few shots before heading out for lunch. No one from our group caught any fish big enough to enter into the ice-fishing tournament but there is always next year. At least we had fun.