Pictures

Benjamin is three weeks old today so I figured I should post these awesome pictures taken by Heather Grigg of HeatherLynn Photography. I have become really good friends with her and we actually both took pictures of Benjamin at her studio...but I'm pretty sure all of these were taken by her. She specializes in newborns and has a million props and backgrounds just for them. We refer a lot of clients to her for newborns. She is expecting this month and I can't wait to take pictures of our babies together, because she is actually dating Roger's cousin so our boys are third cousins since Roger and her boyfriend are second cousins. It's exciting to have newborns around and watch them grow. I have forgotten so much of what it is like to have a newborn. I am loving it all over again. Although I'd have to say it's hard having toddlers that are super jealous and throw fits because their mom can't hold them every second! Lol...
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!! I already ordered an 8x8 for my wall... This was a tough shot to get but we did it!!

I love all hanging shots... Look how long he already is... He kept flopping his legs over the edge.


Heather is so good at maneuvering the babies to pose them for their pictures. I love this pose!!
Next week I hope to post the birth experience.... It was quite an interesting one to say the least!! I am just happy he is here!!

Benjamin Reid Mar

Benjamin Reid Mar was born on January 14, 2010! He is now a week old!

He weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz. and measured at 20 inches long.

We are so happy to have him as a part of our family!

He has been a bundle of joy!

All I want for Christmas...

Is a newborn baby!!! My goodness I know I'm asking for a lot since I'm not due until January 16, but I've been miserable, been on bedrest and now decided I'm just going to try and stay positive and push my body to get things done. This baby is ready to come as far as I can tell. I had an appointment yesterday and he has dropped and is doing well still..which means he is huge and still in my ribs for being dropped and likes to move all the time...way more active than the other two were. If I'm still pregnant at Christmas of course you'll get a picture of how big I've gotten. So far I have kept off twenty excessive pounds that I gained with Ali's pregnancy but I'm guessing that's because I haven't been hooked up to IV's at all like I was with her for a few days during the pregnancy. Those things made me bloat like crazy...oh yeah and no swelling in the feet or legs so far!! Yay...just strong contractions that hurt from my back to front...and sciatic pain...but life keeps going..

Finally...

A couple weeks ago when I was in Moses Lake my friend Heather and I went out and took some pictures of our kids. She got a cute one of my kids together looking at her, but I didn't have as much luck...oh well!! I still think the pictures turned out cute... I know her diaper is showing but she is just so stinkin' cute in this pic!! I love it!!

She definitely had more smiles for me than Ethan did!!

He kept doing cheesy faces...

I think this is my favorite of Ethan...He is becoming such a big boy!!

This picture has sun flare but oh well...love it! Yes Ethan loves to show off for everyone!!

Here is Ali playing in the leaves afterwards!!! She wouldn't look at me by this point though!!

Halloween 2009

This year we stayed in Cheney and decided to head into the mall in Spokane because we couldn't figure out when or where the trunk-or-treat was!! Maybe we just missed it while we were gone. I don't know, but we had fun walking around the mall with the kids. It was nice to be indoors, but it was packed this year compared to last! After my camera came back from the shop I took pictures of the kids and left it in Moses Lake so these pictures are just from my Iphone but atleast I have some for right now! I hope to get some better ones soon!!
Ali was a bee fairy!! We painted her cheeks yellow and her nose black!! She could even say "trick-or-treat", but got really shy...Ethan was a ninja turtle!! He had a blue eye cover too but it was off by the time we got home. His face paint faded quite a bit too!! Everyone said he was the only ninja turtle they had seen!! Here Ethan is just being silly posing for me!

And this is Ali at church yesterday in her pretty dress my mom got her a while ago but finally fits her skinny body!! This cheesy face was what I got when I told her to say "cheese"!

Ali's 18 month WCC

Ali had her well child check yesterday. Yes she is almost 21 months but her doctor was on maternity leave and then it took forever to get her an appt. once she got back. She got 5 shots and cried but didn't scream. She's such a sweetie. She weighed in at 20 lbs even which puts her in the 1% for her age. I am a little concerned...so I'm going to try and fatten her up a little bit with milkshakes. She is just a tiny girl. Her height was 33.5 inches which put her in the 79% for her age and her head size was average. She just needs to work on the weight thing.

Karissa took this picture while we were at her appt. with her cell phone. I am really missing my camera since it is still in the shop getting fixed. I hope once I get it back I will be able to take lots of pictures to catch up on what I've been missing out on...

Ali has been saying so many words and she loves to point to all of the body parts and name them off. She even says her name now and it's so cute!! She isn't a baby anymore, but a toddler!! I am looking forward to having a newborn around soon!

*sWiNe FlU*

It seems like this whole year I've only written about how sick our family is...and once again I am writing about it...

Last Friday I had already had a cough for a couple days and Ethan was coughing with a Fever..as I posted earlier that week Ali had an ear infection so she had had fevers and cough as well...When I got back to Cheney Roger said we were going to the Dr. because they've been talking about swine flu so much at work he wanted to make sure we were all ok and that I wouldn't have to worry about the baby....well of course Ethan tested positive for swine flu..they tested me and I was negative but they said they didn't believe the results since I had all the symptoms but fever..let me tell you that body aches when you are pregnant is like a hundred times worse then when you aren't..my tailbone was even hurting. Ali didn't get tested because she was already on antibiotics for her ear and they figured she either had it or would get it so they just put her on tamiflu as well...since Roger didn't have any symptoms then they didn't put him on anything. While the rest of us were feeling like crap all conference weekend Roger was fine, but then Monday night he got a fever and a headache and went in and the doctor just put him on tamiflu because they didn't want him to get tested since it is pretty painful (they stick this nasty q-tip type thing up your nose until it hurts and move it around to get the gunk) and since I was pregnant they just wanted to prevent any more swine flu coming into the home. By Tuesday the three of us were done with the five day dose of tamiflu but my kids were still exhausted...you can get nausea and vomitting from the tamiflu and I was lucky to get it since I didn't have an appetite and it was supposed to be taken with food. I felt bad for Roger because the fever was bad and his chest hurt really bad. He always seems to get the worst of the symptoms no matter what kind of sickness he gets.

We are all doing a lot better...still a little cough..but feeling happy that the swine flu is gone..

On a happy note...my mom and I got to photograph Ellie O'Neill and Tyler Fredericksen's wedding and reception this weekend. She looked beautfiul....

My mom wanted to snap a picture of me pregnant since I don't have any from this pregnancy yet and supposedly I looked good last night so she got this while we were at the reception...THANKS MOM...

Although you can't see the outline of my belly I think you get the idea of how big I am...26 weeks..hopefully only 12 more if I get my way!! LOL

I hope the next post will be more uplifting!!!