The Love of My Life!

Things about Ty at 4 1/2 years old:

* Loves his puppy Ali

*Loves wrestling with Daddy

*Loves momma reading books to him

*If you ask him where Jesus is...he says in his heart

*Won't eat mashed potatoes

*Will choose water over any other drink offered to him (even soda)

*Likes Sam on ICarly

*Current favorite songs: Party in the USA (Miley Cyrus), You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift), Big Green Tractor (Jason Aldean)

*Says he will go to college at Long Beach State University

*Favorite players: Evan Longoria, Josh Hamilton, Derek Jeter, Jonathon Papelbon

*Is very sensitive to others feelings

*The most patient kid I know

*Mature beyond his age (sorry...I'm being "that" mom)!

Merry Christmas 2009!

It certainly has been FOREVER since I have posted! I just completed what I feel has been the busiest year I have ever had with my business (hence, not posting since SEPTEMBER)! Thank you to my customers - whom I truly consider my friends. Without your support, I wouldn't have the opportunity to do what I love to do. Nothing makes me more happy than to hear how much you love your pictures!

Needless to say....bring on 2010! For those of you who follow me faithfully, know that 2009 was a little rough for our family. Thank you for your support during our trials...and I am happy to report that Bobby has retired from recreation softball and has taken a much safer path (I think) as the head baseball coach of a great group of little boys! The team is the KC Dirtbags and you can follow Ty and his awesome teammates on our blog http://www.kcdirtbags.blogspot.com/. Please mark that blog as one of your favorites if you would like to follow Ty. In this household, we live, breath, and bleed baseball....so you will be able to find out some pretty current events for us on that blog!

Thank you again for your friendships and support of BNW Photography. I love all of you!

Prayer Request

Sadly, today I found out one of my friends/clients passed away. You can read more about her story on http://www.kmbc.com/ (Channel 9 Kansas City website).

I have known Travis (the husband) for a long time. We went to High School together in a small Kansas town. I was privileged to have the opportunity to photograph their engagement session, the birth of their first baby, and also other family pictures throughout the years.

Angie always amazed me with her sense of style, her beautiful blonde hair, and the "girlyness" about her. I will never forget one time she was at the Royals game the same night I was.....she had the cutest dress on and a pair of high heels! Even a sporting event didn't shy her away from dressing adorable! She looked amazing (as she always did).

It is with heavy heart that I am sharing with you one of my favorite pictures I took of Angie and Travis together. It has been on my website for a long time and some of you may have seen it on there already.

Please keep Travis, their children, family & friends in your prayers.

Angie & Travis

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

For those of you starting to think about pictures for the holidays.....I'm want to give you a bit of a heads up regarding my schedule!

October is FULL! Seriously! I have officially scheduled the last person I can for October. The ONLY exception are newborns.

The good news is.....November I have availability (but you better book now before November fills up too)!

So, if you want Christmas pictures (for cards, gifts, etc)....please schedule your November appointment anytime before Thanksgiving.

Any appointments after Thanksgiving I cannot promise to have back in time for Christmas unless you are willing to pay rush fees.

This has been a wonderful year and I am blessed to have your friendship and value your business! :)

Toooooooo Cute!

See what happens when mommy and Miss Brandi have their way??!! We break out the swimsuit!!!! As stated in the title of this post...TOOOO CUTE!

Grady...such a sweetheart!

This little guy has a smile that won't stop!

Oh, my sweet Olivia - Happy Birthday!

I remember her newborn session like it was yesterday! Have a very happy birthday Miss O! We can't wait to see you dig into your cake at your party!!!!

Ayden is 1!

A tribute photograph to baby Ayden's grandfathers

Happy Birthday big guy! Time has sure flown by this year!

Soooo little just one short year ago!

What a precious newborn!

Can't wait to find out if she decides to be a Royals or Cardinals fan! Mommy and daddy have a difference of opinion when it comes to Missouri baseball teams! Thanks for having me photograph your new little bundle of joy! Your daughter is sooo precious!

The wonderful faces of Marshall!

So new to the world!

And a proud big sis!

Ah, soooooo cute!!!!

