In the Kitchen.

Y'all know I love time in the kitchen, so I was excited about this photography assignment.  The goal was to use design fundamentals such as line, shape, texture, etc. in the kitchen.  Using that recipe, here's the finished product. Enjoy!

Today we are rooting for the Aggies...

Win one for us, will ya, Ags? And if you can't win against Tech, at least give 'em a little run for their money. Otherwise, our Lubbock cousins will gloat and gloat and gloat...and gloat.

One Year Ago Today
I married my very best friend...and every day I love him more.

Love. This. Book.
Alex isn't old enough to have a favorite book yet, but this is my favorite. Know why? It's a wonderful story about a little Pea who hates candy and loves spinach. Genius, I tell you. Pure genius.

Alex doesn't stand a chance...he will learn the concept of candy=bad and spinach=good at our house. His Little Pea book will be one of the cutest teaching tools in my arsenal!

* Amy Krouse Rosenthal authored Little Pea and she has tons of other adorable kid books. Check them out here.

My new favorite.

Shooting Steel.

Here's Assignment #4.  The exact assignment was to shoot three things made of steel or some sort of metal.  We were to use our imagination on this and use these criteria for the three items: Imagine one was made by a Japanese gentleman, one by a German gentleman, and one by an Italian.  The Japanese man's design was to be practical. The German's design was to be very exact.  The Italian design was to be beautifully stupid.  Hopefully you can guess which photo goes with which designer...

Assignment #3

This photography class assignment was shot in a cemetery in Ankeny.  The assignment was to shoot the various statues scattered throughout.  I was surprised at how much I liked these shots!

I think this one was my favorite - a statue of Jesus washing the feet of Peter.  It's almost difficult to tell this is a statue.

$700 billion?

With all the news-worthy events this week, Jason has been schooling Alex in current events. He's helping him to make sense of the $700 billion bailout. This could take a while... Just look at Alex's face! He's shocked and wondering how this could possibly be a good use of taxpayer money. Me too, Alex. Me too.

I forgot.

Typically my Wednesday mornings begin at around 5:45, when I get up, shower, and eat a quick breakfast so I can feed Alex at 6:30. It's my routine because I have Photography class on Monday and Wednesday mornings...

Well, it's 3:00 p.m. and I was just thinking about how well-rested I feel today. You know why? Because I FORGOT to go to school this morning. Guess I am still getting used to this being a student thing. Thankfully I'm a grown up now and I don't have to come up with lame excuses for missing school anymore. I can just shrug my shoulders and say "I forgot"!

Play Date.

Yesterday I had lunch with a few friends who are all in our Connection Group. It was our first play date! Check out the cute babies in our Group (pictured here) and Ella (pictured on her blog). We have been so blessed by these new friends at church and really love hanging out with them.

At our "date", Grace was the only girl - man, does she have the pick of the boys!

Grace Haugland, Ryan Putney, Michael Sage, & Alex

Ahoy Mateys.

Some of you may be wondering what ever happened to the Pirate Mama role I was playing after Alex was born. (You may remember that I was stricken with Bell's Palsy two days after I delivered Alex.) Unfortunately the Bell's is still hanging around. Hence the reason I have not posted tons of pictures of myself on the blog. Smiling with half your face is kinda weird! I am happy to report, though, that it seems to be improving. Several people in the last week have commented that they see real improvement. I'm encouraged.

It's not exactly a treasure map with tons of gold at the end, but it is a relief from the "poop deck" of postpartum recovery issues. I'm hoping to give up my Pirate status soon.

I guess I could look on the bright side - at least I'm not dealing with a hook for a hand!

Smiling Alex - I finally caught him on camera!

Outdoor Assignment.

My second Photography class assignment was to shoot 100 photos outside. I chose to do all the shots in my neighborhood...Partly because it's got lots of cool historic charm and partly because I was pushing around a sleeping baby. I wasn't sure how far Alex was willing to go to get good photos, so we stayed fairly close to home. He turned out to be a very cooperative assistant.

