Bubba wants some love too!!

How does a kid get the name Bubba anyhow? Well it was the summer of '91 and this kid was HUGE!! As big as a house. We were spending the summer with them and I just started calling him Bubba because he was so big. A few years later the rolls disappeared but the name has stuck with him for 18 plus years. He wanted in on the shots, so I made them pose together, as my "couple". They were cute!

Since they did so good,I took a few individual shots so he could get some glory to. It was getting brighter and brighter as the sun came out and hard not to get blow-outs with the light and snow.

Thanks Bubba, you were a great sport! I have alot of work to do and much to learn but I had a great time and it was fun nonetheless!

Strike a pose!!

My niece was very nice to oblige to my request to get out in the cold and strike a pose for me. I got a new camera for Christmas and wanted to try it out. I really want some experience before this baby comes along of shooting people. We had aLOT of FUN!! The red outfit was my favorite and so I threw in a bunch of her in that one.

Yes!! I made her be a bride. I think the snow is so beautiful and elegant and is such

a nice back drop that I had to use what mother nature had to offer, after all, this California girl , hardley ever gets to be in the snow anymore!

Thanks Demski for being such a great model. You new your poses well! I had a lot of fun! Love ya!

Twas the Night before Christmas..............

So we got together with DH's family to have a nice dinner and do a gift exchange between all the cousins. Since Christmas gets a little crazy it was nice for them to open a gift (this year we decided to exchange books) before the presents start flowing in.

Grandma got a puppy that night and the kids were just in Awe! I mean look at how cute he is?? Who wouldn't want a puppy???

J kept asking for a puppy the rest of the night, I told him he is getting a baby brother. It's better than a puppy. I mean, Look!! You can put them in cages just like the puppies and they are cute and cuddly as well!

Lest you run out and call Child protective services, J wasn't really putting him into a cage, Baby "B" was already crawling into the cage, all the kids were as a matter of fact, it just looks like he's guilty with his hands on his legs.

Hope you all had a great Christmas Eve and Day!

Merry Christmas from Us!!

From our house to yours a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2009!

Belly Bump

These pictures are really icky, but I am trying to show the progression of the belly bump. Here is the first shots at 12 weeks.

Then I was supposed to be 16 here, but I forgot and at 17 weeks just told J to take a shot of me, so I would have something. You can tell it's at his height. LOL

And again, was supposed to be 20 weeks here, but we took them at 22 weeks. Finally starting to show something and not just look like a gut! LOL

It'll be here before I know it. I can't believe we're more than half way through!!

Survery Says!!

Well, I went to the Dr.'s today and got my third ultrasound. It's pretty conclusive now what we are having. I went and got some things together and decorated our entry way, so when they boys came home, they would see the surprise. J didn't quite get it for awhile but then he understood. This is what they saw on the door.

and this is what was in our entry way!!

just some close-up shots of what's on there.

The boys were right!! We're adding another boy to our household. Guess mommy gets to remain the only princess for now. We are all really excited, now we just need some helps with some names. Got any good suggestions???

A little too close to home

it's cropping my pictures and not showing all of it, probably because of the size, but I think you get the jist of it.

Nothing with flames, I was not one of those that chased the fire. I didn't want to get near it, but just a shot of what we were breathing in. Or, could have been.

Just a few pictures of what the fires were doing to our lungs. This is why we left our house. This is taken from my in laws home. We live 0n the opposite side of the hill from them about 5 miles down the road. It was all surreal.

Fires have broken out in our town overnight. Here is our side of the story, or what happened to us. Nothing compared to what others went through for sure. But it was still scary.

I got sick around Friday night, headcold and just miserable.Being six months pregnant, there's not really anything you can take. I tossed and turned all night trying to get some sort of rest. When Saturday came along, I planned on resting ALL DAY LONG!! J needed to get to ice skating lessons and so I told my hubby where he needed to go and what it entailed. We could see outside that there must be some fires, but didn't know quite right where they were. (Little did I know, I was sending my boys, right to the thick of it.) I tell him it's hardly crowded there, that you go right in and just tell them his name. He had called to ask me some of this info. When he (DH) pulls up, he calls me and tells me that our whole town is gathered at the ice skating rink. The fires are on top of the hill and everyone is in the parking lot observing what's happening. He goes inside, watches J's class which is 30 minutes and then gets in the car and drives 40 feet to the gas station that's right there because he needed gas, and calls me.

This is what I hear, " Sorry, I gotta go, I'm at the gas station and there are 50 ft flames. I gotta go get my credit card and get out of here."

Not something you want to tell your almost six months pregnant wife. I start to panic. I wait and wait because I realize that he needs to do his thing and give him some time so he can get out of there to safety. It seems like an eternity. Probably only 5 minutes max and I call back. He is stuck in traffic trying to get out of there (as is the WHOLE hill that lives on it) the mountain is on fire and now the gully to the left of him in on fire as well. 50 foot flames he says. They aren't going anywhere. They are at a stand still. As I tell him and he tells me at the same time, he's going on the other side of the street to get out of there. We are sure others will follow. I get in my car to head where he is at, and if needs be, he will abandon the car, grab our son, and meet me further on down this long, long road where he is stuck. He pulls a car move that only he would do (OK, probably others in his family would too- LOL) and gets out of the majority of it. We are talking on cells phones, I'm BAWLING, he's trying to stay calm, because J is getting pretty scared. He says where he is at, and we realize that we are going to pass each other soon, so I realize they are safe. We decide to meet at home, then rethink that and say his parents. And this point, you realize what it really means to have your family safe and not care about ANYTHING else there is.

I start to head home to grab a few things, in case it does make it to our house, photos, documents, albums etc, and call my good friend to see how her parents are doing as it looks like there is fire as well on there hill.

