There's nothing like a daughter to love...except maybe two!

The karate kid

2012-01-26T19:05:00.000-05:00

Rylee just entered her fourth month of Little Dragons and I think it's safe to say we finally found what it is she likes to do. In her six short years she's tried out gymnastics, dance (ballet and tap) and soccer but either lost interest quickly or never really had any interest at all. But I can tell that karate is different. She adores her karate friends and looks forward to class every Tuesday and Thursday. And she loves her instructors!

Rylee started off as all students do, with a white belt. As the weeks pass, she had the opportunity to add stripes to her white belt by mastering certain skills and combo sets. Once she accumulated the nine required stripes for a white belt, she would be able to test for the next level belt, orange. Today was that day!

I was so excited to photograph her testing since I hadn't taken any pictures of her during class since she started. I asked her if it would embarrass her to have me roll in with my big ole camera....she said it was fine, lol! Before class the kids always play tag until start time, running around like a bunch of wild animals. Not sure how they are able to expend that amount of energy when they know they will be doing jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches, relay races and practicing their skills for the next 30 minutes!

I asked Ry for her serious face, ha!

Rylee and her karate bff, Kylie (funny, no?)

Tag, you're it!

Hopefully the last we see of the white belt.

Collecting their thoughts, I suppose.

Warming up.

Lining up to practice combos.

Silly girls!

Choppin' with a smile.

Testing time, eeek!

She passed! Wooohoooo!

Good news for mama too, no more super crazy knot! A standard one will do. Woot!

Introducing Rylee as an orange belt to the class!

Time for a quick game of dino, dino, dragon! (think duck, duck, goose! lol!)

End of class....

High fives all around.

Ry and her pals...Logan just earned his orange belt too!

2012-01-18T17:01:00.000-05:00

I was inspired to take photos of Miss Charlotte in the bath today. She usually doesn't get a bath until night time but after a macaroni and cheese lunch gone awry, she was in desperate need. She's not particularly fond of getting clean, especially when it comes to washing her hair. But she does enjoy playing in the water, dumping water on herself and washing her little baby doll with soap. She's not afraid to let me know when she's had enough and honestly, there's not cuter than a slippery, clean-smellin' baby wrapped up like a burrito in her towel.

More Valentine's day...

2012-01-17T14:34:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day Photos

2012-01-16T14:58:00.001-05:00

Breakfast with Adalyn

2012-01-16T14:21:00.001-05:00

Ever since the special visit we had from Charlotte's friend, Addy, and Rylee's class pet, Stella, Maddie has been carrying around her little pink poodle friend and calling her Adalyn. She specifically requested I capture their breakfast together this morning so we could "write about it" the way Rylee had to document her daily activities with Stella. Mad is so darn sweet.

Miss Charlotte wondering what the heck is going on, ha!

A bit of Biff.

2012-01-14T19:06:00.000-05:00

Rylee received an American Girl mini scrapbook for Christmas and inside where different areas asking questions about herself and her family. I read through them with her and helped her answer the questions so I thought I would share them here.

Name: Rylee
Nickname: Ry, Biff
Grade: Kindergarten
Favorite color: Purple. And red.
Favorite food: ice cream
Favorite book: ladybug book
Favorite song: any by Lady Gaga
Favorite saying: I love you
Three words to describe your family: Love. Best. Nice.
Three words to describe your friends: Caring. Nice. Funny.
Word your friends would use to describe you: Crazy.
Someone I look up to: My Sisters
My wish for this year: For people to not smoke or litter.

A visit from Stella

2012-01-13T20:24:00.004-05:00

This weekend we have the distinct pleasure of having Stella stay with us. Stella is Rylee's stuffed animal class pet that she periodically brings home and we are required to capture our time spent with her with photos, drawings and stories documented in Stella's notebook. It's fun to read through the book and see what Stella has been up to with all of Ry's classmates. This is the first time we've had Stella for the entire weekend and I'm sure we will have pages worth of photos and stories to write about our adventures.

Tonight we decided to treat Stella to dinner and a trip to the mall. We hit up the Texas Roadhouse where she sampled prime rib and enjoyed a cesar salad. Then we let her explore the mall where she ran around endless with the Kraft girls, helped Maddie pick out a swim suit at Gap and rode the merry go round. Currently, an exhausted Stella is tucked in bed with Rylee and Maddie, watching Barbie Princess Charm School and munching Cheez-Its. Until tomorrow...

Gather round, all...time for a photo with Stella!

Girls' birthday party

2012-01-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my SIL for snapping most of these for me otherwise there might not have been more than 3 photos to remember their bday by!

Monster high cakes, of course ;)

Sister love

2012-01-09T17:00:00.004-05:00

errr, sort of.

Happy Birthday, Rylee!

2012-01-04T18:31:00.020-05:00

January 4th means two things. It's Rylee's birthday and I will be having Chinese for dinner. Ha!

Rylee is six and it's pretty unbelievable. She's moved on from the preschool ages and is officially a big kid. She's always looked the part but now her age matches a little better. It's been quite the year, turns out five is a trying age. We all made it through in one piece and hopefully six holds lots of calmness and good behavior ~~who am I kidding, anyway?~~

Rylee's day started off with good ole Kindergarten. She took pink frosted cupcakes to school and said the whole class sang to her. Afterwards, I picked her up and we hit up TH for the biggest slushy ever...coke/mt.dew/strawberry mixed. Don't ask! Once we got home, she got to open her gifts ~~which I just stuffed in her new backpack unwrapped since I ran out of paper and didn't feel like buying any~~ and then choose her birthday dinner. No surprise, it was Chinese! After dinner she enjoyed some icecream cake and a little kinect Alvin and the Chipmunk dancing. She's tucked into bed playing with her new gadget. Happy birthday, Ry!!

2012-01-03T00:40:00.000-05:00

Every kids loves to try on their parent's shoes. Charlotte is no exception. We find her in everyone's shoes, from Rylee to Kev's. Here's she rocking my boots.

Some random Maddie and Charlotte fun.

A couple weeks ago Maddie woke up with a sty on her eye. This is the second time she had one, not sure why. ~~hey, that rhymed!~~ Poor girl looked pathetic.

2012-01-02T17:18:00.005-05:00

Charlotte wears these pajamas like all the time. Almost everyday. She's officially obsessed. It seems every picture I have of her lately, she's wearing them and in order to get her out of them, I have to assure her she can wear her "choo-choo" shirt from Target. Oye!

I just noticed these photos in my LR catalog and thought, I kinda like these. So here they are.

2012-01-02T16:33:00.003-05:00

Charlotte seems to be moving into the baby doll phase. She takes her bitty everywhere...in the car, to bed...and freaks out if I forget to bring it. I was pretty stumped on what to get her for Christmas but I knew anything baby related had to be a hit. She received a little crib, a "Char car" for her baby, a travel seat and a bitty baby starter set. So far, success!

Maddie's four!

2012-01-01T21:56:00.001-05:00

Today, my little monkey turns four. Wah! She's growing up so beautifully yet I can barely stand it. I will miss her baby face so much. She's such a unique creature that I know I have much to look forward to as she matures!

We also got her a monster high camera that I must not have gotten a picture of but she's been having a blast taking photos of pointless objects. At least maybe I won't be finding random photos on my iphone anymore!

Then the birthday girl tossed her present aside and went to join Rylee on the couch for some ipad'ing. Note to self: next year, no toys. ipads for all!

Happy birthday, Miss Moo!

If you give a mouse a cookie

2011-12-31T16:35:00.000-05:00

Christmas is here!

2011-12-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

Errr, it was. Like a week ago. And it was fabulous! The kids were beyond excited and were ripping into their gifts by 7:30am. I love watching their little faces as they open each present and hold up their toy triumphantly for the rest of us to see. There's no better morning than December 25th.

I was looking forward to watching Miss C b/c this year I figured she was at an age where she would really get into it. She would be able to open her own gifts and would be excited by what she found under the wrapping paper. Turns out, I was wrong.
Rylee received a slew of pointless crap. Her most used gifts have been monster high dolls.

Ditto for Maddie.
Sigh.

Is she really going to open one?! Nope. She didn't.

Time for pwil and relaxation.

I don't think this was taken on Christmas but hey, it's cute.

Ry and Mad received monster high scooters from grandma and pappy. They love them! And it's been decent enough weather for them to be outside riding them.

That's pretty much the extent of my Christmas photos. Sad! I usually have endless photos to upload but I guess I got lazy. Overall, Christmas was a success spent with all of our family and I just can't believe it's over!

2011-12-24T14:37:00.008-05:00

This time of year is my favorite, not surprisingly. How can it not be with three young kiddos? They are all wrapped up in the magic of Christmas and there is nothing more amazing than feeling that feeling with them. It's way better than being a kid at Christmas time, yourself!

Our house is brimming with excitement and anticipation. It's a feeling I crave. Feed off of. We have all been in high gear this year, trying to accomplish everything we want to do in the short amount of time we have. Last year I wasn't a working woman. This year I didn't have quite the amount of free time to spend preparing for the holiday but I think I prefer it that way. The only regret I have is maybe I haven't spent enough time with the kids as I should have but the good news is, Rylee will be home from school all next week and I have no work until January so we will be taking advantage of that!

Yesterday, the girls and I filled our day with all things Christmas. We started off the morning preparing crafts to gift. They made a Christmas tree on canvas with their hand-prints that I'm finding it hard to part with!

And they painted some ornaments...

Then we decided to start baking some treats. We made chocolate chip cookies, reindeer sugar cookies, buck-eyes and puppy chow. Let the weight gain begin.

After a long afternoon of baking, Rylee, Maddie and I curled up on the couch to watch A Christmas Story. It was their first time seeing it and I knew Ry would love it. She's into movies with real people now versus animated movies. Her favorite part was when Ralphie dropped the F bomb, lol!

That evening, the girls went to my parent's house and Kev and I were able to have dinner alone. Imagine! Generally it's just the older two that go to grandma and pappy's and we take Charlotte to dinner with us so this was quite a treat! After dinner, we made a couple last minute Christmas purchases and went to pick up Charlotte. The older two had a lovely sleepover. Kev and I had a sleep over of our own...with this lil cutie!

And here's a proper look at her awesome new Thomas jammies!

Now I think I'll get off the computer and enjoy this Christmas eve.

Ahhh!

2011-12-14T18:07:00.007-05:00

The holiday rush is on. A week and a half until Christmas, then New Year's celebrations then birthdays x3. Plus shopping, baking, creating, editing, ordering, shooting, cleaning, playing....well, should be fun and I imagine it will all be over in a blink. So I would like to take a moment to pause and reflect on what our life is like right about now since I hardly ever post about it.

Yesterday was the Christmas show at Rylee's school. The kindergarteners learned two songs to sing and each child had a line to recite. Rylee's line: I will keep you and make you to be a covenant for the people and to be a light for the gentiles.

Yeah, um, what? Pretty difficult words to memorize and recite in front of a church filled with people! She nailed it during both showings, she spoke so well. I could tell she was nervous though, she kept making these weird facial expressions.

Two really crappy photos from the shows, hehe.

Shortly after we (Kev, Charlotte, Maddie and I) arrived at the school for Rylee's afternoon showing, the school called Kev's cell to inform us Rylee had an accident and she needed clean tights and underwear.

