any recipies for this?

Olympia loves to watch anything having to do with babies. Especially babies being born. Understandable since there will be a new baby born at our house. To help feed her interest, I stupidly let her watch a Baby Story on the TV. It was about twins, and silly me thought it would be a c-section delivery. Unfortunately, once I realized that it wasn't, we were too far in. So she watched the whole thing. It wasn't graphic, and the crazy woman did it all natural. TWINS! When it was done, Olympia simply stated, "when I have babies, they are coming out of my tummy, not out of my butt." When I asked why, she said, "it hurts less." I guess I'll buy into that. We have since, stopped watching delivery stories.

We have although, watched a great show on National Geographic Channel, about the development in the womb of cats. It showed the difference of development of house cats verses lions. Very neat. (we skipped over the actual how the babies got in the mom's tummies.) Of course they showed the birth, which Olympia didn't question at all. But since watching this show, several things have happened around our house.
1. She now grooms all of her plastic lions, that she recently gave birth to. Understandable, the mother lion does that.
2. She thinks it's totally normal to have more than 3 babies in your tummy at a time.
3. Possibly the oddest part...she thinks it is normal to eat the placenta once it has come out. She even has gone as far to ask if we are going to bring the placenta home once the baby is born. I don't have a recipe for that. And darn it, Betty Crocker doesn't either. Oh well, guess we will have to leave it for the hospital. Darn!

Two thumbs up!

death row

Last night I was telling some friends about the book I had just finished (Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult). Olympia was playing on the floor while we were talking. I was talking about the main character who was on death row. I probably said death row 3 times in the conversation when the following conversation happened.
O: "Mom, we saw death row."
Me: "What?!? What are you talking about? Death row?"
O: "Remember we saw death row at the movies."
Me: (panicing) "What movie?"
O: "You know the mouse with the big ears!" (eye roll)
Me: "Oh Despereaux. Yes we say Despereaux at the movies."
O: "I told you we saw it."

We laughed at that for a long time. Thankfully we avoided a conversation I was not really ready to have with her. I think death row might be a 7 or 8 year old conversation.

Two thumbs up!

return from the Christmas abyss

Hello. My last entry was after the election. If there are any of you still out there reading, welcome back. I barely survived the Christmas season this year. It was a tough one. I haven't done the numbers yet, but it might have been the best one yet. We are now trying to get our house ready to sell and look for a new at the same time. We also will be needing a new car. What is with all of the new stuff you ask? Well, apparently our family will be growing this year. Yes, that's right. Olympia got what she wanted for Christmas. (When asked what she wanted for Christmas, Olympia responded with a baby sister. When told that couldn't happen by Christmas, she would say, a baby brother would work too.)

In July, we will have a new baby brother or sister. We are very excited. (I am very tired.) Olympia makes sure everything I eat is "good for the baby." She is so happy. If you ask her when the baby is coming, she replies, "First is the 4th of July, then my birthday, then the baby comes." (She uses the 4th of July as a reference a lot. Like no more kisses until the 4th of July.)

So, with all of this big news, you might need a moment to collect yourself. I am working out the work details, but will let each of you know the plan for that. I will still be working, just a little less, so schedule early. 

Other than that small thing, I can't think of much else to update you on. I will be posting more now that the "season" is over. 

Two thumbs up!

Thank you!

Today is a great day. No matter what side you support, today is a great day. Election day! I love the entire political process. (except the mud-slinging) The hype, the tradition, the grandness. Love it all! 

On our walk to vote today, Olympia and I talked about what we were doing. She was not as interested as I hoped, but I really wanted to impress on her the path taken to get there. Women had a long fight to get where we are now. I hope all of my fellow women out there on their way to the polls said a quiet "thank you" to those who did the work before us. 