Dear Year 31...

Year 31, you've been good to me. You've given me the man of my dreams as a husband, a remote island vacation, a state-to-state moving experience, a beautiful new baby boy and countless other memories. It's been good...but I must inform you that it's time to move on. I'm moving on to bigger, better years. Year 32 is next and then 33, 34, 35...you get the idea. Don't take it personally. It's not you, it's me. I hope we can still be friends, though, and I'll think of you every time I look at photos and my blog journal. You've been a good year to me.

32 has a lot to live up to!

Your friend always,
Nicole

The first assignment...

Here are a few shots from my first Photography class assignment. I'm already addicted to Photoshop. When I came home from school today, I announced to Jason that when I finish class we will need a new iMac with a massive screen and Photoshop. Oh how he loves when I come home and request expensive new things! I tried to convince him that this is an expensive new thing we will both enjoy. Actually, I reasoned, it is part of what I should have as a tool to successfully accomplish my Domestic Managerial duties. Not sure if he's buyin' it yet...but a girl can dream, can't she?!

How cute are these?!Yesterday Jason came home from the hospital with a gift from one of the people he works with. They have been so sweet to welcome Alex with all kinds of wonderful gifts. When we opened the box, I found these adorable UGG crocheted baby booties. Now I'm sort of looking forward to the Iowa winter so Alex can try these on for size...Well, okay, "looking forward to" may be an bit of an overstatement. I'm glad that when the cold weather does arrive, our son will have the cutest winter footwear around!

Goin' Back to School.

This week I started class at the Des Moines Area Community College. I figured it was high time to get back out of the house and into the halls of school - again. This time, though, my aim is purely artistic. I am taking a basic digital photography class and I am so excited about learning the in's and out's of photography. I have always wanted to be a good photographer and the class seems to promise all I'll need to get started. I have a new camera and all my school supplies...right down to the 3-ring binder. Can't say I've bought one of those since the 7th grade! That binder is going to hold all of my photo projects for the semester. If they are any good, perhaps I'll post some after a few weeks. Might be fun to see how the photos improve (or not) over the course of several months.

Since we are on the subject, I'll give a little shout out to my favorite photographers. There are so many blogs and sites I look at regularly and think "I wish my photos were half that good!", especially ones with candid family and kid photos like the Marshman's, the Schulz's, and Adriane Smith. Austinite Malita Jones has great scenery pics - my favorite is the Fenceline - it so reminds me of West Texas. I also have to mention Rebecca Mayfield, who, would be in the top 5 if she had a photography website. However, these days she's spending her time hanging out by her blow-up pool in the backyard instead of taking tons of photos. Last but not least, my all-time favorite photographer to envy online is Trever Hoehne. His photos are truly amazing. It probably doesn't hurt that he lives in California and has an endless supply of beautiful scenery and even more beautiful people to shoot...

So, my photography journey begins. Don't look for me to set up a website or anything yet... since my skills have yet to be determined. But hopefully you regular readers can track my progress and keep up with my photography as it improves in the coming months. I'll post the pictures to prove it.

The two men in my life...

The 2 a.m. Crazy Talk.

You know how lots of dads will brag that their kid is sleeping through the night at two months old? Well, for Jason, I think he's going to be bragging that his wife is finally sleeping through the night - hopefully by the time Alex is two months old...

We call it the 2 a.m. Crazy Talk. Every night I wake up between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. panicked that Alex has gotten lost in our bed (which he never sleeps in because he has his own), is sleeping without his pajamas on, is ready to eat, or is crying. Last night, it was because I dreamed Alex was trapped in my pillowcase. None of these things are the reality, but at 2 a.m. and in my state of sleep deprivation they all seem larger than life. My sweet husband has to coax me back to bed and assure me that, in fact, Alex is wearing pajamas and he isn't in need of any food or attention - he's sleeping! In the mornings Jason tells me all about the crazy talk. Sometimes I remember and sometimes I don't. It certainly gives us both a good laugh!

