Ten on... eh, whatever day it is!

1.  I apologize for my absence around here.  Things have been crazy busy what with editing for clients and card design, our own Christmas preparations, and end of the year business stuff.  I didn't really realize how much I was adding to December with starting my own business!!!

2.  Because of #1, my house has really fallen by the wayside.  Today will be the day to attack mountains of laundry and hunt down all those elusive dust bunnies!!!  I want a maid for Christmas.  Does Santa bring those?

3.  We are doing Elf on the Shelf this year - and it cracks.me.up!  Lauren loves hunting for Sprinkley every morning, and she talks to her throughout the day.  When I had my first OB appointment and showed Lauren the little ultrasound print out, she immediately asked if she could insisted she show it to Sprinkley!  The funniest thing about it to me... she opted to just ask the Elf to tell Santa what she wanted this year, instead of going to see him herself!  Since I knew Santa would be a freak-out moment for Paige this year, I was more than happy to give that up!

4.  Fifteen days until Christmas, people!  15!!!  Ack.

5.  As mentioned in #3, I had my first OB appointment and ultrasound last week.  I would like to mention there is ONLY ONE BABY, praise God!  And it looks perfect in size and development!  Music to my ears!!!

6.  I want a birth photographer for this baby, but there just aren't any to be found!  Why hasn't anyone tapped into this amazing opportunity in Phoenix?!?

7.  I love that Colleen always Tweets about the news - if it weren't for her, I would be totally unaware of everything going on.  I am so happy to live in my bubble, though.  I don't miss cable TV at all (okay, other than FOOD NETWORK)!

8.  Anyone know any cute holiday craft ideas?  I want to do something with the girls, but I don't know what.  It needs to be appropriate for a two year old...

9.  I am getting my hair done tomorrow!!!  I love getting my hair done... I feel pretty for a few days.  Fresh and fun.  I don't plan on cutting much off, but I do plan on going dark - like back to my roots DARK.  Prenatal vitamins are great and all -- but they make my hair grow like crazy, and I can't take the constant roots looking greasy and nasty.  So next time you see me, I will be a brunette.  Any wagers on how long it will last this time?  Hee hee!

10.  We are trying to sell Lauren's bed and dresser on craiglist - and again, I really dislike dealing with buyers/sellers on craigslist!!!  People are flaky, rude, scammers.... and on and on.  Anyone need a twin captains bed and dresser with cute flowers painted on them?  Go here - there would be a discount involved!

Have a great weekend everyone!  (That is my way of saying I probably won't be on here again until Monday. Maybe I will be wrong... but I'm not promising!)  =)

Two Years

Paige is now a full-fledged two year old!  Not that she didn't have the attitude down before midnight Monday morning.  ;o)  I am still shocked to think her time of birth was 12:00AM on the dot.  But that is my sweet Paige, she doesn't do anything part of the way - she does it ALL!

Before her party on Sunday we had a little front porch photo session.

Ack!  How can she be this big already?!?  Not possible.

Here's a picture of what she does while she says something is "Cute."

Pretty CUTE, if you ask us!

Hey Paige, how old are you?

It was a nice party with good friends and both sets of Grandparents here to celebrate!

I bought what I thought was a pretty cute cupcake cake, straight out of the bakery's book.

Little did I know that this blue frosting was not the best idea.  We all had blue lips, tongues, fingers... you name it!  My new outdoor furniture even has a nice blue streak from my oldest daughter.  This stuff was brutal!  I am sure the food coloring in it made my children craaaaaazy for two days, and their BM's have been bright green.  Like grass.  Only florescent grass that grows near nuclear power plants - green.  Ew.

Paige didn't really know what to do with the candle - because we didn't practice.

But, at least she didn't scream "No. No. No. No." during the happy birthday song like she did when we practiced that!

And you can always find us Beeler-girls at the party.  We are the ones chanting, "Bring on the icing!"

Then it was present time!  She received lots of awesome goodies!!!

And even her first tricycle!  Thanks "Ama", "Poppa", and "GG"!

Happy Birthday, Paige!

We love you, sweet girl!!!

Nice morning

The girls and I went for a walk around City North this morning, while I attempted over and over again to get a decent picture of the two of them together.  We had fun - even though I am not in love with the shots, I am in love with these kiddos!!!  They were so sweet to each other and me all morning - it was a great two hours of girl time!

After our walk we stopped by a little cafe for a hot chocolate.  Both girls were in heaven!!!

