ljs

Wow, It has been way too long...

2009-11-08T10:51:00.002-06:00

Facebook has taken me away from blogging...as I'm sure it has done to most others as well, it's just so much quicker, not a lot of words need to be written and you can communicate at the same time, where as with blogger, to communicate you have to go to every ones individual blogs and read and look, and before you know it, you've been on the computer for three hours and the baby has put every bit of toilet paper you have in the house in the toilet! No? Not you? Well, I'm sure it has happened to someone at some point. I would LOVE to have a Facebook fan page for my photography business but I have limited computer up keep time on my hands with three busy little ones so for now I am uploading Michelle Jenkins Photography images to my personal Facebook page. If we are not already friends, please be-friend me! :) Michelle Miller Jenkins.

The kids are growing growing growing and learning more with each passing day...learning how to out smart their mama for the most part! Anderson has passed his 18 month old mark and that kid is crazy!!! He is my baby that I must keep an eye on at all times, because he is fearless and could care less about discipline. He just started singing songs and even yodels :) Landon is in 3 year old preschool now and loves it! Loves his teachers and his friends. He uses such big words, and correctly!! He is very strong willed, so active, strong and has a wonderful imagination, not to mention a smile that will melt your heart. Alli is doing wonderfully is school and she will start 2nd grade after the new year. She is such a big help to me and a great big sister to her brothers. She is very into nature right now, and loves catching butterflies and making homes for them in the flower bed. She has moved a bit away from Hannah Montana (thank goodness) and just loves Taylor Swifts music right now. My little diva :)

Here are the most recent pics of them all together this late Summer and early Fall:

For my own records, this is what Anderson is doing at 18 months old:

Says so many words and loves to repeat any thing you ask him to:

dada

mama

sissy

bubba

dog

(for cow he only makes the sound) moo

(same for cat) meow

park

hair

eye

nose

mouth

eye brown

tongue

cheek

chin

hand

foot

shoe

sock

leg

belly

bebo (belly button)

butt

heiny (same as butt, diff word)

spank

no no

all done

trash

please

thank you

yes

stop

apple

banana

Aunt Amy

Nana

Pop

Papaw

Mamaw

Aunt Katie

Richy

Livy

Joshie

Connor

Colby

KiKi

Bo bo (when he gets hurt)

Owww

slide

swing

play

eat

food

snack

cracker

drink

milk

juice

ice

hot

no touch

head

bite

Tina

cheese (when he sees a camera)

open

shirt

pant

toes

color

paper

yucky

poo poo

pee pee

potty

teeth

brush

buckle

(I'm sure there are more little guy, it's just hard to think of them off the top of mommys head)

He can take his diaper off in the morning and throw it in the trash (love this!)

He washes his own body parts, loves taking showers and just standing with the warm water to his back

Has the cutest little fast run

Can clean up

When he spills something he goes straight to the towel drawer to get a towel and clean it up

Doesn't really care about being potty trained

Loves giving kisses, and they are oh so slobbery

Still missing four baby teeth besides his molars

Loves chicken and dumplings, spaghetti and pizza, ranch and sour cream

doesn't like graham crackers or pop tarts

climbs up into his high chair yelling "eat" when he sees me setting the table

loves using a spoon and drinking from a cup with no lid

Stopped using a bottle at 14 months old

Still sleeps in bed with us or on his own little bed on the floor in our room

sometimes takes a nap during the day, if he does he goes to be about 10pm and wakes at 9am, if he doesn't get a nap he goes to bed at 7pm and wakes at 7am

Favorite songs: Ittsy Bittsy Spider, Row Row Row your Boat, ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, Fly me to the Moon

2009-07-28T15:26:00.003-05:00

Most orders are ready for pick up that same day!!!! Never wait more than 7 business days for your orders!! Call or email to place: Michelle@MichelleJPhoto.com - 453-1165

2009-05-11T19:13:00.002-05:00

[Does not include senior or bridal sessions or weddings. Off good only to Shreveport, Bossier & Haughton locations]

To book your session please call 318.390.6026 - 318.453.1165
or email me at: Michelle@MichelleJPhoto.com

Brittany

2009-05-11T18:46:00.004-05:00

FROM THIS:

TO THIS:

I just love getting these at my door, it's like I'm opening a present or something, it never gets old, so I know my clients love them that much more!

Good bye BABY Hello TODDLER

2009-04-16T23:17:00.004-05:00

The photo above is what a one year old boy looks like sleeping on his birthday.

Today my youngest turned ONE...My tiny little baby, gone. For breakfast he had Apple Jacks, spaghetti for lunch and beef raviolis for dinner. <---Just wanted to record that.

I receive an email each week telling me what my baby is doing now and what he will start doing and they are always titled "Your Baby, 11 months, week 4." But my latest email was "Your Toddler..."

He walks everywhere, there are days that I never see him crawl, he even runs if you chase him! For months I've been telling Landon that pretty soon brother is going to be walking and running in the back yard with you...that day is now here.

My Anderson is so sweet, he loves to kiss and kiss and kiss.

His last "boobie" day was Wednesday April 8th. That was also his first night without me. Daddy kept him while I went on a girls gettaway to Jefferson, TX. I was gone for a little under 48 hours and he did great! Ken too! :)

He gibber gabbers about lots of things, none of which I know. He loves looking at books and being read to and will bring me a book and sit down by me for me to read. He says "that, that" pointing to what he wants. Loves to put lids on objects, drops things behind his back and puts his hands up ("where did it go?") He will throw a ball (straight down, but he gets the concept), laughs when he knocks down blocks, he likes to give bites to people or give you a toy, he screms if you take something from him if he didn't offer it to you first :) He can point to your nose, mouth, tongue and of course boobie :) I give him items in the grocery store and he puts it in the basket behind him.

I will have to say, now that his daddy got him onto bottles he has become such a happy baby to everyone. I can come and go freely without being worried that he is at home screaming.

He still does not sleep through the night, he wakes up at 2 or 4am for a bottle (which he probably does not need). Since last week he slept through the night once, we are hoping to see more of those nights ;)

Happy Birthday my sweet Anderson Brady! Mommy is so happy that God had a plan for your precious life. You have such a special place in our family. You make up smile and laugh every day. Mommy can't wait to see you grow and see what kind of personality you have. Your brother and sister love you so much and are enjoying being able to play with you more and more each day as you learn new things. My life would be incomplete without you sweet boy.

2009-04-14T14:56:00.006-05:00

2009-04-13T20:03:00.003-05:00

For larger view click on image.

These are some SWEET deals!
Two photography locations available for this special: Dogwood South walking trail in Haughton & Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport.
Specials are good Monday through Saturday.
Unlimited photos taken.
Online Proof album three days from session.
All orders and payments due no later than two weeks from session.
Two hour session if needed.
Session fee is for up to 7 people.
Each addition person will have a $10 charge added to fee, due at the time of your session.
Please call or email to schedule your appointment!

Michelle@MichelleJPhoto.com
318.390.6026
318.453.1165

First hair cut

2009-04-02T17:20:00.004-06:00

This boy did so great! No crying, or wiggling, he just sat there and got the job done! Oh, now that I'm looking at these pics I miss his long hair!!!

11 months

2009-04-02T11:17:00.002-06:00

Here is my boy at 11 months (a little late posting)....he is into everything, and non-stop!

He says "that, that" while pointing to the things he wants, or asking about something new

He loves looking at books and holds them up to me when he wants me to sit down and read to him

He holds his hands up and out to the side when asking where something is or where is has gone to

Says "Uh" when he drops something, and every now and then the "oh" comes out after

He still weighs 20.5 pounds

He is doing very well with walking and has taken up to 20 steps without falling

He is down to only nursing once a day, just at night before bed, okay, lets be honest, I feed him from me in the middle of the night if he wakes up for it, who ever said bottles are easier than breastfeeding? This Mama doesn't have to get out of the bed at 3am :)

2009-03-24T15:51:00.002-06:00

2009-03-10T15:39:00.001-06:00

2009-03-09T22:48:00.001-06:00

2009-03-09T10:58:00.003-06:00

2009-03-07T15:12:00.000-06:00

June 25, 2002

2009-03-06T23:18:00.003-06:00

What does the date above have to do with March 6, 2009? Well, on June 25, 2002 I went home for lunch and took a HPT and found out that I had a baby growing and thriving inside of me.

I was ecstatic!
Screaming, laughing, crying, all out loud in a house all by myself.
I couldn't contain the excitement that I was feeling and I had no one around to tell.

Would I be able to keep this from Ken; how was I going to tell him that he was going to be a daddy?
What do I do?
Do I go to the doctors?
Right now?
Call in sick for the rest of the day?

I headed back to work with the biggest smile on my face. I wanted Ken to be the first to know of course, but I was crazy happy and thought I would mosey on by my managers office door....{Amy Mize}...she could tell I had info that needed to be shared and well, I shared!
She was so happy for us.

I called the doctors and went right in that afternoon!

They confirmed, we were going to have a baby!!!!

