High & Low Thursday

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I am so sleepy this morning...I went to bed with such a headache yesterday and today I just feel drained. I have a lot I want to write about - my nephew's wedding over the weekend & our trip to Cleburne, Texas; Aaron's 6 month checkup; the continuation of my kitchen make-over - just to name a few. But I have a lot of other stuff I want to DO now that I'll have to write about later, too!!

So, my HIGH for the week is that we have ordered all new kitchen appliances!! YAY! We could have had some of them this week, but others couldn't come till closer to the week of the 13th, so we've decided to just have them all delivered on the same day. We figured it would be easier to just have everything in a mess all on one day instead of spreading it out over the next two weeks. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. Instead of describing them all now, I'll wait till they finally arrive and are all in place and have an "unveiling post" with pictures. That will be more fun anyway, right??

And my LOW for the week is Aaron's 6 month check up. This past week Aaron's eyes have had a little bit of drainage - really, just a tiny amount and only in the mornings. Well, yesterday morning his left eye (which has not had much drainage) was all red and swollen. I was thankful at least it happened on the morning of his checkup so his pediatrician would be able to see it. She immediately knew what it was (no, not pink eye thankfully) - she gave it a name, but basically it's a skin infection just on his eyelid. She said it wasn't serious now, but didn't want it to spread into his eyeball and very worst case scenario but highly unlikely would be that it get into his brain. So...we did not get his immunization shots, but instead he got a shot of antibiotic and a prescription for an oral antibiotic to take. She also told me to give him Benadryl  every 4-6 hours and come back Friday morning. At that time if everything looks good she'll give him his immunization shots. I'm actually a little bit glad he has to be on antibiotics right now (although typically I really don't like giving my kids meds until absolutely necessary) b/c everyone around me right now seems to have a cough and a sniff going on - at least this way I know he shouldn't get anything else, right??

So, play along - take my button and post your High & Low for the week.Be sure to link back to your post so we can share...

Top 2 Tuesday "Favorite US Cities"

Favorite world-wide city I think would be an easier answer for me, to be honest - Barcelona, hands-down Barcelona!! Best trip I ever took! But trying to pick my favorite city in the US proves to be a harder choice...thing is while I love to travel, I also love to be home! I love the city I live in and I love to visit the city I grew up in. I have had some great trips in the US, though. Coast to coast I've had a great time in both NY & LA - closer to home I San Antonio & Austin (many trips there) - college towns are soooo much fun, though those "fun days" are in the past! Hee hee! 

So, to choose now I think I would have to say that I love Houston - it's home now even though I didn't grow up here. We have so much in Houston - arts, sports, NASA, little-bit-of-country & little-bit-of-city...I can't say I like the weather & the traffic, but if you're a Houstonian that's something you'll learn to live with!

For my 2nd choice I think I would have to pick a place I've never been, but WANT to visit instead...I have never been to Washington D.C. and I would really love to go! I would love to go when the Cherry Blossoms are blooming - I've seen pictures and it looks so beautiful. I would love to see our national monuments.

Before I got married I used to travel a lot - now that my kids are little we stay close to home, but I truly hope as they grow we'll continue to show them all the great places that are around us.

I have found a new vice!

Typically I do not like sweet coffee - typically I drink my coffee black - no sugar, no cream. I like dark roast, strong coffee, too. I do like an iced coffee from time to time, but I still don't get it sweetened, only with a little cream sometimes. Well, I found this at Starbucks yesterday and love it! LOVE IT! It is slightly sweetened, but it isn't too sweet really so I like it. One cool thing is I can just mix it in a water bottle and pour half over ice and save the rest for later if I want. Since it is lightly sweetened it has 100 calories per packet - which is 2 points for WW - another good reason to drink half and save the rest for later. It's an awesome 1 point refreshment and great source of caffeine for us addicts out there! I've bought water bottle mix-ins before, but this one beats all the others hands down!

So...my kids are good! They are really good!