What?!

She must be so nervous, I said to Kev. Rylee having an accident is completely unheard of, she can hold it for hours!
Apparently not. I took the littles into the school office to meet Rylee while Kev ran back home for clean clothes. Her poor little face was heartbreaking. She looked so sad! I asked her if she was nervous for the play and she claimed she wasn't. Her class had been praying and she didn't want to interrupt to ask to use the restroom.

:(

My poor angel. I felt so bad for her. She didn't really seem embarrassed or anything. She marched right back into class like nothing happened.

Between the two shows, Rylee had karate. I would have skipped it given what all she had going on that day but I know she's getting close to being able to test for her next belt and I don't want her to miss out on earning stripes. Plus, the kids were going to exchange "secret Santa" lists which I knew Rylee would be excited about. Needless to say, five minutes after going to bed last night, she was comatose!

Maddie, Maddie, Maddie...oh where do I begin? Over the last couple weeks it's become quite clear that Maddie realizes she can do no wrong ~~in daddy's eyes~~ and is pushing the limits further and further with Kev and I. She's become demanding and forgets her manners 99.9% of the time. And she doesn't take criticism well (who does?) when it's time to correct her. Hopefully we can get her back on track utilizing the same methods we have been using with Rylee. Things seem to be getting much better with Rylee, which is a huge relief and has us feeling overly optimistic. I'm in no way saying she's cured, ooooh definitely not! But things are more in control...just in time for Maddie to start testing the waters, of course!

Miss Charlotte, my extended nurser extraordinaire, has found a new way to demand milk from me, thanks to Kevin. He taught her to call it "boo-boos" so now when she signs for milk, she'll exclaim, "boo-boos!" and pat the couch for me to come hither and sit. I am merely a milk slave to her, I swear! Nursing seems to be hitting some sort of regularity with her nursing during before nap and bedtime, during the night (usually once), early in the morning (I nurse her just to keep her sleeping hehe) and then usually nothing all day unless she's insanely bored.

Her whole sleep schedule seems to have shifted. She now is awake until 10pm-11pm and sleeps until 9am-10am the next morning. She will either not nap or fall asleep on the couch in the evening for a little cat nap. This has made my work time a little more stressful. Obviously I don't have a home office so she can easily bug the crap out of me all night while I try to work but I appreciate the fact that she sleeps later in the morning so it's a catch 22. I'll just take it as it comes, like everything else in this house, I'm sure things will be different in a month, lol.

Back to the chaos (other than my kids, lol). I think for the most part my Christmas shopping is done. I'm really excited for the kids to open their gifts, it's my favorite part! It's always so dreary in our house because our living room doesn't get any light in the morning and my videos are always dark and grainy but I love them. Just love them. I love looking back and watching them dig into their piles, not a care in the world. Just happiness! Until they start fighting over a toy and begin beating the crap out of each other, lol!

I haven't even given much thought to the girls' birthdays. We will have a small family party like usual the weekend following New Year's. Rylee wants to have a party for her friends so I have to give that some thought. No clue when I would fit that in!

So for now I'm going to try to soak in the holiday season with my family and do as much together as possible. I really do miss spending my days just hanging out with them, doing whatever comes our way. I'm looking forward to Christmas break and time away from Lightroom!

Random acts

2011-12-12T00:42:00.004-05:00

I read something months ago on a fellow blogger's blog about a "pay it forward" type of event she had witnessed. While the details are very fussy in my mind at this point, the general idea was two people (father/son? grandfather/son? something along those lines) would go to eat at a particular restaurant and while dining, they would plot on which random customer they would pick up the tab for. Such a simple random act of kindness that made a profound impact on me. I stored that particular blog post in the back of mind thinking someday I would love to do just that.

Friday evening our family decided to head out to dinner at one of our favorite local spots. We ended up leaving about an hour later than our usual dinner time but we figured the place wouldn't be too crowded. Well, it was. We were still able to get a table right away and when we sat down I noticed the most adorable family sitting two tables away. They had four very young children, mom was expecting and dad was dressed in his Army uniform. Instantly I knew, they were the family I've been waiting for! I let the waitress know our intent and asked her to simply let them know Merry Christmas and thank you for serving. Apparently she told them we had paid their bill and the family came over to thank us.

I feel inspired to keep the good vibes flowing...kindness really goes a long way, especially small acts such as a smile or treating someone how you would like to be treated. This time of year, you seem to get both extremes...super friendly/helpful/kind people who thrive in the holiday atmosphere and those who are perhaps overwhelmed by it and come off as a bit rude/disrespectful/unkind. I challenge anyone reading this to do one completely random act of kindness between now and Christmas. It doesn't have to be major, it's really the thought that counts. :)

A girl and her iPad.

2011-12-06T09:04:00.000-05:00

Putting up the tree

2011-12-05T20:56:00.010-05:00

Just some random shots to share from the night we got our tree. The girls impatiently dug through their ornament boxes while waiting for Kev to get the tree ready.

Whenever I get out the camera, Charlotte starts making weird faces and saying "cheese!" No idea where she got that from! Gotta love those crooked teeth of hers, lol.

Ta-da!

Thankgiving...a few weeks late :)

2011-12-05T20:39:00.025-05:00

And it went a little something like this....

It was a great day! We had Thanksgiving at our home this year with grandma, pappy, uncle Mike and aunt Amy. Then we celebrated my pap's 80th birthday! We finished off at grandma and papa's house where the beautiful sky finished off our day.

Christmas tree is up!

2011-11-29T17:50:00.003-05:00

And it is just beautiful. We ended up getting a smaller tree than usual this year. I'm generally drawn to larger, more full trees but in our house, that isn't always the wisest choice. And even though we say it every year, this year we have the perfect tree!

Ee were able to decorate the whole tree with what I like to call "sentimental ornaments". Ornaments given to us by family and friends...ornaments that have a special meaning...ornaments that represent one of us at a particular point in time. Like Rylee's dinosaur ornament from when she was three years old and obsessed with all things Jurassic and Maddie's Scooby Doo ornament that sings the theme song from the show. I absolutely LOVE going through the boxes of ornaments year and year, watching the girls rediscover their treasures and ask questions about the things they find. And I love that our tree this year is filled with nothing but those kind of ornaments and not the generic balls, etc. (Although I had bought a huge box of new ones and just returned, hehe).

While up late one night, I found Charlotte sitting under the tree playing around with the needles and such. I'm so excited to her to really enjoy the holidays this year!

2011-11-28T16:24:00.002-05:00

Rylee had off school today so it was the perfect time to get together with our friends Charlotte, Gavin and Issac, to do some pottery makin'. It's something I just knew Ry would love and she definitely did! She created a cupcake jar and peace sign ornament while Maddie painted an owl jar and a peace sign ornament "because Rywee is". Charlotte decorated a lovely salad plate and her and I worked as a team to paint an adorable reindeer ornament. Ok, Charlotte's and Maddie's stuff looks like someone just dumped paint on them and smeared it around. But I will cherish it, nonetheless! Can you believe I actually took photos of our day?!

2011-11-15T22:44:00.003-05:00

It's been almost a month since my last blog post and that's mainly because life has been pretty much out of control. I barely can keep up the 365 but at least I have that to remember the last month by!

Life in the Kraft household is more than just a little chaotic lately. And I'll admit, I kinda like it that way. For the most part. So to catch up on the goings-on of our family, here's a run down.

Rylee: Rylee is doing amazing in school. She's reading words and writing sentences. It's amazing to see her blossoming in this way. She seems to adore school although for a while it seemed to be making her quite anxious. Now that she's in the swing of things, we've noticed a change in her and she is no longer consumed with worry about what is due when at her school. Poor gal, she's only in kindergarten.

We have been struggling with her behavior quite a bit since school started. I'm not sure if it's a combination of exhaustion, stress, anxiety or what. She's been acting out, sometimes very aggressively, towards me and Kev. We are working towards finding a solution but it's been difficult. She doesn't respond to any discipline, really. I have stripped her room of every last toy and she remained vigilant in her meltdown. She spent the entire evening in her room after throwing a tantrum over her outfit after she arrived home from school yesterday. Pity considering it was a gorgeous day. Finally, after almost two hours of screaming, I went to talk with her about what had transpired. I asked her what result she expected to receive when she acted out. Her response: I want you to get tired of hearing me scream and just give me my way. She's no dummy. I asked her if after two hours did she finally realize that I was not giving in and she was not getting her way? She seemed to understand but that usually wears off in a few days and we are back to square one. While it can be exhausting and frustrating dealing with her breakdowns, we are doing our best and hopefully it will occur to her that she's only hurting herself.

Maddie: My little spider monkey! I've been calling her cuddles the spider monkey lately, not sure where the name came from by for some reason, she reminds me of a spider monkey. I know, totally weird. But c'mon, she is totally cute and I imagine a spider monkey is too.

Maddie has been doing so well lately. She is such a laid back, go with the flow kinda gal. And that's just what I've been needing lately. We spend the days just hanging out, going places and enjoying the peace while Rylee's at kindergarten. She's so drastically different than her sisters and it's amazing to see the person she's becoming. She will be four in two months. FOUR! That is unbelievable. Not possible. Can't happen.

Charlotte: Two words. Wild. Ass. That girls is borderline crrraaazzzzyyy! She is a whirlwind of wildness and I can't get enough. I could eat her up every second of the day. Her vocabulary has exploded over the last couple months and she is very clear about certain things, especially when she's yelling "I don't want to!". Her favorite line ever.

She's a little mini Maddie, running around, wrecking the joint. She's insanely in love with Thomas the train and I'm taking her to see him in Strasburg for the second time on Friday. She loves making us smell her toes, sticking her feet in our faces and crinkling her nose as a command to sniff those babies! I can't stand the cuteness.

She's still a nursing machine although it has slowed down a tad within the last week or two. I'll be sad when it's over, it's a major part of her babydom and I'm not sure I'm ready for her to not be my baby. Like, ever. LOL! I used to get excited about the prospect of a new baby once the last kiddo reached a certain age. I definitely do not feel that way with Charlotte. I want HER to be the baby. Forever. Let's make it happen, folks. C'mon you scientists!

Kevin: Is painting. What else is new? Once again our kitchen is under going a make-over and if I can possible manage, I will share pics!

Me: Busier than I ever imagined! The business has taken off like wild fire and I definitely took on more than I should have this fall but it's been a super crazy yet fun experience. I'm totally excited about what's in store for me next year!

Ok, that should do for now. Here's a photo of the girl I took for our xmas card!

Baltimore Zoo

2011-10-19T09:38:00.009-04:00

When I discovered Ry had a day off a couple weeks ago, I thought it would be the perfect time to take the girls to the zoo and use the tickets I had purchased on groupon. The weather was absolutely perfect and the girls had so much fun. None of us wanted to leave but we were exhausted!

Of course the first thing the girls wanted to do was eat, typical! After spending a small fortune, we sat down to eat our not-so-good for you zoo lunch of pizza, chicken tenders, hotdogs and cookies. Oops!

