Speedy LaRue meet Stinky LaRue....

So I just arrived in Cincinatti..well, Covington, KY actually... this was an interesting trip. Don't you just love the traveling adventures of Reb?

On the first plane, to Detroit, I sat next to Stinky LaRue. He reeked of booze and also took up half of my seat. I had to lean out into the aisle for the entire flight with my hand over my nose in the least obvious way possible. When I thought I had made it through alive and could see the end of the tunnel....well......he farted. I thought I might need the barf bag.

On my next flight, from Detroit to Dayton, I again sat next to a large person and spent the flight leaning into the aisle. Fortunately she did not stink. Well, actually she did put on a terribly noxious scented lotion before take off, but that faded fairly quickly. We were, however, sitting in the last row, next to the bathroom. After landing we had to wait for 20 minutes for a gate. It was at least 100 degrees in there, but I'm going to guess it was even hotter. Mmmmmmmmmm the whole plane smelled lovely.

Made it to the airport and got my rental car. I got a GPS this time since I had to drive well over an hour to my hotel....thank God because it was dark and a maze of interstates.

.....I was doing okay with Ms GPS guiding me. Unfortunately she didn't announce speed limits in addition to directions. I got pulled over on I-75 while I was in the left lane...being the clueless natural blonde that I am, I pulled over to the left...only to hear the police officer yelling over his intercom to pull to the right. Oh yes, I'm an idiot. Made my way across three lanes of traffic and stopped. When the officer came up to me he gave me a lecture about the risk of death when pulling to the left.... and I got a really nice ticket. He informed me that I can mail it in, unless I'd like to come back to Ohio for court. What a sweetie......

And here I am in the hotel room (no poop on the toilet this time, so no jacuzzi this trip) eating room service. Good night.

Zoo Day!!!

We went to the Milwaukee zoo yesterday and had a great day. It was a little too hot at 86 degrees, but the zoo was fairly deserted which made it much nicer. Both Libby and Amelia had a blast and were such great girls. Libby walked the entire time (it's a big zoo) and Amelia never cried (that's a treat). We were all exhausted by the time we got home. I jumped into proofing the photos from Friday's one-year-old session (several are on my Soul Reflection blog...I really like these) and worked on that until I started to fall asleep on the computer. I cruised through the session and finished them up this morning already. I brought some feather boas to the session and loved how they looked in photographs. I'll be using them a lot, I think! I have another session next Saturday and am really psyched for this one. Two beautiful girls of COMPLETELY different skin tones (both are adopted, one very blonde and the other African American). I get to do some at their home and then finish up out at a pumpkin patch. I am hoping that Chris will bring our girls out there, too, so I can catch up with them when I finish the session.
I am on the road three days this week..Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, but hopefully Thursday's will be on the motorcycle again if the weather is nice. The last two weeks I've visited the same place in Milwaukee and have been able to take Maxie the BMW :) Makes for a good day when you're paid to ride your bike for three hours!!!
I just discovered Amelia in by the dogs while they were eating. She came out with a mouth full of dog food. That's my girl...eating anything in sight.....

Yikes

Wow, I think this is the longest I've ever gone without updating the blog!! I've been B U S Y with work and photography. I did five mini sessions and one full session on Saturday, so whenever I haven't been working for my full time job I've been proofing photos. I have another session booked for Friday, and another the next week. I can't believe how busy it's become. I love it. There is a lot of new stuff on the photography blog.

Today I am in Detroit for a presentation, then heading back home this afternoon...then off to Milwaukee on Thursday.

Last night I had a dream that I was in a plane crash...nothing too bad, everyone survived, but wow...it was scary!! We took off and then lost control. Probably brought on by the very turbulent flights I've had lately. The last two have been like a bullride. I also dreamed last night that Libby broke her collarbone while I was gone on a trip. Mommy guilt, anyone?

We're headed to the Milwaukee Zoo on Saturday :) We haven't been there this year and I'm excited. I haven't even told the girls yet....or they wouldn't sleep until then.

My mom is getting married at the end of the month. Sounds like it's going to be a pretty drunken day...should be fun :) I'm standing up. The only time I've ever stood up in a wedding and it's for my mother...how funny is that? I just hope I get to wear a shiny teal dress with lots of pouf and sparkle...

I suppose I'd better dry my hair and get going for this meeting!

Monkey is two!!!

