Whew!!!

I'm pooped!!! Actually we're both really pooped....or maybe more exhausted....and we haven't even moved in yet! We closed on Friday and started working on the house as soon as we got the keys. We came back and started painting the living room. Pat picked up Lillian after work (which we're so thankful for....no way we would have been able to finish with her running around!) While we were waiting for the paint in the living room to dry we started painting the dining room. It's a dark teal and it was a little shocking at first, but I really like it (need to take pics today of it) Yesterday we spent the day sanding the floor in the living room. We now know why the professionals charge so much to do it......it's A LOT of work. But we saved so much doing it ourselves. It looks like the last time it was done they cut some corners and were a little sloppy with their work. They used a circular sander around the edges of the wall and left some circular marks in the floors. I did my best to remove what I could, but I guess in the end it adds character to the house! So, how about some pics?!

This is our lovely 1970's kitchen....wallpaper and all! We have a lot of longterm goals for this room which include ripping out the the wall of cabinets and moving in the wall on the right. The wall with the sink and fridge will turn into a half wall to open it up to the living room. Since it will be a couple of years until we're able to tackle this, we're going to work on some short term goals. First thing to go is the wallpaper and some of the drywall which is damaged. We're also going to put some of that peel and stick laminate flooring down that looks like tile since the flooring on it now is damaged. We're going to paint the fridge black to go with our new stove. I'm sure once we're done with the short term stuff it will look like a completely different room.....which is certainly a good thing!!

Need a 30 year old stove?

The lovely wallpaper with glitter on it.....seriously......how could this have ever been in style?!

Living Room Before

Living Room After Paint and sanding....Dan also put in new light fixtures and the base and top of the stairs.

Living Room Before.....the main reason we decided to sand the floors!

After sanding. We're staining today......a dark walnut color!

The nice and wide staircase!

Living Room Before

After

Anyways, it's going to be a long week and we're going to be really tired.....but in the end it'll so be worth it. Besides the kitchen stuff that we'll be doing a few weeks our only other major task this year is going to be repainting the outside of the house. We have to completely scrape the entire house. We'll be starting late August so we'll have a little time to relax.....but not too much time. We knew it was going to be a lot of work when we bought it, but it's ours and we can make it our own!!

The day before....

So it's finally here. Tomorrow is the day where I'll finally feel like a full fledged adult.....silly I know! Renting really sucks. You spend all of this money and in the end you have nothing to show for it. Up until this point, buying our own home was the last piece of the puzzle for me. My family will finally have some roots to plant. Tomorrow is going to be such a whirlwind of a day for us and I'm sure in the process I'll probably shed some tears because of shear joy......and then later on from shear exhaustion! Over the next week we have a long list of things to tackle before the final move which includes.....

Paint Living and Dining Room
Paint Bathroom
Sand, Stain and Seal Wood floors
Install Kitchen Sink Faucet
Install Shower Fixture
Clean Attic
Prep Kitchen and half bath for new floor
Clean up yard

The next few years will be devoted to remodeling the house. We'd like to do the upstairs bathroom later this year and I'm really excited. Next year we're probably going to replace the windows since they're the original ones that came with the house which of course means that they're single pane......not exactly energy efficient!! The biggest task will be the kitchen. We plan on knocking down a few walls and completely opening up the downstairs.

So.....when I get back here this weekend I'll be sure to take some before pictures.....including the beautiful wallpaper in the kitchen.....gotta love that 70's wallpaper that has glitter in it!!!

This....

Pretty much sums up how we're all feeling here in Bombria land! We're pooped and we're ready for this week to be over with! Lillian has a slight touch of a cold and I'm trying to stay on top of it because I don't want to make another trip to the hospital (knock on wood!) As of right now, our closing is scheduled for Friday at 11 am......it was pushed back a day. What does this mean for us.........a longgggggg Friday night filled with painting 2 rooms that need to be sanded the next day!!! We have to paint the dining room and the family room in one night. I know we'll be able to do, it's just going to be a long day/night!!! We're going to spend the night at the house and put Lillian on the twin bed and me and Dan will sleep on the blow up. Anyways, I just thought that I'd update the blog since it's been awhile!

Maine 2008

We're Back.....

and we're tired!!!! It was a long and great week and we certainly loved getting away from everything. The weather wasn't the greatest, but it could have been a lot worse. It rained almost every evening, but for the most part it stayed dry during the day. Lillian did okay.......just

okay.....not great, not horrible.......just okay! It was most certainly a learning experience and something we won't be doing when we have another 2 year old. It goes to show how important a daily routine is to a two year old. Change things up a bit and they just don't know what to do with themselves!!! Don't get me wrong, I loved our vacation. But I want her to love it as well and I'm not sure that she did. She did love the beach though......so much so that she didn't want to leave. She's back to the "normal" Lillian that I know and love now that we're home and I'm happy to report that she slept in her own bed last night. You would think that sleeping in a king size bed would be more than enough room......well not when you sleep with Lilly! Anyways, I'll be editing pics and putting all of them in a slideshow that I'll probably finish up on Monday or Tuesday so in the meantime here are a few from our week.....
First time in the ocean!

