FINALLY…

Once our household got over the 6 week bug that was going around in February/March I was able to finally make it out to visit with my new nephew Grayden and take a few photos just before Easter. (I was a little slow on the edit with this one..oops.) He’s friggin’ cute and Moira was so excited to see him and hold him. Theo barely noticed him. I enjoyed cuddling with him for 4 hours and then happily handed him back to my SIL. I LOVE babies and I really enjoyed my babies and there was a time that baby-head-smell made my ovaries start firing eggs like mardi-gras beads. Not anymore. I sniffed his head all day and I savoured him and I loved him. BUT, while holding him I was thankful that I could sit for that long (when both my 9 lbs babies were newbies I wasn’t able to sit for long periods…ahem), I was thankful that my boobs weren’t leaking and I’d had more than 3 hours of sleep in a row and that I wasn’t having mini anxiety attacks every 2 days because of the uncertainty that comes with a first baby. I’ll live vicariously through others having babies now. Maybe we’ll adopt a few babies in a few years, but this body will NEVER be pregnant again…even if I sniff all the baby heads in the world at the same time.

His birth annoucement.

'Aunty JoJo, you're exhausting!'

My stinklets with their new cousin Grayden (the matching Easter outfits were a gift).

It’s commmming!!!!

Seriously. It is. No, I really mean it this time. I’ve completed the website (no thanks to our designers) and it should be live by Friday. We’ve sent the non-live link to some of our dearest and most honest friends for critique and hope to have it up and running by Friday. I realize it’s been a slow process, but to be perfectly honest, all three of us were happy to have a quiet January and February. That said, I’m starting to feel a bit of cabin fever and would love to get out of the house to stimulate my brain with something more than a random, distracted walk through Zellers at 9 o’clock at night. So once you’ve seen the new site and our work has moved you to get some more up to date images of your family send us an email and we’ll set something up!

As an aside, Kevin’s brother and sister-in-law welcomed their first baby into the world on Sunday night. Grayden Robert (7lbs 6oz) is our little gold medal baby! He’s so adorable and I can’t wait to get my camera on him. We got to meet him last night, but the hospital lighting and the fact that he wanted to spend 3/4 of our visit sucking on his mom’s boob made it a little tough to get some good pics of him. I’m going to squeeze in a visit this week before they head back to East Braintree. I can’t tell you how cute this kid is. I’m not just saying this because he’s genetically linked to my own spawn. He’s friggin’ cute! I’ll show you. Stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s a shot of Chrissy (the baby mama) with Grayden still snug and warm inside of her!

My little YOGI, Chrissy!

Now THAT'S natural beauty. Never a stitch of makeup on this goddess and she ALWAYS looks stunning.

Na, na, na, na, BLOG, BLOG…

I’m still waiting on Erin to put up her first post but thought I’d throw a little post up to prove to her that you don’t need to spend 3 hours proofreading the text!!!!

In light of the horrible earthquake that rocked Haiti this past week I urge all (twelve) of you to cut back some of your usual spending for a month (maybe make your own coffee and do without Starbucks or eat out less) and make a donation to the American Red Cross (click here). Every little bit helps and Haiti certainly deserves a hand up.“With annual per capita income of less than $400 and an average life expectancy of 53, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Eighty out of 1,000 Haitian children never see their first birthday, and nearly half the population cannot read. As much as 80 percent of the population lives in poverty. The problems are compounded by a heavily eroded natural resource base and the spread of HIV/AIDS, which now afflicts more than 5% of the population. There are already some 163,000 AIDS orphans in the country.” Need more proof that Haiti needs your help? Click here.

January and February are always our slowest months. Clients who book sittings in January, February, March or April will receive $50 in prints with their sitting fee! (Tell your friends!) I just filled an order for a shoot I did in November. The kids are adorable and little Jacob (the older of the two boys) kept a little piece of my heart when I left that day. He’s quite the charmer. He and I spent time building a fort in the family room and I was snug as a bug in there until he let one fly! They should have this kid searching for Osama Bin Laden!!! He’d smoke him out of his hiding place in no time! Both he, and his little butterball brother Ethan were a joy to photograph. Near the end of the shoot Ethan was so tired that he looked nearly catatonic in the family photos. Poor monkey!

Look at this (not-so) little cherub! I could spread those cheeks on toast!

HEART BREAKER!!!

Happy New Year…and all that jazz!

Well, the Christmas Olympics closing ceremonies took place yesterday. I finished with 2 medals and whole lot of stuff I didn’t know I needed; who knew my sock drawer was missing two pairs of lavender, sparkly, reindeer socks? We (my family unit) don’t have any big plans for New Year’s; just a backyard bonfire and some baileys and hot chocolate and then just straight baileys for me once the kids pass out from their spiked hot chocolate, yum! I’m feeling a little weepy about the year that’s passed and how each passing moment means my babies are getting bigger and older and smarter and mouthier (they get that from their dad). I’m careful to savour each second (even when I was on my hands and knees wiping up spilled milk for the third time today). Can you believe it’s going to be 2010?!? It seems like just yesterday I was in a friend’s basement ringing in the millennium, waiting for the world to crash (and by world I mean the computers at UofW I used to write all my English papers), and crying to my girlfriends because Kevin hadn’t proposed yet! Ah, those were the days!

Still without television, and only able to justify watching a certain amount of True Blood on DVD, I’ve found time to get loads done on the new website. I’m still waiting on Mya and Erin (if you two are reading this: ahem!) to get their good stuff uploaded and then there will be some final tweaking before we go live. Keep an eye out!

Oh, Tracy and Lee (the adorable couple below) had their little boy early (on Christmas Eve); they named him Vaughn, how cool is that?

Here’s an adorable shot of my kids with their cousins on my side. The chaos that ensues when all six are together is unfathomable, you can only imagine what it’s like with presents to open, Christmas baking to consume, and Grandparents to spoil them rotten! This photo was taken by me, but Erin wants 75% of the credit because she acted like a complete fool to get them to look at the camera. I believe at one point she may have even barked!

l-r: Theo (mine:18 months), Willem (Erin's: almost 3), Ben (Meg's: 4 in March), Moira (mine: just turned 4), Eli (Meg's; 2.5), Edie (Erin's; 14 months)

4 more sleeps…

and if you can believe it, I’m completely and totally ready for Christmas. I don’t have a single thing to do. Nada! I’m caught up on all my BTP stuff, the house is clean (thanks to no TV; more on that later*), the baking is done (my 4 year old, Moira, and I just finished a batch of over-sprinkled shortbread tonight), the presents are wrapped, the tree is trimmed, and falalalalalalalala! I’ve got time for TV, just no TV, so I’m about to pop the HBO series ‘True Blood’ on DVD into my iMac; just what I need, another TV series to become addicted to.

*A few weeks ago my husband said, “When do you want me to pick up the Christmas tree?”. I replied, “Remember last year when I said, ‘I’m not cramming a friggin’ Christmas tree into the living room again next year; this monstrosity of a TV will be gone’, well, yeah, I meant it.” He said, “So sell it.” I called his bluff, and well, sold it. So, long story short, he’s buying an even bigger TV once the basement renovation is completed (which should give him some motivation to get stuff done)! In the meantime, my living room looks gloriously spacious and festive! Yay!

We’re going to be offering a great deal for photo sessions booked in January, February, March and April so keep your eyes peeled. There will be more info on the website when we’ve got the new site up and running in early January! This will likely be my last post before the holidays are through (though Mya and Erin might find time to crank one out before 2010 slaps us upside the head). So until then, BTP wishes you and yours a very happy holiday and a wonderful New Year!

Cheers,

Jody