JHP August Blog Special!!

This is something new I have decided to try out this month for my loyal blog readers...even though I don't know who some of you are! :) I am going to offer a special for anyone who mentions that they read it on the blog each month, and there will be a different offer each month, so it pays to check back often!
This month the special is:

This special is good for the entire month of August!
If you have any questions, please just leave a comment or email me at info@jessicahollisphotography.com.

Things are very busy around the Hollis house, as usual! Johnny is working at youth camp this week, and I am trying my best to get some work done, but I did take the girls out to camp to swim yesterday afternoon. They love swimming! I think we are going to go again tomorrow.
Today I have an engagement session, and another Senior session on Thursday. Not to mention a 12 week baby doctor appointment that morning! I am excited for Johnny to get to see and hear the baby's heartbeat since he didn't get to go with me the first time. Then Friday night is Ava's 2nd Birthday party! Her birthday isn't until Sunday the 5th, but we are celebrating on Friday.
This is her party invitation:
I thought it turned out really cute!
Well, I'm off to do engagement pictures, so have a good evening!

Favorites!

I got tagged by Kellie Penn to do this little survey, so I'm going to try it out! This is the first time I have ever been blog-tagged! :)

Four of my favorite jobs~I haven't had very many!
1. Being a Mommy to my little girls
2. Photography!
3. Babysitting
4. Being a nanny in Nashville TN (I still miss Shannon!)

Four of my favorite local places~Sesser's not too big, but I'll try!
1. The Custard Stand
2. Subway
3. Anjo's Pizza (LOL, you can't even really eat there, they just deliver!)
4. Uh, what else is there? This town is tiny!

Four of my favorite foods
1. fried-grilled-baked chicken pretty much love it any way!
2. Grilled steaks w/baked potatoes
3. Homemade pizza recipe I got from Niki Packer~Awesome!
4. Potato Soup

Four of my favorite international places (Well...I haven't been out of the States, so these are my fave's outside of Illinois)
1. Florida was fun!
2. Nashville, TN
3. Gatlinburg
4. This place in like, Mount Eagle TN or somewhere like that where we went camping when I was a little kid with my cousins, and there was a waterfall and we swam in the pool below it. It was beautiful and in my memory it was magical.

Four names of people I am tagging~ I don't know very many bloggers, so I'll just tag some readers to leave comments! Then I'll know how long it takes you to read this! :)
1. Kellie Penn
2. Carol Payne
3. Kimberly Jenkins
4. Johnny Hollis

29

Today is Johnny's 29th Birthday! I am only a few months behind him, so it's freaking me out a little! Only one year left of our 20's, then we are big old thirtysomethings!! I seriously don't feel like a grownup, so how is this possible?! At what point does one start to feel like a grown up?! All you other adults out there, do you feel like an adult? I know I have the responsibilities of an adult, like my children and my husband, and our youth group, and my business, but inside my head, I don't feel adult-ish!!
Maddie Kate got to go to the Cardinals game last night with my sister Kimberly. This was her first real game, and she loved it, even though they didn't win. She got to see Albert Pujols (her baseball hero) kinda closely, but she didn't get his autograph. They did buy her a 8x10 photo of him though, and she also has a big red Cardinals foam finger!
This is Johnny with his Birthday cake from the Youth Group last night:

Anyway, we stayed up until almost 2 am with our youth group last night, so I was really tired this morning when I woke up about 7:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. So I gave up and got up and Ava was yelling from her bed, so the day began! The girls gave Johnny a pair of binoculars (that he had picked out) for hunting, and Maddie Kate had made him a very cute card. We all had to get ready to meet Johnny's parents at Mt. Vernon for lunch, which was nice. We had Chinese, which we all like a lot! Then we went to the mall and I wanted to buy Johnny some new clothes, but he didn't find anything he wanted except some cowboy boots that he decided were too expensive. I did find some stuff though for myself, which made me feel a little bad...but not too much! :) I got several new tops for my expanding waistline, but none of them are actually maternity clothes! The style right now just happens to be high waisted and billowy and kinda long, so I got several things for when I first start to show (I feel pudgy now, but I am still fitting my regular clothes, so it must not be too bad yet!) and some of them may fit for awhile because they are stretchy. They are the kind of tops I have avoided up until now, because if I put them on I feel like I look pregnant even though I'm not, but now that I am, it's totally fine! :)
We came home and I think all of us took naps except Maddie Kate, she was too busy playing her "Life" computer game. (The Life Board game used to be my favorite when I was young!) Johnny had football camp tonight and when he got home we grilled steaks, and I made real mashed potatoes and corn on the cob, and then to top it off, we had birthday cake that Maddie Kate decorated! This is Ava after she ate tonight's cake. She loves this picture and keeps saying, "I wanna see crazy Ava!"


