I love photography. Many of you know that already. It's my job, my life's passion, my cherry on the sundae of life - totally! There are so many memories about Kross's birth that I wouldn't have if it weren't for photography. All of these images I'm blogging with today were taken by my friend Megan. Megan is one of the two photographers who photographed our birth session for us the day Kross was born. These images were all taken by her and I couldn't be more pleased with each one. They are priceless to me. Priceless I say. The top image was of my first moment to lay eyes on Kross thru the nursery window as they wheeled me out of the recovery room following my c-section. I get so sentimental when I see this shot. It melts my heart over and over again as do all of the pictures Megan took. For example, the image below...if you look closely, it is of Brent leading Kenidi's hand over to Kross as she meets him and touches him in person for the very first time. I remember him telling her to be "gentle" as we always remind her to be. Kross is skin to skin on my chest and wrapped tightly inside my hospital gown. It's a family moment that I would have never seen like this had Megan not captured this moment via the camera. Oh yes...Photography ROCKS!
This next shot below is of Brennen with his iphone. He captured this picture of Kross thru the nursery room window and had it displayed proudly on his phone. Megan snapped that moment as he was showing it off. Good stuff!
And my Mom...well this is her as she laid eyes on her new grandson for the first time...
Megan captured raw and unscripted emotion. Again, it all just melts my heart. The next image is of my Dad and Step mom looking thru the nursery window with Kenidi and Brennen (at Kross of course). I love that Kenidi is on her tip toes here...
This one below is of my Step-Mom, Cathy, with Brennen. Loved this shot of the two of them. Soooo good! It was so very early that morning yet they both are smiling from ear to ear. Good times!
And again...below...nothing but excitement, laughs and smiles from both my Mom and my Step-Mom together on that early December morning. I'm so grateful for the amazing family that I have...
And here is Brennen looking in on his little bro in the nursery...
One of my other most favorite photos of this day is this simple one that Megan captured within a split second in time. If she would have blinked, she could have missed it yet her eyes were wide open and taking every movement and emotion in while behind her lens. This one below is of my Dad holding/touching my (very swollen and puffed up) arm following the birth itself. I plan to have this one framed and place it on my desk as a constant reminder that my Dad is ALWAYS there for me. ALWAYS. Not that I would ever really need a reminder but I just love the image THAT MUCH! The shot is one that only him or I would understand yet it speaks volumes for the definition of what kind of father I have. I love you Dad!
And the same goes again for this moment she captured of Kenidi holding my hand. Again, I'm so very swollen and puffed up beyond belief. However, no matter how horrible I remember myself looking by that point, this picture means the world to me. It literally makes my heart swoon.
As I peruse these images, I am so thankful for photography, for Megan's talents and her friendship, for my incredibly awesome family, and for the undeniable truth that there is a God. These last few images below are proof of his existence and his amazing creations that only HE can construct...
And at 5.5 weeks old now...he is truly our little Legend...
And lastly, while I'm raving about my parents and loving the photos of my husband as well as them up above, let me praise them all a bit more. Thanks to Brent and to both sets of my parents (my Dad and Cathy and my Mom), I have a new toy...
Their generosity and their Christmas gift cards to the camera store made me a very happy girl this weekend. I love you guys. Thank you for always spoiling me rotten!
This was the view out the roof of my car yesterday afternoon. As many of you know, I love the white clouds against a brilliant blue backdrop in the sky. It helps when the suns rays are peeking thru and beaming down as well. Makes for great sun flare shots in the photography world. :) I snapped this shot with my iphone as I was parked in a parking lot. It was too gorgeous out not to. Love me some sky scapes.
Today I spent lunch at the Turtle Club restaurant on the beach with my Mom. We celebrated her birthday which was yesterday. It was another gorgeous day and we had an absolutely stellar view. The food was great and the ambiance/environment of overlooking the shore line made it all even better. My Mom even commented on how she felt like we were on vacation while there. Brent always says that we live in "paradise" everyday. Being by the ocean over lunch confirmed that feeling once again. Hope you enjoyed your day Mom. :)
The above shot was our view and my lunch - the "Crabcake Toastie." YUM! YUM! YUM!