That being said, I try to keep my politics to myself, but tonight, I am excited. I am excited to see the energy that was brought to this country by one man. I look forward to the future.

almost famous

On Tuesday, I took a little trip to Omaha. Hillary Clinton was doing a rally for Barak Obama. I thought this is probably one of my only chances to be so close to seeing her. I went by myself, but quickly made two friends in the audience. (I had to go to the ladies room and they held my spot.) When I returned to my spot in the growing crowd, (5 or so rows deep) we started chatting about the people beginning to filter onto the risers behind the podium. I told my new friends that I was going to ask how you got up there. Wouldn't hurt to ask, right? I finally ran into the guy who gets to decide, he marked my ticket, and was nice enough to let me grab my new friends as well. Once we got to the risers, they said they wanted us to stand in front. We were so excited, we were shaking. Anywho, here is what it looked like:

That's me in the brown sweater just over her shoulder. This cute little lady next to me wearing a hat, kept saying things like "amen, sister" and "un-huh sister" to everything Hillary said. It was so awesome. Afterward, I got to shake Hillary's hand. She really is beautiful up close. 

I knew we would make the local news, since no one ever comes to Nebraska, but it must have been a slow day, because we made national news on ABC and Nightline. Of course they were talking about how Nebraska can split its electoral votes. To see the whole story on ABC news, click here. (look for me in the brown sweater.)

Two thumbs way up!

warning: cuteness alert!

Last weekend, Olympia and I went out to Ravenna to photograph a family. We stayed at a friend's farm. Olympia got to go 4-wheeling. It was a blast. One of the boys took me into a shed and showed me this:

Yes. I tried to bring one home, but the hubby said no. We guessed them to be about 2 weeks old. Aren't they the cutest things you ever saw. The mom would lay there and nurse them, but as soon as someone got close, she would stand up and let all the babies fall off so she could try and get you to pet her. It was just great to watch. Being on the farm was a lot of fun. Olympia keeps asking when she gets to go back.

Thumbs up!

frost?

I would just like to replay the conversation I heard on my tv between the anchor(A) and the weatherman(W).

W: Hope you have the ice scraper in your car for tomorrow morning.

A: What?!?

W: You might need it.

A: GASP!!!!

W: I took her breath away. I haven't done that to a woman in decades. 

SERIOUSLY!!!! I don't want to know about your low self esteem. I want to know about the weather. I think someone should call the inappropriate police.

Two thumbs not up!

marriage

Here's the conversation that just took place at my house as we were getting ready for school.

Me: I need to buy you new pants that actually fit, since you are growing so fast.

O: I am growing up big. Soon I will be a mom.

Me: I suppose so.

O: And then I will be married. 

Me: I hope so.

O: When will I get married?

Me: When you find the right guy.

O: One that's someone else isn't using?

Me: (laugh) I hope so.

Isn't a 4 year olds mind great?

round 2

Here are some more pics of Olympia modeling her urban wear.

quickie...

Here is one of the images from Olympia's 4 year photo shoot. There will be more when I finally have time to look at them all. They turned out great. Have a great weekend!

nothing....

I just realized it has been over 3 weeks since my last post. And while it was a long post, I need to update. Here's the real problem. I've got nothing new. NOTHING!!!! So enjoy that thought and come back soon where I will outline some new changes to my life. (very soon.)

were you wondering?

I read someone else's blog today. Okay, I read a lot of other people's blogs today. But one had a 100 things you didn't know about me. Some of you will know these, but I bet most of you won't. Just for fun and a time waster, here you go:

1. I was born in Colorado

2. My dad is an engineer by trade and photographer by hobby.

3. My dad taught me all I could ever need to know about photographing flowers, trees and nature. (his preference, not mine)

4. My mom once worked for a professional photographer as a retoucher. With real ink and all.

5. I have a brother who lives in St. Louis

6. I have lived in 6 different states.

7. This year, I will have lived in the same house the longest in one place in my life.

8. When I was a kid, my favorite toys were Barbies.

9. I often gave Barbie a makeover with fingernail polish.

10. I had rediculously big bangs in middle school.

11. We had a parakeet named Captain.

12. My brother and I wanted to name him Hot Lips.

13. We had a dog for a while named Oppenheimer. (the guy who invented the atomic bomb.)

14. My brother named the dog that.

15. My first true love was Neil Patrick Harris as Doogie Houser, MD.

16. I secretly wished the New Kids on the Block would move into the next door house when it was for sale.

17. I love to look at photographs of everything from the past.

18. My maternal grandfather loved to conduct orchestras from his living room chair.

19. He also had several college degrees.

20. Olympia's middle name is after him.

21. And a photographer.

22. My maternal grandparents always took us to museums and historical places.

23. We took them to see a Frank Lloyd Wright house, which I can remember most of the layout. I still love anything by him and the arts and crafts era.

