My boys

Jeremy is finally home from Filer, ID. This means I get help with our children during the week and an not completely insane by friday night. It also means that the kids have their daddy back and I have my husband back.

Last night we went to a friend’s house and played the kinect on their x box. Jeremy was having a blast. He gets to work around the valley now which is going to be a lot easier on me and MUCH easier on him. He is still into racing his dirt bike and signs up for almost every race. I am glad he is home…

Zane is ready for football!! He is in junior flag football and his fingers are a-twitchin’ to get back in the game. He loves his baby brother and loves making him laugh. He is getting so tall and growing up so quickly! He’ll be starting second grade in just a few short weeks…

Aw my baby Gunner…where to begin. He has grown out of control. He will be a year old in less than two months. He started walking at nine months old and is all over the place. He is a busy boy and loves to play. He is very tall and is thinning out quickly. He says mama and dada and num. Right now he is getting some molars so he doesn’t sleep well, but he is the happiest baby in the world. I love his cute face so much and really want him to stay little…

I am doing well…Still a stay at home mom, which is a struggle in some areas and a blessing in most others. I am glad I get to be with my children during the day. I get to see my baby boy grow and learn and it is a beautiful thing.

I’ll be trying to post more as I can do it from my phone now. I hope all is well with everyone else. Check back monday or tuesday for a post about some crochet projects and ideas!!

Promises, promises, promises!

I am not going as far as saying that I am accepting the 365 challenge as a resolution this year, but I resolve to write a post at least once a week.  I vow to include at least one photo as well.  I’m just having problems coming up with things to write about.  Hopefully I can get around to finding a few topics and actually fulfilling this resolution.  This will count as my first.  Yes, it is ten days into January, but it’s better late than never, right??

As I write this with a sleeping (and sick) baby on my chest, today’s topic will be him.  Simple, yes?  Mr. Gunner is now a little over four months old.  He giggles, coos, gurgles and slobbers a lot.  He brightens our lives and makes it a point to put smiles on our faces as a daily routine.  He has rolled over a few times, but lately only when I am out of the room.  For those worried, I make sure he is safely on the floor before I leave the room now.  He still has hair, can sit up by himself for a few seconds before falling forward, and loves his bouncer.  His big brother adores him and constantly wants to take photos of him.  Speaking of photos…below are a few of said Mr. Gunner.  ENJOY!!

Zane took this photo of him the other day. He is now an aspiring photographer. Every chance he gets he is asking me if he can take pictures of his baby brother or other inanimate objects around the house.

I thought this one was fun to share. Zane loves his baby brother and is always holding him.

 

 

 

Saharra

Benefit Yard Sale

For those who don’t know, my brother-in-law, Zach, was diagnosed with end stage Renal Disease (kidney failure) about seven or eight months ago.  We are putting together a benefit yard sale and are taking donations of all kinds for the sale.  If it is a special item, we are also doing a raffle.  Please read the letter below from my mother-in-law:

Kidney for Zach Benefit Yard Sale

A benefit yard sale will be held for a 22 year old named Zachary Cogswell. On Friday June 4 & Sat. June 5 from 9 am- 5 pm both days. The money raised will go towards expenses for a kidney transplant he will receive in Utah.

Zachary was diagnosed with End Stage Renal (kidney) Disease October 8, 2009. He has been fighting the battle ever since. He has had a biopsy, hemodialysis ports put in and taken out, now has a Peritoneal Port coming out of his stomach so he can receive dialysis throughout the night at home. He hooks up to a cycler for 8 hours so he can remove all the toxins in his body so he can survive. Without the dialysis Zachary would not be here. But he would like a better life or just his life back. He is not able to do a lot of things because of the port in his belly. With a kidney transplant and the help of immune- suppressing drugs he will take for the rest of his life, he will be able to get back to having fun.

So as you can see this family does need your help. If you can’t attend the yard sale and still would like to help a bank account has been set up at Bank of the Cascades under

James & Cindy Cogswell

c/o Kidney for Zach. You can donate at any Bank of the Cascades Branch.

The family would also like to say, whatever items are left over from their sale will be donated to community charities. They are going to Pay It Forward.

We are all looking to help in any way possible.  We are taking the item donations to sell at the yard sale, so if you have a garage or storage room full of yard sale items that you just don’t need or want anymore, please bring them by.  You can email me at saharracogswell@q.com for more information or for where to drop your items off, or simply leave a comment below and I will contact you.

We are also taking donations for “Bic it for Zach” where Zach will get to shave his dad’s head all the way to the skin if donations reach $100 or more.  For more information, please contact me.

Lastly, Zach’s parents have set up a bank account at Bank of the Cascades and you can donate any amount and any branch in your area.

I hope everyone has a great LONG weekend!

Saharra

It’s been a while!

I haven’t written in forever…I feel bad.

Here is an update on all of us.