Since Alex is sleeping in 4-5 hour stretches at night now, he's waking up on his own to eat. Hopefully soon I'll be able to enjoy the 4-5 hours of sleep too. As soon as that crazy talk subsides, perhaps I will. Till then I guess I'll just deal with the crazy talk and be grateful for my husband who bears the nightly burden of bringing me back to reality...and back to bed.

I dig cloth diapers.This is a picture of Alex in his cloth diaper bottoms. At our house, we are digging the cloth diapers and wipes! Now before you think that I am spending my days washing out dirty diapers, let me confess that we are using a cloth diaper service here in Des Moines. The service provides us with a cloth diaper bin and liner (complete with a secure lid to keep the smell in), clean cloth diapers each week, and a front door pick up of our week's worth of yucky diapers. How fabulous is that?

*Now I have to interject here - major kudos to all the moms who do their own washing of the diapers. You gals are the real deal. I readily admit that I'm easing into the cloth diaper thing comfortably by using the service. And I seriously hope there's a service wherever we live from now until the time for having babies has ended.*

Anyways, besides the fact that the cloth diaper bottom is so cute, there are so many perks to the cloth diaper:

1. I love that Alex always has soft, breathable cotton on his bottom. The diapers don't use pins, they are just folded and kept in place by a Velcro-fastened diaper cover. Changing his diaper is definitely just as easy as changing a paper one.

2. We are saving money by using cloth...and who doesn't like to save money?

3. Alex never has diaper rash. This was listed as one of the main incentives for using cloth in many articles I read before, and I'm glad to report that it's true.

4. The cloth wipes work just as good as the paper ones and it makes me feel good that I'm not throwing away something every time I change his diaper.

5. When we were researching this option before Alex was born, I saw some statistics on the amount of waste paper diapers create. I was truly shocked. Did you know that the average kid will use about 8,000-10,000 diapers before he's potty-trained? Americans throw away 570 diapers per second - about 49 million a day. And all those diapers will still be in the landfill 300 years from now. Oh my!

6. I've read in lots of places that kids who are cloth diapered potty train up to 12 months sooner than ones who are paper diapered. Of course, it'll be a while before I know if this one is true, but the thought of it sure is appealing.

I know that everyone makes their own decision about what's best for their baby, so please don't hear me say that you should all be cloth diapering your babies. But, I think it's responsible to at least consider it in these days of thinking seriously about how much we consume and waste in America - and the cost of it all. At the very least, maybe read an article or two and see what you think.

I just thought I'd share what a positive experience we are having with the cloth and especially the diaper service. If you live in an area that has a cloth diaper service similar to what I've described I totally recommend you give it a try. And, even if you don't live in an area where there's a service, check out ways to do cloth diapering without one...

...then you will fall into that "real deal" category of pure cloth diapering moms. You're in good company there.

Housing Law Rewards Bad Behavior

In May, I posted a short rant on my frustrations with the whole housing crisis situation and the attention it was getting in the media. Well, the housing bill "bail out" was signed into law recently and I guess Barbara from Santa Barbara will now get her wish. She can move out of her SUV and back into the million dollar home she probably couldn't afford in the first place...

I thought this fox business news article (posted below) did a nice job of calling it as they see it.

Housing Law Rewards Bad Behavior

Milton Friedman once said that the most important concept in economics boils down to two words: incentives matter.

It's so simple. A child figures that out the first time he's rewarded for good behavior. On the other hand, a smart parent quickly discovers that if you reward bad behavior, it won't go away.

What's amazing is how something so simple can be so difficult for politicians to understand.

The housing bill, recently signed into law with no cameras present, proves like nothing else that they just don't get it. Never before has our government spent so much money rewarding so many different examples of bad behavior -- whether it's the folks who bought a house they couldn't afford, or folks who lent money to people they shouldn't have, all that bad behavior is about to be rewarded by taxpayers who have no say in the matter. And you can be sure, when you reward bad behavior, you'll get more of it. So the hundreds of billions of dollars that this housing law is handing out will turn into trillions of dollars, once word gets around that bad behavior is being rewarded so well.