After lunch we took off into the African safari area where we saw of super neat animals such as rhinos, zebras, elephants and cheetahs. Maddie couldn't wait to find the giraffes ~~but then wouldn't let me take a photo of her in front of them!~~

Comparing their hands to the paws of the animals...
Somebody left her shoes in the car. :X

After making it through the safari, we took a little train ride. Charlotte was thrilled!
After the train ride, we visited the farm animal section and Charlotte was able to pet a "moo"!
While taking this shot, some random stranger was kind enough to stop my stroller, which contained my one year old, from rolling into the near by pond. Umm, thanks! LOL!
Trying out the saddles...

Can't wait to go again in the spring! I'm thinking I may join as a member, would be so fun to go all the time!

I have Staph. And so can you. LOL

2011-10-01T13:15:00.002-04:00

This week has been a little bit on the hellish side but it's Saturday and I'm going to maintain the thought that tomorrow is a new week and it has to get better. If not, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. LOL!

Last weekend I could feel an area on my bum (sorry) that seemed suspicious but in true Kristine fashion, I left it go for a few more days until I couldn't stand the pain anymore. I was having flu like symptoms and couldn't barely lie down or sit. Turns out Charlotte was kind enough to share her Staph infection with me. I won't go into the gory details (and they are GORY) but let's just say that I wouldn't wish this on my worse enemy. Not. fun. Very. Painful. OUCH.

Staph is so common and loves to hang out on skin. If you notice little red dots that look similar to pimples and just won't go away, that may be your first clue of a Staph skin infection. From there it may progress to a boil (or more) then to an abscess. Once it gets to that point, abx treatment and drainage of the infected area is the course of action.

WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN!!

Hanging in the studio

2011-09-22T22:49:00.021-04:00

The girls love hanging out in my studio space. Mainly b/c there is nothing but doll cribs, blankets and stuffed animals laying around everywhere. Charlotte is particularly found of the mini rocking chair. It's the first thing she attempts to pull out of my giant pile of crap!

And of course plopping ones self on the giant beanbag is pretty darn entertaining.
I somehow captured the very second Maddie blinked while sitting on the little faux leather chair. Isn't she the sweetest thing?
Charlotte's turn on the mini.
Later on at home, I took a bijillion more photos of my beautiful second and third born. Ok, mostly my third.

See? Told ya.

2011-09-22T19:48:00.004-04:00

Now that Maddie's best friend is in school most of the day, she has found a new friend in little Charlotte. And Charlotte is proving she is quite capable of hanging like a big kid. They play the day away!

2011-09-21T22:22:00.001-04:00

So apparently Rylee's class has a class "pet" name Stella. I use that term loosely because as it turns out, Stella is merely a stuffed, uh, well, I'm not exactly sure. A stuffed something.

Anyway, each child in the class must take Stella home for the night and care for her (him? it? idk) and document every moment in the journal that was sent home along with the insanely adorable yet odd looking pet. Basically Rylee is the one in school and *I* have homework. Bummer! LOL!

So my story went a little something like this (I shall paraphrase, ::clears throat::)

When Rylee arrived home from school today, the entire family was surprised to meet her little friend, Stella! Daddy, Rylee and Stella had made a pit stop for slushies on their way home, yum!

Rylee couldn't wait to introduce Stella to her two little sisters, Maddie and Charlotte. Charlotte was still napping so Maddie got to hang out with Stella for a little while all by herself!
After QT with Maddie, Stella and Rylee went for a little bike ride up and down the sidewalk. Stella seemed to really enjoy herself!
We ended the evening with our nightly walk up the big hill. Ry wanted to take a photo with Stella once we reached the top because the view of our town and river is magnificent. Stella was quite impressed!
Good night, Stella! See you in the morning!

Day out with Thomas!

2011-09-21T15:42:00.025-04:00

Every one of my kids have gone through what I lovingly refer to as "Thomas fever". I swear there is some sort of hypnotizing quality hidden in the show's cheery theme song. Once a child hears it, they lose all self-control and commit themselves to months of train worshiping. Watch out, your child could be next.

I've been to Day out with Thomas four or five times now and even though I think the train ride itself it a complete rip off, I really do enjoy the day overall. The kids go bananas when they see Thomas for the first time in all his shiny blue glory and just being around other children who are completely gaga for Thomas gives you the sense of belonging. In a weird my-kid-is-obsessed-with-a-steam-engine-who-talks-and-I'm-not-the-only-one kinda way.

Just as Rylee and Maddie went through the Thomas phase (Rylee much more so than Mad), Charlotte has found herself head over heels for "choo choo" and his ever so enticing theme song. Her reaction to the real Thomas was exactly what I was expecting. Excited, surprised, giddy...until he blew off steam then she nearly flipped her lid, lol! Overall she was mesmerized and had a fantastic time during her day with Thomas.

We had tickets for the first train ride of the morning, at 10:15am. We didn't get a chance to see Thomas before boarding since we arrived just in time. So Charlotte really had no idea she was riding the choo choo. Of course I kept telling over and over in an excited high pitch voice to the point that I'm sure other passengers were ready to tell me to shut the heck up b/c she surely gets the point, lol!

After the ~~too brief~~train ride, we walked up to the front of the train to see Thomas and try to snap some photos. This is when Thomas let off steam and terrified the heck out of Charlotte, oops! We spent the next 2 hours riding the mini train, shopping the many gift shops and eating at Mrs. Kindley's restaurant. Maddie didn't want to leave and frankly, neither did I! But we ran out of things to do and decided to head home so Charlotte could nap. I can't wait to take them again in a few months!

Back at it.

2011-09-17T22:01:00.004-04:00

Charlotte is so happy to be home and hasn't missed a beat. She's as active as ever and doesn't seem the least bit bothered by or concerned with the incision in her diaper area. She just wants to run, play and jump like there's no tomorrow. And as cute as she is, who am I to try and stop her?

We (Ry, Madge and I) took a quick walk this evening ~~Maddie isn't a big walker~~ and along the way, the girls picked dandelions to blow. Wanting to copy her big sisters, Charlotte sticks her flower in her mouth ~~sigh~~ so you may notice a little piece stuck to her chin. That's my girl!

Charlotte's very eventful week!

2011-09-16T20:41:00.009-04:00

It all began a week ago, on Friday. I noticed while changing Charlotte's diaper before her nap that there was some swelling on the right side in the area of her pelvis. I asked Kevin once he got home from work if he had noticed anything lately while changing her and he said that she had seemed to be sensitive in that area when earlier that morning. We quickly decided to call the ped and see if they could fit her in before the start of the weekend. Luckily they were able to and we left the appointment with a diagnosis of possible infected lymph node, a RX for a kick ass antibiotic and a follow up appt the next morning.

Saturday didn't bring a whole of new changes. The diameter of the lymph node was about the same as it was Friday (about an inch and a half which is pretty large) and no new symptoms. We were sent home to allow the abx to do it's business then follow up on Monday.

Sunday evening, Charlotte was noticeable irritable and all around feisty. For the first time during this whole escapade, I decided to take her temp which was little on the feverish side (102). Not only that, there seemed to be an increasing amount of redness surrounding her swollen lymph node and we became very concerned that there was an obvious immune response going on and that the abx didn't seem to be making a difference.

Monday morning I met with the doctor and she was very concerned by the look and feel of the node as well. It had grown larger and she felt we either needed to A. take Charlotte to the hospital for a more aggressive IV antibiotic treatment or B. take Charlotte to the hospital to have the lymph node drained. We would eventually end up doing both.

I headed straight for the hospital from the ped's office, calling Kev on the way to let him know the scoop. Him and Maddie would meet me there once he picked Rylee up from school later that day. Meanwhile, Charlotte had to endure three attempts to get an IV started ~~this mama was not happy~~ and endless poking/prodding by every nursing and doctor on the floor. I felt horrible for her. And the nurses/doctors. She was giving them a run for their money with her kicks and screams for them to "stop it!". LOL!

We gave the IV abx about 12 hours to work some magic and that was rough. Charlotte felt very confused by her surroundings and that made for a not so easy sleep over. To top it off, anesthesia requested that I didn't nurse her after midnight due to the possibility of surgery ~~which I eventually got pushed back to 2am with some whining, lol!~~. Around 5am, she went ballistic in the crib and I felt horrible refusing her milk. She was so hysterical, banging her head off the crib bars and flinging her body in every direction. It was by far the most frustrating night.

The next morning the surgeon decided he wanted to open her up, see what was going on and drain that darn thing. See below for a photo of the area, first row, middle pic. She would only be under anesthesia for a short time and we would have her back in our arms within the hour. The nurse who took her from my arms was so kind and gentle with her. I think Charlotte could sense my ease and trust because she went to the nurse without screaming and kicking, allowing her to carry her to the OR. ~~Although the anesthesiologist did slip her a little something to relax her right before that, lol!~~

Kevin, Maddie and I sat patiently in the waiting room eating a quick snack while staring at the beeper. We quickly called family members to fill them in on what was happening. Before we knew it, it was time to meet Charlotte in recovery. I was the only one allowed back and once I got to her, I found a very out of control baby flailing in the arms of a nurse. She was so delirious from the anesthesia that she was throwing herself in every direction, screaming at the top of her lungs while her little eyes rolled around in their sockets. I tried my best to contain her but she was so strong that I found it quite difficult and felt many times she was going to flip right out of my hands. She even resorted to biting me, something she's never done before. I have the teeth mark bruises on my legs to prove it, ouch!

Once the meds wore off, we had our beloved Charlotte back. She was prancing around her hospital room like nothing had happened. You would have never known she had an open incision that was just operated on an hour before! The doctors continued to treat her with both an IV abx every 8 hours and an oral abx to cover their bases until the culture came back with a definitive sensitivity. We knew she had a staph infection and it would turn out to be of the methicillin resistant variety (mrsa). Once that was determined (on Thursday), we were finally prescribed an antibiotic and free to go. As we left the hospital, Charlotte's face was priceless. She grinned ear to ear at the nurse and giggled her good-bye's. She knew she was breaking free and heading home!

I took quite a few photos as there wasn't much else to do. ;) Rylee and Maddie were welcomed visitors and helped break up Charlotte's days a bit. I was amazed at how laid back she was just hanging in our tiny room. There was a play room we could go to but we still spent quite a bit of time in her hospital room. Daddy had brought down plenty of books and other toys to entertain us too.

Maddie asleep on the hospital couch can only mean one thing. Yep, she caught a bug and found herself throwing up on the day Charlotte was coming home. And of course she waited until Kev was 3 minutes from the hospital to throw up all over herself in the car, lol!

Charlotte's crib was endless fun for not only her but her sisters too!

We were able to rent movies off the tv menu so Ry took this opportunity to try out "Despicable Me".

It turns out Charlotte had this staph infection for almost three months. I didn't know the signs and assumed she had a too legit to quit diaper rash this whole time. Charlotte also had a boil on her bottom last month but again, no clue that it was a sign of a staph infection. Luckily we live in modern times with modern medicine. Thank God that we do and that something like this is so easily treated. Our baby is back to being the pinnacle of health! For now, anyway.

Kindergarten!

2011-09-10T23:46:00.005-04:00

Tuesday, September 6, 2011 was Rylee's first day of kindergarten. We (Rylee and I) had been anticipating this day all summer. I spoke of it often, telling her all the wonderful and exciting things she would learn and do. Having enjoyed preschool so much, she was certain she would love kindergarten. But as any mom would, I worried the adjustment would be more difficult. I mean preschool is, well, just that. Preschool. Just a few hours a day. And not even everyday, in Rylee's case. How would she adjust from that to being in school everyday, all day? I was about to thrust her into 7 hours, 5 days a week of newness, stimulation and who knows what else.

