the baby fix

...because everyone can use some cuteness in their lives, and Maiah is positively adorable.I love her in her brothers' hand-me-down blue clothes with those big blue eyes of hers. Besides, she's so beautiful she doesn't need girly frills. :) (Of course, what I really need to do is find her some pretty blue baby girl clothes. :p)This entry is dedicated to aunt Lauren who wanted her Maiah fix.
Love, April :)

Maiah

Maiah's 11 weeks old today! Oh how time flies. She's been sick & slept most of the day away so I didn't get any pictures. :(Here's one of her announcements to celebrate instead. I do need to get my camera out though. I've been totally slacking lately.

this week. so far.

Let me explain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Broken?!

Hey, I have a question! I have a private photo blog & subscribed, invited people have been unable to post even though the permissions are set so that anyone can post - just like I've always had it here. So, the question is... can you comment on this blog entry? If not, then I guess something's up with blogger comments. I know I can comment on my own stuff, but where's the fun in that. :p

my dad would not approve

...I sincerely hope my dad doesn't watch American Idol. He'd have gone into shock seeing Adam Lambert's rendition of Ring of Fire on country music week this past week. I hadn't liked him so much throughout the competition, but have to admit I totally noticed him this week. He got points for sheer guts & blatant disregard of the country music genre. I liked Kara's shocked response. “It was strange... it left me confused but sort of happy.” lol So awesome. Just don't click on this video if you're of my dad's generation, are a classic country music lover, or don't want to experience the strangeness of this performance. Kirsten is a huge fan of his.

I just thought it was a must-see, though he actually kinda sounded good. Sort of. I think I kind of like it. lol

me too

You know how my kiddos have been struggling with sickies?
...yeah. Me too. :p

Happy Friday!

happy, sickies, chunky... yeah

I've always loved Kirsten's thick beautiful hair.
~But my fine hair is so soft.
I used to think I had more fun as a blonde.
~But I have come to love my personal shade of brown.
Sometimes wish I were younger.
~But there's really not a moment's worth of experience I'd give up to do so.
I do wish my skin was perfect.
~But I'd never have perfected my photoshop skills if it was. lol
I'd love to have longer eyelashes.
~But that's what mascara's for.
And I wish I were a few pounds lighter.
~I have plenty of control over that. I'm just a slacker so far since having Maiah. :p

Really, I am pretty happy just being me. :)Now to see if I can make all these sick kiddos happy. :p Kirsten & LV are both home sick today, and Elijah's still coughing, fighting fevers & dealing with his ear infection. My poor babes. :(

Here's some Moto Moto just for my kiddos. lol We love this movie, and this song is awesomeness. :)
The first one is the whole chunky song, the second one is just the scenes from the movie with the chunky & she loves me songs. lol Makes me wanna watch the movie. :)

/hugs to my blog-reading friends. Hope you all have a great day!

croppage

I've been working on pictures like crazy lately. Getting Kenyon & Jeanette's stuff ready for them has been a blast - they're so cute. :) I've had enough people comment on my pics in general lately that as I notice stuff that I generally do with 'em I figured I'd share my secrets. Here's the first one.
Are you ready?
...Cropping matters.
Everything that's in the frame that doesn't add to the image is just a distraction. Crop it out. Play with angles - you can change the whole dynamic of a portrait just by playing. Simple huh. Look at the difference a little cropping makes in these images.

Aw, I was going to share some of the engagement pics here, but I haven't sized 'em for the web yet. :p I've had so much fun cropping & playing with their pics. :) I'll have to put a little preview together to share here soon. They are just an awesomely cute little couple.

Well, I have a sweet little babe who's wanting some cuddles. Have a great day blog readers! :)

Wait - I can't believe I didn't say "Isn't Kirsten gorgeous?!" yet. Isn't she awesome? I think so. :)

four

Today is Elijah's fourth birthday.My baby boy is getting so big.
Happy birthday monkeyboo! Mommy loves you so much!He was so excited to be Devan's ring bearer on Friday. He ended the night with a trip to the ER for a double ear infection, but even then (once the codeine took effect) he talked non-stop about rings, pillows & the wedding. lol Thanks Devan - he loved being able to be a part of your day. :)Today we're making a sprinkle cake, playing with birthday presents, and if mommy's really lucky -sleeping in. ;)

the quiet one

Happy birthday to you!happy birthday to you!happy birthday little Vern...happy birthday to you!Little Vern is probably my quietest kiddo. He loves computers, has the most awesome chocolate brown eyes and would rather be gaming than doing just about anything else. He's been loving first grade, kisses Maiah a bazillion times a day & is becoming quite an awesome little reader. He's hard to get pictures of because of the aforementioned attachment to all things computer-related. For both of those reasons I think I may blog about him the least, but I love him just as much as any of my kiddos. He's just the quiet one. I can respect that, because I was just like him. :)Happy birthday little Vern! I love you so much. :)

Ew mom!

