1/2 birthday cupcakes

yesterday was lily's 1/2 birthday! poor thing was home with strep throat. not only was she upset to no longer have perfect attendance, she missed her field trip to the white tanks :( so instead we celebrated with cupcakes. only six months left as a 5 year old.

look who's seven months today...

can you believe it!!! my jackie boy is seven months already. some quick snaps from today with a new favorite toy...the lock on the tv cabinet doors. i'm on the look out for a cool little basket that will hold a sweet baby boy... the sitting still days are long over!!!
at seven months he crawls well, pulls up to stand, slowly cruising the furniture(i know...it's crazy!), loves to eat everything but oatmeal and cereal are his favorite, picks up and feeds self with fingers, babbles a la la la, a wa wa wa and mmm mmm when he eats, enjoys hearing himself scream, finally sleeps through the night (yay!), plays peak a boo with his hands on his forehead (so cute!), and loves to watch everything around him.

at seven months i never want to forget the way he pulls his blanket over his face while he nurses and his breath when he's done, his big puffy eyes when he's tired and his gentle snore when he's a sleep. I never want to forget the way he looks at me with those big blue eyes when i enter the room, how they light up and melt my heart, his last bit of gummy smile, and his sweet baby hugs.

how did i miss it...

jack's half birthday post???

my son celebrated his half birthday on december 19th. that was the night we took a ride on the polar express. i'll have more to share on that later, but for now i'll give you his stats at 6 months. he weighed 16 lbs and was 27 in long. i split his shots into two months, but he still gets a fever each time with the first set. at half a year of life, baby jack had his two bottom teeth, slowly crawling, and eating all types of food, cereal is by far his favorite. he is a happy boy who easily entertains himself. he discovered texture this month and loves to feel everything. it was a tough month of teething and ear infections, so sleeping was way off schedule (good thing all is back to normal now). i just adore my baby boy and can't believe he is growing up so fast. i wanted to document our special bond while he is still a small infant so i called danielle over for a photo shoot. she did an incredible job capturing our relationship. thanks dana! here's a couple from the shoot.

my little glow worm

i was so disappointed when pch called about lily's appointment, there is a rsv restriction and no children are allowed in the hospital that are not patients. that meant i couldn't be with her. i have no milk storage and couldn't leave jack for 7 hours with only a few ounces.

as you may know lily has had reoccurring UTIs for the past couple years. the past couple have caused a high fever which can lead to kidney damage. she needed to have a renal scan to make sure this wasn't happening.

i was able to be there for the iv injection while grammy watched the kids in the car then scott stayed for the scan. she was very brave during the iv. of course it hurt and she cried. she just kept pulling my face to hers with her free arm...she was embarrassed.

her follow up is on wednesday so we should hear the results then. here are a couple snaps scott took with his phone during the scan. when she saw her kidneys on the screen she said "they're little tiny baby kidneys, they're so cute."

bath time

2/365

splish splash jackie loves his bath... just bouncing my 580ex ii. flash, my new challenge.

Happy New Year! 1/365

i thought i would have several posts before the new year but it's here way to quick. i have a ton of christmas photos to blog so those will come soon.

were you awake at midnight? not i...although jack wanted to ring in the new year at around 12:30am. last night i helped out my sil danielle by second shooting at a wedding. i was never that interested in shooting weddings but i really enjoyed it, i love the pressure.

no big resolutions for me but i do have some goals i would like to accomplish this year.

shoot a photo a day for 365 days this year. even if it's just a snap on my p&s i intend on getting a photo of something everyday. my goal to grow as a photographer and get some great photos of my kidos too. want to join me????

clean and organize my office. i need to clear out the clutter and get some organization in this room. i spend hours in here, run a business and only have one file cabinet for everything. i need some peace in here so i can relax. here i come ikea.

in 2009 i plan on enjoying my babies, nurturing and watch them grow...simplify....relax.....and sleep.


1/365 avoiding bed time

merry christmas

it's a ho ho ho ho down

charisma, personality, stage presence...this girls got it. she loves to perform and gets all the attention when she does. lily's holiday performance was fantastic. all the kids did surprisingly well. to my surprise she was at the front of the stage. the music teacher chose her to be a square dancer.

we were in the front row but you can always hear her singing her heart out.
my favorite part of the night was the elvis song. all the kids gave a little hip grind. lily's was a crack up. she did it so cute and the petti made it even better.

she did it

my little girl came out of her shell. i though she would have stage fright since she's such a shy one but she did it. she came out waiving to her family, sang, and did all of the hand movements. i am so proud. the boy to the left is cooper, she's going to marry him!!! i've got lots to share come back soon!

aahhhhh

my holiday season is over! it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. the past three years i have stressed over this time of year. i always say i'm going to cut back next year and somehow end up just as busy. well next year i am.

