Super Freak, Super Freak...She's Super Freaky!

Ok...so yes, this is my theme song. I decided it myself. I'll admit it - I am a freak...when it comes to pictures that is. If you read my blog or you're my friend on facebook, then it is obvious to you that I LOVE pictures. But what you may not know is that I am a super freak about pictures.
.....
Here's a short little recap of today. So we have pictures for our Christmas cards scheduled for today at 5:00 p.m. I've been thinking about these pictures since last year at this time and I've been driving everyone crazy (especially my mother) about these pictures for two weeks. And still today could not completely visualize what I wanted these pictures to look like. I know my problem(s). I'm a variety girl - I love a little bit of everything and that's not always possible. And it doesn't help that I tend to be a perfectionist with a type A, high-strung, high-maintanence personality, with a little OCD thrown in (just kidding...actually, not really). These qualities are part of the reason why I succeed at most things that I attempt and why I go above and beyond, always pushing my limits and forcing myself to do better...but, these qualities also cause me a tremendous amount of stress and at times, make me a freak!
.....
Anyway - back to the Christmas card pictures. Last night I covered my dining room table in a humongous (is that a word?) pile of clothes...mine, Jeb's, the kids...trying to coordinate, pick out, decide. I had the cutest elf hats I wanted to take the kids pictures in, new expensive Matilda Jane wear that I wanted pictures in, new outfits of mine I wanted to wear, a red tutu and a Santa hat I wanted LilliAnn to wear - how was I ever going to decide? I wanted some pictures of the kids, some Christmas themed pictures, AND a traditional outdoor picture of the four of us! Yes, I wanted all of that. Is that too much to ask? I LOVE pictures!!! Then, as I was throwing all of it in my car to take to my parents' house where we were going to take the pictures, I thought to myself, "Kelli Ann - your children are 7 months and 2 1/2...how in the world are you going to make it through multiple wardrobe and accessory changes, outside and inside by the fireplace? This isn't going to be good. We'll be lucky is we can get one good shot!" Then I pushed that out of my mind and said to myself again, "It's going to be a great day - we'll get all of this done and the pictures will be amazing!"
.....
So, as soon as the kids woke up, we all took baths, washed our hair, fixed it perfectly (I even blow dried the kids hair), got dressed, and headed to Nana's to have her help with coordinating our outfits. When I got to my mom's at 10 a.m. (keep in mind pictures weren't until 5 p.m.) I unloaded my entire house practically - shoes, hair bows, headbands, hats, clothes, clothes, and more clothes and threw it all on my mother's couch. I was so overwhelmed. My mother didn't say a word, although I know she was thinking, "my gosh!" She helped me ALL DAY as I tried on different outfits, fretted, ranted & raved about "matching," "coordinating," "not matching too much," and even watched the kids while I went to Old Navy and Dillards to find Jeb the perfect shirt. I even went to Waldenbooks to get "The Night Before Christmas" with a big, pretty cover because I wanted the kids to be in pajamas by the fire and us reading that book for one of the pictures. I even bought two "Night Before Christmas" books because I coudn't decide which one I liked better. Mom called while I was out and said that she couldn't get Reid down for a nap, but we could drive him around and see if he would go to sleep. We decided against it since he would wake up right at picture time and he's a bear most of the time when he gets up from his naps! LilliAnn hadn't slept much either, but was in a pretty good mood as usual. When I got back to my mom's, the sun was shining, and I thought everything was going to be great. Well, God had other plans. It started sprinkling, turned really dark outside, and the wind started going crazy right as the photographer was pulling up. Ummmm...symbolism? Like when it rains in movies symbolizing rebirth or when it storms during turmoil. I think so...the way it was outside was just how my evening was heading. Ironic because my brother had a great day and put on his facebook status, "Don't judge a day by the weather." Mr. Reid - who had been an angel all day other than not wanting to take a nap - decided he DID NOT want to cooperate. He wouldn't put his clothes on, wouldn't let us fix the tie around his neck (ok Kelli Ann, who gets a tie for a 2 year-old to wear for pictures? He's not going to be still and let you put it on, it's not going to fit right, an if you do get it on it's not going to stay straight and look right.  LESSON LEARNED!). Then LilliAnn started screaming, was extremely tired, and wanted to nurse and go to sleep. So we let her sleep for ten minutes then woke her up to start taking pictures. Nice nap, huh?
.....
Since outdoor pictures were now out of the question we decided to move all the furniture around in my mom's bedroom/lower den to have the window in the background. That didn't work out so we moved to the fireplace in her room. I didn't like that either. After setting up all the lighting in that room, we moved it all back to the living room to the original fireplace that I had in mind. With lots of toy shaking, jingle bell rocking, dinosaur getting, choo choo train seeing, and new toy helicopter promising, we finally got a few shots of the kids. Reid found some reindeer ears/antler things in Kass's room and he wanted to wear those instead of the elf hat that matched LilliAnn's...of course. LilliAnn was hungry and tired and wasn't having it either and Jeb was giving me those "I hate pictures. This is SOOOOO stupid!" looks. I was SOOOOO over it! And these pictures were not what I had in mind and our outfits/setting was just not doing it for me.
.....
Moral to this long story - I stress myself out about everything, especially pictures. I always have too many choices and bring too many changes of clothes and accessories. I have an AMAZING photographer, Courtney Morehead, who I know will make the pictures look precious... or precious considering my children's ages and the circumstances. She is so talented and does FABULOUS work. I have a FANTASTIC husband who is willing to do anything to make me happy. I have a TERRIFIC mother who understands me better than anyone and helps keep things running smoothly in the midst of all my craziness. I have two ADORABLE children who look cute, even when they're screaming and one of them is in a reindeer antler headband. And I have an AWESOME, ALMIGHTY God who loves me, my family, and ALL of our imperfections! So...as my friend Emily texted me tonight, "a good Christmas card would be the icing on the cake of your very blessed life." Christmas cards aren't everything, pictures aren't even that important, what's important is spending time with my children, relaxing more often, sharing God's word with them and teaching them to be more like him. And while "The Night Before Christmas" is a good book for the season, it's more important to read The Christmas Story to my children and teach them the true reason for  the season. So thank you, God, for the greatest gift, your Son, Jesus Christ! I am so glad that I have accepted this gift...I have a very blessed life.
.....
And my Christmas card this year may be of two crying children. One in an elf hat...one in reindeer antlers...'tis the season!

