What's wrong with this picture??

okay - besides some of the shoes being dirty and needing to be tossed...
Notice - they're all about the same size...and they're all for the right foot. A few weeks ago we were trying to get ready for church and I went to get Mac's shoes...and kept pulling out only the right side...there were NO left church shoes in our house - not kidding. How does that happen? Are they buried in the sandbox? I went and bought him a pair of slip ons - and they slipped right off...so I gave up and bought another pair of black size 8.5 church shoes. Exhausting.

On another exhausted note - my heart goes out to all of you with weak, shallow MOLAR roots. I had the wonderful pleasure :) of having an implant and tooth pulled (with a bone graft) on the same day - not pleasant...can't yell, chew, sleep etc... Genetics I tell you - not fair. (I blame genetics since I drink water and eat veggies...and occasionally eat a piece of chewy candy - so it can't be ME right?)

AND for the final exhausted note of the day - after last nights WWF at the dinner table and display of all things "TEWK family" (that's how its spelled right mom? the imaginary family that my mother grew up with that had horrible manners at the dinner table) that ended with a grand finale of the 2 boys going to their rooms withOUT finishing their dinner and staying there for the rest of the night 'lest their father be called home from the late night tax work to give them an earful (don't worry - their trusty and loyal sister snuck them food and ipods and homework to keep them company - thinking their mother wouldn't know :) - A new family dinner time GOAL has been set. 30 DAYS of impeccable manners (no spilling, getting up, burping and other kinds of atrocious behavior will be tolerated) equals the opportunity to go OUT to a restaurant as family and use those impeccable manners to impress the local "dining out" population :) Stay tuned...

Prescott Baby Photographer

Oh the sweetness of this little guy!! The squishability factor was at a 10 - and the baby blue eyes were off the chart :) I love it when I get to hang out barefoot and shoot at my house. (And when Ella sleeps through the entire shoot :)

Motherhood

(moving on from the un-lovely previous mother post :)

I love taking pictures of mothers...I feel as though I'm helping provide proof that mothers work hard and that they truly are doing the best job they can - stopping often to remind themselves to find JOY in the JOURNEY. I had a session yesterday of a mom with her 3rd little child and it was wonderful. It reminded me of a session that I never posted awhile back of a mom pregnant with her 5th baby - absolutely glowing...and of course the angelic result.

Drill Sergeant

Mornings around here are rough.
I feel like a drill Sergeant yelling:
"In the car...let's go! let's go! Hussle people! MOVE IT!"
"Indy you aren't allowed in the car until you brush your teeth!"
"Laina go clear your bowl off the table and put the cereal box away! And don't even THINK about asking for a playdate until that room is clean!"
"McLaren - you rascal (the only child that comes out of his room dressed for the day :) Get out of Ella's face!" (I wish I had said please...it wouldn't have seemed so harsh as it does when writing it down).
(Now I get why Matt thinks I yell too much - except he's gone by the time this happens...however we repeat it around bedtime.)
Then we race off to school - except for Fridays...I drive slow -- so we can practice spelling words all the way to school.

Extended.

Had some extended family sessions that needed posting...I love being able to do something "different" with my big groups - adds a little spice dontcha think - 'cause there certainly isn't enough spice corralling 20+ people right!!??

Valentines Day

We spent a wonderful weekend with family.

Cousins, food, movies...good times all around.

Earlier in the week - the kids and I threw down on our annual valentines photos. They each get to pick the "theme" for their valentines cards and then we took some pictures. Hey - I may not be the most craftiest in the world....but we DO valentine's cards around here - its a tradition. Even El' (with her DOUBLE ear infections :) got to do some...







MY FAVORITE VALENTINE TO DATE...

I had some more of laina that I loved, but I have to calibrate my monitor again and then I'll add them (NEW computer finally arrived!! only 5 months of waiting!! yipppee :)

Down...Down...Down.

We have been DOWN for the count here this past week. Unfortunately, I'm of the mindset that lots of water and sleep can cure just about everything - and if I'm really desperate I might take some Ibuprofen...I can still count the number of times I've taken tylenol/ibuprofen - and they were all right after giving birth. This week I have a new appreciation for prescription drugs - they are a beautiful thing - that's all I'm saying...and next year around this time I VOW to go straight and get the Z-pac first without suffering for 6 horrible miserable days :(

Matt threatened to hijack my blog just so he could post a song about the miseries of February - I told him that kind of negativity was NOT allowed on the blog (unless they're about APPLE), but it was a good song...

Earlier this week...around midnight...we woke up to Indy standing at the end of our bed and vomiting all over our DOWN comforter - which we were sleeping under. It was unsheathed - I had been washing the cover. It went into the trash at midnight...and we had to sleep under a spiderman blanket. The incident is now being referred to as the "billion dollar barf" (not that the comforter cost that much, but buying a new one + cover wasn't cheap). At breakfast the following morning, we had to review throw-up guidelines...vomit in a sink, tub, or toilet FIRST, THEN come and tell mom and dad :)

Happy Valentine's weekend!

The Enemy.

The enemy has entered the building.

Let me first state the obvious:

1. My german heritage leans heavily towards a "stubborn" nature (or at least my husband seems to think so and tell me so...) so remember this when you're reading...

2. My political persuasion leans heavily towards the RIGHT (why this has anything to do with the subject is completely unknown, just thought it needed to be said...because everyone knows that if you love Apple and Steve Jobs then you probably voted for the "Change we Need" right?)

