Tales From Europe

The Colors of Happiness

2010-10-26T09:40:00.001-07:00

The Colors of Happiness
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Just for fun :) I haven't posted in SO long. Just busy...Life, activities, kids, photos...the usual! :) We are all well and happy!

Village Run

2010-09-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Today was the annual village run-- 1km for children 10 years to 14 years, 5km for 14 years and older and 10 km for adults. Krista was able to participate in the 1 km run and we both had a blast! Krista ended up coming in 5th place for her age category and ran very well. She was slowed down a lot by the crowd, but was happy with her results. Initally she thought she was 4th place and was disppointed only because she was SO close to being on the podium. I had a wonderful day myself taking pictures of the action. I am currently trying to master sports photography. It is MUCH harder than portrait work, but I am always up for the challenge! I got a ton of shots that I loved so for me it was a big win! I am really starting to get a feel for the AI servio focusing system. I was happy to have such a fun race today to practice my skills ;)

They all did great! Coming in 3rd, 4th and 5th!!

The girls with their "dossards"

Here are the kids in the 1km. It was a madhouse! So hard to take pictures and video at the same time! Krista and her two friends are together still (the Asasics sign is the starting line).

More shots of the kids...

And you can see Krista here below #465:

Here's Krista at the finish line in the cool down lane..

And now for some photos of the 5 and 10 km. I had a blast taking these shots!!!

This is the winner. He ran 5km in about 16 minutes.

Here's our friend Michele!! She ran wonderfully!

Check out these guys!!!

There was also a father rolling his crippled child. Always such a moving experience to witness.

And the winner of the 10 km in about 33 minutes!

The trophies!

I took this one of Krista before the race on the walk to the cultural center.

First Day of School!!

2010-09-02T02:21:00.000-07:00

They're off! It is officially the FIRST day of the 2010-2011 school year. Am I excited? YES!!!! It is always wonderful to have vacation time, but I do enjoy the routine and flow of the more 'organized' days. So here they are before school today!

Krista age 11, is in 6th grade this year and gets to change schools! Instead of going to the local middle school for "College", she has decided to go to a school that offers English as a primary language of education. She will still have French, but her primary language will be in English. This will be a big change for her! She was SO excited this a.m. before leaving. Not only does she enter the "middle school" which is a big change in itself, but she is also changing her language of operation. Even though she is fluent in English, it is not easy switching education languages. She will also go to school with Toomas this year and return when he finishes work. The drive is about 30 minutes so it isn't easy for me to just swing by the school anymore.

Erik is entering 3rd grade this year. He will have the same teach as Krista had 2 years ago..so the path is layed out for him. Luckily Krista's teacher like her a lot, but he'll have big shoes to fill!

Kaitlyn is startting full day pre-school this year. It is her 2nd year of pre-school...and although she LOVES school, she was in tears this a.m. when we got there. The coat hangers are about 12 inches higher on the big kid classroom. She wanted to stay in the "petit" section (1st year pre-school). She is in a class with 30 children...17 are in kindergarten (age 5) and 13 are in their 2nd year of pre-school (age 4). This year will REALLY help Kaitlyn progress in the French langage!!!

Photography, Stolen Photos and Summer

2010-08-12T02:21:00.000-07:00

Summer is flying by and I haven't posted much. I'm busy either busy with the kids, busy travelling or just up to my photography. As many of you know, I stopped posting on Flickr due to many of my photos being stolen. I thought I was safe since I hadn't posted in awhile and had removed almost all public photos. Today I randomly did a search and guess what? I found another photo. This is irritating, considering the site is advertising a best selling NY times book and my photo is being used WITHOUT my permission, nor royalty. And the blog is a high profile one, receiving nearly 19,000,000 *yes that is MILLION views. I'm very much considering selling stock photography soon, sinse at least I'd see some money from the photos being used. Anyway, rant over... I'll post the link for your enjoyment.

This is the book:

http://1000awesomethings.com/book/

Here is my photo....Sigh. I think I will write the author today.
Day #554. Staying in your Pj's all day..
http://1000awesomethings.com/2010/03/08/554-staying-in-your-pajamas-all-day/

Does anyone in the US want to do me a HUGE favor and check out to see if my photo was used just on the blog or in the book too? Next time your at Borders or Barnes and Noble? Look under Day #554 for me..If the photo is there I'm going to make him pay!!!!!!!!!

Otherwise we are all happy and fine. I really should get some family trip photos up soon. We all have been having a GREAT summer.

Krista's Braces are OFF!

2010-06-22T03:12:00.000-07:00

After one full year...it was time to remove Krista's braces! Last Monday was her final day with braces! She looks beautiful and SO much older and more mature :)

Vanaema and Vanaisa Visit France

2010-06-22T02:27:00.000-07:00

A LOT has been going on lately and I promise to update soon. Lots of big happenings and much business to enjoy.

Toomas parents came to visit us for Toomas birthday. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time with their Estonian grandparents :)

Krista's Track and Field Competition

2010-05-24T05:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a local track and field competition for Krista. She participated in 4 events and improved on each and every one of her individual performances (although I'm not sure about the relay time since it wasn't listed on the site).

Krista had a huge improvement in long jump and she placed 7th out of about 50 girls. Last competition she jumped 3.10 m and this time she jumped 3.62 meters! This is such a great improvment for her. She was thrilled with her result as this put her in 1st place in her club for the long jump.

Her 2nd best event was a 5th place position (out of about 40 participants) in the shot-put. She had previously thrown 5.16 meters and bumped it up to 5.95 meters! Also a great improvment for her.

She ran in the 1000 meter race and improved on her time by 8 seconds. She went from 4"23 to 4"15! She was happy with her overall performance, but the distance run was very hard for her heel. She said that next competition she would rather run the 50 meter race or 50 meter hurdles.

Finally, she also participated in a relay. Her relay team placed 3rd with all 8 lanes filled. Krista ran 1st position and although it was tough on her foot, I think she did wonderfully! I saw a statistic on the site that there were over 70 girl participants.

The season is coming to a close. There is a select event that is coming up (the department competition), and Krista is waiting to see if she will be selected. She would really love to participate, but we will have to wait and see if she is invited. All in all it has been a fun and learning experience for Krista. I'm so happy to see her enjoying this sport. This morning she was thrilled to see her name mentioned on the Club's website among 5 others of her age group, congratulating them for their scores yeterday. Her friend Clara placed 2nd place in the 50 m sprint out of over 50 girls!

As usual I was in my hayday with pictures. I am just so anxious to get a nice sports zoom lens so I can really dig into quality sports photography. I had to take these with my portrait lens, but I was still happy to have captured their fun and action!

My Soccer Baby

2010-05-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

« km solidarité », 19 000 students in the run!

2010-05-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

Yay, Krista came home with a medal today! They have been training for this race at school for the last month...running, running, running! The event was held on the border of France and Germany for all local 5th grade students and several schools in Germany. For every kilometre that is run there is a .20 cent donation to the local hospital (Children's Unit). There were 19,000 total in the run and it was divided between 2 days.. Grades 1-4th ran yesterday in their local stadiums. (Erik ran yesterday--he was 1st in his class btw, running 8 laps around the track in 20 minutes!). ALL 5th graders ran together today (4,000 total). Krista's heat totaled 300 runners and she came in 8th place! The first 10 places received medals. She might be on France 3 news tonight. She did a small interview. Last year I believe they made over 7,000 Euros in dontation money!! Such a great idea to have a race like this...It benefits everyone!

Phi and Mathematics in Photography. Nature by Numbers

2010-05-14T04:45:00.000-07:00

I adore photography! Yes, you all know that. The more involved I become, however, the more I reazlize how beautiful and complicated photography can be. I just finished up taking some pictures for submission into this month's dgrin contest. These challenges always stretch my abilities as a photographer. The theme for this round is "Golden Spiral" or "S-Curve".

The human eye is attracted to images that follow these compositions. The golden spiral composition, for example is mathematically based on Phi ratios and is sometimes called a Fibonacci sequence, Golden Mean or Golden Ratio. I will include a link to a BEAUTIFUL video based on these compositional principles. Sometimes these compositional principles are called "God's Fingerprint" as many natural wonders are composed according to these Phi ratios. Beauty is mathematical... and composing a photo in such a way as to capture the composition is key to a beautiful image!!!!! I will include my entry (one that I had a lot of fun making), and I will also attach the 2 others I considered entering. In all, I narrowed it down to two "Golden Spirals" and 1 "S-Curve". The one of Kaitlyn I just couldn't resist :)

Here is the amazing video. It is breathtakingly beautiful and shows the compositional elements in nature (one that a photographer should aspire to capture)

Here is the photo I ultimately submitted (complete with Golden Spiral Overlay)...

My S-Curve option:

2nd Golden Spiral Composition

The Girls

2010-05-06T06:21:00.000-07:00

Just another one that I adored from this series!! What a great team they make and I was so happy to have captured their sisterness :)

Sharing Secrets!!

2010-05-05T14:54:00.001-07:00

Just a cute one that I wanted to get up of the 2 friends sharing secrets. I'm sure there will be more of this as they grow up together.. Just was such a cute exchange. There are a few more I loved from this series too that I will post....

McNeil Consumer Healthcare Announces Voluntary Recall of Certain OTC Infants’ and Children’s Products

2010-05-05T03:28:00.000-07:00

I I received an email notifcation from drugstore.com today that several items I had orderd were being recalled. Infant Tylenol and Infant Motrin. These are some of the most common medications for fever reduction in babies and young children....in the world! I'm disappointed to see this happen and I'm also angry to see the recall take place so LATE in the game. These products are due to expire this month! Most people have already used these medications on their babies and don't even know it. Basically if you have used infant Motrin or infant Tylenol in the last year and a half you have been involved. I personally use these very sparingly and noted that I had several unopened boxes in my medicine cabinet. I also found 2 opened and used bottles (used when Evan was teething... or perhaps last winter when he was running a fever with a cold). I have lost faith in a very trusted medical company. Their track rerecord in the last year has been terrible.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare Announces Voluntary Recall of Certain OTC Infants’ and Children’s Products

Other article
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6401AK20100501

Back in April....

2010-05-04T05:43:00.000-07:00

Just going through some photos... One of the kids on Easter morning...minus Evan who was thankfully still sleeping for the Easter hunt action. He did join in on the outdoor hunt later in the day :)

Kaitlyn's 4 Year Report

2010-05-02T04:21:00.000-07:00

It is absolutely wonderful and amazing to think that Kaitlyn is FOUR years old. Four is such a wonderful age! I am savoring every moment of this time with her. I think that four years old may be my favorite children's age. I love the newness of a newborn baby, but that certainly doesn't last for long..the fatigue hits and then it is more work than pleasure....somewhere around 6 months it gets fun. So I think 6 months maybe be my 2nd most "fun" age also..until the crawling starts and their getting into everything! Two is hard and tiring for the parents, three is easier and fun, but FOUR... I LOVE IT! I think what I love most about the age is that they are starting to become independent and individuals, but also still very cute and small! It is really the best of both worlds. I love how a four year old talks...there is nothing cuter!!!

Kaitlyn at age four-
Appearance
On Friday we have Kaitlyn's 4 year pediatrian visit. I'm looking forward to seeing her stats..but I can say that she is smaller than Krista was at this age. Her feet are so tiny compared to where Krista was at this age. I pulled out a bag of Krista's old clothes that she wore at age 4, and most of it is too big. Kaitlyn is wearing size for age clothing 4T fits nicely...whereas Krista always seemed to wear a size higher than her age *(ie 5T at age 4).

Kaitlyn has the BLUEST eyes. I think her eyes are the most brilliant of all the children. Everyone has blue in the family but her eyes just glow. She has a very nice complexion..more towards Erik and Toomas' complexion, with a tendancy to be less sensitive in the sun. Krista has a lot of freckles, but Kaitlyn will probabally not have that skintype--although it is still a bit early to tell for sure. Her bangs have FINALLY grown out. We have been trying to get her hair one length for some time now and for about a year it was difficult and messy. I think we have rounded the hump now and she can get the back trimmed to the length of the front. It is much darker than Krista's hair. At this age Krista was very blonde, while Kaitlyn has a much darker color, although still with a lot of red and blonde highlights.

