Oh wow…what a weekend we’ve had. All four of us with the stomach flu. We’ve had these nasty bugs before, but never at the same time! I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am right now that I live so close to my mom. She made us meals (which we couldn’t eat), took Kyler (who got over it first) out of the house, bathed my boys and put them to bed, rubbed cold washcloths on Ryan’s head, and offered to do it for me. And all that despite the fact that she wasn’t feeling well herself. Thanks again mom! But I really am feeling much better now and have a bit more energy to finally get things done.

So to make up for my absence lately, how about a little giveaway? I recently had the opportunity to make an adorable digital book through Shutterfly for my boys. I’ve been wanting to do a “Who Loves You” book forever now with photos of all their extended family members that they can take to church as a “quiet book” to look at. I haven’t gotten it back yet, but I’m so anxious to see it! This is the third or fourth book I’ve done through Shutterfly, and I’ve always been thrilled with the results! Great quality, perfect little coffee table books.

So do you want a custom book of your own? I have TWO book codes to give away. One is for an 8×11 book and one is for a 7×9. If you win I’ll send you the code to get your FREE book online at Shutterfly!

To be entered in the drawing, just leave your name in the comments section. If you’d like, tell me what kind of book you’d like to create (but you don’t have to)! I’ll draw two winners randomly on Friday (10-2-09).

And just so there’s some pictures to include with this post, here is another cute little family I did photos for last week. This is one of those families that you look at and say, “Well yeah…no wonder the kids are adorable, just look at the parents!”

And I secretly hope that these last two photos will be blown up REALLY big and framed on their wall!

I know my blog has had problems in the past with connecting with Google Reader. So if you use Google Reader, I’ve now added a button that let’s you easily add me. It’s in the green header on the right!

I wish I could say that my blog is the only thing that has been neglected these past few days. I wish I could tell you that my house is spotless and that my family has been fed good meals every day. I wish I could tell you that I play games with my boys and read to them all day. But the truth is my house is a disaster, my poor husband is forced to fend for his own food each night he comes home, and my boys watch TV all day long. This pregnancy is kicking me hard, and I seriously just keep having to remind myself how worth it it will be in the end!

It’s been way too long since I’ve shared any client photos on my blog, so I thought I’d share a few tonight from three different family sessions I had lately. I love each of these families to pieces (and I hope you know it Chaney, Susie and JaNae!).

JaNae’s cute family (a garden look):

Susie’s cute family (a country look):

Okay, seriously…can you believe the cuteness of these kids? But check out the littlest one. It’s impossible not to pinch her cheeks and squeeze her thighs when you’re with her. They call her “chunkers”, which is what we called Kyler when he was a baby. Uh…Kyler didn’t even compare. This 6-month old (maybe not even that old yet) almost weighs as much as Kyler (2 years old) does now.

Chaney’s cute family (an urban look):

And this is probably my favorite out-take ever. I hope my clients cherish photos like these forever, because they’re just so true-to-life!

Thank you so much for all of your well-wishes and congratulations. We’re all so excited, and to be perfectly honest, a little scared! It’s a little un-nerving to think that the kids in the household will soon outnumber the adults. But we truly are very excited! I’ve had a lot of people ask me questions, so here are a few answers!

