davejenbarnes

I never announced it, but the inspiration for taking pictures everyday this week was the a week in the life challenge, though only the taking pictures part.  I did not keep a written journal.  I did not collect things from our daily lives to add to a book.  I am not scrapbooking any of it.  That’s what the blog is for, right?  Post it and be done with it?  The reason I never really said why I was doing what I was doing was in case I fell off the bandwagon early-on.  This is the last day, so I feel it’s safe.  I might keep up the style of photos but probably won’t post as many every single day as I have in the last week.

I don’t know how I will get along without the camera at my side around the house… or if the house will stay as clean as its been… but I have had a lot of fun documenting this past week in our lives.  I missed a lot, but that always does happen.  Just when you think it’s safe to go cameraless, some really amazing moments happen!

Some camera/photo-nerdish things I have learned…

• The house is amazingly full of light when I want it to be, despite the walls being painted darkish colors.
• I don’t really need a tripod around the house but to get sharp pictures, set the camera down and use the timer or a remote.
• 800 & 1600 are necessary and useful ISO speeds
• I didn’t use the flash one single time and still got a lot of pictures I’m really pleased with
• The focus selection and ISO selection on the 400D really frustrate me; I haven’t figured out everything yet…
• I can open pictures in photoshop off the CF card and only save the edited jpegs which saves me tons of memory space BUT does not give me the security of having the “original” “just-in-case.”
• Quality lenses are much easier to work with than crap-for-crap lenses that come with the camera body.  Upgrade your lens early-on.
• Cropping in-frame was the best lesson I learned at the UT photographer camp the summer before my Junior year of high school.  Hardly any of the photos I took this week needed additional cropping.

Some family things I have learned…

• James does not like having his picture taken every day
• Lowell just wants the camera
• I get a lot more done, the house stays cleaner, and I have more knitting time when the computer is completely turned off during the day (as opposed to the compy just being asleep)
• Taking pictures of yourself with the timer mode turned on feels very, very strange
• I do more around here than I give myself credit for — David works longer hours than I’d ever realized and doesn’t get to see his boys very much over a whole week.
• “Put things away when you’re done with them” doesn’t work of its own accord; you actually have to do work to get it to work.
• Setting the example for the boys works (as far as cleaning up goes this week)
• I am not nearly as ready as I thought I was to have this baby.
• David doing the grocery shopping is the biggest blessing of my life.
• Drop-spinning yarn is the most calming thing I’ve ever done.

This red scratch greeted us in the parking lot.  OOOoooo I was so mad!

This is the BFL fiber that the girls gave me last night.  I have a feeling it will get spun up before the Colonial on the smaller spindle… it’s just so FLUFFY.

And here are the BG 3.0’s … LOVE LOVE LOVE them.  Colors are great (go Bears go!) and the best part - they’ll fit until this kiddo potty trains!

I’m going to go ahead and hit “Publish” and come back tonight to upload/update from the afternoon on the bottom half of this post.  I have two sick kids and am sick myself so I don’t know when I’ll have another chance at the computer.

***

After-dinner pics…

I’ve been trying to capture Lowell signing “cold” for about 6 months now and this is the best picture so far even though he’s done the sign so much better…

Lowell woke up with a fever.  I don’t know how high.  I didn’t take his temperature.  I know I’m a bad mom, right?  I should know exactly how high his fever was… but he was hot.  We skipped church but David still had to go operate camera 2, so it was like… I dunno… Monday morning or something…

Dishes, some playing, Daddy! came home!, rough housing it, some more playing.  I ended up taking a pretty long nap with James.

Tonight, I got all dolled up (even wore high heels with blue jeans which I swore once I would never do, just like I swore I’d never drive a minivan and I did that tonight, too) and met the girls (Brandy, Amy, Crystal, Shannon, Love YOU!  Rachel, Crystal H, missed you!) at Kerbey Lane and totally had a pregnant meal: salad, pumpkin pancakes, home fries and a Dr Pepper.  YUM.  Dessert was good but I was stuffed so I only had a few bites.  :-)  I also forgot the camera…

BUT MANALIVE did they ever spoil us!  6 *brand new!* (no used stuff in that bag!) BumGenius 3.0’s, some new snappis, a drop spindle (already has some single of the BFL spun on it), 18 ounces of fiber, a niddy-noddy (for winding a 1.5 yard loop of yarn for washing/skeining after it’s plied), some gifts from more ladies from church, dinner! wow wow wow.  Too much for little me.  I’m always kind of embarassed to get gifts because I certainly don’t deserve any of them… but to be so spoiled by people that know me so well… everything fit “me” so perfectly and I am forever surprised by these ladies.  My mommy friends ROCK.  Thank you all.  You can pretty much count on pictures of the diapers and yarn-nerd stuff tomorrow, knowing me.  :-)

