Photo Shoot

For a long time now (ok, so only 8 months) people keep telling me to do a pregnancy photo shoot or I'll regret it.  I know I'll have Whitney (the most fabulous photographer) take pics of the little guy when he arrives, but I wasn't too keen on someone taking pictures of my belly and me... I'm the size of a house.

Needless to say, I did it!  I trust Whitney very much and she had some fun ideas, so we went with it.  We almost went away in the wind while we were shooting, but that's another story!

If you want to see the sneak peek... go to www.blissstudio.net/blog.   OR  Take a look HERE!

By the way... isn't my child's father HOT!  (insert whistle noise)  Such a hot piece of man.

Anyhow... on to the pics!

It was a disaster...

People... it was a dinner time disaster last night.  Ugh, I get exhausted just thinking about it.  I got home from work, the gym and running errands, then started on dinner.  I was kind of excited to make this particular dinner because it was new.  Main course - stuffed shells.   See photo below (courtesy of Real Simple).

Let me digress for a moment and say  how much I LOVE Real Simple Magazine.  I L-O-V-E it.  My heart goes into a tizzy of excitement when it arrives each month.  It's so loved in our house that even Josh sneaks it away to find the recipes for the month.  We always try a few, if not ALL of the recipes they include.  I just love it.... LOVE it.  I hope you get the picture because I would hate for you to not understand my LOVE of Real Simple.  We clear yet?

Anyhow... all was going well.  Shells were made, stuffed and ready to go into the oven.  Here's where it all started.  I set the heavy dish filled with the dinner deliciousness into the oven (top rack), and AHHH the rack collapses on the right side.  Thank goodness I still had a hand on the dish or it would have been "bye bye".  Josh comes over, helps me get things back in order, places the dish on the rack himself (just to be sure), we close the oven, set the timer, and for approximately 17 minutes... life was good.  Dinner was in the oven, the house smelled delicious, and I was one step closer to heartburn for the night.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!  Timer goes off - DINNER IS READY!  I remove myself from the couch where I had been slumped, and waddle into the kitchen.  I grab my hot mitts and go in for the kill.  Open the oven, reach in....grab the bubbling deliciousness which I am about to devour... and then..... SLAM, sLiP, WHAM... "AHHH"... "SON OF A".... deep breath....."JOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHH"!!!!   The oven rack bailed on the left side, sending my entire dish on the slippery slope to spillage and slopping all over the oven, the floor, my left hot mitt.  You get the picture. 

In my haste to save some of the dish, I grabbed it and slapped it onto the stove top to sit while I assessed the damage (it also gave it time to cool before we ate the remains).   As I gazed at the mess in front of me, I could do nothing more than stare.  Have you had that moment?  Please say yes.  It's the moment where you just can't figure out the best way to tackle the mess ahead.  I sat and stared at the wreckage, this wasn't helping, but what was I going to do?  Not exactly easy to clean up a 400 degree oven!  Meanwhile, Josh comes bee-bopping in from the garage.  "What the...." he exclaimed as he saw me and the wreckage.  "I heard something, but figured you were OK", he said.  "Um, did you hear the crash and the battle cry for help" I asked.  He started laughing, he had only heard the crash.  We both laughed ... what else is there to do!  Laugh or cry... those are the options.  We laughed. 

Josh immediately dives in and starts cleaning up.  What a man.  What a MAN!  He's cleaning and I'm kind of helping, kind of pouting.  Then I exclaim loudly, as if it's the best idea EVER - "Let's just eat, and then we'll clean up".  So, we did.  We ate.  It was good.  Then we started cleaning up again.  It wasn't so good.

I tackled the dishes while Josh continued tackling the oven.  He had paper towels, toothpicks, Q-tips, Clorox wipes... you name it, he had it and he was determined to clean everything out.  GO JOSH!.  In the mean time, I get the leftovers packed up and ready for the fridge.  Josh decided his hard work deserved a beer, especially if he was going to finish the job.  So, he kneels down, reaches into the fridge to grab a beer and I ask nicely, "can you put this in there somewhere" (referring to the glass dish of leftovers).  As I so swiftly hand him the dish, I also WHACK him upside the head!  OH MY!  I start laughing hysterically... really, what a way to end things.