24. My paternal grandpa took me to the gas station everyday to get candy when we visited.

25. I LOVE Wheel of Fortune!!!!!!

26. I can repeat the entire theme song to WoF.

27. My brother and I watched a lot of game shows at my grandparents house.

28. I wore lime green bell bottoms to my high school graduation. (they clashed the best with the scarlet red gowns.)

29. I bought those pants for 5 Marks in Germany at a department store.

30. I went to Germany to live with a family at 16.

31. Did I mention I was by myself?

32. I once was pretty fluent in German and often dreamt in German.

33. My first college major was International Relations with a minor in German.

34. The second was Theology.

35. The last was photography.

36. I did my first year at a Jesuit college.

37. In my theology class, the priest said the follow: "if a guy takes a girl out and pays for everything, at the end of the date, she should put out." Not joking. Still trying to figure out what it has to do with the book of John.

38. I decided to become a photographer because of an ad with a very sexy man for Aqua Di Gio. To this day, I keep a copy of the ad in my purse.

39. I wanted to attend a college in Colorado for photography, but my then boyfriend threw a fit and I found a photography school closer to his college.

40. My college mascot was the Mules! 

41. or Jennies! for the girls.

42. I graduated from college with a B.S. in photography in only 3 1/2 years. 

43. I took 21.5 hours each semester. 

44. No, photography classes aren't that easy either.

45. When I met my husband, we were both engaged to other people.

46. I ate lunch with my future hubby almost everyday his last semester.

47. My hubby has the best break up story of all time. (short version-flew girl down on valentines day, broke up with her immediately, turned around back to the airport, she said "my flight isn't until tomorrow." he said, "you're on stand by for the next plane." then drove like mad to go out with our friends for an anti Valentine's day.

48. Our first kiss was at 12:25 that night.

49. It was President's day.

50. He was wearing Doc Martin boots the day I met him.

51. I was wearing a red sweater, jeans, white shirt, green clogs, and green socks.

52. We were wearing matching socks!

53. I didn't know his last name for a long time. 

54. We went to San Fransisco together after dating only 3 weeks. 

55. My aunt we went to visit in SF said we were soulmates, because our names were very similar.

56. We went to go the Pez Museum. 

57. I currently have over 300 different Pez dispensers.

58. I fell in love with our house for the built in china hutch that displays my pez.

59. The hubby and I picked out my engagement ring diamond together.

60. He called me everynight to open and close the box on the phone to tease me.

61. I was still in college, he was here.

62. He proposed by locking me in the kitchen and then playing the hot/cold game with me to find the ring.

63. We got married in the winter. It was not cold at all on our wedding day.

64. We took our honeymoon to Lake Tahoe.

65. Our first dance was to At Last by Etta James.

66. Our goal is to go to all 50 state captial buildings. We currently have 13.

67. I don't have an appendix.

68. or a gallbladder.

69. I love music of all kinds. 

70. especially Japanese drumming.

71. I met my best friend 18 years ago yesterday.

72. We have only lived in the same city for 9 months.

73. I know an obsessive amount of random Beatles facts.

74. My friends and I recreated the Abby Road album on the same day they did the original, down to the time.

75. I was fired from a public library in high school. (the librarian's name was Mr. Read. hehehe)

76. I worked at the public pool as well, which has given me an unusual fear of public pools and cleanliness.

77. I didn't drink in college until I met one of my best friends. 

78. My favorite drink is either a real mojito or lemonade, raspberry vodka.

79. I love being outside. 

80. When I am stressed or having a hard time sleeping, I watch the realestate channel.

81. We only have 22 channels on our tv. (most of which are cspan and home shopping.)

82. If I could move anywhere, I think it would be to Maine or Santa Fe.

83. I love politics. I won't discuss it with you unless you share similar views.

84. I wanted to name Olympia if she was a boy Elway, after one of my other true loves.

85. I saw John Denver in concert in high school. 

86. I also saw U2. 

87. I also saw the first 2 songs of a Tina Turner concert, after seeing Chris Isaac.

88. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith bumped into me once in Kansas City. I thought it was a girl cutting in line.