** BUMP ** updated some MORE stuff…
I just noticed, yes, noticed as in I have not been keeping track of how far along we are, that we’ve only got 7 5 3 weeks to go until our due date.  In attempt to ward off any “What do you need?” questions, I have put together a short list for the family of stuff that I think we need.  Note: we needed a minivan and got that ourselves, though feel free to cover a car payment or donate toward the repair fund of the other two cars if you’d like… haha  :-)

WANTS:

• BumGenius 3.0 diapers.  I’m leaving the link up there ‘cuz with cloth diapers, you can always use more, but WOW, THANK YOU Rachel, Shannon, Brandy, Crystal H, Crystal R, and Amy!  Holy cow!
• A few new snappis. THANK YOU Rachel, Shannon, Brandy, Crystal H, Crystal R, and Amy!  Holy cow!    These are awesome and the ones I have are leftover from James and they’re just not so stretchy anymore.
• Maya Wrap (moss, chocolate, or blossom)… Holy Cow, THANK YOU JEN!

I went ahead and added a few more things…

• Sleepmate (also marketed as a Soundscreen) — I found it at JCPenney.com but it’s also on amazon.com
• Bibs are always welcome.
• Dreft is always welcome though I didn’t use it for Lowell and he’s still doing fine.
• Itzbeen - in Babies-R-Us stores
• Tub (not tube - we can never get all of it out of those tubes) of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste diaper creme, Grandma El’s diaper creme, or California Baby creme (the last two are cloth diaper safe)
• Soothies for starting to nurse

I wish cloth diapering were more readily available but to be honest, the only places I’ve ever bought diapers is online.  The diapers we have are starting to show some wear (I bought them all second-hand) and it would be extra nice to start off with some new ones that we could depend on, even though they’re really not a need.  Honestly, we’re set.  (Note: we use cloth to bring down our weekly grocery store expenses) We’ve had 2 kids in the last 3.5 years and we’ve survived with everything that we have, but we would prefer that if money is to be spent spoiling us (and the baby) that it be spent on the items above instead of the items listed below.

***

PLEASE AVOID BUYING US THESE:

• clothes, size NB or 0-3 month.  We’ll take bigger sizes *only* IF THIS IS A GIRL and the season is appropriate for the size.  If this is a boy, he does not need any clothes, even if they’re cute!
• socks.  Too many as it is.
• blankets.  We have too many, again.
• bottles.  I have tons left over from James and Lowell that have never been used and I’m not planning on using any for this one, either.
• toys.  Have you seen our house?  No?  Take my word for it.  We don’t need toys or equipment…  (swing, exersaucer, bouncy seat, jumperoo, bumbo, highchair, etc.)
• picture albums.  I don’t print pictures.  Don’t need the albums.
• towels. Not kidding. Don’t need dish towels or bath towels.

I noticed this morning that the sunshine promotes kicking. :-) There’s definitely some dance lessons or soccer practicing going on in there this morning. (The stripes are from the miniblinds)

Not a lot of pictures taken today.  I guess I’m running out of steam… or could it be that today was so much like all the others that the pictures would have been repeats?  David left before 6:30 and the boys were up at 6:20 AM bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and coughing up a storm.  Both of them.

Have you seen the new animated-faces Thomas? No? It’s freaky when you’re expecting the old-style. Thomas comes on at 7 AM and since the boys (minus Daddy) were already in my bed, I turned on the TV and we caught it on PBS.

We played outside for a bit. It was hot, but not intensely hot. It was hot like Chicago gets hot at the end of June. Kind-of-like-a-joke hot. Or like Costa Maya in December hot.

That was December 23, 2004, by the way… 12 weeks pregnant with James.

Back to present day… I washed both the sedan and the minivan then we headed inside for lunch. This is when I noticed Lowell’s fever. They both took great naps. I guess we’re coming down with something over here. Even I took a great nap. When I woke up, David had been home for an hour and straightened up the garage. :-) I didn’t hear him come home and I was sleeping on the couch. What a great guy to come in quietly and let me sleep.

