Well, Kelly has been wanting to do a pregnancy photo shoot, and we just seem to be too busy on most of my days off. So, tonight we finally decided we'd do it (since Kelly had some make up on from going to Church). We weren't too sure how it would turn out, being evening, and the sun was going down. We turned on every light upstairs.
So we began rolling the film, and things were going pretty good. Before we knew it, we had taken 107 pictures!!!!! WE ARE NUTS. or bored. We looked on Rhonda's photo blog for ideas, so some of the pictures were not original (I tried to convince Kelly to do some original ideas of mine...but she didn't like my borderline inappropriate pose ideas). Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, Rhonda.
SOOOOO...here are a few of the ones that turned out alright. Note that there are 4 in total. Yes, 4!! Wow, we are experts. Genius', really. Yeah, you would think that out of 107 photos, more than 4 would turn out okay. And even those 4 are questionable. All it took was setting the camera to the wrong ISO (that's picture-taking geek talk). So, most (most being about 96.26% of the pictures) turned out VERY EXTREMELY grainy. Yeah, not the type of grain you'll find on the food guide, either. That is why almost all of the four we picked don't show her face...the grainy face is not awesome. Needless to say, we are going to try again during the day time, next shoot. We will never forget all the fun we had taking grainy photos...but hope that the next shoot turns out 200% better. Here are the 4 we picked to show you all. They are suitable. At least, we hope.
Whole Grain Goodness @32 Weeks Prego
Just Saying Hello
So, I just thought I would post another blog entry. It's mainly just for kicks. Also cause I am bored. So I don't know if anyone watched American Idol...but I do. Sometimes I wish I wasn't addicted to the show, but it happened. So if you watch the show you will know what I am talking about. If not, then scroll down and read further. So I have been a fan of David Cook for most of the season, but last week he was a disappointment. He sang poorly, and I also started to get bored with his rocker style. On the other hand, I felt like I have been neglecting the talent of Jason Castro. He's the one with the dread locks. Anyway, I have enjoyed some of his performances, when he picks a good song, but have never really thought about how good his voice really is. I think he has one of the better (and more distinct) voices, and last week he sang Over the Rainbow (playing the ukulele). It was one of the best performances I have heard on the show ever. I got the song off ITunes as soon as it came out. Anyway, so I might drop D. Cook, and jump on the J. Castro bandwagon. That's my two cents about American Idol.
So I have been done school for a bit now, and am waiting to graduate and get my teaching license. So in a month I will be able to teach, legally. It will be nice to start my career, but also a bit scary, after being in school since 2001. I will miss the exams, the projects, the tuition hikes (although they are going to freeze tuition fees now that I am done. Why couldn't they have done that 7 years ago!!!). I am excited to teach school though, and corrupt a whole new generation of kids. Oh, so when I was practice teaching in Bedford, I mentioned something to the grade 8's about "cutting the rug", and they just sat there staring at me. I asked them if they knew what that meant, and not one of them knew. I am only 28, but that made me feel old. I felt like that teacher we all had in Junior High that tried to be cool, but just couldn't cut it. That's me.
Anyway, last of all (cause I need to get off the computer and spend time with the little girl Morgan...she can't help but love spending time with her Pops), I wanted to mention the Stake Dance coming up on the 26th of this month. It is going to be a crazy night!! I will be DJ'ing the dance, so everyone come and CUT THE RUG. Seriously, I have been getting some good music ready, so people need to come and dance the night away. It's going to be fun.
Anyway, that's all for now. Until next time...
Emma's 6th Birthday Party
So first of all, I need to give some "props" to Morgan, cause I forgot to post any pictures or significant words when her Birthday rolled around, back in January. Sorry Baby. Actually, there were not a lot of great pictures from her Birthday party, as I discovered this morning. Even this one isn't the greatest of her, but it will have to do. And this picture has a partial view of the "psycho Duck" birthday cake that Kelly made for Morgan. It was a memorable first birthday cake for Morgan. She's a sweetie, and that's my little 2 cents for her.
Now, on to Emma's Birthday (much more recent, though still, I am a week behind in getting a post up).
As you can see from the candle on the cake, Emma turned 6 this year (March 27th was the day, in fact). It's quite hard to believe she is now six years old. She was barely four when I married Kelly. I mean, six is a pretty golden age. Primary class has to be the easiest grade in school (besides the BEd program at the Mount); most cartoons on TV are within your range of humor (give or take a few years); you are old enough to drive Barbie cars without supervision (though you have to start paying insurance...which isn't that high); and best of all, the government stops giving you $100 a month for child care (which doesn't really matter at age six anyway, cause your parents were always pocketing that money). So six seems like it will be a great year.
