photo overload.

can i just do this post in photographs?
words seem overwhelming -- and hey, any update is better than none, right?? :)

where to begin.
for STARTERS....i'm in my 19th week of pregnancy!
**golf claps**
i know -- many of you have moved way passed wondering moment by moment, if i'll bleed when i wipe -- but everytime i go to the bathroom -- it's still what crosses my mind.

i had somebody in my neighborhood ask me, "uhm...are you pregnant?"
i could have kissed him.
except for he's my dad's age and going through a nasty divorce and i was in the middle of my door-to-door escapades in an attempt to salvage my court case involving my dog and a neighbors dog.

::: if that sounds confusing and retarded, welcome to my life :::

anyways -- it made me realize, MAYYYBE i look pregnant now and not just tubby, which is certainly how i feel :) i'm still stretching to wear my normal jeans....but as you'll note....a rubber band is only going to stretch so far, and this one just about screams when i reach for it every morning to help me fit into my pants.



yyyyyeah. looks like i used a more sturdy rubber band that day -- a hair band :)
pregnancy is going along nicely -- and it's true -- 2nd trimester is FAR more forgiving than the 1st. not to mention -- i feel him kicking now!!! not gonna lie -- it was incredibly strange when i first realized that's what was going on in my lower abdomen area. felt like...i dont even know...mini-muscle spasms...maybe tapping....like, morse code or something. but now i've come to recognize it as the baby boy who may be feeling more snug than usual deep down in there somewhere.

i have moments where i'm still in utter shock.
but then i also have moments where i feel COOOOMMMPLETELY disconnected and detached from it. i'd say it's due in part to my caution -- still. and due in part to my COMPLETELY insane life right now. like -- wow -- wouldn't it be cool to just sit around at my desk all day and daydream about nursery colors and baby clothes? but nooooo...the district of columbia is ALL up in my grill over the dog attack rudy fell victim to.....we move into our house this friday.....i'm shooting 3 weddings in ONE WEEK (NOT including engagement sessions).....chad is leaving town for a few days for a business meeting....my contractors SUCK (explanation coming)...and i'm overall pretty darn emotional lately :) could you find it in your heart to forgive me for it? i think a jury would let me off.....eeeasily. oh...and i flew to arizona last weekend, to see janell, my uber-cool friend who just opened her VERY OWN hair salon!!!!







"no janell, you cannot give me a purple mohawk like you did to HER....but i'll let you dye my hair red and cut if all off....just hurry up and GET IT OVER WITH!!"



of course, no hair looks RED up against my orange dining room walls, but trust me = it's red :) and fun, and a nice change!!!

however, i came home to CHAOS on monday night.
for starters -- the kitchen contractors were FAR from finished. they were A WEEK BEHIND SCHEDULE. this threw off the hard wood floor installers....who did a fantastic job....and i nearly had a heart attack or...four. you can't REALLY appreciate how far we've come unless i gave you some before and after pictures....but we'll save that for a later post since the "after" isn't quite there yet.

here's the happy room. i go here and smoke crack cocaine whenever i get overwhelmed by the rest of what is transpiring in this place....it was white carpet (gross and dirty) before...and now it's Brazilian koa :) warms my heart....and the walls were white and BURGUNDY. praise THE LORD that some contractors are BETTER and more EFFICIENT and speak better ENGLISH than others. breeeeathe.



this is Lara. my life-saver. my eyes and ears in the house when i'm not there. my spy. honestly....HOW did i EVER think i'd do this without her...since my husband was absentee for most of the week?!?! i hired her to paint for me, since the quotes i had received were OUT OF THIS WORLD ($17,000 TO PAINT MY FREAKING HOUSE??!!)...and she's NOT ONLY done a FANTASTIC job -- but she's gone above and beyond with spackling, sanding, and being an overall fix-it girl. behold my soothing office.....carpet gets changed manana.



and this is where my heart starts skipping beats and burning within the cavities of my chest. your lungs are immediately coated with a nice thick dose of ....powder. heaven only knows WHAT it is...or where it came from...but my job is to GET IT OUT of my house. white powder EVERYWHERE. dust. crack? your guess is as good as mine.

please note scary table saw.
pantry doors across floor.
fridge across the room.



please note the TILE IS STILL NOT DONE.
i wont even get into this story tonight.
i'll never calm back down enough to enjoy any sleep.



feast your eyes on the PLANK OF WOOD holding up a piece of granite that has ALREADY fallen throughout the night before....and NOW, it's hovering ever so slightly above the NEWLY INSTALLED hard wood floors. just walk away, allison.....stop STARING.



so we're making progress.
but it's slow going...and it feels like the FASTEST two weeks ever because we MOVE SOON and are hitting deadline after deadline...but it feels like the SLOWEST two weeks ever because of the killer drain of money this entire adventure ACTUALLY costs. and yes, there are "the estimates" and then there is reality. NOT ONE CONTRACTOR has been able to stick to their "estimate." beware. it's true. contractors have a reputation for a REEEAASON. the end.

