Friday, February 27, 2009

studio update

Dan just wrote this post for our photography blog, but I wanted to put it on our personal too! We still have SO MUCH to do, but the studio sure is coming along!!!!! Yea! :)


We've had a lot of things happening at the studio lately. We've installed the floors, the kitchen is almost done, we've finally found and agreed on some furniture! Here are a few photos of our waiting room and viewing room. More photos to come...



The hallway on the left of the image will be our gallery wall.

Viewing Room

smiling, jumping, and reaching

It's so hard to get a photo of Natalie smiling because she does it so fast! But, she has been giving us more and more cute little grins lately!

Samantha has learned a new way of jumping and it's so funny to watch her! I really, really need to look into a gymnastics class for her!

Ready...
jump in the air....
and land on your bottom!!!!
Hey, it's never too early to work on sitting up! :)
Natalie has started becoming interested in looking at and reaching for what is around her. Hanging a toy above her will keep her interest for a long time! Today she kept reaching for this ladybug. 
This is the second time ever Sam actually posed for a photo for me and said "cheese!", so I had to put it in!
Daddy taking Sam to read 3 books before bed... Goodnight!
Natalie sported her "Baby Legs for the first time tonight! She is a little small for them, but who cares! They're cute and they keep her warm!
This week flew by! I'm not sure where it went! We hope you have a good weekend!!!!!!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

mom of two earns D- at school

I have no photos for this post, but I do have my first humorous story of taking the two girls out by myself! I have taken both girls back and forth to work and home and have had them both my myself at either of those places, but nowhere else, until today.

Dan wanted to work out at the gym after work (go, Dan!) so I agreed to pick up Samantha from school with Natalie. I walked into school and there was no one up front on this particular day, so I took Natalie (in her car seat) with me to Sam's class. 

When I first opened the door, Sam immediately got the normal huge grin on her face. Then one second later she realized I was holding Natalie. And she started crying. Without even thinking I immediately sat the car seat on the floor so that I could pick Samantha up. While trying to hold her and comfort her, get all of her artwork and report card out of her cubby, and pull her blanket out of her backpack--which was caught in the zipper---I hadn't noticed that all of the two year olds with their germ-infested hands started surrounding the baby on the floor trying to put their grubby little fingers on her!!! Ah!!!! She's only 6 weeks old!!! (Don't get me wrong---the kids in her class are wonderful, but ALL toddlers in ALL schools are just, well, germy!) A teacher immediately ran over to make sure none of them touched her while they were admiring her. 

It must have been a sight to see me trying to lift the car seat with one arm while holding Sam in the other. Luckily, Sam agreed to walk down the hall to the front door. We walked outside into the parking lot and Sam decided she was not going to hold my hand (which is our rule when walking outside). She started to dart out into the parking lot and I lunged for her. I tried to grab her arm but all I got was her coat, which slipped right off of her with the exception of her neck because it was buttoned there. I all but dropped the baby on the ground, along with the backpack, blanket, and paperwork. So, here we are....my toddler is trying with all her might to run straight into traffic while I am yelling at her and pulling like tug-of-war on her coat, which is fastened around her neck only, while my baby is sitting in her car seat, alone, in the middle of the sidewalk!!!!! 

A teacher from school walked out at that moment and said "Oh honey, you have your hands full! Let me help you with that!" Bless her heart.....she stood with Natalie and our stuff, encouraging me by telling me how she can tell I am a good mom (ha!), while I re-dressed Sam and tossed her in her car seat, half-buckled her just to keep her in place so that I could relieve the teacher of helping me! I then put Natalie in the car on the other side and came around to snap Sammi in the rest of the way. I would have forgotten her backpack, blanket, and paperwork all together if the teacher wouldn't have calmly and sweetly asked me if I'd like her to put it in my car as I was getting myself buckled in!

Oh boy. Or should I say, "Oh girls!" Will it get easier or harder as they get older............??????????????????????? Fun times!!!

p.s. The title was supposed to be funny....and I didn't give myself an F because they are both still alive...although I'm not sure exactly what I could have done differently to earn a better grade!!!! :)

Monday, February 23, 2009

quiz: samantha or natalie?