I'm happy to report, she survived and both our anxieties were relieved. I never doubted that she would love it or that she would go peacefully but she's like me, anxious and paranoid, and I just wanted her to not carry that stress with her, lol! She enjoyed every minute of her first day and admitted she actually fell asleep during rest period. That is saying a lot for the girl who never naps, goes to bed at 10pm and gets up at the crack of dawn. School is definitely an exhausting change of pace for her. But she loves her teacher (so far), really likes her classmates (several she already knows from preschool) and shyly told me about a girl in her class who asked her to be friends (in first photo below). How cute, right? Oh, to be a kindergartener...

I surely was on hand for this momentous occasion. And although I could quite get my wb right, I was snapping away like a maniac. Embarrassing mom with giant sized camera that no person could possibly need just to take First Day of School snapshots...check!
Rylee admitted to me the day before starting school that she was scared. She asked if I had been nervous on my first day(s) of school. I assured her that everyone feels anxious about starting a new adventure and that she would do fantastic. Then offered her a Zoloft. Just kidding.

Yes, I photographed the placing of the water bottle.

Rylee and Gracie have known each other since before birth ~~mmkay, not possible, but you know what I mean~~. It's amazing to watch them grow up together and to continue to do so. And I know Rylee finds comfort in having Grace there with her at school.
Having Rylee gone all day is quite different. It's quieter, for sure, but we all feel something is missing. I'm not sure Maddie knows what to do without her around, sadly. I've been trying extra hard to keep her busy. I know we will all adjust eventually. I'm looking forward to spending time with Madge and Charlotte. It's funny how differently kids are depending on who is present in a given setting. The dynamic between Maddie and Charlotte is completely different when Rylee is at school vs. when she is home. It's so hard to explain but I'm going to enjoy getting to know Maddie in her roll as "oldest" and "big sister" to Charlotte this year.

So we all survived the beginning of Rylee's school career. This is it. The beginning of the end. She will spend the next 13 years of her life doing this. Hope she enjoys it!

Dutch Wonderland.

2011-09-04T23:16:00.013-04:00

A couple weeks ago I took the older two girls to Dutch Wonderland for the day. To say it was the best day ever would be an understatement. We had the most fun and I think I was more sad to leave than they were come closing time, lol! The girls loved riding the Flume, Carousel, the giant slides, Turtle spin, and the kiddie coaster. I enjoyed the relaxing boat ride around Duke's Lagoon and anything that else that didn't end with me dizzy and nauseated! I did manage to get a few iPhone photos of the girls enjoying their day.

Whew!

2011-08-31T22:42:00.005-04:00

I've been meaning to share our trip to Dutch Wonderland last week but have yet to pull the photos from my phone. Yes, my phone. I didn't take the camera and it was oh, so liberating.I really need to invest in a point and shoot for my out and about snapshots. I don't get using a big ole dslr for that purpose, I need something compact that I can whip out of my back pocket and shoot with one hand, lol!

Hopefully I get to posting about the trip soon. In other news, this weeks has been pretty busy thus far. Yesterday shaped up to be quite the interesting day starting off with a trip to the pediatrician. Rylee is required to have a physical to start school (she goes next Tuesday!) and I of course didn't get around to it until now. Luckily, there was a cancellation this week otherwise they wouldn't have been able to fit us in (says the receptionist @@). Charlotte has been overdue for a well check so I set her's up too. Considering Maddie has seen the ped several times in the last year for various reasons, I don't really feel like she's in need of a physical at this point.

The bad news in all of this was Rylee being due to receive some vaccinations. It was just a few boosters but it ended up that they all needed to be administered individually which meant three shots total. I just knew that wouldn't end well. I was right. She literally opened the door to our room and bolted when she saw the nurse come in with the syringes in hand, lol! I grabbed her and pulled her back into the room where we attempted to get her on my lap so I could hold her still. The nurse had to eventually call for back-up b/c I was unable to keep all 48.5 lbs (and 46.75") of her still enough. Rylee screamed and cried which caused Charlotte to cry and Maddie to sit quietly with her hands held tightly over her ears. What a treat. I'm so glad Rylee is done receiving shots for a very, very long time!

Don't let that smile fool you...

In other news, Charlotte is just over 20 lbs and has sprouted up quite a bit in height. She's on the low end for her weight but pretty much on track with where Maddie was at that age. Developmentally she is doing great, mastering all the appropriate motor skill and verbalizing extremely well. I'm so proud of my little pumpkin and how quickly she's growing/learning! She wasn't really a fan of her exam or the doctor but she was much easier to keep under control. ;)

My angel waiting on the doc...

Finally the four of us made it out of the doctor's office and on our way home to get Rylee ready for her first Karate class! I think I'm more excited than Rylee is about her taking Karate. I totally would take a class myself if I had the money! I left Charlotte home with daddy and took Maddie along to watch Ry in action. They measured her for her outfit and she joined in with her class, which is mostly boys. There's one other girl in the class and her name is Kylee (who was so relieved to see another girl join, her mom told me.) Cute, right? Ry had a blast and can't wait to go back tomorrow.

Rylee also has her kindergarten open house tomorrow. I'm excited to meet her teacher since I didn't get to go to Parent's night tonight and since Kev was the one who took her for her assessment on Monday (which apparently went well). I'm looking forward to seeing her classroom and seeing her reaction!

It's almost here...

2011-08-18T14:02:00.006-04:00

Rylee's first day of kindergarten is September 6th. I really have mixed emotions about it but mostly, I'm excited for her. I know she's going to love it because she loves learning and she loves feeling like the big kid in the family. I know all the fuss over starting school is making her feel super special!

Last night I took her along to a session where she sat quietly off to the side playing Angry Birds on my iphone. Afterwards, I took a few shots of her, kind of a back to school mini shoot. She's growing into quick the young lady. Sad.

No, no, no!

2011-08-09T23:46:00.004-04:00

Charlotte's new favorite word? You guessed it. No. But not just "no". It's "NO!" in the loudest, ear piercing, bring a dog to it's knees, voice you have ever heard. I'm not sure how a human can hit such a high pitch.

She does posses a cute "no" in her arsenal. It's more of a soft yet stern "no, no, no!" while shaking her finger at you ~~I taught her that, hehe~~. I need to get it on video, it's so darn cute!

And b/c I hate to post without at least one photo, here's a sampling from today's 365. Just Charlotte playing with her unicorn toy. Love her!

Golly!

2011-08-04T13:53:00.006-04:00

Could I be more behind on this blog? I guess things have been a wee bit crazy around here lately! Keeping up with madness that is my three kiddos/house/photography/etc. has proved immensely time consuming. Which makes this blog even more important. I don't even remember the wonderful memories we made just yesterday! Oh wait, yes I do.

The last few nights have consisted of a long family walk which is just what I need at the end of the day. And I think the kids too. Even though we are home together all day, I'm not always "with" them. So it's nice to take an hour or so, get outdoors and just talk, walk and be silly. And it's no walk in the park. Oh, no. We get physical and really push ourselves. Kevin pulls the wagon with Charlotte and Maddie ~~and two pwils~~ and Rylee and I walk behind them. We huff and puff up the big hill and stop for a moment in the cemetery to see the sheep monuments (Charlotte's favorite part, what do you expect for a family in the funeral business, hehe). It's probably my favorite hour of the entire day. In fact, I know it is.

In other news, uniform shopping is in full affect for Rylee and it's just plain not fun. The uniforms are beyond horrible, in my opinion, but I found some comfort in shopping Gap for tights and socks. Sad, I know. LOL! Rylee is beyond thrilled about starting school and I'm pumped to spend the majority of my day as keeper to just two kids as opposed to three. I'm seeing my life getting slightly easier in about a month. ::knock on wood::

Totally random but Charlotte has another tooth popping through and in true Charlie fashion, it's completely and utterly crooked. My poor baby, she has about the worst teeth I have ever seen in a baby's mouth. I mean, every stinking tooth in her mouth is in sad shape. She even has a tiny tooth, we lovingly refer to as "the snaggle". I believe it's supposed to be the tooth next to her top front tooth but there is a giant gap and the tooth itself is about half the size it should be. Looks. Ridiculous. And seriously, if her own family is already picking on her for it, she's doomed come preschool.

I guess I should comment about Maddie to be fair. Because when you have more than one kid, they keep track of every little thing and if you appear ever so slightly to play favorites, it will come back to bite you in the behind, big time. Anyway, yesterday my poor baby girl was so tired, I found her passed out on Pwil right inside our front door, lol! How sweet is she?!

A girl and her Pwil.

2011-07-24T22:54:00.015-04:00

It seems Charlotte's undying love for Pwil is becoming deeper every day that passes. Suddenly, Pwil is coming every where with us. Charlotte seems to know Pwil's location at all times and won't be fooled by imitators ~~believe me, I tried b/c Pwil is in desperate need of a washing!~~.

It's only natural that Charlotte would begin taking her beloved pillow on her nightly Char car rides. I wonder what people think when they see her coming by in her pink car, head on her pillow, thumb in her mouth. She is a trip, that girl!

15 months

2011-07-12T13:04:00.004-04:00

Our first day at the beach, July 2nd, was Charlotte's 15 month birthday. I personally find there's a huge change between the ages of 12 months and 15 months. It's like some sort of metamorphosis takes place and suddenly you discover that your sweet little baby is a walking, talking, wild as all hell toddler. I swear when we left for the beach she was still "sweet Charlotte", the angelic, curious, laid-back baby we all knew and loved. Upon arriving home from vacation, we discovered our Charlotte, while still sweet, had become a terror train running full speed ahead.

So in honor of my little one's month day, I want to blog a little bit about what she's doing at this age.

-Walking, no, make that running at top notch speed with complete disregard for any and all things in her path. Her new "thing" is to run with her arms up, hands opening and closing or with her arms twisted up behind her back, hands doing the same motion. We lovingly refer to it as the butterfly run b/c it looks like she's trying to take off into flight!

-Talking. She has finally discovered the almighty power behind the word "No" and is not afraid to use it. And she does. Like constantly. Everything is "No!" or "Uh-uh!" accompanied by a dramatic head-shake or a slap to the face (yeah, that would be MY face, lol!) She's doing well stringing two words together here and there and even attempts the three word/syllable "I love you"...and it's darn cute.

-Pwil'ing. That's right. Charlotte has followed in the Maddie Sue footsteps before her and has adopted her full size pillow as a lovey. Pwil 2. Seeing her carry a pillow around the same size as her body is quite hysterical. Seeing her and Maddie both lying on the floor snuggling their pillows is quite priceless. So when you see me out loading my three kids, two bed pillows, my big ole bag, three cups and whatever else they force me to bring for a simple trip to Target, don't laugh. Ok, laugh. But don't let me see you.