But the end is still not near.  Josh gets his beer, and goes back to cleaning the crevices of the deep dark abyss.  Suddenly... BLOOD!  The man somehow cut his finger right under the fingernail... YOWZA!!!  It was bleeding everywhere.  NEW MESS!  WAHOO!  I hand him a paper towel and although I felt awful, I started laughing again.  Let me explain... I get this from my mother.  Whenever there is an emergency, danger, injury, etc... LAUGH.... just burst out in LAUGHTER.  Preferably uncontrollable laughter.

Anyhow... after that, I told Josh we were DONE with the kitchen for the night.  I think you'd all agree, it was in the best interest of all parties involved.  We're just lucky a dog didn't hop in the oven or slip on the mess or something.

I'm tired and hungry now....

What a difference 4 weeks makes...

28 WEEKS! TWENTY EIGHT WEEKS! WOW!

Sorry it's late, I was trying to have one up every 3 weeks, but it just didn't happen.  Thinking about it, I made Josh snag this one real quick yesterday on our way to breakfast with family.  Sorry, my head was cut off again... what can I say, the man follows directions - "Love, please take a belly pic real quick".  Viola!  Belly pic is what you get!  This one is a little more head on than the last.  The last one he took standing up.  This one, he knelt down and was right level with the buddha...

It's a good thing I had him take it before breakfast!  Peg's Glorified Ham n' Eggs.... you are a marvelous place.  You filled my belly with deliciousness, but I am still sad I didn't order the French Toast. 

A Dog and his Outdoors

For most of you, you either have pets or you don't.  You either like cats or dogs.  And when it comes to dogs, you either like big dogs or small dogs.  In many cases, people think the only "Real" dogs are big dogs.  Too often the "little" dogs are seen as ankle biters, yippers, rats and lap dogs.  For those of you who feel that way, you have not met Tucker.

Tucker is my almost 5 year old Yorkshire Terrier.  He is the son of Oliver, my other Yorkshire Terrier.  They are most often referred to as "the boys".  Roxy, the lone female, German Shepard/Black Lab mix is their sister (through marriage - bless her heart).  As you can probably figure out... Roxy was Josh's dog prior to us meeting, and the two little guys were mine.  Now, I'd like to think they're all "ours", but let's face it, there are days when it is harder than usual for Josh to swallow that he has two "little dogs", rather than two more "real" dogs to go along with Roxy.

Although "the boys" do love Josh dearly, and I'm convinced he loves them as well, there are times when I wonder if they're "all there" in the head.  Tucker is truly an odd little dude.  I'm pretty sure he has no clue how big he is.  I'm pretty sure he has no clue he's NOT a hunting dog.  I'm pretty sure he has no clue that he's not meant to live in the wilderness.  These things, I am sure of. 

In my last post, you saw Tucker basking in the sun out on the patio.  Well, if Tucker could live outside, he would.  Unfortunately, when you're only about 7 lbs and you have hair, not fur, it's not in your best interest to LIVE outside.  Therefore, we must make him live inside and in turn, we suffer by constantly letting him out... it's a fun circus we've got going.  He is an anomaly of a little dog.  I believe he belongs in the wilderness.  Maybe he could be the new side kick on the show "Man vs. Wild" with Bear Grylls.... I think Bear could learn a thing or two from Tuck. 



To let you in on how deep his  love for the outdoors is... please glance below.  We were B-B-Qing and had the slider open to the back yard (ignore the snow shovel, it parks there for the whole winter and hasn't been moved yet).  Tucker, in his funny little way, perched himself out on the patio for a while, then as the sun started going down, he hopped up a level to get a better view(just barely inside), as to watch the majestic sunset take place in "his" backyard.  I'm pretty sure that if we crept into his mind, he was having thoughts like a lion "my kingdom is beautiful, and I will hunt just after the darkness".

The beginning...

Project "nursery" has begun!  We picked out paint, the bedding is in and we know the color of furniture!  Whew.  The little man is going to be SET!

The best thing of all is that Josh LOVES projects.  The man must have a project or he goes nutty.  This works out PERFECT because we've got lots and lots of projects ahead!

I'll keep you posted on the happenings as they keep happening.

Paint sample.... Don't worry, we toned it down :)

Josh's little helpers... they were very curious.  Roxy (the "big dog") could have cared less.