3. I was born and raised on a PC - and put myself through high school and college using the PC

4. I can make a PC sing - it must be that RIGHT brained thing...

5. Apple is dumb. (just writing that makes me laugh)

Now, I will add a few things that I'd prefer to stay in the closet:

1. I own an ipod shuffle - and gave birth to 2 children listening to the simple ipod shuffle

2. I received an itouch (without knowing how cool it was) for a Christmas gift from my PC/Dell/Windows loving husband - HOW COULD HE?

3. I really like the itouch - but that's as far as I will go (and I REALLY like the kindle app for the itouch - something I knew nothing about until 2 weeks ago...seriously couldn't anyone have clued me in here??? It's like the Babies R Us thing all over again...only this time with books.)

4. I've been waiting for 5 months for Dell to send me a new warranty computer :)

AND...

5. This weekend another enemy entered my home - APPLE TV (yes its incredible....yes its awesome...yes it way cool...yes you probably should get one...blah blah blah), but I will never say it out loud. AND I WILL NEVER-EVER-EVER own a MAC. Matt walked in with the little box and I seriously felt like I had been betrayed. BETRAYED, I tell you.

It's the "principle" of it.... (And a german stubborn thing.) Apparently you can't be a legitimate photographer unless you have a MAC. Whatever. To me, the whole situation resembles the ol' Nikon/Cannon debate...or a Ford/Chevy debate...each of them have a few cool components that make them special but in the end you get in the vehicle and it gets you from point A to point B OR you click the button and take a picture.

So there. I feel so much better, and to be fair, I'll answer my cousin's question..."No I did not smell marijuana or incense burning when I opened the box :) " And I should probably add that I'm goin' off of about 4 hours of sleep (sickness + teething baby = little sleep) ...however sleep deprivation does not change my feelings on this subject.

*Okay...the MAC family and friend users that I know do not fall into any of the MAC stereotypes...just sayin...I'm not a hater.

So Long Shanghai....

This friendship began about 3 months after we moved here to Prescott (approximately 7 years ago). I had one cute, rambunctious little 19 month old boy...and I was sick and pregnant with Laina. A friend told me, "join the Y(MCA)...that's where all the moms are." I was desperate...desperate for female interaction...desperate for playgroups...desperate for help in entertaining this ball of energy - the Indy 500. My first thought was "join a gym? I'm barfing all over the place...how can I join a gym??" Then my desperation took over and I convinced myself I could go and stand on a treadmill and ACT like I was working out AND still use the free babysitting from the kidZone. So I did, and I signed Indy and I up for a swimming class.

January of 2003...the first class of the tots swimming went great and I met a cute, but quiet (HA!)girl...who had an adorable boy. We continued chatting into the locker room and the next Sunday ran into each other at church. We laughed about it and became VERY good friends...she watched the Indy 500 while I finished out my contract with the Department of Education (reviewing the school lunch programs in Northern Arizona- my former life as the RD)...she also watched me balloon into a whale and cause serious water displacement as I, 7-8 months pregnant, would have to run after Indy when he hopped out of the kiddie pool and darted over to the big pool threatening to jump in.
Over the years, we've added a few kids. She cleaned and organized my closet at 4am while I was in labor at the hospital with McLaren. We've taken trips to the dunes (only ONE infamous trip to the dunes - after crashing 2 times Matt took her quad away from her :) and to Lake Powell (she and I were banned from driving together after feeding the kids red vines and chicken nuggets...some of which ended up stuffed down Matt's door :)
She bakes like no other and when she visits she is immediately put to work in the kitchen. She decided to leave all of us about 3 years ago and head to Austin, Texas...I still haven't forgiven her. NOW - she's hauling her bunch across the globe to CHINA - Shanghai to be exact. Her husband is from Shanghai (and NO, he doesn't miss communism - I asked him :) and he's headed over there to work. She will bravely take on the task of homeschooling and trying to fatten the Chinese up with her mad baking skillz.
I will miss her. Immensely. We always seem to pick up right where we left off - and our kids never seem to miss a beat. It's crazy to think we started with just 3 kids and its turned into this...(too cold for Ella - there's snow everywhere behind me - and notice how not one child has jacket??!#$%:)

*(left to right: Matt, Laina, Lily, McLaren, Piper, Mia, Indy)

OKAY...I gave Indy such a hard time and asked him to PLEASE BE NORMAL while I took the above picture...then it was our turn...and this was one of the last ones we took: (sorry Indy...you come by your insanity naturally...I will try to not punish you in the future for being controlled by the DNA I gave you. I really thought that your father's would win out...and Laina - the next time I tell you that your voice is so loud...ignore me...I was told that growing up ALL THE TIME - luckily my self-esteem is still firmly entact.)

**Did you really think that I wouldn't make Ella take some pictures?? My time is running out - she'll be crawling soon and no longer immobile. Mobile = NO easy pictures.

The first one Laina took (okay so she held the button down and shot like 30 before I could get up and take it away!) while we were waiting for Stacie to get here (we're happy because we were dressed early for church - and nobody was beat....I mean nobody was in trouble.)

The little leprechaun!

YUP - framing this baby.

Senior Photography {Prescott AZ Photographer}

So calm, quiet & serene. We could've shot forever and ever, but alas...we finally parted, and with some killer images :)

The War

"-Where'd you git all them fudge sickles??
-A big ol' plane dropped 'em outtada sky"

The have been several similarities between McLaren (and his new do) and brawling movie characters - the uncanny resemblance was ever so strong yesterday, when he emerged from his bedroom having gone in there with fudge sickle contraband and emerged with the glaring evidence all over his face. (This is the second day in a row that he's retreated with fudge sickles to his room to hide and eat - odd...but they're sugar free - I'll just keep that my little secret.)

**I promise I do discipline this child - its just so hard when you try to hide your laughter while doing it.