On to another subject...baby Seaman. Imagine that, eh? With only 7 weeks to go until his arrival, I was elated to see his personalized baby name blanket show up in the mailbox today. I took a photo of the blanket and cropped out a small area so that the whole name wasn't visible. I figured I'd keep you guys in suspense until his birth day in regards to what his name is going to be. Y'all know how much I love to drag out surprises. LOL! Hopefully his name will be one that not too many of you have heard of before. The front of the blanket has his name on it and the backside is made of minky dot fabric. It's so very soft. I can't wait to wrap him in it.
With that said, I've had a recent request to blog about some of the cool or cute things I've found for him. There are only a few because gosh knows...there isn't near as many cute things for boys as there are girls. However, I do have a few favorite finds fo' sho'. I hope to be able to pull together a blog post featuring them here very soon. In the meantime, I am so thankful for my readers who continue to send me cute things or rad websites that have cool things for little boys. If you happen to see something that you think I should know about or that you think I'd like for baby Seaman, by all means...send me the link. I need all the help I can get after dressing a girl for the past 7 years and an older boy.
Right now, I'm off to get my sons hair cut. He is beginning to look like that Monchicchi monkey picture I posted last time. Hope all of you are having a fantastic Tuesday. Tomorrow it's off to my 32 week check up at the OB again. These appointments are flying by. He is going to be here in mere weeks. Something to the tune of 45 more days or so. WOW!
"What the catepillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." ~Richard Bach
"The catepillar does all of the work but it is the butterfly who gets all of the publicity." ~Attributed to George Carlin
"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies." ~Author Unknown
My Mom gave me some flowers as part of an early birthday gift from her and the kids last week. Brent gave me some roses as a "just because" the week before when we first got down here. Love those "just because" moments. I finally began taking photos of the abundance of flowers in the house and really liked how this white one turned out (shown above). Love that macro lens!
Also, I wanted to share with you why I love the "SWOOZIE'S" store here in Bonita so much. I always make a trip to the location at the coconut point mall at least once when here. They have the coolest stuff, the best "gur-fren" gifts, incredible stationary, and adorable beach decor. Needless to say, their store pretty much sums me up. I've talked about the Swoozie's store before here on the blog but if you don't know about Swoozie's or have never been to one, find one quick and RUN to it! I'd sleep there if I could. Yes, that is how much I love Swoozie's. :) With that said, check out the cute little books I found when there the other day. Are these "me" or what?
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!
And speaking of new, cool, finds...check out philosophy's new BEACH PARTY line of products. Yeap, found them at the Sephora store here when I ran in to grab a much needed new tube of mascara. (Black Out Dior Show - best there is!) I saw their beach party line and fell in love. All of you AGD blog readers know I have issue's with people who don't keep their feet soft and issue's as well as an obsession with keeping lips soft. I am totally OCD when it comes to lotions and lip balms. Well lucky for me...Philosophy's new BEACH party line has a lip gloss. YAY! Try it! You will love it!
And lastly, speaking of Grandma Sue...here is the only real shot I got of her and the kids last week when she was here. We took this right before she left for the airport. Nevermind the fact that Kenidi's hair isn't fixed and that she has a spoon in one hand and a mermaid doll in the other. This photographer uses a wide variety of props on the job. HA! Hey...whatever works, right?
