baby fix

Sorry it's been awhile since I last posted pics of Maiah. I have been told!! lol
So for those of us who need some cuteness in our lives, here's a little baby fix. :)Above are a few of her 6 week shots in what would have been her Christmas dress if she'd been born by then.
Below are some that I took this morning in her newest outfit - a gift from Viv & Wil that arrived yesterday. Thanks you two -so cute! :)

Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone has had a fantabulous weekend. :) I've spent mine playing with my kiddos, working on some random things in photoshop, playing a little WoW, making way too many cookies (blame Vern & the kiddos) and thinking about pudding. Oh, and wanting a nap. I so need a nap. I look like this - @@.

Playin'

My hair wasn't totally retarded yesterday and Kirsten took some pics for fun, so instead of playing WoW this morning I played in photoshop. :) I figured I'd share some, starting with an untouched shot so that those of you *ahem* D... ;) who like to figure out what I did to 'em can play. It's all really quick & simple stuff with the same ambient lighting to start with (well, with the exception of the last shot) - deconstruct away. :)The only bad thing about PS playtime is that I haven't calibrated my monitor yet, so I still don't completely trust in the results. Oh well, I'm going to share anyway. :pTime to go pull some yummy smelling cookies out of the oven. I'm hoping I don't burn myself in the process. (Still nursing my most recent one - it's become a bad habit. :p)Have a great weekend!

B

I so love this guy.It's hard to believe he'll be 18 in 6 months. (Almost as old as I was when I had him. So weird.) He looks a lot like Keith did at this age. He's a pretty simple, straightforward sort of person. He likes basketball, gaming, mountain biking & the Office. He's awesome with his little siblings, makes fantastic omelets and is so looking forward to becoming legal, getting a job & going to college - you know, all the regular life stuff.

my monkey gives the best kisses

i love you day :)

I got to say I love you to those who matter most to me today, had some yummy food with my family (including a couple chocolate covered strawberries - yum) and have a dozen long stemmed roses upstairs. Makes for a fabulous sort of day. :)
I hope you blog readers have had an awesome day too!

girl talk

Today was preregistration over at the jr. high. Kirsten & I walked over & got her all set. She's excited about electives. Well, dance & theater mostly. ;) lol

Kirsten and I are always talking, whether we're on a walk or she's hanging out with Maiah and I upstairs. I'd like to say I'm always full of good advice & such. I can say that we're always laughing & having fun. I'm so glad that she's comfortable coming to me with things and still seeks out my company & my opinion. I hope that never changes. I asked her to help me write down some of our recent moments for this post - here's what we came up with...

Kirsten: "Boys don't cry."
Mom: "The good ones do."
Looking at a Twilight photo of Kellen Lutz. (He plays Emmet)
Mom: "Are you at the point in life where you can appreciate a guy with a body like that?"
Kirsten: "Uh, yeeeeah..."
Talking about the upcoming Valentine's dance.
Kirsten: "I hope he asks me."
Mom: "I hope so too, but don't be afraid to ask him."
Kirsten: "Everyone says that older sisters are mean. I'm not going to be like that.
Mom: "You say that now..."
Kirsten: "I have kind of an odd question to ask. Um, nevermind. nevermind..." (I probably looked at her funny.)
Mom: "No wait, I wanna hear this one!" lol It ended up being a practical question about bathing suits & pubic hair. Nothing near as exciting as I expected after our tampon insertion demo. (On her hand - she just wasn't getting how they worked. :p)
Watching some show where they were sewing a distressed denim skirt.
Mom: "Oooh I want one of those. They're cute."
Kirsten: You want a skirt like that?!" (They'd just started sewing one and it was really, really, really short at first.)
Mom: "Well obviously they aren't finished unless you're going for a slutty sort of look. I mean, I wouldn't want to scare the neighborhood children."
Kirsten: "Are you sure you'd just scare the children?" Ha. Nice K. :p
Kirsten: "I don't feel well. I'm going to go into the bathroom."
Mom: "Don't be putting your head near the toilet unless you're sure it's coming, because once your head is in there you're committed whether it was going to happen or not. Kind of like peeing and running water." :p

And a few general pieces of mom advice off the top of Kirsten's head...
"Don't let mean or petty people get to you. Life's too short to care what some jealous girl thinks."
"Don't ever be afraid to be yourself."
"Smiling & being friendly will make you so much more attractive than any amount of makeup could."

a quick rundown

I had these ready to post yesterday, but didn't get the chance to sit at my computer to post 'em. Today has been much the same. It has seemed like every time I went to sit down at my computer or even head down here Maiah would wake up, need to be changed or get hungry. When she didn't need me for something one of my other kiddos inevitably would. :p You'd think that being absent from my computer for a couple of days would maybe mean exciting things were going on around here, but, um, yeah. Here's a quick rundown...

