Almost February already?!

I just wanted to post because I love this picture of Eli. It is such a silly face, random, and barely in focus, but I love it! Berlin wanted to pose too, so this is her daily picture.

Man, I need to get my butt in gear. February is almost here already! I've been sort of on hiatus of the brain lately...

My current annoyance.

Why, oh why, can't I just like things for decorating that are already made?! I'm so picky because I have ideas in my head for things that aren't made and then I either end up buying whatever and not caring because I get so irritated or go without...like how I still don't have curtains for mine or berlin's room. I have this idea that I want cranberry crochet curtains for my room or something equally neat but don't have the skills to make it myself. I'm looking into other options...but my recent problem is below! I cannot find a shower curtain that will go at all with bathroom! The tiles are a multicolor and the paint is a custom mix that is a neutral of all 4 tiles. I want a natural look to the bathroom since the tiles are stonelike, I'm fine with a shade of red, blue, soft white, patterns, brown...whatever, but NOTHING is working! I've bought several and returned them. I've been to Macy's, Kohl's, Target, Meijer, Walmart, Design Public, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters (love the tree one and am thinking of it but can't tell the color and wonder if the white would be fine...i might just do this). I know, woe is me, right...but it is just irritating. And I would totally just make one on my own but the largest width is 54" and I need 72" unless I want seams. POO!

bought and returned. Like but the green is too weird with the red tones of the walls.
Too white, not soft enough or natural. I kind of liked it with red accents but james thought the pattern looked like snowflakes.

11 months.

Elijah is 11 months old and counting... He now has 4 teeth, is walking and climbing with no problems. Running even because his favorite game is "I'm gonna get you", which is hilarious except when he decides to play while I'm trying to get him dressed. He doesn't say many words yet. On occassion he will say mama or dada, but only when he really wants something does he make the effort. He has said "more" a few times because as you can tell, this kid likes to eat! He is taking himself off the bottle pretty early. Lately he doesn't want a bottle except maybe 4-6 oz all day. Usually about 3 in the morning and 3 late evening. He is mainly eating table food now and is doing okay using a spoon.

Here are a few pictures of him at 11 months. My editing software has crashed, so I'm having issues editing correctly, so excuse them if they look unsharp. I NEED lightroom back! Really can't function without it.

In other news, James went to the doctor on last wednesday, to the outpatient clinic in Beaumont and they gave him some prescriptions and a week off work with orders of drugging up, staying on the couch and putting heat on his back. He seems to be getting a little better. He is able to walk upright and is trying to go back to work today. Thanks for prayers! He still has a little ways to go...but I'm glad he is a little relieved right now.

Taking his temperture with the Dr. kit.
Preparing for battle.

122!

Wow, I'm up to 122 posts! That is a lot of my time now that I think about it. Oh well, it is like my own little journal to help me remember. James is in Portage, MI working. He left yesterday morning and I'm really hoping that he'll be home tonight. But unfortunately as of 4:00 today, he was having some problems with some of medical grade wires and isn't getting things done in the timely manner he was hoping. Needless to say, my evenings have been boring.....

Playing around because I was bored....

Playing after dinner.

berlin and I made paper bag masks. it was fun :)

Baby #3 Due Date.

Hi guys! I went to the doctor to get an ultrasound yesterday. I still need to scan the little one's first picture so you can see. It was kind of neat, they did a 3d print out for me which usually if the tech is a stickler for rules, they charge you $200 to do. My tech was the nicest one I've had so far...so that was a plus. I found out that I am 9 weeks along and am due on August 16th, 2009! I'm not sure where I'm going to deliver yet. I talked with the nurse about possible options that maybe wouldn't make me do all the ridiculous unnecessary testing. So I'm looking into a midwife. Maybe someone that listens to me instead of making me carry around a pee bucket for 24 hours because I happened to have a panic attack in the office.

Have a great weekend!

A Model Child. :)

Berlin participated in a clothing line catalog shoot about a month ago, for Lillybee. Kate did the pictures and she was so nice and emailed me a couple! Here are a few:

New and News.

After a few week wait because of UPS, my camera is finally here! I took a few random pictures of the kids and then this weekend I had a session for a college boy out in Ann Arbor. Mercede, my cousin, and Chrissy came with me. I took Mercede's picture for about 5 minutes in the freezing cold. She has a new lip piercing which I didn't even notice until she pointed it out. What is one more shiny metal thing? The guy's pictures were okay, but I lost creativity after about 10 minutes in the freezing cold. NOT doing that again!

Tomorrow I find out when I'll be due to have the next baby! For those that may not know already, I am pregnant. I could be anywhere from 8-12 weeks along. I'm hoping for 12! I'd like to have the baby before my brother's wedding in August. So I'll post tomorrow with that news!

Please keep James and our family in prayer. James' back has been really bad lately. He has a bulging disc in his lower back and has been in a lot of pain and lost a lot of his mobility. He has been seeing a chiropractor and doing some physical therapy exercises at home. Besides his pain, a problem now is him going to work. He is having a hard time doing his job. We're both a little worried. On top of that, James and I had a plan for my work and the direction we were trying to go in so that he could make a career change...and all of it sort of got thrown in the garbage for now because of expecting a baby this summer. SO now, a new plan must be made. I won't be able to do weddings for the majority of busy season and we need a new car to fit all the kids. SO apparently, God had other ideas for us this year. So if you are a praying person, please pray for James' back to heal and for us to know the direction we are supposed to go in. I'm A-okay with change, but change and not having any idea of the future is not so much fun. I like plans...even if they don't work out. :)

Mercede

Model that needed some portfolio pictures, Jake.