Yesterday we went out to dinner - Michael, me & our babies - and throughout dinner I was telling Emma, "Inside voice, Sit still, use your fork" all the typical stuff you gotta tell an almost 4-year old (owww...really??). And all the while thinking who are my kids disturbing?? So, towards the end of our meal another couple gets up to leave and while walking by the husband leans over to me and tells me how delightful our children are - that they have been a joy to watch he and his wife thought!! WOW!!! I think that's one of the best compliments I could ever receive about my children! I've always said I didn't want my kids to be the ones that people run from - I never wanted anyone to say, "Oh great - here comes Emma & Aaron!" - guess we are doing something right, though after all.

No one gives you a guidebook to Parenthood - sure everyone has advice and will tell you what you should be doing - but in the end it's really about what works for you & your kids. At any baby shower I go to if they ask you to write advice on a card for the mommy-to-be I always write..."Ask for advice from those who have been there before you, Listen to everything they say and keep it in mind, but in the end remember it's your family and your child and you have to do what works best & feels right for you..."

So, I was on a Mommy-High all evening!!!

The rest of our weekend was great, too. We went out of town this weekend for my nephew's wedding & didn't get back into town until Sunday afternoon. When we got back we still had errands to run and went out for dinner (b/c cooking wasn't on the agenda) so all my pictures are still on my camera. Plus Emma walked around shooting so many pics with my little point & shoot camera (while I used my DSLR) that she ran the battery down - I have to make a folder just for her pics - it's neat to see things from her point of view!! LOL - and a few of them are pretty interesting! Hopefully I will have those all edited to share tomorrow!

***Oh, I forgot to mention***

Last week when I picked up Emma from school one day her teacher and I talked for a while - she told me that Emma was so good in her class. She said Emma got a "Sunshine Report" for good behavior and got to stand up in front of the class to receive it and everyone clapped for her. She also got to go into the treasure chest TWICE for being good and for being a good helper and got two prizes!!! She told me that Emma was a joy to have in her classroom and she played very well with all her friends. Her teacher also said that Emma was very good with her phonics already and was very impressed with how well she wrote her name all on her own!! Such a proud moment for this mommy!!!

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I Heart Faces: Week 35 - Photojournalism

Friday Fives - Random Questions

This weeks Friday Five is Random Questions! The Questions are...

1. Something you are OCD about...

I think my husband would agree that I am OCD about the way things get put up - to him as long as it's in a drawer or behind a closed door it's put up! Ha ha! He is a neat freak, but it's more "out of sight, out of mind" philosophy! Me, though - if something doesn't have a proper place I may let it sit out until I find or create one. When we buy groceries he won't even put up the dry goods b/c I want each thing on a certain shelf and I have containers that are only for certain things, too. If he puts a snack item on the wrong shelf I get irritated and have to let him know it's in the wrong spot!! This sounds like my pantry is neat and organized - actually it is organized, just not neat! There is too much stuff in there & it drive me bananas, but that's another project!

2. Your favorite quote...
One quote I've used a lot is "One man's ceiling is another man's floor, so I'll see you at the top" - I don't know where I first heard it, but when I was a single lady pre-kiddos I used that quote in things a lot. Today, though I wouldn't say it's my favorite quote anymore b/c my priorities have changed dramatically.  I think now my favorite quote is from one of my professors in grad school - I was pregnant with my first child while I was in her class and she told me whenever I faced something hard I would always be able to say, "I can do this, I can do anything, I gave birth!!" I like that quote - it's true!!

3. What is the farthest you have been from home...
Egypt - to visit family and friends. Since my father is Egyptian I still have a lot of family living in Egypt. 

4. Do you do a real or fake Christmas tree...
Our tree is fake - we did have a real tree one year, but I couldn't handle dealing with the mess the pine needles made and I said never again!!!

5. First blog you ever read...
I owe my blogging bug to my best friend Elaine. She had a blog back in 1999 and got me into it - my blog has morphed a lot, but it's always been called Daily Venting & Exclamations... I still like that title and have come full circle back to Blogger from using many other platforms including pMachine, DNN, WP - I still really like WP, but for several reasons decided to come back to blogger again.