For now, I'm off to finish fixing my hair so that we can get out the door for dinner. I'll be in touch soon. Oh and while I'm thinking about it...run to your nearest taco bell as well and ask for their new pina' colada frutista freeze. YUM-O! It's another new favorite find of mine. I'm hoping for your sake that they aren't just Florida flavor. Indiana didn't have them when we left there back in May. So hopefully all of the stores are now introducing them. They are the best things EVAH! And my girlfriend Shannon that you all know from Texas...you know my sista' from anotha' Mutha'...well she improvised the other night and bought the pina' colada frutista and added her own malibu rum to it. Although we don't drink in our house, I thought her idea was pretty clever. And like I told her, I'm sure they are much cheaper than the real thing. So go try one. I promise they are the greatest thing since sliced bread! Especially when you are sitting poolside with your favorite book or on the beach under an umbrella. Wink wink! ;o)
xoxoxo, Angie
PS...There are only 3 remaining spots in the online photography workshop. Space is dwendling. Sign up while there is still room! See Angie Seaman Photography to register.
Because I love my blog readers, I thought I'd post a quick bout' of "color for your Sunday" all the way from good ol' Florida. My Mom is flying in this evening to stay with us thru Friday so I'll be sharing her beautiful face in the week ahead - I'm sure. In the meantime though, I didn't want to leave you guys hanging without a blog post for this gorgeous Sunday, June 7th, 2009.
I snapped these flowers while out on a walk with the fam a few evenings ago. Unfortunately, I am so illiterate with flowers and plants that I have no idea what any of the names are surrounding these gorgeous beauties. One of my readers might be able to help us out with that. Any takers?
As I walked around, I just couldn't get over all of the colors. Everything is so vibrant here - as always. So very powerful! The views in southwest Florida really pack a punch - that is fo' sho'! I'm getting emails from multiple readers who are full time Florida residents that say things like..."how are you finding such amazing shots? I live here full time and don't see that stuff." Truth is, I bet its a lot like us who live in Indiana full time. Once you've seen one snow or one farm, you've seen them all. I think most Floridians breeze past the beauty now if they've lived here long enough. They don't see it like we Midwesterner's do. We take note of it all because it is so very different from what we have in our neck of the woods. Stunning is too mild of a word. Magnificent is more like it.
And yes, those do appear to be teeney, tiny, little, itty, bitty snails on the yellow flowers above. Funny thing is, I never saw them when I was shooting the shot. It wasn't until I went back thru the images on my computer that I noticed them on the petals in the upper right hand corner. The joys of a macro lens on a camera...Again...you see things you never saw before when behind the lens.
For now, we are headed out to lunch and to spend the day roaming before my Mom's flight comes in this evening. I hope each of you enjoy your Sunday. Make it a challenge to yourself to find as much color in front of your eyes today as possible. Take it all in and savor it. Color is a good thang'! Be back tomorrow with more images...
Hugs, Angie
PS...Regarding photography, I've had an over abundance of emails lately requesting for me to offer a photography topic for those wanting to learn more about cameras and photography in general. I've toyed around with the idea recently and would love to put together a forum of some sort and possibly offer a class to those wanting to participate. If this is something you might be interested in, please email me, facebook me, hit me up on twitter, etc. If we end up having enough interest, I'll put some plans in place. I'm no pro in the photography realm by any stretch of the means but I truly believe that it isn't the camera that takes the picture, it's the photographer. With a little help/guidance and a bit of know how and knowledge behind a lens, any one of us can take good pictures - no matter what kind of camera you might have. :)
Well, in just a few short hours...we'll be taking flight again - just like my beach B/F/F above. I'm way behind on emails - with blogging - with my to do list - with pretty much everything. However, I'm getting there. I have had a ton of emails come in since posting our kitchen pictures in regards to decorating and such. I promise I am answering them. I'm making my way thru each one and you WILL here back from me. It's just taking me a bit longer than normal with all that is on my plate this week. I'm currently in the process of packing and can't talk long. I did want to update quickly though before we head out. We depart at 7am sharp tomorrow morning from Indianapolis International Airport. Where we headed? You guessed it! Back to Bonita Beach/Naples. We will only be gone from Thursday thru Sunday for a quick Mothers Day weekend get-a-way with our kiddo's and another couple friend of ours. Remember the family we went to Gatlinburg with last October? Yeap...this family (shown with Brent and Kenidi below)...
