Video Blog Part II

Here is goes... welcome to the story of "US"... well...not the whole story... most of the story... oh, you'll see...

Video Blog

Again, I am clearing out my video card, and wanted to share a couple of well worth your time videos. (Not really, but I can give you a cheat, and tell you at which point it is worth your time to watch.)

The first one is of Nora's first soccer game. Well, second soccer game. Her first game, I didn't have my act together, and I forgot the camera, and her water bottle, and almost forgot her... but we made it there, and to our surprise, it is a very laid back environment. As you can tell. I will warn you, usually when I am recording something, I have a baby crawling on me, or I am more into what I am recording then the quality of the camera. Another warning... I yell a lot. It is obnoxious, and ear piercing. For this video, Nora is in the blue jersey, #3. The first few minutes are not too exciting, neither are the last few minutes, but there is a cute moment around 4 and a half minutes into it, where Nora looks at me, has her tongue out, and has the cutest grin. You'll also notice there is a police officer observing the game. I have no idea weather she is a parent, visiting for a restraining order requirement, or what she is doing there.

This second video is of Smith playing with a pop-up toy. He was trying to get one door closed for a while, and it was really frusterating him. So I tried to get is recorded... and he of course felt like we were paying attention to him, so he was very pleasing. Nora tried to help me record, and Smith play... he was naked! Yes, after I feed Smith dinner, and before he goes to bed, he gets to play naked. He loves it, and I don't care. Again, poor visual quality, and my awful nagging voice.

For family home evening, Nora asked us to "recreate" the story of "US". So Joel did just that. It was so cute. I wish I would have recorded the entire thing, but I just got the tail end of it. And it was in 2 parts 3 parts. WARNINGS again...

COMING... SOON...

The Fruits of their Labor

I say “their”, because Joel and Nora have really been doing the work in the garden, and I would hate to steal their thunder. Now, I know that I posted a few weeks ago, about the disease that our garden contracted, so I am not sure that any of this stuff will be edible.  But, I am still excited to share the pictures with you. We are growing cherry tomatoes….

 

Sugar Baby Watermelons: and can I just say how cute these little babies are! I love that the stripes look like stretch marks… I just want to rub body butter all over them, and bring them a diet coke, and tell them, that we will still love them after we eat them.  

Cucumbers:

I can’t seem to get pictures of our beans before Nora picks them and eats them… but its the only time I can get her to scarf her vegetables, so, I’m not going to complain. 

Tell me when it's too much!

I can't help it... he is at such a fun age! I can tell that it is going to be very soon, that I am not loving his "stage". He isn't quite moving around on his own... but when he is, I am going to be one anxious momma! Again he is naked... yes he wears clothes, they usually fit, but sometimes they look like a Richard Simmons costume... so take a look at my babbling bubby!

Documented milestone

Just to say that I was a good mom... here is a milestone marker. Last week Smith started sitting up on his own. Today he does it for as long as I need him to. More importantly... the laundry basket that is about to be folded AND put away!

Let's give em something to talk about...

I have an issue with always posting pictures where the house is clean, or, I have my hair done, or, the kids are dressed... well today, you would only love this video, if 1) you love my baby, or 2) you want something juicy to talk about!

Smith has been very clingy today, and has wanting me to snuggle him, and play with him anytime I am not. I have to admit that I love it, but once again, my laundry is not done, and I have been really trying to keep up with it. So, while we were playing, I reached over to grab the recorder. Keep in mind, that yes, I am aware of the dress up closet in the back ground, and I am aware it is a wreck. Also keep in mind that we just finished dinner, and I do believe that there is spaghetti sauce on my chin. And because he has been DROOLING all day, I took Smiths soaking wet clothes off. Also, no, you aren't hearing the garbage disposal... that is me grunting... I just think it is too real, and too adorable to leave on the camera... I had to post it. So there is a whole list of things to use, the next time you want to talk about me!

Happy Birthday to ME!

