Photographer, I am not

So I am coming to a quick conclusion that photographing two kiddos is infinitely more difficult than one. Especially since the once good-natured natural model has also decided to be a pain in the rear.

As an attempt to be more frugal.....I am attempting to take my own photos. I first had to convince Mike that in order to be more frugal, I had to buy Photoshop Elements 8. (I knew I had no shot of the full photoshop, and I am intimidated enough by elements)

So, I have been playing. And learning, and playing, and learning. I keep hoping at some point, it gets easier.....right?

Okay - so sunny days with a fence = bad idea.


Another bad idea? Going without a helper that was an adult to help the almost sitter...




And then, realizing your skill is AMAZING at getting grass in focus... (but not the kids).....



And then having an elderly couple come take a picture of all three of you that puts your pictures to shame (I LOVE Jaina's little house on the prairie look here).....


But finally, a little success. I love this picture, and with a little editing advice from many blogs, it looks kind of okay....

But I think this is one of the times that I need to relish in the little things, because someday I will realize they were the big things...

Have a great day!

Slippers!

Have I ever mentioned that my mom rocks? Actually, she knits, but she rocks my socks off.

In fact, she frequently rocks my socks off into her very own felted slippers.

Since she started making slippers about six years ago (I had my first pair at the hospital when I was in labor with Jaina), and she hasn't stopped. We all (minus Jackson) have slippers. They are a slice of heaven....

And now she has moved on to a new pattern, so hey, new slippers for me! I love the gig of being the guinea pig.

I always know that fall is coming when I get cold enough to wear my slippers.... I love fall.

These particular pictures were a photo "shoot" that we did of my mom's slippers, so she could sell some online.... Don't they look delightful?



Anyway, I don't have much else to report... Jackson is learning to roll where he needs to go, and is almost sitting up.





And Jaina likes the slippers too. We had to add her to the photo shoot.....

Jackson Davis

As promised, here are some pictures of the boy.... (Let's hear it for the boy!)

More after a bit... I have to get my tiny dancer :)

Blue

I would like to take a moment to introduce you to the new man in my life......


This is Jackson Davis Groen. You can also call him JD, Jack, or plain Jackson. I like all of them, and haven't settled on the nickname I like the best.

Jackson joined us on March 31, 2010, about six days earlier than any of us planned. Jackson was stubborn from the beginning, refusing to turn head down to come out naturally, so, a scheduled c-section was planned for April 6.  This suited me just fine, because April 6 was well into April..... diamond month......

Although I am now convinced that Jackson and his father had a deal. He decided to become an aquamarine. If this is any indication of his future personality, I may be in trouble. Early in the morning sometime on March 31, my water broke. I am not sure when, I just know I woke up feeling...... funky. And realized either my water broke, or I could NOT stop going to the bathroom. (oddly enough, his cousin Eli did the EXACT.SAME.THING)

So I woke Mike up with something like, "Hey, my water broke." And he said "Seriously?"  (Another funny tidbit: on December 21, 2009, Sara said "Hey, my water broke." and Justin said "Seriously?" - they must be brothers)

Anyway, back to the story. We high tailed it up to Sioux Falls, and since he was breech, and now there was no fluid, c-section was the solution. So at 8:18, Jackson came into the world.

Some other fun factoids:

• Jackson is the first male born on my mother's side since the birth of my grandfather (an only child), some 90 years ago. To say he has become somewhat famous is an understatement. 
• I thought I was having a girl (which would hold true, because with Jaina, I would have bet my house we were having a boy.)
• When naming him Jackson Davis, I had no idea that JD was also tied to the Dukes of Hazard. Seriously, might not have done that had I known. So, when asked, I now answer "I guess it was time for the General Lee to win one..... "

From this point, now you will get to read about BOTH of my kids. And I will hopefully have some recollections of every thing they tell me... Have fun!

**So the blogger won't let me add pictures... so I will add more later :)

Long Time.. No blog

Yes, I realize it has been a tremendously long time. I really have no excuse. The main reason is I decided that I was going on strike from blogging..... not sure why. Seemed like something everyone was doing, so immediately, that meant I had to stop......

But then I started reading some of the FABULOUS blogs out there, and thought, this blog deserves another chance. So here goes nothing....

Before I get too far, I had better give you an update as to what we have been up to so far since April 2009......

Let's see...

August 2009... Jaina turns 5....
and starts Transitional Kindergarten with Mrs. Groen :)























Fall 2009.... Jaina moves into her new bedroom downstairs (and yes, it is this messy all of the time)


To make room for this......

December 2009.. got an early Christmas gift from my Brother and Sister in Law.....

We call him Eli......













In March 2010 (March 31, 2010 to be exact..) We got an early Easter present...

This is Jackson Davis Groen

In August 2010.. Jaina turned 6, and started Kindergarten

This is pretty much the only expression I can get out of her these days. It is a little annoying and frustrating all at once.

