anyone out there?

anyone still stop by here? it's been FOREVER since i've updated, but we've been crazy busy! i am hoping to pick it up again now that we're expecting #4, and summer's looming. we had a pretty quiet winter, i can't wait to get back out of our neighborhood!

clap on, clap off!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

because i just don't have enough other things to do.

just want to pop in & post about my new 365 blog. i've been meaning to start this project up for a while, & just gave myself a push today since we're having a lazy sunday.

hope you enjoy! let me know what you think, and hey - start one up yourself! :)
http://impromptu365.blogspot.com/

not much to say ....

just some recents. click for a non-pixelated version.

four mile historic park - downtown denver, co

plains conservation center - aurora, co

eight months!

norah is 8 months ... i feel like i was just writing about her hitting 7! nothing too new to report.... still have the two teeth, not walking alone, yet ... thankfully! she is starting to get a little more routine in her naps, although with kayleigh's schedule it makes it hard to work around.

for some reason, since i resized these pics before uploading they all look a little squished or over sharpened. hopefully you can click to see the bigger version. these are all with the d90 & the 50mm. i'm enjoying it, but there are more options than the d40, so i'm a little befuddled...

these shots are harder & harder to get ...most looked like this, lol!

i have a pic of the other kids in this hat when they were babies ... but they were SMILING, lol. i'll have to try again soon.

this was hard, the color was off & i was up high on a ladder, lol.

i like it a bit better in b&w.

see, no lie ... i was up on a ladder. and i moved the couch to the dining room, lol.

kayleigh was at school when i took those, but ethan was around. he is starting to get the hang of the skateboard a bit better. i think he's so cute! he thinks he's so big! :)

i have some more pics & videos to upload from my birthday, ect ... but it's late ... and the baby is tossing & turning, which means it's about time for me to head up! :)

new gear!

my super fantic husband strikes again!

the just released nikon d90 is drool worthy! i had planned on upgrading to the older d80 in the spring, but then this came out. i got the d40 for my birthday last year, and it's been a really great learning tool. i'm now shooting in manual full time & venturing into raw once & a while. the lens options for the d40 are slim in my price range. it's just smarter to go for a better camera with growing room. john has been researching them fo ra bit, and had me go ahead and order on friday!

Oh, and the D90 has video. VIDEO. that you control the DOF with! you can't even do that with a normal video camera. so cool. photog chase jarvis got to test a few to make nikon's brochure. check it out. :)

http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2008/08/chase-jarvis-raw-advance-testing-nikon.html

Here she is! :) The jury is out wether or not we're going to sell the D40. It will be nice to have as a spare if i had to send the other one in, ect. a neighbor was interested in it if we do sell, though ....

we ordered the body only since the kit lens isn't really something i want/need. i got a 50mm 1.8 to go with. after renting a 60mm for two weeks, i never want to use a zoom again. i am officially a prime girl.

my aunt kathie sent me a gift card to b&h photo for my birthday that will be going towards a flash. i've read and asked for reviews, and at the price i'm looking for, the sb-600 seems to be the way to go!

i'm so excited for it all to get here, and excited to play with it! look for an update soon!! ;)

lazy saturday!

we had a pretty lazy weekend ... at least i did! :)

yesterday we went to the farmer's market (i going to miss that this winter!), and grocery shopping after. the we've mostly stuck close to home, although props to my super fantastic husband for taking the big kids out while the littlest napped to give me some quiet time!

i knew this was going to happen, lol.

the good, the bad, & the disgusting!!!

first i must rave about this delicious granola. oh, i could eat a whole bag in one sitting!!too bad it's 200calories for a 1/2c. :) go buy some!

here is where the bad & ugly come into play. i bought a jug of starbucks white mocha syrup. it's been working out pretty well. i made a hot or cold drink every morning depending on what it's like outside.

anyway, friday i made a drink & something was off so i dumped it. saturday morning the same thing happened. i couldn't figure out what i was doing wrong. i was making it the same way i had been for days. i checked the date on the jug, milk, coffee - all fine ....

later i asked john to make me one, because i was just not doing something right .... SAME THING!! so finally it hits me - SMELL THE MILK! i have never been so grossed out in my LIFE. never have i smelled sour milk, the milk was 2 weeks from expiring, and i just opened a couple days before! i sent organic valley an email last night. for $4 a half gallon, i want fresh milk! i can still taste that gross taste in my mouth. yuck ..

poor john used the milk in his coffee that morning. and ETHAN! oh .. we were out of soy milk, so i gave him a cup of the cow milk. oh man, he told me it was bad, but i thought he was just complaining because it wasn't soy - oops ... i don't think i'll ever use milk again without smelling it first. the date lied!

here we go again!!

so i'm trying to test out picasa's new feature to upload pics straigh from your computer to blogger... it's only giving me a few pictures at a time, though, so i guess i'll split up the posts for now.

the weather here has been great! it's been ranging from 65-85 mostly. perfect! anyone who doesn't like fall is CRAZY! we're going to rent a cabin in january up in the mountains. hopefully both of our parents will be able to come, but we'll see.

all bundled up heading to the bus stop!

last weekend we were pretty busy. we were just going to to to the corn maze at the botanic gardens, but i didn't realize there was more than one location until we were almost at the wrong one. we were right by the denver aquaruim at that point, and 45 minutes away from the maze, so we decided to just check out the fish.