#1
#2
#3
#4
I've always thought the girls looked so much alike, and now that I put photos side by side, even I am amazed. Of course, you've seen these exact photos before---so you probably know who is who----but, you get the point of the post!!!! Crazy! :)

Answers:
#1 Samantha, Natalie (a few hours old)
#2 Natalie, Samantha (right after delivery)
#3 Natalie, Samantha (1 month old)
#4 Natalie, Samantha (1 month old)

sam and reece

Recee lives across the street from us and he and Samantha have been friends since they were born. Now that they are playing interactively together, it is so much fun to watch them (and so nice because they entertain themselves!) Thanks to Joe and Lisa's support with our new baby, Sam has had several playdates with Reece at his house over the last few weeks to give us some baby time and Sammi some much needed attention!  (Thanks, Joe and Lisa!) (I still have to post snow photos of them together...but those were on the "real" camera so they need to be edited!) The other night Reece came to our house and he and Sam had a blast...

They LOVE to chase each other...
Our house is in shambles due to toys every night & we have to clean up before bedtime! :)
I snagged her for a quick photo with mommy!
Being silly...

I don't feel like Natalie gets enough time to work on holding her head up, but we're trying! She does pretty good when she's sitting up...
...but is still working on holding her head up during tummy time!
My beautiful toddler. :) And probably exactly what my baby will look like in 2 years! :)

Monday, February 16, 2009

top 12 summary

The dishes are piled in the sink, the dirty laundry is overflowing out of the laundry room and the clean laundry is piling on the couch, the bills stacked on the counter are probably all late by now, and the vacuum itself is collecting dust......yet, here I am updating the blog! :) SO, enough talking.... a few photos of what we've been up to and then a quick update before bed...

Dan celebrated his 29th birthday on February 7! He got a new watch and a new Wii game. 
Sammi showing daddy the card she and Natalie made. It had both of their hand prints and said "May life HAND you many blessings this year!" We had fun making it.
Tiger Woods...
Sam has had an awful time sleeping since Natalie was born. One night I walked out of our bedroom door at 3am to go feed Natalie and I almost tripped over Samantha, who was sound asleep on her hippo outside of our bedroom door. I'm hoping she will grow out of this getting-up-three-times-a-night thing soon! The doctor said it is as much to do with her age as it is the new baby.
Dan always gets up with Natalie and Samantha each morning to give me a few hours of sleep, usually around 6:30am. The other morning I walked out to Sammi watching cartoons and, well...
Sammi and I made a trip to the grocery together for some Sammi-Mommy time last week. Dan and I are officially dieting/eating healthy to lose weight, but we're not on a specific diet. We've been inspired by the book "Flat Belly Diet" and are being smart about what we eat and portion control. We're both detemined to lose our (yes, our) baby weight. :)
Sammi has slowly started warming up to Natalie---a little. When Natalie cries she often goes up to her and says, "What's wrong, Baby Natalie? Why are you crying? It's okay. It's okay. Mommy, I think she needs some food."
Samantha has become a genius of puzzles. When she got this Dora puzzle for her birthday we thought it was way too old for her. She mastered it after just a few times. We bought her 4 more puzzles and she did each of them the first time she tried. She immediately put each piece in the right place the right way the first time she tried. We dumped all 4 puzzles out together and mixed up the pieces and she still got them.
Always very proud of her accomplishments...
Natalie had her first experience in the Bumbo last week! She really liked it at first but got tired quickly.
My office has quickly become a place of many toys and baby supplies!!!! (And, on this day (Valentine's Day), notice my favorite flowers on my desk from my favorite girls! I can't believe they already know how to use the internet to have flowers delivered! I think daddy might have helped...just a guess.)
Happy Valentine's Day! Sammi got two bags full of new bath toys, hair stuff, books, stickers, and chocolate (her favorite) for Valentine's Day!