A field of Lupine's on the street that our cabin was on

This was the view from our cabin

And this was the view from a rock that I was sitting on while I waited for Dan and Lillian to return from their little adventure on the carriage roads.

Well, we've got a busy week ahead here in Vermont since we're closing on the 20th.....time is just flying by!!

The Countdown Begins

2 Year Check-up

My little girl isn't so little anymore! She's still in the 90th percentile for height at 35 1/2 inches tall and she's average weight at 27.5 lbs. She didn't receive any immunizations today but did have some blood drawn which she was not happy about and screamed bloody murder!!! We stopped at the grocery store to get her a donut for being such a good girl. Dr. Orton is happy with her progress and even said that we can get her a tricycle which I'm excited about and we'll probably get her that for her birthday!

Today we're packing for our vacation. So, so, so happy to get away from here and the stress of everything going on. We're leaving at 2 am Saturday morning in hopes that Lillian will sleep for a good portion of the trip. It takes around 8 hours to get there so we'll probably stop for breakfast along the way and then pick up our groceries for the cabin before our check-in time at 1. After we get there we're planning on getting our weekly car pass for Acadia National Park and do the loop around the whole park. We'll be making our own breakfast and lunch for each day and eating out for dinner and ice cream each night! With gas at the current prices, we're pretty much planning on staying on the island......not that we ever really need to go off of the island! We're going to go biking a couple of days, hike a mountain ( a small mountain.....I'm REALLY out of shape.....and I have asthma!!!) I'm not too sure what the plan is with Lillian and her naps. She'll probably only sleep in the car so we'll see what happens. She slept in bed with us the other night so I'm sure everything will be fine in the king size. Anyways, we'll come back from our trip refreshed and hopefully with some great photos to share!!!

Couple more days.....

until we head off for Maine. I'm so excited to get away from everything, especially our next door neighbors! They are so loud and so rude that it's really stressing me out. They've woken up Lillian a couple of times in the middle of the night this past week because they're playing their surround sound way too loud. A whole week of peace and quite.....CAN'T WAIT!!!! And then when we get back we'll be closing in 12 days!!!! It's still hard to believe that it's finally happening, probably because we're so ready for it to happen.

Anyways, I've been knitting again. I always start a project and never finish. I went to Greenwich this past weekend to buy some good yarn but then when I nearly finished the hat I realized that I had misplaced some of my double point needles to finish it off. So yesterday we went to Manchester and they had such an amazing selection of yarns. She said that they have knitting groups each month so I'm thinking that once things settle down after the move that I'll start going. So here's a pic of Lilly in the finished product....
And then just a sweet one of her with her sweet little smile!!

A photo tells a story....

and for me, it opened my eyes. Last night, I sat down at my desk and put a memory card in my camera and uploaded the photos from my niece Marianna's baptism in which me and Dan were the godparents. I started going through the images and there it was, in plain sight, a picture of me. I wanted to cry, but I didn't. Actually now thinking about it is bringing tears to my eyes! Basically, I look like crap and that's putting it nicely!!! How did I let myself get to this point?! I'm sure being a SAHM has played some role in it, but it certainly isn't an excuse. I was active in high school and stayed relatively thin......too think that I thought a size 6 meant that I was fat makes me cringe now!! I stayed pretty thin until I got an office job and then it all went down hill from then. And then I got pregnant. I lost 38 pounds throughout most of the pregnancy but gained 10 of it back the week before Lillian was born because of my blood pressure. And now here I am. I hate the way I look and I just can't do this anymore. I want to be proud of what I see in the mirror. And most importantly I want to be around to watch my daughter grow up, and if I stay the way I am I may not have that opportunity. Plus I want to have another child, and it certainly isn't a safe decision to make at this weight. So, you may be asking, what are you going to do to change your current situation.

Well.....at this point, I have a lot of stress, although there's really nothing to be stressed about. But for me, buying our first home and not knowing what to expect is very stressful on me. I go to bed with Dan now around 10 p.m. and get up with Lillian around 7:30, which is certainly more than enough sleep, but I still don't feel rested even though I'm not waking up throughout the night. So, I've decided that the first night that we spend in the house, is the day that I start changing my life. For me I know the biggest thing missing is the activity factor. We'll be living across the street from a great park and I plan on taking full advantage of it. And I also plan on getting Dan in on the action too because we both need a good kick in the butt. I'm just ready to look in the mirror again and be happy with my reflection. Anyways, I knew that if I spoke outloud, that I'd have to hold myself accountable.......so we'll see how this summer goes!!!!

Scrapping....

isn't something that I have a lot of time for anymore! I'm only on one creative team thankfully and it's been hard enough just meeting my minimums, so I've been trying to do a little better....even with all that's going on this month!


Dan brought down the large boxes from the attic last night and I'm going to start going through them today. I know that I need to get rid of a lot of clothing, stuff that I simply don't fit into anymore. Even if I did lose enough weight to fit back into them I'd still want to get new stuff. I'm hoping to lose a lot of weight when we move into the house. I can't wait till we can enjoy being in our own lawn and having a great park right across the street. Me and Lilly are going to wait to start going to the playgroups at the library until we move.....too much going on right now! Anyways, we'll be spending this beautiful day indoors throwing stuff out and putting stuff together for our first yard sale!!!!