Socialization
Kaitlyn started French pre-school in September and in the last 8 months has made GREAT strides! In the last month she has started speaking more and more in French. I am abolutely astounded at how quickly the language has come for her. By far she has excelled in the communication front vs the older kids. She can use sentences already and has a good amount of words. She has managed to make friends already at school as well....and has been invited to a birthday party and a lunch date at another girl's house. For Erik and Krista the friendships and language skills were developed in the 2nd year of pre-school. I'm really happy to see her integrate so easily.

Language
Kaitlyn has definately had more exposure to French at this age than Krista did at this age (with the older children's activities and outings), but honestly she didn't speak a word of French before September. Toomas speaks exclusively Estonian to the children and I speak exclusively English. Our "dinnertable" language is English so that is by far the stronger of the the 2 languages. I would say that Kaitlyn is sligthly behind her age level for English perhaps...just due to the fact that her brain is already having to process and store words in 3 languages. It seems to me that for a few years the maternal language, although still very good...is slightly under par for the average "native" child for the same age. She still does very well but does make a number of grammatical mistakes.

Interests
Kaitlyn is a very active little girl. She loves riding her bike, swinging on the swingset, running in the yard and playing with the big kids. She is very coordinated and agile. She loves to dance and imitate Krista's gymnastics moves. She talks often about ballet and will most likely start taking ballet classes next year. This year she is involved in baby-gym which she loves. She is always so excited for Friday to roll around so she can go to her baby-gym class. Definately the highlight of the week for her. She loves drawing and playing with her dolls. She loves dressing up and doing her own hair. Recently she has had a passion for taking large shopping bags and filling them with various items around the house. I suppose this is in imitation of a shopping trip, but it sure is a tough job for me to put all of the items away! She goes from room to room putting in a few objects that strike her fancy. When I see one of these 30 pound "treasure bags" I cringe! It is sure cute to see what she decides to put inside though. I try my best to be patient!!! She loves playing with either Krista or Erik and tries her best to play what they want so that she can be included. This usually means she will dress up as a police officer if need be in order to play with Erik... or have her nails painted and hair braided when playing with Krista. Kaitlyn loves music and for her birtday received a kidi-zoom Vtech camera which also is a mp3 player. I've downloaded some of her favorite songs (Barbie princess songs and Alvin and the Chipmunks) and she LOVES it!

Personality
FUNNY! This is the one word for Kaitlyn. She is a CHARACTER!!! Definately has a strong willed personality. She loves to laugh and make others laugh. She is a true individual! Not a follower and definately not passive!!! We love Kaitlyn dearly, but she can be very very strong willed and opinionated at times....perhaps this will be an asset in life! I truly hope so!

Kaitlyn is FOUR!

2010-04-30T02:26:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th Birthday to Kaitlyn!!! Here are a few shots from this a.m. before school. The cake is the one we made for school. A M&Ms masterpiece :) I also took a picture of her in her classroom and need to head off to pick the kids up as I type! I'll post an update of the fun later :)

Okay, the brief update...McDonalds for lunch...brownies for dessert and she opened a few presents at lunch. She was one TIRED girl after lunch and is currently taking a deep nap as I type. I need to go wake her up for her baby gym class.

Oh..and one GREAT photo that I love is the one her nursery school teacher took of her and her classmates. I lent her a camera and she snapped a few shots :) More photos tonight!

Kaitlyn in action on the swing!

2010-04-28T06:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a mini 'action' photoshoot with Kaitlyn the other day on the swingset. I can't belive her 4th birthday is on Friday. It seems like just yesterday that Krista was turning four! I was happy with these shots. I have been working on a new focusing mode called AI Servio that is used for sports photography and for tracking fast moving objects. In these she was going full speed on the swing. So fun to be able to capture her so well in action!

Spring in the yard 2010 at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-04-27T11:38:00.001-07:00

Evan is a walking guy now...just one of the big kids in the yard now! This is from this afternoon. He got his 1st pair of shoes today--he had been wearing on of Erik's lightly used pairs before. Hooray for Spring and growing kids!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Track and Field

2010-04-25T01:48:00.000-07:00

Krista decided to join the Track and Field team last month. There is a family from our school that has their 2 daughters on the team and Krista was so happy to learn about this opportunity! She is so thrilled to learn all of the events and just loves this sport so much--definately her cup of tea! Luckily it is in a nearby town (about 10 minutes away) and our friends have been MORE than helpful in carpooling Krista. I'm happy to see Krista learn about Track and Field. Such a fun sport for this time of year indeed!

This is Krista in her team jersey on her first Track and Field competition! She was competing in the 1000m walk. Sounds easy? No way! Those kids walked FAST! There is certain a distinct technique for speed walking. She did a wonderful job considering she learned it in a matter of minutes before the competition (placed 7th out of maybe 20 kids).

Since then she has competed in one other competition--and also did great for first attempts. The 50 m with 8.44 seconds (winner was 7.54 seconds.. an unbeatable girl from Camaroon in Africa who is MY height!) Almost all of the other times were in the 8 and 9 second range. It was Krista's first time starting on the running block so she did wonderfully. I think she placed somewhere around 8th out of 25. She also did the shotput and 1000m run. All in all she did very well for literally just jumping right in to this sport!

So far her times are as follows:

50 m sprint- 8"44 with -1.4 wind
Shotput- 5m10
1000m run- 4'23"97
1000m walk- 6'59"90

Sisters

2010-04-16T05:02:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite recent creations :) The girls in their Easter outfits and hats by the lake. I found a cute quote to go with it. Enjoy!

Front Page Explore!

2010-04-09T13:05:00.001-07:00

Gosh..I will do two separate posts. Today was a big day for my photos. As you all know I stopped posting publicly on Flickr when a few of my photos were "borrowed"... I can't say blatently stolen, because the individuals still left my watermark on the photo, but they used them on their personal blog sites. I was also infomed that one of my photos was available as a wallpaper download (computer background). Luckily that site was shut down. Needless to say I decided to post privately. Well yesterday I uploaded one photo (the winning photo from last month's dgrin contest) and thought it was set to "Friends and Family". I was WRONG. I logged onto Flickr later in the evening only to find dozens and dozens of comments...I had it set as a public photo. Well, I didn't remove it (and I had uploaded a minimal file---only large enough for proper web viewing and not printing) so I left it. Today I was welcomed with a message that this photo has not only gone to Explore but it has hit the FRONT PAGE of Explore! This is a big deal for me as Explore photos are hard enough to get, but FP Explore, wow what an honor! I've only had one other..."The Three Little Bears". So here is the screenshot on Flickr's Front Page today :) So far in 24 hours some 75 favorites and nearly 900 views.

Erik's 8th Birthday!

2010-04-06T05:24:00.000-07:00

Today Erik turns EIGHT years old. HAPPY BIRTHDAY my little man! It still amazes me that he is already 8 years old! I'm so proud of my little Erik. He is such a wonderful, wonderful little boy! He behaves, he is caring, kind, obedient, smart, handsome, friendly, appreciative, thankful for his blessings, confident! I can't say enough wonderful things about him! Here are a few photos from this morning. Toomas took the morning off so we could open some presents and celebrate together. The weather is GORGEOUS, as it was 8 years ago today. How I remember that morning so well! Just like yesterday in so many ways! Tonight Toomas will bring home pizza and we will celebrate with the very special cake that I baked Erik....more photos to come! Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Had a fun outing today with the kids..the annual American Easter party for our club of local Americans in France. This year...a big treat for the little ones.. THE REAL EASTER BUNNY was there! I got some fun shots...pretty much my ideal afternoon-the kids dressed up for photos, a full battery, my nifty fifty lens and 8 gigs of memory! :) I had a blast. Luckily the rain held off for the event, but it is raining now so we'll have to see what happens for tomorrow's hunt! Evan was in his hayday today---running freely and eating chocolate. Happy Easter!

Rhythmic Gymnastics World Tops!

2010-03-28T03:15:00.001-07:00

Krista's Rhythmic Gymnastics team organized a trip to see this competition of the world's tops in Rhythmic Gymnastics. She called from the hotel this morning and is having a WONDERFUL time. Evidently she was able to get a bunch of autographs and also a photo with one of Russia's RG champions. Here is a link to the offical site with the competition information...

Not sure whether she will go to school tomorrow morning or not. They left at 6:45 a.m. yesterday and will only be back tonight in the wee hours (maybe 1 or 2 a.m.). This was a great opportunity for her though--to see what level of excellence exists in this sport. I'm sure it was very inspiring! Here is a link to the compeition's offical website.
http://www.grandprixthiais.fr/english.html

Future GRS Star at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-03-27T13:41:00.001-07:00

This was something I meant to post a while back. It was taken back in November! She was a wee 3.5 then :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I won a photo contest!

2010-03-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

WOW! I'm so honored---and $250.00 in prizes richer!!!! I won the Digital Grin Sharp Shooters Contest #46 (Theme: GREEN)!!! I have been a member of Digital Grin (Dgrin) since September. It is there that I have learned so much about photography, lighting and manual shooting. There are so many top pros there and they kindly share their knowlege and expertise, so that others will progress. This site regularly host contests and when I saw this month's theme as Green I just knew I had to enter! And I actually won!

There were 57 entries into the Green gallery. A panel of 2 judges selected 14 photos (7 each) and then it was open to public vote for 72 hours. Here is the inital gallery and the results poll.

Green Gallery:

http://challenges.smugmug.com/Other/DSS-46/11443304_J7WRw#809319358_Xym2d

The results poll:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=162761

I get to judge round #49 and I also win a $149.49 Pro account/website on Dgrin and $100 in photo prints/gifts. Hooray, I'm so happy!!!! And so honored!

PS Excuse the photo quality. I have reduced this file to nearly the smallest viewable...200x300. Not even printable! No theft of my photos allowed :)

Evan can WALK! at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-03-20T04:31:00.001-07:00

Here are a few clips of Evan walking! One is from last month at Kaitlyn's baby gym and the other is from this week in the yard. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Posing...Day 66

2010-03-12T11:10:00.001-08:00

Krista posing for me on the mat on competition day last Sunday. Once again.. I completely lucked out in finding this deserted room. It was pitch black, but I pulled back one curtain for lighting (to camera right). If I would have had another hand I could have pulled back a few more but I really liked the way these turned out.

Gymnastics Competition Day...Day 65

2010-03-12T11:09:00.001-08:00

Gymnastics Competition Day...Day 65
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Here's my golden star on her competition day (Rhythmic Gymnastics). I snuck off to a side warm-up room, just off the main gymnastics floor and found my glory. It was completely dark inside the room but there were curtains covering the whole wall and I lifted one to let in just the right amount of light. The padded floor was bright blue and made a perfect background. Hardly any editing on this shot--maybe 2 mintues worth. I ran a very light sharpen, upped the blacks and saturated the reds. Make up was done by her team. The glow on her skin is the beauty of all natural light!

Front Page Explore...REALLY?

2010-02-28T14:54:00.001-08:00

My photo made it to FRONT PAGE Flickr Explore today! To be an Explore is already such an achievement for me, but now FRONT PAGE. Wow, I can't believe this....There are nearly 7,000 uploads onto Flickr each MINUTE. To get an Explore means you are in the top 500 photos of the entire day...This made it to #38 (my record is #7) but THIS photo made it to the FRONT page. I couldn't believe all of the contact requests I had after this went to the Front Page. I'm just so thrilled! This was my first shot at "studio" lighting too. A small feat :)

My Sweetie...

2010-02-27T01:23:00.001-08:00

My Sweetie...Day 56
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Just wanted to get a recent shot of Krista up! She's growing up so fast! Everyone says she looks just like me. Hard for me to tell but I definately think she looks more like me than Kaitlyn does. Krista's coloring is much more "Celtic"...Very beautiful, but not easy in the sun. Look at those eyes!!!!!

