250/365 - Happy 7th Birthday Sunshine

7 years ago today my life changed forever. The day started out like most other days at that time; I was 33 1/2 weeks pregnant, a little bit fat, still trying to get the nursery finished, and taking naps and resting whenever I got tired. I had no idea what was in store for me. I'd had some strange pressure and a bit of cramping for a couple of days, but not enough to worry or alarmed me, and nothing that a bowl of Ben and Jerry's Half Baked Ice Cream couldn't fix. I was sitting at the computer, checking emails, enjoying my ice cream, when in an instant, everything changed. Without warning, my water broke. I didn't even know what it was at the time, and I really didn't know what to do, so I called a friend who told me to call my doctor. My doctor told me to head over to the hospital so they could take a look at me, so I called my Mom (Michael was in Colorado riding horses in the mountains with a friend) and she drove me to the hospital with only my cell phone, wallet and insurance card in my purse. I wasn't having a baby, so I didn't need anything else right? Well, come to find out, I was definitely having contractions and they were actually pretty steady, but the funny thing was, I couldn't feel them. The Doctor was concerned, so she put me on Magnesium Sulphate and several other things, but all I was worried about was getting a good nights sleep and how was I going to do that with a bunch of wires hooked up to me, a belt around my belly and all these machines beeping around me? I was just getting settled in as best I could, when I felt like I really needed to use the restroom, so I called my nurse. She took one look at me, called for the doctor and another nurse, told me to keep my hands inside my bed and she and the other nurse started wheeling me down the hall, really fast! I still never really felt the contractions, but I did feel an overwhelming urge to push, and push I did, and about 20 minutes later I found myself looking down at the most precious little angel I'd ever seen. You were in quite a hurry to make your entrance into the world, but when you finally got here, time stood completely still and it was as if the earth stopped rotating for just a brief moment. I fell in love with you the minute I first saw you, and I find myself loving you more and more every day. I love your sweetness, your kindness, your gentle eyes and sensitive soul. I love your silly, goofy, funny little personality and the way you laugh and the way you make me laugh. I love snuggling with you, and I adore holding your hand and feeling like we are one together. I love watching you see and experience things for the first time; I love watching you learn and grow, and I love watching you breath gently as you fall into a deep sleep, so tired at the end of the day. I love being your Mom, and I simply love you! Happy Birthday Sunshine. May your day be filled with as much joy and love as you bring into the world and may you always know what a special gift you are and how much you are truly loved.

I wanted to capture a shot of Randi on her birthday, but she really just wanted to go back inside and play with Teddy, so this is what I was able to get...


Until later when I was able to capture the girl that I know and love. Though this isn't the portrait picture I was trying to get earlier, it is my girl. The real Randi. The way I see her every day and the girl that makes my heart sing.


Randi,
I saw this when I was out earlier today, and it made me catch my breath because it spoke straight to my heart, so this my sweet girl is my birthday gift to you.

My Five Best Promises.....

I promise to always love you...
...to have fun with you
...to respect you
...to help you find your dreams and let you live them
and finally...
I promise to be here for you...always! Right here!

Happy Birthday Sunshine!

249/365 - Teddy comes home

Teddy was transferred from the shelter to the vet's office this morning for testing, shots and worming. I got a call around noon informing me that all his tests came back negative and he'd be ready to go home after 3pm, so we all picked Randi up from school and went straight to the vets office to get him. We talked with the vet tech for a while and she told us that Teddy was too little to get shots and they were concerned because his eyes were a little watery, so they prescribed antibiotics and told us to bring him back in a couple of weeks so they could see how he was doing and to give him his first set of shots. The shelter estimated his age to be about 9 weeks, but the vet tech said he was probably more like 6 weeks at best. Kittens usually gain about a pound a month and he's barely a pound soaking wet, so he's just a little toot. It's a good thing he's coming home with us because we have some good vittles around here and know just how to fatten up a skinny little thing!