She makes me laugh....

and she really makes my day!! Lillian has been walking up and down the stairs by herself for the past couple of months. Everything upstairs is just as safe downstairs so she's able to roam freely and play where she likes. So this morning we came downstairs as usual and she got her morning milk and watched a little Noggin. I decided to start the laundry a little earlier than normal (yes I am the worst when it comes to laundry as Dan likes to point out!) and Lilly decided she wanted to go upstairs. Typically she'll turn on her radio and dance or turn on the water in the bathroom sink and brush her teeth. Welllllll.......she was being REALLY quite and that can only mean one thing......she got into something. So I walk upstairs and she's in our bedroom......and her head is COMPLETELY COVERED with Dan's hair gel!!!! I just started laughing hysterically and couldn't help but grab the camera........

answered prayers

Well, the big man up above was listening to our prayers!! We finally got word back from the bank today and they took a closer look at the flood zone and verified that the house isn't in the flood zone! To say that this has been weighing heavily on our minds the last couple of days would be an understatement. The thought of having to pay that much a year in insurance was doable, but certainly not something that we were looking forward too. I'm really glad that I didn't cancel our vacation......and that we questioned where the flood zone actually was....could you imagine if we didn't! So now the countdown begins....34 days until we close.....WOOHOO!!!!

Life wouldn't be the same....

without a little bit of drama!! On Tuesday I received an email from the bank.....about something that we didn't want to hear. The appraisal said that the house was in a flood zone. Keep in mind that we were told that the current owner doesn't have flood insurance and that there was paperwork stating that the house wasn't. To make matters worse, we were extremely nervous about the septic inspection. I didn't really sleep Tuesday night and I was a wreck all the way to the inspection. Luck was on our side though. The septic is in great condition and it's been pumped so at least we don't have to worry about it for 4-5 years! We also had the opportunity to meet the seller. You can tell that he really loves the house and is sad to see it go. He lives out on Cape Cod and his daughter just finished her first year of college so he needs the money for that reason. So last night I received a call from our attorney. He received paperwork from 2005 from a private survey that was done on the house that it isn't in a flood zone. The paperwork that the bank uses to determine in the flood zone isn't done on each individual property and it hasn't been updated in quite some time. The backyard is in the flood zone, but the house isn't. We were told by the homeowner that the people that had lived in the house previously were in the house from 1940-2005 and that the house had water in the basement once when the old bridge that spanned the river caused the ice to jam and the water flowed down the street. Since then, the bridge was raised and replaced and the house has never flooded. These are the type's of things that we want to hear. Obviously, with it being on the river, it's always a possibility. But we're hopeful that the bank will accept this paperwork and we won't need the flood insurance. Either way we still want the house, no matter what.

In other news, we decided to go on our vacation. When we received word from the bank about the flood insurance, my first instinct was to cancel. But.....we both need a break. We haven't been on a vacation since our honeymoon and we really want to take Lillian to Maine. We weren't planning on spending a lot of money when we first booked anyways, so we'll just stick to that plan. We don't need to bring back a bunch of crap with us, just a lot of great memories, and those tend to be free! We're going to make our own breakfast and lunch each day and eat out for dinner.....probably pizza a couple of nights at our favorite pizza place on the whole entire earth....Rosalie's......yum!

Anyways, I'm going to think positive about this whole flood insurance deal......what will be, will be!!!

Don't be like mommy....

when it comes to what she eats! I'm the worst, really I am! I hardly eat any green veggies and I tend to stick to what I know and don't venture off very often. Heck, I only started eating mashed potatoes in the past few years. Corn on the cob is one of my favorites and I could eat it all day long. Lilly's never had it on the cob before so we thought we'd give it a try.....
She really seemed to enjoy it and kept making silly faces as Dan wiped her face. Today we're going to spend time packing the upstairs. Then when Dan gets home I'm going to have him take some of the boxes out of the attic that still have stuff in them downstairs so I can start going through those this week. We could use some positive vibes for tomorrow.....Dan's a bit nervous. We're having the septic inspected and pumped. We're hoping that all is well and that nothing has to be replaced. After that we'll be all set to go!!!

Step back in time!

It's hard to believe that Lillian is going to be 2 in a few weeks!! Time has flown by way too quickly and it still seems like it was just yesterday when we were taking her home from the NICU. She really is such an amazing little girl. Since I haven't taken any pics of her this week (bad mommy!) I thought I'd post this old video......I still crack up everytime I see it.....she's just so darn cute....

It's

official now.....he signed the papers!!!