Another one of my favorite fams!

Thank you guys.....loved hanging out with you at the park!

'10 Senior

Thanks Miss J - you were so much fun and hopefully your dad can forgive me for the beautiful images of you!! Inside joke....LOL!!!

Proofing Changes

Effective August 1, 2009 - I will have a NEW way for you to view your proofs!

Any sessions from August 1, 2009 going forward will be posted online. I will no longer provide the spiral bound image magazines. HOWEVER, for those of you still interested - you can still purchase an image magazine starting at $35.00 (more than 30 images in a book will result in higher cost).

I know the image magazines are popular with many of you - but I have found that more people are interested in having their proofs online so that your friends and family can view your sessions easier (without the hassle of passing the proof magazine around). Furthermore, you will not have to "collect" money from your relatives - they can go online, order, and pay without you being the middle person! The additional plus side of this is that your wait to see your images will be shorter! I won't have to send your images off to my lab for printing!

A few things have been changed/added to the right column of my blog. Please check it out! :)

If you have any questions - please feel free to email me at brandi5772@hotmail.com

Thank you so much for your support of my business! I value your loyalty and friendships! :)

No news is good news!

I am sorry I haven't updated Bobby's progress lately! It's been crazy around here! Well, I am happy to report Bobby is doing better. He still has his moments, but for the most part the bad pain spells are gone. He is now just at a point of being sooo hungry! Soups, malts, and blended chili just aren't cutting it anymore. We will visiti the oral surgeon again in 1 1/2 weeks. At that time, he will determine whether Bobby can get the wires removed or if he needs to stay an additional week. Let's hope for the sooner option!!!!

Bobby went back to desk work this past week. It's pretty boring stuff. It has given me a chance to get back into my "routine" though. It's so crazy how he has totally thrown my schedule off since he has been home. I think it's good for him to be back at work anyhow. It will be a good transition for going back to the road.

I am super busy with photography and I promise to start posting pictures again (versus my doom and gloom blogs I have been subjecting you all to)! However, we truly appreciate all of your comments you left for Bobby. He reads them and is so encouraged by your words. Even though he may not know some of you like I do......he truly appreciates your thoughts and prayers as he has dealt with his injury.

Happy Fathers Day to my husband......he is the most wonderful Daddy in the world! When I asked Ty what he loved about daddy, he said that he loves his hugs and kisses. When I asked Ty what is the funniest thing that daddy does.....he said "He shakes his booty." Bobby will appreciate me posting that comment for everyone to read! LOL!

Quick update

We are 1 week and 1 day post surgery (not that I'm counting or anything). Things have gotten better in some areas and have stayed the same in others.

I am proud of his eating. He has really made an effort to eat as best as he can with the liquid diet. I have even tried some new recipies that he liked and at least I know he is getting some nutrition. He has lost 10 pounds and looks lean! I have lost 12 pounds and am anxious to lose more!! ;)

We have had some bad spells with pain. The surgeon had Bobby come back in to the office this past Monday and he took the wires off and replaced them with rubberbands. He felt that Bobby was in too much pain and the rubberbands should offer him some relief. Making that switch put Bobby in a lot of pain (just because of the slight movement of his jaw). So Monday was not good. We had another really bad spell yesterday morning about 6:30am. He was in so much pain I really though he was going to go into shock. I helped him through it and the rest of the day seemed to go pretty well (even ventured out to Target with him for awhile).

He is still on pain medicine and will be off of work for this week. We are hopeful that he will go back to light duty the following week and then only have 2 or 3 weeks on light duty.

Everyone has been so thoughtful.....we can't say thank you enough to everyone who has been so kind to us! Gotta run....sounds like another pain spell is setting in.....

**update 12:40pm......spoke with surgeon about an hour ago. He is so unsure why Bobby continues to have pain. Said it shouldn't be doing it this bad 1 week post surgery. We are heading to ENT Doctor at 3:00pm to see what he thinks is going on.

And round three....

We ended up BACK at the ER. Bobby has been in so much pain (the pain medicine isn't doing anything for him at this point) and he is in complete misery still. I called the oral surgeon and he wanted Bobby to go to the ER right away to be seen. The reason is because he (the surgeon) wanted to rule out middle ear damage or a crack to the base of his skull. WHAT??!!! This couldn't get any worse...

