one month and one day...

so the count down can officially begin. i can't believe i'm going to have my baby boy in one month. it's going to be a quick month too. the girls start new swim lessons tomorrow, tuesday and thursday for 4 weeks. lily has summer camp tuesday, wednesday, thursday 8am-1pm all of june. every monday i have my ob appointment. wednesday is lily's dance class. june 21st is her recital with 2 rehearsals before that. i have a photography workshop on the 16th. oh and i'm still working. one more shoot this weekend. then proofing, ordering, delivering, and taxes before i can officially take maternity leave. ready or not......

cross another one off the list

i ordered this today

last year

we were in chicago over memorial day weekend for my grandpa's 90th birthday. i never shared photos form our trip. take a look at these babies...

ava before the fall

ava after the fall...she busted open the bridge of her noes and still has the scar...

downtown at the giant bean

lily, autumn, and ava peeking into the american girl store before entering and getting their first bitty baby

lily spent the entire trip in autum's clothes. they are only two months apart and the same size so it worked out. it just makes me laugh...we didn't even need to pack her bag!

to do....

yes another late post. by the time the kids were in bed so was i!

my to do(honey do) list for the arrival of the baby

1. buy car seat
2. paint baby's room
3. move crib and changing table in room
4. buy crib bedding
5. find and buy room accessories
6. clean and assemble swing and bouncer
7. clean and assemble bassinet
8. buy and replace batteries for monitor, swing, bouncer, bassinet
9. buy 0-3 month sleepers
10. buy 0-3 month onsies
11. buy blankets
12. clean clothes, blankets, bedding, etc...
13. buy a couple new bottles and nipples
14. buy diapers
15. buy new nursing bras

i'm sure i'll be adding more but hopefully crossing more off over the next couple weeks. i really want my last few week to relax and enjoy time with the girls. i'm off to the gym...i'll post more later.

the graduate

ok, i admit it... i was a bit cynical about the whole preschool graduation. it just seemed like a bit much for a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds. but i did it.... i cried.... at this first shot seeing her walk down the center isle. my baby girl is going to kindergarten.

for yesterday

it was lily's last day of preschool. they had a pajama party. tonight is the big graduation!!! can you believe preschoolers get a cap and gown and have a ceremony...



on another note....i had. my dr. appointment yesterday and had a final ultrasound to check the baby's position. he was breach in the last one. well he finally flipped. that's a relief. only 5 more weeks....

no nudes

i guess it make scott a little uncomfortable to post nudes on the blog. nothings showing but i guess it's just the idea. here's another one from my session last week.

what to name the boy...

did you see that the most popular baby names of 2007 are out.

2007 most popular baby names

ava was only 25the the year before we named her, and in 2007 her name ranked 4th! she just might end up being ava j. in school.

i just can't name our babies before i see them. it just doesn't feel right until i see them. with both girls we had 2 or 3 names to choose from and that was still tough. they were both named the day after they were born. well this time i'm a bit nervous. this baby could be here in 5 weeks and there's no list! we don't even discuss it because scott will come up with something like leonidas.

so i'm up for any suggestions. i like short and simple, something that will go with lily and ava. let me have it...

she saved herself

here's ava after falling in the pool....

self portraits by lily

give her the camera and this is some of what you get....

more at the pool

i dug out the old canon g3 p&s today. i forgot how much fun it was. we bought it right before lily was born, 5 years ago. a bit behind the times but a fun little camera. i've been thinking about buying a slim p&s to carry around. my gear is just to big to take everywhere, and i really can't risk anything happening to it since i need it regularly for work.

today at the pool ava had some amazing growth. she put her face in, flipped over, and floated on her back unassisted. she was able to keep herself afloat quite a while. just i time too. as we were drying off she went to the edge of the pool and stepped in. i yelled for scott to grab her, but she popped right up and floated on her back!!! check out this sequence...

antique

there were three things i wanted from scott's grandpa's house when he moved out. first was the scott's dad's baby cradle, second was the wooden highchair, and last was the tackboard that hung in their kitchen. it was always filled with photos of family and friends, cards, and other sentimental items. i almost hung it as is, in it's off-white distressed appearance. but then i decided on this. it matches the playroom, black chalkboard in a red frame. lily was first to test it out....