Well....

unofficially, we're soon to be homeowners! I'm so excited I can't talk.....literally!!! I lost my voice early this morning because of a cold that I have and it's slowly starting to come back. Anyways....long story short we started looking at houses earlier this week. And when I say houses, I mean we only actually walked through two and peeked through the windows of one! So we went to the one that we're buying first. I've been looking at this house for awhile and thought that it was cute and what not. So we walk in and it has this beautiful staircase, wide wood floors and a lot of charm. It has a great backyard that has river frontage on the Battenkill and it's just outside of town, but basically still in town at the same time! So then we go look at the other house. Although it's cheaper and it's been updated, it didn't have the charm that I was looking for. For me, I like it when you walk into a house and you know that the house has so many stories to tell. Basically, I like really old homes!

So fast forward to yesterday, a lot of phone calls and further straining on my voice ends with a call from our realtor that the seller approved our bid. I dropped off the contract today and we're just waiting for the official signing of the papers on his side so we can go ahead and get the inspection done.

I'm not going to sugar-coat the house......it needs work! The kitchen needs to be completely gutted and walls torn down to open it up to the backyard. Both bathrooms need to be done as well. We're also going to sand and re-stain all of the hardwood throughout the house. But, I like the thought of making it our own which is why I probably didn't like the second house. The kitchen and bathrooms are totally liveable now, just not very appealing to the eye. I kind of like the thought that we're restoring the house........kinda like that tv show This Old House!!! Anyways, if you can't tell, I'm happy........we found a great house with lots of potential in a great village with a great school......and a great park right across the street......and outlet shopping 10 miles away.......and a great fly-fishing river in our backyard...........what more could a girl ask for?!!! So here's a couple of pics (not mine!).....

Front of house.....we plan on re-painting the whole house and garage eventually.

Love the staircase and built-in bookcase......charming I tell ya!!

This is the view of the back of the house from the river. The back of the house has upper and lower screened in porch.....and the upper one off of the master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling.....love it!!

Still yucky....

here and yet another not so nice day to go look at houses! We're going to another house today and back to the one that we liked from yesterday. If we don't like the new house today, it's likely that we "might" be putting in an offer on the one on the river. Even though it's a hard thing to do, I've detached myself from the house. I don't want to get my heart set on it and then lose it. It's a really cute house and although it needs some work, I really think that it has a lot of potential and I know that we could make it ours with a little elbow grease. This area certainly isn't cheap, but it's worth it! Anyways, send positive vibes for the whole house thing.....whichever route we go!

Check out...

my photography blog here for some new photos! I also have a new section up on my photography site with some more photos! It's a rainy and yucky day here today.....not the greatest day to go look at houses!!! Hopefully the rain will taper off later and we won't need to bring our umbrella's. I'm just really excited to get the process started......and hopefully finished!!

Making good of the bad.....

I hate today's date, really I do! Sixteen years ago today my mom passed away. It's hard to fathom that she's been gone for more than half my life! I try to make it just like any other day and not focus on the fact that she's not here, but the fact that she was here, even if just for a short while. Me and Lillian went to the bookstore today and to the park. I wanted to pick up a book on potty training and Lillian got a Cookie Monster hand puppet (although I rather enjoy it myself as well!) We then went to our favorite lunch spot, Zoey's, and got a turkey on rye to take with us to the park. We always have a good time at the park and I'm looking forward to finally owning our own home because I won't feel the need to take her to the park each time we go outside!! I think that my mom would have been a great grandma and I do get sad that the fact that she's not here to see Lilly and Marianna......after all, they are two of the cutest little girls around!! Anyways, I think I'm going to finally put Lillian down for her nap and do a little reading......and maybe a little crying.....and then a little nap for myself!!!

I despise....

disrespectful people! I despise selfish people. I despise people who think that it's okay to play their music at levels which makes the place you're living in shake! I'm the type of person that thinks about other people before myself. Sometimes I know that I really need to think about myself more, but it's just who I am. So say, for instance, I wanted to listen to some music. Is it fun to have your music turned up a little louder.....sure! Is it fun to sing along with your music and not be able to hear your own voice.....sure! Is it respectful to play your music or your surround sound at levels which is disrespectful to your neighbors......HELL NO!!! This my friends, is one of the main reason's we're getting the heck out of here! We knew this was going to be short term....we just wanted to make sure that Dan was happy with his job before buying a home. Would we be in as much of a rush to get out if we didn't have this noise problem.....probably not but we know nothing is going to change. We're not going to rush it as in make a bad decision and just buy a house to get out of here. We'll make sure that it's the right home for us and that we're happy. I just wish that people could have a little more respect.....and seriously......is it too much to ask! I feel like an old person (turning 29 this year.....for the first time!) but I'm seriously over renting!! Anyways, that's my rant for the day.....we're all allowed one every now and then aren't we?!

Think Positive!

So I'm a firm believer in positive thinking! I know that when I think positive, good things tend to happen and when I think negative....well you get the picture!! So keeping that in mind, I'm going to start the packing process! I have to go through Lillian's clothes and get all of the stuff that she doesn't fit into anymore into boxes. So while I'm at it, I figured I might as well get a head start! I HATE PACKING!!!! So I think that packing a little each week, even though we don't even have a house yet is a good thing. It lets me know that WE WILL have our own home soon. I'm hoping that getting a head start now will help me out in the end. The attic is full o' crap and it really needs to be organized and some stuff thrown out. We'll hopefully be checking out some houses this week so we shall see. Anyways, here's a pic of Lillian at the park on Friday. Lilly has been really good for the most part when I ask her to stop something, the funny part is her reaction. When Lilly misbehaves I always slightly raise my voice and say "Lillian Grace stop".........this is her reaction......