I am still coming to terms with little Paige turning TWO soon.  Her little hands holding this cup so carefully are a firm reminder to my heart... she will be a full fledged pre-schooler before we know it!!!

Just one.

I took 25 pictures of the girls together this morning. And the result? One good picture. Just one. Why is it my own children are the most difficult to photograph? And, why is it that when I am determined to get a certain picture that it become nearly unattainable?!? My theory is that children have this kind of radar - that picks up when they can have even the slightest bit of control over a situation. My children have theirs turned up to maximum. =)

Oh, did you want to see the one picture? My bad.

It'll have to do for today! I am still on a mission for that perfect shot. Just one.

Just one, girls. Pretty please?

Ten on Tuesday

1. I am starting to feel the effects of pregnancy already. Man alive, am I tired! But I can't sleep. Now what kind of cruel torture is THAT?!?

2. We are going to the Suns game on Sunday, and I am super excited for a date with my hubby!!! It feels like it has been way too long!

3. I am so proud of myself, I have to share, even though you might find it a touch boring. Here's my rockin' deals from Super Target this week:

2 boxes Pepperidge Farm crackers

2 bags Goldfish crackers

16 cans of DelMonte Veggies

4 cans Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup

6 cans Swansons Chicken Broth

1 bottle Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice

2 boxes Stove Top Stuffing

3 boxes Philidephia Cream Cheese

2 bags Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chips

1 pack Target brand baby wipes

Total Paid: $2.64!!!

Ok - I cheated a little and used my two $5 giftcards I earned there last week

- so you could say $12.64, if you want - making it 23 cents per item.

Either way, I am one happy shopper!

(In case you wonder, I am not revealing everything I bought today, ONLY the super deals -- even I find the rest too boring to write about.) Ha!

4. The "D" button on my keyboard is sticking and driving me crazy. So if I miss a letter D in something, it is not because I can't spell, it is just because I got sick of fixing it all the time!

5. Lauren gave Justin and I a good laugh last week - and I just have to share! We were hanging out on the back porch talking, and I have no idea what Justin originally asked Lauren. How her day was, or something like that...

Lauren: "Ehhh, it was okay."

Justin: "Who taught you to say 'Eh' like that? You get that from Mommy."

Lauren: "No Daddy, I get it from you!"

Justin: "I don't think so!"

**less than a minute pause**

Lauren: "So, Daddy - what did you have for lunch today?"

Justin: "Leftovers from last night."

Lauren: "Was it good?"

Justin: "Ehhh, it was okay."

Lauren: "SEE Daddy! I told you I get it from you!!!"

She totally tricked him! On.Purpose. It was hysterical - we laughed for a good five minutes! I love kids!!!

6. MckMama made me happy yesterday. Her pile of clean clothes in the corner of her room is actually bigger than mine! I didn't know that was possible - but it made me feel less like a failure as a housewife.

7. Paige's birthday party is in twelve days and I have done zero to prepare. Guess I should get on that soon.

8. Christmas is in 38 days and I have done zero to prepare. Are we seeing a trend here?

9. I guess not ZERO. There are those Sweet Streets playsets I bought for Lauren on eBay in August. Hmm, where are those things anyway? *snerk*

10. Sounds like I have a lot to do... so I probably shouldn't be sitting here trying to think of a number 10! LOL! I have a plan to TRY and take some pictures of the girls tomorrow, so there might be a possibility of pictures on here soon. (Is that far enough away from a promise for you?) ;o)

Have a great Tuesday!!!

Canvas

Thank you all for your congratulations on baby #3! We love being able to share this experience with all of you!!!

Since my Ten On Tuesday post, I have had several people ask to see the gallery wrap canvases... so here is one of them. I haven't decided where to hang the other yet! This one is a 30x20 and is hung above our living room couch.

Once we paint (snerk), I will place it more to the left and flank it with some framed black and whites on the right side. The following is to show the "wrap" better:

I can't take anything but partial credit for this design. The original concept comes from Wordle, and Lindsay Stradtner (a blogging photographer that I adore) was kind enough to share a Photoshop template of it that she created! I simply filled in our own words, dropped our picture behind (and made it very faint), moved some of the words around a touch and voila!

The gallery-wraps come ready to hang on your wall, and beautifully finished all the way around! I am in love!!! If any past or present clients are interested, there is a 20% off sale going on RIGHT NOW - so get your orders in if you want them!!!