New Google Background

Isn't this a beautiful site to see when you log in!?!? :)

High & Low Thursday Edition

 

Morning everyone...it's Thursday - only one more day in the work week! I'm ready for this weekend. My nephew is getting married this weekend & after this weekend we have zero plans - my calendar is empty!!!! I'm so excited! We have had something going on every single weekend this summer and I am really looking forward to not having anything planned ahead (though next weekend is a long weekend & we did talk about going out of town - I'll be excited if we do that!)...

So, my High & Low for the week...

My HIGH would have to be that I'm wearing pants today that I couldn't fit into two weeks ago!! I mentioned before that I have joined WW & have been working out with Michael and it's paying off! I have recently been able to wear about 4 pair of nice dress pants that I could not even pull up when I came back to work after maternity leave...such an exciting feeling to walk into my closet, pick out my poor, forgotten about pants and pull them up without any effort! No wiggling into them - no walking in front of the mirror a million times asking if I could get away with wearing them - they fit with room to spare!! Definitely a high for me!

My LOW would be that I think my nursing days are coming to an end. I'm still nursing Aaron at home some, but during the day I'm no longer pumping to take to the baby sitter. Right now I'm only nursing him just before he goes to bed and if he wakes up in the middle of the night (which thankfully hasn't been happening as much), but at work when I go downstairs to pump nothing is happening. I'm happy that I made it six months, though. I only made it about half that long with Emma. I just really wanted to make it a full year this time at least and not have to worry with formula - just put him straight on cow's milk. So, it's a little sad for me this week coming to terms that my days are numbered. I still have enough milk frozen to last a while longer at the baby sitter's and am glad I can still nurse him at least once or twice a day in the evening or early morning, but it's still hard to admit that it's almost over. It was sad when I had to quit nursing Emma so early, too.

Not nursing also means my daily points allowed on WW goes down, too...maybe the up side will be that I'll drop the weight a litter faster than I have been. I wasn't one of those women that nursing just took the weight off...I think that's a myth!!!

So...what's your High & Low for the week? Take my button & post it on your site - then leave a comment with a link back to your post so we can all share in your Highs & Lows!!

Lesson I've Learned About Photography

LET. THEM. GO!!!!

When I'm taking pictures I just snap and snap and snap and snap - and rarely do I look & delete pictures as I go. Soooo...when I get back to my computer and pull up my pics in Lightroom I have tons and tons to edit!

I take so many pics that sometimes just the thought of sitting & editing would make me tired before I even started - two things have helped me overcome this!

1) Lightroom baby!!! I take all my pictures in RAW format so basically each one has to be edited or at least touched before I can share with everyone. When using Lightroom, though I can edit one picture and copy and paste the changes to as many pictures as I want. So, if I take a ton of pictures of the kids in the same setting then the same changes can apply to all! Edit one manually and just paste those changes right away to the tons of others! LOVE YOU LR!

2) LET. THEM. GO!! Yeah - I was the one who thought every. single. picture. that I snapped of my children had to be saved. It was as if I thought by deleting a picture of them I was losing a part of their childhood - like giving away their coming home outfit from the hospital or something. Yeah - I'm a little sentimental like that!! Well, I had to make myself get over the fear of deleting their pictures and instead of editing and keeping all two dozen pictures of the same pose I just look at all my pics, select the 2-5 of my favorite ones from a group, edit & save those and move on to the next set!!

These two tips made life so much easier and made me not fear taking tons of pictures b/c I knew I wouldn't spend days editing them after all was said and done! Makes it much easier when printing pics or choosing a picture for a digital scrapbook, too b/c my choices are narrowed down some for me as opposed to going back and forth over pictures that are basically the same shot!

So - are you a mommy photographer? What are your tips for better photography experiences??

Wordless Wednesday

Is there anything more beautiful????