Anyways, if you could send some positive vibes to my sister and niece tomorrow I'd appreciate it. Betsy has to go back to work and while I don't know how it feels, I imagine that tomorrow won't be an easy day for either of them.

YAY!!!!

We're on the path.......the path to home ownership!! I can't even begin to tell everyone how excited I am!!! I think that the rest of the sentences in this paragraph is just going to be a bunch of exclamation points! Anyways, we got our pre-approval rate today and lets just say that I'm happy. We've gone through this process once before when we were in Buffalo. We had the perfect house, put a bid in and it was accepted. Then we found out it had a contingency bid. Let me tell you, I was crushed!!! But, everything happens for a reason. I LOVE where we are now. It's such a beautiful area and I wouldn't trade it for the world. We've decided to focus on homes within the Arlington School District. Arlington was recently ranked in the top 8% of schools in the country which I happen to think is pretty good, particularly because it's such a small school. I like the thought of my children knowing everyone in their grade, compared to me who didn't even know half the people that walked across the stage at my graduation! So although we haven't even walked through a single house yet, I have this huge smile on my face because it feels like we'll FINALLY be real adults!!!

In other news, me and Lillian went to the park in Arlington yesterday so here's a storyboard of our day.....

For Dan....

Dan always asks me "why didn't you post that photo of me and Lilly together?" So tonight I thought I'd actually post some!

We actually need to take some family portraits, but I'd like to wait until things start to get a little warmer. Plus I'm hoping we'll be able to take some on our vacation to Maine. I'm so looking forward to our time together. I've been going back and forth on whether or not to get one of those things that they have for kids that look like a back pack with basically a leash coming out of the back. I'm just really worried about her falling off a cliff or something! We'll probably carry her in the backpack thing most of the time, but I do want her to be able to run around and what not and actually enjoy herself. One moment I'm about to buy it and the next moment I change my mind. I don't know what to do! Anyways, wish me luck tomorrow. I have to call the NY department of taxes tomorrow and I'm hoping they won't be rude.......I hate rude people! Here's another photo of Lilly on the tracks.....I used a texture on this one to give it a vintage feel!

Spring is here....

We found these flowers underneath some leaves that we raked away yesterday. I just love spring don't you?!

So, lots going on here this week. I have lots of things to cross of my never ending to-do list. One thing that I wanted to mention is that if you're from my area and know of a junior in Southern Vermont (not doing NY just yet.....will be soon!) who needs some senior portraits, be sure to shoot me an email at carrie@carrieannphotography.com! I have a senior representative program that I'll be starting shortly and I'll be sending notices to the local schools. Each representative will receive special perks which may include cash incentives for every 3 referrels sent my way as well as print discounts. It's a pretty cool gig if you ask me!!! And if you're ready for a fresh new perspective on senior portraits, I'm the chick you need to call!!! Anyways, time to get back to my list!!

Day at the park

This weekend was a pretty lazy weekend which was nice!  Today we went to the park and broke in Lillian's wagon which she thoroughly enjoyed!  We took the loop around and then finished off at the playground.  She was having a lot of fun laughing at the other kids and running around....

Fresh Air

Me and Lilly decided that we needed to get outside today so we did!!! We did a little bit of yard work and moved the rest of the leaves and we also went to the park. There is a large pond/lake down the street from us where they held the Penguin Plunge so I thought that we'd go there and maybe get some shots along the pond. Well the land along the pond wasn't as flat as I remembered it to be so we really didn't hang out there too long. We did manage to get some shots along the train tracks.....and then when I went back towards the lake to try and get some more shots I tried to take the keys away from Lillian and she began to cry.....
We'll probably do some more yardwork tomorrow if the weather is okay. Then on Saturday I'm getting all of my hair chopped off.......yeah (hopefully!)

Well......

here's a story and a half for ya!  We've had quite the weekend here and I'll be really happy once the week is over and hopefully going better!  Last week when we returned home from Syracuse, me and Lillian caught a cold.  Nothing major, just some sniffles.  Lilly blows her own nose and all and actually enjoys the nose aspirator (strange I know) so everything was fine and dandy.  She was waking up in the middle of the night because of her runny nose, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle.  Roll around to Saturday morning.  Me and Lilly are by ourselves because Dan was spending the weekend at Stratton Mountain skiing with a bunch of friends.  Around 6:30 in the morning, Lillian wakes me up by standing on top of me because she couldn't breathe.  The poor thing just kept looking back and forth and getting on and off of the bed because she just didn't know what to do.  So shortly after I called my AMAZING mother-in-law because I was just freaked out.  We headed to the ER and were brought in right away......so strange being the ONLY patients in there!!!  They gave her some misty stuff (don't remember what it was called at the moment) that I held up to her mouth to help her breathing.  She took two doses of that and then they gave her some steroid stuff.  They ended up giving her some x-rays and a ct scan......the x-rays were by far the worst.  I'm still a little shocked that I didn't cry while they were doing it to her, but I guess maybe I was in mommy mode and I knew that I needed to be strong for her while I was holding up her little arms.  Guess crying now makes up for it!!!  Anyways, they sent us home at about 1:30 with no medication with a diagnosis of croup and just told me that I needed to make sure that she drank enough.  So when I called the Dr. this morning I told her that Lillian was still having a little bit of difficulty breathing still she told me to bring her in.  Dr. Orton said that her breathing was still too labored so she gave us some more steroids to give her over the next couple of days.  After two doses today, Lillian is already doing a lot better and hopefully things will get better here on out!