It was actually pretty nice. Much better than the run down one in virginia beach. i didn't have the right lens on for close shots, since i had planned on being in a big field of corn, but here are a couple pics. :)

also, they had tigers - which is pretty strange for an aquarium ... but ahhh .. they're SWIMMING tigers, lol. now it makes sense, eh?

sunday we finally got to the corn maze! it was so much fun .. but MAN, did we get lost, lol. it took us just over an hour & we only got through half of it! they has a smaller kiddie maze (top left), that was more my style, haha!

this, that, & the other thing....

i'm with the band.

is it fall, yet???

i love fall!! i simply cannot wait! we've gotten a taste of it for the past couple days & i'm so excited! can you tell? halloween pj's & pumpkin gear?? :)

this one makes me giggle. :)

kayleigh is loving school now, AND the bus! john was off last friday so he was going to drive her in & she had no interest! she wanted to go on the bus with her girlfriends!

it definitely has made me feel a bit better, but i still wonder if public school & such large classes & teacher to student ratios are what she needs? john is pretty against homeschooling. don't ask him why, his reasons make no sense ... but i think if i petitioned hard enough he would see the light.

i am unsure i can commit enough to it, though, so it is why we've gone the ps route at the moment. we'll see ....

also, i must pay homage to our poor little tripos. may you rest in peace billy & jimmy. sorry about the noodle incident. it was all john's fault.

norah is all over the place now! she started pulling up & cruising all in one week. now i'm trying to figure out how to keep her from falling. she's smacked her head a few times, but it doesn't slow her down too much!

we went to the zoo monday. we actually had gone on the spur of the moment sunday, but it was packed. we just headed to whole foods for some groceries & called it a day.

that night we packed everything up, and got there before they opened monday. it was fantastic. i'm used to mainly doing things during the week since john is gone so often, and when we go on the weekends, i'm reminded how much i hate crowds!

kayleigh brought her kid camera & filled up her memory card, john transfered all the pics to a digital frame in her bedroom. :)

i've been trying to get a good pic of all three for a canvas i've got a free coupon for .... i just don't see it ever happening!

so we've been giving norah somethign other than breastmilk here & there. mostly it keeps her busy while *we eat dinner. :) green beans & crusty bread are a couple favs! i love the fuss-free start of solids when you wait until they can feed themselves! :)

that's about it for now, i suppose! :D

7 months!!!

norah hit 7 months on monday. where has the time gone??? she is crawling all over the place (which drives ethan crazy when she knocks over his magna-tile buildings!!), eating some veggies here and there at dinner with us (the whole thing, not cut or pureed), and just growing like a weed!

of course i could not let a month go by without our "onesie shots." as usual, here are all of them together - norah 1-12 months

just for fun .... 1 month

7 (duh!)


1 month

7!

chompers!

long time no blog!

this is for you, brandi! ;)

it's been a while. the crazyness that is moving, decorating, and KINDERGARTEN(!!!) has taken over. plus, i'm pretty lazy & get distracted easily, lol.

i'm going to try to post a few new blogs with our updates & goings on. :D

kayleigh started kindergarten last tuesday (one week today!). the first day was a piece of cake, but we had a few bumps along the way the rest of the week. so far this week has gone off wihtout a hitch, so i have high hopes.

she's in pm kindergarten which is from 11:45-2:30. here she is on her first day! :*)

taking the bus! eek. i stil freak out every time i think about it. my mind is eased a bit though, since the bus only has one stop. ours. :)

six months!

Norah is 6 months old! It happened so quickly, but she's now officially half a year old!

she is getting better at sitting unassisted, army crawling like a champ, and still going strong nursing.

of course we had to do her onesie/monkey picture! it is a few days late, though. i put her in the onesie on friday, and before i got around to the picture, she found a piece of paper on the floor and choked on it, throwing up milk & bile all over the onesie. she didn't even seem bothered, in usual norah fashion, lol. ....but the onesie had to be washed.


here are all the pictures 1-6 month together - Norah 1-12 Months

as for unpacking ... we're getting closer. i am not sure why it is so much harder this time. we do have WAY less storage space with is making this a little difficult, but it is making me realize we have just way too much STUFF!

first stop .... library!

i used to just buy books. i bought tons, & ton, & TONS of books. then i realized how silly (and expensive!!!) it was & got a library card for us in virginia. that thing was worn thin by the time we left.

we had a great bookmobile that came to out to our neighborhood in chesapeake. i will definitely miss that. sometimes after school if it was too hot to go to the park, we'd kill a couple hours at the library.

naturally, soon after we got here, we got cards for the public library. :) this time, though, kayleigh got her own card! :)

independence day!

a few days late, but here are pics! :) click to enlarge.

cornerstone park. see the mountains?!

the great baldini. :)

funnel cake!

toes!

this is the blanket my grandma knit for norah when i was pregnant. :)