Spray Tanning Adventures

Does anyone remember the Friends episode where Ross gets a spray tan??

Hilarious.

This episode has been replaying in my mind ever since I decided to order my own spray tanning system. In my pre-kid days (before I had Jett), I used to get a spray tan every couple of weeks.  It gave my skin a nice little glow and made me look less freckly and pale.  I loved it! Well nowadays, it is a little more difficult to go ANYWHERE, let alone, a tanning salon with a child.  Who has the time (or the money for that matter) for that?? Heck, I'm lucky if I shower each day.

The initial cost of the system was pricey so I saved up my pennies for a couple of months so that I could buy it.  The plan is to provide spray tanning for my neighbors and friends, too!  I won't charge nearly as much as the salons and it will be a lot more convenient for all of the stay-at-home moms who live nearby.  We will all get to enjoy the glow of a cancer-free, fake tan.  Sounds appealing, right???

 Here is what I got:

I am obviously pretty excited about this new venture.

Up until the day I received my tanning system, I hadn't spray tanned ANYONE a day in my life.  So guess who got to be my guinea pig??  Poor Cody.  He was definitely a good sport about it and I think was happy with the outcome. Check out his BEFORE and AFTER pics below.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I don't want to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I did a pretty good job.  

Is anyone else willing to be my guinea pig??  

Okay, okay...so my first experience spray tanning with Cody didn't go quite this well.  It did make for some good laughs, however.  I don't think Cody and I have ever laughed that hard in our entire lives.  It was SO bad that he won't let me post the pictures.  Let's just say he had to shower promptly following his spray tan (that probably felt more like a fire hose).  

I do have to say that I have redeemed myself.  A couple of my friends have offered to be my guinea pigs and their tans look amazing.  I'll definitely keep practicing until I have it perfect. 

Wish me luck.

Sometimes...

Sometimes...we go swimming in our bath tub.

Take that, WINTER.

The Art of Taking Family Pictures

First off, I have to mention that this is our 200th post to this blog.  Woot woot!! 

I will celebrate by eating 200 M&M's today. 

Let's all hope and pray that I actually don't, but somedays my chocolate consumption reaches dangerous levels, especially when I have cute St. Patrick's Day M&M's sitting on my kitchen table.

Second off, it's finally March.  Hallelujah! Is it just me or does January AND February draaaaaaaaggggg?

Now back to the title of this post, "The Art of Taking Family Pictures".  Do you ever look at other families' pictures and think, "They just take the best pictures ever" or "They are so perfect, why can't my family pictures look that good?"  Well, I NEVER think that...I was just wondering if you do. 

Family pictures are the bane of my existence.  You can guarantee at least two fights will ensue between Cody and me...and a couple weeks ago, we did not disappoint.

I never hire a photographer because I end up feeling like I wasted my money.  We're lucky if we get one good picture out of the whole thing and even that good picture has to be edited a gazillion times.

So a couple weeks ago, I decided it was time for a new family picture.  I was going to be a guest blogger on This Little Miggy and wanted to attempt to get a good picture of Jett.  Cody's mom was in town and I assigned her to be our photographer.  She was SUCH a good sport and probably a good referee too (between me and Cody).

Ladies?  When you take family pictures, do you pick out what your husband will wear?  Apparently that is a crime in our household.  I had picked out Cody's clothes and laid them nicely on the bed for him to change into.  When he got home from school, he tried to convince me that his wrinkly shirt and dirty jeans that he was wearing were perfect for our family photo. 

Cue Fight #1

Well, I won the fight and he changed clothes, but was super bitter about it....which in turn, made me super bitter about everything.  In addition to all of this going on, Jett was experiencing some pretty severe chorea (uncontrolled movements and muscle contractions) and was not happy about it.  This painted the perfect scenario for some great family pictures, obviously.  

We arrived at our destination.  Here in Omaha exists a wonderful building that I am OBSESSED with...the Bancroft Street Market.  The entire building is covered in graffiti and I love it.  If it wasn't in such a ghetto area, I would love to own it someday and turn it into a fitness studio. I thought the colorful exterior walls would be a great backdrop for our photos.

