All I want for Christmas {James and Amanda}

Sorry for waiting so long to get this up...been busy. Posting from my phone! :)

James:

iTunes gift card
Assasins Creed 2 video game. (xbox)
Left 4 Dead 2 video game ( xbox)
xbox controller- prefer colored fun, not white
Them Crooked Vultures CD
Wolfmother (cosmic egg) CD
Microsoft xbox live points card

Amanda:
beaded necklaces
victoria's secret Amber Romance perfume and lotion
Abercrombie 8 perfume
iTunes gift card
Paramore CDs: Brand New Eyes, All We Know is Falling, Riot
Sondre Lerche CD: Heartbeat Radio
good water bottle- NOT aluminum
slippers- fun monkey ones from target or pretty ones from kohls size 9
Urban Outfitters gift card
Books: Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation... By Michio Kaku
Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey.... By Michio Kaku

Thanks! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was great!

Shake up the Makeup.

Isadora is now 3 months old! She is now reaching for things--doesn't have a far reach yet but anything she can get she chews on. Slobber all over her clothes and blankets... pretty funny when she is sitting with me while folding laundry because I have to watch that she isn't eating the socks. :) I found out she is ticklish too. She laughs so hard if I tickle her neck or her thighs. LOVE it!

Below are a couple of pictures of her from last weekend. I got a camera off ebay to hold me while I get rid of my other one and so I was doing some test shots to make sure it was functioning right. YAY for working equipment! I'm planning to do some more pictures of her for actual 3 month pretty ones that I'd want to hang up....but I think these ones are cute too.

Also, today while looking for the cotton balls for our art project, I came across my Mary Kay kit in the basement. Berlin was amazed by all the stuff and wanted to play with it. SO, I got her out a mirror and some sample stuff and let her go to town. She did pretty good. The second time she forgot what the sample lipstick was and thought it was for eyes, which was a little harder to get off...but it was a fun time watching her. She was bathed before James got home though so that he wasn't horrified by his 3 year old with all this makeup on. Uh, it was cute but I don't get those stage mom's that do this to their kids.








Isadora, 3 Months.

All I Want For Christmas. {Elijah}

Elijah is 1 1/2 and into everything! He likes animals, dancing, and painting. He also likes to drum and do anything athletic.

Eli is in clothes size 2t and shoe size 7 toddler.

Pajamas-- size 2T or larger.

Drums... electric.

Magna Doodle-or something of the like. I heard that they have glowy ones now...but the original is just fantastic.

Art Projects- He particularly likes watercolor paint. So watercolor paper and paints would be nice because I go through it like crazy!

ROAR! He likes anything with animals. Dinosaurs, puppies, lions, snakes...etc.

Little People. (we have the airplane, race and load carrier, dump truck, racetrack, day home, and carnival) but he plays with these all the time. I think he would really like the Learn About Town set or the Noah's ark one if they still carry that.

Helmet for bike riding.

Tricycle. The Radio Flyer one seems nice. I think it would be nice for him to not ride a pink one anymore :)

Scooter-- Radio Flyer makes one that is easier for smaller kids.

Kids size balls: football, basketball.

Gator Golf game.

Travel games or thing to occupy in the car.

All I Want For Christmas. {Isadora}

Izzie is cute and little... she is about 13 lbs and 23 inches. She is wearing clothes 3-6 months now. She is all set for summer clothes for next year due to the massive amounts of dresses that Berlin had...and some that I bought before she was born. Her room is done in pink and yellow. She is holding her head up and rolls front to back but trying back to front. She is a happy princess. :)

Anyway, here are some ideas for Isadora.

Piggy Bank.

Bitty Baby. Or bitty twin. Sure she is too young now but eventually, she is going to want one like her sister and cousins. Either blond with blue eyes, or light skin with brown hair and brown eyes.

Pajamas. 6 months and up.

Soft balls and blocks. Such as: Bright Starts

JJ Cole Essentials Blanket. Don't care what color, but it is water resistant and nice for outdoor playing.

ANYTHING from Janie and Jack.

Pacifier Pod.

Bike Carrier for back of bikes. We do a lot of bike riding as a family. It would be nice to take Izzie. :)

Isadora is hard because most of the essential toys for her age, we have. But if you pick out something and have doubts, just ask!

All I Want For Christmas. {Berlin}

I have been trying to get the kids' Christmas lists down...so I'll be posting a blog for each kid.

Berlin is now 3 1/2 going on 15. She is mommy's little helper. She likes all things rock and roll and pretty. She likes to tell stories, do learning and art projects, and make believe such as dress up and puppets. If something has sparkles, she is going to LOVE it. She likes the color PINK. And blue. But doesn't like the color green....in her mind, green is for boys.

She is in size 4T and wears a size 9 toddler shoe.

Leap Frog TAG reading system

Fancy Nancy Book for TAG And other TAG books that are for the ages 3-5 or so.

