J Cooper Photography

1.  The busy season is upon us.  My weekends are now devoted to chasing toddlers around the park for countless hours trying to coax giggles out of them.  My October is JAM packed with WONDERFUL family sessions.  Have I mentioned I love my “job”.   This weekend I’ll be hosting the Matilda Jane Mini Sessions…can’t wait!  And if you are a client and would like to use an image from a previous session for Christmas cards…NOW is the time to order!  I am offering a GREAT price on 5×7 flat cards this year…check out the products category here on the blog to see my 2009 templates!

2.  A little someone I know will soon be turning FIVE.  She is beyond thrilled.  Me…not so much.  I like my children’s clothing sizes to be followed by a big T.  You know…2T, 3T, 4T.  Size 5 is just too big.  And five year olds go to Kindergarten.  That’s just not acceptable.  She’s our resident princess.  What if she turns five and decides pink is for sissies?  The planning for the “pumpkin princess” party is just about wrapped up so we headed out for a little almost-five-years-old photo shoot this weekend.  Just a sneak peak…of course there are MANY more to share soon!

3.  A few days ago I pulled a note card from my stationary box to write a thank you to a friend.  A was standing nearby chatting away as I wrote when she stopped and looked at me fairly perplexed….”That’s strange Mommy.  You have the same stationary as the Tooth Fairy!”  Oops.

4.  This weekend I took the girls to The American Girl fashion show put on by the Junior League.  Can I just put in a plug for this company?  (They aren’t even paying me or anything for saying this)  But I HEART American Girls.  I know they are pricey.  I know that I could buy 5 outfits at Target for the same price as one teeny tiny AG party dress.  But I don’t care.  My girls will play with their dolls for HOURS in the most creative and imaginative ways…take that Miley Cyrus.  My girls LOVE dolls.  And I’m going to support that habit until their 13 if they’ll let me   Here they are with one of their best buddies before the fashion show.  J got “Chrissa” as an early birthday present so she would have a doll to take to the event!

5.  I’m wondering what is “normal” for a 15 month old boy to say?  To all the moms of boys out there…how much do/did your little guys speak at that age?  A had well over 200 words at 18 months so I am struggling with the limited vocabulary of “uh-uh” an “dadgagda” that comes out of Sam.  He must know that I am getting a bit concerned because today he seemed to pull out all the stops and say all sorts of words I had never heard from him (or hadn’t heard in quite some time).  His pediatrician said he should say “mama”, “dada”, and one other word.  Really?  I haven’t really counted up his words lately….but I know he can’t identify and say “octagon” and “trapezoid” like my oldest could (and I’m not kidding…she was freakishly into shapes as a toddler).  These are the words he says regularly: Mama, Dada, Anna, moo, more, uh-oh, What’s that (whadat).  Other words I have heard recently that he doesn’t say as often:  Coco (his stuffed monkey), cracker (taka), quack quack (cak cak), woof woof (uf uf), meow, yogurt, no.  But sometimes he says something once or twice and then I never hear it again.  Tell me this is normal?!?  You’d think he was my only child but I just don’t remember.  I don’t want to be one of THOSE moms at the pediatrician’s office that gets talked about after she leaves (who am I kidding…I am SO that mom!)

6.  Yesterday was a long day at our house.  I was tired.  I was grumpy.  It was SO Monday.  Last night I realized I really wasn’t a great Mommy yesterday.  Can I call a do over?

7.  This little girl LOVES her brother.  And what does HE love?  Blueberry muffins!

8.  I have been working on combining the girls into one room.  We won’t be making the big switch just yet…but I wanted to have an idea of how to combine their bedroom sets into one room.  Some of the pieces will have to be stored…there just isn’t room for everything.  The girls wanted bunk beds.  The REALLY wanted bunk beds.  But I just couldn’t do it.  I had visions of A catapulting off the top bunk in the middle of the night.  Plus she is a sleep walker….and sleep walking and ladders just don’t mix well.  So I began scouring Craigslist for matching twin beds.  Everytime I saw a listing it was immediately snatched up before I could get my hands on it.  Most of the beds were $100-$200 too which was more than I was willing to spend.  Then I found a listing for 2 matching headboards for TEN DOLLARS EACH!  Jackpot!  A few coats of creamy white paint and I think these will be a perfect match to their other cottage furniture!  They are so ugly right now.  But hopefully they will turn out cute.  And if not at least I didn’t spend much more than a Big Mac!

9.  I HEART FALL!

10.  I’ve got a FUN idea for a contest brewing so be sure to CHECK BACK here this week to enter to win something I KNOW YOU WILL WANT