Here Comes Santa Claus

Noah and Ella got to see Santa today at church. Noah was excited to talk to him, but then forgot what he wanted to say. That's okay, though, because Noah is in constant communication with Santa. Since he knows that Santa sees him when he's sleeping, knows when he's awake, knows if he's been bad or good, etc., he thinks that he can just speak out loud and Santa is listening. So I'll hear him talking to himself and ask who he's talking to (since it could be a myriad of people: Super Alicia, his coworkers Sam, Mike, Steve, and Amber, the list goes on and on) and he says that he's telling Santa what he wants for Christmas.

Ella didn't want to sit on Santa's lap. That is until she saw the giant bowl of candy and was told that she couldn't have one unless she sat on his lap for a picture. Then she was much more agreeable.

After church Seth and I went with Noah to see the Berenstain Bears Save Christmas at the Rose Theater. A friend of mine from book club had some tickets and couldn't use them, so she gave them to us (THANKS JEN!!). It was really fun! Mike Berenstain is the son of Stan and Jan Berenstain and he was there autographing books for the kids, so we let Noah buy one.

He had a great time and it was fun to spend time with just him.

Fun-Filled Week-end

Noah had his preschool Christmas program this past week. It was so sweet- and he was sooooo excited! He is quite the performer. He has been singing one of the songs all week-end:

Happy birthday Jesus, I'm so glad it's Christmas

All the tinsel and lights, and the presents are nice,

but the real gift is YOUUUUUU.....

(the "You" is about 3 octaves higher than the rest of the song)

It's so stinking cute when he sings it that Seth and I always laugh and then he gets mad- "it's a serious song, DON'T LAUGH!"

On Friday night Seth and I went to a Christmas party that one of his clients had at Fleming's Steakhouse. It was good food and it's always fun to get dressed up and go out once in awhile.

Saturday morning I had a photo shoot with a co-worker's three kids and her brother's three kids for a total of 6 kids under the age of 7. It was pretty crazy. I didn't get as many shots as I do during a typical photo shoot, but we managed to get a few cute ones. They wanted them for an annual photo they give for the grandparents for Christmas, so we didn't need too many.

This week-end Ella and I also worked on some potty training. It feels ridiculously early to me, but she's really into it and can tell me when she's gone, so I guess I might as well go with it. So far she's been very interested in sitting on the potty seat we have on our toilet and she'll say "pee-pee", but she hasn't actually gone yet. Then about 10 minutes later she'll put her hand on the back of her pants and then our conversation goes like this:

Her: "uh-oh"

Me: "Did you go potty?"

Her: "yeah"

Me: "should we go change your pants?

Her: "yeah"

I think this whole potty training business might take awhile.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Is anyone else in a state of shock that tomorrow is already DECEMBER?!?!?! What the heck happened to November? It was JUST Halloween and now November's gone. Oh well, Christmas is barreling toward us like a freight train. In fact, this week-end our house exploded into a veritable winter wonderland. We put up our tree, turned on the outside lights (of course the first strand blew a fuse after the first hour they were on, and so they all went out- Seth came to the rescue and replaced it for me), put up all our Christmas decorations, and even got some shopping done. Whew.

Oh yeah, Thanksgiving was good. I feel bad for Thanksgiving- it really gets the short end of the stick when it comes to holidays. We went to Seth's parents at lunchtime, and my parents in the evening. It was a fun day and we even got to take the kids home for naps- which always makes the day more enjoyable.

Every one of us at our house are on an antibiotic right now for ear or sinus infections. Noah also has bronchitis and is on breathing treatments three times a day. Fun times. Hopefully we're all on the mend.

I had a really fun photo shoot on Friday with a 4-year old boy and a 16 month old girl. I thought it was funny how close in age they are to my kids. They are the grandkids of a friend of mine from the gym. The little boy was so darling! When I first got there, he had said that he was "camera shy", but as soon as I set a little stool down and got my backdrop set up he was posing like a supermodel and making the funniest expressions. His sister was quite the drama queen (JUST like at home) and would NOT sit or stand or do anything of any kind on that backdrop. Until the candy canes were brought out- and then she was much more agreeable. I put some of my favorites of them on my photography blog: http://www.jenniferchristensenphotography.blogspot.com/

Christmas is Coming!!!!

