Before:
After:
Sigh. I love her. And I didn't touch those blueberry eyes. Gorgeous.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Pixel Perfect Blog Hop
Yay! 2011 is going to be a great year! And now, here is my first before/after for this year! It's actually a picture from 2009 of my little chalk-faced, dimpled darling. But it needed fixing. So here ya go!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
2010 In Review
Yes, I steal people's ideas. My creativity only goes so far. :) (Thanks Jackie!) So, following is a brief rundown of the events from each month last year. It's kinda cool to see what all we've survived experienced together and to see where we are now. I wish I would have done this for previous years because we sure have gone through a lot. Maybe I will at some other time.
January
*I started the year only 11 weeks pregnant.
*Chris had started his job in St. Petersburg already, but the kids and I were still living in central Florida.
*We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time.
*Felt the baby move for the first time at 14 weeks.
*We moved to an apartment in the Tampa Bay area on January 30th.
February
*Laura Anne upgraded to a twin bed
* We toured the birth center and 2 weeks later, had my first appointment
*Chris felt the baby move.
*One year since we moved from North Carolina!
March
*20 weeks pregnant and we had our first ultrasound!
*The kids and I visited my family in Jacksonville but we all had the stomach bug while we were there. :(
*We saw the Blue Angels fly at the air show.
*Caleb turned 2!
April
*The kids visited with both sets of grandparents for a week and they got to go to the fair, while Mommy and Daddy had some quiet time and a few dates. :)
*We all went to our first professional baseball game! So much fun!
*We bought our new family vehicle: a Toyota Sienna!
May
*Chris and I celebrated our 7th anniversary.
*We visited Jerry and Ellen in North Carolina
*We discovered how beautiful the beaches are here; and the sunsets!!
*Due to a pest problem at our apartment, we had to find a new place to live. :/
June
*3D ultrasound!
*Baby had been in a breech position from (at least) 32 weeks to 34 weeks. But doing some tricky maneuvers, I coaxed him to flip and it worked! At 35 weeks, baby was head down. :)
July
*Second weekend in July, just a few days before my 38th week of pregnancy, we moved in to our new new apartment with the help of friends and family.
*And of course, Baby Stellan arrived on his due date, July 26th, at 10:13 PM. He was our biggest baby yet, weighing 9 lbs 3 oz.
*We had Chanda, a local professional photographer I met through the birth center, present for the birth. She did a fantastic job capturing it and we will cherish the photos forever. (I would post some here, but the copies I have don't have her watermark and I wouldn't want to get in trouble. But she does have some on her website! Go HERE to see!) :D
August
*We had a photo shoot at home with Chanda for newborn pictures. She has some of those on her website too. Click HERE to see if you can spot Stellan. (Hint: at the time I posted this, he was pictures 3, 10 and 15)
*When my Mom went home after visiting us, she took the 2 big kids with her so I could have a little more time to recover and get to know Stellan. :)
*I had a "surprise" baby shower in Jax.
*Caleb quit using his plug! (Thanks for the help, Mom!)
*On the 24th, the kids weighed in at 42 lbs, 29 lbs and 11 lbs 14 oz.
*Chris turned 31.
September
*I started running again.
*Another Rays baseball game
*My sis-in-law, Jennifer, came to visit with her 2 boys for a few days.
*Chris and I started attending Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University at church.
*Caleb used the potty for the first time, but we are definitely not in full potty-training mode yet.
October
*Adding to our other little homeschool activities, I started teaching Laura Anne how to read.
*Visit to Jax for our annual pumpkin patch visit.
*Discovered Stellan is ticklish on his feet because he laughed when I put his socks on. :)
*Halloween festival at the Y with a friend, then trunk or treat at church.
November
*Stellan blows raspberries. (I document this because our other 2 didn't really do this and it's super adorable!)
*I got sick right before Thanksgiving and couldn't run the Thanksgiving day race with my Mom and brother. :(
*At Stellan's 4 month appointment he weighed 17.5 lbs and we discovered he had a sinus infection. He was prescribed an antibiotic which he reacted to with diarrhea which caused a severe diaper rash resulting in a prescription for that. Whew! That couple of weeks was no fun!
December
*Caleb started sleeping in his big boy fire engine bed!
*We hosted our first sleepover with 2 of Laura Anne's friends.
*Me, Chris and Stellan had an almost free day at Busch Gardens
*Laura Anne turned 5, had a sleepover party, but got sick during it.
*We spent Christmas Eve and part of Christmas day with Chris' family.
*We stayed in Jax for the following week (except Chris), but first Caleb got sick, then Stellan got sick. All while Chris was sick at home. I got it the day we went home. (New Years' Day)
And that was 2010 for us!! Here's hoping 2011 doesn't have quite as much sickness or moving...or babies! Ha!
January
*I started the year only 11 weeks pregnant.
*Chris had started his job in St. Petersburg already, but the kids and I were still living in central Florida.
*We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time.
*Felt the baby move for the first time at 14 weeks.
*We moved to an apartment in the Tampa Bay area on January 30th.