In JHP news, I have some engagement photos to share, so enjoy!

This couple is getting married at the end of September. We had a good time taking their pictures. The bride is getting her degree in ultrasound, so we were talking about how she could do an ultrasound for me and tell me if I'm having a girl or a boy! (It's not really time for that yet, but I wish it was!) I really like the B&W one of them kissing by the water. I am always drawn to B&W pictures, I think because without color you just really see the person/people.
Well, I am exhausted, so I am going to get the girls into bed and put myself and the 11 week old lima bean to bed. Oh, if you are interested, here is a link to Babycenter where they update me on the baby's progress!
http://www.babycenter.com/general/1498240.html
Pretty cool huh?
Goodnight!

Jessica

I got in trouble from my mom...

for not blogging! I can't believe it. First I couldn't get her to check it, and now apparently she checks all the time to see if I have done a new post, and I got in trouble for not doing one since last week! It's not because I don't want to or haven't got things to post, it's because I'm so stinkin' tired, I barely get anything done these days! I am so sleepy all the time and don't feel good very often, so I just haven't spent any time blogging. Well, after that little kick from my mommy, here we go!
Last week the only place I went all week was to Maddie Kate's Pixie League World Series ballgames. I just felt yucky and I didn't go on the trip so I figured I needed to rest. I even had to put off some photo work for few weeks! Can you believe it?! You know I don't feel too hot if I'm doing that, it's my favorite thing! :) Anyway, here are some (completely unedited-please forgive me! :)) pics of the last game on Tuesday:
She's yelling chants at the other team! She plays Second base.
This is her in the dugout with her buddies!
She's running for home!!
Here's the whole team! Second place in the World Series! We are so proud of them!
This is Maddie Kate being interviewed for the Channel 12 Evening News! She was very brave about having that camera right in her face! They asked her several questions, but the only part that made it to the news was when she said, "Ummm, I wanted to win." It was very cute! They interviewed me too, but I didn't make it to the news and that is FINE with me!!!
Johnny and the Youth Group made it home from their missions trip on Thursday, and the girls and I were very glad to see them. It was a long week being apart! The kids all seemed to have had a great time on the trip. I hate to have missed it, but I know I did the right thing! I'm exhausted without going on a week long trip with 10 teenagers!
I do have some JHP pictures from one of my June weddings to share! Here are some of my favorites from the day:
More wedding and engagement pics to come SOON! Also gearing up for a slew of Seniors, so check back for more fun stuff in the next few weeks. If I can my preggo self off the couch that is! :)

Jessica

A lima bean heartbeat

I decided on Saturday night not to go this week with Johnny and our youth group on their missions trip to the FWB Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas. I felt like I have been so busy and kinda pushing it too much in these early stages of my pregnancy, and some things had happened that made me worry a lot, so I decided that even though I really really really wanted to go, it was best for me and the baby if I would just stay home this week and rest. So I talked Johnny into going without me, and on Sunday morning, I cried my eyes out as he and the youth group all left in the church van without me. Those kids aren't just kids to me, they are some of my best friends. My sisters were both going along too, so I assigned Alisa the job of photographer and gave her one of my back up cameras and stocked her up with some extra memory cards and told her to take a picture of everything that they do that I am missing! I have talked to them several times so far on the trip, and today I get a text message from Heather saying "Check your email!" and I find this picture that she took with her camera phone and the caption "Johnny getting arrested!":
I don't know where they ran into this cop at, but she pretended to arrest him. He said she bent his thumbs back and tried to flirt a little bit. I thought that was pretty funny! They worked this morning at a thrift store for some little old ladies, and there was a sale going on where you could fill up a large grocery bag full of anything and only pay $5.00! So the kids were buying up the store! All the boys bought white tuxes complete with shoes that they are planning on actually wearing the the church service tonight (I was told I will be emailed a picture of that later, so I'll have to post that when I get it) and one boy scored a brand new in the box wireless keyboard and mouse! Alisa bought a vintage bowling ball in the bag, and Johnny said they bought me some placemats, so I'm wondering what kind of placemats from a thrift store I could possibly like...we'll see!! :)
I managed to get into see my ob doctor today, and all reports are good. My mom went with me since Johnny is out of town, and we got to see the baby on ultrasound. We could see the heart beating and we also got to hear it, which was quite a relief to this worried mommy! The Dr. said the baby was an inch long, about the size of a lima bean, and that I am exactly 9 wks and 6 days pregnant today, which makes my due date officially February 14th, just as I thought! I called Johnny and he got to hear the heartbeat over the phone. He said he couldn't hear it very well, but it still made him cry. We are very thankful!
Maddie Kate and Ava have been in Effingham with my in-laws since Saturday night, because we thought up until about midnight Saturday that I would be going on the trip, and they were going to keep them until Tuesday and then switch the girls over to my parents until we got back on Thursday. They are bringing them back today because Maddie Kate's first post-season baseball game is this afternoon at Sesser Park. They are actually playing in a little three game series against DeSoto. So I am glad I am going to get to see her games this week!
I will post a baby ultrasound picture later when I go home, so I can take a picture of the picture!