7 Months of Lil: A Little Monster

.....

Last week was LilliAnn's 7 month birthday. As I was feeding her tonight, I was thinking about how quickly time passes and how it had been over half a year since she came into this world. I started making a list of all the little things that I wanted to remember about her when she was a baby...how she likes to grab my finger with her little hands, how she plays with her ear when she nurses, how her little head fits perfectly in the crook of my arm, how sweet her little baby breath smells, how fuzzy her baby hair feels, how much I love those little rolls in her thighs right above her knees, how good the Noodle & Boo lotion smells that daddy loves to put on her (or Noodle Boodle as he calls it), how she squeals with delight when she pulls up to the bath tub to play peek-a-boo with her brother, and how hard she can clamp her mouth shut when I'm trying to get something out of it that's she's not supposed to be eating! I already miss those newborn days...just sleeping her days away - laying on my chest and waking only to eat, looking like a little baby doll in the bassinet. But it's so exciting watching her grow and accomplish each new milestone, and so much fun getting to know what her little personality is like! But LilliAnn...you are such a little monster at night!

.....

.....

LilliAnn and Reid both sleep with us, which makes for a pretty crowded bed - even though it is king-sized! The past few weeks LilliAnn has been nursing ALL NIGHT LONG! She uses me as her pacifier, and no, she won't take a real pacifier! She sleeps for about 15-30 minutes and then whenever she rouses she wants to nurse. It makes me want to lose my mind, because everyone knows how miserable it is when you don't get good sleep. My neck, shoulders, and back have been killing me from sleeping sideways and all "womper jod" (I don't even know if those are real words!) in order for LilliAnn to nurse all night. We've tried putting her in her own bed, just like we tried with Reid, and she does really well in the beginning but always ends up in our bed because I'm terrible at letting them "cry it out." This all started a few weeks before Lil turned 7 months and I'm sure it doesn't help that she's right in the middle of some major teething! This is probably some of the reason for her wanting to nurse all night. So, I flipped to the 7 month page in Reid's baby book this past week and what was the first line I had written? "You are such a little monster! You are nursing all night long and I am tired!" Hmmmm...guess my children are more alike than I thought! I remember telling my mom when Reid was this age and when I was extremely sleep deprived, that now I knew why Britney Spears shaved her head...baby, hormones, no sleep, work, husband, busy schedule, worn out body...

.....

.....