Zane is doing well in school.  Last week marked the end of the third quarter for him and the only place he is having any problems with is handwriting.  Don’t get me wrong, he can write his letters, but he still has a hard time with spacing them out and making sure to take the time so they are not backwards.  He is ready for summer break and talks about it constantly.  He also is ready to have a sibling.  He goes on forever about it and it is SO cute!  He has been enjoying being outside more often and looks forward to the warmer days so he can wear shorts.

Jeremy is working hard, as always.  He recently started racing his dirt bike.  Before, he would just go out on weekends and mess around with his friends.  He entered a desert race last weekend, but it was a partner race.  It was called a “boxer bash”.  One partner puts on a pair of boxers over his riding gear, runs to his bike, starts it, and sets off.  Mind you, there are about 60 other guys doing this at the same time as partner 1!  Then partner 1 makes a seven mile loop around and stops at the finish.  Here, partner 2 will put on the boxers that partner 1 has on and make the 7 mile loop.  It continues like this for an hour.  Jeremy and two friends (one his age, and one twenty years older) were going to be racing at this event.  They had several age groups.  First, Friend 1 and Friend 2 were going to race the “age” group.  This is for two partners whose ages, when combined, equal 60-79.  Then Jeremy and Friend 2 were going to race the “B” group.  This group is for the guys who are a little faster and a little more gutsy.  They also had a “C” and “A” class, as well as several age classes all the way up to “100+”.  Friend 2 broke his foot on the practice lap shortly after we arrived at the race.  This left Jeremy unable to race the “B” class and Friend 1 unable to race his class.  Jeremy filled in where Friend 2 couldn’t for Friend 1.  We had a good time, and the boys did well.  They weren’t totally last.  I think Jer said they came in 14th out of 20.  It was a fun, dirt filled day.

I have been doing much better.  The morning sickness is almost totally gone.  There are a few exceptions when it comes to smells…but I haven’t gotten “sick” sick in a while.  The baby moves constantly and we can hopefully start calling “it” a HIM or HER on monday!!  I am showing quite a bit, which I find uncomfortable, because people think I am much further along.  I heard that with your second child, you show much sooner though, so I just shrug it off. 

My pants aren’t fitting anymore.  I bought a Bella Band on Amazon.com a few weeks ago and would be lost without it.  We can’t seem to find any of my maternity clothes that I spent hundreds on six years ago, but with the Bella Band I can wear my pants completely unbuttoned and still walk around just fine.  things are MUCH more comfortable!  I can still BUTTON my pants, but I won’t be able to sit with them buttoned…

Right now, we are waiting to close on a house.  We had a few issues and the seller put it back on the market, but we are still first when it comes to buying it.  We are really excited, but not getting our hopes up too high anymore.  Zane is in love with the idea of having a back yard, though.

I have to start cleaning house, on this LOVELY, WARM saturday.  My friend’s baby shower is today, and I have a Senior I get to photograph tomorrow.  Other than that, things are steadily humming along. 

Saharra

Pregnancy Update:

SO…my morning sickness is easing every so slightly.  I have been able to handle a regular meal every now and then which is REALLY nice.  I am still extremely tired and emotional…but I am coping a little better with it this week.

A few friends and family members are giving us a hard time about having twins this time around.  Mind you, then do NOT run in the family, and I am not a high candidate for them, but they are starting to get to me hehe…I have been googling my brains out and have found that there are a few things about me that can contribute to having multiples, but I am really low risk for having them.

I wanted to ask if anybody has FELT they were going to, or been told by family or friends that they just “had this feeling” or something similar and you found out you were prego with twins.  I would like stories, experiences or just hear say even…I am SO curious and all the talk about it has me worried and biting my nails for Tuesday the 9th to get here already.  I go to the doc for the first time and will hopefully get an ultrasound to rule all these shananigans out 🙂

I do want to say that I would still be happy if I were having two healthy babies instead of one…but at this point I am stressed about it.  I know the news, either way, will find me emotional and well, but I think all the “feelings” of those around me have me going and it is always reeling in the back of my mind…

Some symptoms that point to having multiples are below:

Enhanced pregnancy symptoms.  Ie. morning sickness, fatigue, tenderness of the chesticles, etc.
A feeling of being weighted right above your pubic bone.
Increased need to urinate, especially during the night.
BMI of over 30%, which I unfortunately fall under.

These are waht I am experiencing.  I don’t know if my pregnancy symptoms are “enhanced” because I have NEVER had them before.  On some of the sites I was looking at (webmd.com, mayoclinic.com, babyzone.com etc.) they said that women who have had a fairly easy pregnancy before with no real morning sickness or fatigue can experience these symptoms when having a girl, also, but that it is also a sign of multiples as your body produces more of the “pregnancy hormone” when pregnant with multiples and your body is also more tired because of the extra work that goes into multiples vs a singleton.

Like I said before…I can’t wait until next Tuesday.  I have a feeling that I am just pregnant with one…and I would like to have a girl, but am totally ok with another boy.  I do feel like I am getting slightly bigger, but I have been told that you tend to show faster with your second becaue the muscles have already expanded and such previously.