The Three Little Bears

2010-02-27T01:19:00.001-08:00

The Three Little Bears..Day 58
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

So..the bear on the right has quickly become the love of the middle bear's life. He won't let go of him. He searches for him in his crib and squeals in delight when he sees him during the day. That bear was my older son's "lovie" for about 2 years until he was ditched for a tiger named "Stripey". The bear on the left is my eldest's. He has a lavendar pouch in his tummy that goes in the mircowave. It smells so good and gives warm hugs afterwards. I got a better pose of him up higher--I'll post later. The little fuzzy hat was from H&M's fall collection last year. Oh and a word about the camera settings. This was the FIRST time I took a shot with "studio" light. One large softbox from camera right. The softbox arrived this week but still waiting on the triggers to go wireless. It was also one of the first times I shot outside of Manual. I used Av..I wasn't pleased with the lack of control though and switched back to manual later in the shoot. It ended up giving me a 1/8 shutter speed. I hate not having full control!!!!!! I was floored to see the 1/8 shutter. LUCKY he was sleeping (for blurring sake), but I think generally when flash is used shutters are maximized so you can safely go very low with no blur. No tripod either. I'm a natural light girl, so this is all foreign terretory to me. I would really love to master studio lighting though---so much to learn. I think I'll always prefer natural, but I was pretty happy with how natural this turned out using partial natural light (facing him) and one softbox to camera right.

The Little Chocolate Hat... Day 42/365

2010-02-16T13:59:00.001-08:00

The Little Chocolate Hat... Day 42/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

I can't remember if I posted this to the blog or not. This photo has been among 2 of my most successful shots to date. My 2 big "hits" have both been from last week, actually. This photo has been viewed nearly 500 times in the last few days..there are nearly 100 comments and about 40 favorites (where someone marks it for themselves as a favorite). It also hit "Explore"..which always makes me very happy. I've had 7 Explore photos so far (An Explore listing means that it was among the best/most interesting 500 photos of the day--and is put on Flickr's calendar page for that day-- which is a permanent calendar archive for each day)...and there are hundreds of thousands of photos every day on flickr so this is a very great achievment! I have been thrilled with my 7 to date! Anyway, this photo has received so much attention--I'm so very happy about it! I set out to make this a great shoot and it must have worked. I'm just so lucky to have such a great model!

The Little Chocolate Hat... Day 42/365

2010-02-11T04:47:00.001-08:00

The Little Chocolate Hat... Day 42/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Newborn posing practice! He looks so much like a tiny baby when he is sleeping! This is one of my favorites with my new logo!

A Favorite! Those hands!!!!!

2010-02-06T16:18:00.001-08:00

Favorite...Day 37/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

I LOVE Fluidr. It is a link to my flickr account photos in blog format. The photos are seen on black and can be enlarged to gallery size. Here is the link to my flickr stream. You can view my daily uploads here.

http://www.fluidr.com/photos/freezethemomentphotography

Little blue house..Day 32/365

2010-02-03T13:10:00.001-08:00

Little blue house..Day 32/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Took Kaitlyn out to the center of the village to capture some of that rustic feel I love so much to photograph! I just loved the feel of this little blue house. It is probabally more than 200 years old! What history! I was inspired by the textures of the wooden structures..and the brick tones.

Winning Photo Screen Shot

2010-01-31T04:24:00.001-08:00

Winning Photo Screen Shot
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

I won a photo contest yesterday. I'm completely thrilled with this because this particular forum (called dgrin), is filled with top notch professional photographers. It is a very technical site and I have learned so much about lighting, post-processing, and shooting in manual from this site. I joined in September when I got my first dSLR camera and only 4 months later I actually won a challenge. There are challenges with various topics for each month. This month's challenge was entltled "Layers and Textures". I have never really played with layers or textures so this was new. I used what is called a "layer mask" and added a vintage texture to this photo. I also changed the levels curve, added a fill color and a few more touches. It took a good bit of time to master the layering mask technique but now I feel comfortable with it. I learned a lot and won in the process! Doesn't get better than that! Since I'm the January winner I will get a small biography/interview on the forum, along with a gallery of my photos. I need to select the topic for next month's people challenge too. Very excitng for me! :)

Stripes...

2010-01-31T04:17:00.001-08:00

Stripes...Day 31/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Kaitlyn yesterday for a mini-shoot. She loved dancing around and then just layed down and posed like this. I got it!

Little Sweet Pea...

2010-01-27T02:24:00.001-08:00

Little Sweet Pea...Day 26/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

More posing practice during naptime. No one believes he is 1 year old. I turned up the heat during naptime in the room and had no trouble getting these shots. I am so thankful to have captured him as a wee baby again.

Can you feel his soft hair....Day 25/365

2010-01-26T04:07:00.001-08:00

Can you feel his soft hair....Day 25/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Busy with my pictures. This is from yesterday. Evan is so fun now. He loves to give kisses, can say "bump" (and imitates bumping his head when he says it). He loves doing the motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider, loves pushing buttons and turning on and off lights. He took his first independant steps last Friday---probabally walked 6 feet or so. Still sleeping poorly, but eating well...Just a quick recap *typing 1 handed.

Happy First Birthday Evan!

2010-01-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

Happy First Birthday My Sweet Evan...

Here is a collection of some favorite pictures and portraits over the course of the year (in no given order). Enjoy!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'll DEFINATELY be posting some fun Birthday shots in the very near future. We are looking forward to a fun Birthday weekened with Evan! Toomas is taking off Friday to celebrate all day with his little boy. I can't wait to see Evan's reaction to all of the balloons, presents and cake!!!

Snuggles and Smiles..

2010-01-12T12:06:00.001-08:00

Snuggles and Smiles.. day 7
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Did a fun shoot with Evan a few awake and a few asleep. These are his 1 year shots. More to come!

Evan's 11 Month Report

2010-01-11T01:35:00.001-08:00

So I missed the 10 month report, but I'm going to get this 11 month report in before Evan's 1st birthday :) Speaking of which I can't belive he will be ONE YEAR OLD on Friday. Where has the year gone. In some ways it seems like we have known Evan FOREVER and in other ways...it seems just like he was born yesterday.

Eating/Nursing: Evan is still nursing quite often and in that respect is still very much like a little baby! He nurses approximately 3 times during the day and often 2 times at night. I'm letting him go at his own pace (just as I have done with the others). Some days he will nurse less and other days more. He went through a persiod where he was very distracted nursing (around 10 months) but now I can nurse him in a lit and active room if he is hungry. On the eating front, he eats like a toddler! He will only eat chopped table food now. He can chew chicken, salmon and beef with ease. He only has the 4 top and bottom teeth (no molars) but he manages to eat a large variety of table food with no mashing. He has never been much of a fan of the spoon. Both Erik and Evan are very simliar in this respect. His favorite foods---salmon, chicken, broccoli, corn, carrots, green beans, bread, pasta, meatballs, bananas, clemintines, PEARS, yogurt (in the squeezeable packs...don't think these exist in the USA but you twist off the top and they squeeze it out directly into the mouth). I buy an organic Strawberry yogurt and he just adores it! He also loves apple sauce in these same "pouches"... He snacks on cheerios and sesame bread sticks..love fruit and veggies of all kinds. He is SO easy with food. He'll eat anything and try EVERYTHING. He is very vigilant about chewing also (unlike Erik who would just inhale his food!). In this respect he has been a very easy baby.

Sleeping: Okay. This is our sticking point. This guy does NOT sleep well. Not well at all! He is up to nurse about 3 times per night. I still have his crib in our room. I have NO idea when he is going to start sleeping solidly. Right now it is exasperating because he will wake around 4 a.m. and stay up until 6...then he is up at 8 a.m. for the day. The 4-6 stretch is really getting old! There is one trick that works but it is really in desperation that I use it. If he doesn't fall back to sleep and just is standing there in his crib crying. I will put him in his carseat. He zonks right out, but I reallly don't like letting him sleep in there. If I am desperate though I don't hesitate.

Activity: Evan is a guy on the go! He has been crawling well since 9 months and started walking (just steps..during his 11th month). He is a unique little fellow because he can get up to standing in the center of the room. Most children pull up to stand on objects, but he just stands up in the center of an open room and takes his little steps until he tumbles. I HATE the tumbling stage. I'm always on edge that he is going to fall and get hurt. I just get so anxious about the safety until they are stable....

Interests/Personality: LOVES buttons, loves to turn on the light switches, loves to push anything he can see. Loves grabbing anything within his reach. He has the fastest grip ever--he will grab something off of a table or countertop before you even notice. Loves cuddling stuffed animals and singing to them. Loves to dance to music..just sort of bops up and down. He communicates well. He can sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider", he can sign "all done" and "more" and nod his head for No and Yes in the correct context. He can say "bump" and shows me how he bumps his head against something. Bump and dada are his first words. He is a funny little guy. Loves to make silly faces and get you to laugh. Scrunches up his nose and imitates. Loves to imitate. If you hit a wall with your hand he will do the same. If you make a sound he will try to imitate it. He can show you were his head/hat/hair is by tapping his head. Smart little fellow. Seems to understand a LOT!

Physical: Evan is almost 12 kg.. He is a sturdy little man. He is wearing 2t clothes and filling them out. He can still fit into 18 month but it is getting to be tight. He is finally growing hair this month. It seems to be quite light---more like Krista in complexion it seems. His eyes are deep blue and he now has 11 teeth. His 3 molars came in all at once. This seems to be the standard fare for Evan. He got all of his top teeth in a 1 week span as well! He had 11 teeth before his 1st birthday. Amazing! Still waiting on the bottom right molar to pop through but it won't be long I'm sure. These last 3 looked like they were quite painful. He even had some slight bleeding on his gum with the bottom right molar. They really push through at record speed.

Just so happy that Evan is deloping so well. He is a handful, but a loveable one!!! We can't imagine life with out this little character!!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-11T01:34:00.001-08:00

This is where you will see a few Christmas pictures :) I promise before next Christmas arrives!

The lovely autumn season

2010-01-11T01:32:00.000-08:00

Just bookmarking a place for my halloween shots, lol! I'll get them here before next fall arrives :)

Walk in the woods

2010-01-04T09:21:00.001-08:00

That Lovely Girl...Day 4/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Krista and I went on a walk yesterday when Evan was napping. It was cold (0 C), but the sun was shining so we had to get some of that fresh air. We are so lucky to have a forest right by our house. I got some great shots of Krista! She's turning into a young lady already--where does the time go?! She had fun posing for me and I had fun clicking! This is one of my favorites of her. The scarf is from Vanaema. She loves it!

New Favorite

2010-01-03T08:18:00.001-08:00

Peace... day 3/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Another new favorite! This is day 3 in my 365 Project on Flickr. A photo a day of my very favorite work...not easy, but challenging and rewarding :) I'm growing by leaps and bounds now as I am shooting almost daily. I'm loving full Manual and RAW.

Evan looks like a newborn here...he is such a solid napper. I can open the blinds once he is asleep and click away. Hard to believe that in 2 weeks he will be ONE year old. Where has the time gone.

I still need to put up pictures of Christmas and from when the cousin's visited. The files are so large and it takes so long on Blogger. I really love the Flickr account for the unlimited file size. One picture can be approx 15 mb or more so it REALLY is nice.

The kids start school tomorrow so I should finally have some time to myself. The Holidays were wonderful, but we are all ready to resume in the normal rhythm again :)

Kaitlyn's Haircut

2010-01-01T14:13:00.001-08:00

Haircut time 1/365
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

No better way to start off the year with a fresh clean look! Krista and I gave Kaitlyn a haircut today. Boy was she excited!

The New Year's & Christmas Video

2009-12-31T10:16:00.000-08:00

Here's our annual virtual Christmas/New Year's Card...just for those of you who couldn't open the link I sent out. ALSO, it was supposed to have audio (music) and I've been told by a few that the music didn't work?! That is too bad. Anyway here is the link to watch.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and best wishes for a WONDERFUL 2010!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2009-12-31T08:37:00.001-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Happy New Year!! Wishing everyone health, happiness and all good thing for the year ahead!!!

