.....and then there were SIX!

anyone out there?

2009-04-18T13:59:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-11-04T16:56:00.002-05:00

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

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

2008-10-19T19:03:00.002-04:00

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 ....

2008-10-05T11:51:00.003-04:00

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

four mile historic park - downtown denver, co

plains conservation center - aurora, co

eight months!

2008-09-21T00:45:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-09-14T17:49:00.001-04:00

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!

2008-09-14T17:44:00.001-04:00

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!!!

2008-09-14T17:32:00.001-04:00

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!!

2008-09-14T16:58:00.007-04:00

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....

2008-09-03T10:09:00.019-04:00

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!!!

2008-08-20T20:05:00.009-04:00

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

chompers!

long time no blog!

2008-08-20T19:58:00.004-04:00

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!

2008-07-21T11:44:00.006-04:00

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!

2008-07-08T18:13:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-07-07T19:44:00.001-04:00

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. :)

keeping busy.

2008-07-05T23:57:00.003-04:00

well, the first picture has nothing to do with keeping busy, but i thought i'd share our sleeping arrangements for the next 17 days.

john, norah, and i all sleep on the queen bed over behind kayleigh. kayleigh does not want ethan sleeping anywhere near her, so we brought the aerobed in from the van, and he sleeps on that. lastly, kayleigh sleeps on the pull out couch. it makes for pretty close quarters, but they were all out of rooms with actual ROOMS, lol. it's getting old putting it up & taking it down every day. only 12 more nights until we're in our own beds again!

we made rice crispy treats the other night. thre kids had never made them before. so healthy! lol. i accidentally doubled the rice crispies, so they were actually a pretty light snack, lol.

we went on a nature walk a few days ago to get some things for THIS supercool project. they turned out awesome (of course i haven't taken a pic of the end result, yet).

norah enjoyed the walk, but it sure did wear her out! :)

molding the sculpey

ethan decided he'd rather make "the biggest worm in the whole wide world!"
the hotel we're staying in has a pool. it's pretty nice because they supply the towels, and it's pretty empty most of the time! we're going to put the kids in lessons this winter. they're still relying mostly on the swimmies. it's hard to take three kids alone in the pool, though, so for now we're keeping the swimmies on.

since norah is so mobile now, there is really no safe spot here in the hotel for me to put her while i shower, clean up, etc. we picked up this bumper jumper & it is really pretty great. the only place it fits in the hotel is the bathroom, so please excuse the toilet in the background. :)

our new 'hood.

2008-07-05T23:40:00.002-04:00

see, did i not say i had a lot of posts to catch up on??

apparently we'll be living in peak view estates. :) news to me. up until this point i had been just calling it "buckley family housing." at least this sounds prettier!

look, mountains!

and john's work is just a short walk away in the giant golf balls. :)
note: it was this point john told me to put the camera away. my argument, though, is that these pictrues are available readily online.

our journey.

2008-07-05T22:59:00.002-04:00

we left north carolina on a saturday morning. we drove for 3 days, about 9 hours each (nto counting breaks) before stopping at a hotel for the night. we got into colorado monday night & have been in a hotel ever since. we get into our house on july 17th!

this was in west virginia off the mountains. anyone know if it has a name? :)

this rain was so bad on day2 that we had to pull off the road. we decided to look for somewhere to spend the night, but it cleared up pretty quickly. this was around 4pm & it was almost pitch black!

our van has a little mirror to watch the back seat, it cracks me up, like those shows where you see the camera mounted in a car. poor kayleigh is all the way in the back, you can't even see her.

i was trying to read through all the dslr lessons i have printed out, but i couldn't do a lot of the activies in a confined space. :(

i got john a tom tom for christmas. most of the time it's really nice, and fairly acurate. and other times .... not so much.

here is a private farm tom tom tried to take us through on a dirt road.

wind farm! oddly enough a car with stickers promoting veggie fuel drove past us right as we were approaching the windmills! it's that black car on the right. :)

finally. HOME!

marbles!

2008-07-05T21:56:00.002-04:00

our plan for kayleigh's birthday WAS to go to marbles children's museum, but they were closed mondays (thanks for the heads up katrina). we ended up going a couple days later & it was a BLAST. they have an imax theater also, so we went to see kung fu panda afterwards. it was pretty cute. i hope the museums here are fun. we're heading to the zoo monday!

kayleigh using wire clippers in the real tool area ...

...while ethan opted for the saw!

dress up!
kayleigh picked this hat out for me. good choice? heehe

a princess, of course!

i love this jacket - i wanted to buy it from them, lol.

they had a 1/2 pirate ship. it was super neat. the kids could swab the deck,
walk the plank,

look through the porthole,

and drop anchor!

the obligatory self-timer-family-picture. :)

a good day was had by all!

kayleigh's five!

2008-07-05T20:31:00.003-04:00

kayleigh's birthday was two weeks ago. she is now five!! how that is possible is beyond me!!

we went to a park in raleigh that day, just the five of us. when we came home (to my mom's house), we did the cake & gifts.

the suchniak five!

blowing out the candle on the birthday crown cake she requested i make. cake innards, sugar cookie/candy outside. :)

it was a great day! she got so many nice things & she is still talking about the park we went to. the train will definitely stick around as one of her favorite birthday memories. i mean, even the local news was there for the big day. :)

stay tuned!

2008-07-05T20:29:00.001-04:00

i'm going to try to post a few updates. it will probably be seperated to keep it easier on me - haha! :)

hellllloooo!

2008-06-19T07:34:00.002-04:00

it's been a while! so much has happened! moving day finally came & went last week. it was crazy busy, & i'm just glad it's over with. all of our household goods are packed up & sitting in colorado waiting for us!

we did get into housing. john was at carmax unloading the focus while the packers were there, and he got a call from the housing office. the house is only three bedroom, and it's a 4plex instead of twin ... but it's a house, and basically pretty similar to what we were in in virginia. unfortunately it won't be ready until july 17th.

right now we're staying at my mom's in north carolina (the van is STILL being repaird at teh toyota in virginia - it should be ready any day now, so they say), and will heard out west next friday. from then until we get into housing we'll be staying in a hotel! yikes. 17 days in a hotel.

we actually moved the day of kayleigh's dance recital. we spent the night befor ein out house with no furniture! just an air matress and sleeping bags. :) it sucked.

the recital was so cute. kayleigh got a little shy for a bit, but with 15 people staring at you 5 feet away - who wouldn't?! lol

she said next year she wants to take gymnastics. we'll see how it goes with school, ect. but we'll probably sign her up if she still shows interest.

i'm going to miss having a yard! our new house in co only has a patio. that will be a big change for us.

norah turned 5 months old yesterday! it's getting harder to get these pics every month! she wants to eat the monkey, lol.

here's a link to all the months together - http://picasaweb.google.com/impromptukiss/Norah112m

5 months old!

oh yeah ...