Now, on to the B-Day party. So coincidently, Emma had a bit of a late night the night before her party (or so I heard, since I was camping that night, in the freezing cold). So she didn't get enough sleep, which generally spells becoming ill, for Emma. She wasn't feeling the best on her party day, but we medicated her with my old friend "acetaminophen". It helped her have some gusto for the fun parts of her party. She had four great girls come join her at the party...Brooklyn, Madison, Rachael, and Monica. I tried to be as serious as possible around Emma's friends, so I wouldn't embarrass Emma. All right, that's a lie. Anyone who has seen me around kids knows I like to act their age. I had some fun with the girls, making them laugh a couple times. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the party.
Emma and Madison
Emma and Brooklyn
Emma and Rachael
Emma and MonicaThe girls were very nice, and gave Emma great gifts. I think everyone had a great time, which is always awesome. Here is a picture of Emma with what I would consider her best present (because it's the present I wanted the most).
So another year, another party. We survived. Kelly survived, I should say. She was in quite the panic when she knew I was going camping the night before Emma's party. She was worried I wouldn't be back in time. Apparently it's not a party if I am not there. That was my extrapolation, anyway.oh yeah...one more little story from the pops and morgan diary. The other night, Morgan was coughing a bunch (she has been sick lately...coughing a lot at night). So, since there is no cough medicine for babies, Kelly suggested that I give her a spoonful of honey. Don't ask me why. Anyway, so I took down a little spoon full of honey, and tried giving it to her. Well, she wasn't awake, so I tried getting her up enough to take the honey. This wasn't easy. She wasn't cooperating, in her sleepy state. So one of my hands is holding the spoon full of honey, and the other is trying to hold up a baby. Well, before I knew it, there goes the honey. It spilled on her head and blanket. It was funny...I could see the glisten of honey on her hair, and felt the stickiness all over her head. There wasn't much I could do. I think she did it on purpose. She is always out to get me.
Happy Easter, Pops!!!
Well, let me tell you all a story. This is one for the books! Some were there to witness. Some reaped the benefits. Some almost lost their lunch! Nonetheless, here are the details of the events, as I remember them.
I was teaching a lesson in Elder's Quorum on Sunday. I look after Morgan during church, since Kelly is busy playing piano in Primary. Now, often there are comical moments in my supervision of her. Sometimes I get her riled up, sometimes I lose sight of her and she wonders off (I have received much jeering about this). Sometimes she roams around taking other kids treats, and sometimes she will go up in front of the class and mess around with the chalkboard. Needless to say, this story will take the cake.
So as I said, I was teaching class. The lesson was going alright, but I really didn't have the awesomest lesson prepared. I told the class it might get boring (I always tell them too much). I think it was at this point that Morgan must have heard what I was saying, and devised a plan.
So next thing I remember, Morgan comes running up to me, to pick her up. I was fine with that, so I picked her up. Right away I noticed something wet on her leg. I thought that somehow she must have got water all over it. But some of the guys were laughing, and so I looked to see what it was. Well, I don't know if you know the yellowish-brown color of diarrhea, but that was the new color of Morgan's white tights. YUP! IT WAS SICK!!! And my arm was touching it!!
Well, with close inspection, I noticed her "splash" had gone all over her back, and down her leg. So, at that point all the guys were laughing/hopefully sympathizing, so I decided that it would be best to end the lesson, even though there was still 20 minutes left. We had a closing prayer, and I hightailed it out of there. And wow, the stink was bad.
I took her to the Mother's Lounge...which I think should be called the Parent's Lounge, since not just Mother's tend the kids. I undressed her, and noticed the splash had not only covered her back, and leg, but even went up into the back of her hair. I think it was at that point, as I was wiping the mess off of her, that I started gaging. It was bad. The mess, the smell, my naked daughter standing on the baby shelf...it was all too much. I was about to puke, but I pulled it together. With watery eyes (not because it was sad, but because I almost lost my lunch), I finished the job. It took all my wipes, and left Morgan with just a diaper to wear.
For the rest of church, she walked around the halls with only her Jacket and a Diaper on. Though it was cute seeing Morgan walk around with her big winter pink coat on, with bare legs and feet, that event was the sickest thing I have ever witnessed at church. It was her Easter Gift to me. Some may say I was trying to get out of teaching a bad lesson, and gave my daughter some sour milk. Some may say it was a fluke, and I should have had extra clothes for her. Still, in my mind, what I experienced that day was the love of a child for her Pops. She saved me from boring the whole Elder's Quorum to death, and making a complete fool out of myself. She found a way to get me out of teaching, and she did it the only way she knew how. It wasn't pretty, nor was it sanitary. But this Easter, I learned that love comes in many ways.