It was the most amazing day I have had in a very long time. I usually get so excited about my birthday, and then it usually turns out to be a disappointment. Mostly because I have unclear, and ridiculous expectations… so this year, I decided… it will just be another day, and if anything fun and exciting happens, then it will be an added bonus. I did make a recommendation, (maybe I am slightly OCD…) and that was to attend the opening of the butterfly house, at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, (My new favorite place in Hampton Roads!) Joel went above and beyond the call of Birthday Girls Husband. He invited the Siweks, and planned a picnic at the gardens too. Really, he even brought food, and silverware, and drinks… ok, so he forgot napkins… but he thought of everything else. Impressive!

Smith enjoyed his first ever pickle… and we were all able to enjoy the smell of it the rest of the day. I thought these cookies were ridiculously cute! And they were equally delicious…   The magnolias were absolutely beautiful. I just wanted to steal them! Hah… sometimes… I crack myself up… did anybody else get that? Anyways… I would have stolen the magnolias… but they were bigger than Nora’s head, so I’m pretty sure, I wouldn’t have gotten away with it. Aren’t they amazing? When we arrived at the Butterfly house, I said, “My birthday would be absolutely perfect, if a butterfly landed on one of us.” No pressure… but we all wanted Kirstynn to have a “Perfect birthday”… right? I was so impressed with the amazing creatures in the house. It had me dreaming of all the photography equipment I will someday have. (I allow myself to fall into the “it’s all about me” rut… maybe once a year… so kill me!) But look at these amazing, colorful, and kinda freaky bugs…

This one just mesmerized me… it is a Caterpillar with what looks like lady bugs all over it! They double in size, EVERYDAY! It was crazy… I want to go back tomorrow, just to see how huge it will be!  And then…  

I got my birthday wish! She was so still, and so in tune with this beauty. She even said, “bonjour butterfly”, which is what “Fancy Nancy” says, whenever she meets a butterfly. Notice her dress?

We then went on to the new Exhibit, The Enchanted Storybook Forest. I guarantee, you will be seeing and hearing more about this place, as the summer goes on. I was very impressed with the exhibit, and Nora was equally impressed. It is displays of different children's stories.

Alice and Wonderland:

The Old Woman that lived in a shoe… and had so many children, she didn’t know what to do… that’s me… 

They also have, The Three Little Pigs, Old Mac Donald, and lots more! Plus, they have these little “Roaming Gnomes”. That must be what makes it “Enchanted”.

This was Smith for 95% of the day! He was so great, and so was daddy! They are BY FAR… my favorite men in my life! But when our lil’ Bubs woke up… we HAD to have him pose for a picture.  

The day was so amazing! I am so excited to go into my 32nd year. If I could only get a bottle of whatever Nora has been taking… I think I would have her energy Happy 4th of July!

Picture of the Day… Day 30

This is THE END! I have enjoyed the posts, and I have dreaded the posts… overall, I am proud that I actually did it, and I accomplished a goal. My family needs my time, and when it is convenient for me to share our special moments… I will do my best. For now, I don’t really care that laundry often gets out of control, it doesn’t bother me that I usually have puke on my shirt, and if I have diet coke for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I won’t lose sleep at night. Crafting, has fell to the bottom of my to do list. Photography is around the middle of the list. Cooking is near the top, but, enjoying the time I have with my kids while they are still small and creating memories that they will cherish, has made the top of the list, along with being the happy, sassy, sexy, wife, my husband deserves.  I am going to use my birthday, as the date to set goals, and reevaluate myself. I hope that year 31 will be the one where I will conquer motherhood, and come out still standing… even if there are kids hanging off of me.