2008-06-02T22:58:00.005-04:00

norah's getting so big. she can sit up for a little bit here & there. i'm going to start taking my own advice and pushing her down, she can't grow up, yet!

redundant.

2008-06-02T22:50:00.003-04:00

most of you have already seen this .... but i'm posting it here for those that haven't! i am so proud - i actually followed a pattern for the first time in my life! maybe i can break in that ottobre issue i bought a ew months ago ... after the move, of course.

thank goodness may is over. i can't take any more of may. my husband will be home in 5 days! even though we'll be homeless and car-less in a week, it's a-o-k in my book. just as long as we're all together again. and i stop breaking things ... cars, bones, lol ... (no john, i didn't really just laugh out loud ;))....

the pattern for this top can be found for free HERE. i wish it included other sizes. maybe once we move i can try upsizing it a litle bit. not sure i'm in that league yet. :P it's really not crooked. just hanging funny on the hanger.

hmmm ... not sure i like posting pictures from flickr here ... any tips? norah looks all digital-ized. hopefully you can click for a clearer pic.

happy memorial day!

2008-05-26T21:46:00.007-04:00

hope yours was better than mine ....

on to the cute kids! :)

check out that pinky. :D

windy much? lol

ice cream face!

those rainboots. don't worry, his new shoes will be here wednesday - here's hoping they fit!

name that pizza dough!

2008-05-24T21:19:00.004-04:00

as i was cutting some tj's dough (pre-move freezer clean out!) into three for us to each make our own pizzas, kayleigh declared it the grinch!

and just for fun. when you are three, and have a blister on your foot, you know one band-aid isn't going to cut it!

four months!

2008-05-18T11:39:00.004-04:00

ALREADY?!?! i am in shock. she's been here for a third of a year already.

norah is now rolling like a champ from back to belly, picking up toys, screeching as loud as her little lungs will let her, pulling our hair, and sitting "tripod" here & there.

she's still growing on mama's milk alone, & will be for a while. she loves sophie the giraffe, but has shown no real favorites for any particular toy or blanket. no idea on her weight, hopefully in a couple weeks.

for the other pics like this, see HERE.

two bags to go!

2008-05-17T22:26:00.003-04:00

we ended up coming home from vacation friday afternoon instead of saturday morning. it worked out well, but i'm STILL unpacking! i am down to the last two bags - norah's. she does not travel light, lol.

in my defense, i did install two car seats today, clean the garage, wash, fold, and put away two loads of laundry, and vacuum. my fabric and sewing stuff was getting a little overwhelming in the garage. it's taken care of now, although i did have to snag another big rubbermaid tub for fabric. i'd like to get down to two tubs again, but i need to do some serious stash-busting first.

ethan's birthday was tuesday. he is now THREE! i can't believe it. i made him a pirate hat cake, and he had tons of stuff to open since family was all around! :)

next up is kayleigh's birthday, june 23rd. i have most of her gift ready to go. just need a couple last minute things. i want to have it all ready before we move since we may be living in a hotel on her birthday!

there are a ton of pics starting HERE (and a bonus vid of norah). i'll stick some below, too. :)

the cake!

unfortunately i should have realized the piping was going to slide down doing it the night before, but he still approved!

it's official - he's THREE! (he picked the candle placement, lol)

the first couple days it was pretty cold & windy. VERY windy. so we hit up the aquarium on roanoke island again. it's a small aquarium, but it beats the one in virginia beach, hands down!

my biggest fish!

in her twirly dress!

squeaker. :)
she thought the pool was pretty cool. it was like a giant bath tub at 89 degrees.

all three. norah's face CRACKS me up! she'd just come outside & the sun was BRIGHT! she looks like such a party pooper here, lol.

tomorrow is norah's "4 month" birthday, so i'll have to squish her into her 4mo onesie (maybe diaper-less she'll fit? :P) for her month picture. she's getting so big so fast, i can't believe it!

...and one for norah, too!

2008-05-07T13:30:00.001-04:00

sewing!!

2008-05-05T10:38:00.008-04:00

i haven't actually sewed anything in a LONG time. well, besides the quilt front ... but that was a quick 30 minute project. i made this round neck top for kayleigh with a pattern by that*darn*kat. it was pretty easy & super fun. still minus the buttons to hold it on. ;)

i have one cut for norah in size 2/3 (the smallest the pattern goes) in some mod alexander henry fabric. it may be a bit too big, though. it will hopefully fit her this fall/witer with a top & jeans under. i may try to downsize it, or ask around to see if anyone else has done well with doing it.

i feel pretty, so pretty .....

2008-05-04T07:10:00.002-04:00

like the new look? the other one was getting pretty old, & i was looking for something more, uh ... in season? i couldn't find anything i really liked until i ran across hillary's site. she does great work & is super nice to work with! http://scrapblogdesignsbyhilary.blogspot.com/

ouch.

2008-05-01T20:18:00.001-04:00

no, i wasn't at fault. the 87 year old who ran the red light was. suck ass.

btw, we're all safe & sound. thank god.

one, two, three.

2008-04-27T11:16:00.010-04:00

i forgot to post the three month pictures of norah in her "3" onesie last week. so here are all three months so far. click to enlarge. :)

with the monkey

and on ethan's ikea rug.

$642 dollars and 75 cents.

2008-04-27T11:04:00.005-04:00

THAT is how much this stuff would have cost if i'd paid full price for it all. shocking! instead, i paid $500 LESS!

babyhawk add on!

2008-04-16T20:42:00.003-04:00

when i ordered my babyhawk, it was a custom, and i added on a toy ring. once i got it , it seemed pretty useless. here's what it looks like:

lately, norah has really been enjoying her grab toys, but she drops them. a lot. i saw similar things for pacifiers, and thought, "why not!" now i can clip her toys to the ribbon and the ribbon to the "toy ring" on the baby hawk. i made one with a bigger space for toys (on the right) because not all of them are as thin as the kringelring on the left. :)

it was an easy and useful project - my fave! now i want to make a hundred more!

bedding sneak peek.