-Nursing. Oh, my...nursing a toddler is quite an experience. Charlotte's nursing habits are no different than Maddie's were at this age. I'm at her beck and call, whenever she feels the urge for milk. And if I ain't fast enough to give up the goods, things get real ugly, real quick. Nothing draws attention quicker than a 15 month old screaming at top volume, beating on your chest, trying to pull down your shirt while signing for milk. I miss the days of hair twirling, nose digging, sweet snugglin' nursing. Now only about 1/4 of my child's body fits on my lap.

-Sleeping. She takes one nap a day and has been doing so for several months now. Her nap depends on what time she gets up and that depends on what time she goes to bed. Nothing is consistent. We have no routine. We are all on Charlotte time.

-Playing. Charlotte is off playing by herself or with her sisters most of the day. She's a big kid now and loves every minute of it. She has a special fondness for Maddie, who doesn't give Charlotte any special treatment. Rylee babies the crap out of Charlotte which I think drives her crazy.

-Daddy time. Every evening Kev takes Charlotte for a walk around town in her "Char car". I seriously need to get a photo of that! They wonder off for an hour or so as the sun is setting and have the best time. Kev always comes home with a story about something cute Charlotte did or where they went on their adventure.

-Wildness. This girl is crazy. She is loud. She is fast. She is devilish. She is fearless. She is stubborn. She is feisty. Yet she is so dang adorable. Watching her develop into herself is so stinkin' awesome. She is already so different from her sisters. We have a feeling she is going to be our trouble maker for sure!

Her "don't mess with me!" look, lol!

2011-07-11T20:58:00.001-04:00

Get ready for beach photo overload! I'm sharing basically every shot I took, lol! I considered making storyboards to condense the post a bit but unfortunately they would print super tiny when I create the blog book for this year so I decided to post everything individually.

My inspiration for the editing style I used here came from a couple different avenues. I knew I wanted the beach shots to be softer, with a warmish hazy feel. The first shot I took on the beach was the one below. That is straight out of camera. My lens had immediately fogged up the second I removed the cap and the resulting image was very hazy and low contrast (and cool thanks to AWB but that's any easy fix, especially on the beach). Eureka! Of course none of the other images came out that way b/c I had since whipped the condensation from my lens but it was my editing inspiration for this set of images. I'm loving the subdued beachy feel and the editing process was so quick!

Totally crappy snapshots but the only photos of ALL the girls together, lol!

My little beauty!

This is her "Noah" face. More about that in a later post. ;)

Very J Crew lol.

Isn't her Rapunzel curl to die for!?

Tiny baby on a big beach.

Seagulls always seem to find their way into Charlotte's shots. Remember last year's photo of Charlotte sleeping on the beach with the seagull walking behind her?

Reflections

A girl and her sand crabs.

2011-07-11T14:27:00.017-04:00

2011-07-10T22:03:00.002-04:00

Ah, we are home from another fantastic beach vacation. I didn't take quite as many photos as I usually do since being on vacation meant putting down the camera but there are still plenty of pics to share! And I'll get to that in the next post. But first, a play by play of our week.

Saturday: The drive to Stone Harbor went relatively well. We decided to not take along the portable DVD player and make our kids be creative for the four hour drive. Oh the horror! After some complaining from Rylee (Are we EVER going to get there?!) and some fussing from Charlotte (for good reason, wait for Sunday...), we arrived safely. After quickly unpacking, I took the girls down to test the waters and frolic in the sand. They loved it!

Sunday: Charlotte was extremely fussy through Saturday night into Sunday. She had been running a fever off and on since Friday night and after her nap on Sunday, began coughing the distinct cough of Croup. Kev's parents took the older girls to dinner and Kev and I took baby girl to the ER to get her some help. The poor girl was so miserable and pathetic looking but in the cutest, most adorable way possible. The doctor prescribed her steroids which seemed to help immediately.

Monday: We spent some time on the beach with the whole family. Kevin's brother's family was there with us and the kids had a blast together. My nephew, Max, who is completely in love with Charlotte, loved asking "what baby doing?" over and over and touching "baby's nose!". Sooo cute! Later we took the kids plus my niece, Cami, for ice cream in town (although they ended up with slushies from Wawa and Kev and I were the only two with ice cream cones, lol!)

Tuesday: This was the last day for Kev's brother's family but before they left, Rylee, Emmie and Cami went in town to get inked. They all came back with henna tattoos on their ankles. Rylee's tattoo was a butterfly while Cami had gotten a sun. Kev's aunt and uncle arrived later in the day...let the fun begin! We stayed up playing a movie trivia game ~~that I won, beating Kev by one point, oh yea!~~ and drinking (what else is new? hehe).

Wednesday: Another lazy beach day followed by dinner at Mirabella's, our favorite Italian restaurant in Stone Harbor. Doesn't hurt that it's kid friendly considering our wild brood. I discovered the cutest shop where I darn near lost my mind ~~sorry, Dave Ramsey! My total money make-over starts tomorrow!~~ buying ruffle butts and baby legs...oh my! This may have been the night that I took Rylee and Maddie to the beach after sunset to run wild while I snapped some shots. After the kids went to bed it was time for booze and Scattergories for Kev, Ang and I! Woot!

Thursday: More beach fun! Rylee absolutely loved the waves. She is a wild woman in the ocean, letting them smack her right over and jumping up for more. I loved seeing how happy it made her to splash around and chase the waves. Such a simple joy. Maddie enjoyed the water but wasn't a fan of the waves. She loitered around the edge of the ocean avoiding any potentially harmful wave action. Charlotte enjoyed the water as well but was more excited to play with the sand crabs than anything else. Kev would dig them from the sand and give them to her to hold. She would examine them thoroughly then toss them into her bucket of sand and water to collect them. Silly girl. Later we went shopping in town then I took Charlotte on the beach for some photos. She's growing up so fast! We ended Thursday with another late night Scattergories tournament!

Friday: Our last beach day! I decided to bury Rylee in the sand up to her neck. She looked hysterical and Charlotte kept walking on her as if she wasn't even there, lol! During Charlotte's nap, I took Rylee and Maddie in town to do what they seem to do best, spend money. Rylee wanted to get her hair wrapped and it turned out really cute. Maddie picked out a few more chipmunks (think Alvin and friends) to round out her collection. Also, Friday night=crab night, yum! All three kids love eating crab and good thing b/c there was a ton! I mastered my crab dissembling technique thanks to Aunt Ang ~~sorry Kev, your technique stinks!~~ between pauses to hold my ever-so-cranky 15 month old. We ended the evening with a quick few rounds of Scattergories.

Saturday: Home. Sweet. Home.

2011-07-01T00:09:00.004-04:00

Today was not a good day for Madge. She woke up several times last night crying for mommy, complaining of neck pain and sweating like a maniac despite the A/C blowing directly on her. I ended up permanately snuggling with her around 6am, which meant Charlotte was all alone in her big ole bed which was extremely nerve-wracking. I don't think I slept a wink last night.

Her fever became worse through the day and she was crying in pain. Her belly hurt and I had no idea what to do for her. :( We took a nap this afternoon together ~~which was amazing, btw~~ and it was so nice to snuggle her, even if under these not so good conditions.

Isn't she adorable while sick? She's feeling much better and I imagine will be fine by tomorrow. Ok, Charlotte, you're next!

Did ya notice?

2011-06-29T23:17:00.002-04:00

I finally gave my blog a much needed face-lift. Look up. Like the new slideshow? Get used to it b/c it will look this way for approximately 6 months, lol!

This week is turning out to be majorly busy, but in a good way. Well, for the most part. We leave for the beach on Saturday (woot!) so I'm trying to get all five family member's necessities packed and ready to go. This involves much more than one might think. I'm doing extra laundry to make sure I have absolutely every clothing option available to me for each person. Coordinating outfits for each day of the week including options for in-climate weather situations, sleep wear and swimming is quite a task. I have to find a minute in the next two days to hit up Target for food and other items we will need ~~California Baby sunscreen, check!~~ while dragging three wild animals with me. Add a one-year/cake-smash session tomorrow morning plus the three sessions from last weekend that I'm still editing/preparing galleries to email by Friday....oh, and did I mention another one of my kids is now sick? First Rylee on Monday and now guess who just woke up crying, warm to the touch and complaining her neck hurt (same weird complaint Rylee had on Monday). Yep, Madge.

This oughta be good. I'm sure it will all work out. It always does.

2011-06-28T23:40:00.006-04:00

Charlotte had a play date on Saturday with her bff, Ad, which included lunch at Marcos followed by a quick park trip. Apparently she's not entirely clear on the idea behind play dates as she didn't bother to engage her friend much. Either way, it was still fun!

It must be Monday.

2011-06-27T23:07:00.000-04:00

Today was an unusually crappy Monday. Rylee was not feeling well and was running a fever for most of the day. She complained that her back, neck, head and belly hurt. Yikes!

I know most moms hate when their kids are sick but honestly, what's better than a sick day? Rylee was pampered from morning until night and thought it was great, lol! She was allowed to lie on the couch and watch her shows all day. She was waited on hand and foot. We snuggled in bed watching "Shark Tales" while Charlotte napped and Maddie played (she eventually joined us and proceeded to fall asleep, lol!) And once she was feeling a bit better, I whipped up her favorite meal, tuna casserole, for a late night dinner. She was pathetic yet sweet. No yelling at her sister. No sassin' her momma. Just an ill-feelin' girl who needed some snuggles.

2011-06-19T20:52:00.022-04:00

Father's day pop quiz

2011-06-19T19:28:00.003-04:00

Rylee:

1. What is your Dad's name?
Kevin

2. How old is your Dad?
31...actually, 32. (she's right! lol)

3. How tall is your Dad?
Taller than me.

4. What is your Dad's job?
To make money.

5. What does your Dad like to do for fun?
Play with us!

6. What does your Dad do well?
Cleaning up our toys. Right, mommy?

7. What is your Dad's favorite food?
chicken bones! (aka chicken wings, lol!)

8. What is your Dad's favorite sports team?
football

9. What is his favorite restaurant?
Family restaurant

10. What do you like the most about your Dad?
When he's really happy.

11.What do you think he would do with a million dollars?
Get a lot of things.

12. What's his favorite color?
Black. (yep!)

13. What makes Daddy Laugh?
When we do something funny.

Maddie:

1. What is your Dad's name?
Kevin

2. How old is your Dad?
I don't know!

3. How tall is your Dad?
Like this big! (shows me with arms)

4. What is your Dad's job?
Works outside!

5. What does your Dad like to do for fun?
Hold me. (awww) Then bring me to bed when it's night time. (double awww)

6. What does your Dad do well?
Sitting on the couch watching baseball.

7. What is your Dad's favorite food?
Sandwich

8. What is your Dad's favorite sports team?
Red Sox

9. What is his favorite restaurant?
The one with the hotdogs.

10. What do you like the most about your Dad?
When he carries me up and holds me.

11.What do you think he would do with a million dollars?
get a toy for us.

12. What's his favorite color?
Black. (yep!)

13. What makes Daddy Laugh?
When we do silly faces.

Oooh, yeah.

2011-06-15T19:49:00.001-04:00

Finally, I'm the proud new owner of a device I have no idea how to use. Woot!

Hold onto your butts.

2011-06-15T13:37:00.019-04:00

I'm having a thought provoking day. Get ready to listen to me ramble. You know you love it. ;)

I read an article yesterday geared towards aspiring photographers that really made me think. The funny thing is, I've read that article before, several years ago, but only now does it really make sense. Read it here, if you so desire.