While I was hanging and photographing this, the girls were being awfully quiet. I tiptoed over to the playroom and saw yet another tea party going on! They have been making each other "food" daily, and just have the best time cooking it up and eating it together!

My sweet Beeler Girls! If only there were more of these moments in the day-to-day. But, no one ever said parenting was easy - we've just got to roll with the punches!!!

One last time...

All that charting, and temperature taking, and alkaline dieting, and... (etc, etc, etc) gave us the result we were waiting for!

Yowza!  Looking at that little statement there just sends my heart into overdrive!  We are very excited to be welcoming our new addition to the Beeler family in July 2010!

Funny thing about kids - they can have a crazy good memory sometimes!  When we learned we were expecting Paige, we took this family picture:

And Lauren has seen it scroll by on our screensaver occasionally over the last two and a half years.  So, when it came time to take another family picture of our positive test moment, this is what we got:

When Justin asked her why she wouldn't look at the camera she said, "I want to look at you, like I did the LAST time!"  I didn't even care to try again, I was just amazed at her crazy good memory!!!

In light of this "development", I have decided to hold off on combining my blogs to the business blog.  I don't think anyone looking to hire me for portraits will be interested in hearing the ramblings of a very crazy pregnant woman!  So, I will wait until baby #3 is here to make any major blog changes.

Oh my.  Crazy.  Pregnant.  I am just never really ready for those words!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  I have no pictures to share today - so if that is what you come here for, feel free to move on.  =)

2.  Yes, I drove all the way to Vegas last week with two kids and a dog - and I forgot my camera.  Hence #1.  Nice.

3.  I received my very first gallery wrapped canvases from my professional printer, and they are awesome!!!  Seriously amazing way to display your photos.  I will post pictures later - once I figure out where to hang them exactly!

4.  Yesterday I was full of emotion for McMama.   She is a mom/photographer that I have been following for a while, and she had a day full of extreme ups and downs with her one year old son in heart surgery.  I can't even imagine.  Even now it brings tears to my eyes.  It certainly put things in perspective for me.  Especially a big fat reminder to not sweat the small stuff - and most everthing really is small stuff!

5.  So when Lauren didn't quite make it to being up on the toilet to pee (for the first time in like, a YEAR), I managed to not freak out.  Why bother?  I was actually proud of her, because by the time I knew this had happened she had managed to wipe up the mess in the bathroom and change her clothes!

6.  It kind of bothers me that I can't go to the store like a normal person anymore!  All this coupon-ing has made it impossible.  While in Vegas I ran to Walgreens to get Paige some things for the constipation she was having... and I didn't like it at all.  I just kept thinking about the coupons I had sitting at home that I could use.  Such a freak!  LOL!

7.  Trying to decide on a theme for a two year old's birthday party is obnoxious.  I have thought we were settled on something three times, and then... not so much.  I almost wish she could just pick one!  This delay makes it hard to get invitations done!

8.  I refuse to believe it is November.  It is much, much too warm to be November!  I want to wear sweaters, not shorts!!!  Plus, I am dying to dress the girls in ALL their cute fall clothes!

9.  My husband is awesome - as always!  I was whining a little last week because I felt like all this coupon shopping was inhibiting my creative cooking skills.  You can't make dishes you've cut out of Cooking Light this month with only things you find sales on.  He just told me that it is part of who I am, and I should allow myself to still do the new fun cooking things - maybe just less often.  Really, he is so supportive of me and what I like to do -- I am just too lucky to have him!  So now I will choose one recipe a week to make, no matter what the ingredients are!  Yay!  Maybe I will showcase some on here, if they come out good!

10.  I have lots of business stuff to do this week, deliveries and such - and I just love it!!!  When you are energized by what you do instead of wiped out, you know you are on the right track.  Now I am just hoping to keep the momentum over the next several years!  Ha!

Have a great Tuesday!

Trick or Treat

On Halloween night, we went over to Colleen's (along with the Swopes and several others) for dinner and Trick-or-Treating.  It was a blast!  So nice to let the kids have their fun, meanwhile we can hang out with other adults and have our fun too!  =)  Thanks again, Howells!!!

The girls all ready to go!

The sought-after "Ariel with an actual tail" costume that Lauren picked out... turned out to be lame in my opinion.  But she loved it and that is all that matters!

Any guesses on what Paige was?

What?  The orange velveteen and polka dots don't give it away?  You mean it isn't obvious?!?

I laughed many times this night as people would ask, "And what are you?"