• When are you due? April 7
• How far along are you? 11 weeks
• How are you feeling? Not too well. I’ve been more sick than I was with my other two for sure. Just terrible nausea, exhaustion and headaches. But hopefully it will subside in a couple of weeks!
• Are you going to find out what you’re having? YES! I hate suspense and I like to plan. We’ll probably find out about the middle of November. It’s really no secret that I’d love to have a little girl, but I’d be perfectly happy with another boy! (I know moms are supposed to say that, but I promise it’s true!)
• Have you had any weird food cravings/aversions? Oh my, yes–definitely more so with this pregnancy than my others. They always change, but I’ve been craving sub sandwiches (particularly Jimmy John’s turkey!), anything mexican, Sonic strawberry limeades and french fries, and cinnamon rolls. I can’t eat chicken, any sort of chinese food, and pretty much most foods in general. It’s awful. I have such a hard time even creating a grocery list, let alone going and actually getting the groceries.
• How did you tell your family? Well, we didn’t want to do anything too “cutesy” since we did that with the first two. So we decided to tell Ryan right before we went to my parents’ house for dinner on Sunday night and see how long it took before everyone else found out. We told him it was a secret and explained what a secret was. Matt emphasized over and over again that he couldn’t tell anybody! When we first got there he did really well and didn’t say anything for a good hour or so. Afterwards a few of us were outside when all of a sudden Ryan’s 4-year-old cousin, Kate, yells, “You’ve got a baby in your tummy!” I looked over at Ryan and he had his hand clapped over his mouth and his eyes were as big as saucers. I said, “Ryan, did you tell the secret?” And he burst into tears saying, “But it’s just so hard not to!” We assured him it was okay and brought him inside where all the adults were. My dad immediately asked him why he was crying and he said, “because I told the secret that mommy has a baby in her tummy.” And of course everyone heard, and now everyone knows.
• How will this affect your teaching schedule? It won’t! I’ll still teach the next two classes the first part of next year, take a month off to have the baby and then start again. Yes, it will be crazy, but it will be good.

Again, thanks so much for all your kind words. We’re thrilled. I have to keep telling myself that as I’m nibbling saltines and wiping my face with a wet washcloth, but it will all be worth it in the end!

Hey! My photography class is officially full. If you missed out you can email admin@bigpicturescrapbooking and request to be put on the waiting list. If you still don’t get in, this class will most likely re-run next spring! For those of you waiting for the second class, registration will begin in a few weeks and the class will officially start in January! Thanks everyone! I’m so excited for this!

If you’re on the fence about registering, don’t hesitate! I just found out that the class is filling fast, and registration has only been open for a couple of hours! Yikes! I’d like to get everyone in that wants to be, so don’t wait! Register HERE!

Don’t forget that registration for “Get Great Photos With Any Camera” starts tomorrow!

Just for clarification for those of you not familiar with Big Picture Scrpabooking, this is an ONLINE class, which means no matter where you live, you can take it!

Also, this is the FIRST of THREE consecutive classes! In order to help you better understand whether or not you should take this first class or wait for the next (or take both…or all three!), here is the breakdown:

1. Get Great Photos With Any Camera: This class is for anyone, no matter what kind of camera you own. It is good information for point-and-shoot camera-owners, or digital SLR owners. We will discuss the basics of lighting and composition, as well as discuss many tips and tricks that the pros use! Basically it’s packed full of information that can be applied to any sort of general photography.

2. Get Out of Auto Mode: This class is strictly for digital SLR owners. This is a great class for those of you that own an SLR, but don’t really know how to do much but put the camera in auto mode. This class will teach you the basics of getting out of auto mode, and really showing what your camera is capable of!

3. Moving into Manual: This class is for those advanced students that have practiced, studied, and know enough about their cameras to finally move into full manual mode and feel comfortable with it. We’ll discuss exposure in depth, as well as ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed.

As the next two classes get closer there will obviously be some more detailed information, but hopefully that little bit helps those of you that are wondering whether or not to take the first one!

It’s going to be good! I promise!

[Added a little more information at the bottom!]

Introducing…

Oh my gosh, can you believe it!?!? I can’t even tell you how incredibly excited, blessed, thrilled and very humbled I feel to be a part of this amazing endeavor. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Stacy Julian for several years now, and I’m just so grateful to be able to continue to be a part of what she does.

So here are the details: Registration opens SOON…as in TWO DAYS! Go HERE to register for the class. This class is geared toward students who own smaller, point-and-shoot cameras and want to learn how to take better photos. I  have a feeling that many people will have questions regarding the class, so I will try my best to answer them all here.

Please register! It’s going to be so fun and you’ll learn so much! I promise!

Eeeeeek!!!! I’m so excited!!!

Edited to Add: This class is actually the FIRST of THREE classes I’ll be teaching at BPS! Each class will be four weeks long. The first one is a basic beginning class for tips on composition, different camera modes, etc. The second class will help those with digital SLR cameras get out of automatic mode, and the third class will teach how to shoot in full manual mode! The classes will run one right after the other, so hopefully that helps you decide whether or not this class is right for you, based on your skill level.

Does this picture not melt your heart? Kyler was so sad to see Ryan leave.