Bath time was sure fun with new toys and new bubble bath!
Showing off her new Valentine's Day headbands...
Natalie is growing like a weed!!!!
Krystal celebrated her birthday at Binkley's last weekend and Sammi LOVED seeing her Aunt Krystal and Uncle Steve! She reeeaaaallly loves them! Leena, the little girl Krystal brought to the Children's Museum with us for Halloween, was also there and she and Sammi had a great time together!
iPhone entertainment! 
Krystal gave the baby lots of love too, of course!
TOP 12 THINGS THE BRANDS HAVE BEEN UP TO OVER THE LAST TWO WEEKS:

1. Samantha's report cards have been better at school. (She gets one everyday that states what they learned, what they did, how long she slept, what she ate, and how her demeanor was.) When Natalie was born she had a lot of snuggle(aka "clingy") time with her teachers at school. Lately she's been having more fun!

2. Samantha got another ear infection, boo.

3. Natalie has been put on acid reflux medicine for her spitting up. She's been very fussy over the last two weeks, especially when she is spitting up. The medicine won't prevent her from spitting up or vomiting but it will prevent the acid in the spit ups from eating away at her esophagus which is what causes her pain and makes her fussy.  Today I had to wear Dan's spare painting clothes at work after I was projectile vomited on...all over my shirt, pants, my hair, her, my chair, the floor..... From now on I'm bringing extra clothes to work! But even with all of that...

4. She has been sleeping great at night! She goes 4-6 hours at a time at night before waking up to eat, and last week she even went 8 HOURS one night!!! Too bad I didn't get myself in bed in time to take advantage!!!! :) :) :)

5. Natalie SMILED!!! Dan was hollering to me to come quick on Saturday and when I got there he said, "Natalie smiled at me!!!" I said no way because she is only 4 weeks old, but he swore she smiled three genuine smiles at him when he was playing with her. Twice I tried to make faces and giggle to her to make her smile and both times she just spit up on me! However, after much patience, she gave me one big smile too! It was SO CUTE! She is also growing, growing, growing. She is a whopping 9 1/2 pounds now!!! 65 percentile for weight and 70th percentile for height!!!! Check out her double chin in the photos! :)

6. Dan celebrated his last birthday as a twenty-something. We went to Stir Crazy after three other restaurants were either too busy or closed. Good choice. It was fabulous. And it was before the diet started. By the time we found a restaurant and ate, we had sadly missed all of the movies we wanted to see so we rented a BluRay movie and watched it at the studio on our big screen with just the two of us. It was a great night. Thanks to my parents for watching the girls!!!

7. Our church started offering a 10:30 service and we attended for the first time since Natalie was born last Sunday. We put Sam in the children's room/daycare there and had Natalie with us. She did great! Hooray!

8. We finally finished Natalie's announcements and they are at the printer as we speak!!! I kept waiting to get better photos of both girls together, but Samantha is just not quite ready for that. Actually, she ALWAYS hates getting her photo taken, so we may never really have great photos of them together. Too much coordinating, parenting, and being the photographer at once to make them work. Maybe we'll hire someone to do them. :)

9. We finally took the plunge and ordered all of our new marketing materials/photo boxes/tissue paper/etc. I'm excited to get them!!! 

10. Dan actually caught up on all of the wedding photo editing he had weighing him down and I have gotten lots of (interrupted) time in at work working on albums. They're coming, I promise!!!!!

11. The flooring in our studio is officially totally done and it rocks. As of today all of our appliances have been ordered and the kitchen has started going in. The countertops have been ordered too. Hallelujah.

12. Dan and I registered to attend a 3-day workshop in Virginia in March to learn how to use new software for financial and client management. Kind of a lame way to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary, :) but we are so excited to get away and hit our "reset" button for the business! Too much time has been spent on the building and not enough on the business lately. It will be the first time we leave Natalie overnight.  

That sums up my post, mostly because I'm so tired I can't really see straight anymore!  LOVE AND HUGS TO YOU ALL!!! GOODNIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

visitors, doctor, bath, snow, and stuff

I haven't been good about updating the blog because when I usually wind my evening down by sitting at the computer to write, lately at that time of night I have been crashing in bed!!! :) Things are GREAT in the brand household! We've been keeping busy and we are all doing really well. Here are a few snapshots of what we've been up to the last week or so...