2008-04-14T21:22:00.003-04:00

i'm making norah some bedding for the sidecar/crib. so far i've got two flannel fitted sheets and the quilt (my first!) cut up and ready. i also am going to make a cute ruffle pillow, that i am 1/2 way done. i don't have any pictures of that, though.

here's the first sheet i did last week. all the fabric is form sandi henderson's line for micahel miller called ginger blossom.

both of the sheets are flannel & super soft. all the sheets i've made of the kids are flannel. i'm a sucker for a soft sleeping space.

the start of my first quilt. no promises. it doesn't look like it's going to be very straight, even with all the measuring i did today, no two pieces are the same size, lol. we'll see!

all laid out!

rita, rita, you are so sweet-a! ;)

2008-04-11T22:43:00.002-04:00

rita is an awesome gal! check out the super cute diaper she gifted norah from olive plants! to be honest, wahm diapers NEVER work for us - they always wick around the legs no matter what i try - but this DIDN'T!!

AND, since rita gifted norah her own choice of diaper cover, elisabeth (ms. olive plants, lol) even went shopping for fabric that i was looking for that she didn't have in stock - how cool is that!? go check her out ... and norah's cute little eyelet butt. :)

my monsters circa 2006 & 2008. :)

2008-04-10T21:29:00.003-04:00

click to enlarge (i hope).

jan 2006

april 2008

the lot of 'em.

squeaker. :)

2008-04-08T11:32:00.002-04:00

famous for shopping!

2008-04-04T17:38:00.001-04:00

anyone surprised? lol! norah got her cute little babyself on celebrity babies today because of mommy's silly little shopping habbit. ;)

http://www.celebrity-babies.com/2008/04/shopcbb.html

here is the anklet i bought that was featured, although the link should have been to this store: http://www.sterlingandpearls.com/baby_jingle_anklet.htm

easter weekend.

2008-03-26T14:42:00.004-04:00

saturday we went down to the outer banks for the day. john leaves next monday for texas, and when he gets back in june, we leave virginia for good. we've been trying to get as many day trips in as possible the past few weeks.

you *should be able to click the pics to see the bigger version.

this is jockey's ridge. there are some great big sand dunes that are a great calf workout, lol. it's pretty windy at the top, though, so we didn't stay too long. the kids were getting pelted with sand, and even though norah was in the babyhawk, she had sand in her EARS!

i think i'm going to order a remote. the timer thing is just a pain. we took this shot a few times, and i'd just run back as fast as i could, but i'd still only make it just in time for it to snap, lol.

wish i didn't chop his head here. :/ it's still sweet, but would have been better with john's whole head, lol.

norah, of course sleeping the whole time!

"fist one to the top is a pretty flower!" .... better than the last being a rotten egg, eh?

he was pretty high up here. wish i could have gotten a little more at eye level. workin' on it!

afterwards we went to the beach bread company, a new, panera-like restaurant. they were so nice and accommodating. i think we were there for an hour and a half, lol.

we also went to see horton hears a who! before heading home, and it was adorable! enough in there for adults to enjoy, but not too adult like shrek (which i can't stand), but still goofy enough for kids to enjoy. we'll definitely be buying that one.

we missed dying eggs saturday since we were gone for the day, so we did it easter morning.

after that was one last egg hunt...

the best shot i got of the three of them. three is HARD to get a good shot of, lol.

norah confused at all the ruckus.

we're going away on saturday. we're going to head up to philly for a few days to visit family (and each cheese steaks, pound cake, and shop at ikea). ethan is SO excited, we've got tickets for medieval times in MD on the way up. he keeps talking about seeing "real knights." and of course kayleigh can't wait to see the princess, either, lol!

i'm not sure i'll be updating before john leaves, as it will probably be a madhouse, but i'll be sure to update the picasa albums when we get back. :)

last week ...

2008-03-24T12:37:00.003-04:00

i'm going to try to catch up a bit here, not sure if that is possible! it's been crazy busy around here lately, but i have a bit of spare time right now. john took the big kids fishing & the littlest is napping.

we went to a few egg hunts for easter. our neighborhood one did face painting. :)

john leaves in 12 days for texas, so he was helping me get things organized by cleaning out his tool box, lol. he set up these little hammer stations for the kids while he was doing it. don't worry, no one got hurt. :)

here is a couple from kayleigh's school egg hunt. ethan got a TON! it was so nice since he's only gotten one the past two years at the egg hunt our neighborhood does. he was one of the two littlest here, but there were more than enough eggs to go around. smart thinking he went up in this climbing this and found 4 there!

here's kayleigh counting hers. her bag was almost full. lucky girl!

two months!!!

2008-03-18T19:48:00.003-04:00

norah is two months already!

where has the time gone? she'll be walking in no time. :*) she is such a pleasant baby. the only time she cries is in the car - and boy does she make up for lost time! she's okay to sit & hang out for a few minutes if i need to shower, cook, or help the big kids.

she gives you the biggest smiles when you talk to her & stick your tongue out, and totally loves having her chin tickled ...

she sleeps like a dream, & just makes our life that much greater. i can't wait to see her grow up, but not too fast ....

here are some pics in her 2 month onesie. :) for a comparison, you can check out picasa. ----> http://picasaweb.google.com/impromptukiss

today i also had my post partum check up. most likely i'll never see these woman again. that's so sad! they've been a part of my life for almost 4 years! i will miss them, and already told jeni r (holding baby n) i'm flying her out to colorado for the next one. ;)

fool me once, shame on you ....

2008-03-12T21:11:00.005-04:00

we always buy this organic peanut butter. it's delicious, but a pain to stir. what i usually do is empty two jars into the kitchen aid, and mix it up real good, then stick it in a flatter pyrex dish in the fridge.

today on a quick trip to the grocery store (bread & milk - sick people basics), i noticed they had a "no stir" version. i glanced at the ingredient label & didn't see anything off, so i grabbed a jar. i got home & went to compare it to the other ones we have.

they tricked me! the "no stir" isn't organic! it's "natural," which basically means squat! you got me this time maranatha! ....but i won't fall for it again ....

long time no post!