34 weeks tomorrow

i met up with a photographer friend, rochelle oleson t0 snap some maternity shots for her portfolio. i think she ended up with some good stuff, despite the fact i'm not feeling so photogenic these days. thanks rochelle!

psa

in honor of drowning prevention month...

watch this

isr website

my friend therace is now teaching these swim survival classes in south chandler. if you know anyone who could benefit please pass along her info.

Therace Pollard
ISR Instructor
480-632-2489

here is her little guy at seven months old.

nesting

i think it's started. the past couple of week i have been having some anxiety. i've come to the realization it's because i am completely unprepared for my boy who will be arriving in six week. so the past few days i have been shopping.

friday i picked up a few outfits at costco.

yesterday was target. i got a few blankets, some washcloths, a couple towels, baby wash and lotion, breast pads and an outfit for each girl.

today we were off to babies r us to get an infant car seat. lily's had expired. they were out of the car seat scott wanted (he's become very picky now that he's a car seat tech). So instead i loaded the cart with a diaper genie, a boppy cover, a couple sleeper gowns, pads for the changing table, and a first year calender.

then when i got home i ordered this sling from http://www.goo-ga.com/

i love my taylor made sling but i really need two for when i'm washing one. and if scott's daring enough to wear one this one will be much easier.

so it's a little start. i still need bedding before i can start the nursery but i'm lost there. nothing out there is jumping out at me. for now i just pick up the little items and keep organizing things at home.

she's reading

friday i bought some new early reader books and she read 5 in a row. she's always loved reading, she knew her letters and sounds by 2 1/2, she knows several site words, and loves to spell. so i'm not shocked she actually reading just surprised how quickly she caught on. It's truly amazing to see your child take such a big step. she is so proud of herself and after each book she says, "i read a whole book by myself!"

mother's day

hope you had a wonderful one...

bunk beds

finally... a lens i am able to fit the entire bed in the frame! the girls have been sharing a room for over a month now. trying to make room for the baby. i had always planned on bunking them up but now it's necessity. they love sharing a room and sleeping in their bunk bed. big sister is the room monitor. if ava gets out of bed after we put them to sleep lily yells "ava's out of bed" and ava screams with fear. i don't know why... she's never been in trouble. we just put her back. it must be fear of the tattletale...

look what i got...

for mothers day...

ok, so it's really a business purchase. i've needed a wider lens for a while now and thought now would be a good time to play with one since i will be taking a little break soon. i'll post some shots with it tomorrow.

tiny dancer

through the window at dance yesterday. practicing for the recital on june 21st. i hope i can make it!!!

OMG....

i just did a webcast for Wells Fargo parents group!!!! my df april asked if i would give a presentation for the arizona parents group. hopefully i didn't make a fool of myself.... here's my title slide...

oops

i missed a day. well i'll make a double post to make up for it.

yesterday at swim lessons. i had the girls teacher get hard on them since ava thinks she can swim and lily is getting lazy about front strokes. lily did amazing! if we had a pool where she could swim daily she would be a fish. ava didn't like the pressure so much. she loves the pool but really hates when she has to float on her back.
























look at ava!






















lily can make it across the pool and back with a front or back stroke

up and away

we've been hanging out at grammy's pool this week letting the girls swim and trying to reduce my edema. it defiantly feels good to float around. lily loves to cannonball, get thrown in the air and have swimming races. ava was very careful around the water until a couple of weeks ago. now she thinks she can swim and will jump right in. oh boy!!!

40D

I bought it for my birthday back in september. unfortunately it was right in the middle of my busy season and i was extremely ill a month later for three months. i've been using it on my shoots but i never really had the chance to play around with it. tonight i thought i'd practice backlighting. a difficult lighting situation, but useful when the sun is still too high. i love the sun flare in the first shot.

big girl panties

she finally gave in. a couple of weeks ago she ran out of pull ups...oops! when she got up that morning she couldn't fine one so i asked if she wanted to wear big girl panties today. surprisingly she said "ok"! i thought, this is it! no turning back now.

well... loads of laundry two weeks later she's doing pretty well. she the first few days were a potty mess! pee everywhere. she quickly began to pee when it was potty time and was learning to control things. the past few days she has started to communicate when she has to go. now if she would only tell me when she has to poop! we have yet to land one of those in the toilet. any advise for poop training accepted here!

a post a day in may

this may be my last full month without another child so i thought i would take advantage of my freedom...lol... and post as much as i can now. care to join me???

can you believe she still sleeps in a fetal position... boy i hope she doesn't pee on my couch!