i am.....home

i was released this afternoon, one day early...(for good behavior, i suppose)...and i am not feeing too bad. a little sore at the incision site but they gave me some pretty good drugs for that. the doctor said it was a textbook case and everything went exactly as it was supposed to. kelly got this picture of shannon and i last night, that is what not showering for two days looks like. i am going to be pretty sore for a few more days but then i expect to feel better. i will update then. i'm pretty tired now.....
  

i love nature shots....

i took these in the yard on sunday...i happened to see this grasshopper on our rudbekia (?) and he let me just snap away. i never realized how intricate they were. click on the pictures to make them bigger.
 
here he is peeping out from behind the leaf.
 
his markings are gorgeous aren't they?
 
this bee just went about his business and totally ignored me. i would love to get a macro lens to get even closer up.
 
this is the center of a clematis flower that has lost it's petals. i thought this flower stump was so unique. it is amazing what you can see close up in nature that you just take for granted.

i go into surgery tomorrow morning and i am a little nervous tonight. i know everything will go well, i just hope i can sleep tonight. i have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am for a 7:30 am surgery. keep me in your prayers. 

the big event is almost here.....

three more days until my hysterectomy....seems funny that i could consider this a big event. i truly can't wait until i have this surgery.

for a few reasons...

no more periods
no more anemia
no more dog tired days because of the anemia
6-8 weeks off of work
did i mention no more periods???
time to get caught up on some scrapbooking while i'm off
hopefully get some organization done in this house
purge and reorganize my scrapbook room
it will feel like being a stay at home mom again
quiet time when austen goes back to school
no more periods....

i was supposed to have this done last year..it was scheduled for the end of june and i looked forward to having most of the summer off with austen
then don got sick
and i canceled the surgery
and took care of him...

i will miss working out with my friends next door. i work out with the same group of girls three nights a week. i've worked hard and have lost about 15 lbs in the past 6 weeks. doctor says no working out for 6 weeks but i will be able to walk so maybe i can visit and walk on the treadmill while the other girls are doing the weight training.

it is a quiet sunday morning. scarlett and austen are sleeping. don is at church. he woke up a little late this morning and there wasn't enough time for us to get both kids up and ready. scarlett had a bad night and was up twice crying. i was so tired and just wanted to get back into bed. she finally fell asleep for the night at about 1:30am. she woke up at 7:45 this morning and came to bed with me and fell back asleep. no big plans for today, i think i will try to get some meals cooked and frozen so don won't have to come home from work and cook every night. he'll have enough to do to take care of me for a couple of weeks.

evan....sleeping

she was soooo cooperative. slept the entire time, even when we moved her into different positions.

 
i love these pictures, she is so precious. i had a lot of fun trying different positions and poses.
 
i don't think there is anything like black and white pictures of a newborn. their skin is just so perfect and dimpled and smooshy. shar-pei skin.
 

i hope to get the opportunity to do more newborn pictures. they don't run away, almost never cry when they are sleeping and moms don't have to bark out instructions to the child to sit and smile. {i love that part}.
 
is there anything more beautiful than a sleeping infant? i think not. 

i came home from work...

to these flowers picked from our gardens......
 
 
 
i love him.... 

isn't she precious?.......

she belongs to our neighbors and is just 3 weeks old. i took these pictures today and had so much fun. we tried to catch her when she was asleep but she was wide awake for the entire shoot.
 
i really have a thing for baby feet. i love them....but only until they get to be about four or five years old, when they start to stink...then i'm out of there. but there is just something about those little wrinkled, monkey toed little appendages....
 
she was so good, hardly cried and was a joy to take pictures of. i'm going to try some more in a couple of days, maybe get some of her sleeping so i can pose her better.
 
  i just love little girls... 

surprise!.......

i opened our front door on saturday night and found this little guy sitting up at the storm door looking at me.
 
he looks to be just a baby and wasn't scared me or the flash from my camera. he just kind of toddled around on the porch for a while. i was a little hesitant to open the door because they tend to be rabid and all but he totally ignored me when i took his pictures.
 
after a while he just kind of toddled away into the bushes.
 
champ, on the other hand, continued to bark for about ten minutes afterward.
  

all i did was ask him to clean his room......

it just wasn't getting done as well as i thought it should be and he got madder and madder and madder......then the very loud door slam....and very audible tears from the other side of the door. a few minutes later, i saw this.....

 
let me bring it closer so you can read it better.....
  and just in case you can't decipher his eloquent spelling it reads "no parents allowed forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

i did a cute maternity shoot last weekend also.....

christina and mike were so adorable. this is their first baby and they don't know what they are having. dad is a biology/science teacher so pictures in the park were perfect for them. here are a few of the pictures from their album.....

 
 
 
  click on the images to make them bigger.