Ryan got to bring home Froggy Giggles from school today, so we took him to the vet with us to have him checked out as well. Froggy got a clean bill of health and was super excited to meet little Teddy. Ryan asked me to print this picture for the book that goes back to school with Froggy Giggles, and I like the photo so much that I decided to use it for my picture of the day as well.

248/365 - Fire Music

Texas is on fire! We're safe with no flames close to us, but Michael's Mom had to evacuate last night and came to stay with us because a huge fire is within 5 miles of her house. We've had the news on this afternoon watching for updates, and it inspired Ryan to compose his own, somewhat eerie song called "Fire Music".



Years ago a photography instructor taught me a wonderful lesson; he said after taking a picture like I think I should take it, take it again from another perspective. His message came to mind this afternoon when I was taking pictures of Ryan in this wonderful light. I was in a tight area with the 50mm on, so I didn't have a lot of options, and I'd changed the camera to Monochrome a few shots before, but I like this second shot too.

247/365 - Decisions, Decisions

Picking out a kitty was easy, now comes the hard part...picking out just the right toys!

246/365 - Kaz

We've had so much fun with Kaz. The kids love her, we love her, and we all hate to see her go. We love you Kaz and can't wait for your next visit. Aussie Aussie Oi Oi!

245/365 - Meet Teddy

Randi has been asking for a pet of her own for months now. We've looked at and considered hamsters, gerbils, dagu's, chinchilla's, etc. However, I'm not keen on the idea of an animal having to live in a cage and knowing how kids are, I'm afraid it'll be fun and exciting for about 2 weeks and then the poor thing will be yesterday's news, so we switched gears and talked about getting a cat instead. Michael loves cats, and even though I prefer dogs, I don't mind cats...especially cute one's with fun personalities. So we brought up the idea to Randi and she seemed on board with it. We looked on the Pet Finder site and one kitten in particular caught her eye. His name was Teddy. The next day I went to our local animal shelter to see what they had to choose from. Most of the cats there were older than what I wanted, however, much to Micheal's horror, I almost brought home a Siamese and an adorable Chihuahua. So early this morning I called the shelter Teddy was listed at to see if he was still available, and as luck would have it, he was. I also asked if they had other young kittens as well so Randi would have several to look at and choose from and was told they had lots to pick from, so we decided to head up right away so as to not risk loosing Teddy to someone else. We had a talk with Randi on the way there telling her that just because Teddy was cute in his picture, he might not be nice or want to come live with her, so she needed to keep her heart open and let a kitten choose her and not to fall in love with one for the wrong reasons. She took it all in and seemed to understand what we were saying. When we walked into the cat area at the shelter, Teddy and his litter mates were in the very first cage Randi walked up to. We took him and one of his sisters out to play, then we got out a couple of very timid grey kittens who just wanted to run away and hide under things, then we got out an orange kitten that must have been on crack because he was so crazy, and we got out a few others that were sweet, but none were as kind and gentle and loving as Teddy. When the kids picked him up, he just lay in their arms and when they played with him he wanted to be with them and didn't try to run away. He was docile and calm, yet playful and silly. After about 30 minutes, Randi asked very sweetly if she could adopt Teddy? I asked her if he'd spoken to her heart, and she said he had, so that was that, and we began the process of officially making Teddy a member of our family. He has to go to the vet for shots and micro-chipping, so we can't pick him up until next week but he is already very much loved by two little children...and truth be told, I like him too!




Randi wanted to fill out the adoption forms all by herself.

244/365 - Go Cami

Our niece Cami is a high school freshman this year, but she is such a great athlete that she made the Varsity volleyball team, so Michael, Kaz, the kids and several other relatives went to support her at her first game. Cami played awesome and her team won. Yeah. Go Cami. We're so proud of you!


Bottom row: Kylie (niece) , Randi, Hunter (nephew)
Middle row: Holly (niece), Cami (niece), Courtney (niece), Kaz
Back row: Glenn (BIL), Gee (MIL), Colleen (SIL), Michael