While what we went through is nothing major compared to what a lot of parents have to go through, Saturday was most certainly a day which made me value my family even more.  Seeing my child gasp for air is something I don't ever want to experience again.  Anyways, I don't want to cry anymore so I'm going to change the subject.  Thank you Pat for all of your help and for spending your Saturday morning with us!

In other news, I obviously haven't had much of a chance to edit with the both of us being sick!  Hope to get back into the swing of things tomorrow and finish everything up.  Hmmmmm.......what else?!  Oh, how about the fact that we're going to be getting a realtor shortly!  We're ready to move into a house of our own.......FINALLY!!!  I know a lot of people buy homes right when they move to a new location, but we didn't want to make a mistake.  I wanted to make sure that we were sending our kids to a good school and that Dan was happy with his job (he is btw) and that we liked the area.  Well I've settled on Arlington School District.  It's a small district, but it was recently ranked in the top 8% in the country which I'd like to think is a good sign!  So the search begins!  We're in no huge rush, just a medium rush......kinda over the whole renting thing (don't get me started!)  

Anyways, I think that's about it!  I should have some new pics to share tomorrow and hope to get a lot accomplished!

boo boo

Lilly has her first major boo boo :o(  

She tripped yesterday and went face first into one of her toys.  It hasn't turned black and blue thankfully.....just looks like she has a rug burn on her face!  She cried really hard for a few minutes and was back to her normal singing and dancing self afterwards.  We were planning on running to Saratoga today to run to the craft store, but silly me felt it was necessary to keep her home.  And what's even sillier is that I felt like a bad mother!  I thought that if I brought her out in public that people would think that I hit her or something.  So I'm over it now and we're going to head to Saratoga tomorrow!  The whole reason that we're going is because I received some prints yesterday and one of them was a storyboard that I printed for my sister.  I need to get some supplies for it so I can photograph it for my website and then send it her way.  I'm REALLY happy about the way that it turned out and I can't wait to make some more!!  Anyways, I need to get back to editing pics from this past weekend!

Free time

I finally have enough time to be able to scrap for the rest of the day today which is something that I haven't done in a long time.  I've been a one day scrapper lately!  I usually scrap 4-5 pages in one day because I know that if I don't get it done, it won't happen!!  Last week was a really busy one for me.  I have a few major things to still cross off of my check list, but they're things that don't really have a deadline so I can spread them out a little more.  I'm really looking forward to some warmer weather so I can start shooting outdoors.  Anyways, I need to scrap.......here's a storyboard of Lillian....

Easter

So I got Lillian dressed in her Easter dress that her Great-Grandma and Grandpa gave her so I could take some easter pics!  Well she wasn't in the mood!  And to top things off, I wasn't really in the mood either!  So this is the best pic of her in her dress....

Her hair has gotten a little crazy lately and I think it's time to just get it cut.....even if they have to cut some of the length off.  It's just all over the place and I can't stand how the sides look.  Anyways, I do have a couple more pics to share, but I'm not feeling so swell right now and I have some major cleaning to do.  My migraines have been back in recent months and whenever I get one it just completely wipes me out and all I want to do is sleep!

A new one....

So.....

Today had a plan but part of it will have to wait until tomorrow!  We headed to Staples this morning because I needed to print off some of my paperwork since my crappy Dell printer isn't compatible with the Mac.  So when I figured out how much it was going to to be to get all of the color copies that I needed it was going to be like $50.  Fifty bucks every now and then is one thing, but when I need to print up my contracts and what not, $50 each trip can add up.  So when I went there and saw the printer that I wanted, I figured it was time to just get it over with because it would end up paying for itself in the long run.  Today's plan was to get the copies and then come home and take Lillian's Easter pics, but since I really need to get some stuff printed, taking her pics will have to wait until tomorrow.  Anyways, here's the printer that I got....

It's the Epson 1400 and it prints bordless photos up to 13x9 and it even prints on CD's so I can make my own custom DVD's myself!  It's a beast of a machine at 24" wide.....takes up half of my desk!  All the more reason for us to buy a house so I can have my own office and have more space (I don't think I've mentioned that we started looking.)  Anyways, hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pics of Lilly!!

