ok here’s the deal. we were just going to use http://www.blessedmama.com/creations/ as the BMC site. however, since it is on a free server and has LOTS of downtime, we don’t feel comfortable with risking possible clients that way. so we are thinking of moving to a new server.
the thing is, we would require LOTS of space (to host the images) for a fairly low price. we haven’t found anything great yet. if you know of anything, please let us know.
secondly, we are wondering if once we find a place to host us, if we should switch this domain (blessedmama.com) to the new server and use blessedmama.net here. would that confuse everyone to no end? or should we just make the business blessedmama.net??
here is the pricings page. it’s pretty much the only thing that’s done. jerry is working on the cart part whenever he has a chance, but as you can imagine, that’s not often. and i don’t get much done when i try to work on it either. it’s one of those projects that there is SO MUCH to do that i feel overwhelmed so i don’t do anything. SIGH. if there were some sort of deadline, it would be different - as a procrastinator i work best under pressure.

in other news, we must spare a moment of silence for gigowski.com. tomorrow it expires. it will probably become some search engine site. i wonder where it will lead people? it’s bittersweet seeing it go…but i copied all the content from it to my seagate (drive that saves computer space) so i will one day be able to transfer all info i want online to whichever site i choose LOL.

thanks for the compliments - i really am not considering a full-fledged photography business, just wanting to take the boys’ pics in a professional way. eventually, if i have the time or energy, i might make it into more. how does Blessed Mama Photography sound? LOL!

happy birthday to my lovable bear!!! he’s 33 today!!!!

we used that free coupon to picture people yesterday. quite a day it turned out to be…
we wanted to get a photo of the boys together. yeah, right.
jeremiah was being totally ornery - crying and upset and wouldn’t go near josiah.
then he was being great and josiah got upset crying.
jeremiah LOVED all the props that were there…when they weren’t in front of the camera. as soon as they were placed in front of the camera, and he was asked to stand (or sit) there, he ran away or threw a fit (often both!). sigh.
we ended up getting the 10×13 of josiah and bought an 8×10 of jeremiah. one of them together showed jeremiah with a small smile and josiah was cross eyed. in the other, jeremiah looked really sweet because he was trying to make josiah feel better. josiah was bawling.
you know, i’ve been wanting to do our own pics for a while now, but this was a visit that convinced me i should just buy props and backdrops to go for it! the one of josiah is much like ones i do, and if i had a decent backdrop, i have a really cute idea for jeremiah’s photos. and dear bobbie has given me much inspiration and many ideas!! thanks bobbie!!! jerry ALSO told me that with our tax check he will be buying me a really good camera - one with filters and everything! so i am anxiously awaiting that day!

anyway here are the pics we picked, followed by the small pics we didn’t pick (it’s as big as i could save them!):

the apple was ours - i brought it because jeremiah LOVES apples lately. i thought it would be cute to get a pic of him taking a bite out…of course he wouldn’t eat it at all, just held it! lol.

he ALSO loved this plane. wow we wish we could buy on! jerry actually said, as he was paying, “just add the plane to our bill.” LOL. jeremiah would have loved it.

speaking of jerry…tomorrow is his birthday!!! his shirt came in today! but of COURSE his card didn’t come yet. PULEEZE. how pitiful is that?! i haven’t had a minute to make him a cake, but i plan to before he gets up from bed tomorrow.
i’m so glad he has the weekend off. we’ll be having birthday dinner on sunday - his favorite - ham and scalloped potatoes.

i already have spent too much time and honestly i’ve been on for just a few minutes. i have so little time for myself anymore…

God bless and pray jerry has a good birthday at work tomorrow!

yesterday evening, jeremiah pulled off a dry diaper, and i told him to go pee in his potty. he bent over, peed on the floor, and walked over to his potty, lifted the lid, and sat on his potty, but didn’t pee.
(i left out the peed on the floor part when i told the story to jerry. does that make me a horrible wife??? jerry is honestly much stricter than i am, even tho i think i’m pretty strict, and he has kind of been on jeremiah’s case a lot lately, so i don’t want him to get upset with him for behaviors that happen when he’s not with him. does that make sense?)
so of course i praised him for the potty move but told him we do NOT pee on the floor, and next time sit on the potty and pee on the potty, not the floor. sigh.

wanna see a pic from today’s mini photo shoot?

[img]http://static.flickr.com/31/47001821_6a2a039192_o.jpg[/img]

i should have done it when he was smaller, but oh well. he is getting SO BIG!

i actually took it to try to get a sample pic for BMC. i know you guys probably think the site is all made up, totally imaginary. but i am honestly working on it, and so is jerry.
we are discussing buying a new domain for it tho, because this site host has SO MUCH downtime. it’s ok for a personal site (even annoying for a personal site…) but for a business site, it’s unacceptable to be down so much. know of any good Christian hosts for businesses that don’t charge a lot and have great features??

night night and God bless!

new pics are in the september gallery! josiah has plumped up quite a bit! and the ones of him and jerry are priceless. enjoy!

i haven’t had a chance to really sit down and type a long entry. today may finally be the day. i may have to stop in between, but hopefully you’ll never know the difference.

