31...not so fun!

I mean let's be honest...after 30 it goes downhill and birthdays aren't something to look forward to anymore =)

This pic I am reluctantly posting of my big surprise birthday party last year that my hubby and friends threw me for my big 30!! I loved and hated it...you see, I had this BIG problem with my BIG belly (being pregnant) and I REALLY didn't want to be on show when I felt super uncute!! I did have a great time though, my hubby booked a room at the Camelback Inn that had a huge balcony, we were supposed to be "staying" there after our night out, we walked out onto the balcony to food, fun and lots of my wonderful friends! And with that came lots of HORRIBLE pictures of me in my uglier days pasted all over the wall, (thanks girls).

Today was my birthday again...I'm 30 again and I will be for the rest of my birthdays, because it just sounds better that way!!

Today's highlights...
1. Waking up to beautiful red roses on my kitchen counter...thanks baby love!
2. Lunch with one of my greatest friends, thanks Nicole!
3. Blog post with hideous and fun pictures of me and "my girls," thanks Aly!
4. Text messages and phone calls from lots of people, thanks everyone!
5. A sweet email from my honey, thanks again babe!
6. Poopy diapers back to back that covered my shorts, thanks Emery!
7. 20 minute+ tantrum in the garage (that woke up sleeping baby) from a tired, sad boy, thanks Dawson!
8. Russ not forgetting this year, he never does and I always hope he will just ONCE (he chimed in after 11pm), thanks Russ!
9. Email from Becca, I should've known it would come, she has NEVER forgotten (and we don't even talk annually) Sadly I forget hers EVERY year, I remember, but never on that day, thanks Becca! 10.Brennan telling me with complete seriousness "mom, you are going to have the BEST birthday ever, you get to watch my baseball practice!" Thanks, Brennan, that was one of the best parts of my day!

I hope to have a proxy birthday in which my husband doesn't have to be gone for 12 hours and I can eat something better than fast food for dinner...when that comes I will have to let you know!

Here's to 30 again...for the rest of my life!!

Quittin' time

There's no such thing...I've decided that the single hardest part of being a parent is the fact that you can't just "clock out," this job just never ends.

10 days ago Emery came down with a fever, a trip to the Dr. showed nothing, chalked it up to teething. Then came higher fever, more crankiness, night wake ups and even more fever. 6 days later we were back at the Dr. with a 104 fever to prove illness was present! This time we had to find something that was making this baby so sick...finally the Dr. found the culprit, a bladder infection. Poor baby had been suffering and there was no way for us to know.

We were running on fumes from lack of sleep and Daddy had just left for a 3 day fishing trip...I had a feeling it would be a tiring weekend, I don't think I had any idea really how tiring. Every night included wake ups for more than an hour and morning came with early to rise Dawson complete with his perfected and quite loud whine, "mooommmmmmyyyy get me brrrreeeeeeaaaakfaaaaaaaaasssssst". Patience was thin but I prevailed and Daddy finally came home, just in time to spend Saturday night helping me prepare a pretty difficult lesson for church and help his sister most of the next day with a really tough project for school.

Can this really be Monday? What happened to the downtime I was supposed to get before my husband was back at work?

Emery's fever has subsided, unfortunately her new found way to get my attention hasn't, lots more tears, screaming, especially if I walk away, back arching (aren't you young for this little missy?), she's really exhausting right now, I suppose this is what I get for getting a pretty easy baby for most of her infant life?

So how are we compensating?

My house...neglected

My children...neglected

My blog...neglected

My work...neglected

Me? neglected...and now I get to have my turn of being sick and it's not very fun!

Remembering...

I wish there was never a September 11th...I remember being asleep that morning and we had recieved two early phone calls, we ignored both, we were still sleeping. When we did figure it out, I didn't really understand the great magnitude of what this meant. I stayed glued to the tv, Reuben went to work, he came home early that day and the world pretty much shut down. The stores closed and businesses closed, it's the only time I can remember that everyone just STOPPED. I stayed fixed on the coverage and I truly believed the thousands of people in the WTC rubble would be found, it was too hard to believe otherwise. We had just gotten pregnant with our first child, I remember in the weeks following that I was so scared to be having a baby and wondering if I should bring a child into this scary world!

On this anniversary of the day this country suffered great loss, I am reminded that I am so grateful for my freedom and for the many people that lost their innocent lives! More importantly I am thinking today about the families of those great people that have had to live without their loved ones, I REALLY REALLY can't even imagine! And despite all the people that continually complain about the war, I support our great military, I support them by not complianing about the war and instead praying for them and their safety! I have family members who serve our country and I'm grateful to them and their families for this great sacrafice they give, it truly takes unique individuals (and families) to put their life on the line for us...THANK YOU MILITARY!
Say a prayer for victims affected by the war and 9/11 today...wouldn't it be nice if they could feel the effect of our prayers, especially on such a hard day?

If you haven't heard...