I wanted to answer, "She's not even two, she's not going to answer you!"  But I didn't.

They could clearly see the answer as we walked away...

At the party, we all tried to get a group picture of the kids.  Not sure why we even attempted this, but my shots we especially bad since I forgot my flash!  I tend to forget the new camera doesn't have a built in one!

So here they are...

Blurry and laughing and looking at each other.  I love it, actually!

Ready to see a spooooooky Halloween ghost?!?

She scared me, that's for sure!

I just loved this random shot of Porter trying to blow out Colleen's ambiance!

Then we were off!  And quite the spectacle we were traipsing down the streets!

The girls patiently waiting for someone to come to the door.

Don't they look excited?

I wanted to put a sign on Lauren that said "I'm just here for the candy."  LOL!

Paige was pretty sure this was the best thing ever!  All she had to do was hold out her bag and people just GAVE her treats.  Amazing!

It was a fun time for all - even Colleen who can be seen here pushing Tyler toward the candy.

Bwahahahahahaha!

It was Halloween.  I am allowed to be a little evil.

=)

Pumpkin carving

I am playing catch up now -- I got really behind on pictures!

More of Halloween night to be posted this evening.

Just a few shots from our pumpkin carving session Halloween morning.  We don't carve our pumpkins much earlier than that because they just get all shriveled up by the big day otherwise!

Lauren made much less of a face about cleaning out the pumpkin this year.  Notice I didn't say no face.  But after a few handfuls she was off to wash her hands!

Paige was pretty content to sit and color on her tiny pumpkin with a marker.

And when it was her turn to help clean - she was less than excited about it.

One handful and she was done.  Hey, at least we completed a rite-of-passage!

Next came the drawing and carving... and Lauren was all about that!

 

However, she was not all about acting normal for the camera when it came time to show off the pumpkins!

No kidding, I took twenty pictures - and this really was the very best one!  Sad.

I also picked up my first Bountiful Baskets produce on Halloween morning.  Here is my haul:

It is a ton of stuff for $20, but I feel like a lot of it won't get eaten with how this week has been and then Justin being gone for five days.  Not sure if I was thinking far enough ahead with this purchase!

Did I not mention that?  My hubby is off on an adventure with Brad, deer hunting in Indiana!  Hopefully he will get one, the poor guy has been "skunked", as he likes to call it - for the last three years!

ANYway... one of the things in my basket was this odd looking fruit.  Actually, a whole paper bag of them.

I took them out and said to Justin, "Now what on earth do you think these are?!?"

I Googled it, and apparently they are a Mexican fruit similar to Guava.

I opened one up and tasted it... bland.  Bad texture.  Boring.

Anyone have any idea what I could do with them?

You know, besides fruit someone's house or feed birds.

Ten on Thursday

1.  I should really be working on my very long to-do list right now, but I feel bad that I haven't blogged in a while!

2.  When exactly does our skin go from fresh and beautiful to dry and blah?  I love the purity of young skin - so I inherently love this:

Aunt Tamara coined the term nakey-bean, which we use in this house a.lot.  -- my girls love their nakey-ness!

3.  Albertsons is having an awesome deal on some meat items this week!  Pork spareribs are buy one pack get TWO free, and whole chickens are $0.49/pound!  I bought the three ribs and four chickens for $21.88 - meat that was originally priced at $71.08!  Now I just have to learn how to cook spareribs!  LOL!

4.  Justin told me the other day that he doesn't think we got pregnant this month because I seem a little... crabby.  I love that he can tell me these things, and I am still laughing about it two days later!  I have to say I disagree with his guess... but only time will tell.  ;o)

5.  The pesto pull apart bread from Super Target is amazing!  Yum-O!  You can try it for less than $1 if you use the printable coupon here for $1 off $1 or more Archer farms bakery purchase.  Their bakery does a great job overall - and SO inexpensive!!!

6.  I feel like coupon-ing is making be a bit of a freak.  I think about everything in terms of deal these days - and I am not alone!  Jaclyn said the same thing on her blog.  Whew!

7.  If you follow my business at all and want holiday pictures done, e-mail me soon!!!  We only have a little time left to get those final photo shoots squeezed in!

8.  I am trying bountiful baskets for the first time this week!  I can't wait to see all the yummy produce they have in store for me.  Don't worry, I am sure I will post about it.  Eventually...

9.  I am loving our "cold snap"!  I love when my feet and hands are chilly, and I can wear a sweater again!  I loooooove a cozy chunky sweater!!!

