Pumpkins and Pictures

There is nothing I love better these days than taking pictures of Ellie. I've been frustrated at my lack of skills at understanding my camera settings, and I think I'm going to read the entire manual. Anyway, here are some of my favorites from todays photo shoot.

Love those toes!

Loved this one!

Monday we got all festive around here and carved us some pumpkins. We hosted our annual "Carve Pupmkins With The Marsaw's" and had, might I say a smashing time. I don't know why I'm talking all wierd, but I'm just going to go with it for now. Here are the pics!



From left to right: Logan's, Dan's, Owen's, Lincolns and Becki's.
Logan and Lincoln drew the face on themselves, and Owen told us what shapes he wanted. Linc's is Dan's and my personal favorite.



This little girl was braver than the boys when it came to the pumpkin guts!


See what I mean?

Who let that kid get ahold of a knife?

Alex was the first to start and the last to finish. He carved a Mickey and it turned out really good!

Logan was disgusted, but he did try to save all his seeds to plant a pumpkin patch.

Ewwwww.

Linc didn't seem to mind the slime, but he did hand it over to me to finish after a few minutes.

Master Daniel and his carving skills.

My favorite picture of the night. What are you thinking about Jess...or should I say, whom?

The way of the Ninja

Life at our house has taken a new path this week as our boys have finally discovered their destiny for Halloween. They have chosen the life of the Ninja (and spider, although Owen didn't have much choice). Our home is now a place of stealth and swordsmanship. Beware.

What a day

I want begin this post by clarifying that this is not meant to come across as whining or complaining or ingratitude of any kind. Instead I hope that it makes you laugh and if any of you who read this have ever felt like you weren't keeping up with things, know that you are completely normal, and that you aren't alone in feeling that way. I think we all do sometimes.
I've had the type of evening/morning that makes me think someone is out to get me. Either that or Heavenly Father is trying to test my sense of humor. I haven't had any major calamities, but the gross amount of little things has added up and once again I find myself throwing my hands in the air, surrendering any sense of order to my day.

Last night Dan and I discovered that for some reason the keypad on my phone is no longer working. I can answer calls, but I can't dial any buttons. Not a big thing, but a start. After failing to get my phone working, I tried Dan's and every call I made dropped, so I gave up on calling people and went to work putting the boys to bed. Now lately, I don't know why, but my three boys are having some trouble hearing. Either that, or the connection between their hearing and brain comprehension has a wiring problem. As you can imagine, this makes getting ready for bed rather difficult. I began asking nicely for them to get their pjs on. After that didn't work, I increased the intensity of my asking. From there I went to threatening, and finally, exhausted, I took away their book privileges for the night and said it was time for prayers. As you can imagine, prayers don't always go so well, when Mom and Dad are frustrated, three boys are devastated about not getting books and a baby girl is getting very hungry. We did our best however, and said good night.

An hour later everyone but Ellie was asleep. The house was mess from the day, but Dan and I were way too tired to clean, so we relaxed. Two hours later Ellie was asleep. An hour after that Dan and I went to bed. An hour after that, Ellie woke up. Two hours later Lincoln woke up (note: notice I haven't mentioned Ellie being asleep yet?) A half and hour after that Linc and Ellie and Dan and I are all asleep. Two hours later, Logan wakes up screaming about spiders as big as wolves coming to get him. This continues for a desperate two hours. He couldn't be comforted, so Dan grabbed his pillow and blanket and headed for the bunk below Logan. (Linc's asleep on the floor in our room). A half an hour later Ellie is up and hungry again. It is now four a.m. I feed her and fall asleep in my chair with her in my arms. I wake up at five with a kink in my neck, and lay Ellie back down. I crash into my bed and before I know what's happening I wake up to the alarm that's been blaring for at least five minutes. (That's what that obnoxious sound I couldn't turn off in my dream was)

With a night like that it's no surprise my morning was jinxed. All the kids woke up at the same time, except for Logan who refused to budge from his bed. He's the one I need to get ready, so Dan pulls him down for me (I'm holding a hungry baby) and he groggily stumbles down to eat. Lincoln wanted Corn Squares, Owen wants Cheerios, and Logan of course wants Rice Krispies. Owen and Lincoln want the green bowl and uh oh, Logan wants the green bowl too. It's the last one in the cupboard so they all get orange bowls, and might I add aren't pleased. Two of the three cups of milk end up spilled, and Logan had to run up and change his outfit. While he's gone, Lincoln discovers that it's Monday, not Tuesday and throws a fit because he won't be going to school. (preschool is only Tue. and Thur.) Logan comes back dressed like a clown and has to go upstairs to try one more time, but gets lost along the way. I find him, five minutes later playing with his army guys in the hallway upstairs. We are now officially late for school, but morning prayer is important, so I drag everyone together and try not to feel frustrated again. After prayer we're ready to go, except that Lincoln tried to pour his own lemonade, on the living room carpet, I can't find my cell phone (not that it will do me much good) and Owen decided that now was the perfect time to dirty his diaper.

I must pause now to remind you that I'm not complaining.....really. I'm simply demonstrating that some days I have absolutely no control over anything. Some days I just have to keep afloat. There's more, but I think I'll stop because right now they are ALL asleep at the same time (maybe that means my bad luck streak is over for the day), and I really should go tidy up a bit. Hope your day is going better than mine. You know, I think I'm feeling better already. Thanks for letting me vent.

:)

Ellie is one month old!