(but yes -- we are BESIDE OURSELVES with excitement over HAVING OUR OWN HOUSE SOON!!! and none of these heartaches can overshadow the fact that this is FINALLY COMING to fruition. i just like to be dramatic. alot. but PLEASE know this is A HUGE answer to prayer.....MASSIVE!!!! :)

i know i mentioned rudy....and i dont have much energy to really delve into the details or ask what you know already.
but here are the bullets:

1) march 17th -- rudy was attacked by neighbors dog.
2) nearly $2000 worth of medical damages to MY DEAR BABY.
3) neighbors verbatim, "sure, i'll pay for it, if you can PROVE IT."
4) chad gags me, so i cannot verbally retaliate.
5) we call DC Animal Control.
6) they come see rudy 10 days later for an unexpected "home visit."
7) they determine rudy is FAR WORSE than they expected (duh).
8) they contact the Dept of Health -- Dangerous Dog Investigation ensues.
9) they attempt to impound attacking dog -- owners refuse to hand him over.
10) they attain affidavit and SEARCH WARRANT their house -- and take the dog by force.
11) i fly to arizona.
12) while on the TARMAC before takeoff -- i get a call that ABC news cameras are on my front lawn asking to see rudy. the attacking dog owners CALLED THEM to come interrogate me and to PROVE that rudy really isn't near death. (FYI - he never was near death. well. except for that convulsion episode b/c his pain meds weren't NEARLY cutting it. and well, and also for those 4 days he refused to eat or drink. ok....maybe he could have died.)
13) i spend weekend in AZ reading about my dog in the news....attacking dog owners start "Free ______ (insert dog's name)" campaign all over Capitol Hill.
14) i come home -- have meeting with the Dept of Health and the lawyers. learn that attacking dog owners met with the city council member and were denied having their dog freed until the trial.
15) did i forget that part? yeah. DC is taking the dog to court. NOT US. we are not personally suing. the District is. but the attacking dog owners hate US...and the dog walker....and so they start campaign in neighborhood to discredit witnesses based on character flaws? this is what i'm told by neighborhood friends......"they're trying to discredit your dog walker based on x, y, and z." awesome.
16) we schedule meeting with city council member.
17) we're advised by anybody that matters to.....put out our side of the story so that our neighborhood knows both sides. we were receiving threatening phone calls, and obvious media attention, so we agreed it would be best, though we were hesitant to take it into a public forum.
18) we distributed all public documents, pertinent to the case: 26-page document containing a letter, medical assessments, photos, etc etc etc, to our neighborhood.
19) attacking dog owner emails me with some definition of "defamation" and the word "lawsuit" was included. interesting. but not at all concerned.
20) i have to sit across from attacking dog owners this thursday, at some preliminary-type hearing. average day at the beach, i assume. what in the freaking world is going on.....
21) official dog hearing on april 25th.....the same day as our 20-week sonogram. honestly....i'm at a loss for words. then again -- ain't it just another day in my life??

rudy today:



you can't see his chest...where his scars are, but you can see both his forearms are still missing hair from all the IVs they had to give him. and i wish you could see his tail in this picture -- it's been almost a month since the attack and he still keeps his tail between his legs. it's so pitiful and sad. i hope he's back to 100% normalcy soon. my sweet bebe. he's lost roughly 10 pounds overall, since the attack -- but at least he's eating again. and not throwing up blood. rock on.

in other news....i still shoot weddings.
i know.
subject change.
and yes -- i do it happily :)
who is that short girl holding the camera in the....conga line??!



yes people.
i've never had a wedding where i wasn't hugged by the bridal party on the way out....even after 8 hours on my feet and hardly any food....and almost half-way through my pregnancy....i still danced :) thanks juju for the pic!!! i'm SO glad she was with me for this wedding!! quite...the...adventure. enough said.

i have TWO MORE WEDDINGS this upcoming weekend.
so yeah.
that makes:
1) contractor hell this week.
2) dog court on thursday.
3) movers show up on friday.
4) wedding on saturday.
5) wedding on sunday. (something i NEVER do, but it was a scheduling mistake that i made last year....such an idiot.) OF COURSE the ONE TIME i shoot back to back weddings in my ENTIRE LIFE....it's the weekend we move. GOSH, i should go to vegas.....

whoa.
forgot to mention i haven't really packed a darn thing. that should be fun too.

it's just sorta messy this month!!
i feel like a horrible friend who's been hiding under a rock for decades. one day, i was fine. the next day i was swept off my feet and never recovered.

i would like to note that i wouldn't change a thing!!!
(outside of my choice in Jose, the ceramic tile installer....)
God has answered our prayers -- and given us some VERY long-awaited and precious things....
i was a little naive to think it would be smooth sailing -- but -- i haven't been this excited about life in a long long time!!!!!! it's just bumpy :)

my biggest downfall is forgetting to daily thank Him. spend time with Him. everything gets lost in the mix of this madness -- and GOD of all things should not be the last priority on my list. it's a daily struggle to sit down, be quiet, breathe, listen, read, and pray. if i ever come up in your minds during your prayer time -- make that your request for me. it's a scary place to find yourself too busy to take that time to spend with Him. just pray i can FIND BALANCE this week!!!!!

i'm going to try to make my blog rounds!!!! even though it's almost midnight.
i'll try to keep everybody updated a bit better!!!!
i can see the light at the end of the tunnel -- and hopefully the dust will settle soon!!!
xoxo - al

******
a few pics of yesterdays wedding:
lansdowne resort -- GO!!! it's BEAUTIFUL!!!! really pretty wedding location -- if you're looking!




















































i'll stop there for now.....
gnite ;)