Those lips, those lashes, that hat..

2009-12-30T10:13:00.001-08:00

Those lips, those lashes, that hat..
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Does anyone know how much I love this shot?! It is my treasure. My photos are my treasures...and this one is one of my all time favorites :)

First Snow with a tear

2009-12-20T13:08:00.001-08:00

First Snow with a tear
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

She was just SOOOO cold! Everybody wanted to go out to play after the first snow but it was just FREEZING outside. Poor Kaitlyn lasted only about 5 minutes and was just FROZEN. It was -15 C yesterday...one of our coldest days ever! I snapped this when she cracked a tiny smile---at my mention of HOT CHOCOLATE!

Sweetness

2009-12-18T14:11:00.001-08:00

Sweetness
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Gosh I just can't resist taking pictures of this little guy!!!! It seriously makes my day (and takes up a good bit of time from it too,lol). I'm just capturing every tiny detail before he goes and grows up on me!

Fuzzy and warm

2009-12-16T23:58:00.001-08:00

Fuzzy and warm
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

He loved this soft fuzzy rug! I can't believe he turned 11 months old 2 days ago. I have to write his 10 month recap report (and get up the photos from the Cousin's visit). Things are crazy here now with the end of the year chaos....but we are all well and looking forward to a fun Christmas together! Krista has a gym show and Christmas party tonight...Should be fun!

Basket of Christmas Joy

2009-12-14T08:44:00.001-08:00

Basket of Christmas Joy
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Isn't this the sweetest?!?!

Sleeping like a baby!

2009-12-12T05:52:00.001-08:00

Sleeping like a baby!
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Loved it this morning!! I got a ton of Evan asleep. More to come!

Love those thighs!

2009-12-11T15:29:00.001-08:00

Love those thighs!
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

Look at this guy! He's not starving :) Still a breastmilk baby too!!!!

Innocence

2009-12-11T14:28:00.001-08:00

Innocence
Originally uploaded by kidzmom2009

This will be a quick way for me to update with photos onto my blog! Hooray for convenience! I've recently joined flickr to help me progress with my photography...It is a wonderful place to share ideas and technique as well as receive commentary on photos. On my first day I had one photo placed by a group moderator into a gallery for "World"s Best Photos"... Lovin' that! I'll post that photo soon too. It was a keeper! A short session with Evan napping like a newborn. So now I have found an easy way to update the pics for blogger. I've been bad about blogging, but very very very good about taking lots of pictures (just not posting them here...now I will :)

Krista's Regional Competition

2009-11-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

So we had a full weekend with gym. Krista had her Regional Competition and I'm happy to say that she'll be competing in Paris in mid December for the Zone Competition. She had two nice performances (freestyle and hoop). Our goal was to be in the top 10 and she did it!!! (10th place). Her coach was very happy with her because she was really set back by being penalized for her music in the first competition (she placed 6th in the local competition). The judges are a bit biased that she hasn't joined the local elite club so the took the opportunity to take points away on her music!!! Amazing. Especially since they had no problem with this SAME music last year. Really incredible. SO she had to redo her routine completely with new music in 3 weeks! I'm very proud of her and I'm excited for her going to Paris in 4 weeks! Our big goal for this season is to make it to the Nationals. This will be tough, but I think she can do it. Once we are out of Alsace we might get some breaks :) Nothing like local judges to drag down the scores when you are not part of the elite local school.

Krista looked wonderful for her first time performing with the new music (and only 3 weeks to train). She also sported a completely NEW look. She looked so gorgeous! She had been due for a bigger hoop for some time now so we took advantage of the "changing" time to upgrade her. Her old hoop was only 75 cm and she is allowed to use 80 so we ordered her a new hoop (by Pastorelli which makes hoops for the Italian national team). Her trainer decorated it with the colored sparkly tape that we picked out... and since she was changing hoops she had the opportunity to change leotard colors. We thought that with the music change she should change her look also. Our trainer suggested a gymnastics sports tailor and we had her measured for a custom competion leotard. It is beautiful and arrived JUST in the nick of time. The tailor only had 3 weeks to make the leotard. It arrived on Friday (with the competition on Sunday). I also added some sparkly sequence to her old red and black competition leotard for a change also. She used the new leotard with her hoop exercise and her old red and black leotard for the freestyle exercise.

Here are the videos of her 2 routines. ENJOY!

Evan's 9th Month Update

2009-11-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

Some of my photographic endeavors from this month. (Yes, I've been playing photographer more or less constantly these last few months). I have to start a photo blog soon. I've been shooting exclusively in manual too (yea for me!). I've learned so much and am having such a good time with my pictures. Enjoy!

Today is my last "legal" day to post the 9 month report so I better get cracking! Yes, my little man has now officially been in this world for as long as he was in utero! Amazing! He has progressed so much this month too. His big acheivement this month was pulling to stand. He is now on his feet most of the time when he is playing. He pulls up to stand on anything he can get his hands on, and can now even free stand for a few seconds. He stands easily with just one arm so I'm sure his first steps will be before his 1st birthday! He just flies when crawling now too, although I HATE him crawling on our hard tile floor. I'm so afriad of him hurting himself.

So in a nutshell, the big news this month is his standing. Some other big firsts---WAVING! I love this! When you wave to him he will wave back--either by folding his hand or by waving his whole arm! It is just absolutely adorable and melts my heart! He has become such a social little man lately. He smiles at everyone at the kids' school and loves to make his little scrunched grimace face at people as well. A little ham!

Evan has 8 teeth now and I THINK we are done with teeth for awhile. He sure had a hard time with those teeth. I'm hoping the molars are easier. He had 7 teeth for SO long and now finally got his 8th this month. And on the weight front, I weighed him tonight and he is 11,200 grams (24 pounds something). ONE BIG GUY!

Other firsts...NEW FOODS. Evan has learned to self feed and practically wants to feed himself all of the time. He loves bread, bananas, salmon, green beans, saltine crackers etc. This month he took a big leap into solid foods and will FINALLY eat 1/2a jar of baby food. He mostly wants to feed himself bits of food and really doesn't show a big interest in the spoon, but this month he will FINALLY tolerate it. He does love yogurt and fruit and opens willingly for that! I gave him his first juice a few days ago and he LOVED it. I used a regular adult cup. I'm not a big juice pusher, but he certainly loved it so I won't hold it back from him. He does drink water from a sippy cup also. He finally figured that out too this month. He won't drink more than an ounce at a time but at least he has learned how to work the sippy cup!

Breastfeeding is still going well, although I'm afraid he is drinking MOST of his milk at night. This happened with the other kids at this age as well. It was hard for them to slow down during the day so they caught up on mother's milk at night. It makes it really difficult for me because he is still waking 2-3 times a night, but I know that this will soon pass! I'm trying to savor every moment of his littleness.

Naps...are mostly are on the go. I hate this but it is a reality. He usually falls asleep in the car when we take the kids to or from school, so he ends up taking naps in his baby seat. I just carry his seat into the bedroom and he continues napping, but I don't like him learning to nap this way. I'm not fighting it right now though since I just can't seem to keep him awake in the car and I can use the break from monitoring him. I need time to get the big kids lunch or clean up so I just go with the flow and let him catnap. Hopefully when he turns 1 he will just need one long nap that can be scheduled.

I guess that it now for the basic update. I hope to post some more in the coming days. We had Toomas sister visit from Sweden and I got some great shots of the kids that I will share soon!

Halloween Portraits of Evan

2009-11-03T01:26:00.000-08:00

Some of my favs from our Halloween portrait shoot. I've been playing photog very intensively over the last month or two. I have many, many more to share. I hope I'll have some time to upload them.

A few bits of news...Toomas sister visited this past week from Sweden. We had a great time and I took some great pictures. I'll get those up soon.

Evan can stand now for a few seconds without support! He is learning so quickly. He is sleeping terribly at night still but that is not new news!!! He has also learned to wave and make a silly face at the same time. It is just ADORABLE!!!

The kids head back to school soon (Thursday) and I'm looking forward to that. For now enjoy the pics!

Happenings

2009-10-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well there is a lot to report...but it just time seems time is my major obstacle at the moment. Okay, upcoming news: Krista's gym happenings, Mike's new album release, Evan's developments and Kaitlyn's school adaptation.

Yesterday's big news headline before I head off---Evan is standing! I left the room yesterday with Evan happily playing with his stuffed toys in his playpen, and when I got back he was STANDING! He had a 10 inch grin across his face and was SO PROUD to have pulled up all by himself! Today he has been pulling up all day and has taken a few crusing steps around the playpen.

He started crawling about 3 weeks ago (a little over 8 months) and now at 9 months and a few days is on his way to cruising! Boy this little man works FAST!

More updates and pictures soon!

Erik's Portraits age 7 1/2

2009-10-08T08:01:00.001-07:00

Well I've now switched over to shooting exclusively in RAW for my portrait work. I've been having a lot of fun working with the kids lately and luckily they still enjoy posing for me :) I've also been warned about posting these w/o copyright so if you notice the watermark you'll know why. I don't want these to end up somewhere they shouldn't be...and I'm also now only uploading very low resolution images. I was warned that on Facebook for instance, they reserve the right to use anything you upload! Well if they use my pictures they are going to be at 400 x 600 dpi so nothing serious could be done with that resolution anyway.

Here is a glimpse of my growing man at age 7 1/2 (he was officially at the halfway mark on the 6th!)

Mr. Sunshine

2009-10-04T02:31:00.001-07:00

Crisp, clean whites....wooden clothes pins, precious baby clothes, sparkling white towels AND a smiling baby! Had fun with this!!! :) Click to enlarge!

Ballet Photo Shoot with Kaitlyn

2009-10-01T01:58:00.000-07:00

So I did a shoot yesterday with Kaitlyn. It was FUN! I got some keepers for sure. I really loved a few of them....She wanted to try on Krista's pointe shoes so I made a little storyboard with the shoot.

Evan's 8 Month Portraits

2009-09-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

So I was feeling inspired and decided to do a few shoots with Evan. He is so fun to take pictures of! I really got into both of these series. The fuzzy hat was really inspiring for me. I went with a cooler feel in whites and grey. In the sleeping series I was all about warming things up. Those 2 fuzzy blankets just screamed soft light! The one taken from the back of his head just melts my heart! If you click to enlarge you can literally FEEL that soft baby hair...go ahead, touch your screen! :) I got a zillion shots of him sleeping. It was a rare moment back in the newborn sleep poses. All in all a fun set! Enjoy!

Here are the links. Continued Thanks!

2009-09-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to Natalie, Kadi, Tommy, Steve, Mom, Toomas, Lea, Amelie, Margot and everyone else who has chipped in with the voting! The kids are almost all in the 5 range now (except Krista). I'm hoping to get these numbers higher in the next few weeks! We can really use your help. A 10 carries a lot of weight :)

Here are the links all in one spot for your convenience.

Kaitlyn: http://www.photoservice.com/ope/10ansPhotoservice/10ansPhotoservice_detail.cfm?id=KFtXMEc1XTpKQyksIAo%3D

Erik: http://www.photoservice.com/ope/10ansPhotoservice/10ansPhotoservice_detail.cfm?id=KEE2UVc9NTxTMz5IIAo%3D

Evan: http://www.photoservice.com/ope/10ansPhotoservice/10ansPhotoservice_detail.cfm?id=KCVNXCFdNFJbXCBIIAo%3D

Krista:
http://www.photoservice.com/ope/10ansPhotoservice/10ansPhotoservice_detail.cfm?id=KCEvVCIuNyY8L1ZcIAo%3D

THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!

Another Contestant

2009-09-23T04:40:00.000-07:00

So I also added a photo of Krista for the contest. I didn't have one of her individually, so I took some today. If you want to make me SUPER HAPPY you can vote a 10 for all four kids every day!! The contest is a little bit political (in that it is of who and how many people you know, that makes the photo earn points). The rules state that they will take the top 100 photos with the highest points and then those will be sumitted to a jury of judges (who are both professional photographers and also in advertising). I really hope to at least place in this contest. I'd love to win some free photo books. I always take so many pictures and print so few. A year supply of photo books would be just what I need to bring my portraits to life :) THANK YOU!

