Blue States

It's been so long since I have posted on our blog. 
We are now living in a blue state, which feels archaic and grimy. The crime is high, they have crazy rules. It's like going to live back with your parents after going to college. I don't think Democrats trust people to use their brains so they overdo it on the laws and the rules. They're super soft on crime so you can basically kill someone and it's like 18 months probation. 
We bought a fun house on 5 acres! We have a lot of chickens now. We are also homeschooling, because the schools here are the worse in the nation.
I think social media basically takes care of all these updates, but just in case you aren't following there.. that is a rough sum up.

Oklahoma

Blogging has really become a way of the past, hasn't it? Now we have moved on to Instagram and Facebook. It's been so long, in fact, I've lost my cute little signature that used to be at the bottom of my blog posts. It was hosted at PhotoBucket and I'm not even sure that website is around anymore. Man, time flies. 
But here we are, still living in Oklahoma and anticipating all the wonder that fall will bring. The pumpkin patches, the hayrides, the brisk mornings that seem so distant. For once, they can keep their distance. I'm so happy to have this hot weather, the thought of matching socks again all winter has me cheering for more warm days.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!  Another year has came and gone, we have added another baby to our family, and Chunky is still the best dog on the planet.

Last year we bought our first home.  There are so many things about it that we love, but mostly we just love that it's home. 

Tristan is 6.5 and just the kindest, sweetest kid. He is so easy to love.

Summer will be 4 this week and is still her Mommy's daughter.

June is just the happiest child and gets into a lot of mischief.

Josie Pudding Pie is a happy, squishy baby that we are all in love with.

Jeff is still loving his job, I started to sell LuLaRoe and am doing really well, and we still adore Oklahoma.

Caught in the Rain

The kids and I went on a bike ride this afternoon and got caught in the rain. My sweet friend helped me quickly throw my baby into the bike trailer instead of the bike seat, I threw Chunky in with them and then put the rain cover over. Tristan was a little upset to be biking home in the pouring rain, but he quickly forgot his problems when we started laughing at puddles and how silly everything was.

All the way home I just thought about Emma.  She loved going on bike rides.  She was the first kid, maybe Tucker was, that I put in a bike trailer and hauled around. I would bike her to my friend John's house and take her and Tucker swimming. I would go to the duck pond.  We would just go on little rides.  In her tribute video there are photos of her whole family stuck in a rain storm.  Of course, it was The Woodlands, so the rain was probably nice and warm and our rain was cold.

She is on my mind all day.  I think about her a lot.  I always think about her.  I think about everything that comes with losing someone you love.  How you miss them, how everyone else misses them, how there is nothing you can do.

Edmond

It's been a little over a month since we have officially moved to Oklahoma and so far, it's been pretty nice.  Lots of snow, now lots of rain, some nice days in between, a minor earthquake, some new photography friends, a visit from my sister, and some fun activities in between all that.

I miss living in the country.  I miss our chickens, I miss the little community we lived in.  It was a different kind of people that lived there, not that they were better, just different.  I have met so many nice people here, too.  So far, both places are great.  I just missed the quietness of living in Miami.  Edmond has it's charm though, and Oklahoma City is so nice.  It's made the number 4 spot on the top 10 best places to move in 2015, so that should tell you a little about how surprisingly nice it is.

Summer and Tristan get cuter every day. Summer is in love with Da, and has turned into quite the little person.  Every night she shoves and pushes her way into his lap for a bedtime story.  She lays her head on his chest and calls him Da.  She makes puppy noises and says, "dirt."  And she screams, "MA!" at me all the time.  Every morning Summer has to have her shoes on, and a jacket, and just yesterday brought me a hair tie so we could fix her hair.  She gets furious if I try to feed her when she is in her high chair, but refuses to actually use a spoon or fork besides as a hammer.  She almost always has two baby dolls in her possession, the little one tucked in her arm, and dragging the bigger one by it's arm.