josiah turned 1 month old on the 12th. he has changed and grown so much even since then! on the 14th, at his checkup, he weighed in at 9lbs 15oz. just 8 days later (yesterday), he weighed 11lbs 1oz!! now you tell me he’s not a piggy! lol. he still nurses all the time, and has to have more supplements lately. he’s definitely going through a growth spurt.
i have been a little concerned with his crying. he cries a LOT. not a wah-wah cry either, a drop down scream fest. sometimes it’s hunger, sometimes it’s a diaper, sometimes he needs to be held, but usually we don’t know what it is. it’s like he’s in pain. he will arch his back and scream and scream. is this colic? is this gas? when i use the gas drops, it helps for a few seconds, but then stops working and he’s at it again. i feel so helpless, and i have to admit, stressed, when nothing i do helps. i vaguely remember this with jeremiah, and i don’t remember anything that really helped. and josiah gets it much worse. :(

jeremiah is such a trip. he is so big! he is still 27lbs as of yesterday, but he is learning and growing so much every day. he repeats almost everything we say to him, and is just soo very smart. some of the funniest things: “whoah!” “don’t!” “stop!” “spostto” (supposed to). he is feeling so much better today! thanks again for all the prayers.
one thing that he’s been doing that we don’t know how to curb, is screaming. like, he’ll scream a high-pitched scream in excitement. when i tell him to be quieter, he does it again. honestly i don’t want to have to spank for something like that, but i may have to if i can’t find a way to stop it. sigh.

i had my 6week checkup today. it was like night and day from my 6week checkup from jeremiah!!! the dr even noticed it. i haven’t had any pain down there for about 3 and a half weeks, and no bleeding either. i was 189 the last time weighed before josiah was born. i am 166 today. i’d like to get down to 120, but um, honestly i don’t know lol. i think i was 170-something before being pregnant. not totally sure tho.
i did something i am sure no one saw coming. i didn’t even see it coming. but i got a birth control prescription written. the dr explained how bc works, and i honestly don’t see how it’s different than a condom. i originally thought it was abortionative, but it really isn’t. and we want to have more kids, but knowing how fertile i seem to be now, i am not ready for another pregnancy yet. i hope no one thinks badly of me because of this. it’s a decision i wrestled with…

anyone who has a glamour shots near them should check out their website! “HELP HURRICANE VICTIMS AND SAVE! Bring in clothing or canned goods to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. In appreciation of your generosity, you will receive 1 FREE Session & 1 FREE 8×10.” i plan to schedule an appointment for the family. i think it would be neat. we also got a free coupon for the picture people too! so i want to get a cute pic of the boys. i am gonna use all the free and cheap pic deals! lol.

oh, my camera’s batteries are dead, so i have to get new ones before i can get new ics up.

i wanted to announce some happy news, that i really haven’t had a chance to mention, or wasn’t thinking about it at the time of being on the computer. i have a few friends who are newly pregnant. congratulations to AMY and to AMANDA. please pray that they have safe, uncomplicated pregnancies! and i don’t know how i haven’t mentioned it yet, but addie came home on the 6th!!!! if you were following her story waiting for me to update, please forgive me! so not on top of things! she seems to be doing PERFECTLY, and it appears she’s completely “normal”, praise the Lord. also note that becca has a place on her site that you can sign up for email notifications, to notify you when her site is updated…i keep meaning to bug her for that script, because wouldn’t you LOVE it if i could employ it on my site??

date night: first of all, before the date, we went to an apple orchard with my parents. when thinking ‘apple orchard’, we were thinking we’d be able to stroll among the apple trees and pick our own apples. nope. instead it was a little store with extremely rude employees who didn’t seem to want our business and CERTAINLY didn’t want us touching their produce! they literally swooped in front of people who appeared they might touch an apple. sigh. so yeah, that was a LOT of fun for a toddler…and when josiah started crying (we were in line already) he and i received glares and eye-rolling sighs. grrr. should’ve just walked out without the apples, but jeremiah loves apples…
for the official date, we had mexican, which wasn’t very good, but it was nice to talk with each other alone for once lol. i missed the boys a bunch but it was nice to connect as husband and wife and not just papa and mama. the movie we saw was just like heaven. let me first say that jerry really fought me on it, but i had seen a great preview and wanted to see it really badly so i talked him into it. also, i really like mark ruffalo. i have liked him in all (3) the movies i’ve seen him in. the first movie i saw him in wasn’t a movie i liked, but i liked HIM in it. and i usually like reese witherspoon - this was no exception. for the wives whose hubbies don’t think it looks good - jerry liked it. it was really a good movie. there were a few bad things in it:
he had a drinking problem, and there were partial nude scenes. i don’t remember cuss words, but it’s been a few days and my memory is really bad. i think we’ll buy the movie when it goes to dvd tho.

the BMC site is coming along slowly but surely. i am sorry it’s taking so long, but i usually don’t have a lot of time to work on it. and i have been SO HORRIBLE with commenting on people’s sites, but i have been trying to check in every now and then. i feel so horrible with all the whining i’ve done about people not commenting…and here i haven’t been myself! LOL. i am going to try to get on a schedule that mondays i visit so and so and tuesdays, etc, etc. so i can comment on everyone’s blog instead of just reading. ok? i still love ya!!!

thanks for the thoughts and prayers concerning my sister and the boys. i still don’t know how i feel about her getting them back…but it’s not me in charge. i DO know how much she loves them…

well for now i think that’s it. i can’t think of anything else i’ve left out. but knowing me….ROFL.