I headed straight for the mall to pick up my husbands favorite cake.
An american cookie company cake.
This one had a stork carrying a blanket with a little baby head poking out with the words
"Congratulations Daddy"

He was so excited..."really? really?"
we couldn't believe it.

We wanted two boys, we thought that would be just wonderful...obviously we had never raised a boy!

On October 2, 2002 we discovered that our baby was a little girl.
Waiting to see the doctor after the ultrasound I kept thinking of everything that we would need in the future....another bathroom, prom dresses, a wedding!

Ooohh, a girl!
Ken said, "can't you just be happy and not think of all that stuff?"

So time passed rather quickly as the first pregnancy seems to do, and on March 6, 2003 at 12:43 pm I held my baby girl for the first time, and time stood still as a gazed upon her, I heard nothing going on in the room, just me and her. Holding her warm cheek against mine, breathing her in, my baby, all mine...

She weighed 8 pounds and 2 ounces and was 19 1/2 inces long.

Today my baby girl is 6 years old.

Alli has such a first born personality. She is reserved most of the time, until her fun crazy side breaks out and when it does she is too funny, but only if the mood gets her just right. She wakes up in the morning not wanting to be bothered, or spoken to. She expects chocolate milk to be brought to her and needs to snuggle on the couch with a blanket and watch a cartoon before any conversation takes place. She likes being the boss, the teacher, the instucter, the leader, any role in which she makes the final decisions. She is super quick when it comes to learning new things. She has an excellent memory and excels at everything. She plays the tough guy when she messes up or gets hurt, and yet she can get very embarrassed as well. Alli has a sweet, loving heart and usually takes on the role of little Mama. I hear her all of the time repeating things to her brothers that I have told her. She thinks she has all of the answers, and tends to say "I know, I know" before I can finish giving her an instruction. Happy Birthday my one and only girl! Mama loves you more than you know!

They're In! PERSONALIZED TIN BOXES

2009-03-04T23:13:00.005-06:00

Countless designs to choose from Several fonts available With or without images Many uses not just for lunch anymore!

Boxes are priced at $25 each (ribbon not included) $27 each with ribbon

All payments must be made through PayPal No deliveries at this time only pick up orders

Order three or more and save $5 each box

Please email me with what colors you would like and what design you may have in mind, name, font and what image you would like if necessary. (No trademark images please)

Michelle@MichelleJPhoto.com

2009-03-02T16:22:00.000-06:00

This is just a heads up on the next special I am running, click on it for larger view. I will post this message again closer to the date. It is not too early to book your appointment. I am only taking seven, and they will go quickly. Send any questions to: Michelle@MichelleJPhoto.com

10 Month Mark

2009-02-22T16:00:00.003-06:00

Anderson started saying "Mama" on Monday February 9th, and on Wednesday the 11th he took his first two steps! We were so excited about both. He has caught on to our excitement and every time he takes steps he screams and claps his hands. He has six teeth, all of which have completely come through and show up when he smiles, oh how little white things change their looks so much. He had his first big fall this month, falling off of our bed and hitting his nose on the night stand. We went to an ENT after going in to Dr. Sanders to let them clean him up, I didn't want to mess with his nose, it looked really bad. He is fine of course, well except for the scar in between his nostrils now. The doctor said that we won't be able to notice any big damage until he is older, what does that mean? :) He will still be cute even if he ends up having a crooked nose. He also had his first ER visit as well...this really shouldn't count as I would have not brought him in for a fever, but when I mentioned to Nana that the Tylenol wasn't bringing it down and it actualy was rising she suggested that I call the doctor. And on a Sunday you get a nurse on call and all she can tell you is to take him in, so in we went, three hours of my life I will never get back ;) He says "Bra" for brother, not to tell me to put one on, hehehehe :) He loves to put blankets over his head to play peek-a-boo, and he also went for his first ride in Landon's power wheel, don't have a pic of it though, boo on me. The photos above are his first little ride on the red car, he loved it!

Our Goings On Around Here...

2009-02-19T07:53:00.018-06:00

Landon all Southern Soil'd up....on this day Ken took him to work with him for a few hours, and he said he needed to wear camo to go to work with daddy

Alli is all into skateboarding now...she is so cute, and yes Ken and I have both gotten on the board just to show her a little of our 80's skilzzzz...I won't tell you which one of us fell...

For Valentines Day we packed up a picnic lunch and headed to the "purple" park, the one on Youree Drive

Lately I have been trying to get photos of all three of my kiddos together, I have to be on top of my game though because that little one moves too fast...strap him in a car, put him on a chair where he won't want to crawl off of, those kind of things...I don't know when I'm going to try and get some professional photos done of them...

Jason and Erin got married on Saturday the 7th....everything was beautiful and they were both so happy...Ken and I got down and crazy on the dance floor during the reception, can't wait to see what photos Kelly got of that ;)

Ken's Pawpaw past away on Friday...I got to see him about a week and a half before his death...such a good, sweet, loving man. I was leaving his house and forgot to hug him and love on him, so I ran back in to do so, I'm so glad I got to squeeze him one last time and hear him tell me to take care of his boy (Ken). These are all of his grandsons by the dogs that they brought out to the funeral. All of the dogs started yelping away when the Hurse passed by, it was very sweet. The photo below is my son peeing behind a tree not but 25 feet away from the cemetary, I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go...Aunt Erin off to rescue him from mooning all of the guests.

Ken's beautiful Mawmaw

This was the family tree I got to draw in the cement after it settled a bit...I did do it in the "just about" dark with no light, and made only one mistake, sorry Aaron :)

Me and my littley guy...I never get a good pic of us together because he always wants to make a goofy face, when I developed these I couldn't believe we were both smiling at the camera

Alli and I at the rehersal dinner, can you tell she's mine? :)

Some snapshots of dance class, she's getting there with her kicks, look at the older girls, good gravy those legs are high

Anderson, crawling over everything, I love this stage with babies, they just want to see what all they can do

The girls getting manis and pedis the day before the wedding

Chrissy threw a fabulous Valentines party for some of the homeschooled kids, we had tons of fun and the kids had way too much sugar!! Valentines were exchanged, goody bags, baking cookies, decorating them, making candy necklaces, playing, playing, playing!!

Little Mama

My last photo of Pawpaw...don't be fooled by his expression, he was probably wondering why I take so many photos all of the time :) This was the weekend before his death that a bunch of us went down to Alexandria to visit and the guys layed out a bunch of concrete to make a dog kennel and sidewalks to it for him.

Our bodyguards

Oh my precious babies....

The photo from a few weeks back of Landon writing his name for the first time with no help, he was so proud, I try and have him do this at least once every other day, Alli's name was so easy, all straight lines, who can't do that? But his name has loops and curves and he is a boy who just could care less ;)

NEW BLOG!

2009-02-12T09:04:00.002-06:00

With a baby that is growing up too fast and two other children I'm finding that space around here is getting smaller and smaller. Every bit of storage space is precious to me and I need more of it!

With three little ones there isn't always the desire to throw together a garage sale not to mention that some of the items I would like to get rid of are a bit too pricey to sell outside anyway.

This new blog of mine will have postings of items that I am trying to sell. If you find anything just email me and we can make arrangements for payment and pickup. Also, if you would like to pay using PayPal I have that option as well. Here is the address: http://saleatjenkins.blogspot.com/

Please email this link out to friends and family or feel free to add it to the list on your blog. Some things will be big like my first post with camera equipment but other things may be smaller like boxes full of baby/kids clothes that need to go.

As of January 22, 2009...

2009-02-02T22:55:00.003-06:00

{alli with a poem on the last worksheet of her kindergarten curriculum}

Alli has completed Kindergarten!! I am so proud of her, she had done so well with school these past 4 months.

She can do addition and subtraction, she can solve story problems in math and can also find "x" in addition problems. She is reading at a second grade level and loving it...the crazy girl sends text messages, types emails, makes her own cards and writes in cursive. We were watching the news this morning and she said "look, capitol hill" I thought that was funny, but anything and everything is read no matter where we are she is always reading things.

She does not just LOVE school though, which is probably the biggest reason we didn't finish right after Christmas like I thought we would. The work these past few months was pretty simple for her and although the first few weeks of first grade is review and very simple, I am hoping that it will offer some challenges for her. Instead of working out of five books her first grade curriculum comes with 12 study books, 10 readers and her bible reading book as well. Class time will last 1 1/2 to 3 hours depending.

I am still struggling with keeping the boys busy during school time and there are days that it is just plain frustrating and unmanageable and I only hope that it will not take away from Alli's learning in any way.

Landon has not shown any interest in learning what so ever although ever now and then, more then than now :) he will tell me he wants to do his school work but that only lasts 3 minutes...he did however write his name on the white board for the first time the other day and I was screaming I was so proud. Every few days I will show him his name and ask him if he wants to trace over it but all he does is scribbles the letters out with crayon but for some reason on this day he went for it and it turned out beautiful! his "a" kept going around and around but it looked just lovely!

