3 months

That is how long it has been since I last posted, which is par for the course for me with blogging! lol

Since my last post we had Thanksgiving, Christmas and Katie turned 3! That is a lot! :) Thanksgiving was spent at my side of the family in Jackson. We had a blast and I wish we could do that every year. They are so much fun and the food was so good. Katie had fun with everyone. They are who I grew up with going to. The house is so full of people, at least 30 people were there. We left early because we had driven with my mom and Ron, but wish we could have stayed. They were just about to start playing games. The next day we went to Todd's family for their Thanksgiving and it was fun :) We played some games and had a wonderful meal!

My photography business took off and I had some great bookings towards the end of the year. I also learned a lot about business and what stuff I will need to do in the future to give myself air.

Christmas was nice. We went to Mike's house for Christmas Eve as always. Had a nice time. Christmas morning was at our house. My mom and Ron came in the morning about 8 or 9 am and we had fun watching Katie as she was afraid to come into the living room. She was afraid Santa was actually there. When she saw the enormous pile of gifts she was ecstatic! We let her start to open some things, but then we did breakfast and then back to opening. She had a blast! It was such a joy to watch her open things this year. She really understood. Then in the afternoon Todd's family came and the fun began all over again! We had a lovely dinner and we relaxed once it was all over. WE had a really nice, yet busy, holiday week after that.

New Year's Eve we spent at Kevin and Amber's. It was a nice night with good food and friends. Katie got sick. We will she had just really bad gas compounded with a head cold. She insisted that I held her all night and that was a downer, sadly. She slept with me in bed while Todd slept on the couch.

On Feb 7th Katie turned 3. I was on bed rest for a bad reaction to some medications and sadly her big party had to be cancelled, but it was ok. We had already celebrated with Todd's family because his parents were going to be gone the weekend of her party. My family all came to help her celebrate and my sister in law Frances, took photos for me. :) I watched it all happen via Skype. I was in our bedroom upstairs Skyped into the computer on the main floor. It was really nice and worked out. Katie so loves her cousins and she was just happy that they were all there. She talked about it for days afterward. How her cousins came to visit her at her house. This past weekend we celebrated one last time with our friends Amber, Kevin, their kids, Kierstyn and Annie. That was nice as well... Katie adores them all. She has stopped talking about that. She is so funny, she gets out her Birthday cards and reads them to herself. "It's your Birthday, Katie!" lol

She is so completely creative and it makes me so happy. She talks to herself and I love to hear her stories. She is so good about playing alone, though I know she would love to have a friend there as well. Last night we got out the water colors and she painted a page out of her new huge coloring book she got for her birthday. She doesn't really like crayons, for some reason, but she loves to paint and do other things. So we let her :)

Going to try to focus on her again and try to blog as much as I can. She is three and I have nothing written down, so I really want to record stuff if I can. :)

A fun night

It snowed a bit today/last night. Katie loves the snow! She got on her entire snow suit with hat and mittens and boots! Todd and her went outside to play in the snow. My photos didn't come out all that great because, believe it or not, it was dark out! (My camera makes it look lighter :) So it was sloe, but I did get this one:



They stayed outside and threw the snow up in the air and made balls. By the time they came in it was very dark out. They came in and ate supper. Then I got this crafty idea...









She had fun! :) We taped it up on the door wall. I like to put all of her crafts up that are seasonal and can decorate our house. A client that I recently visited have this great line where she clipped up all of her sons' crafts. I really liked the idea. It left them out for a while to look at.

Then she focused on foam stickers which she loves. We learned that playing with foam stickers helps with her gripping and will help her write in the future. The teachers said to let her take the backing off, even if it takes 10 minutes to take it off one sticker.

First snow...

It has been snowing on and off all day. Katie wanted to go out immediately and stick our her tongue. She remembered this from last year. This makes me happy. We spent the day together, the three of us. We went to the bank and to the grocery store and that was it! :) My appointment got canceled and I couldn't be happier. I made beef stew and bread.





This one was from yesterday before I had to go to a birthday party for a shoot. I wanted to get out here before the weather came in.



Oh, and my email is up and I have also posted a bunch of new posts today. They don't all show on this page, so click on "Older Posts" below to see the older ones. I like that I can go back and update. :) I want to post them on the day they happened but don't always have time. So, please go back and read if you can. Comments are always welcomed! :)

My email is not working

If you are trying to get a hold of me, my email isn't working. I have been on the phone with Yahoo several times and they have no answers for me. My temp email is pattimargarita@gmail.com

Life has been so busy lately, too busy. I have not been home with my family much and it is bringing me down. Next week I am not taking any appointments or meeting any friends after work. I need to take time to be with Katie and Todd. I am also not taking on any more photo sessions for the rest of the year. I have built up a really nice base of clients and I have appointments until December 7th and then that is it for the year. I need to get the business aspect organized and taken care of, like a website and stuff. But more importantly, I need to spend time with family and friends. Oh to be able to stay home for a full day with no plans! To make soup (I love soup though Amber thinks it is silly) and watch football, take a nap with Katie and watch a movie. I am looking forward to it!

I do have some photos that I would like to share, but I need to upload them. I will this weekend, so be on the look out! :) Todd has been taking pictures for me as well when I have not been able to be home, bless his heart! :)

On a different note, my friend Jenny needs all the prayers her and her family can get. Cici, her 11 month old, had an accident last Wednesday. She has been in critical condition in Colorado since then. It makes me want to cancel everything I have planned and just spend every moment I have with family and especially Katie. Jenny is a very strong mother and she has a good outlook. I just really need for people to pray for them. I believe in the power of prayer. So thanks.

Just being silly

Katie and I were making silly faces and taking photos of each other. she has started to learn how to use a camera and she is getting one for Christmas! :) The ones of me she took herself with only me holding the camera for weight and nothing else. She does good work!



You know, you have to take time out to do silly things. And when you do, savor those moments. Time is so important. In an instant it can be taken right away.

My friend Jenny had something happen to her recently that has made me really appreciate life. Her 11 month old Cici choked on something on Wednesday, October 29th. In that instant, her entire life changed forever. You can read more about it here. She is a strong mom and I know that she and her family are going to make it through this. We love her and support her so. I know Jenny through my mommies group that I have been a part of since we found out we were pregnant with Katie. All of our kids were born the same month, Feb 2006. Cici is half a set of identical twins from her second pregnancy. Please pray for them with us.

Between the Fischer's and the Nielsen's I have really found strong inspiration to look toward. It has me looking at everything. Mostly my spirituality and beliefs and how I want to raise Katie with Todd. Also, as I mentioned above, time and how much of it I am spending away from my family verse how much time I am spending with hobbies or other ventures. Nothing can bring back time.

Please also hold your family tight.

Halloween: Party and Trick or Treating

Katie had a school parade today and got to wear her costume! Todd and I went to spend the morning with her, she was so happy and spending time with her like that is something I hold dear. Her class all had signed slips saying I could take photos of them :)







After the parade with wig head and deep in concentration...


Then Halloween night where she trick or treated with her friend Madison, Mommy and Grammie.







And her pumpkin of Dora the Explorer:

Costume and Pumpkin carving

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

So Katie is Jessie, from Toy Story 2, for Halloween... I got it yesterday in the mail (forgot to take the tags off!) and she wanted it on right away!! She did all of that hoopin and hollarin herself! :) No clue where her imagination comes from but I love it!

Then on to the pumpkin where she really thought she wanted to help, but didn't end up wanting to in the end... oh well. She is such a girlie girl!

Sorry that it loops at the end, not sure what happened.