Let me know your thoughts on this…if you have any.  I am interested in what other people say and think about all the “feelings” floating around and all the signs.

Saharra
9 weeks

Ahh…wake up and smell the morning sickness…

So…I am about six to seven weeks pregnant.  I am ALREADY experiencing some horrible morning sickness.  I can’t eat ANYTHING because EVERYTHING smells horrible and makes me very sick.  I have been living off of saltines, graham crackers, ramen noodles (watered down), ginger ale, and water.  I am only two weeks into the sickness part, and I want to be done.  Some say it gets better around week 14, some say sooner.  All I know, is that I owe a thank you to a friend of mine.

I was on Facebook and commented about my lovely day of being sick.  A friend commented back and told me that I should check into Sea Bands.  “The Sea-Band applies continuous pressure on the P6 (or Nei-Kuan) point on each wrist using a plastic stud; the point is very easy to find” (http://www.sea-band.com/uses-for-seaband).  Which it is.  I bought a pair of these today at my local Walgreens.  Within ten minutes of wearing them, the edge to my constant nausea started slowly subsiding.  Now, about four hours into wearing them, I still feel slightly nauseated, not QUITE up to eating a flavorful mean, but I also don’t feel like I am going to ralph every five seconds.  I don’t feel like I should have a bowl by me and be laying in bed.  I feel a bit better than I did earlier. 

But, you have to understand something about me.  I HATE, absolutely and positively HATE and DESPISE throwing up.  I would rather have high fevers and be bedridden for a week with a horrible sinus infection, double ear infection and a nasty cough, than vomit ONCE.  So when I say that I feel quite a bit better, you have to understand that I mean I don’t feel like vomiting constantly.  I still feel sick, just not as sick as before.  I am much happier being nauseated, than feeling like I am actually going to toss my cookies.  This might not work for some people, and it might work better on others…but all you morning-sick prego’s out there should definitely try this. 

I also bought ginger gum from the same manufacturer (Sea Band).  It helps slightly too!!

I just wanted to share that.  I figured the more people who knew about this the better.  There are no medications involved, which means no side effects for mom OR baby.

You can purchase these products at most Walgreens stores around the nation.  I checked at Albertsons, and they didn’t have them in stock here.  You can also buy them online through the website mentioned above for a little cheaper than in-store.

Until next time.

Saharra

Last week…I found out…

That I am pregnant!!  This is such a scary and exciting time for my little family and I.  My husband and I are nervous and excited, my son is elated and can’t wait to meet his sister (he just KNOWS it is a girl and no we do not know the sex yet) and we are thinking about our options now.  We are thinking about giving birth at a birthing center instead of the hospital…we are thinking about names and already arguing about them (I like Zeus for a boy…Hubby doesn’t)  I think we both agree on the girl name.  I just wanted to share a quick post about our status!!

…Saharra and family…

Lucero Shoot

In November I got to photograph my friend and her husband.  They were looking for Christmas card photos and some family photos.  Despite the frigid temperatures and frost slick grass, we got some good ones!

She is so much fun to be around and her cat and dog were wild and fun to photograph as well!  I can’t wait to do another shoot for her!

Helen Family Shoot

It was extremely cold and blustery, but the kids had a blast.  I got the opportunity to photograph my friend and her two children.  We had a blast running through NNU campus and playing!!

Fix It Friday – I Heart Faces

Fridays are always fun with I Heart Faces!!  This photo was so fun to edit and mess around with.  Below are my edits and how I got them to look that way.

This is the original.  You can see that it is slightly underexposed and a little on the cool side.

This is my first edit.  I used PSE7 to lighten the midtones and increase contrast.  I adjusted the saturation up a bit to warm up the photo overall.  Then I converted to BW and added a vignette.  What a cute little baby!!

I took the light/saturation enhanced photo and ran CoffeeShop’s Creamy Black and White action over the photo.  I decreased the “creaminess” slightly and got this photo.  I don’t think I have come across one photo I didn’t like with this action run on it!!

Then I decided to have a little fun.  I downloaded some textures from Shadowhouse Creations.  They are the “Translucent Stones” texture pack on his site.  He is an amazing artist!!!  I added two of Jerry’s textures in overlay blending mode to my photo, then added a layer mask and masked out the child’s face to where the texture wasn’t as strong.  Then I added Kaleidocope’s “Sun Flare” to the top right of the photo.  You need to check out Patti’s site (the creator of the Kaleidoscope collection).   She has some amazing textures/overlay’s on there that you HAVE to get for Christmas!!

I wanted to let those of you interested in Christmas Cards that you can send via email AND mail know that now is the time to start sending them out!  Get your lists ready and give me a call/email.  I would be happy to help you design one to your taste!

Now I get to enjoy everyone else’s edits!!  I love looking at them every week.