now i can get back to shooting what i love and the reason i started this in the first place...my babies. it's been a while so here they are at a quick shoot for pop pop's xmas card.



lily is just about half way through kindergarten. she's smart as a whip! she is an excellent little reader and help the kids in class with there writing. the scary thing about it is, it's just natural and easy for her. what a lucky girl!!! lily is the leader of the class (imagine that :) and has many friends and boyfriends. she became a daisy (girl scout) this year and is having a great time with her friends. she recently had a dance recital for an after school dance class she was taking. it also involved singing which she loves!!! when lily grows up she wants to be a "baby deliverer." she is thankful for the earth. for christmas lily is going to ask santa for a barbie and the diamond castle carriage.

ava is three. what more can is say...

shy, sweet, temperamental, loves barbies, and ariel. her most common phrase is "i can do it my own self!" ava is enjoying preschool. she has made a few friends and has a crush on cooper, but gets quite shy and embarrassed if you say his name. ava has her first singing program tomorrow so we'll see how she does in the spotlight. she is my night owl and my morning bear. she snacks all day and is so excited to see her sister when she gets home. she really misses her all day. ava loves to dance and dress up. she loves pink and skirts and changes her clothes 15 times a day. she is thankful for her family and wants to wash the dishes when she grows up. for christmas ava hopes santa will bring her hi-cicle school musical dolls.

my boy. can you believe 6 months is just 9 days away. he is happy and content. he entertains himself quite easy, although hes has quite a bit of entertainment around here. jack has had 3 ear infections, has two teeth, and is working on moving his hand when he crawls (he most often does a face plant along the way). he is super ticklish and giggles when you undress him...he anticipates the tickles. i kiss his feet all day because i know these days are numbered. he has 101 nicknames and i love them all. when jack grows up i want him to be happy. he is thankful for breast feeding. for christmas jackie would love to ask santa for anything that will fit in his mouth.

reach...

crawl...

dun dun duna...

everyday

is over much too fast. i try to slow things down but sooner than later, it's time for bed. that's when i think, i didn't snuggle my baby enough, i didn't make him laugh enough, tomorrow i'm not leaving the house! little jack turned 5 months last week. even though i love the baby he is now, i would love to rewind and live it all again.

at 5 months my little peanut is 15 lbs. and 26 in. he has learned to get across the room by rolling or doing the inchworm. jack-sack sits but still falls over. he eats cereal, oatmeal, and orange veggies. not as fond of peas or bananas but he did like pears. he started to razz last week and thinks it's hilarious while daddy feeds him. his favorite toy is the jumparoo. boy can he get that thing going. baby jack-jack loves his sisters (especially the biggest)...he watches everything they do. he is a happy boy full of giggles and rarely does he cry. he is always drooling and chewing on his fingers. those poor swollen gums still haven't cut teeth.

today he's sick...all buggered up with a fever. get well my son. xoxoxo.

daddy's special day

happy birthday!!! yesterday was scott's birthday. the big "34". we took a trip to the fire station for lunch and brought daddy some pumpkin pie. lily made him a poster collage with photos from the past year. she's such a creative little girl. i'll try to post a shot of it if he brings it home. well here's life at 34...isn't it beautiful!

some cute ones to share...

i'm really behind on posting all of the events over the past month. maybe i'll get around to it when things slow down a bit with the biz.

i couldn't miss the halloween post. here are the kids all dressed up!

he's a sitter

my baby is sitting :( he's been working on it the past couple weeks and this week he started sitting up straighter. he's still really wobbly but he loves his new view! 19 weeks today.

yummy

that's what my little buddy boy thought of rice cereal last night. he opened up and slurped it down. i wonder how long until the girls are bored with feeding him...i'm sure baby jack-jack is going to be tired of being gagged with the spoon much quicker!

i must have blinked

because my son in 4 months today. jack is the sweetest, most content baby. he put himself to sleep and is still sleeping well, at least 7 hours straight at night. he loves his crib and when he wakes up i can hear him talking to his stuffed bear or the baby he sees in the mirror. he loves to play under his playmat and is now enjoying the jumparoo. he grasps toys better and brings everything straight to his mouth. his favorite blanket is the taggie blankie, he enjoys chewing on it. he rolls and really wants to sit. he loves hanging out in the bumbo seat while i cook and when we eat.

i'm working on reloading my programs after a pc disaster this week so i thought i would share a video clip of my boy.

the race

this year the kids joined in! first we walked the one mile. lily walked the entire thing while ava and jack relaxed and enjoyed the view. after that i ran the 5k. i'm pretty sure i ran it quicker than last year! woohoo!






look who we ran into! what 40,000 people participating and we walk in right behind them.

heirloom

i found this crib a great pop pop's house. i loved it and thought is would be a interesting baby prop. this was allyn's crib. so from the moment i found out baby jack-jack was coming i had this vision in my head.