Tristan is honestly the sweetest angel.  I can't think of even sending him to preschool EVER because I'd be so worried about him the whole time.  Sometimes when I see him around other kids I can see him picking up their snotty behavior, or I see them being mean to him and it hurts my heart.  I know at some point he will have to deal with that, but 3 almost 4 doesn't seem like the right age.  He does do the classic kid thing and turn into a show off when we have company, but he's still pretty darn cute.  Everywhere this kid goes he gets a smile from people.  He usually climbs into bed with us at about 6am, Jeff gets up about 6:15, I sleep in til about 7.  When Tristan does wake up about 7:45, he comes and finds me, grin on his face and tells me how much he loves me.  We have a few minutes together.  He brings me flowers.  He tells me all sorts of cute stories.  He still mispronounces words and it breaks my heart on the days he gets them right.  Tristan loves anything gun, knife, sword, bow and arrow, RescueBot, and gun.  He almost always has a backpack on, a belt with a gun and knife in it, and his pockets full of money.

Being with these kids bring me more joy than anything ever has.  The more I am with them, the more I am just happy to be home with them.  I love knowing that when Summer needs to go back to bed 45 minutes after she wakes up, she can... because her Mommy knows her and knows what she needs.  It's not to say that when I have to mop the floor twice a day it's not frustrating, but I have never had a job that gave me such fulfillment than being their mom.

Vaccines. Again.

I started out believing that vaccines are not totally evil.  They're not that bad. They have helped saved lives.  I started Tristan on a delayed schedule after getting advice from someone with a degree in immunology, that has created vaccines himself, and understands their purpose better than any idiot in medical school or pediatrician I have met.  I started Summer on a delayed vaccine schedule.   I don't believe that vaccines are pure evil, but I am convinced that they are not the saving grace that people make them out to be.  Tristan has most of his vaccines.  Summer has a couple.  I might continue their vaccines when they're older, but definitely not before the age of 2.  Story after story of kids being hurt by vaccines keep enforcing my choice. Which of course, infuriates some people.  Every "pro vaccine" person I know has the same argument.  That not vaccinating your kid hurts their vaccinated kid, that vaccines are the only reason we no longer have small pox, blah blah blah. You can watch Jimmy Kimmel's 5 minute video directed at people who do not vaccinate and get every single argument they have.  The best part of the video is that he has doctors telling you to fu$$ing vaccinate your child so they can get back to watching Breaking Bad.   There are so many things that irritate me about this video, but first and foremost it's the arrogant attitude of the doctors.  "We went to school for 8 years!"  "We are smarter than you."  "Trust us." I do NOT fully trust any pediatrician I have met.  I Google before I go in to the doctor what I think my child has, and ask them detailed questions so I can make sure I know what we are dealing with.  I have had half of the pediatricians pull their phones out to Google some of my questions.  No joke.  Confidence lost.  Glad you went to med school for 8 years to learn how to Google.  Pretty much I just need your signature to get a prescription... which you'll have to Google to tell me how to use. Second, it's the fact they're leaving out 90% of the story in Jimmy Kimmels video.  Here are some basic facts that you can Google yourself, and then find either on a trusted website (like CDC, or in a medical journal):