Elijah is all runny nosed and sick-like today. Poor kiddo needed a tissue while we were upstairs, and when I told him to use the toilet paper he looked all grossed out and exclaimed "But that stuff's for bums!" lol
Good thing we still have some Kleenex from the last round of sickies. :p

I did take him to Wendy's for lunch. That cheered him up. :)

I'm really hoping he gets over this quick. Like, before the wedding on Friday. Removing snot from cute little faces is not my idea of fun with photoshop. :/

totally tuesday

It's been an absolutely crazy day.

LV stayed home sick from school. I'm pretty sure he's not sick.
I can't seem to stop eating the yummy coconutty no-bakes I made the other night. Not good.
Vern didn't make it out the door for work until after noon.
My kiddos' desk totally broke while B was playing WoW. He had to set up their computer on the other end of my table. Squishy. :p
I've had no pudding. :(
Maiah's in desperate need of a nap. She's been so sweet, smiley & patient while we dealt with the desk stuff.
Kirsten accidentally thawed the rest of the chicken breasts, so it's chicken for dinner again tonight. Yay?!
It's cold out again & there's still snow on the ground from the other night. Brrrr...
Nina took Elijah to get fitted for his tux for this weekend. I'm sure I'll take a million pics of him all dressed up. :p
Kirsten didn't get the garbage can out to the street for pick-up this morning like Vern asked. Not cool. (It's totally full. :p)
I took some pics of Maiah this morning. Just because. She's so beautiful. :)I'd love to pull out more pics of her, but she's waiting patiently for me to be done here.

Happy Tuesday blog readers! :)

eight weeks?!

Maiah's 8 weeks old today. Crazy huh?! I think so. Time has flown by. She had her 2 month appointment this week, and her pediatrician couldn't get over how smiley & talkative she is. (Most babies find their voices around 7 weeks or so, she just uses hers a lot. Almost as much as she smiles - which is most of her awake time.)
She's just such a happy baby. She now weighs 10 lbs. 12 oz, and is 24 inches long. (90th percentile for height, 50th for weight. Tall & skinny just like Kirsten.)I'm just going to share some random thoughts & play catch-up, since things are looking busy-ish in the near future.

I still want ...wait, need some pudding. lol Nicole, yeah chocolate works best most days. Really though, I just love pudding. mmmmm... :)
Elijah fell asleep at Vern's computer. lol he's so cute.
Hope we have a non-snowy, warmish day soon so we can get Kenyon & Jeanette's pics done. (Tomorrow's supposed to be cold with some snow, so yeah - probably won't do it tomorrow.)
I just drank my last Fuze. Sadness. My addiction to those is all Wendy's fault. :p
I woke up this morning and got out of bed pain-free for the second day in a row. It was really weird yesterday to think that was the first time in almost a year that I could stand right up and not hurt. I was so happy. I'm excited to think that some of the stuff I had throughout my pregnancy might actually be disappearing for good. Hooray!!! :)
I'm hoping my kiddos hurry up & finish the no-bake cookies I made last night so I can stop sneaking 'em already. I don't think yummy peanut butter & chocolate snackage is going to actually help me lose this recently-had-a-baby pudge. :p
Happy birthday Kenyon! We're headed up to Ben & Wendy's tonight for a little surprise party. Well, if Vern gets out of work in time to go. :p
Hope the Malygos run is fun tonight and that Maiah has an awesome Sunday evening so I can go to Naxx. :p
Twilight is coming out on dvd already?! I think I heard March 21st. Kirsten's begun the begging/offering of extra chores & stuff to get Vern to buy it. lol My vote is that he's buying it regardless. :p
I'm so craving Quiznos.
Maiah's looking sleepy. I think it's almost time for some cuddles & a nap.

Have a fantabulous weekend everyone!

yumminess

It's been a long day. Some pudding would be so yummy right about now.

:p

So Vern is in Vegas until late tomorrow night & I've spent the day feeling like total crud. I so don't love these headaches. :p My kiddos are all set for the night with taquitos & double stuff oreos and I'm thinking I'll spend a nice chunk of my evening all curled up in bed with Maiah. Seriously, my pillow, blanket & cuddling with my babe in a dimly lit room sound the absolute best right now. At least yesterday was fun - a bridal shower followed by a girls night over at Jills. It was Maiah's first outing where she was around other people and it was the beginning of the wedding stuff which is going to keep us busy through Spring. Next Saturday is Kenyon & Jeanette's engagement photo shoot, then the following Friday is Devan & Breanne's wedding. Fun stuff. :)

Before I head up to find my pillow I thought I'd share some pics from yesterday. Maiah got to meet her cousin Alex for the first time. It's so cool - he's just 6 days older than her. They're adorable, huh? Yeah, I thought so too. :)Have a great day! :)