Oh, Charlton...

You've stolen my heart. I am so over-the-moon in love with you, baby boy!

(So, I've attempted two little photoshoots with this guy, and have gotten a handful of pictures that I love, but I have to admit I've had a really hard time squeezing in as many pictures as I'd like with all that goes into being a momma of four. It seems like by the time I have everyone situated, and everything set up, the sun is setting! (Stinkin' daylight savings.) Luckily, I have a handful of pictures I'm in love with, and tomorrow I plan on giving it another go. But for now, I just have time to post this one picture that I took of him with his eyes open today. Seeing it kinda  makes me want to go get him out of his crib right now and smother him in smooches. I just love him.

XOXO,
Marie

Maternity Shots As Promised...

Maternity photos from each of us pregnant sisters is coming as promised, but  Lulu suggested we post them separately, and for me to go first since I won't be pregnant for too much longer. (My due date is Sunday--hurray!) I'm thinking I will probably go late, but ya never know.

Anyway, here they are! It's always hard for me to find the motivation to have maternity pictures taken, but I never seem to regret it. It's fun to look back and see what I looked like pregnant with each of my kids, and I think my children will someday enjoy the pictures as well. At least I hope so! And a big thanks to my hubby for taking them and being so patient with me not liking most of them. I kept saying, "Just take like five more!" And he'd roll his eyes at me, knowing full well that wasn't the truth.

I think one of the secrets to getting good pictures is taking a million of them... the odds are in your favor that way. :)

XOXO,
Marie

We're Back!

After a six-month Notes She Wrote hiatus, I’m happy to announce that we’re back! (And three out of four of us are pregnant!) I’m pretty sure that’s what we’re using as our excuse for dropping the ball on this blog. Life happens, and sometimes you just need to eliminate things from your life, even good things. But it feels good to get to it again! We're going to ease into it by posting once a week instead of almost every day like we used to.

Next week we’re going to post some maternity photos of us… since who knows when so many of us sisters will be pregnant at the same time again.

My hubby is taking my maternity photos tomorrow, and so I went on Pinterest looking for some inspiration, and I have to say that most maternity pictures kinda want to make me gag--not a fan of guy kissing belly, but to each his own.

On the other hand, here are five pictures I was diggin. Wish me luck on my photoshoot tomorrow. And fair warning--I'm super pregnant right now! Only two weeks until my fourth arrives! So excited to meet this baby boy. And I'm also excited to bid farewell to the weird things that have come with this pregnancy---lots of sneezing, major bouts of clutziness, and waddling like nobody's business!

Birthdays!

Last week was sure a busy one! We kicked off the week with Liam's 5th birthday, and then Juliette's 3rd birthday. And we ended the week with Easter! There was lots of celebrating and fun, that's for sure! This week we're loving a quieter schedule thanks to Spring Break. I keep looking at my planner for the week, and there's hardly anything on it! I almost have to do a double take. It's pretty awesome. I'm trying to use my extra time to catch up on some blogging! I think I have about five posts underway... so exciting, I know. XOXO, Marie

To Cancun and Back!

Despite my expired passport woes, I made it safe and sound to Cancun to my family! We had an unforgettable time! I could've spent a lifetime taking pictures there. It was beautiful and unique and quite the cultural experience, too. I've posted some more about our adventures on my family blog if you're interested.

'Til next time, Cancun! We loved you.

XOXO, Marie

Missing Them.

I've cried a LOT this weekend (a lot for generally unemotional me). To make a long story short, and I'm sure I'll be blogging more about this on my personal blog, but on Friday my family went on our family vacation without me.

Just hours before we were supposed to leave, we realized my passport had expired. So, Will flew solo with the kids on a red-eye flight to Cancun. After stepping foot in my house after dropping them off at the airport, the first thing I noticed was how empty and silent our home was. And then when I peeked in their bedrooms, my heart ached that their beds were empty, and there were no beautiful sleeping children to look in on.

Thank heavens I will have an expedited passport in my hands tomorrow so that I can soon join them!  Can't wait to kiss each of these beautiful faces!

 XOXO, Marie

Rockstars.

Recently Hubs was Youtubing "The Piano Guys" with all three kids on his lap. (Highly recommend checking them out, btw!) I wasn't home, but he told me later that they were all mesmerized. He said after they were done watching, Juliette got out her toy piano and started singing and playing, and then stopped short and said, "I need close my eyes!" And then continued rocking out with passion. Hubs said it was such a hoot, and as you can see, Liam and Isabella have taken note of the keep-your-eyes-closed trick.

