Nightmare

Photos: Sookie is trying to teach Luke how to open her crate so she can make a break for it. And Luke is climbing my leg. He tries to climb everybody's legs. He even tried to climb Cameryn's legs the other day and once he got himself up to hold onto her shoulder, he decided a thank-you gesture was in order and pulled her hair.

I have a few very exciting opportunities coming up, but they all sort of overlap and I am getting nervous about being able to do them all at once. First there is the photography for CMU's School of Writing. My former English professor accepted my offer to photograph the event and asked if I would like to take the Poetry class in exchange for my photography. Then she asked if I would also like to be her Woman Friday for the event! To do all of this I will have to spend the entire week in Winnipeg, and have a baby-sitter for Luke the whole week too. To top it all off, the photography class that I planned on attending at Prairie View School of Photography begins the very same week and goes from 7-10pm, one night a week for six weeks. And I still have to decide how we're going to work the feeding thing. Will I wean Luke before May 4th? Will I pump? Tough decisions!

All of these things are running through my head at once and I am beginning to wonder if I'm in over my head. And then I have the nightmare. Ugh, it was horrible. I was shooting a wedding with my Nikon and my three flash cards. I got the ceremony all on one card, and most of the reception. The bride wanted a picture with her whole family at the reception, so with all the guests watching we set up the family around the head table and I took a test shot. It was far too dark, so I had to get my flash. As soon as I put the flash on my camera and took one test shot, my battery died. I had to go back and get my spare battery. As soon as that was done and I went back to take the picture my CF card blinked FULL. Everyone was getting pretty antsy by now and the bride was getting frustrated. As I dug around looking for my spare CF cards I realized I had left them in my pocket. I reached in and pulled out these totally mashed, destroyed CF cards. They were leaking wet, colorful pictures like liquid film.

I started to cry, but went back through the only CF card that was working and started deleting anything I thought I might not need. I cried as I deleted and deleted and deleted, trying to make room for the rest of the wedding but distraught that I had to get rid of pictures before I was certain I didn't need them. Finally I took the family's picture and I hadn't yet photographed the reception details, like the cake and the tables! I was frantic. Then I woke up.

The good news is, three weeks from today Luke and I are coming down to California! We are getting very excited, and Luke is practicing his wave so he can say hello to everyone properly.

Dog Vomit

It's about time I tell this revolting story. I've been trying to forget it for several days, but I think the only way I can truly purge my memory is to tell the story.

I bravely took the dog and the baby with me to the veterinarian. Or perhaps it was not an issue of bravery, but rather of stupidity. I knew my hands would be full, but I thought I could handle it. It's a bitterly cold day, that's even how they described it on the weather station. "Bitterly cold with a dangerous windchill". I manage to get everyone packed in the car, Sookie on the floor in the front passenger seat. Of course she is not happy down there and continually attempts to jump into the passenger seat which is blocked by my diaper bag/backpack, so she ends up climbing up the side of my backpack and hanging on by her fingernails trying to balance and stay on top of it. I keep pushing her back down.

We get to the vet's office and suddenly I am at a loss. Do I take the baby in and ask the nurse to hold him while I get the dog or do I take the dog in and ask the nurse to hold the dog while I get the baby? I settle on taking the dog in first. The problem arises once I get inside and there's nobody behind the desk. I wait and wait and wait, and the baby's still outside, alone in the car! Finally somebody comes and agrees to hold the dog. I run out to the baby who is, by now, crying.

When we come back in the nurse has weighed Sookie, and been peed on by Sookie. What a good dog, eh? Everything goes pretty well during the visit. She doesn't even seem to feel the shot, she's happy as a clam with the vet who says she's healthy and beautiful, all these things which we knew before. So we head back out to the car: baby first, then dog.

Once we're in the car Luke falls right to sleep. He hasn't had a nap all day long and by now it is 4:30. He has been incredibly grumpy, and presumably is teething, but AT LAST he sleeps! I decide to extend this nap by driving around a bit. But Sookie is still unhappy on the floor of the car. She clambers up onto the seat over and over. Finally she seems to settle down onto the cushion on the floor. But moments later I realize why she's so still...she's about to puke! I curse loudly and the baby wakes up..and what more can I do?! I can't stop, and even if I did pull over I have nothing to clean this mess up with, and opening the car doors for any length of time does not seem smart with such a cold wind. She pukes right into the depression beneath the handbrake, and it just keeps coming! It fills the spot beneath the handbrake, overflows down the side of the passenger seat and into the soft black rubber around the brake.

Gross. Gross, gross, GROSS! It smells like dog food, and now she's eating it again. I try to stop her from eating it, but then I realize the more she eats, the less I'll have to clean up, so I let her at it. The only thing I can do now is drive straight home. The sound of her licking makes me want to vomit too.