Into Everything!

2009-01-25T17:44:00.004-06:00

This boy does not stop...he is at that stage where he wants to open every drawer and cabinet, close himself behind doors, escape my sight at every opportunity possible. The toilet paper is obvious what kid hasn't been fascinated by paper that sticks to and then dissolves on their tongue but the food just made me mad. Not too mad to take a photo...and my five year old should not have been eating in the living room let a lone leaving an entire bowl of pasta on the ottoman...

Batman Party

2009-01-24T22:44:00.005-06:00

His invites were done on black and yellow card stock...I hand cut out the bat symbol and glued them to the front of the card, then for the back of the card I made a copy of an old comic book cover and changed the words in the bubbles to go along with the party theme. I then added "Landon's turning Three" to the top by the title and then the birthday info was typed out to the side.

Landon had a great third birthday party! All of our family and a few of his friends were able to come. We still have unopened gifts in his closet...the result of a birthday party two weeks after Christmas. His favorite gifts were a set of batman wings, a batman imaginex cave and some action figures. Nana made him a Batman cake and cupcakes. Two walls in the dinning room were covered almost ceiling to floor with a cityscape mural and batman and batman and the bat mobile with Happy Birthday on top of that. When you entered the front door there was a bat cave to go through. Ken and I used large (long) boxes and sponge painted them and then cut them out to look like rocks and positioned them in the entry way with bats attached to them and black crate paper hanging down. I had action words like "pow" and "zap" cut out for me and had them hanging from the light fixture in the kitchen. When the kids arrived they all recieved a batman logo patch that had adhesive and stuck them to their shirts. Their goody bags had batman or a joker pez and batman markers (from the dollar bin at Target) in them. And of course balloons everywhere....I was able to salvage a lot of the decorations including the bat cave and I have all of the other decor including three more batman pez and seven goody bags in a box if anyone is interested in buying it from me, oh and the cake pan as well...if so just email me Michelle@MichelleJPhoto.com

9 months

2009-01-24T22:12:00.003-06:00

My boy is 20.6 pounds now, not quite sure about his length...He has six teeth, three of which are just breaking through so lots of slobber this month. The three latest teeth were noticed on January 20th. He stands alone all of the time and even from a sitting position will stand up alone, I guess he has muscle under those fatty thighs...he has taken one step a couple of times and loves his walking toys. He will take a comb and rub it on his head and puts phones to his face and says "Daaa!" (Daddy) He will say Da, Hi, Hey and Alli, all of which are usually a scream.

Note to self

2009-01-07T12:58:00.000-06:00

Anderson's bottom left tooth: Nov. 19, 2008
bottom right tooth: Nov. 21, 2008
top right tooth: Jan. 6, 2009

My oldest boy getting older

2009-01-06T22:29:00.003-06:00

My Landon Everett turned Three years old today at 1:21pm.

He woke up this morning and crawled into bed by me and I told him "Happy Birthday my sweet boy!" to which he replied "Happy Birthday to you!" Love it! How sweet of him to think of me on his birthday...well, I guess to him it was like Merry Christmas, you just say it back, so he did to everyone who saw him or called him. By the end of the day he caught on and started saying Thank you instead.

We met up with friends at Chuck E. Cheese to play...this was the first time he went anywhere near the big mouse, and actually gave him a high five. All times before he would scream in fear but not today, not on the day that he said goodbye to all of his two years and went forward to the year of 3. Then we went home for a nap. After dinner Landon opened a couple of presents from Mommy and Daddy and then we went out for ice cream. He usually chooses a pretty color like cotton candy or sherbet, but at three years old he was ready to move on to Gold Medal Ribbon :)

Landon is a very sweet person. If you have seen him being ugly it was a day that he was really tired and didn't get a nap.

He will say thank you for everything.

He likes to share everything he has, and makes friends with everyone.

He is wild and crazy.

Loves music and dancing

Was potty trained this past Summer

Can spell his first name

Can sing all of the words to Jesus Loves Me, ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, You are my All in All

Loves Toby Mac and went to his first concert this year

He has to kiss his brother goodnight every night but could care less about him during the day.

Shows he likes are Wow Wow Wubzy, Sponge Bob Square Pants and Batman

He has a GREAT imagination and comes up with the best stories and elaborates all of the time.

He can count up to 17

He drew his first monster a couple of weeks ago, circle with sticks for arms and legs and smaller circles for eyes

Loves using a glue stick and scissors

He speaks very well for his age using words like actually (three months ago this was abbalooby), and frustrated (without the r) to name a couple. He comes home from Moms Day Out asking why none of his friends spoke to him (I feel so bad when I hear that, but it is only because they haven't started really talking just yet his teachers say) We are always working on correcting his speech...he would say "It's told today" instead of cold, and when I corrected him, he told me that those words rhyme, I was quite proud :)

Wears a size 4T tops and bottoms and a size 11 shoe

Goodbye Gerber

2008-12-27T23:24:00.004-06:00

My youngest blessing is now over 8 months old as of the 16th of December. He is on the move! Anderson started crawling on December 15th....I was cleaning the playroom, crawling myself and I looked behind me to see that I had a follower, I started screaming "Ken, Ken!"...I finished picking up a few things and then ran for the video camera. I was so happy! Both Landon and Alli started crawling right at 6 months, but this kiddo just wanted to take him time, and with the way that he moves around furniture I was beginning to think he was going to by-pass the whole deal, I'm so glad he didn't, I'm sure crawling has something to do with their development and should take place.

He has never been one for the baby food, but give him table food to be eaten by himself and he is on cloud nine. I can't do this with every meal as it does create quite a mess but it sure is a joy to watch him dive into a bowl of Poppyseed Chicken :)

I am beginning to venture out a bit more here and there without him on the weekends....I just kind of hand him over to daddy and take off :) Ken is great with him...in fact I was losing it last night when I couldn't get him to calm down and fall asleep...I gave him tylenol, orajel, rocked him, swayed him, ssshhhed him, sang to him, fed him, patted him and then took him for a drive as a last ditch effort, to which the screaming got worse. I had NO clue what to do next!! In a moment of weakness and needing to vent I called Ken who was on him way to Arkansas to duck hunt, he told me he wanted to talk to Anderson (yeah, there we go, give the phone to the 8 month old!) Ken began to sing to him over the speakerphone and not only put Anderson to sleep but Landon as well HA! Can you believe that? I was so relieved! Thank you honey, I know twenty minutes of non-stop Twinkle Twinkle can't be good on the ol' esophogus :)

Anderson has started letting go and just standing alone without holding on to anything a few times a day now, he is so brave! I can't imagine a little guy his size walking, but maybe. He is such a happy baby and smiles all of the time. When he is really sleepy his pats himself on the face. He pats his mouth while saying "aaaahhhh" and claps when you say "yea" or "clap your hands" or "if you are happy and you know it" He just started getting excited when he hears music on tv, and bouncing just the slightest while standing. Speaking of standing, that is all this kid wants to do. Imagine laying down with the baby to feed and within a few seconds he is almost standing straight up with, well, it's not a bottle I'll tell you that...still in his mouth. :)

This has been a really tough 8 months, I hate to say that I'm glad his first birthday is coming up because I know I'm going to be regretting that really soon, it does go by so fast, but at around one years old there are more "normal" days then there are crazy days. In another two weeks I will be updating for his nine months, where does the time go?

Oops, found more...

2008-12-27T21:36:00.006-06:00

Recent sessions, including my love bugs...

2008-12-17T09:01:00.016-06:00

Oh my goodness, it has been so busy at our house...every week since the 1st of October we have had a ton of things to do, and with Christmas season being my craziest time of year business wise, I am just now able to post some sessions. I have done my best to post from sessions that are still on my computer, tons of storyboards below because it is so much faster to post a board than it is 6-12 photos from one session. I was beginning to get jealous with all of the Christmas cards coming through my house because I was thinking I wasn't going to have time or the patients to have a session with my babies. I'm happy to say that I sent my cards out this morning, now on the birthday invites for Landon! It NEVER ends!! AAAHHHHH!!!....enjoy the photos below :)

The Mother of All Updates!

2008-12-15T20:07:00.010-06:00

The time has finally come!....an UPDATE! It was time, I have been so busy with work, school, vacations, holidays and just life....so here it is, our past month in a few words and photos...oh and just in case you forgot what Ken and I looked like we are pictured above:) and no, I'm not that tall, I'm just standing on the running board of my truck....on to the others...

My oldest boy is just such a stud muffin, he has such a sweet heart and his manners are improving everyday.

Daddy and the older two right before Shogun and the Toby Mac concert

Alli-babe, my girl, for whatever reason she has become ever increasingly lovey all of a sudden, I'm loving it, she has always been so independent and not one to be squeezed for an extra long time, I knew she would come around :)

A couple weekends ago my sister Amy and I threw our soon-to-be sister in-law a Christmas shower. Something different and new for a change. The photos below are from the shower.