When you have some free time, where do you go? Yarmouth!!
Well, this past week we packed the kids into the car (without a working portable dvd player, still), and headed down to Yarmouth. It was March Break. I was finished my practice teaching, and Emma had the week off school. It was a recipe for success.
So we knew we would get to do some fun things down there, and we planned some stuff out for Emma to do. I mean, we needed to show her a good time that week, since the absence of school can be boring for a kid. We decided we would take her swimming, skating, and to a movie while we were down there. She also had the chance to spend time with her cousins, and my young cousins. She always has a great time with those hooligans. She fits right in.
So she ended up having a great time in the YMCA pool with the other kids. I had the great opportunity to swim with all those little monsters, too. The best part was that we had to wear swim caps. I haven't worn one of those since I was in Elementary school, and went to the Y for lessons. It was wonderful. Morgan looked especially cute with her cap on. I think it smooshed her face a bit.
We went to see the Waterhorse on Thursday. It was such a tear jerker. I cried through the whole movie. CRUSOE!!!! Okay, I didn't cry at all. I didn't even like it that much. It was fun to see the little boy cry out CRUSOE!!! That part was awesome.
I helped my Father out a bunch with chainsawing and splitting wood. He had like 5-6 cords. It was pretty tiring. I got to use the chainsaw, which is always fun. It makes you feel like a manly man. And when you look like I do, you need to feel like a manly man whenever you can.
Anyway, it was great to spend time with all my family. I don't see them too often, so I always enjoy just being around them. We always have a good time. It's always a serious time. No joking. All seriousness. Seriously.
Another day off, another loose tooth gone.
Well, I woke up today not realizing how bad out it was. It looked fine to me, so I got up and ready to go to teach. But, as I was enjoying a hearty breakfast, Kelly told me the schools were all cancelled for the day. WOOHOO. Now I am down to two days left of teaching.
While this was going on, Morgan was downstairs sleeping. But when she came up, she was excited to see us, and Emma's tooth. So we took a few pics of Morgan, because she hasn't been getting much blogspotting lately. She deserves a mention, since she plays a role in the family. She is the back-up quarterback. That's her role. She's not a good QB, but she's a cutie. They both are. So here's a few pics of the little girl Morgan. 
This last photo was from last month, but Kelly really likes it, and wanted me to post it. She said it reminds her of a picture of me from the first or second grade. I think she looks more like Josh Blakeney in this one. I am not sure why, or how, but it does. I think it's cause Josh likes wearing pj's with puppies and firetrucks. Plus, those red glasses he wears all the time. Wait, and I thinking Josh, or Elton John. They are like the same person, in my mind. Anyway, I am out.
A Visit From the Tooth Fairy (it's a Man, by the way)
Well, sorry it has taken me so long to post this one. The events I am about to re-tell happened Sunday, Feb. 24th; but I have had quite the busy week. So now that it is Saturday morning, I can finally relax and write a fantastic blog entry.
So we were sitting enjoying a lovely meal last Sunday night (made by me), with Colin and Tanya Keeping...and Hunter, of course. Now, Emma has been saying her tooth is loose since the Summer, I think, so I have never really been too sure how loose it was. I always seemed to think that her tooth was never that loose, and was going to just stay in that mouth forever.
But when we were having supper, she was saying something about her loose tooth, and came over to show me. I was like, "WOWZA!!"...it was the loosest tooth I have ever seen. It was popped up higher than her other ones. So then it all started....we all started trying to convince Emma to let us pull her tooth out.
Well, needless to say, the expression about "pulling teeth" was pretty fitting. Trying to get Emma to gather the guts to let us pull her tooth was like "pulling teeth". She was being pretty wimpy, to say the least. I mean, I guess that is to be expected for the first time tooth loser. Wow, I just called Emma a loser...I really didn't mean it that way though.
Anyway, long story short...between Myself, Kelly, Colin, and Tanya...it took like 45 minutes of convincing/bribing to get her to allow Kelly to pull her tooth. I think Colin was having quite the fun trying to get Emma to let us pull the tooth. He even gave her a handsome bit of moola for finally letting us pull it out. He's like a second tooth fairy. Anyway, we were glad we had some people to share the fun with. I am sure the Keepings had a night not long forgotten. For me, I will never forget it. Ah, the bribing, coercing, almost crying, laughter, and finally: the tooth.
Well, there it is. Finally...the never-ending loose tooth broke free. I can hear Queen playing in my mind..."I want to break free"....yes, never-ending loose tooth, you are finally free.
