Cheese!

I post this for no other reason than this baby makes me insanely happy. She makes EVERYONE smile. She's getting to a stage where she's slightly frustrated because she wants more independence, but she's still my favorite squishy baby. Ever. True story.

Christmas Photo Shoot

Every year I have these amazingly good intentions of taking cute pictures of my kids on Christmas Sunday. Every year we are rushing out the door and, if I am able to snap a few quick pictures, they're not great. So this year I got my act together and asked my sister in law, Kerstin, to come over and take a few pictures of my kids in their Christmas outfits. This was a genius idea for several reasons: 1. She's a MUCH better photographer than I am, ensuring that the pictures actually turn out good. 2. I won't have to worry about taking pictures of my kids on Christmas Sunday - pressure = gone. Nice! 3. Since we weren't rushing to snap some pictures on the way out the door we got to take some time, do some outside and inside, and get a little variety. (Plus, the more we take, the better the odds that we get a good one.)

Kerstin dropped the pictures off the next day and I am SO pleased. I know that Kerstin isn't a "professional" photographer, but seriously, her stuff is every bit as good as a lot of the "professionals" I see portfolios for online. I think she rocks. There were SO MANY good ones that I can't possibly choose a favorite. I don't know that I've ever had a problem quite like this before with family pictures. Usually there are a few good ones and one or two that really stand out. This time there are so many that stand out. I don't think there was a bad one in the bunch (although she may have just spared me and not included the bad ones in the CD she gave me).

If I was on top of things more I would have done this early enough to be our Christmas card. I didn't though so I'll just share them. There's a lot (like 30 something). So you don't have to look at them all, but I think you'll want to. I just can not narrow it down beyond that. Since I know that grandparents love pictures of these kiddos I'm not going to try. You're welcome!

So, without further ado:
Josie volunteered to pose while Kerstin set up the lighting. I actually think it's a really pretty shot of her.

 Sam also decided to pose while the lighting was set up. Love those baby blues!

 I was off to the side doing something and was clearly distracting half the offspring.

 Josie tried to "help" Sammie.

 LOVE!

This is one of my very favorite ones.

 I love this one because everyone is so sweet and happy and then BAM: POOTIE! Love it.

After a while in front of the tree we moved outside. The kids got to ham it up while Kerstin set up the lighting.

Josie was very serious about her choke hold.

These next two are more of my favorites (see? can't narrow it down)

 I think this one is my absolute favorite though.

Sammie Sue!

 I love this. Her smile with her squinty eyes and wrinkled nose.

She's such a happy girl (even though she's entering a stubborn/independent stage that's become slightly frustrating).

We asked Josie to pose herself and this is what we got. Her smile was actually a little more ackward/creepy, but I'm not posting any of those pictures.

 Love her smile!

Josie loves to make faces for the camera.

 This is her classic standby (see above)

 This is what happened when Kerstin asked her to make a "Josie face". Hmmm...

And now...on to all things handsome:

Bless his heart, he was trying so hard to be a good sport and do what he was supposed to. Love this smile!

Ha!





I love this face!

 "What do you want me to do?"

 





 So handsome!

For me, Clayton was sort of the star of this photo shoot. I can't get over how grown up or how incredibly handsome he is.



 Is your heart skipping a beat yet? Mine is.

::sigh::



 



 

Dashing!

So there you have our Christmas photo shoot 2012. I may consider doing this every year! I love these pictures and I love these kids. Thanks Kerstin, these are amazing!







What's been playing on repeat at our house lately:

Watch out Taylor Swift, Josie Smith is coming for your career (and doing it in a crown, no less).

Celebrating 6

...With a traditional breakfast (are you sick of muffins and scrambled eggs yet? We're not, that's some fancy stuff around here.):
Umm, so I was out of candles. All I had was a large number '1' left over from Sammie's birthday. When he asked me about it I told him it was because he was the number 1 six year old! Thankfully, he didn't question it!

 First present of the day (shocker) BIRTHDAY SHIRT!

This year's shirt wasn't my favorite. I accidentally messed up with my beloved liquid stitch and had to use the Cubs fabric to improvise. Again, he didn't question it at all. My kids all LOVE their birthday shirts - no matter how funky they look. It makes my heart happy.

After he got on the bus, the girls and I hustled to get ready so that we could take him lunch at school. At his school, kindergarten eats lunch at 9:45 (yes, I have issues with that - but that's a different post for a different day) so we had to hustle. The plan was to take him a Happy Meal but McDonald's doesn't start serving Happy Meals until 10:30. I begged and pleaded my case but the best they could give me was an egg McMuffin meal in a Happy Meal box with the toy. Done.

Noah was so excited to see us at school. Birthday's in kindergarten are a huge stinkin' deal! He got to be the line leader, got a special birthday crown, all the kids in his class made him a page in a special birthday book, AND - since he was student of the week that week - he got to have Justin come and spend the last 20 minutes of the day talking all about him. Wow! Anyway, we ate "lunch" with him and he beamed the entire time.

The girls and I hurried home to get his cake ready. I've seen so many super cute cakes on Pinterest and thought, 'Hey, I can do that!'. So I tried. Mine is not nearly as cute but I used rainbow chip frosting so, even if all else went horribly, horribly wrong, people were going to eat this cake and LOVE it. It's nice to have a little insurance. We got everything set up so that he could see it when he got home.

Since Justin went to Noah's school for the last 20 minutes of the day, he brought the boys home. On the way home they stopped at Toys R Us so that Noah could get his special birthday gift (Pokemon cards). Then they went to the grocery store so they could get the ingredients for Noah's birthday dinner (he'd originally decided on spaghetti - yum - but made an 11th hour decision to have mac 'n' cheese and chicken nuggets instead - blech). When they walked in the door Noah's face was priceless!

He looked at his stack of gifts and his cake and was just in awe. He got some new Ninjago bedding, a couple books, and an Angry Birds game (it's an actual stackable game with a catapult that you use for the birds - my kids have been playing it nonstop. If you're thinking Christmas, I highly recommend it!).

After dinner Jared, Kerstin, and their kids came over for cake and ice cream. They got Noah a Skylander (heavens opening, angels singing) and a huge Pokemon book (teenybopper screaming). To say that their gifts were the highlight would be an understatement.

I adore this series. Noah was very adamant that everyone do his bidding on his birthday. To him, that meant no singing...of any kind...'Happy Birthday' included. I told him though that since his birthday was REALLY a celebration of my accomplishment of getting him out of my belly we were singing. And he couldn't stop us. He tried anyway though.

Ignore my gross face but check Noah out. He's such a weird kid. This was pre candle blow. He's gearing up.

After our cousins left, we let the kids stay up late playing Skylanders, Angry Birds, and reading Pokemon books. It was, by all accounts, the perfect birthday. An entire day just devoted to all things Noah. I'm glad we get to celebrate him. I'm glad I live in a world where a six year old Pootie exists. He's an adventure, this one.

Happy Birthday Noah. I'm glad your day was everything you wanted.