So ad Krista to the competition!!!

Soliciting Votes to win a Portrait Shoot!

2009-09-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

We decided to enter a few photos into a local photo contest so that we might win a free portrait shoot by a very well known Parisian photography studio!

You can help us win be voting for each of the kids... Just click on the links below and then click on the voting box (a 10 would be WONDERFUL). Once you click the voting box you need to confirm your email address. Once you check your email and confirm the address you can go back and vote for real! You can vote once every day (until October I believe). So definately keep the kids in mind!! 10's regularly would really increase our chances of winning this portrait package....AND YOU ALL KNOW how much I love my pictures!

The links will be posted in the most recent blog entry! :)

A BIG THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kaitlyn on the Swing!

2009-09-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn amazes me---must be something about the 3rd child learning things earlier than the others out of necessity. She mastered swinging last spring...even before her 3rd birthday. The girl just LOVES to swing...just LOVES it. I captured her this week enjoying her swing time...." I'm lovin' it" as she always says!

Evan's 6-7 Month Report

2009-09-14T00:12:00.000-07:00

Today is the 14th, so I have one final day of Evan being 7 months old to write this report. Better get this done today or it just won't happen! Life has been busy with the start of school and all of the craziness that goes with the first weeks back in action. The trip to America trip was a fantastic adventure for us and Evan really took some big steps forward. I always find that trips will do that to babies. They are stimulated in different ways from their normal home routine, so they really mature quicky with all of the new stimuli.

Okay... Evan at 7 months....Where should I start? Evan is REALLY changing before my eyes these last few weeks. This last month he has rounded a corner in physical and social development, but has reverted back to babyness in other ways! Specifically speaking in the sleep category.

Physical Progress: I'm really proud of my Evan this month for his physical progress. He has mastered rolling and easily go back to stomach and stonach to back. He started his rolling in vigor right after we got back from America. In the last 2 weeks he has also learned how to get into a sitting position from being on his back, and he can even get into (and stay) in the crawling position now for about a minute. I can tell that these milestones have made him restless. He is just so anxious to get going. He sure is going to be a fireball when he takes off. He is just so CURIOUS about everything. This boy studies anything you give him! He wants to figure out how everything works. He also loves banging and making noise. He will either bang things with his fist or take and object and hit it against something to see what it sounds like. He is so different than Kaitlyn was at this age. He does not like being confined (in a playpen for example) and really just wants to get going and discover! In a nutshell he is ALL BOY! I can tell he is going to be a curious and strong little discoverer. I don't think he is going to be happy until he can run around. His frustration in his lack of ability to do what he wants to do is evident. Mr curious just can't get enough of the world! He wants to go go go and DISCOVER!! He is our "Mr Grabber!" He has the longest arms and farthest reach I have ever seen! He will try to grab whatever I have in my hand when I am holding him. If I don't watch carefully, he will grab anything in his reach. He once spilled my soup all over my lap when I was eating with him on my knee... and he has lifted a glass out of the sink with one hand when I was putting something in there too. He works fast so you have to be on full attention He will grab my makeup or toothbrush from me too *as you see he is often in my arms!

Evan also mastered sitting during our stay in America. Before we left for the US he could sit up without support, but I always had to put a pillow behind him for fear he would crash backwards (or forwards). Midway through our USA trip he was sitting solidly (so for the record a a little over 6 months). Evan has always been a standing guy--he loved to put his weight on his legs even at 2 months. His legs are so solid and strong now! Uncle Mike decided to take him for a walk and Evan did it! Mike held his hands and walked with him...and this made Evan very happy! I haven't really tried to force that on him yet but I know that he is very interested in moving.

Eating: Still nursing well and often... approx 80% of nutrition from my milk at this point. He nurses about every 2.5-3 hours during the day, but the day sessions are short (lasting approx 5-10 minutes max) From a nursing standpoint the only difficulties we are experiencing now is interest to nurse for any length during the day. I have to take him to a dim room so that he will focus. At night Evan nurses very well (no energy for distractions) and will nurse about 25 minutes, approx 2x a night. Often he is waking up 3 or 4 times but only nurses for 2 of those wakings. Evan does not have the same desire to suck as Krista or Erik. Both Krista and Erik needed a lot of non-nutritional sucking. During his 3rd-5th month when he discovered his fingers, he LOVED sucking his 2 middle fingers or thumb. I thought for sure we had a finger sucker on our hands, but the moment he got his 2 bottom teeth he didn't want to suck his fingers anymore. I really wish he would still suck his fingers though, because he was able to put himself back to sleep by sucking his thumb or his 2 middle fingers. Now that he doesn't like to suck anymore, he has been waking and can't sooth himself back to sleep. For the health of his teeth however, our orthodontist would be happy that he stopped the finger sucking habit early!

Evan started solids on our trip to America. We started Evan off with bananas and the first day he didn't seem to be interested. The 2nd day however, he really seemed to like them. I had chilled the bananas in the freezer and I think they felt wonderful on his sore gums. He ate about 5 spoonfuls which I think is pretty good for an early feeding. I thought he was going to be an easy baby with the transition to solids, but I was wrong! We tried apples, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes and a peach/apple/banana combo and he really didn't take to it. The most I could ever get him to eat would be 1/2 a jar of the mini size 1 jar...So maybe about 8 small spoons in total. When we returned here at the end of August he still wasn't that interesed in food. About 2 weeks ago something clicked and he really has been trying more and more foods. He does NOT like pureed foods or "baby" food. This was the same case with Erik. Erik went to solid chunk food right away. Erik was also an early teether so from this standpoint the boys are very similar. Evan will eat steamed salmon flakes and chew them very carefully. He will eat small pieces of banana that he still has to mash, he has tried bread, cheerios and fresh pears. He will take bites from a pear and is very careful to take small bites that he can mash with his 6 teeth. I have also used the baby safe feeder with him and he loves this. It is a mesh net that you can fill with ice or apples or whatever you want and the liquid and some of the solid form comes through. When I am busy with the 3 others I can give him an apple in his "net" and he can chew it up and eat the fresh apple safely. If I put a 1/2 banana inside it will entirely disappear! He loves feeding himself from that! He has also started with the picer grip this month and can pick up a cheerio and put it into his mouth.

Appearance: I weighed Evan about 2 weeks ago and he was a bit over 10 kg (22 pounds). This boy is BIG. He is wearing 12 months clothes now and filling them out. I'm not sure about his height but it must be near the average 12 month range because the pants fit him. Everyone who sees him thinks there is NO way that he is only 7 months. Those 6 teeth and his size really make him look much older. He still has very little hair. He lost all of his baby hair and has gone very light. His complexion is much like Krista's. He has very light eyes that glow and is very fair. Kaitlyn and Erik are both very similar in skin tone, while it seems Krista and Evan are more like me. Krista has many freckles and is much more sensitive to the sun. I have a feeling Evan will be much like Krista. The hair on top is nearly white in places and strawberry blonde in others. My money is on Krista's hair color when he is older. Both Erik and Kaitlyn are much darker (with Kaitlyn being the darkest hair color of the kids).

Personality: Evan loves to sing when he is tired, he laughs when you say "mama" and can even repeat it now. He is a serious little guy for the most part. Very intense and curious. He will laugh when you make silly faces at him or kiss his neck but he doesn't smile without a bit of coaxing. He'll smile back at you but usually isn't the instigator of the smile. Erik was my Mr. Smile Machine as far as smilers go in the family. Both Krista and Kaitlyn were a bit more selective of who they smiled for and when they smiled. Evan is a sweet little guy though, for sure! Nicknamed "Muffin Man" or the King of Evoland. The kids call him Evo, and since he always gets his way he became King Evo! He LOVES to be held. He wants to see the world from my vantage point and being held is a lot more interesting than being down low. He also loves playing with water bottles or cups! He get SOOOOO excited when he sees a big plastic water bottle! It is the funniest thing! He starts flapping his arms and legs until you give him the plastic container. He also loves spashing in the tub with his blue shovel! He loves getting his hair rinced too and running the showerhead on his back! He will give you high-fives or clap your hand. He loves playing with his hands. I could go on and on....he is quite the character. I'm enjoying every moment of this special little guy!!!

Schedule: Wakes up at 7 on the nose every morning and nurses. He usually is up until about 9:00 nurses quickly again and then sleeps for about an hour and a half (until 10:30). He has a small nursing session before I get the big kids from school at 11:40 and then eats lunch with the older kids. It is usually a battle to keep him up until 1:30 but we manage. He takes a 1.5 hour nap from 2-3:30 and we we the kids from school at 4. After we get the kids I nurse him again and he sits in his highchair with the kids while we talk about school and have our afterschool snack. At around 6 he is tired and will catnap a bit in the stroller. He'll eat a solid meal after he catnaps..I'm still pushing the pureed green beans, carrots or spinach for dinner but he often resists and I give into feeding him fruit and yogurt (his current favorite)! I bathe him around 7:30 and he nurses again (very well) and is in bed by 8 or 8:30. He'll wake up if I am "lucky" at midnight. His first 4 hour stretch is the longest. After that he will wake up a few more times...often 2 o'clock and again at 5. He nurses very well at 5 and then at 7 when he is up for the day. He'll nurse quickly at 7 and then play in his playpen as I get the kids ready for school. All in all he's at a fairly difficult stage right now, but I'm trying to enjoy every minute becasue I know how quickly he will grow. Soon this will all be a distant memory and he will be walking/running around all over the house...chatting away!

So I've rambled on enough...but I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything. Capturing 2 months at once isn't easy! :) It is worth taking the time to do this because I don't want to forget this very special time!!! It is so wonderful having my 1 on 1 time now with Evan while Kaitlyn is at school in the morning...taking walks with him or just playing on the floor. I'm lovin' it!

Kaitlyn's FIRST day at school!

2009-09-07T01:27:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn is an official student in the French system as of 8 o'clock this a.m! She was so proud this morning to put on her backpack with the big kids! She kept telling me that is was such a special day for her...and that she is finally big enough to go to school. She said "It is going to be a GREAT day for me today, Mommy!" So with that positive attitude we headed off for school. The first few minutes were wonderful, we hung up her backpack on the hook with her first name, put on her in-school slippers and entered the classroom to meet her teacher (who is also the director of the school). Kaitlyn had an orientation back in June so she remembered her room and was excited to play in the activity centers. Erik was in this same school the year before last year, so she may still have some vague recollections from this building. For me it is a very comfortable place. I've already passed 6 years inside this building with Krista and Erik. I started with Krista in this school back in 2002 and was there until 2008...with only a one year break last year. Now it starts up again for the NEXT 6 years with both Kaitlyn and Evan combined! It is a 2nd home to me.

So, everything went fairly well for the first 15 minutes. I talked with her teacher and the assistant, and the good news is that the assistant actually speaks some Enlgish. I think for Kaitlyn things will be rough for a short spell. She has never been away from me, and to top things off she also doesn't even know French (at all)! That combined with being a strong-willed little girl and things are going to be hard for her. Thankfully the teacher's assistant speaks some English. I pray that this will be of comfort to her. After about 20 minutes, I said goodbye and left the room. She was brave and stayed in her play corner (the beauty salon corner). I peeked in through the hallway window, which was the big mistake. She was standing on a chair trying to look out at me! I signaled for her to sit down and that is when she melted. I marched out the door and am currently waiting pick-up in 1 hour! I will post with the full report later.

It is exciting to have her in the French system, despite it being a difficult morning. I honestly think she is ready for this change! It will be hard, but has to be done. I just can't believe that she is already big enough to be in school! It seems like just yesterday I was writing out her first year monthly reports!

New School Year Kick Off!

2009-09-03T02:16:00.000-07:00

So it is offical, the 2009/2010 school year is in full gear! The kids were up at 6:45 (on their own) this a.m. and SO excited to start the day! I put everyone down by 9 last night and Evan went down at 8! We are off to a good start and I'm hoping to keep it that way!