Joe, Tamara, and their son Derek are who we will be sugaring our toes with over the next 4 days and we couldn't be more excited about it.
If you have followed the blog long enough, you'll know that Joe and Tamara's son (Derek) is Brennen's best friend from his old school. We've cruised with their family before thru the Caribbean and toured Gatlinburg with them last year. Now they'll be coming down and spending Mother's Day weekend with us in 'Angie and Brent territory' (Bonita Springs/Naples). We are thrilled to be vacationing with them again and the boys are beyond excited. I am NOT excited about the fact that I have to be up at 3:30am though in order to make it to the airport by 5:30am tomorrow morning. I'm also not thrilled that it will once again be raining as we fly. You guys know how much I detest crummy weather when I'm in the skies. Please pray for smooth travels for us, will ya?
We should touch down in Southwest Florida by 9:20am tomorrow morning and have all day to soak up the rays, stuff ourselves beyond recognition with surf and turf over the weekend, and embark on a sunset cruise Friday evening. The weather man is calling for 90 degree weather the entire time we are in town and I couldn't be more thrilled. The hotter the better. :)
We'll return from Bonita Sunday evening and will then be back home in Indy for two weeks before heading back to Bonita/Naples for the summer on May 29th. Needless to say, with only two weeks in between, those few days are going to be quite chaotic. We also have end of the year school festivities to tend to during that time with Brennen and Kenidi's school. I cannot believe that Brennen will be a big, bad, 5th grader in a couple of weeks and that our little baby girl will be in 1st grade. Where has this year gone, eh?
In the meantime, I'm off to soak up the Mothers Day weekend the best way I know how and that would be by the beach with great friends and with my beach B/F/F's (shown above) of course. How did our Moms react to us being away on Mothers Day weekend you ask? Well...they were very supportive! Brent planned this weekend without realizing it was Mothers Day initially. He didn't consult with his secretary (a.k.a me - his wife) about it ahead of time and therefore didn't realize the significance in the date. In the end though, it all worked out and we are very glad that we have understanding Mothers. (three of them actually...his mom, my mom, and my step-mom) If they weren't, his little goof up could've been a disaster. Ha ha!
I hope to blog while I'm away as normal. If not, I promise to have pictures come Monday once we return. Pinky swear! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL OF YOU FANTASTIC MOMS!
Well, first off...I MUST, MUST, MUST start off by telling all of you thank you so very much for your incredible compliments regarding our kitchen/home in the post below. I was overwhelmed at the amount of blog comments, private emails, new facebook and twitter friends, etc. that came in off of Kelly's "Show us your home" blog tour. You guys are beyond sweet and paid way too many undeserving compliments on things like my decorating and such. I love all of the new "friends" I've met off this post. Kelly's blog alone drove over 1000 new hits to my site in a day and over the past 3 days is just unbelievable. I must thank Kelly herself for the fun and for getting this blog tour going. She'll be featuring different rooms in the home in the coming weeks. She has announced that this coming Friday will be 'living rooms.' I hope to try and participate in that one as well even though I'll be out of town. I might try to schedule an update to automatically post for that event while I'm away.
I also have to thank fellow bloggers such as Edie (life in grace), Rhoda, (Southern Hospitality), and Susie Harris (Bienvenue) for their sweet comments and compliments on my blog as well. They along with Kelly drove more traffic to my blog. When I saw their comments come thru, I about fainted. Literally. Yes, I was blog star struck! Along with Kelly herself, these three women are like true celebrities in the blog world. Talk about talent...these women combined have more talent in their pinky fingers than I would in my entire lifetime. They are amazing at decorating and crafting. Fierce forces to be reckoned with! You women made my day with all of your visits and your compliments. I'm so thankful to have had you here and am officially stalking each of you. Ha ha! And Susie Harris, Yes...I'd be honored to be a guest blogger for your blog girl. What a privilege that would be. Anytime sista' - anytime. You just say the word! For now, I must pick myself up off the floor and refrain from looking and acting like such a "groupie" for all of these amazing women. They are going to end up filing restraining orders against me eventually - you watch. Wink wink! ;)
So tonight...I wanted to share these images of some of my glass bottles within our home. I had several of you email me within the last few days asking me about my love for glass vintage bottles. (mentioned in one of my posts below) A few of you were wondering what I meant by "vintage glass bottles" and asked for me to share pictures of a few of them. Not a problem!