~Spent some time catching up with a couple of old friends.
~Spent even more time feeding & burping Maiah. She's a hungry little girl. :p
~Went to the chiropractor with Nina.
~Have thought about pudding nonstop. Seriously - yum.
~I've wanted a nap but have yet to succeed.
~Vern worked last night 'til 1:30 am, at which point we went grocery shopping :p
~Dealt with dirty laundry & dirty diapers. It seems I have an abundance of both.
~Acted as Maiah's favorite pillow. She's so cuddly - I love that. :)
~Took lots of pictures, mostly of Maiah. I can't believe she's already a month old. Craziness. :)
~Worked out a little. (Yesterday was an upper body day.)
~Fought an icky headache. Again.
~Finally made it down here! Now that I've blogged I need to work on dinner. We have a raid tonight - yay! I'm not sure if Vern's going to make it home on time, but I could use a little dose of fun. :)

Happy Tuesday!

I love pudding

Yummy! I really really want some right now & have none. Sadness. :(

I haven't done a meme in awhile. Must be time to do one. :)
The "what they said" meme. Answer each category with the first thing that comes to mind that someone has said lately to evoke that reaction in you.
Happy: "I love you" I love you too. :)
Excited: "Kenyon officially proposed to Jeanette!" Yay!
Sad: "I don't sing to you anymore" Aw. :(
Funny:"Fish have better lips" Don't ask. lol I'm still laughing.
Grateful: "She did good mom, she slept through most of the raid" Thanks Kirsten! :)
Comforted: "Yeah but you're a likable noob" Yay?! lol
Loved: "Give your mom a hard time & you'll be dealing with me" Go Vern go!

I don't love Fridays

Today was not the best day ever. In fact there were plenty of rough moments. Fridays tend to be like that. :p There were some good things that happened too though, like pizza for dinner and Maiah waking up all happy & cute this morning. (It didn't last all day, but was fun nonetheless.) It was Maiah's 4 week milestone too. I can't believe she's almost a month old! Time's been flying by fast around here. :p Maiah (also known as squeaky, babygirl, bubbles & beautiful) is doing awesome. I'm totally in love with my sweet baby girl. :)I have a whole bunch of pics of Maiah to share. She's just so sweet & beautiful and I'm not feeling the least bit decisive about which shots to post so they're all going up. :) The awake/alert ones are from this morning when she was being all cute, and the sleepy ones are from this evening during her nap. (I have to admit I was having fun - I got to play with my flash. :) It was dark, but my room is small and the walls & ceiling are white. There was a lot of light-bouncing going on. lol)Well I'm headed to bed, hoping her morning cheeriness will rub off on me tomorrow. :)
Have a great weekend!

110%

So this morning after breakfast, our morning playtime and such I brought Maiah down here thinking I was going to log into WoW & play for a bit. She didn't seem all that comfy though and after juggling her in my arms & on my lap for a few minutes I decided to just take her upstairs & give her my full attention. She seemed to enjoy hanging out upstairs, so that's where we stayed all day. It was really nice to play & cuddle with her without much distraction. Elijah joined us a bunch. He loves cuddles & kisses too after all. :) Even little Vern came up to hang out for a bit. It means something when he chooses to spend time doing something not computer-related. :p Then tonight Kirsten & I went for a late-night walk again. It's become a bit of a habit. I've missed our walks - it's nice to be at it again. Once the weather gets a little warmer we can go earlier too, and take Maiah with us.
Anyway, it feels good to have given my undivided attention to my kiddos a bunch today. It's not that they don't get moments every day, but a day like today is an especially nice treat. It was a 110% kind of day. Makes for smiles all around. :)

photos by elijah

His self portrait. :)Mom
Train
Koko
...and a shot of the artist himself.
Is he awesome or what? I think so :)

Happy Tuesday!