Jessica

P.S. This is an addition to this post: They emailed me some pics of the guys in the crazy tuxes, so here they are:Can you believe they actually wore them to the teen service tonight? I think my husband has gone off the deep end without me there to help him out! A friend of mine texted me who had seen them it said, "What is Johnny wearing!?"

Also, here is the ultrasound picture of our baby!!!
HI DADDY!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!
I know it is hard to tell what you are looking at here! The baby is laying on it's back, and the plus sign on the left is on the baby's bottom, and the plus sign on the right is on the head. The feet are sticking up in the air, and the round thing on the right is not the head, it is a yoke sac! Isn't that weird?!

Wheeler-Dealer

Those of you that know my husband Johnny know that he likes to change cars like he changes underwear. A few years ago, we had counted up how many cars he/we have had since he got his license, and it was like 30-40. I would have to re-figure that to know exactly! Anyway, about a month ago his dad bought a 1978 Malibu that is like, practically in mint condition. To me, it is just an old rust-colored car. To him, it is a really cool antique-ish ride that he loves and wants to put cool wheels on and baby for several years until it is worth more money and then sell it. Well, we have my Yukon and he has this old truck that he bought I think last fall. (Yeah, and just so you know, his truck was the 3rd or 4th vehicle he owned just last year, and my Yukon was my 3rd just last year!!!) So he has been sorta trying to sell his truck ever since this Malibu came on the scene, but he didn't really want to, but he couldn't keep both. His plan was to sell the truck and buy an old beater truck just to get back and forth to work so that the Malibu can rest peacefully inside the comfortable dry walls of the garage all winter and not rack up the miles. I call it money that we could be putting towards my studio. He calls it an investment. (For the record, I do hope that he is right!)
Well, last night he met with a guy who wanted the truck. So Johnny was going to meet up with him today at lunchtime to sign the title and get his money. The buyer calls us at like 7:30 am and says he would like to get it this morning before work instead. So Johnny jumps out of bed and starts getting ready to meet this guy. I was basically asleep still, because I'm in preggo exhaustion, as you all know, and I drag myself out of bed to dig through the firebox to find the title. I didn't have my contacts in yet, but I was definitely not finding the title. So I tell him and he's freaking out of course, so he drives to where he has the truck parked for sale to see if for some insane reason we stuck it in the glove box of the truck. No luck. He comes back and I have completely ransacked the house looking for the stinking title. He rips the drawer out of his nightstand and throws the contents all over the bedspread, but it's not there.We proceed to dig through every single place where we have any papers stacked at all, and we still weren't finding it. I'm in the kitchen digging, and he's digging in our room, and all of a sudden he finds the title laying on the bed! Apparently he dumped it out of the nightstand when he first looked through it! So that done, he goes and sells his truck to the buyer. The house looked like burglars had visited in the night, so you know what I spent the next 1/2 hour doing!
This afternoon Johnny and I are talking, and I'm like, wow, this is really nice that you don't have to rush to find something to buy this time, because you have something you can drive until you find the perfect cheap truck. He said, yeah, I'm gonna be patient, and I said yeah right! (bet you can see where this story is going, huh?)
Then tonight we went out to eat with his parents, and on the way we see about 3 trucks for sale. So of course on the way home, Johnny and his dad (Wheeler Dealer, Sr.) have to stop and look at all of them. Well, wouldn't you know, he liked the last one so he bought it. I mean, it is actually in our driveway right now!!! This means he was right at 12 hours from title to title of the 2 trucks. They are even both red! (I say that because of course to me, color is the only visible thing about a car...)
So that's the story of a day in the life of a true wheeler dealer. He has set a new record.