These are a few of my favorite bottles because they house some of the best beach accessories on top of them. Each bottle was an older bottle that carries a story with it. I love the shell, starfish, and sand dollar that are housed on these. They are the epitome' of my love for the beach. The shell bottle even has some sand inside it. You can no longer open these bottles because they are sealed closed with the toppers on the caps. They are made more for looks and to accessorize with.
I keep this particular trio of bottles on our hearth room mantle - just above our fireplace. They go best in here because of their coloring and because of the other beach related items I have in this particular room. Oh...and have I mentioned how much I love my 50mm 1.4 lens when photographing still images such as these? LLUURRVVVEEE it! The sharp, crisp, image that it produces is just amazing. Not to mention the "bokeh!" Don't even get me started on the bokeh it produces. WHEW WEE! I believe I've died and gone to heaven.
On other related notes, Kenidi got the clear from her pediatrician today to fly this week. As most of you know, we are flying out Thursday morning and I was fearful that her ears wouldn't be clear enough in time to put her on that flight. Thankfully the doc thinks that she is good to go. I had him check Brennen's ears though because he has a deep chest cough going on and oddly enough, his left ear was inflamed they said. He told me to give him some sudafed and mucinex in hopes of drying up anything that is trying to transpire in there before we leave. Please keep him in your prayers for a painless flight. He says that his ears are fine and haven't bothered him one bit. I'm hopeful that it is the tail end of something he never even realized was there.
Secondly, I just have to send a HUGE congratulations out to Kenidi's teacher, Mrs. Alison, on the birth of her new baby girl. Ironically, she had her baby on Brent's birthday - April 28th. She wasn't due until the end of May but apparently she decided to come early. Brent is pretty stoked that she made her grand appearance on his birthday. I think his words were something like..."Important people are born on important days like April 28th." Ha ha! We are so excited for her teacher and their family. Baby and Mom are home and resting well after a long labor that ultimately lead to a c-section. Both are perfectly healthy though. What a praise! And let me just tell you that she is STUNNING! I can't wait to pass off a little something from Kenidi to her. You know...one diva to anotha'! Ha ha! CONGRATS Alison!
It's currently 6:05pm here in Indiana and I must sign off for now. I've got suitcases to pull out and begin stuffing. You know I'm good at the stuffing part. Just ask the baggage claim guys who pick up our suitcases and put them on/off the planes. I'm way behind on my to-do list after a fun weekend spent with Brent and the kids this past weekend. Until the next update...enjoy your Monday evening. We'll be routing for Melissa to dance on Dancing with the stars tonight. How about you? Poor thing - fractured ribs - that has to be painful! I'm pulling for her to win the whole thing so I sure hope she can overcome! xoxoxo, Angie
Boy...I sure haven't had a whole lot to blog about lately. I feel like a broken record. Photography, photography, photography. I guess this new course really has it's hold on me. I love that though. I am meeting some wonderful new friends across the country and abroad in places like Australia, Canada, etc., and it's incredible because we all share the same passion. It's so fun to have them critique shots for me and for me to see their work - which is amazing I might add. With that said, it's Friday and I'm just checking in with all of you AGD followers. Nothing much to report. Well, maybe other than the fact that we found out Kenidi is anemic and I'm having a heck of a time getting the iron supplements down her. Can you blame her though? If anyone has any clever suggestions, hit me up, will ya? Her hemoglobin level was 10 (should be between 12-15 I guess) and her ferritin levels were 2.9 - they should be between 150-300. Can you believe that? 2.9? They seem to think it is because she drinks so much chocolate milk. Therefore, I'm having to wean her off it because that is really all she drinks throughout the course of the day. Who would've guessed that milk can "induce" anemia. I swear I learn something new everyday.