Erik is entering 2nd grade today and Krista will be in 5th grade. This was the LAST "First Day" that she'll have in this school! I can't believe that! It seems like yesterday she was in her first day of Elementary school there!

It was great to see all the parents and kids this morning. We arrived at school before the gate opened and then I stayed until the bell rang and the kids went inside the building. Today they were allowed to socialize and parents were welcomed into the courtyard. The only year where parents are allowed in the school building is for the first year (CP).

I am so happy the kids are so looking forward to starting off a new year! They were both chanting last night "We can't wait for homework!!! We can't wait for homework!".. I had to get the video camera out for that because I'm sure they'll be chanting the opposite in 5 years time (but hopefully not!).

I LOVED my morning with Kaitlyn and Evan today. I'm feeling very happy about the fresh new start! I got a lot done this a.m. since Evan took a nice big morning nap from 9:30 to 11:30. I even had time to make a onetruemedia video!

When I picked the kids up from lunch they were THRILLED! Both had wonderful mornings. Krista just loves her new teacher (this is the 1st year the teacher has been at our school) and Erik has one of Krista's favorite teachers from when she was in 3rd grade. We lucked out big time. SO happy that they are content! We had black bean burritos for lunch (Erik's favorite food in the world) and I just sent them back for the afternoon. Evan is doing his afternoon nap now and I'm just praying that this rhythm will continue!!!!

More summer fun pics and school happenings...

2009-09-02T03:16:00.001-07:00

Here are some more pictures I posted this week on Facebook...
Just copy/paste or click link to view...

Facebook Photos: South Haven 2009

I wanted to include them in the blog as well. These are from our week in South Haven. That was by far the highlight of our summer trip. On the morning of August 8th we had Evan's Baptism at Notre Dame. Following the Baptismal celebration we had a reception brunch, and then headed off for our week vacation at Lake Michigan. The first night in South Haven (after the Baptism) we had Angie (step sister) and her family: 1 year old daughter, husband and step-son aged 9; my other step sister Natalie, Jan, Dad, Tommy, Mike and Lia and our family of 6...for a grand total of 16 people under one roof!!! The house sleeps about 14 comfortably so this was a bit of a stretch but with the willing couch sleepers we were golden! My Mom also came up for 3 nights which was so fun. I really live for these family weeks. It is always so wonderful to relax with family, laugh and talk. I have many more photos which I will be doing little by little as time permits. A lot are from our time in South Haven.

Tomorrow the kids start school! I'm really excited to get back into the school year routine again. It always feels so good to be back on our schedules. I love summer but it has to come to an end...and with it the anticipation of a fresh new school year! Erik and Kaitlyn start tomorrow and then Kaitlyn starts French public school on Monday. I was thinking it was Friday but I realized they were staggering the 1st year children. Next week she only will go on Monday and Tuesday. The following week will be a full week. The "Ecole Maternelle" is really an obligation here in France. It is almost the eqivalent of Kindergarten in the US...in that everyone goes. I am a bit anxious about the start because it will really be a HUGE transition for Kaitlyn to go from being at home all day to being at school all day! She starts at 8 and goes to 11:30...comes home with the big kids, eats lunch and returns at 1:35 until 4:00. We are a bilingual family at home, and this year we will introduce Kaitlyn to her 3rd language. It always comes as a bit of a shock to the kids when they start French school. Everyone assumes they speak French since they were born here, but they don't really learn anything substantial until school begins at age 3 and they are forced to function in the language. I know by this time next year she will be fluent, but it is always so much to ask of a child when you throw them into a new culture....that coupled with the separation anxiety from their Mother. I really pray it will be okay....any other prayers are welcome!!!!

Beach photos!

2009-08-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

So I was COMPLETELY loving the beach setting this summer and took so many fun photos. When we were in South Haven we headed to the beach one evening with Tommy for a few photos. Tommy was so kind to take some nice family pictures, and some of Toomas and myself together. I also (of course) took a million of the kids and the gorgeous sunset. I will put up just a few of my favorites up for now. There are also some great action/swimming shots from the rest of our week for a later post (with the rest of the family...Mike, Lia, Grandpa, Tommy etc).

I still don't have much news on my Uncle other than that everything went well!! Praise God!

Prayers...

2009-08-26T01:10:00.000-07:00

So we received news yesterday that my Uncle (my Mom's brother) will be needing a triple by-pass surgery today or tomorrow. This was not on the radar at all. He had a possible heart attack a few weeks ago (minor one at home..not even sure if it was indeed a heart attack). He was scheduled for a shunt surgery yesterday but now he will be undergoing a triple by-pass today (or tomorrow). Prayers are welcome for a smooth and successful operation!! Very scary business. I hate how vulnerable we are as humans.

Pictures from the flight..

2009-08-23T08:41:00.001-07:00

Here are a few shots of the kids on our outbound leg. I love going over Greenland when it is clear! SO gorgeous! I got a nice shot of the wing/engine too. The kids sat together and did wonderfully for the 8+hours. Krista/Erik played on thier DSs, Kaitlyn with her DVD player. Evan slept for a good portion in the bassinet (with another 6 month old baby right beside). Evan nursed a lot during the flight so it was relatively painless for us...It is just so darn long! On the way over we went Strasbourg-Amsterdam and then Amsterdam-Chicago. Coming back we went through Paris. I love KLM...definately my carrier of choice. Air France isn't bad, but the wait in Paris for 4 hours b4 the Strasbourg flight is long. They renovated the Paris airport recently so it is really equipt with computers and electric pods all over for recharging devices....a very comfy (YET LARGE) airport. Glad to be home...more trip pics to come.

Back from our SUMMER vacation to the USA!

2009-08-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

What a BALL we had in America. It was coined by both Krista and Erik to be "our best vacation ever!" They always seem to say this after our family vacations (and Chirstmas and Birthdays as well). It definately ranked up there for me too. We had a TON of fun and really loved every moment of our precious family time. Traveling with 4 kids for the first time was definately a challenge, but honestly wasn't that much harder than with 3.

Evan's Baptism was on August 8th and it was a very special ceremony for me. He was baptised at the University of Notre Dame in the Log Chapel. My parents were married in the same log chapel, my youngest brother Tommy was baptised there and now 3 of our 4 kids have also been Christened in that same log chapel! We had many family members in attendance...and I will definately dedicate a blog post with those pictures. It was very special. He was baptised at 6 months just like Krista. Erik was baptised at 5 months and Kaitlyn at 8 months.

Some other trip highlights for us included our 1 week vacation on lake Michigan with Mike and Lia---as well as our time with my step sisters Natalie and Angie&family. We had such a WONDERUL time during our beach week. I love my family so much and it is always so wonderful to spend such quality time together there. Year after year South Haven has been such a wonderful resort for us.... catching sunsets on the beach, sunny warm beach days, dinners on the deck, ice cream nights at Nemos...What a joy that week was for us!

My little brother Tommy who recently turned 16 was DRIVING this trip and was such a blast to hang out with too! He taught Erik to swim this summer (they swam almost daily in my Mom's pool) and the kids had so much fun with him at Cappa's (Grandapa and Jan's house). We also got to meet my Mom's friend Steve this trip, and had some nice times with him...including an 8 hour outing to the Fair! Good times all around!

I will have PLENTY more pictures to share. I took so many that I love this trip that it will be hard to pick! We had a lot of outdoor fun as the weather was GORGEOUS all summer long--not too hot and not too much rain either. I did a bunch of portait shoots on the beach and very much enjoyed my photography time this summer. I always love shooting our family fun, so I was having a hayday this vacation! :) I got a zillion fun beach shots. HOW I LOVE shooting pictures on the beach. It is just such a GLORIOUS backdrop for me...complete with all sorts of fun lighting nuances.

Evan turned 7 months a few days ago and I have also been busy photographing him. During this trip Evan sprouted FOUR (yes you read that right)...4 teeth! In the period of one week at the beginning of August he got all 4 top teeth at ONCE. I have never seen that before and trust me I don't EVER want to see it again. It was not fun! He made it through though and is a happy little boy once again (THANKFULLY!). He also started solids this trip (is not a big fan of the spoon yet).

The internet connection is slow tonight so I'm only going to post a few pics for now. More to come for sure! PS Click to enlarge photo to full resolution. ENJOY!

Summer Portrait Shoot I July 2009

2009-07-16T07:45:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

6 Month Photoshoot

2009-07-16T07:40:00.001-07:00

Evan is 6 Months Old!

2009-07-15T01:01:00.000-07:00

Oh my, where have these last 6 months gone? I must say that this age is my absolute FAVORITE age though, so I'm trying to relish every second!

Evan is my dream boy. He is such a loveable, snuggly little guy! He was an absolute DREAM sleeper too up until this 5th month, but I'm sure things will get back on track again soon *I HOPE!! Last month was difficult with Evan getting 2 teeth and as a result he has turned into a terrible sleeper these last few weeks! I think on most nights he wakes up to nurse every 3 hours. Uugh. That has been hard on me, but I'm managing. Last night was great though (a nearly 7 hour stretch)...We haven't had that in a long time, so maybe we are turning the corner! There's hope!

Development: Evan is doing all of the 6th month things that he should be doing.. He can sit unsupported on a solid surface like a rug for as long as he wants to! That is.... until he decides to try and grab a toy and falls forwards. Evan can play on his stomach and lift his chest off the floor. He will work to get a toy out of reach and can even scoot backwards a bit when on his tummy. He can roll from stomach to back, but not yet back to stomach. He does not enjoy being on his stomach so he works to get off of his tummy, not onto it! He can pass a toy from hand to hand and puts EVERYTHING in his mouth!

Weight and Feeding: Evan weighs 9 kg! A HUGE guy. I am proud to say that this size has been obtained exclusively on my breastmilk alone! :) He is off the charts, but not by far. I suspect he will fall back very soon as he moves a bit more and lengthens. He hasn't yet started solids but TODAY I think we'll take the plunge. He looks at us with such enthusiasim as we eat! I will either give him carrots or apples today. I can't wait to see his reaction! :) Evan nurses about 6 or more times a day. He really only has 3 or 4 big meals where he really drinks for 20 minutes or so..and the other feedings are just short 5-10 minute snacks. He is a bit difficult right now at nursing when there are distractions in the room, so I need to feed him in a dark, quiet chair or he won't concentrate.

Appearance: Evan has 2 teeth (1st on June 10th and 2nd on June 19th). He looks older than his actual age with those teeth now! He only has a small bit of hair- blonde/ light strawberry. He lost almost all of his newborn hair and it has been slowly growing back much lighter.

Sleep: Evan was a DREAM sleeper until this month. He ended up getting a stuffy nose 2x this month and that really threw off his sleep. That coupled with his 2 teeth and the nights were doomed! Last night he slept well though so perhaps we've rounded the corner. I remember that the other kids also had a rough sleep patch around this age as well!

Talking and Verbal Expression: Evan loves to sing in a high-pitched voice. He also sticks out his tongue and makes a razzing noise. He loves to laugh and he has the cutest belly laugh!

We are so blessed with this sweet son of ours! I can't wait for our trip to see the grandparents later this summer!! They'll just adore him. We'll also have Evan baptised very shortly as well! I'm really looking forward to that!!

Video of Evan Laughing

2009-07-10T06:27:00.001-07:00

He is just so much fun these days. SUCH a social little boy at the moment...laughing, smiling and just getting FUN!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHqLl-y4YMo

Krista's Art Work!

2009-07-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

Krista is spending 5+ hours a day doing an art "stage" this week. In the a.m. she is with the younger kids and primarily painting...and in the afternoon she is with the older kids (up to age 17) and working on sketching and drawing skills/techniques. The class size is very small (only 4 kids per class). She did her first charcoal yesterday, her first "fruit and veggie" still-life on Tuesday and also a self-portrait! Today she worked with sanguine. I was truly impressed with her work. She has a real hand for art according to the teacher. I'm glad to see her enjoying herself so much! Here are a few examples of what she has done this week. Click on the image to enlarge for detail.

