I've been busy.

Each of these photos was taken within the last 2 weeks. 

There are also a few sessions that I don't have permission to blahg about, simply because those women got nekkid and don't want it on the InterWebz. Understandable. Lol.

I have one more session to edit and then I can wash my hands clean of photography for another two weeks. Lol.

No but really, it's time to put work aside and focus on final exams...

...the same final exams which happen to be creeping up on me in, oh, another 16 days...

Eff.

By the way, we find out the sex of Version Two Point Oh/The Deuce/The Sequel (the child goes by many names) on April 12.

Any guesses? :)

Random thoughts.

I have one million things on my mind right now. And, for the first time in a long time, I'm alone at the computer. It's been a crazy stressful day, so maybe I just need to take these millions of things on my mind and leave them here.

I'll say it in advance...you're welcome. ;)

1. When you get pregnant, and everyone and their second cousin recommends that you eat throughout the day without ever skipping a meal, they aren't kidding. It has nothing to do with keeping the growing baby inside of you healthy. Well, maybe it does. But I'm convinced it doesn't. Instead, I think people tell you that because if you DO skip meals, that creature in your belly will just eat the first thing it finds...today, I think this baby ate half of my small intestine, and maybe a portion of my stomach.

Dear baby inside of me...I promise not to do that again, if you promise to stop eating my vital organs.

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2. I've heard a lot of buzz lately about how "video games are the reason why kids are fat."

Um, no.

Video games are not the reason kids are fat...parents are.  When you have children, parenting isn't just something you DO...it's a choice you make on a daily basis. When you don't parent your child, they start to make un-wise decisions. 

Thaddeus has several video games he likes to play on the Wii. First of all, it has helped a lot with his eye-hand coordination. Second of all, he only gets to play for 30 minutes a day. And if the weather is really nice, sometimes he doesn't get to play video games at all, unless he has been outside for at least a couple of hours.

Video games will never make my kid fat unless I allow them to. If it were up to him, he would play Monster Jam all day, every day. But no. I'm a parent, and I choose to make decisions for my child that will keep him healthy. 

Stop blaming electronics and start taking some accountability.

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3. Back in 2003, I had front row tickets to see David Gray in Houston. I never made it to that concert.

Today, I have front row tickets to see Miranda Lambert. Thanks to my job, I won't be making it to that concert, either.

I am oh for two.

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4. My family is currently living off my photography business.

It makes me incredibly proud to realize that I have come so far with this "hobby" - it's actually a legitimate living now. 

(P.S. - but it won't always be like this. Tom better get a fancy schmancy lawyer job SOON. Lol.)

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5. For all the time I have spent bitching about Michigan, I have to give mad props to the state over the last few weeks. 

Today, the high was 86.

In March.

It's been glorious.

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6. I dread calling AT&T and Netgear because I really hate talking to people named "Sam" from Sri Lanka.

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7. My boudoir tours for St. Louis, D.C. and North Carolina have all booked up. I've never really been to any of these places, and I'm stoked.

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8. My grandma is in the hospital. She could use some prayers. Please and thank you. :)

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9. I'm going to be closing out my 20s in about...oh, two weeks. OMFG. How did this happen?

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10. While I am incredibly thrilled to be having another baby, I have to say that sometimes I get a little sad when I think about "Thaddeus and Mommy" time coming to an end. It's been such a wonderful [almost] five years with this little guy...I'm so thankful for our bond.

Gorgeous weather.

Something is terribly, terribly wrong in Michigan.

I don't know if it's the end of the world or what, but for the past week we've had sunny skies and temperatures in the mid- to upper-70s. It's supposed to continue that way all thru next week, too.

In March, we are wearing flip flops and we ran through the sprinklers.

It's like heaven.

It motivates me to use my camera, too. It's always nice to take photos outside, in nice light...rather than worrying about all the crap in your house, and the noise from the higher ISO (nevermind that speak), etc. 

Oh, and we're grilling out tonight for the first time all year.

Forget spring.

Bring on summer.

Oh, and this is what happens when your child gets a little attitude and your camera is there to witness it. No eye contact...scowl on his face. Typical Jeter. ;)  Lol - kidding!

March is halfway over. WTF.

This year is seriously flying by, and it needs to stop. It stresses me out to the max. The faster this year moves, the sooner this baby comes.

And we don't have any space for a new baby. Lol.

Ok but seriously, it is amazing how fast time is going by.

I've finally been able to see a high risk OB in my area - not Dr. Douchebag, thank God. And I really liked this doctor. He is going to manage my care on a monthly basis, but he won't be delivering my baby. I'm totally fine with that. We will find out whether SHE is a HE is a SHE on April 12. I, of course, will notify the InterWebz immediately once I know whether Thad will have a brother or a sister.

Tom is set to take the MPRE this weekend. This exam is much smaller in scale than the Bar, but he's still stressed about it. There's some weird rule that if you fail the Bar exam and you fail the ethics exam immediately thereafter, you have to wait an entire year to take the Bar exam again (instead of re-taking it in July). So he feels the added pressure.

I registered the other day for what I thought would be my last semester of classes before graduating in September. As usual, though, life got in the way, and I won't be graduating until December. Well, it wasn't really life that got in the way - my school only offers the classes I need to graduate, for some reason, in Lansing this semester. So this would entail an 85 mile drive several times a week, up until my due date, basically. Tom and I didn't think that would be very wise, so I am taking a couple of easy electives this term, and the following semester I will be able to take my final two classes.

Can you say Immigration and Family Law? Lol.

One of the highlights of the past few weeks has been my time in Minneapolis. I took the 9-hour drive to the Twin Cities last weekend, for five sessions. Four of the sessions were people I had never before met, except online. It was so much fun! I got to relax for the first half of the trip (by "relax" I mean that I literally laid in bed for two days straight watching trash TV and ordering room service, lol), and I was hard at work during the second half. By the time I left MN, I was so excited to get home and see my guys that I drove all the way thru, getting home around 1:30am. It was a great surprise for Thad - he didn't think mommy would be home until Monday night. So he was thrilled when he woke up and I was there. It was a nice way to wake up that morning, I have to admit. :)

I've finished editing one complete session thus far, and am working on the others. Once that is finished, it's time to go into lock-down mode for final exams.

Oh, and then there's my 30th birthday.

What do we have planned? Absolutely nothing, lol.

Oh well.

Wow, this was a really jumbled blahg post. Sorry about that. I'm in kind of a shitty mood today, lol. Maybe I'll come back to this one when I am feeling better. :)

A newb.

I had a newb in the studio yesterday afternoon.

Well, sort of.

He was already 6 weeks old...and he was the SIZE of a 6-month old. Lol.

But oh my. He was precious.

 

I've got my baby back.

Sorry. Was that title a little TMI? Because I'm definitely not talking about Thad. Lol.

I'm talking about Tom.

The Bar exam is OVER and Tom is home from Lansing. I can't even tell you the huge sigh of relief this is for our family.

There is the obvious reason - the Bar exam is OVER.

But there's more to it.

Despite waiting for results, and not having a job, Tom is still much less stressed than he was before. He has resumed eating again, lol, and is back to his ol' self. I have loved him being home for the past three days. I don't have any interest in making plans with others -- I've just wanted to be home with the two important guys in my life.

Our days have consisted of sleeping in, playing games together, making meals together, laughing on the couch with one another, and watching movies as a family. I honestly can't remember when the last time was that we were able to do these things, without worries about things going on around us.

Reality will resume on Monday, I am sure, as Tom starts to look for work.

But until then, I am enjoying every minute.