So off to Liberty Hospital we went. The Readers Digest version of our hospital visit was that it was long, extremly painful on Bobby, boring for Ty, and frustrating for me. But, the best news we have gotten this week was that the CT scan showed no further damage (to ligaments, ear, bones, etc). He even said Bobby's brain looked good (which I really do question)!! LOL!

He was given a stronger pain medicine. He said this medicine just makes him more loopy but doesn't ease the pain much. Seems like the only thing that's working for a small timeframe is an ice pack. But again, that is only temporary relief.

So, just to keep you posted on his weight (and for me to journal it) he has lost 7 lbs. I have lost 8 lbs. I, however, am NOT complaining though!!!!!! I eat what Bobby eats....I feel too guilty eating in front of him. He has never asked me to not eat, in fact he wants me to eat.....but I just can't bring myself to do it yet. But no fears.....I AM getting nutrition - it's just liquid right now!

Please continue the prayers......we will need them in the coming weeks. I sure hope things turn around at our household soon. I know they will with time.....it just can't get here fast enough.

Round Two

Round two of finishing Bobby's jaw surgery was yesterday. It was the most HORRIBLE of the two procedures he has had in the past two days. He was in soooooo much pain, I can't even describe it. I cried for him almost the entire day.

After we got home from yesterday's procedure, I made him drink an Ensure to get something in his stomach. Any nutrition he has must be in liquid form and has to "seep" through his teeth in order to swallow. Once he drank the Ensure, he took his pain meds and went to sleep for about 3 hours.

After waking up (it was late afternoon by this point)....he was doing somewhat better and was ready to have more in his belly. So off to Target I went. I bought things I have never bought before and was clueless about how to do this whole liquid diet.

We made him a strawberry smoothie and he drank chicken noodle soup broth. He then wanted to go outside for some fresh air and watch Ty ride his John Deere. That made me feel a little better (actually seeing Bobby move around). Once I saw him act "a little normal".... my tears started to fade away. I think I just needed to "see" that he was going to be ok. Seeing your husband in so much pain, laying on the bed moaning, crying, and in misery is nothing a wife wants to witness. I just felt so helpless which made me so upset.

He just woke up this morning and said that last night was rough. He didn't sleep much and the pain his really bad in one side of his jaw. I told him it's going to get worse before it gets better....the wires are trying to do their job to fix his breaks. It's not going to feel good by any means.

Thank you to all for your concerns, phone calls, emails, texts, etc. We appreciate it more than you'll ever know. It will be a long 5 weeks- but with your friendships, I know it will be a little more bearable for us to make it through.

P.S.....we get to carry around wire clippers around with us everywhere in case of an emergency (like if he starts choking). I know it doesn't sound like a major ordeal to do that.....but the thought of an emergency like that happening just stresses me out. We have two pairs (one for home and one that I will put in my purse). I plan on buying a 3rd pair that Bobby will carry on him. We examined his wiring last night to see where cuts need to be made in case something should happen. Just makes my stomach hurt thinking about that. I'm sure nothing will happen, but it's something we have to be prepared for just in case.

Just one of those days!

Bobby played softball Sunday night and got hit in the face with a ball that took a bad hop. The long and short of it is that he ended up with a broken jaw in 2 places. He has his mouth wired shut and it will stay that way for at least 5 weeks. He will be on a 100% liquid diet during that time.

It was an emotional day...I totally wasn't expecting that news. I knew he was hurt, but didn't expect it to shake out this way.

In the end, I know he will be ok....just one of those roadbumps life gives us....

Happy Birthday Max!

What a fantastic session! Max was totally full of smiles! LOVE the second picture....I think it captures his personality PERFECTLY! Enjoy mommy & daddy!!!

Such a sweetheart!

Slow down - there's a new officer in town!

The little red ball tells quite a story in these pics

Sometimes I worry about toys being in pictures (will they be distracting, etc). But not in this case! This ball made for some of the cutest shots!

Downtown Fun!