Our friends, Jessie and Bryan brought their baby boy Cooper to see us from Texas! We were sooo happy to meet little Cooper!!! Actually, Cooper isn't little...he's a big boy! SOOOOO cute!!!
Brooke, Natalie (1 week), Sam (2 years), Cooper (4 months), Jessica
Samantha was showing Cooper the bracelets that "Aunt Jessie" gave her in a huge box full of presents for her and her sister!
Dan, his dad, his uncle, my dad, and his brother finished most of the flooring in the studio and it looks awesome! Next week they will come back to finish the last room, then we'll start hanging artwork, installing the kitchen, etc, etc...
Sam has really been better with Natalie! She helps feed her and brings supplies to us for her baby sister. She likes to go in and check on Natalie when she's sleeping sometimes too!
Natalie got her first bath! Our baby bathtub was still in storage at my parents' house, so we just held her over the sink to bathe her.

Miss Natalie did end up going to the doctor for a 2 week check-up, for two reasons. One was because her cord fell off early, around 6 days, but kept bleeding and scabbing over. The doctor just cleaned it and treated it with some chemicals to seal it so it would heal correctly. The other reason was because she's been having major spit up and, more importantly, projectile vomiting issues! Her weight gain was not a problem at all though. She was supposed to have gained between a half an ounce and one ounce a day the ten days between appointments (which would be 5-10 ounces total), and she gained 18 OUNCES! That brought her up to 8 pounds even! 

For now we are still allowed to give her breast milk during the day even though she's been chucking it back up, but when we do feed her formula, we have to put her on a special formula to see if it helps. If it doesn't help over the next 2 weeks, we might have to put her on some medicine. I'm all for it if it means I'm not changing my clothes and scrubbing the chair, the floor, the boppy, and the baby in the middle of every night---and then have a hungry baby an hour later!!!
Most days at home look something like this...
And....SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!!! Boy, did it snow!!! At our house it was about a foot of snow! So....we took Sammi to my parents' house this weekend to go sledding for the first time! They have a berm in the back of their house that is the perfect size for Samantha! Natalie just snoozed away in her car seat right inside while we played. (We could see her from the back yard.) :)
First we got Sammi all bundled up in her new snowsuit and snow boots! 

All ready for the cold weather!
Our first ride down the hill! Grandpa had to push us because the snow was so fluffy!
After a few trips with mom and dad, Sam was ready to go down by herself!
Daddy went down a few times too! He was loving it! :)
Samantha kept asking to go down on her belly next, but when it was time, she always decided to sit instead!
We ended our snow time with some hot cocoa inside and some snuggle time with Natalie!
She sure is a snuggle bug! She loves her grandpa already! 
I have been feeling really great. Physically I am doing awesome...I already can't wait to get the go-ahead to work out, which is COMPLETELY different from how I felt with Sam! With her I kept thinking, "It's no wonder you get 12 weeks off from work....you need every day of that just to recover before you can drive or do any normal things!" This time I feel awesome. Aside from the flab on my belly and pumping milk, which I am in the process of stopping, I don't even feel like I had a baby 2.5 weeks ago! I get tired easily, especially in the evening, but that is from getting up every 3 hours at night, which is to be expected! Emotionally I am doing great too. Thanks goodness my "toddler blues" were short-lived and I am feeling balanced with splitting time, although sometimes it can certainly be hard to figure out who to attend to! :)

Dan has been working since Natalie was born, but I have only been into the office twice so far. This week I am planning on starting part time consistently---the days Sam is in school, M, W, F, so that I can start catching up on wedding albums and designs for our patient and awesome clients who are waiting on me!!! Natalie will be with us, and so far she's been very cooperative when we've been working. :)

We've gotten so many amazing and wonderful gifts and meals from our friends and we are soooo thankful. Many of you I have not thanked yet, but please know how much all of your thoughtfulness means to us!!!!! We are the luckiest people on earth. 

All our love and best wishes to you all!!!!! Hoping to update the blog with some professional photos soon---we have a shoot planned for Tuesday! :) :) :)