She says her parents are fine, and it's them that my have to leave soon. The fire has jumped the freeway and is on their side now. I had NO clue. As we talk for about two minutes, I hear four doorbells rings, and she says, hold on someone just rang our doorbell. and then says, "We gotta go, the fires just up our street. " Not something you want to hear a dear friend say. My heart sank again as we hung up. I waited awhile, again probably three minutes tried her cell back it went straight to voicemail and then called the house, she actually picked up!!

"Call me when you get out, so I know you are safe!"

Ok, she said and we hung up. It seemed like forever later, but I did get a call and they were at her grandma's.

There house turned out to be O.K. thanks for neighbors that stayed behind, and while it got close to ours, nothing was touched. We are so thankful to that.

Unfortunately for our friends, where Bradley sat on Friday night for a birthday party, it wasn't the same for them. Their apartments were hit and they lost everything. It was all just so surreal and at this time of year, it makes you sure grateful and thankful for the many things that you DO have. Next week, Thanksgiving, will definitely have a different "feel" to it. Just the fact that I breathe better today, than I did a few days back, makes me appreciate it so much more. Life in and of itself, its just something to be thankful for.

Nother Sono...... It's a BIRL!! no a GOY!!

I am going crazy and this child just laughs at me!!

Went into my Dr. today. I didn't want to go in so close to the other one, but the girl told me 18 1/2 weeks is perfect timing and so she squeezed me in today.
And well, the sono tech took these pictures. These three shots of the crotch are from the behind. Not as good as a machine as the hospital, but it almost makes it easier to see if it is the one gender she thinks it is.

Looks all girl to me, but what do I know??

She could only get from the butt to take these pictures. She likes to take from behind and then get the other side to confirm it. WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL , she couldn't get the other side. The baby would not cooperate. And she kept saying, there's something over like a blob of something and I just can't get the picture.
Here guess was 80% girl. Also the baby had its legs crossed and tight and wouldn't let us get another view. Another indicator she thought for a girl.
So after we are done, I show her the two pictures I shared here from the hospital. I show her the girl one first and said, "This is when she thought I was having a girl". She goes ,"Yep, just what I saw. " And then I show her the "boy" picture and she goes. "WHOA!!!" that sure is a pecker. " LOL
She said, well they have a better machine, and that sure looks like a penis. So I don't know what to tell you. That's weird. It looks like a boy from that shot. So now I don't even know what to think. I think these pictures look like a girl, but I'm not banking on 80% and because both of them thought there was "something" on the other side. This one today just couldn't get a good picture of the other side. I've come to the conclusion that I guess I'm having a birl.
Maybe it's a goy.

It's a.................well, we don't know for sure

We went to the hospital today to check a more thorough check and see if my cervix is closed and check the baby's stats. After all the routine checking and everything she tells me........"I think it's a girl." My response, " Yeah, that is what I have thought all along." And takes this picture. Though she doesn't like it because the cord is in the way and she couldn't not get the cord in shot.

I turn to Jackson and said, well, it looks like your going to have a sister.

His response, " Nope, I'm going to have a brother." and turns back to his movie. LOL

Not two minutes later she says, well wait a minute. I knew I thought something was over there. and then procedes to say, Yep! It's a boy. She calls in the other tech and she says, it looks like something is there. For about twenty minutes she looks and looks, let's me go to the bathroom and comes back and says, Yep it's a boy. So I tell her then I need a boy pic. If I'm having a boy, you took a girl shot, and I need a boy one, so she snaps this one.

We left the hospital and I was all sorts of confused. I was starting to think boy and go with it, and after sharing pictures with a few people, I concluded that it was a boy. Tho, I'm still not convinced. I will be going in for another check with my Dr.

Mickey's Trick or Treat

What a fun time we had. This is usually a past tradition that we have shared with Jack and his family. We were sad that they weren't with us this year, it just wasn't the same. I still tried to carry on the tradition, just me and the boy, since daddy had class. I'm glad that someone else wanted to go there. Here's some shots of our night. Oh, BTW, I'm Trixie. J's speed racer. Get it??? Not many people asked me, but I know they were wondering.

Yes, chocolate frosty already on his costume even before Trick or treating started.

The cool moms dress up with their kids. Uh, or, maybe we are the mom's that don't want to grow up??

Having a little tooo much fun. At almost 18 weeks pregnant, it's not good to dance around like that doing the chicken dance FYI. I got a little light headed afterwards.

Rice Krispy Makin Time!

I've been told that I'm the BEST rice krispy maker in the world. Well, I was, until I met my husband. Now, either they taste better went you don't have to make them, or he really does do something better than me. (shhh! don't tell him, he hardly ever comes here and so it'll be awhile until he knows.) Anyway, me and J made some today since I've been craving them oh so badly!! and just in case you don't know how to make these, or have forgotten, here's the way, not quite like" the pioneer woman", but pretty darn close. LOL

First you start with poppin a marshmellow in your mouth, just to get you in the mood:




Then you measure your marshmellows out. (4 cups of the miniature ones) and add it to your butter.

As the marshmellows and butter are in the bowl, get your cereal ready.


Once the marshmellows start to melt, you start measuring your cereal.

Add when your marshmellows look like this

That's when I add my cereal.








Mix it all up


and since these bad boys aren't going to be around long, no need to dirty a pan, just use some good ole' wax paper.

First you lick the spatula, don't want those to go to waste!!





Then you cut the squares up (or just pull them apart and spare another dirty dish-a mom's dream) and enjoy!




That's how you make some yummilicous rice krispy treats!!


And please, I know it's October and my son is in a fourth of july shirt with non matching orange shorts, but hey, he dressed himself and we have nowhere to go for the next few hours, so I'm gonna let it be.