Cuties!

I posted the last little session with the kids on my business blog. Go to Amanda Mattila Photography Blog to view the pictures and slideshow.

11:16 pm...do you know where your children are?

Random title. :)

It is getting late and I'm tired...but I'm backing up some memory cards before going to sleep. I just wanted to write and say how amazing my kids are! I'm so darn lucky. I went out today and did a mini portrait session with each of them and it was fantastic. I can't wait to show you the pictures!

I talk with both the kids a lot. Even if they don't understand what I'm saying...but Berlin is such a talker too that it ends up with some very interesting conversations. Today, without going into detail, we talked about weddings and why James and I are married. She is so inquisitive and I wish I could record her talking so that I don't forget this time of her life. But while thinking about that...how great it is to have these little interactions, I was thinking about how lucky I am to have the time do spend with them. Before I know it, she'll be driving a car and he'll be joining a rock band or something. I'm going to miss these days that my hair is twisted up in funny ponytails and decorated with a million clippies and glitter. But I'm thankful that I have them at all.

Good night!

A few weeks ago, I had another photography group meeting. I only went for less than an hour because Erin & Timmy were in town...but it was still fun to get a few shots. I've been rather lazy about editing them but these were a few of my faves!


Tiger Stadium










Not sure what building this is, but it would be way cooler without the sign. :(


Streetlamp. edit 1


and streetlamp edit 2. couldn't decide...




Fox Theater. I really like this picture.


Fox Theater minus the cab and fisheye.


Random building detail.

Mattila Fam GTG.

Erin and Timmy came in from KC a little over a week ago. We went to Bob & Judy's... ate food, ice cream (of course!), enjoyed the weather, and played some Wii bowling. Here are some pictures...


Egan, looking like an adventurer in that hat and long grass.


Eva


Elijah


weeeee


Kaylee in the sandbox


Climbing back up the slide.


Grace Anne.


Egan and sand.


Really, he is a happy boy! He just likes to brood like his father.


Berlin, a little grumpy because she was told by Egan not to throw sand.


Owen in his cool car.


Owen.


Vroom.


Judy (Nana) making sure we all get our ice cream fix.


Ice Cream Pie. Two awesome-tastic concepts in ONE.

Yeah, unfortunately I forgot to bring a flash again...and only one lense... so these are a little grainy and soft. Sorry. :( also, i stink and only got this picture of Erin the whole time she was here!


Erin.


Owen.


Aunt Kate & Egan.


Timmy.


Judy and Kaylee. Wii Fun.


Tim.


James. He played pretty good left handed and lying on the couch. :)


Bob


Kate and Dave improperly using that chair.


Berlin trying to play.

Hands on my Feet.

Okay, one of many slideshows to come! This is just one of those random morning events that I felt I should document. I didn't have a flash on me and all I had was some window light and not very much of that....so it is super grainy and not all the way in focus...and yeah, my kid still has some sort of food on her face. I think it is frosting from a cinnamon roll.

Berlin discovered her gloves in her drawer. She came to me like this... :)

Tasty Tuesday.

I've been trying to come up with new recipes to try. If anyone has any to share... please do! One of my faves that I got from someone is Mexican Chili and I got the recipe from my lovely sister-in-law Cody. I think she made it for our family when I had Eli. Bringing home baby time is awesome for learning new recipes! I also have come to find an amazing Chicken Noodle soup recipe and Chicken Tetrazzini recipe from that. Although, NOT a huge fan of actually making the latter... unless I'm in the mood to cook.



Anyway, I made the Mexican Chili for dinner the other night. I make it like once a month because I love it lots. Did I mention I've been on a Mexican kick this whole pregnancy?!



Yum!

Mexican Chili Recipe

1 lb ground beef
1 large can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 large can chili beans (with seasoning, like brooks mild)
1 packet taco seasoning
cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips



Also have been weirdly obsessed with drinking Orange Juice. Really weird for me because I really really DON'T like oranges. And I'm not one for juice. I usually stick with my water, tea, and coffee. Yes, it is in a Guinness glass.

Overworked?!

I think I really need a new computer! I spent about 5 hours editing this evening and was running a batch resize and my computer shut down. I think I overworked it. I think it got overheated somehow. Seriously, I know I did a lot of files but it was only 5 hours of work...geez.

I'll bet a new computer could save me a lot of time with this post processing stuff.

I was told tonight about this really great plug-in for Photoshop... Portraiture. I downloaded the trial and am in LOVE! It totally rocks and saves me time. It is on my list of things to get for helping me save time and do great pics.

Uncaged: Night 2.

Last night didn't go too bad with Eli. He took a while to get to bed but then he stayed in bed all night. So that was nice. Naptime today did not happen though. He just wouldn't go to sleep. He fell asleep on the couch tonight with James and so we ended up putting him to bed a little later and he cried for about 5 minutes and is now asleep. Yay!

It is weird to think about him being a "big boy". I still think of him as my baby. So the discipline and stuff seems different with him.