2008-03-04T11:36:00.004-05:00

well, there are a LOT of pictures i just uploaded here to make up for it, lol. hopefully i am not responsible for crashing anoyone's computer! i keep meaning to post things, and it's just such a pain to upload them all to photobucket & then move them over here ... but alas .. i've done it!

we've been getting a lot of real warranted smiles lately. don't they just melt your heart?? :*) i can't wait for the big toothless grins and giggles soon.

norah also had her first bath last week. yes, at over a month old, lol. normally she just comes into the shower with one of us - which, is actually easier, and probably uses less water. but it was fun to toss her in the tub once. as you can see, she really couldn't contain her excitement. ;)

ethan got a new bed, trundle, and nightstand last week. he loves it, adn it will really grow with him nicely. we can't use the boxspring, though, at least for now. it hikes the bed up somewhere near 3-4ish feet, lol! so for now the boxspring is in the trundle, and i'm not sure what we'll do with it. it's only 3 months old!

the circus was a blast, but i did tear up a bit when they had the elephants out in the beginning. i'm not sure we'll go again.... maybe to a animal-free one, but the kids did love it!

kayleigh got a "free hat" with her $12 cotton candy. isn't that nice of them? lol

and norah, the party animal she is, slept through the entire thing!

love baby yawns! i take a picture of them anytime i can. i would love to have a while big album of them, lol!

i finally got a picture of the kids in the matching pj's i made them all. they were not very cooperative, lol.

my view most of the day, lol.

the kids are always giving norah "toys" when she's sleeping. here's a haba toy one of them decided she needed the other day.

my big kid. he never buys anything, and then buys this crazy expensive robot one day, lol. the kids love it.

it was dr. suess's bithday the other day, and kayleigh's teacher dressed up for the occasion!

yesterday was pretty nice (but WINDY!), so we hit the park for a couple hours.

i took it out of auto for this one- woohoo!

i promise to try and keep updated more! it's just so darn busy around here! john gets off the ship in 3 weeks. it's surreal we'll be leavinghere soon & be off to denver. i am so excited to teach the kids to ski, though! maybe i'll even learn to snowboard - lol. doubtful!

monday weigh in.

2008-02-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

a little is better than nothing, eh? 3.4 pounds GONE! :)

two scoooops.

2008-02-19T12:21:00.002-05:00

i forgot to mention! i started weight watchers yesterday. i really do love it, as it really helps with portion control. i'm doing the nursing program which gives you 10 extra points every day. i am not sure how long i will keep up with the extra points, but it's nice to have them now since i'm always STARVING! we'll see if i've lost anythign in a couple weeks, and i'll go from there.

my "goal weight" is ideally 105. but i'll take anything under 110 as long as it's FIRM, lol. i'm 131 right now, and have been since a week after norah was born. i was 118 when i got pregnant with her, but was definitely at least 10 pouds over weight. and not at all firm, lol.

i'm really determined this time. i'm going to start back at the ymca next week. i've been pumping a little so john can stay with the baby. when he leaves in a few weeks for texas, she'll be old enough to go in the child watch. now that ethan's in underpants (his name for them, lol), he can go in the playzone (think tubes/slides/climbing stuff), so i think he'll be more inclined to stay. before he'd have to go in the child watch, which is basically a babyish daycare type place.

i was planning on going while kayleigh's in school, but i don't think that will work out with ethan. if there are no other kids there, he'd probably not want to stay & play... so when i go once john leaves, it will probably be after i pick kayleigh up from school, so they can both play .... but we'll see. i just really need to get back in shape. i hate how everything is fitting right now, and i refuse to buy everything in bigger sizes.

oh, and we're going to circus saturday morning!! i am so excited. i went every year growing up, until i graduated high school, lol. i was a little anti-circus for a while after reading/seeing some things that were pretty horrific, but they weren't ringling bros. .... i'm sure it's still not the most humane, but hopefully they're nicer to their animals than the ones that i read about. the kids are super excited. still have to find out if camera are allowed....

one month!

2008-02-19T07:37:00.006-05:00

norah is one month old already! she is starting to come out of that newborn sleep, and we're even getting some real smiles. :)

the last time she was weighed was 2 weeks ago & was 10lbs on the nose. she's still nursing quite often, and althoug hshe's up for longer periods of time, is still napping like a pro (minus a rough weekend of crankyness).

she's started getting a "fussy" period every night. seems like she might be gassy? she seems uncomfortable for a few hours, and just wants to be held and walked/bounced. which was pretty much what she wanted to do all weekend, too. thankfully yesterdat day was much better than the 3 days before, and she seemed a lot more comfortable.

here's norah in the 1 month onesie i made ... it's the weirdest onesie. short and wide. my kids are long and skinny variety, so this one is weird. i guess that's what you get for a dollar, lol. the rest should fit much better.

i also took a picture of her with our sock monkey. a friend did something similar every month with her son, & it was really cute to see how much bigger he got next to the stuffed animal every month. :)

...and how mean am i? that is one big bow! no worries - she won't be wearing it anywhere, lol.

everyone wanted in on the fun. :)

as you can see, the kids just love norah ... but maybe a little too much, lol. about 2 seconds later, she was DONE. love her face here, especially with the arms. haha!

feetsies! k, n, e.

it's been pretty cold out (or rainy when it's warm, lol), so we've been stuck inside a lot. the kids have been a little wild because of staying in so much. i can't wait for it to warm up a bit again.
john bought "me" a new computer friday. i say "me," because it's really for him, lol. he loves all the tech stuff & our old computer was just fine ... maybe a little slow .. but it worked. now we're having issues with vista & the router, so i have to either pick having a phone or internet connection until he fixes it. and the laptop can't connect .... fun stuff! but ann! we bought a new monitor - you'll get yours back soon, lol.
since john was oh-so-helpful all weekend while he was trying to figure out the computer issues, and baby girl was mc cranky pants, i pulled out the babyhawk so i could get some things done. she loved it, and so did i. :)

i was skeptical at first about buying one since they a bit expensive, and i already have an ABC, but a couple days before she was born, i just went for it. i'm glad - love the headrest! she passed right out.

so, the amby has still gone unused. shocking? john still wants to give it a shot, but that's because he isn't the one getting up at night, lol. when she's in bed with us, i get a full night's sleep! she does look awfully cozy in there, though!

we played hullabaloo for about an hour yesterday. it's so much fun, and such an easy game for little kids. i'm got to try to find more like this.

recent goings on.

2008-02-12T21:31:00.001-05:00

it's so busy around here all the time anymore! it's totally strange because baby girl sleeps all day and night still for the most part, lol. she does have a cranky period in the evenings, no crying or anything - just a little whiny if she doesn't get her way (aka being held while standing up only, lol), lol.. thankfully she's still sleeping all night minus a couple late night snacks and diaper changes.

cute little fluffy butt. i didn't get many "designer" diapers this time ... i'm just too cheap for what goes UNDER the clothes to be so fancy anymore .... it was fun the first time around, but this being #3 in cloth, i'm going for cheap and reliable for the most part - which pretty much means fuzzi bunz. this one is by fluffymail.

john took this one - it's pretty creepy, lol. that is kayleigh's bitty. she got her from my MIL for her first birthday.

sunday we went to the virginia living museum. we love it there. we don't get up there much, but it's definitely a fun place to go. it really shows you what virginia is all about, plus many of their animals are rescues, which is even better! if you live in hampton orads and haven't been - GO! try to go on a day that isn't too cold, though, as the best parts of the museum are outside. :)

the lion fish! mr. seahorse is a classic around here. we've always got to visit the lionfish & the seahorse!

in the cypress swamp!

we brought the sling & the p&t. it was nice to be able to lay her down for a little, although i do need to get a picture of her in the sling while she's still little, and all is peeking out is her little head. :) we're really loving the KKAFP. i'm so happy to have FINALLY got the pouch thing down, although still no luck with the cradle position. i have been able to nurse in it, though - whic i've never been able to accomplish in my ring slings!

checking out the otters. :)

this picture cracks me up. john didn't know i was taking it, but he looks like he's all posed for a magazine or something, lol. pit stop at wawa for a diaper change!

sunday was really windy, like crazy windy. going throug the tunnel to get home, one side was closed. we couldn't figure out why until we got through & saw all the smoke. apparently there was a big brush fire in suffolk started by someone burning trash or the likes.