Picture of the Day… Day 29

Yesterday we had a wicked awesome 5 minute storm blow through VB. I secretly love it when that happens… but when it was raining BUCKETS… I grabbed Nora, and we danced in it. My good friend Candice, had the awesome idea of PICTURE OF THE DAY… she grabbed the camera, and snapped a few shots! YAY… then the power went out! Ugh… I secretly love storms, when the power DOESN’T go out! When it came back on… I HAD NO INTERNET! We tried and tried everything we knew how to, to get it fixed, and as frustration grew late into the night… I called it… sometimes it’s ok to go to bed angry with computers! For some this would seem unheard of… but I have learned when defeat is near, and sometimes it is just easier to surrender, and continue the battle after a good nights rest. I don’t know how I would have made it happen without the nerds at the Hatch Home. I swear between the two of them, they could take over the computer world. But I love them, and owe them lots of chocolate, and diet coke… (What, did you say that not everybody loves DC and chocolate as much as I do… how is that possible? Hmmm… can’t be… ) Anyway, as the Picture of the Day comes to an end… I will be thinking, and gathering more ideas for future blog themes. 

Picture of the day... day 28

This entire month... I have wanted to take a beautiful picture of a meal. Well everytime I remember that, the meal is over. So here is the plate at the end of the beautiful meal we had for dinner tonight. Tomatoe garlic chicken pasta! Mmm mm!

Picture of the day...day 27

These are a fan favorite around my house. We call them "eggy pancakes". I think they are also known as Dutch Pancakes, German Pancakes. We like to keep it local here! Good ole eggy pancakes are served in our home at least once per week, usually 2 or 3 times. Today I had some leftover strawberries from the strawberry shortcakes I forgot to serve the missionaries the other night. Poor guys! So we topped our pancake with those. Otherwise, we usually just use powder sugar and sometimes syrup. So yummy!

Picture of the Day... Day 26

I can't believe I'm gonna do this. If I want to go to bed tonight... I got work to do! My new name... Cinderelly!

Picture of the Day…. Day 25

Grandma was here this week. We have so much fun when grandma is here. She takes us in the back yard, and looks for bugs with us. She reads all sorts of different books. She is so funny and silly!!! She is taking us on vacation later this summer!!! WOO HOO! We love going on vacation. See you at Chincoteague Island Grandma!!! 

Picture of the Day... Day 24

Can we say... GUILTY!

Picture of the Day... Day 23

Girls night out... and the last orange scone has my name on it! In BIG BOLD LETTERING!

Picture of the Day... day 22

This tub of love is 6 months old today! I know its a lot to ask... but can I keep him an extra large paper weight for a little longer?

Picture of the Day… Day 21

Only 9 more pictures! What a relief. I love that this little project has made me more, “out there” in the blogging world, but it is a lot of pressure. I appreciate that I have friends, parents, cousins, and others motivating me to continue my picture of the day.

Nora finished her first semester at Little Gym. It was the first time that she had a scheduled/routine class. As a mom, I never thought of this being a big deal, but when I look at where she was when she started at Little Gym, and where she is now… it is pretty incredible. The gym is great for her. She has learned so many behaviors that I can’t teach her at home. Waiting in a line for your turn- she often says to me, “We don’t cut in front of our friends.” She usually says it at the appropriate times, like when I move her aside to answer the front door, or when I put Smith in front of her in the bathtub, but I think the only time she has heard that is when the word “Friends” is tacked on the end.  She also has gained confidence in many areas as well. Miss Whitney, the teacher, gave Nora her award, and said that Nora is always the first one to volunteer, and always has something to contribute to the class discussion. Hmmm… I wonder where she gets that from? Before she started the class, she didn’t even want anything to do with the balance beam, and by the end, she was walking through a hula hoop down the beam. I asked her, “What is your favorite part of “Little Gym”? She said, “the rings, Mihh Whitney, and doing the chihen dance(the chicken dance)”.

We will be taking the summer off from Little Gym, but our Jazzy Bug will return in September for her 2nd semester.

I just love this picture… each girl has her own little personality… and the picture shows it perfect! Thank you to Grandma, Lulu, Papa, and Nana for funding our little gymnast this semester. She couldn’t have done it with out you!

Picture of the Day… Day 20!

Happy Fathers Day dad! I love and miss you!!!

Picture of the Day… Day 19

Happy Fathers Day! 

