Baby Boy Due In March!!!

Things have been so wild and crazy over the past few months! David and I took Mollie to Memphis with us while we took our Orff Master Class, and prior to that, we found out that we are going to have our second baby in March. The due date is March 8th, but due to my last c-section, we will have another one on March 2nd.

Today, we went in for my check-up at 13 weeks, 6 days, and we got so lucky! My midwife was detained, so the ultrasound tech came in and said, "I'll get the baby's heart rate in my room." Surprise ultrasound! I begged her to see if she could find out the gender. She had just gotten a brand new awesome machine, and well, there it was! BOY!!!

She said, "I can't give you my guarantee, but I'm 92% sure it's a boy." I mean really. What else could THAT be???

All this time, I've felt like it is a boy. We're so excited. We won't be 100% sure until my 18 week check-up on October 6. Here are two more images of our SON...

Mollie has already named him. Marshmallow!

Mother's Day

I don't know when the last time was that I wrote a blog post. Does that matter? I have wanted to. I write in my mind- it just doesn't get put on paper or html. So much goes on here. So much is going on here!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. What a day! So many emotions come up with it. I think back to three years ago. It was painful. I didn't think I would ever have a child of my own. I wanted to celebrate for everyone else, but it was bittersweet. A little smiled curled on my lips. That was it. That was all I could do. I celebrated my mother.

Two years ago, I was pregnant. Who knew it would happen? I savored everyday of that pregnancy. I felt like it too so long to become pregnant that I needed to enjoy every moment- good or bad. I felt warm inside when I opened a mother's day card that was addressed to me from a friend. It was incredible.

Last year, I celebrated Mother's Day for the first time. I had a 9 month-old of my own on Mother's Day! I felt happy. I felt OLD. I was a mama. That was just one day though. What is it to be a mom?

Tonight, I listened to my almost 21 month-old daughter giggle banter about the different things that she could lick, and found myself totally engrossed and happy to be that way. I didn't care to do anything else in the world. I gave her a bath, got her ready for bed, and I snuggled up next to her reading "The Pokey Puppy."

The book creaked as I opened its pages. It was brand new- had never been read before. I felt so peaceful there remembering reading a 29 year-old edition of that book as a child. Who had I read it with? My mom? My dad? A brother or sister? I remember its old, musty pages. I remember the illustrations. Listening to my daughter giggle at the puppy and yell "strawberry" at the berry the puppy sniffed in the book melted my heart. At any given moment, she could have lifted her water cup and cracked me in the head with it, as she did on so many occasions. I didn't care.

All I know is that I love all of these tiny little moments, recollections, and connections that appear out-of-the-blue every day of my daughter's existence. They are perfect little treats in our busy day-to-day lives. I love them, I love her, and I look forward to more tomorrow.

To my mother, I love you! You are with me in everything I do with her, my own daughter. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Fantastic Giveaway from Crave Photography

Crave Photography is having an amazing giveaway from my favorite vendors! Visit their blog for more information here.

Fix It Friday - Rachel Osborne Photography - CS4

Here's another I Heart Faces "Fix It Friday" challenge. Below you will see an image taken by another photographer, and ,below that one, you will see the image edited by me in Photoshop CS4. To see more of my photography, please visit my professional blog:
http://rachelosbornephotography.com/blog
or my website:
http://rachelosbornephotography.com

Check out this great giveaway from Sylvia Cook Photography!

Check out this birthday bash giveaway with @Sylvia Cook Photography, I've entered....have you? She is giving away over $1000 worth of great products and photo editing actions. Just visit her blog for more information...
http://photographybysylviacook.blogspot.com/2011/01/birthday-giveaway-little-boy-is-turning.html

I won a photo challenge!!! {I Heart Faces}

I am so thrilled that a photo I took of Mollie came in 5th place in last week's I Heart Faces photo challenge: Smile. I thought long and hard about the best smiles I have seen: happy smiles, goofy smiles, toothy smiles, toothless smiles. Smiles are great, no matter what! When I think of my daughter, I can't help but think of silly smiles. She loves oranges, and her daddy taught her how to make an orange smile. Orange you happy to see this smile?

Here is a link to the winner's page and my website below that.

http://www.iheartfaces.com/2011/01/photo-challenge-winners-smile/

http://rachelosbornephotography.com/

Here is a link to my winning blog post:
http://rachelosbornephotography.com/blog/2011/01/10/i-heart-faces-smile/

Fix It Friday - Rachel - PS CS4

Here is the I Heart Faces "Fix It Friday" of the week. First is the original image, taken by someone else, and below it is the image I took. To see more of my work, please visit http://rachelosbornephotography.com or my blog where you'll find some I Heart Faces entries:
http://rachelosbornephotography.com/blog

Busy Times!

What day is today? What time is it? What YEAR is it? Time is flying by. That's the only way I can describe it. One thing I have learned- never make a to-do list for a vacation. It never gets done. We had more than two weeks off of work for the holidays and did maybe one thing off our list. Was it something important? No. You know how I know? Because I don't even know what it was! Sigh.

Little Miss Mollie is full of surprises. She is hilarious. Today, I wrote her name on the Magna Doodle, held it up to her without saying anything, and she looked at it and said "Mollie" then went about her business. Okay. I know the kid is smart, but what was that? Last night, I was eating a cookie with a snowman face, and I let Mollie take a few nibbles off of it. She looked at David's cookie that sat on the table waiting for him, and I could have sworn she said in a very matter-of-fact way, "Are you going to eat that?" It sounded more like "Are-oo-go-eat that?" She laughed immediately following her question. Once she got hold of her own cookie, she stuck it vertically in her mouth and made sure that both David and I took full notice.

We love her so much. She is so funny, sweet, and musical. She may only weigh 20 pounds and have only 5 teeth, but she's a doll. We love our little Mollie!

http://rachelosbornephotography.com