Back In The Saddle.......

ok, if you read my last post, you all know already that it has really, REALLY been a bad month in terms of technology in our household. Although I am still picking up the pieces and trying to "recoup" anything and everything I have, it will continue to take a while to get back on track. Ugh, sometimes I can't even talk about it anymore....it just frustrates me all over again.....and again.....

On another note, I am happy to say that I seem to be getting "back in the saddle" from a photography standpoint again. Last week on Feb. 18th, Erin Heidemann Photography was featured on GROUPON's "deal of the day" for Chicago.!!! This is both a blessing and curse for me. It is a blessing because it provides me with the opportunity to earn a little bit of money while having a flexible schedule and still have lots of time with the babes. I will also have the opportunity to continue to build my client base and portfolio. It is a curse because I will now have SO MANY sessions (130 to be exact!!) that I must fulfill and will require me to work every weekend. On the whole, this is a really good thing though....and I am thankful to have this opportunity! It feels good to be back!!!

In addition to getting back in the saddle in my photography business, I am also slowly but surely getting back into the swing of taking photos of the two of the cutest little guys ever to be born.....my own:) Jack is not too fond of the camera these days....I often hear, "no pictures please, Mommy," but my Littlest Man seems to love putting his cute little face in front of my lens. So, no I am not favoring one of my boys over the other, I am just showcasing the more "camera cooperative" one these days.....

Here are some shots of my littlest guy. He will be 3 months next week. He's getting SO BIG!!!

The Colossal Technology Meltdown of 2011

I simply could not put my frustration regarding various forms of technology in our household into words the past month. I am calling the entire month of February "the month of the colossal technology meltdown of 2011" in the Heidemann household because frankly, it truly has been. It all started off with our laptop acting wacky coupled with the fact that I could no longer access any data off of the external hard drive. This also happened simultaneously with the SD card reader in the laptop no longer working. I was told it was probably a computer virus and I "should" be able to retrieve my data off of the hard drive. To make a very, VERY long story short, the man that told me that was wrong. I bought a second hard drive and THEN that one failed too not even a week later. THEN, after numerous rounds of troubleshooting, Dell determined that they were going to replace the laptop with another refurbished one. So to net it out....... this past month, 1 laptop and 2 external hard drives have crashed leaving us with a colossal data loss!! I am heart broken about this because much of this data is the precious photos of my 2 little guys, primarily of Jack's first year of life. So, now we are forced to spend an ridiculous amount of money to hopefully recover this data. The saga of this meltdown continues and I am still working through all of this, but it has truly been a nightmare. Ugh, this year can only get better from a technology standpoint.....
As always, when things like this happen, you have to look on the bright side, or it can eat you apart. The bright side of this is that I have learned a HUGE lesson in backing up data. My photography instructor told me last week during class that he does not consider even consider it "data" until it is backed up in at least 3 locations. Truer words have never been spoken......

Although i feel like I have lost a whole lot, I am very thankful that I still have 2 happy and healthy little boys....so, at the end of the day, life is not too shabby. Since we lost A LOT of their pics and have A LOT of money we have to save to hopefully get them back, we have a lot of picture taking to do:) I took these photos when Jack just woke up from his nap and when Mikey was thinking about waking up.....I thought they were cute.....

Poor, Poor Ralphie

When you have a 2 year old and a newborn, you have your hands full. Anyone who has kids knows that. It sometimes makes me very sad to know that I also have a dog who no longer gets the attention he was used to (and quite frankly deserves!) before the kiddos came around. I know I have to do a better job with poor Ralphie. Please don't take this the wrong way, he is not abused or deprived of anything...with the exception of my attention:) It is just the boys take all of my time and attention....and if I ever get to the point where I again have one minute of free time, I really, REALLY need to start running again since I still have 12 extra pounds of baby weight on me:( Next in line is Ralphie. As soon as the weather breaks, I will be taking out the double stroller...and yes, Ralphie Jamal loves to come along when I take the boys for a walk! So hang in there, Ralphie....spring is right around the corner!!!

For today, however, Mr. Mikey and Ralphie spent some time together and posed for Mommy. I think Michael might grow to be as fond of his doggy as his big brother is! There simply is NOT a better dog out there than Ralphie.....he really does love his brothers.....and we love him too, even when we forget to show it sometimes.

The Cutest Travelin Little Man

Thursday mornings in our household consist of lots of singing, dancing, craft making, story telling, finger plays, rocketshop "blast offs," and lots of little boys and girls doing the infamous bean bag boogie!!!! All of this fun is otherwise known as "Toddler Time" at the Oak Lawn Library. Since Jack was about 6 months old, I began taking him to another class at the library called "Baby Business. " He has since graduated to "Toddler Time." This little class of ours is part of our "date day" when Jack and I do something special together. We go to "Toddler Time" in the morning and come home and Jack gets to eat whatever he wants for lunch...usually chicken nuggets and fries.

I absolutely love going to "Toddler Time" with Jack every week. It reminds me that he is such a little boy....and like a sponge, absorbing new things every day.....I am just happy to witness him having so much fun. After all, I am not happy unless he is.....and one thing that ALWAYS makes him happy is doing the "Bean Bag Boogie." He is hands down the most excited kid in the entire class as soon as the song starts to play. I can't help but laugh...he is so stinkin' cute!

Unfortunately, I do not yet have any any photos or videos of Jack doing the bean bag boogie. However, I do have a few of his little brother all bundled up to go to the library this week. Apparently, Jack is not the only one who is excited to go to "Toddler Time" today.....

My Littlest Man is Two Months Old!

SNOW Much Fun!!!

Of course, I was not going to let this blizzard pass us by without taking Jack out to play!!! I bundled him all up and took him out for a play date with Mommy while Granny stayed warm and cozy watching Mikey. Predictably, Jack had so much fun!!!! He especially loved sledding up and down the block, making snow angels, and building a snowman. He has been learning, reading, and singing about snow lately in school so to experience a REAL snowfall firsthand (especially on of this magnitude!) was a real treat!!!!

I do not know who had more fun in the snow this afternoon...Mommy, Jack, or Ralphie?!?! Not only did we survive the infamous blizzard of 2011, we fully embraced AND enjoyed every bit of it!!!

Here are some photos that I took outside today....we certainly had SNOW MUCH FUN (with the exception of when Mommy was running too fast and didn't realize Jack fell out of his sled and got snow all over his face!!!! Poor kid, but he was immediately back in the saddle and wanted to stay out longer to play!! Look at his poor, wet little face:( I had my camera in my hand and could not resist taking just one picture before giving him a big hug....HA!!!