Poor kid though---he is teething again. He is getting a molar. And possible front tooth too. So eating hasn't been so great. Today he barely ate anything. He cried and cried when we gave him chicken and potatoes. Coleslaw he was downright offended by. After like an hour I finally was able to give him some watermelon and cottage cheese just so he'd eat. Lunch, he turned down cheese and chicken noodle soup. Last night, couscous (which he usually loves) decorated our floor. It was a mess. He is even refusing milk. He doesn't refuse graham crackers from Berlin, of course! OH, the fun stuff with a new toddler!

James has an MRI scheduled for tomorrow. Today he is feeling a lot better. Pinching but at least he can get comfortable when lying down. And he can walk to the kitchen and bathroom without too much pain. But the nerves keep moving spots to target. It will be his hip one minute and then the next it is his calf. So he never knows what is going to affect what. Anyway, I'll keep you updated on the results!

Okay, pictures soon! I'm like 1/2 done with editing my last wedding. I ended up not doing any work today except laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, doctors, and nap! I had some crazy leg cramps this morning. They lasted forever! I've been having morning sickness all week and hip/pelvic pain but yet... I love being pregnant. I'm so happy to feel her moving around. She is liking my ribs for some reason but she is pretty small right now so it isn't painful. Even with all the stuff going on...I'm really trying to enjoy this last pregnancy. :)

Random note: Berlin is crazy with her stories! She usually has lots of stalling tales to tell us once she goes to bed. She is scared of her closet because the doorknobs look like eyes...or she is in desperate need of cereal in the morning and must tell us now. Tonight, she is insisting that there is a cock-a-doodle doo in her room.

Released from the Cage.

So, as I said in my last post...Eli had gotten out of the crib. I was really hoping it was a fluke after much much trying... but nope, he is a pro at getting out. He lifts himself up and over with almost all upper body strength. Thankfully he hasn't fallen out but I was worried about him hurting himself, so tonight is the first night in a toddler bed!

It is a little after bedtime and we read him stories and prayed. He wailed at his door the second we walked out but after calming him twice, it is now silent! Let's hope!!

Now with this new development, we may be making changes to the baby room plans. We were going to have the baby share with Berlin....but Eli and Berlin sharing for now is seeming like a possible option.

UPDATE: okay, like a minute after publishing, he started wailing again.....

What A Day!

So today was one of those days. Here is how I woke up: **warning** don't read if you don't want to hear about gross things.

Elijah somehow climbed out of his crib noiselessly and went in the bathroom to play in the toilet water. This is the first time he has gotten out of his crib and Berlin just so happened to have peed in the middle of the night and we didn't flush.... so fun fun clean up! Wet toilet paper all over and the rug was soaked!

Berlin went poopy on the toilet and somehow managed to get it ON her toilet seat and on her back. Then after a shower, she started to poop a little and got it on her towel and underwear because she thought she just had to toot. Yep, i'm talking about poop on my blog. I'm cool. Life of a mom I guess.

Okay, so after THAT.... I made the kids breakfast of eggs, toast, and raspberries. I usually add fruit along with protein and grains and just happened to have chosen the very stainy raspberries today. I should have known with the way the morning started. Berlin proceeded to throw up her breakfast all over the carpet. So I ran to get the 60 lb carpet cleaner from the basement (that thankfully I still have borrowed from my mom) and scrubbed the carpet to get all the stainy seeds.

I feel like my morning should have been classified as a sitcom morning or something.

I have absolutely no motivation to work right now. I have several orders to put in and a wedding to edit. I have baby on the brain right now. I just want to organize and clean but haven't because 1. I've been to busy cleaning up messes 2. been at the doctors 3. feel like i should be doing work. I'm going to plan for getting some things done tomorrow afternoon though and hopefully get everything done this week so that I can focus on the baby stuff that I want to.

I had a check up today and things are going well with both the baby and I. James and I have been spending more time talking about baby names and have it narrowed to five. We had a longer list of names we had kind of liked but then we each listed our top 5 faves and took off those that didn't match. I'm debating sharing the list. Mainly because I know which ones people will like but I don't want to base it all on what other people would choose. We are going to use only family names for the middle name though...so as of right now the middle name will be Christina, Elizabeth, Jane, or Anne. I wanted to try to use Lee (my mom's middle name) but it doesn't fit with any of our choices.

Keep James in prayer. He is hurting worse today (worse than he ever has). He must have moved wrong or something and he is getting some really bad nerve pinching. We learned a few things about what is going on and what we are going to be having to do. He is going to be scheduled for an MRI now. The doctor is a little concerned because of the progress being so slow and wants to make sure that it isn't a tumor in his spine or something else foreign causing the discs to separate. Another issue may be that his ruptured disc may be very very large and unable to shrink...which would also mean surgery. So right now we aren't really hoping for any of the things it could be...but kind of just hoping for it to disappear miraculously since all of the options suck. The doctor had put James in traction and started the spinal decompression which is giving him some relief and was making a good difference until this afternoon. Anyway, please keep him in prayer for the doctors to direct him in the right way and for his pain to be relieved.

Now, I must go figure out something for dinner. Have a nice night!