How can it be that Amelia is already two years old? Her birthday was yesterday....
A little less than two years ago I was SO uncomfortable and so excited to have our fourth baby girl (Rainey and Grace being the first two)...I was ginormous and very whale like. Really. See for yourself...








































Two years ago yesterday I was in a hospital room with Chris and a couple of very unfortunate nurses. My head was spinning, green smoke was billowing out of my ears, and unnatural and horrifying sounds were escaping from the depths of my soul. I was cursing myself for not getting the damned epidural. I was yelling at Chris to get the annoying nurse out of my room... unfortunately she stayed. There was a shot of pain medication (maybe a spinal?) immediately before the delivery began. After 27 hours of pushing, or at least what seemed like 27 hours, Amelia was born. She wasn't breathing well and was not crying, so I didn't get to hold her for about twenty minutes. When I finally got her I was elated and relieved...and waited until the nurses were out of the room to mention to Chris that she had an uncanny resemblance to a baby baboon. And I mean that in a good way, because really, what is cuter than a baby monkey???? See for yourself.















































Now my Monkey is a funny, smart, naughty, sassy, adorable two year old. She can sing the alphabet song, Twinkle Twinkle, the happy birthday song... She has a huge vocabulary which grows each day. She runs like Phoebe from 'Friends', and has started pre-school. Yesterday we had a party...which consisted of the four of us, my mom, Libby's fiancee, and his mother Dani. We played at the park and had a picnic, which was a blast and nice and low-key.

Things I Learned on my trip to Ohio

It has been a very enlightening trip today.... I'm sharing what I learned today in hopes that it will improve your life.

1. Brandy in the sippy cup keeps the kids asleep--good when you need to get up at 4:30am for a flight.

2. If you must fly into Detroit (God forbid) do it early in the morning on a clear and sunny day, preferably from the North. When the sun hits the ground it reflects brightly off of all of the cars' reflectors and makes an amazing display of amber, red, green, and blue. It's truly incredible. It looked a giant Lite Bright game. It is the only time I've seen Detroit look beautiful. Fortunately I remembered to take my seizure meds this morning...otherwise all of that flashing would have had me doing the crappy-flop. (that's crappy like the fish, pronounced 'croppy')

3. Spending more time on the tarmac in a hot plane than you do in the air totally sucks-ass....and it's harder than one might think to work "suck-ass" into five separate conversations in one day. Even when challenged to by antagonizing co-workers.....Mr Richardson.....

4. Don't like running hills? Don't run in Akron...ever. For reals. I nearly died in my worn-out running shoes after running four miles. (even though I ran the first two miles with a charming young pilot from Idaho....which, I will admit, both made those two miles easier because of the distraction and nearly killed me due to running too fast in an effort to conceal the truth--that I'm a slow and uncoordinated runner)

5. It's acceptable (if not encouraged) to smoke marajuana at bus stops in downtown Akron. I think I only made it through the end of my run because the contact high numbed the pain.

6. Need an upgrade on your hotel room? Call the front desk and tell them that there was poop smeared on the toilet seat when you got into your room. They treat you real well after that and give you a room with a jacuzzi. Trust me, I know. And I didn't even have to lie about the poop.

7. Forget number 4? As a result your legs are not working? Easy fix. See number 6. Hot water and powerful jets cure all that aches you.

To make you chuckle....

Since it's Sunday afternoon and a lot of people are feeling a bit blue about Monday morning hanging overhead like a dark cloud.... AND for those in Wisconsin, since the Packers are losing by three in the third quarter...I thought I'd give you a laugh. This is from a session I did yesterday at a horse farm. (there are a lot of photos from the session on the Soul Reflection blog.)

I'm off to Ohio again tomorrow morning at 6:30am. Cleveland and Akron are becoming quite familiar :)

Off to Akron

I'm outta here again. Heading to Akron this time, then back to Cleveland and Akron again next week. Lovin' Ohio, I guess :)
We have an extra big dog this week while my newly married friend Megan is on her honeymoon. Louie rocks. Holly is in love, and there may have been a three way in the house last night..... but Chumley asked me to not tell anyone. He's embarrassed that it wasn't two females and himself, but more embarrassed that he loved it so much.
I looked at Libby after I got her ready for daycare (school) and she looked like a big kid. She was doing something or the other and I was watching her...she was facing away and I swear she looked like a 1st grader. She has sprouted up lately. And seems more mature, too. I'm amazed at what comes out of her little brain and mouth. This morning she told me to have a safe trip and that Rainey and Grace (our premie twins that we lost and would be nearly 6) will be with me and to come back soon.

Anyway, off to Akron. Later!

A special post for my friends at West....

I was told off many times by my old coworkers, while shooting my friend's wedding last night, that I had not updated my blogs regularly enough lately and they were bored. SO I'll really give it to them and show you what they were up to last night....
Note Ashley's classic 'white man's overbite' while doing the chicken dance...and Dani's lady-like cake eating....and the cleavage cup holder....Lindsay and Ashley being the lushes they are....Dani and Ashley doing some dirty dancing....Lindsay dancing with her future husband after they caught the bouquet and garter....