This law epitomizes everything that is wrong with government: trying to solve a problem by throwing money at it; overriding the popular will in favor of lobbyists; politicians accepting favors from direct beneficiaries of the law (something that used to be called a bribe); creating new bureaucracies. But what's worst about the law is that it provides incentives for people to do the wrong thing, which they will continue to do as long as they're getting bailed out. It will be a huge drag on our economy for years to come. And the reason politicians don't get it is because Washington is one of those few places where incentives really don't matter, and where bad behavior is constantly rewarded.

A Mommy's New Vocabulary.

Alex is 4 weeks old now and it's fun to see how he's changing every day. He awoke from his newborn slumber and has proven to have a pretty healthy set of lungs on him. Man, can that kid wail! Jason and I are figuring out how to let him "cry it out" when he needs to and when to cuddle him. Such a difficult balance. But we are learning!

In other news, I have noticed that as a mom I have some new phrases in my vocabulary. My new vocab includes a lot of words that I admit I've never thought I'd use on a daily basis. And, honestly, things that I used to hear moms say and think "she's gone nuts". Now I'm one of those nuts I guess. Here's a sample...

(to Alex) "Do you have poops?"
(to Jason) ""oh no, he's shooting tee tee everywhere!""
(to Alex) "You are the sweeeeetest baby in the whole wide world." What can I say? This kid's gonna have a healthy self image.
"I'm so tired."
"Why is he crying?"
(to Alex) "open wide for Mommy"
(to Alex) "do you have burps?"...burp..."oh, good burp, baby!"
(to Alex) "do you have hicky-ups?"
(to Jason) "He has a dirty diaper. I think he wants Daddy."
(whispering to Alex just before bedtime) "Mommy and Daddy love you sooooo much."

I'm not sure when I started pluralizing things like burps and actually can't remember a time when I thought the word "toot" was ok to use on a daily basis, but I guess you could say I'm making the slow transition to full blown silly-talking Mommy. Except for the Mommy and Daddy loving him sooooo much part...that's definitely not silly talk!

Sleep is good.

Alex gets a lot of sleep at our house. So, when he sleeps, we sleep. I'm starting to wonder if it's bad that we (meaning Jason and I) are still in our pajamas at 1:00 p.m...?

Needless to say, we are enjoying the newborn slumber for as long as it lasts.

Our First Date Night.

Jason and I are huge fans of date night. We have taken seriously the advice of friends and marriage mentors who have encouraged us to continue "dating" during marriage. This week we have taken advantage of Jason's mom being here and went on our first date night post-Alex. I fed Alex and we headed downtown, knowing we had about 2 1/2 hours before Alex had to eat again. We had no trouble handing him over to Grandma and calling, "see ya" over our shoulder as we walked out the door...

We ate sushi for the first time in 9 months, shared a cocktail (I promise this is ok for nursing moms!), and walked to a different restaurant for dessert. It was our own little new parent progressive dinner of sorts. So fun.

Hooray for date night!

Thoughts on Sweetness.
Iowa is famous for its sweet corn. Today the Reynolds crew took a little outing to the downtown Farmer's Market - sweet baby in tow. Alex enjoyed a snooze in his stroller/carseat and Jason and I just enjoyed being "out" for a bit. Since all of our Iowa friends say the peaches 'n cream sweet corn is the very best, we bought some of our own. So far we've put it to use as a great backdrop for a photo. We are also planning to cook it later to see if it lives up to its sweet reputation.

Lately I have been thinking about the sweetness of life... Yeah, I guess the sweet corn and sweet baby have gotten to me.

Mostly it is that each day I am purely overwhelmed by the goodness of God. Just last night I was talking with Jason about the dimensions of our faith that have grown at each new stage. Before I married Jason, although I had a wonderfully full single life, I had no idea how sweet married love could be. I believe God's goal in marriage is to give us a glimpse of His glorious character as He reveals it through our spouse. Jason's love for me is a very real reminder of a God who never leaves me or forsakes me, and always deals me more grace than I deserve.