Instead of having everyone sign in a wedding guest book we bought this Christmas platter and had everyone sign it instead, what a fun thing to get to take out every year

Better late than never...the following pics are from the state fair back in October. Ken got all into this ride, I would have too, it is my favorite, better known as the tea cups though :)

I took this pretty picture above while Ken, Alli, Landon and I were up in the Ferris wheel

The girls and I have been able to hang out a couple times these past months, bowling was a birthday bash, lots of fun, followed by eating of course, and then we went out again for a Christmas dinner and coffee, but I deleted those photos already after sending them to Walgreens

Just some random photos of the kiddos below...

"DaDa"

2008-11-19T16:26:00.003-06:00

Aunt Amy also discovered that Anderson has his first tooth popping through. yea!!

214 Days!

2008-11-16T23:29:00.004-06:00

7 months old today and ever changing...Anderson said his first word on November 4th, "DaDa" of course. I thought I could get it to be MaMa, from day one I said it in his ear every day several times, any time I picked him up, any time I rocked him, fed him, constantly saying it, but no. None the less I love hearing those words from him, "dadadadaganadada" love it!

He has begun to eat a bit more baby food than before, he prefers table food though. He had his first pancake this Saturday on the 15th.
He has figured out he has a tongue and is constantly sticking it out and grabbing it, just trying to figure out what exactly it is there for.
When he is hungry in the middle of the night he will scooch over to me and tap the back of my head (like a dog scratching at the door when it has to potty) to let me know I need to flip over. :)
He is scooting all over the place and will get up on his knees and hands longer now.
He sits up in the bath like a big boy.
Still no teeth, which I'm perfectly fine with.
He will snatch a toquito right from your hands if you are not careful.
He brings his hands together and holds them lifting them up and down together.
Is getting better and better at using his sippy cup and tilting it back.
Starting sucking from a straw last week.
He is doing really well just being with daddy so I can leave for a few hours if needed.
Spitting on purpose to get attention.
Loves to be thrown into the air.
We and by we I mean Ken, let him cry in his crib for 15-20 minutes until he fell asleep...this was a big deal for me, because I would have never done it if I was here, but I am glad that it did work.
Tries to get out of the car seat as soon as he is being buckled in.
When you go to sit him down he keeps his knees bent and his feet high, clinging on to you so that you won't put him down, very cute.

The photos below are his first pancake morning, the last pic I asked him to say "ahhh" and he did... not really, it's just that tongue thing again, always out.

Calwell Zoo

2008-11-12T11:25:00.004-06:00

This was too funny. Anderson kept reaching for the birds when they would land on the birdseed stick that Nana was holding so we finally just gave Anderson the stick and let him do it himself.
As soon as we walked in to this place the birds were just flying all around, I was screaming of course. Pop came walking towards us with about five birdseed sticks in his hands and he was covered with birds, I didn't have the camera on me to get that picture but it was pretty cute. After getting used to the birds being all around each one of the kids eventually took their own stick to feed them. At first they were a bit scared.

Balancing like Flamingos...I should have put Landon up there with them, that boy has been balancing and hoping on one foot for a few months now, very impressive! Alli's favorite animal is the flamingo.

These guys are so big! Landon and I suck around for a bit to watch these, at first we were just looking at their butts :) but they started to walk around after awhile and we got a nice close look at them.

Anderson did so well. Not very fussy at all. This was such a nice day to go to the zoo. Last time we went was July or August, it was way too hot...oh i just remembered Landon was in my tummy then :) Well, then this would be his first trip to the zoo, where is my baby book?

Landon's favorite animal is the giraffe, he says that they are his friends. He loved just laying there looking at them.

Cali Trip Part II

2008-11-12T10:35:00.006-06:00

Finally uploaded photos from my ps....we visited the Jelly Belly factory. This was fun. We got to go on a tour upstairs and look down at the makings of it all. Downstairs in the candy story they had a counter with every flavor jelly belly they had made and you could taste as many as you wanted. After the tour we all got free jelly bellys and then we went to the store which was full of all kinds of candy. Ken had made different mixtures, PB & J, hot fudge sundays, I wanted a ton of Watermellon and Buttered Popcorn, Landon wanted sour worms and Alli went straight for the nasty flavors....ear wax, boogers, skunk, pencil shavings and vomit, yes vomit. She wanted to trick everyone she saw by telling them it was a yummy flavor.

On another day we went to Downtown Sac. Some things down there were places to eat, big candy stores with barrels full of candy, homemade taffy shops, horse carriage rides...one of the places we went was the Railroad Museum, this one in Sacramento is the largest in the country. We really enjoyed going through all of the different trains, the mail train, dinner train, sleeper train...the museum had restored trains and most of them then kids could get on and discover all the parts and where the coal was placed and all. We then took a train ride through downtown. One of the photos is the Sacramento State Capitol, where the govenator works :)

A couple pics of the kids on our way home, this is in Dallas, the kids were tired but still in good moods, just another meal and a 31/2 hour drive and we would be back in our own beds! One of the best feelings ever, isn't it? :)

Nature Hike

2008-11-12T10:10:00.006-06:00

Ken has been really into taking the kids on adventures lately. On Saturdays he makes us all beignets and then we take off to somewhere that is fun and new. The things he plans for them are very inexpensive or free. They love it! They know that Saturdays are our family day. Last Saturday Alli and I had a birthday party and then I had to work for the next six hours after that. Even being without the "Mama" didn't stop him from taking ALL 3 of the kids out and about with him. I'm proud of you honey, thank you for being such a great daddy!

We headed to Blanchard on this day...Ken and the kids ended up hiking over 3 miles! I didn't do quite that because the baby got hungry...saved by the bell I guess :) I can't remember the name of the park we were at but Ken may. They also had a small indoor museum as well. Some things they had were hands on others were just to look at, if you can get past the old musty smell it was pretty cool discovery place. (all I could think about while we were in there was the smell though) :)

Saturday Portrait Sessions

2008-11-11T18:12:00.001-06:00

I wanted to make a quick note to let everyone who attended my party Saturday that your session proofs are uploading now. After hours of developing and editing Saturday night, Sunday afternoon I came home to a hard drive that had crashed...do not worry, your photos are safe :) After calling a tech late at night we were able to recover everything but it did put me behind. I am hoping that everyone's sessions will be posted no later than 6am Wednesday morning. Please forgive me. An extra day has been added on to the allotted time given for orders. Thank you for your understanding and each of you will receive an email with your password just as soon as your session is ready to be viewed.

~Michelle

Update...

2008-10-28T22:03:00.003-06:00

The Portrait Party below will start at 1 pm and the last appointment will be made for 4 pm.
Appointment spots are going fast, but there are still 5 spaces open!
Please send me an email to make your RSVP.

Michelle@MichelleJPhoto.com

2008-10-25T20:24:00.000-05:00

Flashback Friday

2008-10-24T15:21:00.003-05:00

Here is my baby girl when she was just under three years old, and it was just her and I livin' it up. She had such a sweet heart at this age, very loving and accepting of everyone, just a happy kid. Now, going on 6 and more kids in the family besides her she has a competitive edge about her, don't forget sassy, dramatic and bossy :)

Oh and my Landon boy! What a good baby...so sweet! In the photo above he is Anderson's age but about 4 pounds lighter, he looks underfed compared to my chunky monkey baby. He is still super sweet and going on three years old.

6 Months!

2008-10-16T13:51:00.004-05:00

Growing, growing, growing! This boy does not stop! He is almost 20 pounds now! We might as well buckle him in the front seat...just kidding, but seriously, he is in size 12 month clothing now and his size 3 diapers are rubbing his upper thighs, leaving marks.

He has tried all of his vegetables and HATES them all, but I will keep working on it. I have found a combination of oatmeal, apple juice and bananas that he will eat. He eats food every other day once or twice a day, he just isn't all that into it. I'm suprised, you all saw how he was grabbing for the spoon in his first bites pic.

He can make it across our playroom pretty easy now, a mix of scooting on his belly and rolling around. Everything goes into his mouth. We don't have any dogs but Alli can honestly say that her brother ate her school work :)

He is sitting up great on his own and plays so well on the floor with all of his toys around him, such a big boy! He seems to be teething but no sign of teeth yet. He gets really excited when Alli or Landon come around him, I can't wait to see them all running around in the back yard in 6 or 9 months from now.

He had his first vomit <---yeah, why isn't there a spot for that in the baby book? :) October 14th, well, this mama wants to remember it. It was just a little night bug I guess because it happened four times at night and after pedialite and a full nights sleep it was gone.

He screams in excitement about everything. And loves to crawl over you if you are laying down on the bed or floor and loves to watch Ken and Landon wrestle around him, he is just one of the guys.

Jon & Kate plus 8

2008-10-14T11:36:00.002-05:00

Central Assembly in Haughton is having Kate Gosselin come and speak at their church!!