If you could see my face....

right now you'd see this big grin on my face!!  I'm a flickr girl.  It's the one thing that I check numerous times a day on the web.  For those that don't know, flickr is a community with millions upon millions of people that post their images to their online gallery.  There are groups that you can post your uploads too and gain tons of inspiration.  I just love it there and I just love looking at all of the images throughout the day.  Well......flickr has an explore page.  Basically it's the top 500 pics for that day.  A shot that you took 6 months ago can end up being on explore.....you just never know.  Well I started searching for my pics early last week and found nothing.  And now this week, two of my shots were in Explore.  I know it's a small thing for most, but for me it really meant a lot.  And isn't it strange that the first shot was of Betsy when she was pregnant and the next one of little Marianna?!  Now I just need to work on getting Lillian on Explore!!!  Anyways, that's my big boring news!!

Playing in the snow....

I'm just taking a break from some editing which has taken me a lot longer than planned because of new software I got for my computer this week to help me.  Anyways, this is just Lillian and Delaney sharing a piece of snow.  Lilly had such a fun time licking all of the snowballs!  I have a few more pics, but I'll edit those once I'm finished with the major stuff (almost done Corene and Betsy!)  Anyways, me and Lilly are off to the store to pick up a couple of things!

My sweetie

Isn't she the most beautiful little girl you've ever laid your eyes on?!  As soon as I brought this image up on my computer I said "finally"........I've finally been able to capture the color of her eyes!  They always look so dark whenever I shoot her, but she finally stayed still for me!  So this week will be a fun one for sure!  Gonna finish some editing, go see the accountant on Tuesday (talk about fun!) and work on my new contracts with my revised design.  I'm going to be working on some custom templates for cards and stuff so that I can offer them to my clients......may work on some digital scrapbooking stuff of my own as well so I can offer that service as well, but that of course is at the bottom of my list!  Anyways, I hope that everyone has a wonderful week!!!

Vote for me (only if you like my pic of course!!!)

I got picture of the day earlier this week at Pink Ink Studios!!!!  I've had picture of the day there before, but it's only been of "things" and not people........I was getting a bit worried that maybe I wasn't meant to photograph people!  But getting picture of the day for this picture

totally made my day and made me feel proud of myself for what I've achieved thus far.  They have a weekly contest for all of the pics of the day on their blog and the winner gets a gift certificate to the store, but since I NEVER win anything I won't get my hopes up!  Dan has the best luck when it comes to winning things.......guess he's just a lucky guy!!  Anyways, that totally made my week!  And if you get a chance to swing over to the blog here, be sure to vote, but vote for whoever you like the most!!!

In other BIG NEWS........DAN IS SICK!!!!!!!!!  I think that the earth stopped revolving because Dan never gets sick........but when he does......look out!!!  Talk about a big baby!!!  I think men are weenies when it comes to getting sick.  It's that yucky 24 hour stomach bug that everyone has......no fun let me tell you!  I'm back to normal and Lillian is about 95% at the moment.  All week Dan was telling me "drink orange juice and you won't get sick."  While I know that the vitamin C is good for you and all, I don't think that it had much of a chance helping block this nasty germ.  I was really hoping that he wouldn't get it, but oh well!!!  So all plans for the weekend have been cancelled.  I hope that everyone else has a better weekend than we will!!!!!

Ain't it the truth

Still working.....

and editing pics!  It's been a busy week for sure, but it's certainly a good type of busy which I'm happy about!  Lillian is feeling better and back to her usual self which includes going down for her naps and at bedtime.  I was so worried that it was going to take awhile to get her to go back to her own bed after sleeping with me for over a week in Syracuse!  It's an absolutely beautiful day outside here with a blanket of white covering everything and I'd like to get out this weekend and explore a little bit with Dan and Lillian if it sticks around.  Anyways, here's a couple more recent edits.....

And the reason I'm sure most are visiting......my freebie!  It's been awhile since I've shared something and I thought that I'd share my best-seller when I was selling at My Digital Muse....

If you choose to download, please be courteous and leave a comment......if you have time to download you have time to say thanks!  So here's the link here to pick it up!  Hope everyone's week is going well so far!!!

Lots of editing to do.....

this week!!  This week is going to an official start of my business for me!  I'm going to try and only be on the computer from 9-5 (I won't be on the whole time!) so that I have business hours for myself.  I know it'll be tough with a toddler running around, but I think that it's at least worth a try!  So this week I have lots of editing to do of my pics that I took while home in Syracuse.  The next couple of days may be a little rough around here though since Lillian is sick.  We both caught that stomach bug that's been going around and Friday night was REALLY rough for me......  I thought I was going to die for sure!  I've had this bug once before probably like 5 or so years ago, but it just hits you like a ton of bricks!  One moment you're fine and the next your bathroom becomes your living space for the next 24 hours!  And then to top that of, Betsy and Justin got it as well, but thankfully they're getting over it.  Lillian was doing pretty well up until we got home last night.  She was showing the signs of the bug besides the fever and vomiting, but you would never know that she was sick.  Last night, she wanted me to hold her and her little tummy was grumbling so loud it sounded like there was a monster in there.......she even got sick all over nana when she came over to visit!  Anyways, I'm hoping that she'll take some more fluids for me today since she came pushing them away yesterday.  We weren't planning on coming home until later this week, but with us both being sick, I thought that it was best to get home.   So here's a little peak of Marianna......isn't she way too cute in the wrap....