THEN, when we were getting closer to home, we saw more smoke. apparently right over the border in NC there are more brush fireas, and as of now, tuesday night - they're still burning. all i smell is burning wood outside. it's pretty creepy. i can't imagine what the people closer are feeling. chesapeake (where we live) has a ban on burning anything outside right now. scary stuff!

today was a nice lazy day at home. just catching up on cleaning and laundry. a nice break. back to business tomorrow, though. friday my parents are coming into town - so that should be fun! be back with more pictures soon, hopefully.

norah's birth story ...

2008-02-09T23:03:00.001-05:00

i never did post it here! sorry, sorry!
--------------------------------------
The Birth of Norah Jane. 1.18.08

For weeks I had not been feeling mentally ready for this baby. I had so much else to consume me during the pregnancy, that I’d sort of been putting off really thinking about labor & the actual baby coming. Finally early in the week I just felt as ease with it all. I decided Friday would be a perfect day for baby to come, not that *I* had any say over that, of course! J

Thursday morning I woke up, and felt the need to head to the grocery store. We hadn’t been in a while, and although John volunteered to go on Friday, I felt like I should get it done that day. Ethan was sick with a slight fever & a cough, so I (shh, bad mom!) gave him some Tylenol & we headed out. The trip went fine, and we stopped at Sonic on the way home for a bag of ice, since it was on my birth supply list, and I was, of course, due in 5 days.

While at the grocery store I also picked up two pineapples. I ate a whole pineapple a few hours before I went into labor with Ethan, and I’ve heard that fresh pineapple was great for after-pains, so I figured it was a good idea to grab two. John laughed when he got home and saw them both on the counter. He asked if he’d be cutting it up for me after dinner. But of course!

After dinner that night, we watched a movie, and John took Kayleigh up to read her a book & put her to bed. He ended up falling asleep with her, and I took Ethan up shortly after. When I took Ethan up, I saw John had gone into our bed, so I figured he was tired from having duty the day before, and let him sleep. Normally I’d wake him up & he’d come downstairs.

Around 10pm I walked through the kitchen & noticed a couple dishes in the sink, then I looked over & saw John’s laundry he started folding earlier, still mostly unfolded on the floor in the living room. I decided this was unacceptable, and while washing the dishes, started tearing up. How dare he leave all this work for me (as if I hadn’t been doing it the 5 years anyway, haha)?! As soon as I welled up, I realized how silly I was being, and thought to myself, “I wonder if baby will be coming tomorrow?,” since I usually have some sort of moment of “doom” the day before I birth – as opposed to my usual peachy self. ;)

At 11:30pm I was sitting on the computer emailing some friends, when I had, what I first thought was a usual Braxton hicks contraction. I’d been getting them a lot lately, but this one was a little different. I was actually a tiny bit uncomfortable, and I couldn’t get in a position where I could actually make myself comfortable. After it was over, and had pressed on my bladder, I got up to use the bathroom. When I wiped, I noticed blood on the toilet paper. I knew immediately baby was coming. Even though I had a feeling this labor would start different, it started exactly the same as the other two.

I went back to the computer, and sent another email out to the friends I was chatting with, telling them it might be the start of labor, and I was going to go to try to get some sleep.

When I got upstairs I woke John up, and told him I was pretty sure I’d be in labor soon, and we’d have a baby by tomorrow night. He laughed, and said something about how it wasn’t the best day for him, and closed his eyes. I had another contraction, and it was definitely not as pleasant as the first. We talked for a while, probably 30-45 minutes, and then grabbed a paper & pen to start charting them, when John asked if I had any charts printed up. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I did remember hearing about a contraction timing program online. He opened up the laptop, and we found the site.

Ethan was still sick, and started crying for me. I went in there a couple times and got him back to sleep, but he was just not staying down. I tried to give him a little bit of Tylenol to bring his fever down a bit, but he ended up throwing up all over me. Eventually I just brought him in our room so we could time the contractions, and discuss our plan of action.

I finally got to time a couple, and they were over 9 minutes apart. I decided to call the midwife, Jeni, and let her know that we’d be calling her back again sometime to come. She told us to give her a call when they got closer to 5 minutes apart. We brought Ethan downstairs so we could get the birth tub out, and bring the supplies in. John turned on The Sword and the Stone for him, and put him on the couch.

After timing the next 5 or 6 contractions, they were anywhere from 3-5 minutes apart. We called Jeni again to let her know she should start to get ready. We then called Halie, the photographer, to let her know what was up. She decided to get ready & head right over so she wouldn’t miss it.

I could feel that this labor was moving a bit faster than Ethan’s (12 hours), but I had no idea just HOW fast. Every time I’d start a contraction, I’d yell out from where ever I was “SPACEBAR!!” so John could hit the spacebar on the laptop to time them. It was pretty funny, actually, and kept the mood lighter when labor wasn’t as comfortable as it was in the beginning. I’m not sure why we kept timing them when everyone was on their way … but we did.

Now it was about 1:45am. Ethan was still watching a movie on the couch, John was filling the birth tub, and I was trying to get comfortable. The birth ball was comfortable for a while, and I was rocking back and forth for a bit, when I felt that oh-so-familiar POP. My water had broken. I looked down, and it sure had. I noticed on a towel that it was a little brown, which meant there was meconium in the water, but I didn’t feel too worried about it – besides, what could I do? I went to the bathroom and cleaned myself off a bit, and sat down on the toilet. It felt good to have the pressure offset by the seat. John started to get a little panicky at this point, and insisted on going to get the birth tub filled. I had to tell him at least three times to quit worrying about the tub. He was just trying to help, but it seemed almost laughable for him to get the tub filled. After my water had broken with the last two, they were born in less than 30 minutes.