Date: November 1st
The cost is $10
The doors open at 5pm and Kate speaks at 6pm

They have their own website aside from the one on TLC's: www.sixgosselins.com

Cali Trip

2008-10-14T09:28:00.006-05:00

Plane ride went so smooth! It was so nice being on the same plane as my parents. The kids all fell asleep on the way there and Ken and I were able to read books, fantastic! The plane ride home went well, except for five minutes of uncontrollable screaming from Anderson, we had no clue what was wrong, it could have been anything, but the other passengers could care less. They were all breaking their necks to give us the "shut that baby up" look. Finally I wrapped a fruit roll up around my finger and let him chew on that, healthy for a five and a half month old? Probably not, but it turned everyone around facing the right way :) And on to the pics...

We had a great time in California! Our reason for going was my brother was getting married and the kids were a part of the wedding. Since the plane tickets were so expensive we decided we might as well stay awhile and make it worth it. One of our visits was to Apple Hill. This is somewhere I went as a little girl every year and now my babies were able to go and be a part of the festivities. The photo above is of us after we devoured our freshly dipped apples, all different kinds, Ken got us apples that were surrounded by pie crust and cinnamon, delicious! This was Andersons first trip to the pumpkin patch so he gets a storyboard :)

The wedding was so beautiful! We were dealing with Anderson throughout the whole thing so I didn't get to photograph a thing! If it wasn't for the sucker we were feeding him he would have been throwing a fit. I did manage to shoot the kids a couple of shots before all of the pre-wedding goings on happened. After the wedding when the sun was setting and Ken and Kate were on a path between grapes getting their photos taken I did happen to snap this before getting on the shuttle.

My little sister just looked gorgeous so I couldn't help to snap away at her beauty! I will make you a book sissy!

Would you believe that my battery was dead by the time I had to time to take pics? Of course you would! Really, we were kept so busy all week with entertaining the kids and visiting with family and helping out a tiny bit with the wedding that I didn't even think to have fully charged batteries on me. It didn't matter any way because Ken and I managed to have sleepy babies on our hips throughout the entire reception so there was no time to have fun any way. Next years adventures will be more fun when Anderson is a tad more independent and not so attached.

Some other things we did on our trip were an amusement park, a train museum, down town Sacramento train ride, lots of eating, and just taking it easy....those pics are on another camera and I shall post them soon.

2008-09-26T23:21:00.001-05:00

Thank you to everyone who entered! This holiday season I will be doing give aways every two weeks so stay tunned and feel free to pass my blog address on to others.

2008-09-26T09:29:00.000-05:00

It is not too late to email your entry...winners will be posted after 9pm tonight!! Check back!

2008-09-23T22:50:00.000-05:00

Photos from this past week

2008-09-21T21:23:00.004-05:00

Anderson asleep with daddy on the couch...a lazy football Saturday

Alli doing her schoolwork

Both of my boys sleep like this, with their hands behind their head, it is so cute

We have had perfect weather to get the bikes out, but don't make the mistake of calling this a bike, Landon will quickly correct you and make certain you understand that it is a motorcycle

I love watching Alli ride her bike, she loves it and wants to anytime we go outside, she will hop on that thing even if we are getting ready to load up into the car, she will ride it up and down the drive way, there is just enough time for her to do it before we notice and yell at her to put it back in the garage :)

I can't believe he actually stood still long enough for me to snap this, such a stud muffin

My girl and her toothless grin...after loosing just one she is so hesitant to having us even wiggle the other loose ones...she is afraid that we are just going to rip them out, poor thing

And Anderson helping Mommy make cookies, gotta love that Bumbo!

I need to make note of the following just for my self because I don't want to forget:

Today at Nana and Pop's house Landon came out of the bathroom...

Landon: "Mommy, Mommy! I went Poo Poo!"
Me: "Yea, I love a pooper!"

Then Livy came down the hallway:

Livy: "Shell Shell!"
Me: "What did you go poo poo too?"
Livy: (in a very excited manner, holding up her hand) "No, I wiped him!"

Oh what a laugh we all got, you can't buy moments like that

Five months and counting

2008-09-19T20:42:00.003-05:00

Last Tuesday Anderson hit the 5 month mark....sometimes when he smiles at me I get a flash back of me crying about the pregnancy and I can't even remember what the big deal was about but I am sooooo happy God blessed us with this little guy. Life is ever changing with him around, even after five months there is still a lot to get used to and before I know it he will be on the move and shaking my world again.

Things I need to remember about this past month are:

~He can sit up without support if you put him in that position
~Rolls over to his left side and onto his belly really easily
~He loves the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
~He will cry when he sees me leave the room
~Can make a complete circle on his belly pushing with his arms
~Mimics a cough when he hears one
~Reaches for faces and loves teeth
~He started drooling like crazy
~Had his first bites on Monday the 15th, rice cereal and boobie milk...yummy!
~loves to play in his exersaucer and watch Baby Einstein
~When held up by his hands on a flat surface he holds his weight very well on his legs
~blows raspberries
~Tries to reach for his toes but his fat belly gets in the way
~And the number one thing that he does is: (drum roll please) PREFERS MOMMY TO ANY
~weighs 18.10 lbs
~He wears size 9-12 month clothing and size 3 diaper
OTHER PERSON ON EARTH!!! Sometimes this is a sweet thing and other times it is a tad inconvenient :)

Anderson is my first kid to love the whole first bites thing. The other two made a cringe face but as you can see in his very first food photo he is going straight for the spoon, he loves it!

2008-09-10T10:37:00.001-05:00

After school this morning Alli drew this for her daddy, thought this would make you smile this morning Ken:

An Update...FINALLY - Part II

2008-09-09T22:40:00.004-05:00

Much has been going on around here...my youngest child has become more active and needy which is causing me to rearrange my daily living just as I thought I had it all under control and operating smoothly. Not to mention his exploding diapers as you will see for yourself in the photos below...he only [goes] every 2 or 3 days and the result is nasty to say the least, with that said, please feel free to comment with any suggestion on how to avoid this...and no there is no such thing as a back diaper but I may invent one...soon.

Alli had a friend sleep over last Friday and they had a blast. They made cupcakes, beaded necklaces and had an all night kareoke party followed by a High School Musical - musical the next morning (lots of makeup and dramatics).

She has also started dance class...I have yet to take photos of her though as I have not even made it to the store to get her dance attire, she has only gone two times, but I still feel bad, I keep telling her just to put "work out" clothes on, poor thing :)

Also, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering how the homeschooling is going. It is wonderful, and I will make a post about it with photos and how our school day works out and ideas that you too may incorporate whether you home school or not into your child's learning.

Anderson has started to use his Bumbo more and more about 10 minutes a day, now does it help him sit up on his own, I don't know, but these things are really cool, he started Baby Eisenstein videos a few weeks ago and loves them, the pic below is his first time watching one.

Anderson and Colby at the camp this past Labor Day weekend, as big as Anderson is, he still looks small next to Colby for some reason :)

Landon started MDO this Monday and seems to love it. He went right in and never looked back...he has one teacher that is my age and then another who is maybe mid 40's very upbeat women and friendly as well. He will be going twice a week through the school year. Everyday as soon as Ken gets home he runs to him and asks if he wants to wrestle, he is my wild child! He has been saying the funniest things latley and I always think to write them down but never get a chance...one thing I do remember though was a couple of days ago...we were in the playroom playing with Mr. Potato Head and he picked up the Mrs. Potato Heads feet that are bare with yellow sandles and he said, "Look Mommy! Jesus' feet!"

My Little Bro and I

2008-09-09T22:24:00.002-05:00

My younger brother Richy was in town a few weeks ago...we got to spend a couple of weeks with him before he left on his second deployment overseas....what better way to spend your last day with your brother than a late night trip to Bucky's?

Nothing like some late night caffeine to make you act a little {crazy} with a camera...and thank you to those at Starbucks for not kicking us out on this very short lived moment...above: Us striking a pose. (I almost didn't post this because I look a tad bit manly...okay now I'm laughing out loud about the fact that I just drew everyone's attention to my manliness)

We were supposed to be faking smiles here but his looks pretty genuine, and mine you know is fake because I smile with both sets of teeth, top and bottom baby! BUT...this is what my smile looked like all through my high school pics because I was going through a "smile crisis" then...now, I'm just fine smiling the way God made me darn it!

The "Mocha-sip" pose...it doesn't get any more real than this people...

Keep him, all of our soldiers and our country in your prayers, I know it is not as crazy as it was seven years ago, but there are still those in harms way every day, lets not forget about them.

Before the New One...

2008-09-09T22:21:00.002-05:00

I needed to take the time and get some "pretty" photos of Alli with her first missing tooth before you could see the big tooth popping through...I'm trying to let go...and let grow :)

2008-08-18T15:14:00.001-05:00

If you have already ordered and paid for your CD, they are ready to be picked up please email me to make arrangements, thank you! If you have ordered but have not paid yet, please do so by September 1st.

BIG BOY

2008-08-16T17:34:00.003-05:00

Anderson Brady is 4 months old today, I guess I should start planning for his birthday pretty soon! Oh how my babies are growing so fast...