89. I try to talk to my mom every day or so. 

90. Olympia was named by my hubby. She was unnamed for 17 hours while he decided.

91. His grandmother is greek, which is why she is named Olympia.

92. I wanted to name her Monarch and call her Mona.

93. My favorite drink in the whole world is fountain diet pepsi. I love it!!!!

94. Last week was my last time to work at the YMCA. I worked in the Child Watch for almost 4 years.

95. I am in a constant battle with myself over organization. Not my strong suit.

96. I hate using capital letters.

97. I also get distracted easily. (like reading blogs)

98. I love doing my job. I love meeting all the people and catching great moments in a kids life.

99. We love to eat out. (and especially trying out new restaurants.)

100. I am actually done. I think that is a record for getting something done in one night. 

Hope ya'll liked learning way too much about me. If you get bored, do one for your blog.

third time is a charm

Okay. I will now try to actually write some substance instead of taking the easy road with pics. If you notice the time of these posts, just know that I am still working at all hours of the day, and I just ate half a box of nerds. (yes, I steal candy from my kid. Isn't that why you have kids?) Anywho, not sure where this post is headed, but thought it was time my following have something new to read while taking a break from their state job. (ahem!) These last few weeks have been very busy. I am feeling torn between loving both of my jobs and not finding a good balance. I love my actual work, and I think I would actually love it more if I could devote much more time to it. However, I am also parading around as a part time stay at home mom. Some of you know the demands of time to be the primary care giver. I am counting the days for preschool to start, so I can have at least a few more set times to be at home and return phone calls and actually have uninterrupted work time not after 9:00. 

Okay, crabby Jenny done with the complaining section on this blog. I am totally thankful that my business is growing at such a great speed. I love meeting the new people and seeing my regulars. What I love more is the ability to create images that will be looked at for years to come. 

Expect new things in the coming days. I have a great friend coming to help organize my house. I truly believe that I use so much energy on my creative side of business, it leaves me with no energy for organization or tidiness. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who cleans well, and moderately puts up with my clutter. But I have a goal to send all the unnecessary items out the door. Super excited!!!

And one last big exciting item...the hot hubby got a huge promotion. He is now a captain on the fire department. For those of you who don't know, he is a fireman. All big hose jokes aside, he loves his job. He was hired 7 1/2 years ago. You have to have 6 years on the job to take the captains test and just a year after taking the test, he is promoted. I am so happy for him. So if you live in Lincoln, and see a hot fireman in a grey shirt, just know you are looking at my husband, and he's mine. (yes, most firemen are hot, and they do know how to use the big hose.)

Two thumbs up! 

(especially if you actually made it thru that.) 

St. Louis rocks!

o and the festus cousins @ the arch

my fav pic. 

o and the o'fallon cousins @ the magic house

riding the pony at the zoo. yes she needs sunglasses. she didn't want the paparazzi to notice her.

catch up... not ketsup!

the 4th

1st trip to the eye doctor. everything is a-okay! dr. brightman is the best.

little eintsteins cake

Here is a fast overview of the last few weeks. Olympia turned 4! So far, 4 is not a good age for her, but more on that later. We had a rockin' Little Einsteins birthday party, went to St. Louis to see the family, and had some fun here.

the final rose

Okay, only a few short hours until the final rose. I'm so excited. For once, I don't actually care who she picks. I hope she picks Jason, but wouldn't care if she picked Jesse. She actually has a head on her shoulders, and is smarter than I gave her credit for in my bracket. That said, I am the big loser of our brackets. There is no way to win now. (Way to go Leah, not a single X on her bracket!) So, here is my bracket. We will see soon. I'm so excited. (a little sad that I won't have a good excuse to sit at Anne's house and drink cosmos, but I think Tuesday is a great reason to do so.)