Picture of the Day… Day 18

“HI LULU!!! HI PAPA!!!! LOVE YOU!!! MISS YOU!!!”

Picture of the Day… Day 17

My kind of place!!!

Picture of the Day… Day 16

 

Picture of the day… Day 15

 

Picture of the Day… Day 14

I know I said I would blog about my garden, so here it goes. It is pretty sad, so I don’t want to go into too much details. Joel and Nora have spent that past 2 months, putting lots of heart and soul into their garden. Joel  loves to spend time watering it, and Nora loves to play outside while she watched daddy labor. We were very excited to grow “pie making pumpkins”, peppers, beans, edemamne, watermelon, sunflowers, and corn. Not too sure what happened, but we noticed a white fungal disease growing on the pumpkin leaves. Then a rabbit came and ate all the bean and pepper plants. Then the pumpkins got a white fungus. So, it is kind of sad. It could have been a thriving garden. The stuff that didn’t get eaten has been growing like crazy, but I am sure it will not produce good fruit… *SIGH*… maybe beach pictures tomorrow?

Picture of the Day… Day 13

So random I know! Meet Maggie! I have to edit a photo shoot from this weekend, with over 700 pictures, so tonight, I decided, I would post from the 6th folder, and the 13th picture. I’m not sure if she reads my blog, but if she did, she would be so embarrassed. She works with Joel, and is obviously a DARLING girl! She had her headshots done at work the same day Joel did his. So, I think Joel took this picture. But it was my 06/13 picture. I am going to start editing, and there will be lots of fun pictures coming this week. We have a busy week planned, and so I am excited to share it with you! Maggie, please don’t hate me. If it helps at all, this is my favorite one from all of your headshots.

Picture of the Day… Day 12

What could she possibly thinking?

Daddy says, “Mommy is paying attention to me. It’s hard being so cute.”

Mommy says, “Wow… do I have a great mom or what?”

Next week, I will be posting gardening pictures. Our garden developed a disease, so we are a little “down in the dumps”. But I will post all about it starting tomorrow!

We had a great family day. Nora and daddy went to on a date. Mommy cleaned the house. Then the whole family went to “scout” out some photo session spots, and stopped for ice cream. Nora chose, Cake Batter, mixed with mint, and gummy bears. It’s no wonder she just picked out the gummy bears, and left the ice cream. New rule, you have to chose flavors mommy and daddy would eat, in the event, that Nora doesn’t finish it. Lesson learned.

Picture of the Day… Day 11

I hate posting pictures of me. I think its a photographer thing… but I would much rather post pictures of my kids, or my hot husband, or even my plants that I haven’t killed yet! However, it is very rare that Joel and I have a picture together. It may only be an, “arm stretch self portrait”… and my head may look HUGE compared to his tiny head… (trust me, he has the brains in our relationship), but it is us… real life… us! And don’t get mad, if you notice, Smith is also in the picture. Well, his ginormous head is!
YAAAY… ITS THE WEEKEND!
YAAY… ITS SUMMER!
YAAY… My maiden name is engraved on the Stanley Cup
YAAY… Grandma comes in 5 more bedtimes!
YAAY… Nora told me yesterday, “Mamma, you’re the best mommy in the whole life.”
YAAY… I have a photo shoot this weekend, with 7 three-year-olds!
YAAY… its menu planning weekend!
YAAY… I have all the laundry done, and folded… yet to be put away… can’t baskets count as dressers? Dressers are so overrated.
YAAY… I think I’m going to take the kids to the beach on Monday… Oops, not “YAAY”.
YAAY… I am almost half way done with my picture of the day! Phew… “I think I can… I think I can… I think I can…”
MUAH! Loves to all y’all!!!

Picture of the Day… Day 10

This is Picture of the Day thing is getting more and more TRICKY! My dad sent us to Virginia with these beautiful plants. Not knowing if they would make it. Well, they did, and I had to share them, before I killed them. What should I post tomorrow? Anyone has a request? The more specific… the better!