One thing that really stood out to me was this line:

Don't look outward for your style; look inward.

I've been struggling with finding *my* style ever since I picked up a camera. I don't think I have my own style, I think I'm heavily influenced by all the amazing work I see and photographers I admire (thanks CM!). Part of me wishes I could shut all of that out and listen to my own voice, follow my own artistic instincts. I really feel trapped where I'm at...producing mediocre portraits with a few colorful accessories thrown in. That is not the photographer I wanted to be or even want to be in this moment. I some how ended up off track.

I think another big factor is my business. I want it to be successful and I think I'm letting that dictate my work. People see the cookie cutter portraits that are so popular now and that's what they want. I had a client come to me for his son's newborn session because of my studio work. He told me his cousin had just had her newborn's photographs taken and the photographer came to the house capturing their baby in his/her environment (on the sofa, the crib, etc.) and that he specifically did not want that for his newborn session. In my mind I found myself thinking, omgosh, that IS the photographer I want to be!

I feel the pull towards being a lifestyle photographer. It's what I always assumed I would become and do. But it's not what I've become. And I'm not sure how to get there now that people associate me with a particular style (if you will) of studio work. Maybe I will focus on that aspect when it comes to photographing my own family and work my way from there. Which brings me to the second line that stood out to me in the article.

Embrace frustration.

I'm definitely frustrated with myself these days. But I think I will look at it positively. Times like this I find myself pushing forward, off my plateau. Hopefully this period of frustration and self doubt means I'm about to turn the corner to the next phase of my photography.

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest!

Btw, go back and read the title of this post. If you can name the movie that line is from, you win a cookie. ;)

Miss Moo

2011-06-14T00:01:00.004-04:00

Me: Mad, can I take your picture sometime this week?
Maddie (please add in the Maddie lisp, it's just not the same without): Yes, but not while my hair looks like this!

Miss Moo, I must agree. Your locks look much better dry. Now only if you could lose the snarl!

Lollipop, lollipop...

2011-06-13T23:51:00.006-04:00

My print lab sends yummy blow pops in every order. Except every time I go to enjoy one, a certain somebody stalks me with an open mouth exclaiming "ahh, ahhhhhh!!" How can I say no to that face?

Then we found some yummier light to go with the yummy pop. Amazing what a difference three feet can make?

Rylee's field trip.

2011-06-13T23:25:00.010-04:00

Rylee's last day of preschool was on June 3rd and it was truly hard for to believe that her very first year was in the books.

Wow.

My baby girl will be in full day kindergarten next year. I'm feeling both excited and sad as I approach this big milestone in Rylee's life. From here on out, she's in school 8 hours a day, 5 days a week until she's 18 years old.

Wow.

To celebrate their last day of school, Rylee's class went on a field trip. Well, it was more like a play date adventure and picnic. The parents of the students were invited to join as well and I was so excite to spend some time with Rylee sans her baby sisters. Plus, her classmates are so. much. fun. I spent some time in class with them...playing, reading them stories, painting sharks (yeah, I said it!)....I was pumped to hang out with them more!

Mrs. McGrath gave each of the kiddos a bug kit for our hike through the woods and they all took finding interesting insects very seriously. Andrew even found a toad! After hiking, we stopped for a picnic lunch before hitting an open field for some sports...baseball, frisbee and more!

Random things.

2011-06-06T23:04:00.000-04:00

The girls fight over the one Magna-Doodle (is that what these things are called? lol). Clearly I need to purchase another, even if only for the sole purpose of restoring my sanity. Anyway, they are both super creative with what they come up with. Below, Maddie drew Velma (think: Scooby Doo...she's still a huge fan). Isn't it the neatest!?
Rylee loves drawing our family and writing out the alphabet. Notice the bow on Rylee's head? So true to life! LOL!

And just because I rarely post photos of Miss Ry. She's the oldest and therefore not the center of my camera's universe usually, lol!

Miss Charlotte in one of my fave outfits ever. Treehouse line, Gap 2007 (yep, I'm serious about my Gap, lol).
Charlotte loves playing in the sand box in the backyard. She also loves playing with the little kai lan push toy. Beep beep!
Dirty, snotty, yet adorable baby.

Oldie but goodie.

2011-06-05T23:05:00.000-04:00

I was going through some old photos and found myself in Charlotte's newborn images. Wow, such memories. Mostly of the amazing feeling of having my sweet new baby and the pain of bad photography. LOL! But this shot below was always a favorite. I did a quick clean re-edit on it. I may have to print this for Charlotte's room one of these days. Hard to believe this was taken over a year ago. Sad.

I could not love these more if I tried.

2011-06-05T21:38:00.002-04:00

This is my best friend's daughter, Miss Adalyn (9 months) and my sweet baby girl, Miss Charlotte (13 months) during Adalyn's 9 month session. Although most of the attempted shots did not go well, it was worth the chaos for these.

My little water bug.

2011-06-02T08:32:00.010-04:00

The weather here lately has been nothing short of, well, hot! With temperatures in the 90's and suffocating humidity, we've been spending much time in the pool. It was no surprise how much the older two enjoy swimming. We were surprised to find that Charlotte loves the water too! So much that she jumps right in or will climb in at the steps all by herself. Scary right?! She has absolutely no fear and is a total water bug. She could spend all day hanging in the pool.

Bye-bye!

2011-05-27T20:14:00.003-04:00

Charlotte's vocabulary has exploded in recent weeks. Well, for a 13 month old, anyway. Hearing her talk is the absolute most adorable thing ever ~~I know I say that about everything she does but this time I mean it~~ and her little voice is just too cute! So what's coming out of her little mouth at the moment?

Daddy
Mama
RyRy (her own little version of it)
Papa
Bye-bye
Meh (which I interpret as milk)
Hi
bubble
puppy
boo
Mmmm (I know it's not a word but it's too cute that she says that after taking a bite of something, lol!)
Ahhh! (means give me a bite of that!)

And b/c she's so darn adorable....

Best. Weekend. Ever.

2011-05-25T23:01:00.010-04:00

My good friend, Tabitha, and her fabulous family, drove 9 long hours to hang out with my family. How awesome, right? It feels like I've known her forever. We "met" online during our pregnancies with Maddie and Veda, four years ago! Her family is lovely and my kids had a wonderful time with Veda and Grayson. We had a weekend filled with non-stop craziness between five kids but it was definitely worth the chaos. But instead of rambling on and on about it, I'll just share our weekend in photos.

Our week in review :)

2011-05-14T21:48:00.022-04:00

Wow, it's been a crazy couple of weeks, as usual. I'm excited to share the most amazing news ever...my baby can walk! A couple days ago, she literally just stood up, on her own, and took a few steps. Just like that. It was so unreal. I was screaming like a crazy woman and following her around with the camera recording her every move, lol! Stuff like this just never gets old. Seeing your child accomplish milestones is so thrilling. She's quite fast too already. It's wild!

I've been trying to be better about capturing our "everyday". I'm getting there but I can do better. I'll keep trying. I want to remember every second of my days raising my girls. A few captures from the last week...

This, I love. Can you just FEEL the attitude here? Omgosh, I'm in trouble in a few years. She is stubborn, defiant and strong-willed. Just like her mama. ;)

She's one step closer....

2011-05-05T22:11:00.002-04:00

...to walking. Literally! She motors all over the house with her little push walker. It is by far the cutest thing ever. Period. End of story. Can I now please go gobble her up?

And a little "peek-a-boo!" for you!

Easter

2011-04-27T11:53:00.005-04:00

Hard to believe this Easter was Charlotte's second. Last Easter, she was just 2 days old, her and I celebrating the day from the comfort of our hospital bed. How's the saying go, "The days are long but the years are short."? Could NOT be more true. Sigh.

In previous years, I would fill up multiple baskets per child with, well, crap. This year, I decided the girls would each sit out their special basket from Grandma and overnight the Easter bunny would fill it. Then he would hide eggs around the house for them to search out. I still couldn't help going a tiny bit overboard but this year's stash proved to be much smaller so that is progress indeed! Poor Charlotte's basket was pretty bare but I don't think she minded.

After our morning at home, we had lunch with my parents and brother/SIL then dinner at Kev's parents. It was such a lovely day, the weather was gorgeous and the kids had a blast between all the festivities!

Feeling....kinda giddy.

2011-04-21T14:52:00.005-04:00

I've been having trouble finding free time to blog, that's no secret. I've been a little overwhelmed by the interest in my photography and come to find myself waist deep in sessions. I'm trying to finalize my business plans as quickly as possible and get this thing on the road. I would be ecstatic with a session a week. But lately it's been busy. This week alone I had four sessions (two newborns, a one-year old and a quickie company shoot). Next week, three are scheduled (newborn, 9 month old, outdoor family session). This has kept me in front of the computer for long hours at night yet I haven't found a moment to blog about my baby girl turning one. How sad is that?

I can't help but be excited. I didn't expect to jump into a business at this point in my life. I'm a busy mom of three young kids. It's hard to juggle everything but at the moment, we are making it work. Thankfully I have some very important people I can rely on to help me and allow me to pursue my passion!

Ok, so on to Charlotte. It's been a few weeks since her big day and most of the emotional aftermath has worn off. I'm feeling at peace with her age and excited to see all the ways she is growing and changing. Here's a taste of what she's up to these days.

That girl is climbing everything! She goes up the steps, down the steps, climbs onto chairs, slides off of the couch and bed...that girl is non-stop. She is still not walking and not even really standing for any respectable length of time but can crawl like the wind. Although this is not good for her leggings when she's playing outside. She does slowly cruise the furniture but I can honestly say she's not remotely interested in letting go and taking those first steps.

Charlotte is starting to communicate with us and that has been so fun. She makes certain sounds or hand gestures to indicate what she wants. If your drinking something and she wants a sip, she will point to your cup, open her mouth wide and say "ahh, ahh". When she ready for a mommy snack, she will either sign for milk or hit my chest while saying "ahh", lol! She will point to something she wants (a toy) or wants to do (swing) and grunt. It's so darn adorable and I love that she's figuring out how to interact with all of us.

Char loves to kiss. She will blow kisses or give you a big ole open mouth smooch with a dramatic "mmm-wah!". She especially enjoys showing Ry and Mad with endless kisses which is beyond adorable. She's really taken to her sisters lately and I can tell she realizes they care about her just as much as I do. She relies on them the way she does me. For example, she fell and bumped her head at my MIL's house over the weekend and immediately wanted Rylee to comfort her instead of grandma. I thought that was the sweetest!

Other notable things...she loves to: dance to music or my horrible singing, play the recorder ~~loudly~~, hang out in the dirt and sand, go for walks in the wagon, nurse, get a bath and play peek-a-boo.

I seriously cannot get over how the past year blew by in a flash. It is so much fun to have her old enough to play with her sisters and enjoy the summer outside. We are hoping she loves the pool! I usually start to feel a yearning once my kids hit the one year mark...the baby pang...but I don't feel it. I feel pretty content that this could be our family and that would be stellar. It IS stellar. Charlotte has been the most awesomely amazing addition we could have ever asked for or imagined. I love your Char Char! Happy birthday sweet girl!

