If you go to www.sweetportrayal you will see why I haven't written on my blog in forever. I have been kind of busy with trying to start my "business." I know - it's like the worst time to try to create a small business. The good thing is that the start-up costs are low. The hard part has been trying to find clients. I dont like talking about it at work - a select few know about it. I don't go to a large church, and I really dont want to make an issue out of it there. And other than those two places I really dont get out much! So, I'm having to rely on referrals. I got my first few free clients from craigslist and have one appt booked for an actual paying client who is a relative of one of my free clients. I have another free session this weekend, and she is going to have me do a paying session for her cousins in November. So...if I build it they will come...right? Here are some of the family pictues I took:



You can see more at my website.
In other news...Gracie has built up to fours steps in a row. She climbs the many stairs in our townhouse at lightning speed. She is a very good dancer as well. She stands in one spot with her hands on her hips sometimes and moves her hips from side to side - very cute! Jonathan is fully potty trained! I gave him a haircut yesterday and he is looking good! Chuck is in his surgery rotation and he really likes it - learning a lot of various stuff unrelated to feet. I, as I have said, have been really busy with Sweet Portrayal, however I have been keeping up with my Step aerobics class! Chuck took some pictures of my Monday (Columbus day) for my website. I am finally back to the weight I was before I had Jonathan - hooray! And my legs are more toned than I think they have ever been in my entire life. I'll post some pics.

New pics!

You know how I put the ad on Craigslist for free senior pictures? Well, I've had several people contact me about this and actually had a photo session Saturday morning. I couldn't have asked for a better model! This girl was beautiful and really knew how to pose. She was one of those people that looks really good when she doesn't smile. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about doing the session beforehand. But I think the pictures turned out really nice - I was very very pleased. I did some more reading up and fiddling with my camera after I took my niece's pictures and it really seemed to pay off. So, just click on my flickr box to the right to see the new pics...they are in the Seniors batch mixed with my niece's. Let me know what you think of them...I really appreciate comments in flickr!

My website

Well, it's not great, but I'm ready to show my new website, www.sweetportrayal.com. It's for my photography "business." If you look at it, please ignore all the ads, and focus on my site - it costs too much for now to go ad-free.
Now, don't think I see myself as a professional because of this. I really just created the site so that I could use it to find some subjects to practice on. Since we dont't have many friends here, and no family members here, willing subjects are hard to find. So I posted an ad for free senior pictures on Craigslist. But of course, you can't post an ad asking people to let you take pictures of them without letting them see that you're not totally untalented...although I have seen some people post their "portfolio's" and they look like something I took when I was a kid. It's like they say, "better to stay quiet and let people wonder if you're an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"(or something like that). I just hope that people that tell me my pictures look good are telling me the truth, because somebody had to have told the other people that posted their portfolios that they looked good too. Well, I have to learn somehow...and I havent had any luck finding a good course yet, so I guess for now I will just be reading and practicing as much as I can.

Gracie pictures

 
This one's cute too! I know, they're basically the same.

 
I found this picture of Gracie today that I had taken over Labor Day weekend when I was taking my neice's pictures.
What a pretty, happy baby, don't you think?

Big news! Well, for me...

I have big news to report:
Jonathan finally pooped on the potty!!!
I know, big deal, he's 3 and half years old, he sure as well better be doing that by now. Actually he has been scared to death of pooping in the potty. So this is a big deal that he actually did it once. Hopefully its not just a fluke!

In other news, I have been learning html. I was working on making a website all weekend. I am not ready to show it yet, but one day I will reveal the address.

Rock-a-bye baby

My little baby girl broke my heart tonight when she indeliberately showed me how neglected she is.

It was bedtime, and I had just put Jonathan in bed and placed Gracie in her crib. As usual, Jonathan began to cry at his door, "Mommy, I want to rock-a-bye baby..."

So, as usual, I opened the door to his room and let him out into the open loft area, which also serves as Gracie's "bedroom," where I sat in the rocking chair beside Gracie's crib and began to rock him and sing to him, "Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop..."

I looked over at Gracie as I was singing and there she was, standing in her crib, rocking side to side in complete sync with the rocking chair, watching as I sang to Jonathan.

I laughed at the sight of it and stopped rocking, calling my husband to come watch.

As I started rocking again, she began to slowly sway and eventually synced up with the rocking chair.

After getting past the initial shock and humor of it, I realized that my poor overlooked second child had learned to mimic being rocked by her mommy!!

How sad!!! But still cute...in a sad way...

Really, what this says to me, once I think about it, is that I have two different children, who have two different personalities.
Gracie is quiet, independent, resourceful, self-reliant, strong, and determined.
Jonathan is charismatic, outspoken, loving, stubborn, and non-conforming.
Nature or Nurture?

Or is the question Baby or Preschooler?