On a fun note, I got some tweets (a.k.a. twitter)/facebook/emails from a couple of you this week alerting me that JoAnn's had some new beach items in stock. And...drum roll please...it was all 40-50% off. I love a bargain. So...I mosied that way and found some new accessories for the house. Thus, the photos above and below. I was practicing some shots with one of my camera lenses (50mm 1.4 Nikon lens) and incorporating using my speed flash with it. Therefore, I opted to take some still shots of my JoAnn's loot. The above is a basket with just some nautical style balls in it. The shot below is of some glass bottles that I fell in love with. I have a thing for old, vintage, glass bottles. Although these weren't vintage, they matched the colors in our great room perfectly. And for $3.99 - who could pass them up?
It's still raining here in Indy. Yeap, a week straight of rain. Gotta' love it. With that said, aside from the photography course, I've been reading a ton. I jumped up and down with glee as I was checking out at the grocery the other night and found this new release of a LIFE book on Jackie Kennedy. All of you know that she rates right up there with Audrey (Hepburn) for me. I love them both. Such class, such grace, such style. Thought I'd let you guys know this new copy is out there in case any of you are interested in purchasing it for a coffee table book or something. Like I said, I got mine in the check out line at the grocery. I'm sure they are available anywhere. It houses amazing pictures of her and her life.
So again...not a whole heck of a lot going on. Pretty mundane actually. Next week will prove to be much more exciting. I'm sure of it. We have a pretty low key weekend here starting this evening. Brennen has a friend over right now. Kenidi is sound asleep on my lap - recouping from her sicklies this week and I'm enjoying the free time on the computer while I await Brent to get home from the office. The kids have a school flex day on Monday (snow day that was never used) so they get a three day weekend this weekend and we are all super pumped about that. They will be missing the latter end of school next week (Thursday and Friday) so they really only have a 2 day week next week. More on why they are missing school to come. Or should I say pictures to come. Ha ha!
For now, I'm off to finish some editing as well as to tackle getting some AGD orders ready for Karen. I hope all of you have a superb weekend and that sun shines where you are...cuz' gawsh knows it won't be shining here in Indy anytime soon. Wink wink! ;) I think Mother nature has it out for us Hoosiers this year. All that snow - now all this constant rain. BLEEECCKKK! Soak up the rays for me should Mr. Sunshine show his face in your neck of the woods, will ya?
Guess what? Yeap, a whole bunch of randomness again. Two days in a row, eh? I know you guys can tell that I'm just bustin' to be outside. Today it reached almost 80 degrees here in Indy. So...after a very exciting business meeting I had with Brent and a soon to be introduced person/organization, I left bee boppin' out the door today for another photo shoot before the kids got off the bus. I drove around in my car, killing time, and scoping out pretty things to snap shots of. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted these tulips at the entrance of a neighborhood near ours. I did a hard left - then a u turn - and ran back to the spot where I'd seen them. After pulling over on the side of the road and parking up the street, I hoofed my way back to these beauties and captured these shots...
It was smack dab in the middle of the day so there was tons of harsh sunshine hitting my lens which then equals tons of shadows - ugly shadows. However, I just couldn't quit snapping away. Shadows or not, I was embracing the sun.
Love how this little guy (see below) had a streak of red growing inside of it. Nothing like standing out - having an "out of the box" look. Why be normal? Dare to be different as I like to say. Ha ha! Too fun!