Picture of the Day… Day 9

Joel came home from work today with employee head shots, and asked me to do some mild editing on them! As I am editing, he is putting Smith to bed. I hear, “When did you learn to roll over?” Oh how I love him!

When I am driving in the car, and he calls me, my car says, “Call from… HOTNESS”. I really have an amazing guy to call my husband. Yeah, he needs a little help in the “mothering” department, but he is a great dad!

Picture of the day… Day 8

This is what happens when mommy leaves the room in the middle of doing laundry! “Son, you got a pany on yo head”. Name that movie!

Picture of the Day…. Day 7

It is summer, and I am exhausted just planning all the things I want to do with Nora! I am so lucky to have a Candice. She wants to hang out with us, and loves my kids. 1) She makes good company, and I don’t have to talk like a 3 year old to her. 2) She has hands that know how to hold chubby babies, and how to change chubby babies diapers. 3) My kids love her! I don’t think that I would brave Busch Gardens with the two kids alone. Today was our first trip of the year. I didn’t know this, but online, you can print off a certificate for pre-school age kids to get in free for the whole summer. I did not know! So we will be able to go back often this summer. I sure hope Grover can handle it!

Don’t forget to comment on the pictures you want to see more of. Looks like Garden/Basil, is still in the lead. I will give you till the end of day 10.

Picture of the day… Day 6

I am so excited about my POD! I am glad that y’all have enjoyed them as well. I wasn’t sure if you would or not. I am going to start posting pictures based on popular demand! So, the more comments I get on a single photo, the more of that same type of photo you will see. If I were to go off the last 5 days, the BASIL would be in the lead. I would love more than anything to post more pictures of my garden… if that's what everyone wants to see. So go tell your friends, and everyone you know to post comments on what you want to see more of.

Thank goodness for camera phones… otherwise, a lot of these pictures would be possible. However, Smith is quite the wiggler, and when I ask him to, “please hold still,'’ it gets him all excited, and kicking, and moving. I captured him being sweet, and semi-still right before bed. This baby is more amazing then I could ever imagine. He makes my life so hard, but I love him for it. I can’t ever get anything done, because he always loves me to coo at him. When I leave him in his bed to Cry it out, I’ll sometimes sneak in, and make his binky magically appear, and all he does, is giggle, and smile… HE loves magic! Have a great week everyone, and enjoy this lover baby of mine!!!!

 

(P.S. The onesie in this photo is size 12-18 months… yeah… he’s 5 months old!)

Picture of the day... day 5

Mommy is out on a "Moms Night Out". Not only do I love my hubby, who"s,  "manning the fort", but I also love my friends!!!

Picture of the Day... Day 4

Are y'all surprised that I have posted every day for the last 4 days? I am! Today isn't actually a picture, its a video, but it is worth a thousand words, and so are pictures. I just cleared out our video camera, and was going through all the clips we made in the last few months. This is the first time I watched this video, and it brought me to tears. It is completely unlike anything to introduce your child to their sibling. How do you explain to your three year old that this person will spend the rest of her life with her? It was a beautiful, touching moment for me. My kids are my world. I can honestly say that I have the best kids in the world! Every mom should be able to say the same thing.

Picture of the day… Day 3

And, its not of my children! It kills me to do so, but I swayed away from the kids in my POTD post. This is in my garden though, and I LOVE IT! I love when I am making dinner, and I can say, “Nora, please go get me 4 BIG BASIL leafs.” And she does it! Like I said before, she loves the garden. She knows more about it than I do. It is her and her daddy’s project, so I try to keep my nose out of it. Unless I’m cooking! Enjoy your evening, and maybe I’ll get the lil ones back on here tomorrow? 

Picture of the Day… Day 2

We actually have a garden growing. Nora couldn’t be more thrilled. So I have given her a camera to play photographer. Maybe one of these days, she’ll actually have a picture where her finger isn’t right in front of the lens. 

Picture of the day.... day 1.

Krispy Kreme King