Books. We could use some good storybooks for her that aren't board books... she really likes the Olivia book she got last year.

Leapster.

Games for Leapster. Such as Disney Princess game.

Drums....electric. This will also be on Eli's.

Drum..this one is cute.

Pram for baby doll. LOVE THIS ONE!!

Art project items. Paper, paint, jewelry making, kits of any kind geared to 4 year olds.

Toddler Luggage for staying with grandparents!

Hannah Montana singing doll. Yikes... yeah, she loves this thing.

American Girl Items Below: (she picked these out.)

Ballerina To Be outfit.

Snowy Owl outfit.

Bitty Baby: Blonde hair/blue eyes. She has a bitty twin but pointed to this too...

My kids...grease balls?

Ew. I was gone last night at the store and James gave the kids a bath....not realizing that I had left my bath oil next to the kids' soap. SO when he was getting the kids' jammies ready, the kids dumped 1/2 a bottle of bath oil (of a 30 oz bottle!) in the tub. Eli's hair looks ridiculous. I gave him another bath this morning and it is still not wanting to come out all the way.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend! My friend is opening her photography studio and is having an opening party. So James and I are going to that and then out afterwards to a movie! Very excited for a night out! I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Thank You Thursday. {Fearless Communication.}

This is a bit off from my other thankful posts. I was going to write about these super good brownies that I discovered but at the moment...I am just really thankful for good communication.

I was in a funky mood and feeling just... well, "AHHH!"... if you've had those days. But really, I had nothing to complain about other than my dumb camera. I just felt off. And NOW I feel better! Amazing what a little talking with your husband will do. I'm so thankful that I am able to talk with James about anything. I know a lot of women that can't talk to their husbands like they do their friends and I've always felt like we can talk about anything. We may not always have answers for things but at least there is understanding and a whole lot of openness.

As well as feeling better from talking with James... My mom and Kate are always especially good to bounce things off of. So thank you... you talkers that help keep my sanity and keep me focused on the things that are important.

Joys of an internet society.

Well, I didn't do that great at having a blog post everyday for the month of November...which was my original goal. I usually will blog several in a row and schedule them but I forgot over the weekend that none were to be posted. Oh well. Also, I am camera-less for a little while since my one camera is in the shop and the other one is being borrowed. So sorry for no pictures. I am looking into doing a little switcharoo with my equipment since I keep running into failures and stuff. One downside to all this fun technology. It isn't always dependable.

SO, since no pictures...you get to read my randomness! lucky you! :)

I just adore online shopping! I usually buy online for all of the business stuff. But clothes and other personal items, I just haven't done much until now. I started more when I found out I was due with Izzie...bought her crib set online for a fraction of the cost it would be at the store. I've been loving the joys of shopping online for clothes for the kids as long as it is a store that I frequent and know the sizes. No dragging kids through a store...which seriously ruins concentration when deciding what to buy. I can compare and even plan outfits buy searching different stores at once! UH, and it sort of stops this really annoying thing that seems to happen every single time I go shopping for the kids' clothes... SIZES! I can see right there if there isn't their size.

Where do I frequent? Well, since you asked....

www.target.com (they even have a newish boutique section that is so awesome)

www.amazon.com

www.littledreamerdesigns.com (if you scrapbook on the computer--love this!)

www.etsy.com

www.ebay.com

www.gap.com

Now, if I could just have my grocery shopping done online too... I'd be all set! I like to go shopping for fun. When it is shopping for needs, it stresses me out. So yay for online!

One of the paper packs that I recently got. FUN!

If the Bible read like a fortune teller...

I'd be a little depressed today.

Thankfully, it doesn't. I've been having one of those days for a few days now. I just feel off. And a little confused. And frustrated. I can't even really explain it logically. Photography is slowing down now and I am so darn happy that it is. I had a bad few weeks with work where anything that could go wrong...does. And sometimes it leaves me questioning what I'm doing.

I opened my bible today and although I'm in Daniel, I open it and the first verse I read was Proverbs 13:19. Which in the bible that I was reading read like this: 'It is pleasant to see plans develop. That is why fools refuse to give them up when they are wrong.' Now I had to sort of laugh when I read that because when I was in junior high I used to close my eyes and just open the bible hoping that God would just have something to tell me on whatever page I opened to. I realize that it doesn't read like a fortune teller and don't do that anymore but thought that the verse I read was an odd coincidence for how I'd been feeling.

I read a little more on that verse and I think my version is not exactly worded well. The more I read on it with other translations...it doesn't mean wrong as in I'm wrong for my plans. But wrong as in evil. Fools refuse to give up evil because of the happiness it can bring. So coincidence, not really with reading more about it. Still something to remember though.

hmm. i'm in a weird mood.

Activities?

