Friday Confessions

Usually we do "midweek confessions" around here but life happened so welcome to "Friday Confessions!". Hopefully this light-hearted post will bring some cheer on day #2 of dreary rain!

1. When I saw it was supposed to rain for 2 days straight because of the tropical storm, my first thought was that it was going to make the pool cold. Selfish much? Forget the flooded streets and power outages.... my pool that has just become tolerably warm enough to swim will now be cold again. Lord forgive my selfish thoughts!

2. I made a photobook this week on Shutterfly that I agreed to post on my blog for a $10 coupon... Making those  photobooks is one of my favorite hobbies but I refuse to make one without a groupon or coupon so excuse my shameless Shutterfly post but hey.... it's a free $10.... Anyways, I made this one of fall/winter/spring iPhone photos and tried to make one spread (2 pages) of the "Queen of Mischief" photos.... I had enough pictures for 8 pages of Avery doing things she shouldn't be. I had twice as many photos of her being mischievous than I did of her being sweet or good which sounds about right. I bet I'll cherish those photos more one day anyways!

3. Along the same photo lines, I have probably 4 times as many photos of Avery as I do of Parker. He just doesn't like picture whereas Avery will ask you to take one of her. But on the flip side, I have WAY more videos of Parker than I do Avery. Kids, I promise I love you both equally... mama's just not good about Even-Stevens when it comes to family documenting I guess!

4. I have deemed today "jammie day" at our house. We have been going going going lately and I was SO looking forward to a lazy rainy day like I used to have back in college where you lay on the couch and watch Gilmore Girls all day... except I have kids so while I'm in my jammies and "watching" Wreck it Ralph {again}, I have accomplished more before 9am than I did in college over a whole weekend. I would never trade my life but a rainy day alone to watch whatever I want and nap might be on my Christmas list this year. PS- Wreck it Ralph is a really cute movie... the first 43 times.

5. For breakfast today, Avery ate 6 mini blueberry muffins, blueberries, strawberries and half a banana... while upstairs putting the dog bed in the washer, I hear Avery yell, "MOMMY! Pancakes!" and I couldn't help but giggle and think of the scene in Wedding Crashers where Chazz screams for meatloaf. Unfortunately, I couldnt find a clip that didn't include the F bomb at the end to post for your viewing pleasure to understand my reference. We call Avery "The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar" because the caterpillar's "Saturday" is Avery's every day. How is she only in the 1st % for weight?!

6. We have family photos on Sunday morning... at 7:30am.... an hour from our house. My husband is about ready to divorce me.  My plan for them to go well includes coffee for my 2 year old and a run through the Krisy Kreme drive thru. This could be a disaster... but we sure will have pretty light!

Your turn! Post your confession in the comments below or on facebook!  Happy Rainy Friday!

Christmas Pictures Reveal!

Last night I spent hours going through our pictures from the "Old Navy photoshoot"  with Alicia Sutton Photography to create the 2012 Wise Family Christmas Card. I finally finished around 1:30am and I am feeling that late night this morning!

You'll have to remember that Parker was so misbehaved that day that I spent most of the photoshoot close to tears.... so all things considered I am pleased with the outcome. I wish Parker had worn his vest I scoured the city for but it just wasn't gonna happen! 

We got a great shot of the kids individually and a nice family picture to adorn the Christmas card with. I'm saving posting those until after everyone has received their cards but I'm happy to share the rest.

I brought a football for Parker and Daniel to play around with. I had visions of boyish actions shots dancing in my head but little Miss was much more interested in the deflated football than her brother was.

Daniel eventually grabbed Parker, the football and announced "here is your football shot..." It turned out surprisingly cute!

The light was so pretty with Avery's bright coat and grey/blue eyes

We got a canvas worthy picture of Parker and I was elated! It's on the Christmas card so I can't show it yet but here are two others of the most handsome little boy who hates having his picture made!

See the tree above? Climbing it in was the only way to keep Parker still and smiling so the majority of our Christmas card worthy photos are in the tree. The only problem is it looks like 2 legs spread open and we're all coming out of it. I giggle at the thought of being worried about our Christmas card looking like an Old Navy ad because now I've renamed it something infinitely worse.... "The Happy Vagina Tree Christmas Card" which I realize is totally inappropriate but when you see the full uncropped picture, you'll know why!

Avery got in on the tree climbing as well.

After a quick change in the parking lot, the kids were ready for Christmas! Well.... Avery was... Parker was ready for time out and a nap.

Now that I've got these photos back, I was able to finish up a lot of Christmas presents. Thank you Shutterfly! I'm feeling good about where I am on my Christmas list, cards are ordered and the Christmas decorations are beckoning me from the shed. Its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in the Wise household!

Wise Family Christmas Card

Holiday Letter Christmas Card

Turn family photos into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

Recently, I saw a post on a friend's blog about 50 FREE Shutterfly Christmas Cards for blogging about how awesome Shutterfly is! That is right up my alley! I am a lover of ALL things Shutterfly! If you're on my snail mail list, you probably get a Shutterfly Card of Parker for most major holidays... including my all time favorite of Parker's naked hiney with a big lipstick kiss planted on it for Valentine's Day. I started looking at all of my options for Christmas cards and I'm at a loss. There are SOOO many cute ones! Here are my current front runners:

I like the simplicity of this one AND it's perfect if I only get 1 good shot of us as a family which is definitely a possibility with a squirmy wormy toddler! Plus I love the polka dots and initial!

This one is great if I get a few good shots and can't decide which to use. I frequently have this problem as well! What mom doesn't think every picture of their baby is the best picture ever? Once again, I love the initial, the use of brown and Christmas colors and the date stamp.

This one is also a good option. We have had such an amazing year, it's tough to just sign a card, "Love the Wise Family." I've got lots to say so this would be perfect!

Lastly, this is classy and I love it! Something about black, white and red is just pretty. This card is also a great option if Parker's face hives still aren't cleared up. Skin always looks prettier in black and white ... unless you have perfect olive skin (jealous!).... not me and my family! We're more Twilightish.

Decisions, Decisions. I'm excited to get started on them!

My favorite Christmas gift is the photo book I make every year for our parents and grandparents. Of course, they always turn out so cute, I have to have one printed for myself too! Uploading photos is quick and editing the photos is easy... even for me and I'm a self-proclaimed technologically challenged individual!

Last year for Mother's Day I made the cutest small calendar for my mom to carry around with her. She LOVED it! I think all of her friends have probably been forced to look at it more than once! This year, I'm making one for family members for Christmas. Who doesn't need a yearly calender and EVEN more importantly... who doesn't need one filled with pictures of Parker?!

Guess what's RIGHT around the corner? Parker's 2nd Birthday! Yet another opportunity to make more Shutterfly invitations! Why make your own invitations when Shutterfly can do it for you?! I'm all about simplicity when it comes get togethers! PLUS... they're SO cute! I haven't decided on a theme yet but I love the colors and layout of this one!

Oh my little boy is growing up too quickly!!!

Blogging buddies, if you're interested in blogging for Shutterfly, click here. It's really simple! You just fill out a short form, wait for an email response and then start blogging! Then, they send you a promo code for 50 FREE Christmas Cards! :) Who doesn't love that!?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We're hoping to snap some Christmas Card winners tomorrow!