(To see more pretty tulip shots, go to my friend NATALIE'S blog. She does Iphoto friday and has a great collection of images going there too. Also, my blog friend, Beki, does Fingerprint Friday each week and thought the flowers would be a good depiction of God's fingerprints this week. Go check her blog out to see lots of other cool photos of peoples ideas of finerprints from God.)
Then, yesterday Brennen had some tutoring at a teachers house in a neighborhood close to ours. As I dropped him off, I saw this stunning little park area inside the center of their sub-division. What did I do? I dropped him off at the session, ran back to the house and grabbed my camera, then took Kenidi back there so we could kill some time while waiting on Brennen. There was an area above my head that was screaming to be photographed at one point. The sun flare was amazing. I just had to capture it. Also, see those lines and angles again? Yeap, love love love them!
In the little park area of their sub-division, I found these brightly colored adirondack chairs that immediately propelled me to somewhere else. Somewhere like Bonita Beach maybe. Ha ha! They were all different colors and just screamed to be photographed. Again, this was smack dab in the middle of the afternoon so there are horrible shadows everywhere (even with my lens adorning its lens hood). However, I couldn't pass them up. Someday soon I plan to go back on a more overcast day and grab some REAL shots of these again.
I'd love to capture a shot similar to this one below on an overcast day and then have it made into a big canvas for our house (minus the shadows). I think it would go great with the beach theme.
These colors are just amazing, aren't they? Sooooooo yummy!
Speaking of Bonita Beach, I snapped these shots (shown below) while there a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to share them with each of you. Ya'll know how much I love my palm trees, right? Well...because of that...I just thought I'd post these here and share. I got a polarizer & some step rings for my camera lenses recently so I can't wait to go back and try them out against the blue skies at the beach in a couple of weeks. They will really help to make shots of the sky like these POP!
Why can't we have palm trees in Indiana? It's so not fair!
And just for fun, I thought I'd post this very candid shot of Kenidi (below) talking to me yesterday while in that sub-division playing in their park. She had me cracking up. She has become really animated with her hands and arms lately as she is trying to verbalize. This was a great depiction of what she looks like when communicating these days. One of her aides sent home a note from school yesterday letting me know how she has made HUGE progress in her gross motor skills since last Fall. I would totally agree. Kenidi has come a long way since enrolling her in their new school back in August. And although I, as her Mom, am totally struggling and missing her REAL teacher (Mrs. Alison) because she left on maternity leave a couple of weeks ago (as she awaits the birth of her first child) and won't return until next January, I still know that Kenidi is in great hands with the aides in her classroom. Did I have a big ol, sobbing baby, cry in the shower the morning her teacher called to tell me? Yes...I sure did. She called me at 7:15am the morning we were set to fly out for our Spring break vacation. Our flight was leaving that morning and she called before we left for the airport to tell us. After I hung up with her, the tears began to flow and I ran straight into the bathroom where Brent was getting ready and just cried like a two year old. We were both extremely sad and were very heart sick in the pit of our stomachs that she was leaving so soon. We always knew she'd miss the last couple of weeks of school due to her pregnancy but now she was not only leaving sooner than planned, but she also wouldn't return until the 2nd semester of next years school year. Like I told Alison, I feel like I've lost an appendage. (nothing like making her feel bad, eh?) Like someone has cut off my arm or something. We miss her dearly! However, I know that she needs this time away in preparation for her new little one. I'm glad that she has the opportunity to be a stay at home Mom as she welcomes her first child. The real test will be whether she will EVER come back though after having that new little baby at home by her side for almost a year straight. I must confess that for my own selfish reasons, I'm so worried that she'll decide to quit her job and become a full time Mommy at home with her new baby. Thus meaning that we'll never have the opportunity to have her in our lives again. I pray that if that should that happen, I'll have the maturity level to not throw myself down on he floor, kicking and screaming, and begging for her to change her mind like a mad woman. I can almost promise that it won't be a pretty sight if it does come up so get ready and be prepared Alison. Ha ha! We love and miss ya tons girl!
