Picture for Heidi .  You requested a wide angle showing Tori next to an adult.  There you go.  Not sure that really helps too much.

 I see so much of my mom in my daughter.  Mom called to tell me that she walks with her hands behind her back all the time to and once she said, I realized she was right. 

Above:  Jenna

Today I had a stomach flu relapse.  What is with this flu that gives you a 36 hour break and then hits again?  Didn’t get a thing done.  Did read a parenting book that was awesome though.  I’ll share thoughts on that with you later.  Need to keep this brief tonight.

One funny though before I forget.  This afternoon I asked Ty to sneak into Tori’s room and check on her and see if she had awoken from her nap yet.  I asked him to do this quietly so as not to wake her up if she was still sleeping.  I figured that was a reckless idea on my part.  A moment later I hear Ty’s happy little voice “Hi Tori!”.  He then comes running down the hall moving on to his next activity and I holler out to him “Ty is she awake?”.  His answer was so Ty.  “She iiiiiisssss nnnnoooowwww!”  LOL. 

 Tori really wanted this doll to stay sitting up.  You will notice in the next picture that she was getting pretty angry that Annie kept falling down. 

Tomorrow more of Ryker…maybe.    My Easter painting comes in on FRIDAY woohooo!  Can’t wait! 

I was inspired by a cute picture this week and am hoping to have time to add my own flare to it.  When I saw it, it made me think of all the times I would have liked to hang my boys by their toes.    Probably won’t get to it until next week but hoping it will be cute…or funny at least. 

Recently, a client pitched the above idea to me.  She had seen it somewhere and thought it adorable.  I thought I would test drive it on Ryker (aka Roo).  I am only showing two pictures of R. because Jodi has seen these two.  Her book is due in by Wedish and I am not posting anymore til she has seen the book.

Ryker’s eyes are so much like Karsyn’s.  Ryker’s umbilical chord has still not been severed from mommy.  I had a HECK of a time getting any eye contact out of him because he only had eyes for Mama and if she would leave the room it was a full scale panic attack.  With little ones you have to appreciate their agenda.  The precious thing was, Jodi and I will both look at all these and know exactly where his adoring eyes were directed.  That will always bring a smile to mom’s face.

Now here is a picture that was headed for the trash pile because of the blown highlights but I couldn’t do it.  The look on Tori’s face was too precious and in some ways, it was emphasized all the more by washing Ryker’s out.  The two of them bumped up right against my softbox thus Ryker’s highlights were blown sky high.  Tori is looking at Aunt Jodi  and her expression seems to question ”is he allowed to do this?”  (All the while she is puckering too .

Let’s see what else….

I enjoyed the photo below because Tori walks around with her hands behind her back all the time so this was a cute memory capture.  Notice all the wrinkles in my grey background?  My nephew tackled it first thing.  Such a boy.  Took one look at the brand new paper and literally dove into it.  More than once.  Shaking my head. 

Tonight I was giggling at Tori because she learned she could grab Tanner’s hand and drag him anywhere she wanted like her puppy on a leash.  Tanner was more than happy to comply with her.  She has him totally wrapped.

Zane, Tanner, Zandi, Karsyn, and Ty

A couple of weeks ago, these five munchkins were at Papa and Sweetie’s.  Zandi didn’t bring her jammas and was fussing to Papa about it.  Papa saved the day by loaning her one of his big t-shirts.  30 seconds later Karsyn noticed.  She had to have one.  Then the domino effect.    I suspect a new tradition has started.  It has at our house.  Tanner has been asking for Daddy’s t-shirts at night and Ty too.

Everyone is feeling better today and Ty hasn’t come down with it yet.  In light of this weekend, the swine flu issue has both Jim and I a bit on the paranoid side.  Note to family members scheduled for Rocky Pointe – PLEASE DO NOT GO!!!!!

Wed – 4:30 PM – Tori wakes up and vomits everywhere

Thurs – Tori doing okay – no more vomit

Fri – Tori okay.  7:30 PM  Tanner starts throwing up.  Continues every hour for the next eight hours.  1:00 AM – I start.  3:00 AM  Tori starts and Jim is in the bathroom too.

It felt like a pandemic!  It was AWFUL!  At some points I felt a bit panicky because everytime I would have to help Tanner, I would be running for the bathroom to.  Getting up to help the kids made it worse for mom.  Tanner needs mommy right there – I mean RIGHT there – when he is sick.  When Tori started all over again when I was two hours in I was begging Jim to go clean up her crib.  He was sick too but he had not reached the advanced stage yet.  I broke into a bit of hysterical laughter when I was in the bathroom and could hear Jim moaning trying to clean up Tori.   You always wonder what you would do if everyone got the stomach flu at the same time.  I was very close to just sleeping in the bathtub with Tori because I was too sick to have to clean up after the baby and too sick to hold her to make sure the output was controlled.    During the early morning hours Jim put her in her playpen in the front room with me and she was furious.  She wanted me holding her and I was just too sick to do that.  She kept crying and then giving me her angry eyes over the top of the playpen rail.  It was bad!!!  I laid there praying for the mama’s in Africa and counted my blessings that I had clean water, a bed to sleep in and medical care (and parents willing to drop groceries off at the door).