Can you believe she's a month old? The time has gone so quickly, and to be honest, it's been pretty fuzzy too. I think the sleep deprivation has taken its toll on my brain cells. At least I've been through it three times before and I know it won't last forever. I will get sleep again! It may be five years from now, but I will get it again. Seriously, we all love our new little girl. I'm lucky to have three very sweet boys who love her to pieces! She is gaining weight and is just over seven pounds now. She looks like a little peanut when she stretches. Her sweet spirit brings a calming peace to our home, and like the song Dan put on the video of her says, (see a few posts earlier) she truly is the angels' best. I know Heavenly Father meant for her to be with us and I am eternally grateful for that. So, in honor of her one month, here are some new sweet Ellie pictures. I just can't stop photographing her...it's way too fun.

With this picture I was trying to capture her while she's cuddled up to my chest. It was hard to do, but I love how this one turned out. I don't want to forget how little and sweet she is.

So little. I put her in her first pair of jeans, and just laughed. They are so big on her skinny bottom. I had to snap a picture.

The next couple of pictures were taken today. When I was pregnant with Logan, some of our fantastic friends bought us my favorite baby item, a white, old fashioned bassinet. I really wanted to take some of her while she's still in it. The blanket she's laying on was made for her by my mom.

Bright eyes

This was sweet. Logan wanted to help and when he sat behind her she turned to look at him. She doesn't do that much yet, so I was happy to get this shot.

Long Time No See

Welcome to the South! This is my scenery. Isn't it beautiful?

I haven't posted in what feels like forever! I've been so incredibly busy and my computer time has taken a hit. Ellie has been as sweet as ever, although she's picked up a bit of a screaming habit lately. She LOVES being cuddled all the time. I think it's about time to break out the ole Baby Bjorn so I'll be able to get some things done again. The boys are all great. Linc is currently in the playroom picking up his toys. He's been in there now for a total of three hours between yesterday and today. I keep thinking that any time he'll get tired of being in there and finally break down and clean them up... I'll have to let you know how that works out. Logan's at school again. We had an entire "fall break week" last week and having him home again was wonderful. He's our idea man. He's always coming up with something new to try. Owen is sleeping and has finally graduated to no more sleep time binki. I'm very proud of him. Well, I guess that covers the kids. Dan and I are great. Sleep deprived, but happy. What can I say other than I love that man. Here's A LOT of pictures to catch y'all up on the past few weeks. Adios!

Little Burrito Girl

Little Perpetual Sunbeam Boy

Owen and his best little friend at the mall playcenter. They had more fun with our stroller than on the climby toys.

This picture is a little fuzzy, but so beautiful. Look at that smile! I can't wait til it's for me.

Little Sweet Boy

This is one of my new favorite Ellie pictures

Linc, A, and Logan in A's Daddy's truck. Logan thought it was so cool that he had a bed in his truck!

The rest of these pictures are from Logan's first field trip. His class went to a local pumpkin patch and Dan watched the kids for me so I could go. Logan is so happy at school with his friends. I loved being there with him, though I think I went a little picture crazy. :)

Pictures

Wow, this is a record for me. Two blog posts in one day! I guess Dan did about five in one day on Ellie's birthday, but usually I wait a few days. I had to post some cute pictures though, and I didn't have time earlier today. (ironic when you read the earlier post) So here they are....just a some randomn, sweet pictures.




"Baby" Owen has now graduated to be "Little" Owen, and here he is with a milk mustache!




So sweet!




While I was playing with my camera this morning, taking pictures of Ellie, Owen got tired of waiting and plopped his little bum down between myself and the camera. I guess he wanted me to read him a story. :)




I love this picture! This is Logan and his sweet little friend. Her mom and I were downstairs chatting while the boys and she were upstairs. Apparently the toy room toys weren't interesting to them anymore because they both came down dressed in clothes from Dan's and my closet. I love how Logan chose a very "Manly" outfit and his friend's is very girly. If you look close, she's even wearing my bra. Not sure what to think about that one. Her mom and I had a good laugh!




Since Ellie is so little, I haven't been able to "play dolls" with her too much yet, but she did have one outfit that looked promising, so Saturday I gathered all the cute girly outfit pieces together and had a fun dressing her up. Her skinny little legs made the tights look like MC Hammer pants, and the dress is a little big, but I sure had fun. My only question is, do the tights go under or over the onsie? And what about the bloomers...I really have no idea what I'm doing. boys are much simpler.

Just the time

I used to be afraid, back when I was pregnant with Lincoln (number two) that when he was born I wouldn't have enough love to spread between him and Logan. I found out of course that love is something that grows with each new child, and that there will always be more than enough for all of my children and husband. I was pleasantly surprised and relieved at this discovery. I also learned however, that even though my ability to love each new child comes easily, my ability to juggle all the little day to day things becomes increasingly difficult. I have no end of love for our new little girl, but I feel like any sense of order in our home has gone out the window. I guess that's why this is classified as the "adjustment" period.

Owen is pretty good at keeping himself occupied during the day. His curiosity and craziness helps with that. (even though it means I'm constantly cleaning up after him)
Lincoln likes his Momma. He wants to play games and draw letters and read with me ALL the time. Luckily he also loves his computer, so I can have a little space every now and then. Logan is at school all day and when he's home, he's creating and building. (making two mess makers to keep up after)
Juggling the kids is only part of it. I'm still working on getting the house clean, meals cooked, laundry done, and squeezing in some time for myself. Oh yeah, and I do have Dan to think about too. :) In the end Ellie and I have time together when she's nursing and after the boys go to sleep. She's been a very good little sleeper, so that has been a huge blessing.
I'm sure I'll get a schedule down soon, and feel a little more organized. Like I said, I'm not worried about the love, just the time. :)