Parenthood has brought a new dimension. More than ever I am challenged to trust God with everything concerning Alex. When I am tempted to stand over his crib for the third time in 20 minutes just to see if he's breathing...I have to trust that God is taking care of him. Probably where I'm most challenged though is to constantly ask God to remind my heart that no gift that He gives me here on earth is better than the eternal gift He's already given me. Oh how easy it is to look at a sweet baby and love it more than the One who gave it...

I'm learning more and more each day that my job is not to hold on white-knuckled to everything God's given me - even though they are all wonderful gifts. Instead it is to accept each gift (and each new dimension of faith) with a grateful heart, knowing that God does not owe me good gifts. He just gives them.

And I am grateful for His overwhelming sweetness.

My Loss is Alex's Gain.

Check it out - Alex has gained a double chin! He's been a super good eater and has done a great job at his eat, play, sleep routine. We go back to the doctor tomorrow for his official 2-week weigh in, but judging by his chin, I think he's on the right track.

I went to the doctor today and I lost 29 pounds. Wow, that (post) pre-eclampsia diet is a doozie. Guess my loss is Alex's gain!

Gig 'em Aggies!

Pirate Mama...

Alex, Jason, and I have had a restful week at home. We have caught up on sleep and enjoyed having my mom here. She seriously does everything around the house...what a tremendous blessing it has been to have her here. Not to mention that she is soaking in all of little Alex she can before she heads back to Texas. He sure does love his Mimi.

My blood pressure has continued to improve this week, which is good news. As for my "Pirate Mama" photo, you might notice that my face looks a little different. On our last day in the hospital, I noticed that I had lost some feeling in one side of my face. My eye was droopy, my lip numb, and it just seemed overall limp. So after visiting with the Neurologist, we found out I had what's called Bell's Palsy. Bell's is basically a swelling of one of the nerves that affects one side of my face. It's not dangerous and usually resolves on its own after a couple of weeks, it's just sort of a nuisance at this point. One of the important things is to keep my eye covered so it doesn't dry out, since I'm not blinking normally...

Hence, the patch. It's actually kind of fun - my new role as Pirate Mama. I do try to take it off when I'm feeding Alex, though. I don't want him to think his mommy is planning to wear a new costume and invent a new character each week. I'm perfectly happy with my new dual role as just plain Mama to sweet little Alex and just plain Mama of Jason's son.

Life is sweet.

Aaargh!

My Husband Hearts iMovie

In between feedings, Jason has been busy on iMovie. I'm impressed with his first little movie of Alex's first days. It's amazing how time off work (and tremendous inspiration) can bring out such creative genius...

Favorite Pictures from Days 3-4...




Alex was not a big fan of the bath in the hospital. I'm not sure the nurse cared for him screaming either...based on her hand gesture.
Now, Alex's daddy has a LOT of experience swaddling babies. In fact, he's so good that he WAY outshines mommy in this area. But even with a really tight swaddle, this is how we found Alex after his nap yesterday. So we nicknamed him our little Houdini.
He has plenty of room to grow into his carseat.

Alexander Lee is here.



We are so happy to announce that our tiny gift has arrived. Alexander Lee ("Alex") arrived at 1:59 a.m. on July 11. He weighed 5 lbs. 9 oz. and is 18 inches long. He is healthy and beautiful.

The delivery went so well. As many of you know, we were planning to do a totally natural birth so the last couple of days completely threw us for a loop! Ultimately, God had a timetable for Alex's arrival and we trusted Him to answer our prayers for a safe and healthy delivery. We also trusted our doctors, who were very concerned about my pre-eclampsia and about Alex. So we induced Thursday at 3:00 p.m. Thankfully my body was cooperative. My water broke naturally, I dilated fairly quickly, got the epidural (twice, thanks to a one-sided one the first time around), and pushed Alex out at 1:59 a.m. on Friday. Labor went faster than we thought it would and we were so thankful to meet him sooner rather than later.