Weighing in at a whopping 17 pounds 5 ounces
(Alli was just one once more at this age)
I've noticed his dark brown hair is getting thinner and being replaced with tones of red
He reaches for this mama which just melts my heart
Still wakes at night
Still only wants me to feed him
His eczema seems to be doing better this week, could be the $280 Elidel that we splurged on, yeah thats right almost three hundred dollars for one tube
He just talks and talks, and it is so cute when we are driving for him to just start a conversation with no one, perhaps the soft elephant that is dangling from his car seat, I don't know
He has started to watch Baby Einstein a couple of times a week and loves it, especially the part when the baby faces show up, he just coos and coos
When I'm getting ready to feed him he lets out a laugh in excitement about it
He started wearing size 3 diapers
He has tasted apple juice, ice cream, sweet tea and sprite (oh stop, it was only just a bit)
He got his first cold and started his first medicine today as well

2008-08-14T09:11:00.002-05:00

This is so sweet, these kids missing teeth together, how many people have photos of them and their friends looking like Jack O Lanterns together?! It is so nice to be able to get together without them fighting or being weird to each other anymore. I guess they are growing up and putting their differences aside...you know the differences I'm talking about: One is a boy and the other is a girl. Silly kids!

And these two boys could care less! :)

Anderson at 3 months old

2008-08-13T16:39:00.003-05:00

My Cutie-Patutie is almost four months old now, so I'm needing to post his three month update...

At this point he was working on getting a hold of things, poor thing was trying so hard too, he just wanted this butterfly so badly. He was also very verbal and loud too at times, still just a calm little guy though not much fussiness from him. He loves his Alli and Landon, and just smiles and coos any time he gets a glimpse of them. He has gotten to the point where he won't take any bottles what so ever, we are working on it, but it just isn't a big deal right now, and by the time I'm ready to leave him with someone else for longer periods at a time he will be eating less often anyway. He loves sitting outside listening to Jack Johnson while his daddy hits golf balls in the front yard, and falls asleep easiest if held really close and tight, with a quick swaying back and forth. He takes three naps throughout the day, little naps, but they are naps, praise God! He doesn't yet sleep through the night, but only wakes up once to eat. His four month update will be made next week, stay tuned for more milestones :)

Brookshire Family

2008-08-13T11:51:00.004-05:00

Camping with Friends...

2008-08-13T11:41:00.005-05:00

You know, our style of camping...

On the lake, in a house, in a bed, with A/C...

We had our friends Justin and Jenny with their two kiddos, Claira and Walker over for the weekend at Kenny and Debbie's Lake house, and we really had a great time...the kids played well together, lots of sun, a couple of naps, great food...

Lots of Firsts!

2008-08-13T11:26:00.002-05:00

So many first things...Anderson's first boat ride was this past weekend on the 9th.
It didn't take long for him to fall asleep and get wind burnt cheeks, but he sure did look cute!

More Swim Photos

2008-08-13T11:06:00.003-05:00

I wonder if they will remember the long hot days of Louisiana Summers, where we (as Mommy and Daddy) did our very best to embrace it with moments in the pool, on the slip n slide, at the water fountains?...How they screamed and laughed when their daddy would throw them up in the air, and they would ask for more...I will remember...

Baby's First Swim

2008-08-13T10:56:00.002-05:00

We have waited and waited to put this boy in the water, only because of his eczema, I didn't want to irritate it, and make it worse...all of my kids have it, Anderson's is the worst though out of the three.

He loved it, thought it was a big bath I'm sure, but a bath where Daddy can play with him too

I must write the date so that I won't forget when I get around to filling out his baby book...

First Swim was at Nana and Pops house on August 2nd 2008

ROCK ON!

2008-08-02T10:57:00.003-05:00

Alli had her first drum lesson this past Thursday night with Luke, and she was soooo excited...every five minutes she kept asking about where he was and telling me he was late, even though it was still two hours until he was suppose to be there. Oh my crazy girl! I might preface this with the fact that she has had a crush on him since she was about 2 and a half...and now that Luke has graduated high school he is in the college class that Ken and I teach on Sundays, so we see quite a lot of Luke and Alli gets oh so giddy evey time we get to hang out with him.

This was the same day as our lemonaid stand so she was a bit sweaty and I asked her if she wanted me to brush her hair out before Luke came over and her response was:
"Mom, are you tying to get him to have a crush on me, because that can't happen we are two weeks apart!"
Sad thing is, is they are 13 years apart and it will never happen, but it is so cute to watch, I feel bad for Luke though because she follows him around like a puppy dog. She finds strength and fearlessness when he is around as well, I'm telling you, it is the funniest thing to watch. I once stayed up for hours and hours looking up interesting facts about classic rock and roll to impress a guy, you know AC DC, Journey, Led Zepplin...I was 18 and he was 26, I at least had a chance :)

The lessons went great, I think, I tried to stay away as much as I could, she seemed to get this goofy smile when I came out, like I might be interrupting them or something so I kept my distance. What a cool thing to get to do at such an early age!

Before he left I asked him if I could get a pic of the two of them, to which Alli ran away from the drum set saying, "Don't let her do it Luke, don't let her!" He talked her into it, check out her smirk, she will be asking for this photo after I develop it:)

It's Gone

2008-08-02T10:02:00.006-05:00

At our last dentist appointment this past April, we found out Alli had two loose baby teeth on the bottom and that they would be falling out really soon, well, we have been waiting and waiting and waiting. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't talk about this girls teeth :) Last night after being tucked in she came out saying her tooth just didn't feel right, I thought it was an excuse to stay up, but sure enough it was on the verge of falling out, so since I can't deal with nasty stuff like that I called in the reinforcements...Daddy.

She was so emotionally attached to her little tooth, she just didn't want to let it go, poor thing. Ken told her to close her eyes and pop, it was out, and even though it was past nine pm we had to start making some phone calls.

I asked her to smile for her first photo without her baby tooth and she gave me the most pitiful smile, so we tried again, and it was a little better...even Landon got out of bed to see what all the commotion was about. He thinks his teeth are falling out now.

We left her some goodies under her pillow for this morning which made her so happy to wake up to, I told her that that was her very first baby tooth ever, {which was first discovered on: September 07, 2003 6 months and 1 day after her birth} and that everything baby left about her was now falling out...she said, "So thats why you are so sad!" I guess through my smiles and excitement she could tell it was a bit of a sad moment for this mommy.

This morning Ken left early to play golf but Alli wanted to send him a note to say hi and remind him of all the happenings last night, it was quite sweet, and also a great element for her scrapbook page (always thinking like a scrapper!)too. The first part of the email is his response, her note is in purple, but then again it is 2008 and you all could have figured it out on your own:)

Email:

That's awesome my baby girl. I can't believe you lost a tooth already, you are getting so big!

------Original Message------
From: My love Michelle Jenkins
To: Kenjenkins@alltel.blackberry.com
Subject: hey daddy
Sent: Aug 2, 2008 9:55 AM

hi dad goodmorneng its toothfery day i got a loos tooth i kant blev that i slept wethout mi tooth i love you dad

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheldNz–m±Ê3jjyŠÊ

Free Kool-aid & Lemonaid

2008-07-31T12:39:00.001-05:00

The kids decorating their sign for the BIG give away! It took a lot for Alli to let Landon scribble on one side of the sign.

With each passing car, Alli was going into a deep depression :) So she called her Pop, who said he would be on his way! As she hung up the phone she got five customers, the man below was their first, they were so excited! Landon even wanted him to follow him into the garage to show him how he played the drums, oh goodness, my ever so trusting children, I'm going to have to keep a close eye on them.

Here's our Pop...he thought this was so cute and was going to take his own pics if he hadn't left his camera in his own car, he even asked me if I was taking pictures, WELL OF COURSE, c'mon now! :)

After Pop left, we closed up shop, it was getting soooooo hot out there, and Anderson couldn't handle it any longer, even in the shade. We might pull it back out tonight when the walkers come by. One of their customers asked if they took donations and Alli kept telling him no, that it was free. She is so funny. So I had to pull her aside and tell her that if they want to give you money that it is okay to take it even though the sign says it is free. So off to Target we shall go...she told me she wants to be rich and then followed it up with a "WAAAAHHHAHHAHHAHH!" (head tilted back with such dramatics) "I'm Rico!" <--Hannah Montanah, I guess you would have to see the show, but I thought it was so funny.

I told her that she didn't have to be rich, and then she told me..."Actually I'm making this money for daddy, because he's poor and really broke." I was laughing so hard, I couldn't wait to tell Ken, he too had a good laugh...oh our sweet little girl, always looking out for others :)

Visiting Our Mills Family

2008-07-09T11:03:00.004-05:00

Last week we took a small teeny tiny trip to Oil City, it was about 40 minutes away, but it was a quick drive because I stopped at the Starbucks at 220 and that broke it up a bit :) As soon as we got there the kids were running around playing like the good ol' days! Angela and I were talking it up and loving on the baby and it was just really nice.