And yeah, this is literally the only photo I've taken of her in the last week, lol! Ignore the pink/purple color cast from the gosh awful walls. She's starting to get some hair on that bald side finally...well, a tiny bit. :)

Ugh, ugh, uuuugggggghhhh.

2011-04-14T23:24:00.018-04:00

I am soooo far behind, I don't know where to start. Well maybe I'll start with this, I am alive. LOL Just...busy. The last few weeks have been slightly hectic between the kids, sessions, laundry, school apps, editing, five million store runs, more laundry, more editing, more playing with the kids....whew!

It doesn't help that Charlotte has apparently moved her bedtime from 7pm to 8pm, sometimes 9pm. And she insists on being nursed then rocked. The second I try to slip her into her crib, her grip on me tightens and she shrieks in protest. I usually end up sighing and taking her back to rock. On the rare occasion I do stick her in her crib to see what she does, she begins to sniffle and hold up her outstretched arms towards me. How am I supposed to resist that adorable gesture? So basically my work start time has been pushed from 7:30 until 9 or later. Which means I'm going to bed later and waking up tired and irritated. I would work during the day but Charlotte needs to be with me constantly. And during her naps, it's "catch up on the house" time and "play with the wee ones" time. BUT, I'm not complaining. I'm really not. Just explaining my absence from blogging and jotting down these little tid-bits for memory purposes. :) I sure love that girl!

I am slowly but surely getting Rylee's school applications in. I'm drowning in registration fees. :( It took me quite a bit of time to finish the parent's survey for one of the schools. With questions such as, "Please comment on your child's verbal ability in a social situation.", I had much thinking to do, lol. My brain still hurts.

Ry is still loving preschool and enjoying being with her friends. I got to see some of her work at school on Monday and it was quite impressive ~~if I do say so myself~~. As impressive as painting with marbles can be. Here's a photo Rylee's teacher took at school when they had to memorize and recite a particular nursery rhyme in front of the class.

Maddie is as darling as ever. She's been so well behaved lately, always listening to me and doing what is asked of her. And thank goodness because Rylee's drama is quite enough! As we inch closer to summer, Mooey's hair is taking a turn for the bigger. Or as Ry would say, "puffy". The muffin is puffin' and I'm loving it. No more frizzy fro!

And now, photos. From today. Using my new point and shoot (yay!). Enjoy ;)

Charlotte's birthday party

2011-04-05T10:49:00.009-04:00

A few photos for now...

Umm, yeah.

2011-04-03T22:53:00.004-04:00

So another week has flown by without a single peep from me. I cannot seem to find the time to sit my arse down and get sh*t done.

A very special little girl just turned one. More about that in another post, lol. It's late and I'm tired. Just wanted to check in and add a pic so when I print this year's blog, the pages won't be blank. ;-)

Little Miss is starting to motor around with the help of her little push toy. It's downright adorable to watch her stiff little legs shuffle around. She'll be walking in no time! Not.

Feeling overwhelmed.

2011-03-29T21:21:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, my sister-in-law and I, along with Rylee and my nephew, attended an open house at a nearby private college preparatory school that we are interested in. I had requested information from the school a few weeks ago and after reviewing the tuition rates, I threw the papers away feeling completely discouraged. But I decided to go to the open house anyway just to get a feel of what the school was like. All I can say is this, I left there feeling that this is without a doubt the most amazing school ever and I'm feeling so many different emotions on the subject of where to go with Rylee's education from this point on. The presentation given by the heads of each school department was so informative and thorough. There was a student and teacher panel to answer any and all questions from prospective parents. Later, we took an individual student-led tour of the school. Just listening to how articulate and composed the students were during the lecture and tour spoke volumes for the school. More so than any statistic or fact the staff could have possibly presented. They left quite an impression.

So while I'm wallowing in this pit of uncertainty, I thought if I blogged about it, it would help me sort out the jumbled mess in my brain.

Disadvantages.

Price. This is by far the biggest obstacle considering we are not in a financial position to afford even a fourth of the tuition. Even more discouraging is the fact that only about 25-30% of the school's population receives financial aid.

Location. This school is not nearly as convenient as Ry's current school, which is mere blocks away. Kevin swings by her school and drops her off on his way to work. She would need to take a bus which means we would probably have to drive her to a meeting point for her to be picked up. With two other children, this seems like a major hassle.

Competitive admissions. Even if I could find a way to financially enable Rylee to attend, she has to be admitted first. The admissions process is much like that of a college. Kevin and I would need to attend lengthy interviews, Rylee would be evaluated in a classroom environment and be required to complete testing, we would need letters of recommendation on Rylee's behalf...it's very intimidating and nerve-wracking.

I have two more children who will eventually enter school. Will I want to send them there as well? How would we ever afford that? What if we have more children? I must also now question expanding our family further. This is getting way too complicated.

Even if Rylee gets accepted and we received enough financial aid to enable us to afford the tuition, will we be able to keep up with the rising tuition rates as Rylee continues through each grade? Do I want to risk having to pull her out of a school where she is comfortable and put her in another school where she has to start over?

Uniforms. I had to say it. LOL!

Advantages.

Oh, where to begin. :)

8 to 1 student/teacher ratio.

The most amazingly qualified staff of teachers.

Second language is introduced immediately.

Environment. It's so welcoming, accepting, inspiring, encouraging, supportive...everyone is so positive. The teachers push you. Students push you. Everyone wants you to succeed. Everyone wants you to fit in and have a place. This is such an amazing concept.

Your financial status has no effect on the admission process. Financial aid and payment plans are available.

An extensive plethora of course offerings, school projects and opportunities.

Nondenominational. Rylee's current school is catholic. And while she is baptized catholic, we aren't exactly raising her that way. I personally would prefer religion was not part of her regular education but I don't have a huge deal with it.

The new science wing. ;-)

Open lockers because there is trust and mutual respect flowing through the halls. How cool is that?

Recycling bins at every turn, hehe. That rocks my world.

The feeling that this school *gets* me. These are people like me, who think like I do, that have similar philosophies as me. I live in a town where my thoughts, values and philosophies are not mainstream and that can leave me feeling a little bit like an outsider. I want my daughter(s) to feel like their ideas matter and what they value matters. I don't want them tainted by the small mindedness surrounding them here.

So I think I'm going to apply. I'm going to put us through the long and drawn out process of applying to both Ry's current school, which is also private but much cheaper, and the new school while filling out financial aid forms for both. We'll see what happens. Rylee said she loves the "new" school and is curious to know if she's going there. I explained that there's a pretty big chance she won't be going there, and in that case she will continue at her current school. She seemed satisfied by that answer. She's open to whatever happens for her.

A taste of spring

2011-03-24T08:44:00.018-04:00

A whole 'lotta blog post.

2011-03-19T17:38:00.024-04:00

I feel so behind at keeping this up to date with all that's happening in Kraft world that I think I'll just purge everything I can think of in this particular post. It's been a busy week around here with school, sickies and editing. There will lots of randomness coming your way so grab some popcorn, and perhaps a margarita, and try to keep up.

I had another "moment" this week. A moment that made me think just how happy I am in this life with my three amazing girls. I had dropped the girls off at granny's for the morning while I had a shoot. I picked them up not long after noon and we were excited to get home, get outside and enjoy the gloriously warm temps. On the way home, I had my car window down so we could breath in the fresh air. Maddie asked to put her window down as well so I unlocked them so she could. The warm breeze came rushing in, whipping her already tousled curls into a wild frenzy. She started shrieking in delight, her laughter full of the kind of joy and innocence that only a child experiences, to find such happiness in something as simplistic as the wind in her face. Her pleasure was infectious and soon everyone in the car, including Miss Charlotte, was laughing so hard we were on the verge of tears. I kept looking back at Maddie's face in the mirror as I drove thinking how sweet the moment was and how short these times last. I'm so blessed to be there to soak in all of these little snapshots of their lives.

It's depressing to think that I'm registering Rylee for kindergarten this month. For the last five years, she's been with me. All day, every day. How strange to not have her there for seven hours out of the day. I think Maddie will be affected. They are so tightly knit. I hope she will find that Charlotte is an acceptable replacement as playmate and best friend. While my MIL was watching Maddie and Charlotte on Wednesday, she said Maddie was curled up on Pwil in front of the door until Rylee showed up from preschool. :( I felt so sad for her!

We had a couple super warm days this week and spent as much time outdoors as possible, soaking up the sun's rays and fresh air. Some photos from our park day on Thursday...

Friday, we hung around the yard. Charlotte thought it would be fun to play in the dirt. And eat it.

Piling dirt on my leg, lol!

After her nap, it was back to fun outside. The booey hawk was out in full force and she went from eating dirt to chalk. Woot!

Speaking of booey hawks...can you believe this bald spot? Eek!

Maddie was battling a pretty nasty cough at the beginning of this week. The magnitude of it really had us concerned. She literally coughed for 24 hours straight with little to no break. I called the ped early Monday evening and they suggested I stick a humidifier in her room and try giving her Benadryl in case allergies were to blame. So I ran to the store to pick up a humidifier and set it up in her room. Her coughing only worsened that evening and she became very agitated. She said her neck hurt (guessing she meant throat?) and she was holding her ears tightly as if there was a loud noise she was trying to drown out. I made another quick trip to the store for some Advil and also found a homeopathic cough syrup to try. The combination of everything seemed to help and she was able to fall asleep. Although she coughed most of the night, she seemed less miserable. She spend most of Tuesday asleep on the couch, bless her heart. (See her Scooby Doo characters sleeping next to her? LOL!)

Rylee came home from school on Wednesday with instructions on how to catch a Leprechaun. We thought it might be a good idea to give it a try after reading the story of the Leprechaun and discovering that whoever caught him would receive his pot of gold (woot!). The trap called for a shoe box, string, clothespin and something to lure him in (we used a gold rock). The next morning, Rylee cautiously lifted the box as I waited with the camera, ready to snap a shot of our captured friend. Except the box was empty! That tricky Leprechaun! Maybe next year...

Whenever Kev has to work late, the girls and I like to have spaghetti night. Daddy isn't a huge pasta eater so it's the perfect opportunity for them to enjoy one of their favorite dinners without hearing daddy complain. I think it was Wednesday this week, Kev has a viewing to work so we of course had spaghetti night!

Hopefully Charlotte's cakesmash will take place this week. I'm waiting on a few more accessories to arrive so I can do all the different photos I have planned for her. Her one-year session is going to take several days, lol! It's so exciting yet so sad.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm so ready for bed right now! Sorry for any typos, I'm not proofreading. :)

Rylee Kraft Photography

2011-03-17T21:34:00.008-04:00

I made the mistake of offering to let her take a few shots with my "big" camera this morning. I think she's in love. We went to the park this afternoon since the weather was gorgeous and she wanted to take pictures. I set the exposure for her and handed over my baby. Watching Rylee in action was really cute and she got some cute images! Granted, 90% of the shots were out of focus or our heads were chopped off. I asked her if she wants to be a photographer when she grows up and she said no, she wants to be a mommy. LOL!

Ry in action, taken on my phone.

Charlotte was a grumpy mess at the park. :(

I love this candid mommy moment!

Miss Charlotte

My fav shot, me and my Mooey.