• 2 people in the last 30 years have died from the measles in the United States. 140 children have died from the MMR vaccine.
• Measles was almost gone in the 1950's.  This is attributed to proper hygiene.  The vaccine came out in 1963.
• There is a vaccine court where people who's children have been killed or injured by vaccines can sue. Millions of dollars have been awarded. ... because vaccines hurt people.
• Before the 1950's, children got less than 10 shots for their vaccine schedule.  Autism didn't really exist.  In 2014, children get 49 shots, and autism is found in 1/68 kids.  As the shots increased, so did the rise of autism.  Is that because they're "better at diagnosing?"  I don't know.  But those numbers sure are curious.
• The flu vaccine that is pushed so crazy hard on the public is the number one vaccine drug into vaccine court due to injuries.  Oh, and it also wasn't effective this year.  Oh, and if you get the shot, you most likely are going to get the flu for a few days anyway.. not sure how that's preventing you from anything... 
• Most people who do not vaccinate their children are wealthy and educated. 
• 90% of the people who got whooping cough had their vaccines.  Wait, what?  So you're saying that 9 out of 10 people who contracted the whooping cough had received a vaccine for it?  Including more than the recommended 5 doses.
• Women who get the Dtap vaccine while pregnant (as recommended) are more likely to contract some crazy infection that I can't spell without googling, and causing their babies to die.  So wait, you're vaccinating them against whooping cough, but in turn giving them another infection that makes their babies die more often than a baby dies from whooping cough? Where is the logic? 
• SIDS is associated with the Dtap vaccine you give your infant.  It says so on the warning label.
• My nieces and nephews got the chicken pox vaccine.  Then they all got the chicken pox anyway.  Thank you, vaccines, for doing... nothing.... 
• Most adults have not received their vaccine boosters, which are required to make the vaccine effective.  
• Doctors kill patients all the time.  Its why they have to carry malpractice insurance, because there is a chance that they're not as smart as they think they are they're going to screw up.  

So those are all facts.  That information comes from the CDC and pro vaccine websites.  And you're telling me to trust my doctor who is pushing that shit on my kids and me?  Because they went to school for 8 years?  Yeah, no thanks.  Take your arrogant attitude and shove it... because if something DOES go wrong with my child after a vaccine, you're going to immediately disregard anything that might connect it to the vaccine.  And by doing that you're telling me I do not know my child, and that you are not truly dedicated to medicine and to the truth. If there is one thing I have learned from that video is that any idiot can become a doctor and parrot what the government and pharmaceutical companies want them to.  I doubt they teach more than 2 minutes on the adverse reactions to vaccines. What really bothers me is that the next step to this argument is, "More kids benefit from vaccines than are hurt."  So I am supposed to put my kid on the sacrificial vaccine table and take the chance that everything will be OK with them, for the greater good?  Or how about you do some research, prove that a vaccine is safe AND EFFECTIVE, and then we'll talk.  

In Oklahoma!

Well, we made it!  Just barely, but we are here, along with the crap we have accumulated together in the last 8 years.  Almost 8 moves in 8 years and we still haven't thrown away Jeff's waders or my old camera.  
Jeff's transfer was official on the 23rd of February.  Somewhere at the very end of January, Jeff called home on his lunch break and proposed that we move... then go to Hawaii, and then unpack the house.  It was going to be a little helter skelter of a move, but with us that seems to be the usual.  So, we bought a couple tickets to Hawaii, found a vacation home, found someone to watch the kids, and made an attempt to find a house and move in 3 weekends.   We ended up renting because we didn't have 30 days to close on a house, let alone find one we would want to spend that kind of money on.  Sadly, the house we found is in a suburb that doesn't allow animals and we had to give up the chickens.  I think I was more tore up than anyone else.  
After a crazy weekend of loading a truck (which Jeff did mostly by himself, including the fridge and piano), we took the kids to my brother's the next weekend and headed out to Hawaii for a vacation.  It was a blast :) I'll be posting pictures on Facebook at some point I am sure. 
Now we are attempting to settle ourselves in the new house in Edmond.  It will be nice once I find my baking sheets, my hair dryer, and the box of Summer's hair bows! 

Vaccines

It's been driving me nuts seeing so much craziness on Facebook about vaccines. It's finally hitting politics on whether or not vaccines should be mandatory. I do not trust the government and do not think for one second they should be allowed to make a medical decision for me. So, no. Not OK with mandatory vaccines.   Both sides can scream all they want, but any medical procedure done on a minor should be a parents choice.  If you would like to make an attempt to get your anti vaccine friends to think about vaccinating, do so with a kind, good argument.