I had to post the photo above because I didn't notice Alli pulling Anderson's mouth open and his cute little tongue until I developed it, too funny...this is the 20x30 I need to hang on my wall!

Knee-boarding Baby Girl

2008-07-08T22:41:00.004-05:00

Yes, it's true, my little girl knows how to knee board. I wasn't nervous about it, I just really didn't think she could do it...and of course I was proven wrong. She got into the water and swam out a bit with her board with all of the confidence her little five year old heart could hold and DID IT! I was so proud of her, I was smiling so big, hoping she could see me past all of the water splashing in her sun kissed face.

Watching her I was thinking about how happy of a childhood she has and is going to have...what great memories that she will be able to take with her and pass on, being able to grow up on the lake.

2008-07-08T22:38:00.001-05:00

Some Photos from the Fourth of July Weekend

2008-07-08T22:35:00.001-05:00

More Smores Please!

2008-07-08T22:24:00.002-05:00

Yea! We finally made smores at the camp! I don't particularly like Marshmallow, or graham crackers, or plain chocolate, but put them together and I don't care what crumbs fall from my mouth or how much mallow-goo is stringing from my chin, I can eat those up!

A Quick Morning Family Shoot

2008-07-08T21:53:00.009-05:00

OH MY! This was tough....I emailed all my fam girls with kiddos to get together to capture one 8x10 pic of all of our Mamaws great grandchildren for an already existing frame awaiting the photo. I thought while we were at it, we would get some shots of the kids by themselves as well. Just let me say how much I LOVE taking photos of one subject at a time! Don't get me wrong, I love the challenge as much as the next photographer, but when it is your own babies that you are trying to work with it can be a bit stressful... <---which was the understatement of the day. Any way...30 frames later, I find myself staring at the ONE photo that will do the job, and it is a bit sad, but lets face it...sometimes we just need to capture the moment and go with it. So for years to come, and kids to come, those who walk through the doors of Goonies house including all of us that were there that morning will look at it and smile, because this was THEM, on that day, at that moment in time.

Our Little Miss Lily Sue: If this kid can't make you grin from cheek to cheek, I don't know a kid that can!

The Merrill Grandkid Clan

Edward Connor: He has such a sweet gentle heart this one, and such the little peace maker

My Landon Everett: Oh he is BITTERSWEET this one, you could just squeeze him and love on him for hours, or you could be putting him in time out all day, either way, he has my HEART

Allison Renea: My very first BABY LOVE and now my BIG helper...this girl has it all, beauty and brains, and can find the best in everyone....I shouldn't forget to mention her sassyness, drama and independence either...I would hate to not make note of those.

Princess Olivia Ann: I'm her "Shell Shell" and she is my "Stinky Muffin"...I love this one like I do my own, and she is now ours forever as of June 30, 2008! This one will give you a run for your money, watch out!

Here are Nana & Pops grandchildren, hopefully this bunch will become much bigger in the days to come!

Got this from Jen's and thought it might keep you entertained until I blog about our vacation

2008-06-26T23:32:00.005-05:00

Hi, my name is : Michelle Rene'a

But you can call me : Shell

Never in my life have I : smoked a cigarette

The one person who can drive me nuts is: Hmmm....

My high school is : is in Waco, Texas

When I’m nervous : I talk a lot

The last song I listened to was : Pride & Joy (artist: Stevie Ray Vaughn) {Ken's playing Guitar Hero in the other room} Now that drives me nuts, but it's not a person is it?

If I were to get married right now it would be : Not even a thought in my mind

My hair is : Frizzy in this state

When I was 4 : I remember feeling my little brother kick in my moms belly

Last Christmas : Was a lot of fun, the kids were really into it all last year

I should be : in bed

When I look down I see : a crumb in my keyboard :)

The happiest recent event was : being with my girls Tuesday night

If I were a character on ‘Friends’ : Didn't we all want to be Rachel...well...I did

By this time next year : I will have a six year old, a three year old, and a one year old

My current gripe is : {this is so weird that I can't think of something...I nag just about everyday and yet this is a hard one?}

I have a hard time understanding : Football

These girls: are full of milk...yeah...I just went there

If I won an award, the first person I would tell would be : Ken or quite possibly Ken's voice mail

I want to buy : a laptop

Where do you plan to visit : California in September and October...can't wait to see my family

If you spent the night at my house : You would witness the "girls" unsupported ;)

The world could do without : Bugs of any kind, I don't care what good they do for us, I don't want to hear it, I'm sure they do something great, it doesn't matter to me, I really don't like them!

Most recent thing I’ve bought myself : ponytail holders, yeah, yea me right?

Most recent thing someone else bought me: clothes! Now that deserves a "YEA!"

My middle name is : Well, poop, I put that at the top, but I'll say it again...RENE'A...my mom put the line between the E and A (I'm not sure what it is called but I'm sure someone will tell me in my comments) It is spelled like that because it's French, I'm not, well maybe an eighth, but the name is, yeah, I'm sure my mom is laughing reading this right now....because the explanation doesn't make sense, she just wanted me to have something fancy, thanks mom!! ;) Alli has the same middle name, I chose to drop the line only because she isn't French at all and well I didn't want to have to explain it to her like I try to get my mom to do for me :)

In the morning I : don't ever want to wake up

Last night I was : out to coffee with my husband and friends

A better name for me would be : Sophie...why? Not sure, I just always wanted to be called Sophie

I am : listening to an annoying song on the Wii over and over again because Ken can't get the chords right...uuuggghhhh! I guess when you are the one playing it, it isn't so annoying

Tonight I am : going to go to bed right after this because I have to get up quite early...park date

My birthday is : 10/19/81

2 Month Checkup

2008-06-26T14:00:00.005-05:00

Anderson had his checkup this past Monday and everything went great (besides the crying and injections, which I think he handled like a champ). The boy weighs 14 pounds (97th percentile) is 26 inches long (95th percentile) and I don't remember what his head measured but it was in the 50th percentile. He is a happy, healthy baby so far, and still such a good baby during the day and night.

He holds his head for a really long time before it gets a bit here and there

He smiles at everyone and laughs a few times throughout the day

He sleeps almost all night...wanting to eat at 230am

He stays awake about 8-10 hours a day

He has had three formula bottles so far

When he is on one of his sides he rolls onto his back or his tummy

When he eats he will push me away and out and then wiggle his head back to me and eat some more, it is quite cute, but you just can't capture that on film, ya know?

He gets super excited when Alli or Landon entertain him

I left him home with a babysitter other than family for a couple of hours for the first time last night...thanks Court!

He has gone on his first vacation

An Update...FINALLY!

2008-06-06T00:44:00.004-05:00

Well, I finally took the time to update the ol' blog...well...kinda - I'm really way too tired to blog about everything that has been going on the past couple of weeks so I took a short cut and posted just the pics, I mean, really thats all anyone has time to look at anyway right? You can figure out what all we did just by looking at them, how easy is that? Everything is still going great around here, just busy busy busy. The above pic is from our first "alone" date since bringing Anderson home from the hospital; yep, took that one in the Target parking lot. And yep, we chose to go to Target on our date. Just kidding, it was however a pit stop. :) We have had baby dedication, the air show, Memorial day at the camp, lots of swimming, T-ball, doctors appointments and lots more. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Anderson

2008-06-06T00:31:00.004-05:00

Allison

2008-06-06T00:25:00.006-05:00

Landon

2008-06-06T00:17:00.004-05:00

Sports Photography

2008-05-21T12:22:00.003-05:00

I have had a lot of requests for sports pics this month, so I thought I would post the dates that I AM available to do these. Please give me 2 days notice at least. Thanks!

AVAILABLE DATES

Tuesday - May 27 through Friday - May 30th
Monday - June 2 through Thursday - June 5
Any date after June 10th as well

Not a newborn anymore...

2008-05-20T15:41:00.002-05:00

My smallest guy is now over a month old already! He had his month check up this week and is weighing in at 10 lbs. 8 ounces and is 22 inches long. His eyes have turned a brighter blue since being born. He coos a couple times a day and still sleeps a lot although he has started to stay away for longer periods. He is still eating like a champ as well. He looks at me with "love" eyes and manages to pull of a smile every now and then but not all of the time, although you can just see it in his expression that he really wants to give his Mama a big one! :) He had his hearing test done again today since he failed both ears twice at the hospital...he passed with flying colors today and this Mama is quite happy. He is really a great baby and I'm just lovin' this Mommy of three thing!

Tread Painting

2008-05-08T18:32:00.003-05:00

Alli and I love to do painting projects and her art comes out so beautiful, we love it, we have some of it hanging framed in the house and she even worked on a 20x30 canvas for her Nana's birthday once that took her over a week...Landon loves to paint too, however...when he does the colors mix and it turns into something like split pea soup or even worse...poop!

I was trying to think of a way to get some of his colorful artwork on our walls as well and something that would be fun and different. On Trading Spaces a long time ago there were some cyclists or something like that, any way, the team doing their room took bicycle tires and ran them into paint and across canvases. SO...I though this would be a cool thing to do with cars that have different wheels...HE LOVED IT!