Mom brought back some Arare for us from Hawaii when she visited us yesterday.  It’s already almost gone.  James loves it just as much as I do.  Lowell eats it but only to be like James.  Today I got to enjoy some and knit for a bit.  I’m making a matching boy and girl hat to have at the birthing center since the hospital hat we have left from James is both pink and blue and we used it on Lowell as well. This way, we’ll put the appropriate hat on after the birth for the pictures.  I’m secretly hoping for a girl.  I guess that’s why I started the pink hat first…

We noticed a lot of dust in the air (first time keeping the blinds in the kitchen open during the sunset).  The air filter was overdue for replacement and needed some Tylenol anyhow so the boys climbed into the minivan and headed to HEB while I stayed home and fixed dinner.  When our neighbors have lots of people over, the street looks like a wreck.

I’m so thankful that the boys adore David. After dinner, they played in the kitchen. We’re about to put them to bed. It’s been a long week.

We always read before bedtime.

Yep, another Davidless day here.  I figure he’ll be working for about 17 hours straight today and he has to leave tomorrow morning around 6:30 AM to work another 9 hours.  Yes, on a Saturday.  The boys are going into daddy-withdrawal and I haven’t had a decent conversation with my own husband since Sunday.  It’s enough to make a 9 month pregnant woman weep.

But enough about me.  Here is today in a nutshell (besides the evening trip out to CPHS to have a very quick pizza dinner with David and about 400 teenagers — I forgot the camera!).

A quick book.  Or twenty.  I can never read just one.

Mom came down since she had some shirts to give the boys.  While she was here, she made two leis.  Aren’t they beautiful?

No day would be complete without a little self-indulgence.  I was lamenting my loss of reading time but after thinking about it for a bit, I realized I have read six of the seven books in the last two months.  Locking yourself in the bathroom to keep the boys away doesn’t always have to be stinky.  Sometimes, it’s a treat to be sneaky instead.

Grandpa brought these little traffic cones for the boys to add to their car collection when he came last Friday to babysit during my midwife appointment.  They are still a favorite, even a week later.

And bathtime, of course.  James skipped his bath tonight… so just some of Lowell.  I cannot express in words how uncomfortable it is to bathe children when you are about to pop a baby out.  Let’s just say he got wet tonight.

We let him try to brush his teeth, then we go over them again.  He’s getting so big.

This morning, since the “house” is pretty clean (main living areas, at least) I treated myself to some crocheting time.  I decided to stick to 4 colors and repeat the pattern of yellow, white, purple, and red… James is calling this one “Lowell’s blanket” whereas the blue circley one is “James blanket.”

The baby will probably get one in about 3 years… but for now, we have coming home outfits!

I’m trying not to be in so many pictures today… and James is getting tired of being in pictures, so here is the not-often photographed Lowell.

I took a walk around the newly decluttered/straightened-up kitchen and living room once the boys went down for their naps and found some spots of beauty that give my heart a lift.  I love that I can open the blinds and let more sunshine in without the temperature immediately rocketing into the 90º’s inside.

Here is the lens I shot with on Tuesday and Wednesday and part of today, along with the timer I use all day every day and the wacom pen Jer gave me for Christmas…  I switched the lens out for the 50mm EF 1:1.8 II for some different focus options which is what I used on the four pics above.

After naptime, we poked around inside for a few minutes then headed outside.

All of the afternoon pictures were taken with the 50mm lens.  No zoom.  Great aperture, though so excellent focusing to play with as long as I was smart enough to adjust the ISO so that the shutter speed cooperated.  All of these have been taken with my brother’s Canon 400D, which, if I had $500 laying around — that would be the first thing I would spend it on without a doubt.  The car problems would simply have to wait.  *grin*  Considering that we bought the 300D used 4 years ago for $500, and I STILL use it and am STILL impressed with the pictures that come off of that puppy, I’d say that a DSLR is a great investment if you’re willing to do a little work to get the kind of pictures you want to capture.  I think, just on the 3rd day of this camera-toting-around-ness, the photos have already begun to show some improvement.

It’s now 9:30 PM and despite the lovely children in these photos, I really did have a hellish day with them.  I think I will draw up a hot warm bath and try to relax, especially since the dishes are done and the house is clean.  :-)  That, alone, is priceless.

1. David is noticeably absent from the pictures because he’s pretty absent from this house lately.  He’s working A LOT and yesterday when he got home, he took the boys to a playground for an hour.  I’ll work on getting pictures of him in our daily lives.  Promise.
2. I don’t smile very much.  I knew this, of course, but smiling is not my default-face.  I look like I’m scowling most of the time.  Must work on smiling more.
3. The house is so much prettier inside when it’s clean.  The extra effort is definitely worth it.
4. James’ left big-toe toenail fell off but I am NOT about to take a picture of that.  It’s blog-worthy but not picture worthy.