On the plus side, LilliAnn has reached so many new milestones these past few weeks! She's pulling up on everything and lets go occasionally and can keep her balance for a second. She has even started to cruise around some furniture! LilliAnn, Nana Karen calls you a little goat because you eat everything in sight - especially paper! A few mornings ago she was keeping you and Reid and when she walked into the living room you were standing up on one of Reid's riding toys holding onto the television. Nana Karen could not believe it and sent me a picture at work with the caption, "Can you believe this? She really is a goat!" That afternoon she had even climbed up inside the refrigerator while the door was open! Mom said that I was a climber too and tried to climb out of the crib in the church nursery once. I was supposedly climbing up the walls when my mom got in there to get me! She crawls on all fours now and chases after Reid from room to room. They love playing together and Reid likes to tackle her and try to ride her like a bull. We are constantly reminding him to be very easy with sissy baby. About a week ago LilliAnn was sitting next to the couch playing with Reid and she started to get fussy, I stood up to go get something out of the bedroom and she lifted up her arms and looked at me and said, "mama." My heart melted. She's been saying "da da" for a couple of weeks now, so when she finally figured out that I was "mama" I was ecstatic! She has her two bottom teeth now that both came in on October 17, she can wave, and moves her arms and body when Reid and I are dancing.

.....

.....

Lil's not a big fan of the organic baby food, but she does love the organic multi-grain cereal. She still hasn't had any formula and I'm still breastfeeding - although we occasionally mix her cereal with goat's milk. Her favorite baby foods are sweet potatoes and carrots, and she likes the Earth's Best beef & spinach, and turkey vegetable. She loves the Baby Mum Mums and loves when Reid leaves his sippy cup of apple juice laying in the floor where she can get a taste! Reid ate mostly organic until he was over a year old and I'd like to do the same with Lil. She's being a little more stubborn though and prefers mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken & dumplings, chicken noodle soup, and bread off of our plates! 

.....

Weighing in at over 17 1/2 pounds she's still a big girl! Thankfully, she's been very healthy except for a couple of colds and ran a low grade fever once - no antibiotics...yet! Reid got his first ear infection when he was nine months old and then it was followed by a horrible stomach virus when he was ten months and a viral illness with a temp of 105 on his first birthday! Hopefully Lil will stay well, but with an older brother, me working at the clinic, and us being around so many people all the time, it's probably inevitable that she'll get sick at some point. We're all taking our Vitamin D3 so hopefully we'll stay healthy and will keep the flu far away from our house!

Halloween Happenings

So, I'm finally getting around to wrapping up our month of October - just two weeks later! This post is a quick little picture preview of our Halloween happenings.  

.....

Two nights before Halloween we decided to carve a jack-o-lantern. We all four loaded up and went to Walmart to find the perfect little pumpkin to light up on our doorstep. Easy, right? Wrong! Because we decided to go just a few nights before Halloween, most of the "good" pumpkins were already gone and I had to dig through four giant boxes of rotting pumpkins at Walmart to get that perfect pumpkin (after Jeb had already met me at the check-out with two that I didn't approve of)! We bought the carving kit to go with it and headed home to a fun night of pizza and pumpkin carving!

.....

.....

.....

.....

.....

Jeb wasn't too thrilled about the tedious work involved but after Reid and I did the "dirty work" of getting all the pumpkin guts out, he kind of got excited about helping out with the finishing touches.

.....

.....

.....

.....

.....

Reid wasn't that into it at first and thought that jumping off all the furniture was way more fun!

.....

.....

.....

.....

He got a little more into it when I let him use some of the carving tools to help. He ended up breaking half of them and our pumpkin ended up with little holes all over it - but hey, it was Reid's pumpkin anyway! And I think the little holes gave it some character!

.....

.....

.....

.....

.....

LilliAnn and I with the finished product!

.....

.....

.....

I just love this picture!

.....

Hello in there!

.....

Reid and I have taken a picture together every Halloween (and I'm wearing this shirt every year), but this Halloween he was just NOT having it. I think this was the best one we got. There were too many kids up and down the street, too much candy, and he was way too tired from no nap all day!

.....

.....

.....

Lil loved looking at all the kids!

.....

.....

.....

We trick-or-treated about five houses on our block and then decided to walk over to Aunt Tammy's house for some goodies!

.....

.....

.....

.....

Our neighbor, Susan, gave him a Hershey's bar before we started trick-or-treating. He ate the entire thing and then was kind of over the Halloween candy.

.....

.....

Grayson forgot his Ninja mask and swords so he just went as a "kid dressed in black." 

.....

.....

.....

Visiting cousin Tara

.....

Lil thought our basket of Halloween candy was pretty yummy - well, at least the paper was good!

.....

.....

 Little Boo Baby

.....

.....

 .....

.....

.....

.....

Get this big thing off of my head mama!

 .....

 

 .....

.....

Trick-or-Treating at Nana Karen and Papa Kelbo's house

.....

.....

A cowboy baseball player!

.....

.....

.....

.....

precious poodle

.....

.....`

It was a fabulous Halloween - and I'd have to say carving the jack-o-lantern was my very favorite part of it! It's a lot of work dressing the kids up, carrying a baby and walking around and trick-or-treating to all the different houses, taking pictures, holding candy baskets, making it back home in time to pass out our candy...whew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it again - but it sure was a lot of fun!