I should have gotten a baby-sitter.

This is How We Stand

We went to Mom's Group this morning and I pitched the idea of a baby-sitting co-op to the group and nobody bit...I guess I'm the only Mom in the entire town who ever needs a baby-sitter. HA!

The good news is that the group coordinator has asked me to put something together about baby-sitting cooperatives to actually present as the topic for one of the upcoming weeks. I'm getting excited about talking on the benefits of baby-sitting for parents and children alike. I'm even considering sending the piece that I've yet to write to the newspaper. Yes, I'm so excited that I'm getting ahead of myself. I have a writing assignment!

Luke's for sure got a tooth coming in. I can see it just under the skin. He didn't nap at all yesterday, although he slept well during the night...thankfully. I was wiped out after a day without naps!

Sole Proprietor

Pictures: Luke is doing a lot of standing these days. He pulls himself up on anything that stands a few inches off the ground. When he's tired of standing he has begun squatting like his cous-uncle J'mark, or sitting on his knees, like in this picture where he's playing with his red truck.

I address you today as the sole proprietor of the company Thiessen Photography. This morning Luke and I went down to the bank and opened a business account and were told that I, Laura, am the "sole proprietor of Thiessen Photography". At least until we register our company name with the city. then Derek can become joint owner.

Luke did a very good job going to the bank on business this morning. Our banker gave him a balloon and he pushed it all over the floor of her office and chased it. Luke did some business at the bank on the floor, Mommy did some business above the desk.

This afternoon we have another exciting outing planned. Sookie gets her booster shots (I guess it's not exciting for Sookie). So far Luke is having a doozie of a time getting to sleep for his nap, though. I hope he gets at least one little nap in before we have to go out again at 3:30. Normally he'd have had both naps by then, but here it is almost noon and he's still crying in his crib. He has started standing in his crib, which keeps him awake. I go in and lay him down and usually after the third or fourth time I lay him down he goes to sleep. But in the meantime he's chewing away with his one little tooth on the corner of the crib where he stands.

First Full Workout

Today was my first full workout at Curves, and my third day in a row of getting up at 5:45am. I'm doing okay, but by 9:30 in the evening I am toast. I am definitely going to have to be going to bed earlier with this new schedule.

Luke is all in green today. Green car socks with orange racing stripes, green camouflage pants and his green dinosaur shirt. I am also wearing green. I suppose we are in green withdrawals. Our apparel today is like my last symbol of hope for this Winter to end. If it doesn't end soon I might shrivel up and be swept into the dust bin like those dirty, hard old raisins that I find for weeks after Cammy has been over. I just crave green, growing things!

So far Luke has fallen down four times this morning. He's been up for an hour and a half. This morning when I went to get him up he was standing in his crib. That's the first time we've seen that! Luckily Derek put the mattress down last weekend. Luke is just convinced he can pull himself up to standing on everything. Twice he grabbed the handle on the desk drawer and pulled himself up only to smack himself on the forehead with the handle on his way down. Yesterday he tried to pull up on my camera bag, this morning again the laundry basket, another time my pant legs..this kid. This house. This dog. It keeps me busy. Still I am going mad for Spring to come already!

Thursday Breakfast

Okay, I haven't even shown this to Jaime yet, so you can't say anything...but I am so excited about it! These are pictures from yesterday's shoot, and I put together this card this morning. I'm going to design a few more while I'm on a roll and give her some options. I just wrote "giver some options"...I've read too many Westerns haha.

This morning I went for breakfast with Celeste and her son. School was cancelled today because of the ICE, so Mackenzie came too. I tried to get a picture of Sookie trying to pee on the frozen snow, but I missed it. It was hilarious, and incredibly dangerous. I didn't even take my garbage down the driveway because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get back up the slippery pavement! But by ten o'clock everything was thawing out nicely and Celeste and I were able to go out to breakfast. I also got some free advice on Roehn's card from the pro, which is always very helpful.

Busy Day

What a busy day we've had and it's only one o'clock! This morning started for me at 5:45, when I got up and headed to Curves. It was nice and talking to the owner was very encouraging (as she weighed me and took my percent body fat). When I came home Luke was waking up and Derek left for work.

Luke and I had breakfast and then did our footprints. Sookie didn't want to be left out either. Then Luke went down for a nap and Jaime and her kids came over for a photo shoot of Roehn. We got some great stuff this morning, and I'll be putting together some 3 month cards for them, which I am getting pretty excited about.

The rest of today is going to be slow, and I'm making turkey pot pie for dinner - yum!