Where are you Mrs. Alison? I miss you! Love, Kenidi
PS...A ginormous thank you to all of you caring and oh so loving souls who've emailed me about my new friend, Mr. Migraine. Your concerns and caring spirits never cease to amaze me. I didn't discuss it much here on the ol' blog because I'd been --- well...very frustrated and in total irritation of it all. After not having had to go to a doctor for basically 33 years of my life, I've now seen the inside of an Emergency Room twice in the past 60 days. (the heart related issue and then the head problem) After a week and a half of a severe migraine - nonstop I might add - which I've never had before - along with my eyelid suddenly swelling and then drooping/dropping on a whim due to the migraine, the doctors then thinking it was a massive cluster headache following a healthy CT scan, etc., I'm happy to report that I believe the miracle drug, prednisone, is now working. I hate to speak to soon or jinx myself but for the first time today in 11 days, I'm not feeling the pain as I had before. And although the prednisone prescription threw my heart into a very unexpected and not so fun synus tachycardia rhythm (heart palpitations with the rapid pulse and extra beats) which had to be addressed, I'm glad that I'm at least feeling some relief now from Mr. Migraine. For those of you who suffer from migraines, I feel so bad for you. I've never experienced anything like this and was totally down and out about all of the doctor visits I'd been having. I just couldn't fathom how I could be healthy for 33 years and never have to go to a doctor - to now all of a sudden having to endure multiple doc visits, ER trips, CT scans, heart testing, blood work, and so on. In my own personal rolodex I now have every doctor you can think of at the touch of a speed dial. Cardiologists, Neurologists, family doctors, and so on. Not only that but my measly one medication (birth control) that was the only pill I've ever had to take, has now grown to a full fledged drug house with 6 new bottles of pills. If someone came into my bathroom right now, they'd probably swear I was freak if they saw the amount of prescription bottles living on my counter. It's depressing beings that I'm not a pill girl and don't like to take medicine as it is. I've not handled it well at all. Let's just leave it at that! I've been mad, ticked off, frustrated, in wonderment, confused, stressed, worried, tired, and every other emotion under the sun. Oh and might I add that at the same time all this is going on, I also ended up at the dermatologist with two skin spots that popped up on my chest after our vacation which now have to be monitored and watched over the next two months. If they aren't gone before we head South again next month, they'll have to be removed and biopsied. Although my dermatologist feels that they don't look like anything to worry about at the moment, of course it is hard not to worry. I'm praying and trucking on like normal - knowing that God is in control. Oh and before I get the sunscreen lecture from my friends out there who want to harp on me about lathering up in protection, my dermatologist tells me that this isn't suncreen/sun related. We had a long talk about my love for the sun and believe it or not, he assured me that in his opionion, I was ok to keep soaking up the sun like I always have - even without sunscreen. Yes...I was shocked to hear him say it too. However, he thinks (his opinion only) that sunscreen will not keep you from getting skin cancer. He believes it will help slow your aging process due to sun damage but he said if you are going to get skin cancer, you are gonna' get it with or without the sunscreen in the end. He asked me if I'd rather age with my age or stay indoors with sunscreen on all the time and have the rest of my body look like my butt (no joke - these were his exact words) and then end up with osteoporosis when older from my bones being so frail due to lack of vitamin D. (sun) He told me it was my choice. He is a direct guy - very dry in personality - but I love how he tells me like it is. So...in the next few weeks, will you just be praying that my health gets back into "normal" gear and that I can stop having to worry about these issues? I'm using up a ton of my prayer quota with regards to the big man upstairs in the last 3 months of this 33rd birth year of mine. Guess I'm making up for all of the other years when I wasn't swinging my way in and out of ER hospital doors. I'm sure the good Lord above is about ready to cancel my membership up there if I continue to keep being so needy. HA HA! Nevah! I know better than that. Again...I can't thank all of you enough for your undying support and caring hearts. It means more to me than you'll ever know.