10.  If, perchance my husband is right (see #4), I am considering doing another Isagenix 9-day program to try to shed a few more pounds and get my sugar cravings under control.  Anyone feel like going through eleven days of torture with me?  C'mon, you know you WANNA!

Adorable

Ready...

Set...

Oof.

Wheeee... wait, where did they all go?

Oh, there they are.  =)

The drive was totally worth it.

Yes you are, sweet girl.

Happy fall to me!!!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  I thought today was L's last day of ballet (for this session), but it's not until next week.  That was a pleasant surprise, but it makes me think I need to get my head screwed on straight.  I have been wrong on too many things with this one ballet class!

2.  Couponing is going really well for me!  Yesterday I bought two boxes of tissue, two of J's deodorant, two cans of black olives, and three CD mailers for 76 cents at Walgreens.  If that isn't motivation to keep me going, I don't know what would be!

3.  The coveted "Ariel with a tail" costume finally arrived!  *phew*  However, the tail is behind her legs instead of in front, how goofy is that?  You can hardly even see it!  But, Lauren is just happy she has a tail - so it works for me!

4.  Per Tamara's recommendation, we have started a "merit jar" for Lauren in lieu of an allowance for now.  She seemed to understand it when I explained it to her, but you never really know.  We'll see how it goes!!!

5.  I am reading this book for my women's bible study on Thursdays, and I think it rocks!  Totally recommend it if you feel like your efforts in life just aren't ever enough!  And who can say they never feel that way?  I think we all do!

6.  I am dying to paint this house!  I wish I could really personalize it and make it colorful - but I know that neutral tones make a lot more sense when you don't expect to own a home for very long.  But anything other than white will be a huge improvement!!!

7.  How do people paint when they have kids?  Seriously!  I have visions of knocked over paint cans and little fingerprints about two to three feet high all around the room.

8.  God is really working to get all the fear out of my life - particularly when it comes to my kids.  You know, fear that they will be this, or WON'T be that, or have this, or whatever.  I could give you a long list.  But I won't.  Because I am not allowing those thoughts anymore.  God does not give us a spirit of fear.  Period.  It is a process, but I am feeling the challenge is worth it.  It is a change that will clear my mind!

9.  Why is it "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"?!?  Shouldn't it be Dwarves?  Spell-checker says no. How could I have gone my whole life thinking the plural of Dwarf is Dwarves?  Because the English language makes no sense, that's why.

10.  Hell's Kitchen finale made me so happy!  I think Dave had the most potential.  Ramsay doesn't need someone who thinks they have no room for improvement.  He wants to mold someone who is good but willing to improve, and Dave was that person.  While he sounded like a pot-head when he spoke, I liked him from the beginning -- plus, he almost never got yelled at.  And that, in itself is an amazing feat in HK!

Off to work up my grocery list!  Good grief that things takes five times as long these days!!!  Happy Tuesday!

Is it fall yet?

In an effort to get a little fall-ish weather out of our October, we headed up to Oak Creek Canyon on Saturday to walk West Fork and see all the beautiful leaves.  The only problem was many, MANY other people had the same idea that day.  We got a late start and by the time we arrived at the parking lot it was packed with cars lining 89A for parking into the canyon.  We decided we weren't into walking with the crowds and kept on driving up to Flagstaff.  We stopped off at the top of the canyon and did a little hike through the woods for good measure.  This was Paige's first trip in the Kelty backpack, and Justin remembered quickly why we try not to take that thing anywhere.  =)

After our walk we went to the park in Flag for a while, where Paige discovered hanging from bars like a monkey.  She thought this was the best - meanwhile, I stood by in amazement because Lauren only started doing this (without support) about six months ago.  Paige just wants to be a big girl too!

After a while at the park and a quick trip into Peace Surplus, we went and walked around NAU campus and saw the inside of the new Union.  Oh, how I love campus in the fall!  "It makes me want to buy school supplies."  It was beautiful - just what I needed to get my dose of pretty leaves and cooler temperatures!  We found a fabulous area for playing in the leaves:

I even got in on the action!

Lauren was in heaven!  She even let Daddy bury her.

If you are wondering where Paige was during all this fall fun...

Oh well, there is always next year!

I think Lauren was enjoying her moment as an only child.

But Paige did cop a bit of an attitude when we started walking again and she woke up.

That girl just cracks me up!

Because I loved our leaf time so much, I will post another dose of fall sometime this week!