(I added onto this tonight, so if you caught it earlier on Wednesday, scroll down)

I am a little birdie building me a nest…  I woke up early so as to beat James up and get a shower in.  The boys being awake is like some kind of demented fairy godmother transforms me into a mom, instead of what I want to be - a big lazy pregnant lump on the couch.  But this morning, I didn’t have long between getting out of the shower and the mom part; James was up at 6:50 AM (yes, after his 10:15 PM bedtime last night even) and I hadn’t even dressed.  So I threw on what I had out from yesterday (it was the quickest thing to find) and got the boys up.

Pulled up some “underwears” after James went potty (I don’t know why he makes them plural but panties is plural so I guess it makes sense)…

After a quick change into clean clothes, I took a look around.  Oh my.  What a mess.  Go ahead, take a peek, but be warned.  It’s messy.  This is one way to hold myself accountable for my housekeeping skills as of late. 

I turned off the compy and got to work.  I use a timer, set to 15 minutes and alternate between 15 minutes of cleaning and 15 minutes of total, devoted, utterly fun boy time.  I’d love to upgrade my timer, though.  The one I use is really a cooking timer with an oven thermometer.

So you see by the kitchen that I really have started nesting. For everything that can be sprayed and wiped down, I use 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water in a spray bottle. That way if I don’t completely rinse/wipe all of it away, I still don’t have to worry about any chemicals being everywhere. Plus, the boys can help me wipe off the fridge, stove, dishwasher and I know we’re all safe. AND, man, does that stuff ever clean. WOW!

I’ll be back tonight to post more pictures from today.  I figured I’d want to remember “how easy it was when we just had two kids.” Now it’s time for lunch.

***

Continued…

Lunchtime. James is sitting in the chair now minus any kind of booster seat whatsoever. He looks so short but really, he is getting big. Gotta love that boy.

I know it’s kinda strange to post a slideshow of our messy house but if it gives me the motivation to clean up, then it’s a good trade. I meant to record everyday life but today, everyday life turned into “clean up this house!” After I tackled the kitchen, I worked through the living room then the Master bathroom. The bedrooms will probably be tomorrow, mixed in with some good playtime and probably a trip to a park (despite my sudden dislike of all places parkular due to the largeness of my belly and the closeness of the end of this pregnancy)…

Then we did some living. While Lowell was taking a nap, James played his “Duck ABC Game” — really that’s Big Bird but he calls Big Bird a duck. Hmph. For only being 3 years old, I am totally impressed with his mouse controlling skills. Excellent mastery of the hand-eye coordination.

After Lowell woke up, he somehow got locked into the kitchen. Somehow being… we went in for drinks then James closed the gate before Lowell could get out when we were done with our drinks. What a face. Then some more cleaning and onto dinnertime…

Then I got to go to hang out with the girls and visit a new baby! Wheee! This is Matilyn, born today at noon. 7 pounds 13 ounces. Her mommy was “due” 10 days before us… they obviously got her due date wrong! Congratulations Brandy!

And, midnight. I’m going to bed.

Regardless of who any of us wanted to win, either way…

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Romans 13:1-7 NIV

I did.  I lasted a good long while.  I lost it at bedtime, though.  at 10:15 and they were still not in bed — lost it.  Absolutely went crazy and I feel horrible.  (edit to add we didn’t get home from Small Group until 9:30, so it’s not like I just let them run wild until 10:15!)

Today David is at/went to State Marching competition in San Antonio at the Alamo Dome.  Here is a sneak peek into our day, though I didn’t think about doing this until 3 pm.  So you missed the morning of running around North Austin trying to track down a parking garage toy.  We found one at Toys R Us but I don’t think it will last very long.  Anyhow, to the pictures, once I thought about it and started taking pictures:

I know that picture looks bad.  Really.  Come on?  The computer?  I really should have been attacking the mess that is taking over (the storage tub on the couch — it’s full of yarn for David’s sweater — the kids’ clothes on the arm of the couch, the mess of receipts and scissors under the monitor, the yarn everywhere, the couch pillows on the rocking chair (along with a cloth I use to cover the TV) the vacuum, the mess on top of the armoire) playing with James… but but but but this was during “naptime” and I’m in the habit of a quick mid-day email check.  James doesn’t nap at the same time as Lowell anymore.  He naps about 2 hours later.  SO, with the above picture in mind, I will return to my old habit of turning off the computer during the day.  Most of the day.

I KNOW I’m not supposed to scoop the kitty litter.  But a pregnant woman with the nose of a superhero can only take So. Much.  And, Dave, once a week is NOT ENOUGH by a long shot.