Six Years Ago

3:00 AM
I wake with a start. I am 9 months and 1 week pregnant with our second child, feeling big, bloated, and tired all of the time and wishing I would just have this baby already! And to make matters worse I think I may have just peed the bed!

3:10 AM
Wait. That’s not pee.

3:15 AM
I wake Pat to tell him I think my water broke.

Pat: (sleepily) Huh? Why don’t you wait a little while to make sure.

His head hits the pillow and he resumes snoring.

3:20 AM
I lie on the couch holding the phone and timing the contractions while I watch crappy television turned down low. 

5:15 AM
I finally call the doctor, who laughs when I tell him how long I let him sleep.

6:00 AM
Pat and I pull into my sister’s drive way.  He escorts a sleepy 8-year old Savannah through the rain inside the house.

6:20 AM
We arrive at the hospital.

11:56 AM
Sarah arrives.

Six years later we have our fairy princess.

 

Happy birthday, Sarah! 

101 in 1001: #69

As I’ve gotten older I’ve been trying to avoid the camera. Hence why my current Facebook profile pic is of my son and why all the photos of me on this sidebar are very old!

I don’t like the way I look on film – sometimes pasty, sometimes dull, sometimes frizzy-haired, and a lot of the time kinda bloated. It doesn’t make for a pretty picture.

But what I hate more than an unflattering picture are the disappointed looks and words from Savannah and my husband while I try to block the camera.  And even more than that, I hate not having pictures of myself with my husband and kids during this time. I’d like to be present in the scrapbook when I look back years down the line. I don’t want to be the one behind the lens, or worse, that person hiding behind a hand or a book or someone’s shoulder.

To cure this I wrote #69: “Take a self portrait once per month for 1001 days.“

Sounds easy enough.

I took my first pics sitting here in my office so I could check off my first month.  I felt silly, but it was painless.

But then I had to be a real go-getter (or smart ass if you prefer) and add another goal on my list:

“Post these pictures publically.”

Oh crap!

So here goes. The first photo for #69, taken in August 2013. Yes, it took me 3 weeks to get around to posting it publically. I’m cringing while I do this, but I’m determined to make it through this list.

 

What will be cool to watch (I hope) is seeing changes in these photos as I try to reach #27 (Getting down to my “happy weight” – if there is such a thing!), and #63 (Give myself a complete makeover.)

This should be interesting.

(Read more about the 101 in 1001 project here.)