My blood pressure issues are better now and I am feeling better today than yesterday. Alex is also feeding wonderfully - a truly answered prayer since he didn't get to spend all that extra time in the womb fattening up and getting stronger.

I will get back to my main job of feeding Alex, so enjoy the few photos. We'll post more once we are home and settled.

We're at the hospital.

So, just a short note. Due to high blood pressure and a couple of other symptoms our midwife was concerned with, we are now at the hospital. We came last night and we have begun a "slow induction". I'm glad they are helpful to my expectations - because this is probably going to take 24-48 hours. This means that we are hoping my body will go into labor naturally (with a little help from a couple of different things) and Baby will be on his or her way later today or tomorrow.

So, for now we are waiting to meet our little one and praying for strength for what seems like may be a long day or two. Please pray with us...our only desire is to have a healthy baby and healthy mommy. We are completely trusting in God's wisdom as to how He delivers both of these things to us.

Waiting with joy,
Nicole (& Jason, the fabulous labor coach)

You know you are 9 months pregnant when...

You consider that crushed up fruit flavored Rolaids might be a good topping for vanilla ice cream.

Sometimes my pregnant state and the crazy things I consider are alarming.

I fought the fruit flies...and I won!

And this is a photo of my prize.

Since summer began we have so much yummy fruit in our house, but we have also have some unwelcome guests. Fruit flies. These tiny little flying creatures drive me nuts. They are quick and it seems like they always escape my attempts to swat at them. So, what did I do when I was at the end of my rope? What else? I went to Google. I found this great website about how to get rid of stuff and learned how to set a trap for these little flies. And it worked! All it took was a little apple cider vinegar with a few drops of dish soap in a glass. Within hours, I had my prize of 4 little fruit flies - dead.

I'm sure the war is far from over since summer fruit is still around, but at least now I know how to fight my annoying little enemies. If any of you are waging a war of your own at home, check out the trapping strategies online. They really do work!

Top 10 of Pregnancy

I thought I would go ahead and publish this list before I get to the last weeks of pregnancy. Many have told me that any positive feelings change in the final weeks to "I want the baby out now" feelings, so I'm hoping to use this list to remind myself of the great things about expecting a baby...

1. It's okay to have some real ice cream now and then. I have surprised myself with the amount of Maggie Moo's and Coldstone combinations I have been willing to try. Who knew that freedom could bring such a sense of adventure with ice cream and mix-ins? For the record, cheesecake ice cream with strawberries and graham cracker crust has been my favorite so far.

2. People always smile at you. I'd like to think it's because everyone has a memory of someone they love in the big and pregnant stage and smiles fondly at the thought of that person and the baby that entered the world through them.

3. Expectant Mother Parking Only. I have only found this at Babies 'R Us and Best Buy. Oh, how I wish other stores would catch on.

4. If you lie down for a nap, no one sees this as laziness. It's viewed as taking care of yourself and baby.

5. My husband tells me every day that he has "the cutest pregnant wife ever". I'm sure many fathers would disagree as they remember their wives in this stage, but when Jason says this it makes my day!

6. Learning that the number on the scale is NOT something to obsess over during pregnancy. And maybe not so much other times either...

7. The daily reminder that there is LIFE inside my tummy. The kicks, jolts, and flutters reassure me that God is in the business of doing miraculous things.

8. Knowing where every single restroom is in this city. I'm convinced this is good preparation for motherhood because it seems like any "mom compass" always knows exactly where to find the restroom when it's necessary.

9. Prenatal vitamins do great things for your skin, hair, and nails.

10. It's good to be a caretaker. By this I mean that I have to think about all my activities, meals, drinks, medicines, and countless other things in relation to the baby I'm carrying. What a tremendous lesson in learning how to choose what's best for another human being, even though it might not be what I want. I feel certain the world might be a better place if we all lived such a constant life of self-surrender...and it probably involves way more than giving up caffeinated Cherry Coke and sushi.