Moving

In a week and a half we are moving to Oklahoma.  I have been having a hard time adjusting to the idea of moving from Texas to Oklahoma.  I have always said the reason Texas hasn't fallen into the gulf is because Oklahoma sucks so bad.  I guess it's only fitting that now I'm moving there.  I'm not going to give up my Texan status, and as a friend suggested, just start calling it "North Dallas."  People like to bring up that our next baby will be an "Okie" ... and that's when I started calculating the distance from the new house to the nearest Texas hospital.
Anyway, all jokes aside, we are excited for this new chapter in our lives.  Jeff loves his company, and so does everyone else in Oklahoma.  They do a LOT for the community are very well known. Of course, the last 9 months living in a very rural, small town has absolutely spoiled us.  Spoiled us badly.   We spent 2 weekends in OKC looking at houses and both of us were already reminiscing about no traffic and no people in our tiny town.  We love, love rural Texas.  Of course, I don't doubt over time we are going to love our new home, too.  I have heard nothing but the best things about Oklahoma City and I'm excited to see what they have to offer.  We will just really miss it here in Texas.  ... and we will really miss our chickens.  Our new house has a whiney HOA and I guess they don't think chickens class up the neighborhood.  Pretty lame. But thankfully, we are just renting for right now so hopefully in the future we can find somewhere outside town and start a little farm ;)  We are moving in about a week and a half and that makes me realize I haven't even started packing. I guess I'm not as worried since more than half of our stuff is in storage.  The company found and rented this house for us and furnished the inside, so all we had to unpack were toys and clothes.  And the toaster.  
For sure, we are going to miss this little Texas town.  I'm going to miss knowing who my neighbors are. I'm going to miss the park and drive to town.  It's been a blessing to live here and we will always remember it.

Prints

I mentioned that I'm changing my photography structure in my last post. I've been thinking about this and writing down plans and thoughts for quite some time, and I'm excited to implement them this Spring.  It all started with me looking a giant tub of my photos from high school and college.  I have a ton of prints, but they're not in albums, so they just sit there. It's kind of sad.  Then I have several external hard drives with thousands of digital images.  Even worse, they're not printed.   No one is EVER going to plug those things in an sift through over 50,000 images (that's just the last 8 years) and actually enjoy that.  Digital images are something to be shared now, but they're not heirlooms.  They will not last.  After doing photography for other families for a couple years now, I realize I have done a disservice by not offering prints.  A lot of people haven't even printed their pictures.  They lose the USB.  That's the worse thing. They have nothing to show for the time and money they put into their family portraits.  Some people actually print their images, but usually they use a consumer lab and the images are dark, grainy and have weird colors.  One time I saw my pictures on someones wall and was actually horrified.  I got home and immediately went through their photos thinking, "Did I really do that bad of a job???"  Thankfully I was relieved to see that on my computer, they looked fine.  I found out they had free prints at a very popular drug store and took advantage of that.  Several people have printed from Facebook, and the result is horrific.  I feel like if you are going to take the time to book family photos, and coordinate outfits, then you need something more than digital files for your investment.  You need something on the walls of your home... something that looks nice and not green and dark.  Something you can pull out years down the road, not on a broken hard drive or lost USB, but a real image you can touch and show your kids how cute they were when they were little.   And that is why I am now offering prints and canvas, and digital images are not going to be offered without the purchase of prints.   I'm really excited about it!  I like the idea of taking a beautiful photo, editing it, then showing you on a big screen how beautiful it looks... and then bringing samples over so you can see what would look good on your wall.  I have been ordering prints for several months and every time something over 16x20 comes in my heart just stops. The images are BEAUTIFUL, they NEED to be big.  It's so worth it.   If you saw that picture of Tristan above in a large print, you would see why seeing it on just a computer screen isn't all it's mean to be.   Anyway... that's what is in store for this Spring.  Prints.  Like it always should have been.  :)