And then this was what I found one of the helpers doing later in the day... such loyalty.  Don't mind the photo through the window & screen.  I had to take it that way or his rest would have been disturbed.  Never interrupt the rest of a hard working dog.

Thanks to Josh & Kalai for painting!!! 

Too much!

So I'm trying to focus and really decide what we do/don't need for the arrival of the little man.  After sorting through oodles and oodles of crap, I have decided that the whole baby industry is.... well overwhelming and filled with way to much CRAP!

I can't tell you how mind blowing it is to have 4,952 different types of strollers, car seats, bottles, blankets, diapers..... along with the do's and don'ts for each one... NUTS!!!  People have been having babies and raising them for millions of years without all this shenanigans.... do I really need it?  Isn't there some SANE website or book out there that simply says "YOU NEED THIS, YOU DO NOT NEED THIS"?  Or, is there someone I could pay to get me all set up with the necessities and nothing else?  I just can't seem to wrap my head around it all.

I try to think of all the things I do/don't use on a daily basis and I can't imagine that an infant would use twice as much.  Really though, that's what these "people" make you think.  They actually make you think that your brand new infant who can barely do more than poop, eat, sleep and cry will somehow be able to tell the difference if I wrap him in a swaddle I do on my own, or a swaddle with Velcro?  Lord help me on this journey... isn't a hooded towel a hooded towel?  Oh, and could we please come up with ONE MORE type of bottle?  Really people... this is just out of control.

The biggest thing of all... I do not want to end up with tons of unnecessary "stuff".  I don't want our home billowing with "stuff".  Heck, I have a hard enough time keeping Josh and I somewhat organized with all of our "stuff".

Deep breath... deep breath.... in with the good... out with the overwhelming baby industry shenanigans.....

Gogh'ing The Distance...

This post is for my dearest Susie.  Susie the Great.  Susie the Inspiring.  Susie the Talented.  Susie...

Susie is married to Ross.  Ross is one of my father-in-laws (people, please don't make me go into all the details... just take it for what it is - fabulous).  Anyhow... amongst other things, Susie is an artist.  I haven't seen Suz since Christmas time and had heard through the family grapevine that she was on some mission to paint her heart out and beat some record set by Van Gogh.  How fun is that!?!  I had no clue what was really happening, or how serious it was, or what she'd be painting... but I thought it sounded like a ton of fun for miss Susie and if she's happy, then I'm stoked.

Last night, Josh came home and said "Hey, some chick gave me her digits".  HA HA I laughed (and my belly laughed along with me).  Anyhow, he had seen Susie and she gave him the website to follow her project "Gogh'ing The Distance".  So, Josh and I ate dinner and then whipped out my laptop to see the whole thing and get a little more involved.

GASP..... the first painting took me to a place I never wanted to leave... Oh, I loved it... the orchids are beautiful.  Then the next, and the next.... each painting was just as wonderful as the previous, each with their own story and charm.  As we kept browsing, we came upon a little video of Suz on the site and it's her painting and expressing how much she loves it.  I cried.  Yep, tears were coming out of my eyes.  I guess you may need to know Susie in order to appreciate it, but I really don't think so.  She's so gentle, wonderful and insightful... she's a gem and I'll always have a HUGE spot in my heart for her. 

The thing is... we live in such a world of "right now" and "how much can I squeeze into one day".  We've all forgotten how it is to love and be passionate about one thing.  How to let ourselves become completely smothered with joy and delight over one thing... one thing we love, cherish and find complete joy in doing.  We've forgotten how to honor our talents, embrace them and let them flow free.  We've forgotten how to let one thing exhaust us with delight and over-stimulation.  We've simply forgotten how to LIVE.

Please please.. I encourage you to go to her website and see her work.  You can even go see her!  Heck, if you've got little children people, it'd be a WONDERFUL field trip and Susie would love it (she's just up in Truckee)  http://www.vangoghingthedistance.com

I know there's at least one thing on there that will make you say "ahhh" or maybe "awww".  I've stared at the site over and over again today just marveling in the fantasticness (it's my own word) of Susie, her love for her talent and her passion for stepping outside of this chaotic world and taking the time to do what she loves so emphatically. 

Susie.. WE LOVE YOU.  GOGH Get 'em!