From start to finish, pictures probably took about 5 minutes.

Between the incessant wind blowing in our faces and our oh-so-lovely attitudes, that is all we could handle.  Below are some pictures for you to enjoy.  The next time you think that someone else's family pictures always turn out perfect, just remember us and you'll feel better about life.

I'm pretty sure in this pic I had just told Cody to button his shirt.

Ladies...this is a NO-NO to tell your husband. 

Me=Fake Smile

Cody=Not faking anything, he's mad

More fake smiles

I'm telling Jett, "This is torture, isn't it?"

Cue Fight #2...Cody thought it would be hilarious to pose in front of this sign.  If you know us well, you know that we (out of anyone) like to see the humor in everything.  On a normal day, I probably would have laughed.  Not today...my face says it all.

Sometimes your pants just fall down.

Sometimes you fart in dad's hands.

And then sometimes you just need to be distracted in between pictures.

By the end, we were a little more cheery thanks to Jett...and we got ONE good picture.  Phew!  

Surprises from September

I know that I have mentioned how amazing and lucky we are to be where we are, but that feeling keeps getting stronger and stronger with each day of living here in good ol' Omaha.  Although it seems a little crazy that Cody decided to completely change careers and Omaha is definitely not our first choice of "nice" places to live, I am sure that it was meant to be.

It is really hard to be down on your situation or be sad about ANYTHING when you have such great people living near you.  I seriously love our neighbors and have so much fun hanging out with them.  They are very aware of our situation and have gone up and beyond to help us out whenever we need it.  I feel unworthy sometimes to receive such great support!

Case in point…

Meet the Winterholler's.  They are an amazing couple with the cutest twins you've ever seen.  Anyway, they showed up one night and surprised us with a painting for Jett.  Are you kidding me?!  Besides this being the coolest painting ever, it also matches Jett's room perfectly.  We now proudly display it right above his crib.  

Yup…cutest twins ever.

THANKS you guys!

Another awesome surprise this month came from Cody's cousins.  They are moving cross country from California to Virginia.  Even though it was a short visit, we were SO happy to see them.  Jett was being exceptionally good and let Dayna and Erin hold him for a few minutes.  They got a rare glimpse of the comfortable, peaceful Jett!

The next surprise really isn't a surprise at all…but Jett is cute.

This is "happy" Jett before his 48-hour EEG that occurred at the beginning of the month.  Jett's neurologists wanted to know once and for all if he is experiencing seizures.  It was all done in the comfort of our own home, which was nice.  The not-so-nice thing is that Jett had to have 23 leads stuck to his head with super glue and then had to stay in front of a video camera for 48 hours.  Ugh. 

 It was horrible!!  

I did not play by the rules.  I snuck him outside twice and actually ended the study at 26 hours.  I felt that Jett had exhibited all of his "seizure-like" behavior…and he was soooo uncomfortable.  Poor baby. It took me about two hours to take the leads off of his head, but once I finished, we rushed outside to enjoy the wind in our face and the sunshine overhead.  Jett even gave me some smiles.

We finally received the results this week.  Jett is NOT having seizures!!  However, his brain activity is very abnormal.  Even while Jett sleeps, his brain is incorrectly misfiring all over the place. 

 The constant activity in his brain is to blame for Jett's dystonia and chorea (stiffness/rigidity and involuntary movements).  The doctors didn't have to change any medication, however, which was nice for a change.  

The last surprise of the month came courtesy of a friendly goat at the Omaha Zoo.  First off, if you know me well, you are probably very aware that I am obsessed with goats.  I really would like to have one as a pet someday.  Now, I'm not so sure!  

The goat tried to EAT Jett's feeding tube.

Umm…not okay, goat.

Jett gave the goat a swift kick in retaliation.  Besides that, the zoo was so much fun!  The weather was beautiful and Cody got to come with.  It is rare to have time with Cody due to his crazy dental school schedule. 

And the best surprise of all??  Uploading the pictures from my camera and realizing that Jett is SMILING in this pic!!  This is a very rare occurrence people.  I hope you are as excited as I am.