Does it seem like the Christmas mayhem is more crazy than usual this year? I already feel panicky about Christmas and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. I even got all the lights put on the house this week-end, and I've never done that before Thanksgiving before. It is a good feeling to have that done, though. I also make a new backdrop to try and use to take the kids' Christmas pictures this year. The backdrop turned out great. Unfortunately, Ella pulled a wooden bench off of the counter onto her face (I had put it up there while I cleaned the floor) and scraped up her cheek and nose. Thank goodness for editing!

We had a fun night tonight, Ella went to grandma and grandpa's while Noah, Seth, and I went to see Madagascar 2 and went to eat at Cheeseburger in Paradise. The movie was very cute- Noah got a kick out of it. He's at such a fun age right now. He's fun to hang out with and has a funny sense of humor, but he's still very innocent and thinks mom and dad are the coolest. That will change very soon, I know.

Seth and I and some friends have this Fantasy Survivor league that we play online that goes along with the show Survivor. Seth is in the lead of the league this year. The other day he said "Noah, guess who's in 1st place in the Fantasy Survivor league?" Noah replied "George Barack Obama?"

This evening in the car Noah asked out of the blue "Mom, where do tears come from?" I was trying to think of a good answer when he asked "is it spit coming out of your eye?" I lost it. Oh Noah.

Do you hear that??

Silence. Seth took the kids to the grocery store and the library this morning so I could get some cleaning done (see what I'm doing instead? ☺) It is so quiet in the house. I love it!! We have had QUITE a week this past week! I had two of my three scheduled photo shoots last week-end. The third really wanted theirs done outside so decided to wait and see if there would be any warmer week-ends. I was okay with their cancellation, because two was plenty! I worked on editing all week-end and most of the week whenever I got a chance.

Then, Monday night at about 11:00 Noah threw up in his bed. He didn't stop throwing up until 6:00 in the morning (which made for a very loooong night). After that he had explosive diarrhea for two days. It was so bad that he couldn't even take a tiny sip of water without getting sick. I called the doctor because I was worried he was getting dehydrated. I called around noon on Tuesday and he hadn't urinated since about 3:00 am. They said that if he didn't go by 2:00, that he would have to go to the hospital for an IV. He ended up going at about 1:30. He slowly was able to keep more down and is doing MUCH better now. He was home two days and by the third day he was very ready to go anywhere but be at home.

So, I was able to go to work on Thursday. Later in the day I started feeling sick. By the time I got home I was really sick and had what Noah had. Luckily, I had been nervous I would get it so I hadn't eaten much the previous few days. There wasn't much for my body to get rid of, so I recovered pretty quickly. I took a 1/2 sick day on Friday, but then was able to go back to work in the afternoon. NO FUN!! We're thinking that Ella maybe already had a touch of this last week-end, so hopefully she will not get it and we can be done with it.

That's all the fun that's been going on in the Christensen family. Hopefully we can start a new, better week.

You're running away.......

Tonight in the car Noah was upset with Seth and I and announced that he was running away and never coming back. He proceeded to inform us that he was leaving tomorrow and said "I'm going somewhere else and you will never see me again. Mom, you will have to drive me".

Busy week-end!

My photography business is officially launched as of last Sunday! I had my first paid shoot then, and this week-end I have THREE!!!! Two tomorrow and one on Sunday. Of course, the two tomorrow were going to be outside, and there is a chance of flurries and a high of 40. We are going to plan B- the first family's shoot will be in the Old Market, and I still need to talk to the second family to see what they want to do. Darn Nebraska weather! Last week-end it was nearly 80 degrees.

Anyway, I'm still trying to stop my head from spinning over how fast this is all going. I talked to a friend of a friend of mine who does what I am trying to do, and who I've been secretly stalking for the past few months. We talked for almost an hour (while I was supposedly working at my "real job") and she was so helpful and made me feel so much better. I am exactly where she was when she first started a couple years ago, and she made me think that I'm on the right track. If I can be where she is in a couple years, I will be very happy.

I feel like I've learned so much in such a short time. Photography is, essentially, a different language than anything I've ever spoken before. There's still so much to learn it's overwhelming. I've been amazed and touched by how helpful everyone who I've turned to for help or advice has been. Most of the time complete strangers that I've met on photography websites or forums. It seems as though people have bent over backwards to help me at times, with nothing in it at all for themselves. It really has made me appreciate that most people are good, helpful, kind, generous people. I hope that someday I can return the favor to someone who is clueless like me.