Evan Thomas 5 Month Report

2009-07-07T03:43:00.001-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting Evan's 5 month update. I took these two shots of him this a.m. and I just think they capture him so well. Check out those TWO teeth already!! He's only 5 months and already 2 choppers. Not bad! His first tooth arrived on Daddy's birthday (June 10th) and his 2nd on his big sister's birthday (June 19th). How is that for easy to remember days! Evan was no easy teether. A REAL fussy guy when it comes to teeth. I think some babies are just easier with teeth than others. Evan is NOT liking the pain one bit.. Thankfully we have the 2 out and have a little break for a bit. I'm not looking forward to his next set.

Evan is still the light of my life at the moment, albeit a bit on the fussy side! I'm enjoying him very much, but also feeling a bit tied down as he is constantly wanting to be held right now. It is really bittersweet. If I could only savor his babyness with out the million things I have to do! He is being ever so demanding right now and seems to NEVER want to be put down. If I'm lucky I can get him to take at least one long nap, during which time I can at least get a few things done...but it hasn't been easy. Now that the kids are on summer vacation I am BUSIER than I was when they were in school and the poor little guy just want to be held and talked to CONSTANTLY. Krista has a full load of activities this week, but then it will settle down a bit before our trip. We are really looking forward to our trip to the US. I can't wait to show off our little man!

Okay back to the report. As of today (5 months, 3 weeks) Evan weighs 8,960 grams! YES, that is nearly 9 kg! He is just a few ounces away from weighing 20 pounds. He is certainly a nice sized baby and all that is from breastfeeding alone. Every time I see those chubby thighs I think to myself that is purely from my milk alone, that is truly amazing! At his well baby visit this month the doc said that we could start solids when he turns 6 months.. So, we'll give it a go on our trip which will be fun. I can't wait to see his reaction, but I just know that he is ready. Heck I think he's even ready for self feeding with those two teeth. He has excellent hand/eye coordination and can easily transfer objects from one hand to the other and into his mouth. He eyes us like a hawk when we are eating and even imatates mouth chewing. He is definately ready! I will still wait though until the trip because I don't want to mess up his digestive system before the trip and I also think it will be fun to share this big first with my family.

On the sleeping front, Evan went from being an AWESOME 8 or 9 hour sleeper down to 4.5 hour stretches. I think it all happened when Kaitlyn got sick and gave him a runny nose. The heat has been no help either. Not having air-conditioning in Europe really stinks! It was probabally in the high 90's this past week and the house is like an oven! Oh and to add fuel to the fire Krista got sick and he got a runny nose again. Anyway, he is now waking up 2 times a night so I'm pretty tired, but still managing. He seems to enjoy nursing at night now when it is quiet and there are no distractions. I remember this with the other kids also. They prefered the uninterupted nursing sessions at night when they had my full attention. So be it. He will only be little once! I'll indulge him as much as I can :) As for amount of time nursing, he nurses about 6 or even 7 times a day. His nursing sessions in the day are short (about 10 minutes) but at night are usually 20-25 minutes.

This month he moved out of his bassinet and into his crib. I caved in and decided to put the crib in our room since he started waking up more this month. It is just so much easier on me and the older kids aren't disturbed by his crying.

I also introduced the excersaucer this month and the little guy just LOVES it! He can stand up, turn and grab at toys to his heart's content. It is great for when I need to cook or fold laundry.

So that is Evan at the moment. A big month for him moving out of the bassinet, finishing up his shots *until 1 year, getting 2 teeth, playing in the exersaucer etc. He's a real cutie!! Such a little joy. I'll post a video from yesterday of him belly laughing. Just a riot!

My 36th Birthday!

2009-07-05T05:28:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I celebrated my 36th birthday! What a FANTASTIC year 35 was for me. I really hit the jackpot when I blew out my candles last year, as ALL of my wishes came true! I am very thankful for my wonderful family and all the blessings we had this year. It was a BIG year with the birth of little Evan and I just pray that our blessings will continue. Now hitting 36 I can see 40 coming fast, but I guess I'm still comfortably in the 30's :) I know that this is a time in my life that I will always look back on fondly. Sure it is crazy, loud, busy and cluttered around here at times, but these are the years I will want to remember forever. I love that the kids are still small and I can still scoop them all up and they aren't too big yet to 'hang out' with Mom! I'm loving every age and stage now and feel so blessed to be living my dream.

When I woke up on Thursday I saw a HUGE tower of gifts. Toomas is infamous for wrapping small gifts in big boxes, but to my surprise this wasn't a trick! When I opened my gifts later in the evening, I realized that this was an awesome family gift, one that will be appreciated over and over again... This WEBER GAS GRILL! We've been talking about getting a grill for the patio for some time now, but just haven't done it...the electric one we had (as a gift a few years back from the Estonians when we moved into our rental house) was doing the trick. Last night when we grilled out, I realized HOW MUCH I missed real grilled food. Grilling out is SUMMER in a nutshell for me. I can't wait to get used to our new grill and make some super summer meals out on the terrace. We flip flopped in our decision between charcoal and gas, but in the end Toomas went with gas. The convenience just can't be beat. You can cook out every night and enjoy the grill so much more than with charcoal. The prep time is ZERO and the taste is nearly as flavorful. It is cleaner (no major smoke) and in my opinion beats the charcoal grill when you consider the convenience and ease. The electric grill we had was WEAK in the flavor department, but this Weber just can't be beat! Toomas bought me a cake from 'Patrick' downtown...a TRIPLE (yes you read that right), TRIPLE chocolate mouse cake. Oh my..words cannot describe what a treat that was! :)

So... now that my birthday has passed we are finally FINISHED with the birthday season. April is busy with both Erik and Kaitlyn...but then June and early July are insane. We have Toomas, Krista and myself in a 3 week span...along with our wedding anniversary! This, coupled with the end of the year school chaos, Krista's First Communion, the Neighborhood party etc. makes for very little blog time! I have TONS of pictures and clips though, so hopefully I'll get a few posts up soon! :) HAPPY belated 4th of July to all fellow Americans! We grilled out last night to celebrate :)

Krista's First Communion

2009-07-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the promised photos from Krista's First Communion. It was a GORGEOUS day...the weather was wonderful, the kids were well behaved and we won first row seats in the Church for the service (lottery style seating)! Can't ask for more than that :) It was surely a day to remember. The service was very lovely. Krista looked beautiful in her dress and the children sang heartwarming songs and all marched proudly up to receive their First Holy Communion. They have been busy preparing for this day for 2 years!! They've attended classes every other week for the last few years, so it makes the day all that much more meaningful for them. I'll upload a shot of the bread itself. DEFINATELY an advantage to having your First Communion in France! LOOK at that bread!!

We took plenty of photos of the big day and also some family portraits outside the church after the service which I'll post (later) as well. It was also Father's Day so we had a nice gift opening ceremony afterwards, and later in the evening went out to dinner to celebrate both Krista and Toomas' big day. Krista received a white gold cross and a mass book with rosary. I might post some more shots a bit later. I got some cute ones after the service of Krista and Kaitlyn and also the whole family together!! :)

Krista's Gymnastic Season Montage!!!

2009-06-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here it is! The montage I created for Krista's trainer Iza, who is leaving our club. I hope she likes it! I sent her the one with a different beginning and I like this one better so I'll post this one for all of you to see. I worked really hard on this, staying up until 2 a few nights...It stinks being a perfectionist! :)

So without further ado...Krista's 2008-2009 Rhythmic Gymnastics Season. A dedication to Iza.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hZRYjbHpUc

Whirlwind of a weekend

2009-06-22T02:29:00.000-07:00

WHAT A WEEKEND. I think this was the busiest, most draining of weekends that we've had in a long time! Friday of course was Krista's 10th birthday. We went all out and made it a very special day for her. I was also busy baking cakes for her school party Thursday night... She said it was her best birthday ever so it was a sucess :) On Saturday, she had her First Communion rehearsal during the day, and in the evening she had a gymnastics/music school show. It was really neat and I'll be posting pictures of that soon. We arrived for the show at 7 and left at 10:15, so it was very tiring. Then, on Sunday bright and early we were up getting ready for Krista's BIG day. It isn't easy getting everyone into dress clothes and out the door, fed, and happy, but we managed! I can't believe that she already has celebrated her First Holy Communion. I'm anxious to share photos of that very special day (SOON!). It was a very memorable day for sure! It was also Father's Day so we celebrated Daddy in the afternoon and went out to dinner last night to celebrate both the First Communion and Father's Day. Wheeew, I'm tired just writing about all the activities! Evan was an ANGEL for all of the events! On Friday he got his SECOND TOOTH! I'll post that too and so he was in complete peace again---back to his old, calm self. It was perfect timing because we really needed him to be good for both 3 hour gym show and also the ceremony in the church!!!! And that he was....a TOTAL dream baby! He's back to sleeping again at night and napping well in the day. Those little teeth sure caused him a lot of pain. I guess we are homefree now until the uppers start hurting. I think we have at least 6 or 7 weeks before that will happen. Anyway, all in all it was a WONDERFUL and MEMORABLE weekend with LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of photos and video. I was one busy Mom trying to capture all the moments---10th Birthday, Gymnastics Show, First Communion, 2nd Tooth, Father's Day--what a weekend! PICTURES to come!!!

Krista is TEN years old today!

2009-06-19T00:25:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY KRISTA!! XO XO XO

10 Years of happiness...

40 Seasons of wonder...

120 Months of fun and laughs...

3653 Days of growth and discovery....

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY Krista!

Is this really possible? A decade of motherhood to Krista? "Just" 10 years ago I was on the verge of a change of a lifetime. I would soon be a mother to my first child, and life would never be the same.

On that sunny morning of June 19th 1999, I had NO idea how my life was about to change...and what these last 10 years would bring me. I hadn't the faintest idea what beautiful treasures were in store for me, what fortune I would behold. My oh my, how 10 years can change things. I now have FOUR beautiful, gorgeous, precious children and two whole handfuls of years of experience as a Mom!!!

Krista Marie is TEN today. I am so proud to be her Mom!! She is such an amazing individual and this post won't nearly do her justice, but I just wanted her to know how PROUD I am to be her Mom and what an amazing girl I think she has turned out to be!

I am always amazed with Krista. She seems to learn everything with ease. She definately has a knack for learning and growing and such a strong desire to achieve. She is an amazing "straight A" student, in a country that isn't even her "mother" tongue, she is a fabulous rhythmic gymnast...a beautiful ballerina, a classy tap dancer, a budding author and a genuine ARTIST!!! Her drawings and stories are entrancing! She has such a sense of fashion and style too, a really "cool" little chicky. I think everyone will agree that being around Krisa is fun...she is a comedian, has a wonderful smile and laugh, a witty personality and is just generally a GREAT kid to be around!

So today is my day to shine the limelight on Krista, and actually this whole weekend as Krista's gymnastics evening and First Holy Communion are this weekend too, so there will be a lot on Krista to come.

I LOVE YOU KRISTA and HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY 10th Birthday to you!!

Krista has BRACES!!!

2009-06-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Look at this! Krista got her braces on today. Doesn't she look SO much older. I love the before and after shot of the series :) I COMPLETELY remember that stage of my life. It is so strange to have a child that is the age that I remember so clearly.

She was really happy right after she got them on, but now the pain is setting in so she isn't so happy. Poor Krista! She got a little kit with interdental cleaners, wax and other goodies. I remember loving those kits.

She chose purple braces (see photo). She has the option of changing the color every 6weeks at her appointments. Right now it looks like she'll have them on for a year to a year and a half depending on how things move. She has 6 braces across the top and a fixed wire retainer on the bottom. She is just miserable now with the pain, but I gave her tylenol a few minutes ago so hopefully she will be able to eat soon. Right now she can't bite down at all.