We made our way back to the living room, and I tried to get comfortable. I couldn’t sit on the birth ball, the pressure was too intense. I looked around for somewhere to lean on my knees, and the only thing that looked to be the perfect height was the computer chair. I walked over, and kneeled, and I noticed John was setting up a little delivery station in front of the couch. I was not moving again. I yelled for John that I could feel the baby moving down quickly, and I had the urge to push. John grabbed a towel and came running.

I started to push, and realized this was it, it was just going to be the three of us. John told me to just push when I needed to, that we could do this. I pushed once, and she came right down, he could already feel her head. A couple more pushes, and her head was out. At this point, all John could see was that her head was blue, so he told me to push – now. I didn’t have a contraction to help start the push, but I pushed anyway, and there she was! At 2:25am, less than three hours after my first suspected contraction, Norah Jane entered the world into her Daddy’s hands with only big brother in attendance.

John helped me flip over into a sitting position, and grabbed some towels to keep her warm. She was beautiful, so tiny (so we thought), and so very loud! Ethan did not even peek over from the couch as she was learning to use her lungs. I wiped her down a bit while John called the midwife and told her everything was okay, and baby was here. She told us just to keep the baby warm, and leave the cord attached until she got here. She started nursing and quieted down a great deal.

About 20 minutes after Norah was born, Halie, the photographer that was going to shoot the birth, arrived. She said she knew she was going to miss it – although I was still so shocked! John helped get the couch ready for Norah and Me, and we got off of the floor. About 10 minutes later, Terri, the midwife’s apprentice got there and checked baby out. I delivered the placenta, and John cut the cord. Jeni, our midwife (who was also at Ethan’s birth), and Vanessa finally arrived shortly after. We had a full house!

John went upstairs around 4am to wake Kayleigh up, and she was a little confused. She told him that there was no baby here, yet, and she was not in the birth tub. When she got downstairs, she realized she was wrong, and immediately fell in love. I went upstairs to get a shower, and once I came down, I had a bowl of cereal & pineapple John cut up. Halie took some pictures of everyone and Norah while she had her first exam by the midwives.

Everyone started trickling out soon after, leaving us to be, our new family of five. The rest of that day is mostly a blur. I know it involved a lot of napping, picture snapping, and cuddles and kisses.

It’s as if she’s always been here, as cliché’ as that sounds. Kayleigh has adapted extremely well, and is so gentle and loving with her. Ethan is starting to realize that she’s not going anywhere anytime soon, so he may as well get in on the baby-loving too! Every day, he warms up more and more to her.

Norah’s birth was more perfect than it could have been planned out. I had been struggling on when to call the midwife when I was still pregnant. I had such an amazing labor with Ethan, with just John and Kayleigh there (midwives arrived as I was pushing), I couldn’t imagine having anyone there this time. I would have never planned to go at it alone, but if there was ever a perfect birth coach, it was my husband. He remained so calm and steady, I could not have done it (at least I wouldn’t have wanted to!) without him. He acted as if he’d done it a hundred times before, that even Jeni, our midwife remarked she was waiting for him to tell her to not even bother coming out when he called her after her birth. He is my hero.

long time no update. :)

2008-02-06T20:28:00.000-05:00

i'm so frustrated with the whole photobucket thing, i've pretty much only ben updating my picasa album, and skimping here. so, if you want to see more new pics, go HERE, and check out late january & the new february album. :)

i still haven't gotten the pictures back from the photographer, but soon hopefully - i'd like to use one or two with the birth announcement. i made a mock-up with another picture, and i think they will look nice. if i don't get the ones from the photographer by the weekend, i'll just take something myself. she's almost 3 weeks old already, so i don't want to mail out pictures of a toddler. ;)

i've got all the envelopes addressed, and all the info printed & cut ... here's the mock up ... i actually don't really like that picture because the coloring is all off & she looks creepy. :/ maybe i can get a photoshop pro to fix it up, lol. you should be able to click on the pictures to enlarge them. but who knows with photobucket.

i took these last week. just playing around with my camera, that i still don't know how to use, lol. she's getting so big already. i wish i could stop time.

it's been so nice out the past couple of days, we took advantage of it & went to the playground for a couple hours. it was so nice to be able to take norah outdoors for more than a minute or two! definitely refreshing for my mood, too. :)

we took the p&t out for her (his? their?) first stroll, and norah approved! here it is in infant/toddler mode (toddler seat on top).

snoozin' away!

kayleigh showing off her "bling," lol!

what i wake up to every morning. :) sweet little sleepy baby smiles.

taken by the two year old. :) hence the uber-flattering angle.

today we met up with friends for ice cream, and when i was uploading the pictures tonight, i realized we had very similar pics from a year ago. it's going to be tough moving in june. this place really feels like "home."

ice cream for dinner? sure! why not?! :)

so sweet, even sharing his ice cream. :)

about 10 minutes before the sugar kicked in and there were 4 wild kids running around the place. :) what a difference a year makes! feb. 2007 here ...

my matchy-matchy girls (girlS!). wish i liked gymboree more - it would be easy to coordinate them with that! :)

photobucket stinks.

2008-01-31T17:11:00.000-05:00

somehow i had no problems with pictures for 9 months, and then all of the sudden i'm exceeding my monthly bandwith in under a week? not sure how that is possible unless i'm really popular, lol ...

i created a second pb account, so we'll see how that goes ... so, for the pictures that are all messed up now, they won't be viewable until february 26th ... groan.

anyway .... i got a new toy today! the phil & ted's sport with doubles kit. the big ones seem to like it. :) monday i start back on weight watcher's (it's going to be a delicious weekend!), and hopefully on my way to walking the pounds off while kayleigh's in school. :)

five years!

2008-01-31T07:46:00.000-05:00

happy anniversary my johnny!

jenn & john, philadelphia, 1999

some of the photographer's pics ....

2008-01-23T15:32:00.000-05:00

halie (http://www.haliehovenga.com/) sent some proofs/pictures that she took. :)

4 days old ...

2008-01-22T21:07:00.000-05:00

can't believe it's been 4 days already! some pictures ... super short post because i need to do a million things & go to bed.

time to party! lol.

party over!

baby burrito. the miracle blanket works. it does, it does.

john and the kids baked a cake with a super cool pan john's mom gave us.

and then later they brought in a bucket of snow john had filled the day before. they had fun coloring it & threw it all outside, lol.

gas? i'll take what i can get! :)

kayleigh's new seat came today. uh, it's big to say the least!

ethan's still sick. randomly passing out in the middle of the afternoon. :/ poor kid.

that's it ... more later. got to get the 2 year old to bed, the 4 day old changed, and myself showered so i can get the 4 year old to preschool on time in the morning.

day ... 2?