So, my West friends...this is for you :)

(obviously not portraits, just snapshots during the reception...for the pretty portraits look on the Soul Reflection Blog...there are lots there)

Happy Labor Day!

I hope everyone is having a fun holiday weekend! We took a trip to the little zoo nearby yesterday and had a lot of fun, except for Libby's first bee sting. Amelia was happy to see the monkeys, since they are, after all, her next of kin. Libby said that her favorite animal at the zoo was 'all of them'. I was personally most impressed by the 1100 pound pig...yes, I said eleven hundred. He is going for the state record, which is only a hundred pounds off. Last time we saw him (last year) we thought he was huge, and he was about half his current size.
I'm still quite sick...bad cough and sinus pressure. I haven't been able to run in a week...and it doesn't look promising for the next few days, either. I have the half marathon at the end of the month, and I'm so undertrained..........

We just dropped Chris off about 45 minutes away. He's kayaking to the van which is parked at his end point, and anticipates that it will take about 6 hours. I get very nervous when he goes by himself, but I'm thrilled that he's finally getting out on the water for a good paddle.

Some photos from the zoo and of playing with bubbles are below, and on the Soul Reflection blog there are lots of fun nature images that I took yesterday when I was scouting the location of the wedding I'm shooting on Friday.

Maxie's turn

Now it's my Maxie who was offended that I didn't post photos of her..... so today it's all about Ms Maxie.

He's still doing it.

Replaying that damned recording.

and he just said that he's going to take it to work tomorrow.

for reals.

This is my life....

my husband just farted really loud after sticking our voice recorder by his a$$, recording it for posterity. Now he keeps replaying it over and over.


Is this seriously my life?

It's Holly's turn...

Holly was hurt that I only showed a photo of Chumley...so it's her turn today.

Libby's Tutu Photo Gallery Link

If you would like to see all of the photos from Libby's tutu session (samples in the next post below) just go to the online gallery. Click here

Girl time

Despite being sick with Strep Throat, Libby wanted to be my model today...she knows that it usually earns her a special treat.... I have wanted to get her out on a real shoot (away from our yard) for awhile and wanted to get some photos of her in her tutu and new rainboots. I put a lot of them on the Soul Reflection blog, and am going to post a link to the entire 'session' tomorrow. She had so much fun, even being sick. She can really ham it up for the camera. (is it any surprise, then, that I totally love her? Ha!)
She is feeling better today...the meds are helping. She actually asked for her 'bubble gum medicine' (her antibiotic tastes like bubble gum) earlier this evening, which is a ton nicer than chasing her around and around the dining room table trying to catch her and dose her up. :)

Here are just two of my favorites from tonight.

Faceplant Photos

Well, the photos do not do the faceplant justice...her bangs cover the big one on her forehead and the ones on her cheek got better overnight. The scab on the left side (your right) of her nose is the only visible one. But you get the idea. And one of Chumley for fun...and had better include one of Libby, too, to be fair.

I'm running long-ish tomorrow morning with Jo. Probably about eight miles. I'm fighting off a bad cough so we'll see.

Libby and Amelia went to the doctor this morning. Libby has Strep Throat and Monkey seems to just have a bad cough. They are sending in a culture just to be sure, though. I'm coughing and both my throat and Chris' are sore...but that could be our imaginations getting to us. :)

Faceplant

This evening Monkey left the audience stunned and amazed at her outstanding and spectacular performance in the faceplant event. The crowd gasped with horror as she ran down the driveway, arms flailing and out of control...stubbed her right toe on the concrete and sprung into the air with impressive velocity. Time slowed to a near standstill as the crowd pointed and jumped to their feet, watching the athlete's perfect form...arms extended, back straight, toes pointed....as she sliced through the humid air towards the concrete. The landing was equally impressive, punctuating the event with a two bounces, a skid, and audible thud. The crowd waited, barely containing their nerves as the judges made their calculations.... and then it was announced........ the crowd was on it's feet in silence...... 9.8!!!!!!!!!!! The athlete wiped blood from the side of her nose as she pumped her fists in the air, screaming......

I'll take photos tomorrow. It's pretty impressive. Road rash on her nose, cheek, and forehead. That's my girl.

My website

I did a lot of updating on my website...new photos added, old removed, did some more editing to existing ones. I think it looks much better. I'd love for you to take a look and let me know what you think. My friend and photographer extraordinaire (yeah, I know I spelled that wrong, but the spellcheck wouldn't help me out) Amy (there is a link to her site in my sidebar) helped me pick which photos to add. Please always feel free to leave comments here....I never get them and they make my day when I do ;)

And today it's (mostly) about Bug.

My Monkey

I was playing with an old lens tonight in the dark drizzly weather. My Monkey is getting so big!!
(there are more from tonight on the Soul Reflection blog)