Fifth's Disease

2009-06-15T02:20:00.000-07:00

Looks like we have a case of Fifth's disease on our hands! We went to the doctor on Saturday and he said that is most likely the culprit, but there are also other viruses that look similar and it is hard to tell exactly which virus without a blood titer (not necessary)! She is fine and the rash is clearing up but I've noticed I also have a fine rash on my arms and chest. Lets hope the breastfeeding protects little baby Evan! I know for a fact that I was negative for Fifth's Disease (parovirus 19) since I had my titers checked before my pregnancy with Kaitlyn. Looks like I've finally caught it and THANKFULLY it wasn't during my pregnancy with Evan. This time last year I was only about 8 weeks pregnant so that would have been BAD! I'm just glad it is this year and not last year. Hopefully the others won't get the face rash because we have Krista's First Communion on Sunday! We have her gorgeous dress ready and waiting and it would be so much nicer without a nasty viral rash!

I'll update later with the report from Krista's Orthodontal appointment tonight. She gets her braces on today and tomorrow. I'm excited for her! I remember that stage of my life like it was yesterday. It is sort of fun to be the Mom now and not the patient!

Evan's 4th Month Update

2009-06-14T03:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it has now become standard for me to post my updates at the end of each month. I now offically have only 1 day left to get up his 4 month report so I better get cracking! This month has been a busy one. Evan is growing and developing faster than I can even believe. He has changed so much in one month! Of course the big news is his first tooth, which popped out on Toomas birthday. Other big events include rolling both directions--stomach to back and back to stomach. This has only happened once, but I'm sure he'll master it very shortly. Last month he really didn't like spending much time on his stomch at all, but now he is at least willing to play on his tummy for a few minutes. Evan is such a strong little guy. He can stand up already in the exersaucer and spends a few minutes each day standing and playing. He can pass toys from one hand to the other (with ease) and can put anything into his mouth (even very small objects, so we need to be careful). He LOVES sucking his fingers. He used to be a thumb sucker, but this month he has decided that he prefers his right hand middle fingers with his palm facing outwards. It is the cutest thing in the world! Evan is a social little man. He just adores attention and people surrounding him. He is just thrilled when someone talks to him and lights up with beautiful, warm smiles! He really melts my heart with his personality..he is such a loving little one. As for eating, this month Evan has clearly been nursing less. He is so much more interested in the world now and has cut down nursing times due to distraction and teething pain. He is still growing at a fast rate so I'm guessing he has just learned to get the maximum amout of milk in a very short time. The doctor reminded me that the majority of his milk will come in the first 5 minutes of nursing. Sleep this month has been on and off. Some nights will be GREAT---8 or more hours, but the last week has been hard, especially the last 2 nights. He doesn't want to be put down and wakes after only 3-4 hours. I'm assuming it is either the heat (will be 31 C today) or the 2nd bottom tooth on the way. He is drooling like a faucet so it is probabally a combination of both irritating factors. He is still a doll. Just a perfect little guy and I'm enjoying every second of him. He is still sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed but we are weeks away from a change. At 67 cm he is nearly maxing out the cot, and once he can freely roll he will definately need to be in the big crib. On another note, Kaitlyn is still sleeping in her crib. She has no intention of moving and is very very happy in her "cribby". We have tried to con her into her Strawberry Shortcake bed (all neatly set up in her room) but she has taken no interest, except for pretending to sleep there. Looks like I'll soon have one moving into a big crib and one moving out! Changes on the horizon! :)

All four snuggled in our bed!

FUN times screaming!

2009-06-11T02:06:00.000-07:00

I'll get pics up for yesterdays post soon...but I just didn't want to forget this video that I upload a few weeks ago. It was when Evan learned about his "screaming voice"..He loves to scream, but in a nice way! So much fun to make noise like the big kids can do! Enjoy!

Teething Time for Evan!

2009-06-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

Yes you read that post correctly. Little tiny Evan Thomas, at only 4 months old has sprouted his first tooth. Erik had his first tooth at 5 months, Kaitlyn I believe was nearly 7 and Krista was 6 months. I'm amazed that he is teething, but NOT surprised. He has been drooling and putting his hands in his mouth for at least 6 weeks now and I knew they were on their way. The poor guy is in SO much pain. I took him to the doctor 2x last week (one was conjuntivitis) and the next time was just because he as SO unbearable and had a clear runny nose. He wants to be held constantly and is nursing just TERRIBLY. Part of it was the nose. I could hear him having a lot of difficulty breathing, but today the nose is almost clear and he is still not nursing for as long as usual. I know that before the teeth sprout there can be a lot of pain and pressure to nurse, so I should have known it was teething pain. Also when I give him tylenol he is able to nurse perfectly about 40 minutes later....so pain is definately the culprit. I was worried about an ear infection but it looks like teething since yesterday the pediatrician said all looks perfect.

Yesterday he had his well baby visit and I complained to the doctor about his difficulty in nursing, coupled with wanting to be held constantly when awake and putting BOTH hands in his mouth (and constant drooling). The doctor said it was highly unlikely that it was teeth yet. WRONG. Bottom lower right incisor is on its way today!! I'm glad that he'll soon be out of pain (once the other one goes), but a little worried about how difficult he is going to be in getting teeth. Maybe it will just be these 2 that pose the problem and then he'll get used to the pain of teething. Wishful thinking I'm sure! I think some kids are just better teethers than others. This little sweetie just doesn't like the pain. I still can't believe he is getting his first teeth already. HE WAS JUST BORN!! WOW. On the stats yesterday..he weighed in at 8,560 grams and was 67 cm tall. This puts him nearly off the charts on weight...maybe in the 99% percentile or possibly even slightly over... (hooray for Mother's Milk!) and he was about 80% for height. These are based on French standards for a 4 month and 3 week old. The doc was impressed with his strength and development. He was amazed how well Evan could sit and stand already. He LOVES standing and can honestly hold his weight for a few seconds...and as previously posted, that is a good bit of weight! He's more than doubled his birthweight. I'm just amazed that he can keep up this rate while sleeping so long at night. 8.5 hours without nursing is the norm these days and has been for a few months. I was sure he'd slow down his weight gain once he started sleeping through the night but this is not happening. I'm sure it will taper off soon...especially as he is getting more and more active. Next appointment is in 2 months (hooray no shots) and the doc said we could start toying with food at around 6 or 6.5 months. With Erik I didn't start until he was 7 months. I can tell Evan is INTERESTED in food. He is always watching us eat and opens and closes his mouth when he sees us eat. I think we'll give some fruits and veggies a go once we are in the USA this summer. So that is the update on our little boy. Fussy teething times, but all is well. :)

Toomas' Birthday!!!

2009-06-10T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated the BEST Dad in the world's birthday!!! We had a pizza party (of course!) and some YUMMY French strawberry cream cake. We decorated the room for Toomas this afternoon so he had a nice surprise when he got home from work. We opened presents including the small crafts that the kids and I worked on this weekend. All in all it was a hit!! Wishing Toomas the absolute BEST year ahead :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!

Krista's 10th Birthday Party!!

2009-06-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we celebrated Krista Marie's TENTH birthday!!! She won't actually be turning 10 until the 19th, but with her First Communion coming up, we decided to celebrate it early. It was a HUGE HIT! Krista had so much fun with her friends! Krista invited 7 friends and only one couldn't make it. We had initally planned on celebrating at the local mini-golf course, but at the last minute we decided to hold it at home and wait for a warmer day to play golf (right now we're planning on the 27th of June for part II of the party). Part I was GREAT! The kids played games (hide and seek, musical chairs etc), we had a drawing contest and made a cupcake factory for the kids. They had so much fun decorating their cupcakes with the colored frosting and toppings. This year I went all out and tried to be creative for Krista's birthday cakes. She always LOVES and looks forward to my cake creations so each year the bar is raised higher and higher. Mommy's score this year? A perfect 10!! I'll attach photos of the cakes below. I made a castle cake and also a monkey this year. Both were devoured and praised by the kiddies :) After the party was over Krista had 2 guests stay on for a sleep-over party. There was a local village "tarte-flambee" evening (like creamy pizza) so Toomas took the girls and Erik there for an outing. They returned at about 10 pm after having had so much fun out on the town...I thought they would have been tired out from that but THEY WERE UP UNTIL 3 a.m.! Pretty tiring for me, but a girl only turns 10 once, right!

The plan for the upcoming fun this month: June 10th, Toomas' birthday, June 19th- Krista's REAL 10th Birthday, June 20th Krista's end of the year Gymnastics party and show, June 21st Krista's First Communion, June 27th Krista's Mini-Golf party!!! WOW, fun times ahead...Tomorrow Evan goes in for his 3rd round of vaccines (NO FUN!) I'll update his stats tomorrow. So much has been going on but I HAVE been taking pictures and making mental blogs! I'm sure you'll be in for a swarm of upcoming posts soon (including Mother's Day yesterday. We only celebrate the French one now so it was my big day!)

Here are the shots of the birthday party fun! Enjoy :)

Krista and Iza!

2009-05-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

I went to the gym tonight to discuss the plan for next season with Krista's trainer and the head of the club. Iza is Krista's beloved trainer and is very unfortunately leaving our club. We are SO sad about this. Iza is an amazing gymnast herself (from Georgia, a country where rhythmic gymnastics is practiced at a very high level) and is such a talented coach as well!! We were SO spoiled this year to have such dedication from Iza. She spent so much time and effort this season training Krista and the results were clearly visible! The progress Krista has made this year is amazing and it is thanks to Iza. Tonight I took a few photos of them together. It would be a miracle if for some reason Iza decided not to move. Oh how I have my fingers crossed for this!!!

Let me put this translation up for Iza...Who knows if it will be logical since it is an automatic translation....

Я пошел к сегодне вечером гимнастики обсудить план на следующий сезон с тренером и головкой Krista клуба. Iza тренер Krista любимый и очень несчастливо выходит наше клуб. Мы НАСТОЛЬКО унылы о этом. Iza изумительный гимнаст себя (от Грузия, страна где звукомерная гимнастика напрактикована на очень высокопоставленном) и такая талантливая карета также!! Мы были ПОЭТОМУ баловали этот год для того чтобы иметь такое посвящение от Iza. Она потратила так много время и усилие эта тренировка Krista сезона и результаты было ясно видимо! Прогресс Krista делал этот год изумитен и спасибо Iza. Сегодня вечером i приняла немного фото их совместно. Было бы чудом если по какой - либо причине Iza решил не двинуть. Oh как я имею мои перста быть пересеченным для этого!!!

Evan at 4 Months

2009-05-20T05:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the little man at 4 mos. So far he's off to a good start! Last night he slept 6.5 hours in his first stretch, followed by 6 hours. This seems to be the schedule lately, so I'm happy with that :) He's grabbing toys and putting ANYTHING and everything into his mouth now. He's also drooling up a storm so I think we'll have an EARLY teether on our hands. I took these photos a few days ago. He's getting to be so fun now with everyone- laughing and smiling. We don't have our next dr's appt until June, but on my baby scale he is weighing 8, 150 g so he's one BIG guy!

Kaitlyn's 3 Year Portraits

2009-05-19T05:55:00.001-07:00

I did a little 3 year photoshoot of Kaitlyn... Here are a few shots!

Long eyes!

2009-05-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

I just updated Evan's 3 Month report (a few posts down) so you can read that if you're interested. I'll be posting his 4 Month report soon considering he turned 4 months on Friday!

Today Krista headed off for a 2 day field trip to the mountains with her class. We bought her a sleeping bag and rain boots a few weekends ago so she was all set for this a.m! She is really looking forward to her field trip. The will be back tomorrow night, so tonight it just the three. She took her new camera *an early birthday present, so I'm sure we'll have some wonderful pictures when she returns!

The "long eyes" is a funny story. Kaitlyn keeps saying how Baby Evan has such PRETTY, LONG EYES!!! She'll come up and say "Look at his LONG eyes Mommy, they're so pretty!".... So I decided to take a few pictures of his long eyes. He has the longest eyelashes for a baby his age. When he was only a few days old he already had long lashes, but there was ONE single eyelash that was at least twice as long as the others..it was really funny. Now that they've darkened they are really beautiful. I tried to get a few close ups while he was sleeping.

CLICK photo to see for yourself!!