A quick pic....

My niece Marianna Josephine born on Valentine's Day!

8lbs 1oz :: 20 1/2 inches long

I'll post more later since Lillian won't let me type, but just in case I don't get a chance I thought I'd finally share a pic!

How about another one....

I just couldn't resist posting another one!  Isn't she the sweetest?!  And have I mentioned that she's been such a good little girl considering what she's going through right now.......the poor thing has 6 teeth coming in right now......that's right.....6!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Talk about ouch!

Today we cleaned the upstairs bedrooms and packed for Syracuse.  We're definitely leaving on Thursday unless we get a call from Betsy.  I'm just so excited which I'm sure I've mentioned that before!  Anyways, gotta go clean the living room.......Lillian dumped everything all over the floor!

Valentine's Pics....

Today I thought that I'd try and take some pics of Lillian with the new fabrics that I picked yesterday for backgrounds.  I also happened to pick up a Valentine's shirt and lollipop so I of course had to take her Valentine's Day pics!  You would think that I would have finished these a lot sooner so I could actually send some out, but everything just kinda caught up with me.  Anyways, I think she's wicked cute!  She's in bed right now taking her afternoon nap.......I put her down at 1:30 and she played until 3 and she was just having a blast.......not sure what she was up to, but she was in her crib the whole time!  She is so good about entertaining herself and she laughs all of the time!  Of course she has her crabby moments, but don't we all!  So here's a few more pics from today....

Still recovering.....

from a long night the other night!  Wednesday night was probably one of the roughest we've ever had......tougher than when she was a newborn!  She would not go to sleep and she played in bed with me for almost 5 hours.  Yesterday was a a complete loss for me!  I can only imagine if I actually had to get up and go to work!  Anyways, today we're working on the laundry and getting our luggage packed  since we'll hopefully be heading to Syracuse next week.  Not sure what we have planned for the weekend, although I'd like to go to the fabric store and get some funky fabrics for backgrounds and such.  We're going to head to the store after Lillian's nap and pick up a few things and go Staples to get some clipboards so I can make an altered clipboard for the business.  I guess that's it for now......not much else to talk about....

Video Blogging

So I thought that I would give it a try and test out iMovie and see what happens.  I seriously should have made up a script because I think I said "just thought we'd say hello to everyone" like 4 or 5 times!!!  Anyways, here it is.....

Super Tuesday.....

So if you're in one of those states that's voting in your states primary today, be sure to get out there and vote!  Vermont doesn't vote until March 4th and I'm certainly going to be there!  I'll be the first to admit, that I haven't voted in the past.  That's going to change from this point on for me.  Politics is something that isn't discussed anymore in our house....Dan's a republican and I'm a democrat.....and proud of it!  I won't get into anything deep and political or anything.....I've done my research and I've made my choice, and whatever your choice is, I respect your decision.  It's one of the great things about this country......we're given a CHOICE!  So, here's a little video where you'll see my choice.....

Sleepy Gal

I know that I say it all of the time, but she's seriously growing up way too fast!  I decided to play with some textures on this one and I like the aged look!  So my sister Betsy is in need of some more positive vibes sent her way.  Her doctor decided against inducing her this week, which means less time with the little one once she arrives.   Maternity leave is something that really needs to be changed in this country!!!!!!!  Anyways, all of my photography gear is in a pile and ready to go, so we just need to pack our clothes and we'll hit the road as soon as we get the call! 

Being proud of myself.......

isn't something that happens often for me.  But when Dan brought in the mail last week and I saw the envelope, I knew that everything was finally falling into place.  For once in my life, I've followed through with something.  I've put my everything into it and I'm proud of myself.  I know that no matter what the end result is, I can tell myself that I tried my hardest.  For me and this business though, failure ISN'T an option.  We're in it for the long haul!  Anyways, that's just my Kodak moment.......or should I say Nikon moment?!!!

Penguin Plunge

Bennington had it's winter fesitval today and part of its festivities included the Penguin Plunge.  I just had to see these people go into that frigid water......and of course take pics...

I was finally able to finish up my contracts and what not and now they just need to be printed.  I'm going to need a new printer, but at this point, it really isn't high priority so I'll just have them printed somewhere.  Dan is helping his sister move tomorrow and I'm going to work on designing my business cards and postcards to send out to potential clients.  Everything from this point on is just getting all of the details together and start advertising and what not.  I designed a "flyer" to put up on billboards to get the word out and I have a lot of other things that I plan on doing that are on my to do list, which will hopefully all be done pretty soon.  Hopefully, at least for Betsy's sake, I'll be going home this week to help out once Marianna arrives.  If you're reading this, send some positive vibes her way that Marianna decides that she's had enough and ready to meet us all this week!  Betsy was taken out of work this week, so that's of course taking away from her maternity leave.  So the sooner Marianna arrives, the more time they get to spend together.  Anyways, I'm going to go try and cross another thing off of my to do list!