God bless, and have a GREAT weekend everyone!!!

too tired and preoccupied to post, but remind me tomorrow if i get the chance to tell you about today’s wic appt.
for now, just copying and pasting an email from my mom about my sis’s court date:

Today was court for Jannelle. She denied that they are children in need of services, so there will be a fact finding hearing–at least I think so. The lawyer Kathy–Jannelle’s bio mom–paid started by saying he could not serve because of a conflict of interest and recommended Jannelle have a court appointed attorney. Judge agree she should/could have one, then proceeded with everything–when she should have had a lawyer. !!! The DFR office is going to take her to a couple of places that are available- group homes where she would have the boys with her and learn parenting skills. They said there a lot of resources available to help her, and they are going to get it all going. She is agreeing to whatever they say because she wants the boys back! They did not answer why Kathy cannot be involved in this, except to say that Jannelle is the parent and she needs to learn how to do it all herself. Sounds good, but even those without any disability need help when they have twins!!! and Kathy was her help. And they grew and were healthy under their care. So, her next court date is October 20.
Kathy had asked about seeing the boys the last 15 minutes of Jannelle’s 3xw visits, but they said no, their whole focus is Jannelle and the boys. So, I asked about having grandparents visitation with them, and they said that I could have an hour a week visits, and Kathy could go too, with me supervising, since they do not have funding to supervise her visits. I appreciate your continued prayers in this whole situation. I want to be an advocate for Jannelle and I need wisdom.

thanks, all, for the prayers.
jeremiah seems to be feeling a lot better, but we can tell he still has a long way to go to be back to his normal self. i mean, what can we expect with only 3 doses of med so far?
he still doesn’t want to eat anything (and i am not ready for him to - he ate a bit at breakfast and promptly vomited it!) but thankfully he is wanting to drink things now. he will drink water, juice and pedialyte.
sooooo tired and i really want to work on the BMC section but i have so much to do before i can go to sleep, and when i go to sleep it will be time for josiah to wake up and have his sleep strike. it’s the same every night folks. :(
God bless!
PS jerry is going to put in an offer for a slight change in his fedex job. not a shift manager but a slide manager. which, please don’t ask me what it means. lol. he thinks he has a good chance but i would appreciate prayer about it. it would only be a dollar extra an hour or so, but every little bit helps. thanks in advance!

we are headed to the dr. jeremiah vomited last night and has been running a fever ever since. we finally got him to drink something at about 945.
i’m sure it’s nothing serious, but the not eating well and sleeping more makes me think this is all connected. so please keep him in your prayers!
also pray for jerry and me - between the two boys, neither of us got more than 3 hours sleep last night, and we’re both feeling sick from the lack. jerry is also calling off work today so we can tag-team it.

ETA: back from dr. both boys are now sleeping, so as soon as we eat we’re hoping to catch some winks too!
jeremiah has strep. UGH. anyone who has had this knows how miserable he must be. and believe me, he is MISERABLE. thankfully his weight is still the same as it was last week (27lbs) so while not a heavy boy, he’s not dehydrated and not LOSING weight. even tho he looks like he’s lost weight to us. he is on amoxil, and let’s hope he’s not allergic like his mama.
josiah was quite messy at the appt - we got his temp checked to make sure he’s not sick too (so far, so good, btw), and he pooped, peed and spit up all over the room. he doesn’t do anything small, that’s for sure.

thanks for your prayers and please keep them coming!

God bless

just got back from date night with jerry! we went to mexican and to a movie. it was very nice!
i can’t believe jeremiah is 20 months old today. only 4 months until he’s 2 years old. it’s just unbelievable. **tears**
i am really tired (what else is new) so i’ll end now. i will post a bit more about what jeremiah and josiah are up to tomorrow.
God bless!

since jerry doesn’t ever look at the blog anyway, i can go ahead and post this for comments.

i am making this card for jerry’s birthday, which is the 30th. what do you think?

for those of you with older kids, do you remember your almost two year old toddler eating MUCH less and sleeping MUCH more during their two-year molar time? this is how jeremiah is acting and i’m hoping that’s all it is…he is eating barely anything, and he sleeps a BUNCH. (normal nap: 12-2. the past two days: 1245-4 and 1145-3.) there are no other ’symptoms’ so i don’t think he’s sick. ?

josiah is getting SO BIG! he’s fitting nicely into most of his 0-3mo clothes now.

i have decided to go with Blessed Mama Creations. there’s always a chance to change it to Blessedmama Creations, if more of you who didn’t put your 2c in want to put their 2c in now.

jerry has the weekend off…i am SO GLAD!

God bless!!