2008-01-20T21:25:00.000-05:00

as you can imagine, we've been really busy ....

heh. :) it's been nice to get some sleep. friday night was seriously lacking. ethan's still sick. he's miserable, in fact. poor kid.

we got some snow today, which is pretty unheard of around here anymore. although, it's already gone .... so obviously it wasn't the storm of the century.

the kids went outside with john for a little. john and kayleigh made a magnificent snow man, although he was a little on the petite side. it's genetic.

ethan didn't last very long outside, but he thought it was hysterical when john started throwing snowballs at him. :)

i love how you can see ethan smiling in the window. he hasn't been smiling much the past week, with being so miserable.

my mom also came up saturday morning for the night. she's already gone, but it was great having her. the kids loved having someone new around. they've been pretty bored just hanging around the house with each other the past few days, lol. the horror!

"the suchniak five"

..and yes, kayleigh's shoes were on the wrong feet, lol.

we also had our first outing today! we didn't even have the carseat installed, yet, since we're going to give norah ethan's old seat. john's mom ordered kayleigh a britax regent that should be here soon, and we'll give ethan her marathon, and norah his roundabout. luckily we still had kayleigh's old infant seat, and it's even good for another 7 months. :)

norah's doing pretty good. the midwives came back & did the PKU yesterday. my milk has come in, and we're already done with the mec diapers. she's getting so big already! monday i will call our ped and schedule an appointment for a newborn check with her. she slept awesome saturday night, but has also slept all day today, so it will probably be a long night. :)

john is home for the next 8 days. he never got to take any leave when the other two were born, it's been great! i never want him to go back, lol.

a couple "out takes"

the boy!

2008-01-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

he finally decided it was safe to check her out, lol. he is so concerned about her. cute. :)

just some more quick pics .....

2008-01-18T16:30:00.000-05:00

we're all napped & feeling somewhat normal, baby's asleep on me, figured i'd add some more pics. :)

she's here!

2008-01-18T09:13:00.000-05:00

midwife didn't make it, john delivered her. :) they got here about 45 minutes after - all is well. from first contraction at 11:30pm until birth was under 3 hours! :) more later.

norah jane

1/18/08

2:25am

8bs 2oz

20.5"

(pics should get bigger when clicked.)

just a couple pics from saturday ....

2008-01-16T10:51:00.001-05:00

thirty nine!

2008-01-15T13:08:00.000-05:00

the countdown is officially on! i've never made it to 40 weeks, so you'd *think* this may be my last belly picture, but who can really say for sure? going by lmp i'm due monday, but ovulation tuesday.... kayleigh and ethan were both born 2 dyas before their due date - anyone want to take bets, lol?

labor-wise, nothing has changed - which is normal for me. i've never had contracting, bleeding, plug-loss, or anything else labor-ish before i actually went INTO labor. could be tomorrow, could be 2 weeks from now!

i've decided friday would be a wonderful day for baby to come. at first i thought that would be a bad idea since the neighbors i share a (very thin!) wall with have karaoke every friday night ... but it would actually be pretty convenient. kayleigh doesn't go back to school until next wednesday, my mom could come up for the night, john could wait until saturday to start his baby leave.... but alas, it's not up to me!

the good news is, i'm finally READY! like mentally ready - not stuff-wise, lol. i guess having the past couple weeks to not have anything really going on to think about besides baby coming did some good. before then there was just so much else to concentrate on .... kayleigh starting school, vacation, john's deployment, christmas, thanksgiving (obviously not in order) ... the only things left in ink on the calendar are ethan's gym class friday, and a birthday party at a play gym kayleigh's got sunday.

39 big ones!

unfortunately, i've discovered another little circle of stretch marks (to the left of my belly button in this pic). :/ call me vein, but i'm not liking it ... i'll be glad when she's out and they stop appearing like magic. just another thing to show me how much bigger i got this time. eek!

we met with the photographer saturday. she was really nice, looking forward to seeing her again soon. not sure when i'll see the pics, probably with the birth ones? this is what my kids wore - obviously my snap, and not a professional picture, lol! love the box in my neighbor's yard!?
kayleigh got a hair cut yesterday! she's needed one desperately for MONTHS ... i finally got of my butt & took her in. it's a little shorter than i asked for, but she likes it, and it will be much more manageable. you can see how pale she is here, she has been a little off lately. monday she woke up complaining of an ear ache, which worried me since she's been so phlegm-y lately ... but she says she's feeling better today. hopefully the sickies stay away for a while.
it was 10pm before he let me take that hoodie off him, lol. it was so dirty, lol. he is almost over the cold/cough he got a couple weeks ago, though, so he's a lot less clingy - boy is that nice! it was getting hard to get anything done while carrying him everywhere!

i also decided on announcements to make. they super-not-fancy, but i think that means i'll actually get them out this time! last time i had cute ones planned out in photoshop, but with john gone & having two littles, i just never got to it. and bonus with these, is that it can be framed like a regular old 4x6 after it's received.

here is an example:

(credit to peressini at flickr.)

i already bought the vellum for them, and typed up the announcement to get it all justified right (minus all the real info, obviously, lol). the envelopes are on their way, so hopefully i'll be able to get them filled out before baby comes. otherwise that can be john's job while he's on baby leave.

i do need to find the paper clips, though. i've seen them online, but would love to avoid shipping. so far, joanns, target, and 2 scrap stores don't have them. i will probably break down & just order them online to avoid running around anymore. ---scratch that, i just ordered them online. lol. one less thing to do!

so .... that's it! not sure what the next few days/weeks will be like! it's all out of my hands, i suppose. my next midwife appointment is on tuesday jan 22nd - my due date! :) hopefully i won't make it there, but i'm not a gambling type of girl! ;)

if anything happens before 40 weeks, i'll try to update!

tick, tick, tick ....

crappy cable.