Never Grow Old!

I am so into writing down funny quotes that people say, and while we were on vacation, I wrote down several that my kids said, and I forgot to post them when I wrote about vacation. So here they are in no particular order!

We ate at Lambert's on the way to Branson and Ava saw the guy throwing the rolls, and he threw some to Johnny for us, and I am not kidding, her mouth was actually hanging open in shock! All night she kept saying, "He throw the bread!"

In Branson, there was a sign with a lady named Ava, and we told her, and she said, "I'm not Ava, I'm Avie Claire!"

We were praying for our food at a meal and I peeked at Ava to make sure she was being good, and she looked at me and put her finger to her lips and said, "Shhhhh!"

We went to church, and the church didn't have a pianist, and they found out my mother-in-law could play, so they asked her to. These 2 men were playing guitars, but they were playing the hymn "Never Grow Old" (which is about going to heaven and not getting old when you are there) very badly, and off key, and Johnny and I were doing all we could not to laugh out loud. I looked at Maddie Kate and she was making a funny face, and she said "Why?!" and it made me really laugh then because I thought she could tell the music was really not sounding good. But then she said, "All these people are old and they are singing "Never Grow Old" !"

Engagement Session from a few weeks ago!

I have gotten behind on posting new session pics, mostly due to vacation, and the no internet situation I mentioned earlier. So here are a few from an engagement session that I had a few weeks ago.
For some reason I love this *almost kissing* picture above.
And just so you know all the pics aren't kissing pics!! Here's my favorite!
This cute couple is getting married in October...really not that far away if you think about it!!
I mean, I'll know if we're having a boy or a girl by then!! :)
Guys, thanks so much and I'll call you later this week with the proofs!

Jessica

Branson vacation!

It has been a really long time since I blogged. We were on vacation and believe it or not, there was no internet available at the condo that we stayed at in Branson! Me, a whole week, with no internet, now that is kinda a big deal! Every single little ratty hotel we drove past said "Free WiFi", but the very nice condo we were in, NO INTERNET. "Unbelievable!", as Johnny would say. I did okay without it though, but it was mostly because the preggo sleepyness and lousy feeling kicked in last week, and I was pretty much consumed by that! We did have a good time, but I just felt bad, and then good, and then bad, and then good everyday of the whole week. Branson is all hilly and every time we got in the car I felt bad. I took a nap when Ava did every afternoon! I did finish editing a wedding and an engagement session, which I will post some pics of later, but I just felt rotten. I felt okay yesterday and Saturday, but today I feel yucky again. I have an engagement session tonight, so I hope it gets better by then!
This is my absolute favorite vacation picture of the girls:
They look so happy riding this little ride! They had a great time on vacation. They got to do lots of fun stuff, like riding lots of kiddie rides,
(what a nice Daddy! Preggo Mommy couldn't even dream of getting on any spinny little rides!)
riding ponies,
(I look so pregnant in that shirt! I actually had to go to the bathroom in an outhouse at this place where the girls rode horses. An outhouse! It's 2007, and I had to go in an actual OUTHOUSE!)

mini-golfing,
(she's such a pro. Look how she handles that putter, swinging backwards with her left hand! ha ha!)
bumper boats,

go-carts,

seeing Fireworks,


going to the Baldknobbers show,

(Maddie Kate liked that better than Ava! Ava said "The funny guys are scary!" as you can tell by her face in the pictures! By the way, isn't the guy with his lip up over his nose the weirdest thing ever?!)

and Maddie Kate got to go to Silver Dollar City with her buddy Sydney, who just happened to be on vacation in Branson at the same time we were, so they went together and had a blast.
That's it for now. I will post some JHP pics later. I think I'm going to go take a nap!

Jessica