A little unmotivated.

Well, seeing now that you aren't going to be getting Christmas cards from me... I thought I would post what was maybe going to be it. I still needed to adjust the layout and wasn't super thrilled with my pictures...so I put off ordering them. We still haven't gotten our Christmas tree decorated either...we've been sort of bad about the holidays this year. James has been working a TON and I feel like poo pretty much all day. I've gotten quite a bit of the reading I wanted to do though (to be more positive :)).


Also, below are some ridiculous pictures of chrissy, my mom, and I. Chrissy emailed me a picture this week that she altered and I sent her one back and they thought it was so fun, it has been a sort of fun email back and forth with some silly pictures. Now I've shown Chrissy how simple it is to use the liquify tool and she's been wasting away her hours at work playing... good thing my mom is her boss :)

Creepy.

I don't think my mom would appreciate me posting ones of her looking fatter, so I left it to the odd looking bat face. I don't know, it just reminds me of a bat or a gremlin or something.

NOW, my mom said I don't look ugly in this picture. Mom Goggles alert! i look like a scary michael jackson wannabe mixed with meg ryan after her insane lip collagen.

By the way, on a totally and completely random note... I just saw that Britney Spears had lipo and some other elective surgeries. For some reason, that made me feel so much better! Seriously, how does a girl lose a belly and butt that fast?! Now I know. For some super scary plastic surgery, i saw www.awfulplasticsurgery.com . It can really turn my stomach to think that people are that insecure that now we have these weird alien people walking around.

The Ones We Love.

www.theoneswelove.org

It is an amazing thing to see people through the eyes of those that cherish them most.

New Lens is Here!

My new lens is here! I'm excited. I got the cheaper one than what I wanted, but since I'm upgrading cameras too, thought I would wait on the lens that was more expensive until a little later. SO I got 17-40mm f4L and it is a lot sharper than my previous lens in that range. I can tell a difference in the L series, they are so much better! Anyway, here is a picture I took of Eli in the bathroom while Berlin was brushing her teeth (she is obsessed even more now that I got her children's sparkle Crest). Shot was taken at 1600ISO, f4, 160th using only window light. I put a softener on it, to make it look older so it isn't as sharp as the original, but I'm so excited at actual sharp pictures!

Yes, those cheeks get lots of kisses!

Cowboy Jammies.

I absolutely love these pajamas. The are so soft and cuddly...making Eli even more cuddly...if that is possible?! So, I couldn't resist taking his picture. I got a few more totes for organizing the toys that will soon be accumulating and the kids thought they were the coolest new toys! Well, whatever entertains...

Little toes...LOVE baby toes!

FIRST family picture!!!

Yes, the very first since ever! There is always someone missing so we actually got all the siblings together! Stinks that the weather was so bad we couldn't go outside with the kids...but hopefully we'll be able to get some fun ones in summer!

Chrissy, Matt, Sarah, Ryan, Elijah, Steve, Ashton, Mom, Berlin, James, Amanda, Roger, Sarah, Steven, Felicia

Ashton.

Mom being a wonderful light tester.

lol. trying to get the kids to cooperate isn't easy. Especially without naps!

November :)

So there were lots of random pictures that I took in November. I wasn't feeling like taking pictures, but sometimes the moments happen and I feel like they should be documented. AND my idea of things to be documented might stray from tradition.... but anyway, here are some :)

Oh, and the first couple of pictures if you decide to download them, like I know some do (grandma :D .... they are really shrunk down so they might not be so great other than on the web.)

Berlin slowly being potty trained... first time peed on toilet!AND that deserved a song and dance according to Berlin.

Finger painting. Elijah just kept wanting to eat it. Thankfully, non-toxic!

A mess of paint.

Feet painting!

Cleaning off the paint. Eli trying to escape.

Berlin talking to her camera, showing it the snow outside. Silly kid.

Bathtime! Our bathroom getting done!

Naked walking...he likes the bathroom.

Berlin came out of playing in her room with 2 balls in her shirt and said, "look, i have boobs!" ah, the things they say....and so young! Then she ran back and put more balls in her shirt. I scrambled to get a picture before they fell out.... this is sadly the only picture I got. :( But funny anyway.

Random picture of the kids...I was playing without flash...

James playing with his Ipod in front of the computer. His anniversary gift. HAPPY 6 YEARS!

She was singing Miley Cyrus songs into the lollipop but then paused to take a lick.

Little princess...showing off her headband. ;)

This week in Mattila.

So wedding season has come to an end for me and I've had a little more time on my hands! I started going to the gym which is super awesome since I haven't gone since I hurt my foot. My next project is organizing my office, making Eli's photo book, and as some of you know... attempting to reupholster a couch. James is getting close to done on the bathroom tile! Yippee. It looks really nice. So hopefully we'll be able to put in the vanity and toilet by Monday and we'll have a real bathroom!

Here are few snapshots from this week. I have more but my other hard drive is upstairs. AND my legs are sore from my whole 3 days of working out.

Proof! He is walking!! click to enlarge.

Yummy pizza!

No, I'm not trying to be a model. :) Berlin wanted to take pictures.

A new photographer in the house :)

FIRST STEPS!

I caught Eli, out of the corner of my eye, taking some steps while playing in Berlin's room. I thought maybe I was mistaken so I didn't make a big deal out of it. Then he started walking along the wall and walked into my room, shutting the door behind him... all by himself, taking a little step here and there. I coaxed him to walk to Berlin and he took three steps. By the end of today, he walked about 7 steps (very small ones) to try to get himself from James to a toy. We thought he was going to make it the whole way, but he lost his balance.

He is growing so fast! He barely lets me cuddle him anymore! I'm sad. But this new milestone means he is almost a toddler and despite the constant attitude from Berlin (which I'm convinced that Eli won't have because of the very different personalities), toddlers are fun! So I guess, I'm looking forward to the finger painting and dancing and crazy stories coming from Eli soon.

Levi and Eli.

Yeah, the kids have a hard time saying their names together...it sounds like EI and EI.
Anyway, Holly and Joel came over last night for a little while and I took a few pictures of Levi and Eli. These were taken in my room at night! Thank you lights! I am so happy with that purchase :)

Levi toes!

He slept for about 5 minutes...

Smiles. Teeth. Happy. Eli.

Happy Halloween!

We were lucky this year and had some wonderful weather for trick or treating. It got to 70, very unusual for Michigan but I wasn't complaining. Elijah went as a monkey and Berlin as a ballerina. We went trick or treating in our neighborhood with Sarah, Ryan, Ashton, Holly, Joel, Gabe, and Levi. Then on Saturday we went to celebrate Bob's birthday and the kids went on a mini hayride together. A weekend full of cousin playtime, Berlin was happy :)

Gabe (shining knight), Eli, Berlin, Ashton (army brat)

Berlin and Ash

Levi, the sweetest hot dog ever.

Guess she was practicing her scary face...

The first door.

This yard scared the kids.

Making apple crisp with Nana.Owen peeling apples.

Papa took them for a ride.

Again, an attempt at a cousin picture.

Eva and Berlin.

Little ballerina.

These kids are insane.

Chunky monkey :)

TOO cute :)