Shot at 3200 ISO. Amazing no grain!

She dressed like a fairy and was upset about 2 seconds later when she realized she couldn't fly with the wings that Nana gave her.

Cuddles with daddy.

She was posing for me. I've had this 85mm lens but rarely used it. LOVE it now that I have the 5d.

Space that I went to look at in Ferndale. Going to be using until I can afford to furnish the space my mom is giving me.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a nice beginning of 2009! Christmas Eve was incredibly mellow this year. James and I just stayed home with a movie. I tried to make a nice dinner of steak and potatoes. BUT for some reason, after baking the potatoes for over and hour and a half....they were still not even cooked inside. I don't get it. The oven has been really weird lately. Anyway, we ended up having steak. And when I was growing up, my mom always made fun snacks and we would have this sort of feast of snacks that we usually didn't eat much. So I made shrimp cocktail, a fruit tray, spinach pita things, chips and dip, pizza rolls, chocolate mousse and that is all I can remember.... and we sort of vegged out. There are LOTS of leftovers. It was fun. Probably would have been a little more fun had videogames not exist. :(

These pictures would have been cooler had they been not taken on a city street. But I couldn't resist since James was home, I could sneak out and get a few pictures of the crazy dense fog we had last weekend. I probably looked a little crazy walking around in my sweatpants and boots, wandering in the middle of the street taking pictures. I played a little with some different black and white looks so decided to post a variety since I couldn't decide what I liked best.

Eli playing with his loot.

It has been nice to have some more boy toys around the house. Elijah has been digging (ha) not playing with Barbies and My Little Ponies. On to the dump trucks and hammers!

Playing with the Raminator! This monster truck is awesome!
He loves this truck!

Look at me, using this dump truck!

He likes to carry things around if he can drag them at all. Blankets, anything with power cords...

Just love this look on his face :)

Happy drool.

This piece we had to take away. Nuts and bolts are bit too much fun to eat.

Hammering his dump truck.

A Schneider Christmas.

Late morning we left to go to my mom and Steve's house in Lapeer. We've been doing some firsts lately...which I'm happy about. Not only did we get our first family picture a few weeks ago...we also all ate together at one table! I think it is a first since we moved from the farm house with the big antique table in 1998. Even cooler because we had extended family there too. We had my mom's brother Chuck and his son, Charlie (and girlfriend Stacy) as well as my Aunt Barb and Uncle Bruce. Plus, with engagements and me keep having kids, our family is growing even bigger. :) This year without any random friends coming, we ended up with 19.

We had a nice time. Thanks for the generosity guys!

p.s. I don't have a picture of it but I got an Ihome for my room which I'm stoked about.

Berlin opening her sit and spin with Grandma.

Aunt Barb, Uncle Bruce, Quilawee, and Elijah

Berlin thanking Aunt Chrissy for her puppy


The table set up in the basement. Yay!

Uncle Chuck showing Eli how to use his race track

Sarah and Ryan's new baby, Cole. Isn't he precious!?

Sarah. Probably going to kill me for this picture. I had her take a BIG bite for me but my settings were wrong so I took another one right after....and this is it. Sarah, with a mouthful. :)

Christmas Morning 2008.

Christmas Eve we decorated the tree in like 10 minutes before going to the Mattila Christmas Eve dinner. It wasn't how I intended on doing it but time just got away from us this year. I plan to make it more fun for Berlin next year but she still liked hanging her own ornaments. We only put about 1/5 of the decorations on for time sake. Anyway, here is our tree. p.s. besides other things the tree decorating was a little thrown off by Eli breaking a window. Yipee!

Anyway, Christmas morning was wonderful! The night before Berlin put some cookies out for Santa (still not sure how to do this Santa thing because I wasn't really a kid that ever believed in Santa...but it seems fun). She was SO excited in the morning that the cookies were gone. She is a bit confused about Christmas at this age. We told her that it is Jesus' birthday and we are celebrating it...so she thought Santa was going to bring us birthday cake. SO funny. She kept saying Happy Birthday to everyone. She also has laid claim to Santa, saying that she loves him and he is hers. After she saw that Santa ate the cookies, she asked me to please put out cookies for when God comes to the house. She had a hard time putting those out...she kept eyeing them and giving me a mischievous look. Silly kid.

The night before we put together Eli's tool set so they woke up and started playing with that right away which was nice because it gave me some time to make coffee. Berlin was surprisingly patient and wanted to take turns to watch James and Eli. Overall, nice and relaxed morning!

That garland was just asking for Eli to pull it.

Elijah checking out the tree.

My christmas coffee mug from Kate with some delicious coffee with cool whip. MY fave!

Working on being a handy boy.

James opening his stocking.

Little People house.

He ended up doing a pretty good job opening in between trying to eat the paper.

Playing with Little People carnival.

James posing with his Chelsea scarf (to wear on game days for his team spirit!) and his book.