Picture this scene.  Saturday morning.  I am laying on the couch.  Tanner is laying on the couch.  Jim is reclined in the chair.  Tori is sitting in the playpen completely dazed.  The tv isn’t even on.  We are all miserable not even wanting to talk.  Ty is sitting at the breakfast table eating.  First he let’s out this long happy little sigh – “Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”.  He follows that up with this:

“What a nice day at home!”

Jim and I stare at one in another in numb silence.  Then we crack up.   Needless to say, in our worst of moments, Jim and I will forevermore be sharing that line with one another.   Everyone needs a Ty.  I expect that even if he had been sick, he still would have said it.  He would have thought it wonderful that everyone was home, in the same room, and he got to sleep on the couch with the family.  In his mind, that is what a good day is made of and if the price to pay for it is a bit of vomit – well worth it.    Don’t you want to see the world the way that he does? 

We are all feeling better today but I suspect Ty isn’t out of the woods yet.  We shall see.  When Ryker had this flu he kept throwing up until Jodi put him on Soy.  Her Dr. told her that the flu strips all the lactose out of the body and that babies need a milk break for 2 to 3 weeks after the flu.  I wonder if that is why Tori started throwing up again on Friday?  I had just given her a milk bottle at bed.  I switched her to Vanilla Soy and so far so good.  I love that stuff myself.  I read that soy isn’t good for little girls though (I think), so I’ll switch her back in a couple of weeks.

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Have I ever written about how Sweetie got her name?  One of our close friends, Michelle, has a daughter named Jacquelyn.  When J. was three, my mom babysat her while Michelle worked.  Jim and I moved in with mom and dad during that time because our house was being built.  J. was adorable and still is.  She had this gorgeous red hair that made me hope for a red head even more (I was pregnant at the time).  Anyhow, it was J. that first started calling my mom Sweetie and the name stuck.  Here is Jacquelyn – is she an amazing beauty or what? 

Michelle’s parents celebrated a big anniversary this year so Michelle and her sisters decided to have some photo shoots done so that they could gift their parents with some large prints and a 12×12 album.  Thought I would share some pages of the book with you.

I did my homework on several different pro labs for book prints and was very happy with my final choice.  I had several priorities but one of which that was a MUST have was the ability to print panorama spreads well.  I like my workspace to be a rectange instead of a square - placing the picture over the hinge adds to the drama and makes the spread really cohesive I think.  Further, these books layflat so you can display them on a stand well.  I still haven’t printed a book for me yet and I am getting excited to do so. 

I had this bright idea that a feather pillow fight amongst sisters would be really cute for the book.   We learned the hard way that you can’t restuff four feather pillows in four feather pillow cases.  We used seven trashbags and it was a nightmare.  It was fun, memorable, and a good end to the book though. 

P.S.  Happy Birthday Kelly!

Sweetie couldn’t get over the eyes in the last post so I thought I would give a closer view for her Grandma. 

Yes – Papa was correct in his comments.  I did not post Thursday AM because I couldn’t get off the couch with my baby.  At 4:30 I went to pick her up from her nap.  As soon as she was in my arms she vomited all over me.  Several times.  I just stood there.  What can you do?  When she was finished I walked her to the shower fully dressed.  Liza later complimented me for my smart thinking.  She said usually people run for the bathroom and then leave a trail.  I didn’t deserve the affirmation because truth be told I couldn’t think fast enough and I just found myself standing there stunned.   She vomited a total of seven times in four hours and then quit.  She has a fever still and now it’s coming from the other end but at least she is happier.  So if I have random skips next week, you can probably just assume someone else has it and I am on 24/7 mom duty or sick myself. 

Noah cracked me up though.  Brooke was scheduled to bring the kids to my house around 4:30 because she was in desperate need of a date with her hubby (she is in her third trimester now you know).  I called mom and worked out a backup plan because I felt terrible calling her when she was ON the way to my house.  I got Noah on the phone.  Here is how our conversation went.

Me:  Hi Noah. Can I speak to your mommy?

N:  Is this Amy Roberts?

Me:  No. This is your Aunt Sissy.

N:  Sheepish giggle.  Uh can you call her on her cell phone?

Me:  Why?  Isn’t she home with you?

N:  Ya but she is in the car already. We are getting ready to go to your house.

Me:  Sweetie it’s really important that I talk to her before she leaves.  Can you just go get her?  (I was afraid if for some reason I couldn’t get her on the cell, she would end up at my quarantined house).

This was the cute part…

N:  Aunt Sissy is it okay if I leave you here in the kitchen a minute?

LOL.  I stayed “in the kitchen” all by myself until his mommy came in.  He is so funny.

I’ll give you several of Miss K to make up for yesterday now.

Check her out – always has a purse.  I should have processed a sucker back on that stick:).

What do you think of my dark grey background?  I think I really like it!  Just bought that one this week.