Just keep climbing, just keep climbing

2011-03-16T23:10:00.002-04:00

::to the tune of Dory's "just keep swimming" song on Nemo, lol::

This girl is seriously on the go. I was making dinner last night, came into the living room to check on her and she had vanished. I found her in the upstairs hallway, lol! That little stinker. Nothing will stop her now.

A new look.

2011-03-11T21:13:00.002-05:00

We recently decided we needed some new furniture. Our old furniture was ok. Mostly a mish-mosh of hand-me-down sofas and junk from our first apartment. I always thought our house looked decent but not really cohesive. I think that now it does. I especially love the piece under our TV. Much better than the dinky shelves we had there! We had to put the arm chair in the middle of the room because I wouldn't let Kev get rid of the ~~awful plaid~~ rocking chair just yet. :)

Blog books

2011-03-10T11:47:00.005-05:00

2011-03-09T21:06:00.000-05:00

Seriously..where does the time go? I feel like I'm barely keeping up. And even though I'm dead tired, I will pin my eyes up for an extra half hour and blog. Why? I'll tell you. I recently had my entire blog, from 2007-2010, printed, bound and hard-covered. And let me say, I am beyond thrilled with the results (blog2print.com). These books are amazing and I know that without a doubt these will be treasured for my lifetime and my children's lifetime.

The first book, 2007, will be more meaningful to Maddie. When I started this blog back in April of 2007, I had just discovered I was pregnant and wanted a way to document everything I was going through. It is by far the smallest of the book since I rarely blogged about much else at the time other than doctor appointments and annoying symptoms but it's probably the most special.

The following three books are huge, to say the least. So many amazing memories captured. The girls went crazy paging through and gazing at all the silly pictures of themselves. I lie in bed at night and read through the pages. I started at the beginning and will work my way though the years. Now it's more important to me than ever to keep up here because I know this is really the only place I document our lives. The girls' baby books are half empty. I rarely ever print out snapshots, let alone stick them in albums. I will hopefully get some shots of the books to share sometime tomorrow. They are really neat!

On to the important stuff. Booey. Oh, and Mooey. There is quite the bond building going on between these two little love birds. With Rylee gone three mornings a week, Maddie is left to either A. Entertain herself B. Play with me (which isn't always possible) or C. Entertain her baby sister. Usually, she goes with C. and then with B. when C is napping. LOL!

They are so cute together. Madge does all kinds of weirdo things to Charlotte and baby girl loves it. I think C just wants to be accepted as one of the girls and will allow them to do just about anything to her. One morning, the three of us were playing "storm" while Ry was at preschool. (If you are not familiar with this game, it's when a terrifying thunderstorm rolls through while we are sleeping and scares the begeezes out of us). I caught Maddie ever-so-lovingly tucking in Charlotte...and Charlotte gazing back at her with a big ole grin. How can you not smile at that? Oh, and ignore that crazy muffin! (muffin=nickname for Mad's afro)

My big girl thinks she's hot potatoes playing peek-a-boo. And, well...I would have to agree! She's started playing peek-a-boo with blankets or she'll just cover an eye with one hand, sometimes she'll even say "boo!". Cuteness at it's highest level.

Charlotte's new favorite activity? Opening dresser drawers, removing all of the contents in said drawer and then proceeding to fashion said contents from said drawer. This makes laundry put-away day more complicated. LOL!

Chalk. It's what's for dinner.

2011-03-04T13:00:00.002-05:00

I remember when Maddie was around one year old or so, she became deeply fascinated with toilet paper. She loved unraveling the entire roll and shredding the thin paper into tiny strips, littering them all over our bathroom floor. It wasn't long before she discovered she enjoyed eating the paper...with it being so light and papery, it must have been down right delicious. Ha! It became a constant battle keeping that child from the roll of toilet paper and an on-going joke about how we couldn't get her to eat anything else but that (keeping in mind her tiny figure at the time).

It seems Charlotte has taken her own liking to eating something odd...sidewalk chalk. Babies love putting things (everything) in their mouths. It just sort of goes with the territory at Charlotte's age. But she seems to really enjoy the chalk. Gag.

I heard Miss C in her crib talking loudly to herself after waking from her nap yesterday afternoon. I entered her room to get her and immediately am shocked to see a powdery yellow substance lining her lips and coating the inside of her mouth.

What in the world??.....

My mind raced as I tried to imagine what sort of horrible illness she woke up with....until I saw it. A wet piece of yellow side walk chalk laying in her crib.

How in the world??.....

Then I realized...I had moved the girls' easel next to Charlotte's crib while Kev works on painting their new bedroom. Charlotte had figured out she could reach under her crib bumper and grasp a piece of chalk. That little stinker! I'm just glad it was only chalk and she didn't grab one of the small magnetic letters that came with the easel...easily a choking hazard. Thank goodness!

Mmmm...chalk. See the easel next to the crib?
Then mean ole mommy snatched the chalk from her. Shame!

11 Month birthday

2011-03-03T08:17:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was Charlotte's last month birthday. Bittersweet, for sure. I'm excited to plan her first birthday shoot and her party though. Yesterday we walked down to the studio for some quick photos. I had this owl hat in mind to use for her first birthday so I've been saving it. I have the finished product of her party invitation on my 365!

Sheer happiness.

2011-02-28T20:48:00.004-05:00

Oh, spring..how you tease us...

Yesterday was a fabulous day. I loved every second of it and kept thinking to myself just how lucky I am to have my amazing family to share it with. I'm not sure why I felt so emotional about it. I think warm weather and being outside doing activities with the ones you love is a natural anti-depressant. It's seriously just what I needed.

It started off with a tiny of bit of a sleep-in for this mama, until around 9am or so. Then I had to be up for a shoot which ended up being super fun (it was a re-shoot and the first go 'round wasn't the best, lol). The temperature was creeping higher and higher so by the time I returned home, I announced that we would be spending the day outside. And we did.

We went for a gloriously long walk...Char in the wagon...Ry on her bike...Maddie lollygagging along, trying to avoid getting run down by Rylee... We picked up slushies at Turkey Hill...swung by the studio to hang some of my work...returned home to swing, throw snowballs made from the tiny pile of leftover snow in our yard and whatever else tickled our fancy. Such a great, great day!

One month to go.

2011-02-27T11:55:00.008-05:00

One month until my sweet baby turns one year old. This can't almost be possible yet I find myself planning out her birthday photoshoot, thinking about designing invitations, planning her party...

I love this girl more than I could ever imagine I was capable of. After two kids, you would think I wouldn't be taken so off guard by it but I am. She's so special in every sense of the word and just thinking of her makes me want to explode with happiness. I'm sure once it's time to write her first birthday post, I will be downright sobbing while typing. It all happens so fast and it's just so unfair.

So, as I do every month, I had a mini-photoshoot in honor of her 11 month-day. Granted, we did it a little early but I'm planning on doing her first birthday photos in a couple weeks. She is just so beautiful!

So it's been a week.

2011-02-24T16:00:00.002-05:00

An entire week has passed since I updated here. That's not good. I clearly must be so unbelievably busy that I just cannot possibly find the time to pop in and update about my life. Yep, that's it. So here's a quick run-down of what's, well, going down.

Rylee: One word. Diarrhea. Since last Thursday until Tuesday my poor baby has been suffering from a nasty case of the diarrhea and it has been nothing short of dramatic. She's rarely sick and was so confused by the way going to the bathroom felt. It truly scared her so every trip to the toilet became an ordeal, to the say the least. Friday brought with it some vomiting but that quickly resolved. I think she's finally mended at this point and she's more than ready to get back to school tomorrow. Plus, it's purple day, her favorite color, lol. She has to wear purple and take along something purple for show-and-tell. Pics to follow. :)

Maddie: One word. Bully. This child has become self-centered, irrational, demanding, and downright mean over the last month or so. I know it's a normal part of toddler-hood. I also know that Kevin and I have undoubtedly contributed to this transformation with our constant "baby-ing" of her giving her the sense that she can do no wrong. ~~Although, she can indeed do no wrong. :)~~ Parenting is a constant adjustment for me. Just when I think I've gotten it all figured out, one of my darling children morphs into someone I do not recognize forcing me to reevaluate and recalculate my parenting game plan. I have gone from the comfort of knowing that I can rely on Maddie's calm, cool, collective disposition to praying to the temper-tantrum Gods that my child does not pitch the ultimate high-pitched, full-blown, melt-down of the century while I'm paying for my groceries in a crowded Walmart with a baby under my arm and a whiny five year old begging for a toy. Yep, this scene has played out once or twice before. Difference is, until this point, it was Rylee pitching the fit. I'm officially out-numbered.

Charlotte: Two words. Sleep-deprived. I pride myself on having good sleepers. We start with, what Iconsider to be, good sleeping habits and solid bedtime routines from birth and I've never had issues with my babies "confusing" night and day, thinking it was play time when it was indeed sleep time. My definition of a "good sleeper" is probably different from most. My kids never "sleep through the night" in the terms that others expect. Charlotte goes down at night around 7pm and sleeps until 7am the next morning, waking two or three times to nurse. To me, this is success. The last few weeks have not been successful. Naps have been a mess. I think she's transitioning from two naps (morning and afternoon) to one nap, although we have yet to find an appropriate nap time that works for her and doesn't mess with the rest of her day/sleep schedule. She is fighting her bed time therefore not getting to sleep until much later. She's waking almost hourly and ~~needs~~ wants nursed back to sleep. I oblige because, well, she's my baby. I love her and I know this is just a tiny blip of her life. I'll be able to sleep eventually... someday. But I'll never get these moments back. At least that's what I tell myself at 1 am...and 2 am....3 am....4 am............

So between the diarrhea, screaming fits and sleeplessness, you can imagine why I haven't blogged. So here's an update on me:
One word ~~although I'm not sure it's an actual word~~: D700. I was very sad to let my D90 go and actually quite apprehensive about the move to full frame. The switch has been great and I'm really happy I took the plunge. Now I just need to finish paying the darn thing off and then I'll really be happy, lol! Sessions are picking up for me too which is fun and exciting. I have several newborns coming up in March and April which thrills me! I also just launched my Kristine Kraft Photography Facebook fan page until I get time to set up an actual website. Turns out that this is a lot of work ;-) so I'm trying to take it slow and let my business develop at it's own pace. I definitely don't want it to take away from my kids or have it complicate my life further. At this point, it's a fun bonus. It's not really a money maker since I put all my earnings plus more back into it. But it brings me joy and that's payment enough at this point.

Last, but certainly not least, Kevin: You got it. One word: Painting. He's been working on our middle bedroom for the two older girls. They requested pink and purple walls and that's what they got! It's obnoxious and seriously makes me want to vomit when I walk in there but they love it so far. He still has the ceiling to finish and some touching up to do but the girls seem really excited about their "new" room. I'll have photos to post soon, once he's finished. Other than that, he's been really busy at his job and I often wish he would just take some time to relax. He's just not that kind of guy. Except when he's on the Xbox. :)

Charlotte's 11 months photo session is complete. I wanted to get it done a week early because I'm planning on doing her one year cake smash in a couple weeks so I can work on whipping up birthday party invitations. I can't even almost believe I'm thinking about her first birthday. This is sad, depressing, unfair but exciting. I know she has to grow up. It's just going to fast. Boo. Till tomorrow...