Two thumbs up!

olympia's pending birthday

Every year, we go thru a long and trying time. The 2 months leading up to Olympia's birthday, she will constantly change her mind about what time of party she would like. Her first birthday was easy. We decided for her.
Her second birthday was pretty easy for her to decide, since her main love was animals.
But last year, it was tough to pick one princess or even to decide on princesses. This year she started thinking about it in January. Every three days or so it would change. Finally, when push came to shove, she decided on Little Einsteins. (I'm a little surprised, but very happy with the choice.) The cake will be challenge, but we will figure that out later. I made the invitations, and were so pleased with them, thought I would share with you guys.


Thumbs up!

i love morelli

On Wednesday, I spent 12 hours child free during the awake hours. I know, it's horrible that one would get so much alone time, but it was great. I happen to have had a doctors appointment. Afterward, I drove to Omaha to pick up a friend and her daughter. Her daughter (age 2) ran up to me like I was her long lost best friend. It was incredibly cute. They then drove me to Border's bookstore/the mall. I walked around a very boring mall for 30 minutes. Then walked to Border's to wait for 6:00. It was 3:00 when I got there. Why did I wait? Because, one of my favorite authors, Janet Evanovich was coming for a booksigning. I was so excited. Many of my friends and I have read all of her books. We love them!!!! One of my best friends and her mom met me there. We waited for over 2 hours to see her for 15 seconds. But whatever, I spent time with my friend, had kid free time and got my picture of Olympia wearing her I love Morelli picture signed. Super exciting. We then went out to eat and had cake for dessert, because Stephanie Plum (the main character) would have done that. Here is a picture of us with Janet Evanovich and the picture of Olympia.

Thumbs Up!!!!!

bracket time

Once again, I am sucked into the reality tv world with the bachlorette. LOVE IT!!!! Some of my friends and I end up watching it either together or on the phone together to discuss all of it. I am ashamed to admit it, but I love it. So, we were going to bet which guy she picks, but instead decided to do a bracket instead. So for those of you who would like to play along, here it is. I will post my completed one later. Feel free to print this for yourself and play along at home.

two thumbs up!!!!

where in the h-e-double hockey sticks have you been??

I know. What could possibily cause such a hiatus in blogging? I'm not really sure to tell you the truth. Just life going on, and me not wanting to face it on the blog. Please don't take me off your reads. I promise to blog a lot more.

Now a funny story. Olympia didn't take a nap yesterday. Sometimes, I think the naps are more for me than her, but she still will sleep for at least an hour, so I figure she needs them as well. But yesterday, she did fall asleep, so I let her get up. We decided to set the pool up. She played in it for at least an hour. It was very nice for me as well. I sat in the sun and returned phone calls. After she played, we came inside, where she pretty much went from Nice Olympia to Mean/Naughty Olympia in less than 30 seconds. I sent her to her room for a time out. She was yelling at me, so I said, "when you have been quiet for 1 minute, I will tell you to come out." After the minute or so, I called for her. No response. Called again. No response. I went into her room, to find her asleep on her bed. We let her sleep for 20 minutes and woke her up. She was very nice and happy then.

Funny story #2. Olympia can write her name. She is not a fan of writing, but she can. For that reason, she thinks every word is comprised of only letters found in her name. So she just writes those letters to "spell" words. She handed me a piece of paper with some letters on it. "what does this spell, mom?" Well, she actually spelled pop. Wow, a real word. So, I told her what it spelled. Pretty proud of herself, she went to work on another word. "I spelled pop a different way. Look." Well, she spelled poop. Of course, I told her what it spelled. She laughed and has gone on to only spell that word everywhere. Awesome. My kid writes poop. We have been trying to work out more words. But poop continues to be the favorite. Oh well.

Two thumbs UP!