We used the Crayola kids paints that were washable, I just chose the colors I wanted and then a different car for each color as well as the cars own paper plate. Michaels has all of their canvases on sale for 25% off this week through Saturday so extra bonus! We did this on the tile floor just in case we decided to get crazy :)

He picked the car he wanted and went for it, I helped him by telling him when he needed to dip it and by rotating the canvas but that was about it, this little guy is an artist!

After all of the colors were used I took a blow dryer and dried the painting for a minute or so and then he used a larger car and white paint for something a little extra over the top of it all. The drying helped to not make it more pastel, but you probably knew that :)

He was so proud of his little piece. This is a view of our work space, virtually no mess and easy clean up. Alli uses acrylics but this was the best choice for a two year old. I stacked the paint plates and threw them away and then I washed the cars off with hot water. Voila! Cheap art and a happy kid!

2008-05-08T18:09:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Landon and I met Candy and Ella at the park, oh yes, and baby Anderson as well. Oh was it windy yesterday! We didn't stay too long at the park because of it but ran over to Candy's house to feed the baby and let the kids play a little more. Ella was all about Anderson and not quite all that into Landon. I'm surprised she even let us leave with the baby. She was such a little mama, bringing me a blanket and burp cloth for the baby. It was nice to get together with someone Landon's age to play with.

Anderson was three weeks yesterday as well and boy is he growing! We went in Monday for his 2 week (oops a little late) check up and the boy had gained 21 ounces from the last time we went in which was just a week earlier. He has started to cry a bit more instead of just whimpering when he is hungry. It is now a bit clearer that he would like to be held closely :) His looks haven't changed all that much besides the jaundice being clear he still seems to have olive skin, maybe this will last :) He loves to be spoken to and sung to and just stares right into your eyes when you are giving him attention.

Gone Fishin'

2008-05-06T20:41:00.004-05:00

Nana and Pop took Alli and Landon to the camp Thursday morning and Anderson and I followed late that afternoon...everything is a first for this little guy, but it was also my first time back to the camp since Christmas. Some of you that have been there already know that it is quite relaxing to be away from home at this place even if it is less than two hours away. Oh and not to mention all the extra help with the kiddos when Nana and Pop are at the same place as you :)

Landon has just now gotten to the point where he will let me take a picture of him that doesn't always include one of his goofy faces...I love the silly ones, but it's nice to be able to capture a moment like I see it. Him and Alli were on one of the porches on the hammock and he looked so cute with his arms above his head and I asked him to "look at Mommy" and he did, too cute!

Then Pop took the three of us out on the boat while Nana stayed back with Anderson. My kids love them a good boat ride! Especially when they are the ones driving the boat.

As soon as Landon got to drive he stayed on Pop for less than a minute and then said, "Okay Alli's turn" Strange huh? Why can't it be like this when we are at home?

Then the kids went fishing for the fourth or fifth time, this time catching a few. We had TEAM NANA and TEAM POP. A little bit of competition to make catching dinner more exciting :) I love to watch their faces light up when they are pulling one in, I make the same expressions when I actually catch one as well, except for I'm yelling for someone to help and release the poor things, and my kids are kissing their catch.

I love Landon's face in the photo above, he was crazy-excited about this one! And yeah, how could I not love the kissing one below....now that I think of it, I don't remember ever telling him to wash his face when we got inside, okay, thats gross! :) Seriously...

First Swim of 2008

2008-05-06T13:11:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday we went to Nana and Pop's for our first swim of this year! I love pool pics, and since I didn't make it into the water with my hot 2 week post baby body ;) I was able to get my cuties captured!

2 Weeks Old!

2008-04-30T18:33:00.004-05:00

Everyone is doing great here at the Jenkins II house! Alli and Landon seem to be adjusting just fine to the new little change. This boy is still sleeping like a champ and feedings are going great as well. The only complication seems to be that he wants to eat all of the time and takes forever to do so. It won't be long until he is on a bit of a schedule and eats more at one time and stays full longer...so I hope. I'm doing things just as I would with two. I'm out and about, doing things around town, the hardest part seems to be getting them all out of the car and back in, for some reason. I don't mind shopping with all of them but when it comes time to come and go it seems like it takes us forever. Or just as we are needing to leave Anderson will suddenly become hungry. I'm trying to be patient with it and stay away from formula because I know it will get better. He is staying awake and alert more often...he has started to make cute little noises when he eats...he isn't crazy about the swing or the bouncy seat...he still prefers our bed as opposed to his...his umbilical cord came off a couple of days ago...he now loves his bath time...he doen't like having his diaper changed but doesn't mind getting dressed...and his hand and feet are flaking away his first layer of skin. I'm feeling better everyday, more energy and I noticed that my eyes today finally were open and awake looking :) I am however missing time with my husband, but I'm dreading having to ask someone if they want to watch three kids at once, not to mention that one of them is a bit attached.

One Week Old!

2008-04-23T20:12:00.004-05:00

Our little boy is one week old already! He is quite the sleeper, sleeping 4 or 5 hours through the night. If he's not eating he's sleeping. He eats anywhere from 45 min to well over an hour at each feeding. Just today he started staying awake and alert for more than 10 minutes like before. He doesn't quite like being bathed just yet, that could be from the low water level because his umbilical cord is still on, but if he is anything like Landon he will soon love bath time. He has already been on his first outing, where else other than Starbucks. :) Ken and I took him there after a doctors appointment he had Monday. He has jaundice still that we are working on getting rid of by placing him in front of the window everyday. Yesterday I took all of the kids to another one of his doctors appointments, to Target and then to lunch with Ken. I thought why not do it now, this will be the rest of my life :) This is his little week old update, besides the small details I will say how much we love love love him!

Anderson Brady's Birth-Day

2008-04-23T10:27:00.004-05:00

Anderson Brady Jenkins
8 lbs. 7 ounces
19 inches long
April 16, 2008
3:23 pm

This was my longest labor so far. Labor started Wednesday morning at 7:30 am and the baby was born that afternoon at 3:23 pm. Alli and Landon's labors were 3-4 hours less than Anderson, but boy was in worth the extra hours! I'm in love! :) Here we are just under an hour after his birth.

Alli was so excited to get her hands on her new brother.

Landon however, was not so impressed, the first couple of photos of them together Landon wanted nothing to do with him, this was day two.

My middle of the night feeding photo op.

Yea! Getting to go home, daddy carrying our wreath around his neck, someone in the waiting room ran up to us wanting to capture this moment.

Here he is the next day after being home all snuggled up on the couch, the boy sleeps everywhere but his bed for some reason, hmmm...

Today he is a week old, so when he wakes up gets a bath for the day I will post some week old pics of our new little boy.

No thank you Hillary!

2008-04-14T14:31:00.003-05:00

Well, I had my LAST doctors appointment today, praise the Lord!! As Ken and I were in the "little waiting room" before the doctor had come in, I was telling him what all I was looking forward to... Most moms would say, "Holding my new baby and looking into their eyes and just falling in love with each other." Me...not so much, oh yeah, don't get me wrong I can't wait to meet my new little guy and love on him like never before but I was thinking more along the lines of sleeping on my stomach, being heavily medicated, wearing something non-elastic, then complaining about having to button my pants and things spilling over....and I am soooo looking forward to my cute ankles once again. Cute ankles huh? Yeah, well Ken said that he didn't think he remembered my ankles being all that "cute" to begin with. Of course I took offense to the comment pleading with him about my prior ankle cuteness, but wasn't convincing. So I pull the blue paper up off the tops of my feet and say, "LOOK, is this what you want my ankles to look like for the rest of my life?" To which he answered, "No thank you Hillary!"

(try finding an anklet for these puppies)
(Oh, and I shall post a post-delivery shot of my ankles just to prove to Ken they haven't always looked like this)

Okay, on to more exciting news than the fact that my body has obviously retained a bit of fluid. My sweet little boy will be here sometime this Wednesday! Oh I played it off so cool, like it wasn't that big of a deal, as if I could possibly stand to be pregnant another week. But I had to...last week I had a hormonal break down in front of my doctor because I assumed he was going to induce days ago...my mistake. Any way, I go in at a bit before 6am on the 16th of April, and hopefully the baby will be here just in time for me to request some ridiculously large meal for lunch. I'll be at WK Boss. so feel free to drop in!

Alli's First T-Ball Game

2008-04-14T07:54:00.005-05:00

I was just as excited as she was Saturday morning when I was getting her all dressed in her uniform! She looked so cute and sporty, my little tom-boy.

Playing short stop, here she is running her first picked up ball to the "circle" i.e. pitchers mound

Why is it that they make the smallest sized hats, still too big for their little heads, they need to at least make the bill shorter, poor things...

She enjoyed this a lot more than soccer...there was always a moment that was just about her, instead of the ball maybe making it to her feet and maybe making it to the goal, in this sport each kid gets a few chances to be a little star.