Now that the hibernation season is coming, I'm trying to come up with more ideas for activities to do with the kids. Most weekdays I do a special activity just with Berlin while Elijah is napping because it makes the activity go a little smoother. And some nice one on one time with Berlin. But I'm trying to find some more ideas on what to do for both ages and abilities. I've been looking online but if anyone comes across any mom sites with fun ideas... let me know :)

thanks! now onto my fun activity time with Berlin!

Thank You Thursday. {Paper Source}

Envelopes, labels, and paper... Oh MY! All of my packaging for mailers, cd cases (which I make from petal envelopes), pretty stickers, and pretty much any paper product that I use comes from Paper Source. Unfortunately, we don't have an actual location in Michigan to visit but online works just as well. The colors are always right on. They have beautiful products and a wide variety of colors. One big plus to shopping with Paper Source is that I can expect that my package will be on my doorstep the next day! They are speedy. Besides things that I use for business, they also have fun gifties and projects for crafters. Thank you Paper Source for being so awesome.

Halloween Part 2.

I'm a little bummed that I didn't take pictures with my camera this year. I'm not sure we know how to use our little point and shoot yet because we get a whole lot of blurry pictures when it is set to auto. Either that or I am just not used to using one and expect too much out of that thing.

We went trick or treating in Lapeer with my parents, joel, holly, gabe, levi, chrissy, ryan, and sarah. The kids had fun. Elijah was really funny. It was exciting for me to watch him since this was his first year to trick or treat. At first, he kept trying to give the candy back. Then he was really excited running from house to house...saying "guleeggggulllleee" which is jibberish for candy. He roared at every scary face he saw. There was a vampire in a coffin--which was a live person that would start to talk but then go back to playing dead. He was so fascinated by it and kept wanting to go back and see him. It was so cold out but he kept wanting to go. Berlin started to get tired and was done after about 30 minutes.

Then we were off to Roger & Sarah's house for their costume party. I was feeling pretty crappy (i caught a cold or something ) so I didn't dress up. I wish I would have now. There is always next year... But we had a good time. We played rock band--which now I really want! Berlin and Eli loved it too. Berlin actually did pretty good at the drums. Everyone had pretty cool costumes. I have some better pictures on my phone from the night but I haven't loaded them yet...but you'll get the idea.

Berlin and Gabe. Gabe was Link from Zelda...but a lot of people didn't get it.

Saying hi to Levi...little Yoda. His Charlie Brown costume didn't come in the mail on time. ;(

Their first house!

He was super speedy. Per usual.

Trick or Treat!

Eli with his grammy.

Chrissy and I. She was a pirate but I don't know if I got a full picture of her. :(

Eli with Grandpa. He was staring at the coffin guy in this one.

Izzie all bundled and sleeping in the stroller.

Ryan and Sarah. They dressed up as a priest and a pregnant nun. SO funny. She looks amazing... 8 months preggo!

Steve and Roger. Roger was a bull rider. Man, I need to get the other pictures loaded.

Mom was a cheerleader. :)

Matt was Ramathorn from Super Troopers. HILARIOUS.

Rock Band.

Halloween Part 1.

Halloween started early this year. We were blessed with Timmy and Erin joining us for the weekend! We hung out at Bob and Judy's...eating way too much junk food (but really worth it, yum!), took family pictures, decorated pumpkins with the kiddos, did a pinata and a tractor hayride, as well as family games. It was nice time!


Berlin decorating her pumpkin

Judy and Eli


Berlin--apparently a grumpy bunny and Cowboy Elijah

Pinata Fun!



Berlin taking her turn.

Heather and Ethan.

Nana helping Elijah get a good swing in--that pinata didn't want to break!

Getting her loot. Which Eli stopped at the first piece of candy...didn't get the concept yet.

Papa giving all the kids a tractor ride.

All the kids were just adorable. Egan was a SUPER cute monkey but I didn't get a good picture of him....
Kate, what an angel!?

Erin

The cutest cowboy in the WORLD!

yum...

Little Timmy/ Big Timmy

Ms. Berlin with a wig and hat.

Beefy Light Stand.

I've been in need of a good light stand for some time now. I finally ordered one this last week and tried it out the other day. The stand is from the Alienbee company. Now I can use my super awesome light without worrying it is going to crash and smash! Took these two of the kids with bribes of candy.

Alienbee is set up behind and camera left. Reflector is to the right. ISO 100, 1/160th, F/4.5 These have a new action that I got for free... it is a cross process called Funky Monkey. And I LOVE it for details. Shoes and rings look amazing with this.

Isadora 10 Weeks.

Because I'm a photo mom, I take lots of pictures. I realize that everyone doesn't document every couple of weeks...but I do. So yeah, might be overkill...

Izzie rolled over today! She rolled from her front to back. Milestone! I need a baby book really bad for her so I don't forget this stuff. I think I'm going to make her one instead of buying one though...so we'll see if I can hurry that up. So here are a couple of pictures of her in my room after she rolled.