February
*Laura Anne upgraded to a twin bed
* We toured the birth center and 2 weeks later, had my first appointment
*Chris felt the baby move.
*One year since we moved from North Carolina!
March
*20 weeks pregnant and we had our first ultrasound!
*The kids and I visited my family in Jacksonville but we all had the stomach bug while we were there. :(
*We saw the Blue Angels fly at the air show.
*Caleb turned 2!
April
*The kids visited with both sets of grandparents for a week and they got to go to the fair, while Mommy and Daddy had some quiet time and a few dates. :)
*We all went to our first professional baseball game! So much fun!
*We bought our new family vehicle: a Toyota Sienna!
May
*Chris and I celebrated our 7th anniversary.
*We visited Jerry and Ellen in North Carolina
*We discovered how beautiful the beaches are here; and the sunsets!!
*Due to a pest problem at our apartment, we had to find a new place to live. :/
June
*3D ultrasound!
*Baby had been in a breech position from (at least) 32 weeks to 34 weeks. But doing some tricky maneuvers, I coaxed him to flip and it worked! At 35 weeks, baby was head down. :)
July
*Second weekend in July, just a few days before my 38th week of pregnancy, we moved in to our new new apartment with the help of friends and family.
*And of course, Baby Stellan arrived on his due date, July 26th, at 10:13 PM. He was our biggest baby yet, weighing 9 lbs 3 oz.
*We had Chanda, a local professional photographer I met through the birth center, present for the birth. She did a fantastic job capturing it and we will cherish the photos forever. (I would post some here, but the copies I have don't have her watermark and I wouldn't want to get in trouble. But she does have some on her website! Go HERE to see!) :D
August
*We had a photo shoot at home with Chanda for newborn pictures. She has some of those on her website too. Click HERE to see if you can spot Stellan. (Hint: at the time I posted this, he was pictures 3, 10 and 15)
*When my Mom went home after visiting us, she took the 2 big kids with her so I could have a little more time to recover and get to know Stellan. :)
*I had a "surprise" baby shower in Jax.
*Caleb quit using his plug! (Thanks for the help, Mom!)
*On the 24th, the kids weighed in at 42 lbs, 29 lbs and 11 lbs 14 oz.
*Chris turned 31.
September
*I started running again.
*Another Rays baseball game
*My sis-in-law, Jennifer, came to visit with her 2 boys for a few days.
*Chris and I started attending Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University at church.
*Caleb used the potty for the first time, but we are definitely not in full potty-training mode yet.
October
*Adding to our other little homeschool activities, I started teaching Laura Anne how to read.
*Visit to Jax for our annual pumpkin patch visit.
*Discovered Stellan is ticklish on his feet because he laughed when I put his socks on. :)
*Halloween festival at the Y with a friend, then trunk or treat at church.
November
*Stellan blows raspberries. (I document this because our other 2 didn't really do this and it's super adorable!)
*I got sick right before Thanksgiving and couldn't run the Thanksgiving day race with my Mom and brother. :(
*At Stellan's 4 month appointment he weighed 17.5 lbs and we discovered he had a sinus infection. He was prescribed an antibiotic which he reacted to with diarrhea which caused a severe diaper rash resulting in a prescription for that. Whew! That couple of weeks was no fun!
December
*Caleb started sleeping in his big boy fire engine bed!
*We hosted our first sleepover with 2 of Laura Anne's friends.
*Me, Chris and Stellan had an almost free day at Busch Gardens
*Laura Anne turned 5, had a sleepover party, but got sick during it.
*We spent Christmas Eve and part of Christmas day with Chris' family.
*We stayed in Jax for the following week (except Chris), but first Caleb got sick, then Stellan got sick. All while Chris was sick at home. I got it the day we went home. (New Years' Day)
And that was 2010 for us!! Here's hoping 2011 doesn't have quite as much sickness or moving...or babies! Ha!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Busch Gardens
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Did you hear that? It was the sweet sound of relaxation. Thanks to my husband who performed a random act of kindness and for the gentleman who "paid" him with 2 Busch Gardens tickets, Chris and I (and Stellan, of course) had a day off recently.
We sent the 2 older kids to their friends' house for the day and the 3 of us headed to the amusement park. I wasn't sure how much we'd be able to do with a baby in tow, but we had to use the tickets by the end of December so we decided to just go and have fun together.
It was a gorgeous day! Not too hot or cold, and hardly a cloud in the sky.
We enjoyed strolling around and seeing alligators, apes, elephants and flamingoes, to name a few.
The "gardens" part of the park was quite enjoyable to look at as well.
Stellan was on his best behavior the whole day, making our time that much more pleasant.
Chris and I took turns riding 3 different roller coasters! The lines were incredibly short so the waiting was nothing. I'm so glad we got to ride something!
We "made" souvenirs for the big kids, spending $3 per kid and that, my friends, is the extent of the money we spent while in the park!
I got super close to a tiger.
We watched a fun Christmas ice skating show....
...and I laughed at this particular costume, consisting of a huge gift bow on the bum! Hahaha
My favorite flamingo, of which I took too many pictures, had brown, pink and white feathers. Gorgeous!
