JUST HANGIN' OUT

GOODBYE CRIBS, HELLO BIG BOY BEDS

so, we finally did it. the twins have been climbing out of their cribs now for a few weeks, so we decided to transition them into toddler beds. last night was the first night, and it was quite the nightmare. i was up there yelling at them to stay in their beds from 7pm to 9pm. finally karl went in there and laid down the law, then it seemed to settle down. they were up twice in the night, but otherwise it seemed to go ok. everyone keeps saying the first few nights are the worst, let's hope so.

CHI-TOWN OVERNIGHT

we took justin to chicago on the train this past weekend for an overnighter. it was fun to ride down on the train. stayed in a nice hotel. did a little shopping on michigan avenue, ate at the cheesecake factory, took in a penguins/blackhawks hockey game and spent the day at the field museum. i, unbelievably, forgot my camera so we had to use karl's cell phone camera. the pics did not turn out too bad considering.

MORE MISC PICS

here are a few more pics i took recently. i just love brendan's curls. i hope these last. the other two kids get buzz cuts because of their pin straight hair. i'm going to grow brendan's out as long as i can stand it or as long as it stays curly.

justin made a gingerbread house this year. it turned out pretty cute.

and the other pic is just a typical friday when i am babysitting elsha. don't ask me what is on jordan's head. he likes to wear hats and scarfs...

FUNNY VIDEO

here are a few video uploads. one is of jordan in the tub tonight, might want to turn the volume down on this one, he's my loud one. and another is of the boys trying to "help" with elsha's paci. they definately make me laugh daily! probably won't be laughing as much when they are 15...

BOYS PART TWO

ok, so i tried again to get some shots of the boys today. i cannot, no matter how hard i try, get a shot of all three of them together. i can barely get one of the twins together. here is some of what i got. my goal is to get some good pics of them for the twins 2nd birthday coming up in may. we'll see how that goes.

JUSTIN

and here are a few of justin in the tub. he likes to get in there with the twins, but that doesn't leave much room.

JORDAN

some pics of jordan while he was in the tub. he loves to take a bath.

BRENDAN

some new pics of brendan after a recent tubby. i love the curls. i'm going to try to not cut his hair until after the summer, we'll see if i can hold out.

LOST TOOTH!

justin lost his first tooth this weekend. what excitement! he has a few slightly loose ones, and as he tried to tear open a plastic bag with his teeth this one fell out. after the initial shock wore off, he thought he was pretty cool. the tooth fairy came and brought $3. granted, she only pays big for the first tooth, the rest are only worth $1 a piece.

MY NEW CANVAS'S

ohhh, i am so excited, i got my new canvas prints of the boys today! these are 16x24 and up in my dining area. it's hard to tell from the picture, but they are awesome! the previous pic is what i had up before, but these were over 1 year old, so it was time to update. opening the box, i was like a kid on christmas morning.

MISC PICS

here are just a few new ones of the boys. i've been slacking :)

ELSHA BAPTISM

elsha was baptized today at church. oma tilma made the beautiful baptism dress. grandpa bytwork did the actual sprinkling and papa tilma sang for the service. here are a few pics.

NEW YEAR'S DAY

new year's day, 2009. here are a few of the pics i took this morning. hoping to have one of each kid made into a new canvas for my wall. time to replace the 8 month old pics i have up of the boys and the 5 year old pic i have up of justin. new year, new pics.

PHOTO SHOOT, ESSING STYLE

ok, so here is a little video clip of what i go through to try to get one good pic of my kids. as i say in the video, what a nightmare!