And then, Jaina lost her first tooth.... right before school pictures. (Which, oddly enough i didn't take any pictures of.) But the tooth fairy came, and paid her $2 for her tooth (inflation is on the rise.)

So, that brings us to today, September 28. I worked from Home this morning.... and am taking the afternoon off to take Jackson to his six month appointment. I hope to post more later, but really should do some cleaning first...

Yuck, Yuck, Yuckity Yuck

If I average once every sixty days, I am doing pretty well. :)

This has been a LONG week. We were stuck with influenza at the Groen house. Not a fun time.

Last weekend, we started to notice that Jaina was getting a cough. Not really a big deal to us, as this tends to happen this time of year, especially in our neck of the woods, when the weather can't decide if it is spring or winter.....

But on Sunday afternoon, she started running a high fever. We gave her some Tylenol, but, to quote her, she just "wasn't feeling 100% mom." We put her to bed, and called grandma with a back up plan for Monday.

On Monday, she woke up, and she was burning. Mike decided that she should go to the doctor, and I couldn't disagree. After a short game of rock, paper, scissors, I got to go. After making arrangements at work, I got Jaina and myself ready, and off we went to Sioux Falls to see Dr. Broderson.

Jaina's primary concern was whether or not she was going to have to get a shot. My main concern was the horrible influenza test (if you have never had one, please try to avoid it.) But, she popped up positive for Influenza A. FANTASTIC! When the doctor found out, she came in the room singing about it. Not impressive......

So, home we went, with two prescriptions for Jaina, and two for Mike and myself. But we also got the coolest thermometer. It goes in the ear, and depending on your temp, it changes color. The bad news, is Jaina's was on red most of the day. :(

Our new toy ( I apologize for the blurriness, but it wouldn't get the color if I had the flash on, and i couldn't get still enough for a good shot)......

Jaina's temp....

My temp.......

But it gets better. On Tuesday, Mike started to feel it, and his temp started to go into the yellow region. So he stayed home on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, Jaina's doctor called to let us know that the 48 hour strep test (that was negative on Monday) came back positive. FANTASTIC! So I went and got another prescription.

But, it is now Friday. Everyone, I think, is back on the mend. Jaina's fever has been down for four days now (but we kept her out of school until Thursday,), and Mike is finally feeling good enough to sleep upstairs, instead of coughing all night in my ear....

Nonetheless, I have subjected us to a weekend of quarantine. Get out the bleach!

And come on, nice weather, let's get rid of these bugs!

Jaina-isms

I apologize for the delay.........

It has been crazy, and Christmas, and January, and frankly, I just get tired.

But Jaina just says the funniest things....

I have to admit, her being an only child is probably what does it. She tries to interject herself into adult conversations, convinced that she knows exactly what is going on.....

Here are some examples....

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Daddy dearest?

One night, before I got home from work, Jaina was asking her father, "Daddy, someday, when I am older, will I get to become a mom?"

to which Mike replied, "Yes, someday when you are a LOT older, you can become a mom. And then I get to be a grandpa."

At this, Jaina broke down. She went into hysterics, and couldn't control herself. This is when I got home from work. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, "Mom, I want to be a big sister."

"Um, okay..." Was my reply, with a confused look at Mike. What had they been discussing?

Mike explained the whole conversation, to which Jaina started crying again.

I said, "Jaina, Daddy will always be your dad, no matter what..."

And she said, "But he can't be a grandpa. Because I would miss my daddy."

It made my heart melt. And then she made me promise to never become a sister, aunt, or grandma. So Alayna, Baby Hegwood, and Leo, we will have to keep that a secret, okay?

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Jaina's Bailout?

Last week, before the inauguration, Jaina and I were getting ready in the morning, and the CBS early show came on. They started discussing the inauguration, and Obama's new bailout plan.

this is when Jaina decided to be all adult. "Mom," she started,"The president needs a lot of money."

"Oh Jaina," I replied, "You have no idea."

"Well," she started, "I have 65 I could give him."

"Jaina, honey, he needs closer to $65 trillion."

She looked at me and said, "Mom, I don't have that much."

I looked at her and said, "No one does, honey."

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The True location of Jesus, revealed...

We went to a late Christmas program after the new year. (Due to inclement weather, it couldn't be held before Christmas).

During the program, Jaina whispered, "Mom, who is in that basket up there?" (She was pointing to the manger, by the way.)

I said "Jaina, that is the baby Jesus."

And her reply "Mom, Jesus is not in there, he is in our hearts." "Duh."

Okay, I got it......

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And lately, she makes up the weirdest analogies..... I have no idea where they come from. Here is a sampling:

• I’m stuffed like a chicken
• My horse is as hungry as a rat
• I am colder than a bunny’s nose; AND
• Our personal favorite: I'm so upset, I'm like a kangaroo hopping mad

Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.