We fed some birds with long pointy beaks out of our hands. It tickled.
I am madly in love with this shot of my boys. Chris was tickling Stellan. Precious!
One of the funniest things all day was the elephants. They were dancing to the Christmas music blaring from the speakers. I promise you, as soon as I got this video clip, the music stopped...and so did the elephant! Then as another song came on, he started swaying again. It was hilarious!
We sent the 2 older kids to their friends' house for the day and the 3 of us headed to the amusement park. I wasn't sure how much we'd be able to do with a baby in tow, but we had to use the tickets by the end of December so we decided to just go and have fun together.
It was a gorgeous day! Not too hot or cold, and hardly a cloud in the sky.
We enjoyed strolling around and seeing alligators, apes, elephants and flamingoes, to name a few.
The "gardens" part of the park was quite enjoyable to look at as well.
Stellan was on his best behavior the whole day, making our time that much more pleasant.
Chris and I took turns riding 3 different roller coasters! The lines were incredibly short so the waiting was nothing. I'm so glad we got to ride something!
We "made" souvenirs for the big kids, spending $3 per kid and that, my friends, is the extent of the money we spent while in the park!
I got super close to a tiger.
We watched a fun Christmas ice skating show....
...and I laughed at this particular costume, consisting of a huge gift bow on the bum! Hahaha
My favorite flamingo, of which I took too many pictures, had brown, pink and white feathers. Gorgeous!
We fed some birds with long pointy beaks out of our hands. It tickled.
I am madly in love with this shot of my boys. Chris was tickling Stellan. Precious!
One of the funniest things all day was the elephants. They were dancing to the Christmas music blaring from the speakers. I promise you, as soon as I got this video clip, the music stopped...and so did the elephant! Then as another song came on, he started swaying again. It was hilarious! Sigh. It was a great day. So thankful to escape for a little while and enjoy the great outdoors.
Friday, January 7, 2011
A Cubbies Christmas
Laura Anne loves to sing. And she's not intimidated in the least singing in front of people. This was her second time performing with other kids and she did great.
Here's a tiny clip of a song they did. I had a few more clips, but Laura Anne was either picking at her nails instead of singing, or there were people walking right in front of my camera. So this is it. Enjoy!
Here's a tiny clip of a song they did. I had a few more clips, but Laura Anne was either picking at her nails instead of singing, or there were people walking right in front of my camera. So this is it. Enjoy!Thursday, January 6, 2011
Christmas Cookie Baking Day
Laura Anne helped me make cookie dough while the boys were napping one day.
Doesn't she look so grown up? We love this outfit. Turquoise, silver, and stripey tights!
When Caleb woke up, I frosted the cookies and the kids sprinkled them.
Yum!!
I love his technique.
Heehee! Just letting the sprinkles roll out of his hand.
Oh Christmas Tree!
After I posted the party pictures, I realized that I still hadn't posted anything from the rest of December. So. We'll start again with our Christmas tree decorating!
Laura Anne loves to help out with the angel each year. Just look at the excitement on her face!
I found all 3 kids matching snow people ornaments at Target this year. Here are each of them displaying their own.
Laura Anne loves to help out with the angel each year. Just look at the excitement on her face!
Birthday Party
I sure have a lot of blogging to catch up on! Let's start with Laura Anne's birthday party. The kids had fun playing on Caleb's fire engine bed for a little while.
This, my dears, is the ever-so-delicious baked macaroni and cheese that I made especially for the birthday girl. I first knew she wasn't feeling great when she didn't want to eat any. :(
This, my dears, is the ever-so-delicious baked macaroni and cheese that I made especially for the birthday girl. I first knew she wasn't feeling great when she didn't want to eat any. :( We did birthday cake a little differently this year. I made balls of cake and let the kids decorate them! 
Cake pops!!
Stellan loves the attention from the girls.
Some of us made marshmallow kabobs.
Time for presents!
And so Caleb wouldn't feel left out on the goodies, I made Caleb-friendly rice krispy treats and let him put sprinkles on.
I shoved her candle into a cake ball.
I felt so bad for her. But on the night of her birthday, I had the idea that she might like to go see a movie at the movie theaters with me. So we had a Mommy/daughter birthday date to see Tangled! Great movie, by the way. Her fever came back during it, and she fell asleep during the 5-minute drive home after the movie, but she told me she really liked it and wants to get it someday. :)
After dessert, the kids all played with Moon Dough (a million times cooler than Moon Sand, FYI)
Then Laura Anne wanted to go to bed, poor thing. She really wasn't feeling well. I made pink pancakes for breakfast in the morning.
Shortly after breakfast, this is how Laura Anne was doing:
I felt so bad for her. But on the night of her birthday, I had the idea that she might like to go see a movie at the movie theaters with me. So we had a Mommy/daughter birthday date to see Tangled! Great movie, by the way. Her fever came back during it, and she fell asleep during the 5-minute drive home after the movie, but she told me she really liked it and wants to get it someday. :)So that was Laura Anne's fifth birthday! Hoping next year (er, this year) she won't be sick on her big day!
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