If you haven't heard of these sweet people before...you need to! If you are an active blog reader, you've probably come across their story many of times, but in case you haven't, here's your chance. Their sweet story and amazing family has touched me and I felt it was time to do my part! Christian and Stephanie Nielson are Mesa residents and parents of 4 children under the age of 7! Stephanie has had many of followers of her blog NieNie Dialogues for a few years now and that has made this story all the more tragic and very well known in the blogging community! A few weeks ago they were in a tragic plane crash in which the pilot, Doug Kinneard, sadly didn't survive and Stephanie and Christian were severely burned. Christian suffered burns over 30% of his body, Stephanie over 80%. The extended family is amazing and has rallied around taking care of the children and posting updates! Fellow bloggers have jumped to the support having balloon launches in behalf of the couple and hosting hundreds of blog silent auctions to raise money for the families medical expenses! I want to do my part and am putting together a silent auction as well to donate funds to this cause! Meanwhile, get hooked on this story like I have, watch the TODAY SHOW, Tuesday morning or read updates on this story here.

More to come soon...

Josh and Heather coming soon...

Look at this beautiful bride who happens to be my very sweet cousin Heather...she got married to Josh in the San Diego temple and we have lots of images to share including the beach session, the luncheon and their reception a few weeks later at the Wright House. Since I am not done with my editing/retouching of all the others, here's something to hold you over!

Logo Harmony

Since it's been all about my kids lately including my little one in underwear...sorry about that clients and colleagues, I thought I would share this post that I found and loved!

For the many years I've had my business I've always had a very simple approach to my company and my brand. I never really worked on developing my business model as much as I developed my photography and portfolio. In the recent years, as I have spent money and time at various seminars and networking with other photographers, I've had a real desire to "step up" my business and really have a more meaningful brand, product and also determine my target market of clients as well. I think this helps me to know who I want to work with and helps my clients to see quality and consistency in me and in my company! In fact, I think it's equally (or more important) to develop your business model than just your portfolio as this leads to having satisfied customers that will bring you new customers!

I have worked a few times on creating a business logo. This proved to be no easy task, I worked with various designers never feeling like what they provided me with was more than just text in a unique font or color. I wanted a logo that meant something, but I didn't know what it was supposed to mean or what on earth it should look like!

This summer I decided to try again and found a great designer to help me achieve this goal. I've done a LOT of researching online and looking at other logos and came across this GREAT ARTICLE from another designer today. I love how she recognizes the "three parts" to logos and their need to be cohesive and have meaning that relates to your business and brand! If anyone out there is looking to brand themselves, I suggest you research a lot before settling on a designer and logo.

My new logo is still in the works, but I am confident I will be able to launch my new business look soon and I can't wait to have all new marketing pieces as well! I'll share it with you soon!

#8 CHECK!!

YIPEE!! Time for another goal checked off my 101 in 1001 list...this one was INCREDIBLY challenging and has been more than a year in the making...insert drum roll here...GET DAWSON POTTY TRAINED!! We did it, it's been a ROUGH road, this was our FIFTH...yes our 5th go around (first try around 2yrs of age) and this last time it STILL took me 3 and 1/2 weeks!! But I can officially report after fighting the good fight, I have won and my 3 1/2 year old is officially a BIG BOY and FULLY potty trained.
So, what did we finally do that worked?? Well, we took away all the "crutches" diapers, pull ups etc. We sat in the bathroom a LOT, I mean a REAL LOT. We read books and sang songs. Dawson argued EVERY TIME (for weeks) when it was time to go and sit and the kid would honestly hold back and not pee all day, like 10 hours, then he would have an accident minutes after sitting for the 15th time that day! I would scoop him up and put him on the potty even with him screaming...he was so challenging...if you have boys, you MIGHT relate! Here's some photos I took as he was super mad at me for making him sit on the potty...
I also bought a treasure box because I TRULY believe in positive reinforcement and that it works so much better with potty training and I tried EXTRA hard to not get upset with accidents, that seemed to help so much! Even with the treasure box FULL of $20 worth of dollar store buys, he could get one anytime he went potty (in the toilet of course), in the first two weeks he had only earned like 2 treasures, it was pretty discouraging until week 3 when he finally made a turn for the better.

So, in case you were wondering where I disappeared to this last month...I was spending my time on this goal, sitting on the bathroom counter, trying to be SO EXCITED hour after hour, day after day even when there wasn't much success. Here's a clip of our song singing...

I feel like now might be a good time to do #65 on my list (spend a day at the spa)!

Oh and if you made it this far...here's one more funny thing...two days ago my husband was telling someone in our family, "oh yeah, potty training? What did it take with Dawson...like THREE DAYS??" I nearly freaked out, where the heck has he been since the kid turned two and I have had seriously FIVE rounds of trying and failing at potty training this kid? What the heck? This year alone I think we tried three or four separate sessions minimum of three days each time!