2008-01-10T23:37:00.000-05:00

where we live, we have this horrible cable company called mediacom. ...and not so much because we live in the middle of nowhere, more like the navy has a contract with them. we don't get cable tv from them, just Internet, but man - i am glad i don't depend on it for school or work. because i'd be failing and fired. the connection finally picked back up tonight after being s.l.ow. the past 3 days. i was able to upload some stuff i was trying to the other day. :)

when i wake up in the morning, i will be 11 (ELEVEN!!) days away from my due date! i really just cannot believe it. i am starting to feel more "mentally" ready, though. and things are winding down here, where there is almost nothing on the calendar the next couple weeks. the other two were both born 2 days before their due date, my midwife said not to hold my breath for the same this time, but it's hard to not be focused on that date, lol.

the supplies are all ready, we bought a new hose for the tub, our carpets and floors are sparkling. the doctor wouldn't give me anything more than motrin for the after pains since i'll be nursing again (thanks, doc!), and we meet with the photographer saturday morning! :)

we got the carpets cleaned this afternoon (yes, before i give birth at home - sounds backwards, i know! but they MUST be clean, lol.), so the kids had fun playing with things all morning that did NOT have a million little pieces to be cleaned up 100x. :) these kids could play dress up for hours. i'm just glad ethan's finally got a few things besides princess dresses to wear. ;)

how cute is this little rocker? i almost bought it a few times, but kept putting it back because, well .... it's easy to hide clothes and shoes, as i bring them into the house by the truckful.... but a big rocker, not so much! ;) anyway, my most favorite friend, and partner in crime ... err, SHOPPING, got it as a gift for baby-no-name. :*) she's got good taste. ;)
then, shocking! she also god newbaby this adorable dress i'd been eyeing recently, too.

how sweet is THAT!?

i also ended up making that "one last" sling ... i couldn't resist. good thing i'm out of rings (i actually had to cut an old one apart for these rings, lol), because i was just peeking at a couple more fabrics that i'd kill for!

my kangaroo korner adjustable fleece pouches also came in the mail this week. i got two, but they're exactly the same, just different sizes. i REALLY want the pouch thing to work this time. they look so convenient. and the fleece is so soft!

so this poor kid is still confined to a wall of our closet (and er, part of johns, lol). her stuff, at least. :P it's been so warm this week, i've been trying to to panic and run out and buy all warm weather newborn clothes! especially since the stores already have swimsuits out! with this baby measuring 40 weeks already, though, i am sort of afraid to buy anything else!

i keep feeling like i'm missing something, that we'll need SOMETHING immediately when she gets here & we won't have it ..... but i can't figure out WHAT, lol.

see ethan on my bed in the mirror? lol

i think that is it for now. i'll update saturday after we meet with the photographer. she comes highly recommended by my midwives, so i trust their instinct. it will make it all that much more real. eek! :)

thirty-eight weeks.

2008-01-08T21:11:00.001-05:00

getting there ....

today i had my 38w appt, and won't have another until my due date - crazy! i thought baby had dropped, because a few days ago i finally started to get uncomfortable, and she felt like she was lower ... but alas, baby-no-name is still flying high! jenny (mw) says the reason i'm uncomfortable is because she's sort of bobbing up & down when i walk, ect. FUN! :D

and i discovered a new stretch mark!! gah! it's under my belly button. good thing i can't see it, lol. so now i've got two! this one popped up this past week, the first is from ethan's pregnancy, coming off my belly button piercing scar (click pic to see it in all its grace - lol).

also a big bummer was finding out i'm insanely anaemic AGAIN. it's crazy that i don't feel tired. my iron was at 6.4! so since we're so close to the end i have to be very proactive about it. a trip to the vitamin shoppe was in order after my appointment.

so i'm on strict orders for hema-plex, liquid clorophyll, and good ol' blackstrap molassas. the chlorophyll is absolutely disgusting, but i wouldn't know - yet. john tested it out. it turned his teeth green, and he couldn't get it off his finger (don't ask). oh boy - will this be fun!

i do have a lot more to say, and more pictures to post, but my internet connection is about as fast as i am lately, tonight .... so my pictures won't upload. i'll try to get back here tomorrow or thursday some time with the goods!

i do want to end with a super duper

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANN!!! :D

sorry i'm a terrible friend and totally spaced out yesterday! i will make it up to you, i swear! you're the best!

belly cast!

2008-01-07T22:00:00.001-05:00

we finally did it over the weekend. it was dry enough to photograph today, lol.

as close to naked as i will probably get in this blog. no promises, though! ;)

kayleigh's belly, ethan's belly, and newbaby's, all in a row.

can you tell which is biggest, lol?

the kids & their bellies! ...kayleigh's idea!

they nest pretty well, too. ha!

tomorrow is my 38w appt. more then ....

37 weeks.

2008-01-03T09:25:00.001-05:00

even though i'm actually 37w2d, here's a re-do of my blog from tuesday before i erased it. :/

sunday we had our home visit with the midwife. all went well, even though i weigh almost as much as an elephant, she said my weight gain was well within normal. i'm looking forward to seeing my feet again one day soon!

she brought the liner for the birth tub, so that is all god to go ... although she did mention we might want to do a test run, since one of the hoses may have a leak, lol. wouldn't that be fun to find out in labor? so maybe we'll be doing that tonight or tomorrow.

i still have yet to do our ritual 37w belly cast. maybe tonight. i hate doing it, it always makes me so lightheaded, although i'm not sure why. i think it's the weight of the cast on me or my position? both kayleigh & ethan were both born 2 days before their due date, so if this one follows we have a little over 2 weeks left - SCARY!

anyway .......

37 Weeks ... black is slimming. ;)

huzzah!
tick, tick, tick ...

after having some contractions on NYE, i decided it was time to make a final "to do" list ... one thing crossed off!

last minute sewing before putting th etable out in the garage to make room for baby. burp cloths and a ring sling. i did order some more fabric yesterday to make just one more sling, lol. looks like i'll be sewing out in the cold garage, lol!

a blanket MY grandmother knit for newbaby. means a ton since she has bad arthritis and hasn't knit in years.

i set the amby bed up over the weekend. my mom brought the mobile and the sleep sheep, so i felt the need to put it up. :)

this was my first day alone with the monsters since john got home. :) it went okay, although they were fighting more than usual. the 4yo thinks the world revolves around her lately, lol.

that's it. i promise to blog with more enthusiasm next time. this whole starting a new blog thing sucks.

trying this again.

2008-01-03T09:16:00.000-05:00

well, i accidentially deleted my blog on tuesday. :( i am still waiting on a reply from blogger to see if there is anyway to bring it back.

i wasn't going to start a new one, since this pregnancy is almost over, and i'm pretty bummed about losing all my entries from the last one. :/ i think i've decided to still try and keep up with it, though, since it seems to be a good central way to keep everyone updated on everything going on with us.

i'm still pretty upset, though. my plan was to get the whole blog printed and bound from +hpt to birth for newbaby as a sort of pregnancy journal. maybe it's not a lost cause ... we shall see, i suppose.

i'm going to try to re-make my 37 week blog from tuesday in a little while. at least i have all my pictures saved to my hard drive. that would have been way more than a bummer.