And then I caught them jamming together on Isabella's bed the other day. I love it when they do stuff like this! We have this secret dream of having a family band of some sort. Something fun for us to do together in our spare time. Sometimes in the car we daydream about who should play what. We just need to get cracking on getting some instruments and music lessons going on in this house-- for myself included!

XOXO, Marie

My Blessing (The Chubby Side of the Story)

I sensed something was up, but didn't know what exactly I was in for. I kept hearing the words, "chubby" and "chunky." Mom was all snuggles as usual, so I knew everything would be okay.


Grandma Lisa cooed at me and said, "Baby Henry, how did you get "so chubby?" I love her.


She put lotion on my face...


...and then tried to get my blessing shirt (that she spent forever-plus hours crocheting) over my head. She  laughed a lot trying to do that.


I didn't think it was such a hot idea. I thought they should've been satisfied that the pants were on. Boy were those tight. With every move, I worried I'd bust that button. (I hear a similar thing happened with my cousin Liam. He didn't fit into his special outfit, either--not even the pants. I guess I take after that chubby, chubby chubster.)


I was surprised they wanted to try one last time.  Bummer it was another fail.


So, they did something they didn't do with Liam; they brought out the big guns and snipped the blessing outfit so it would fit. (Grandma Lisa said she would make another one later, like it was no big deal!)


Thank goodness for the break I got when Annabelle entered the room with her pretty makeup on. All ready for my big day. She looked so beautiful Mommy had to give her a smooch.




The scissors did the trick, and I was finally in! So, we took some more pictures with Grandma and Mommy. I still wasn't so sure about all of this.


But they tell me I'm an angel baby and that I looked pretty sweet in my blessing outfit, even if I was  feeling a little squished.

Anything for those girls.
Love, Henry

Naughty, Funny, Lovableness

I love how my kids set up camp wherever I am. I'm certain that if I was ever in the bathroom for more than 10 minutes,  they'd start filing in, one by one with toy after toy. Oh, wait. They do that already.

A few Sundays ago, they set up camp behind my desk while I sat blogging at my computer. All three of them were playing Memory together, and it made me really happy that they could play a game nicely without my help. (My babies are growing up!) Anyway, it reminded me of when my little sister Emma was born... she was the fourth child born into our family, and I was so excited because we would finally be able to play "duck, duck, goose" properly. I was disappointed when she didn't come out of our mother's womb walking and talking. So much for duck, duck, goose, I thought, exasperated. I'm pretty sure we dragged her on the blanket she was laying on, stuck her in the mush pot permanently, and pretended it wouldn't take her at least a year to really play with us.

So yeah, I couldn't help but notice how wonderful it was that they are all old enough to play games together. And they were playing so sweetly, too, until I busted out my camera, of course. Then they were trying to get each other to do monster faces, and before I knew it they were bringing up string cheese into my room to snack on (huge no-no), and pretty much getting away with whatever they wanted because I was in "camera land."

But apparently Juliette wants me to lay down the law because yesterday she was fussing at lunchtime about something or another, I don't remember. I kept trying to settle it, and she kept on throwing a fit, determined to be impossible to please. Finally, she said,

"I go TIMEOUT!"

"Okay, sure! Go to time out. You're right, you do need to go to time out."

She stomped her feet into the bathroom (our designated time-out station), and slammed the door. A few minutes later she swung the door open with all trace of tears and anger gone. She lifted her arm up high and announced, "I'm HAPPY now!"

Liam and I died laughing. And we all laughed some more around the dinner table that night when we told Will and Isabella about it because I'm always sending the kids to time out and telling them to come back when they can be happy.

So, I guess what I'm getting at is that there's never a dull moment at this house--that my kids are naughty, funny and the most lovable little people ever.

XOXO,
Marie

Happy to be Alive.

Here's a list of five things that are giving me reason to do the happy dance lately:

1. Downton Abbey. I love that show. My favorite character is Matthew Crowley, hands down.

2. I'm just about finished updating my Marie Photographie welcome packet, and while I'm not sure I'll be doing many sessions this year, it's fun to be prepared in case I decide I have time for it, and in case people want me to take their photos! It's been so fun to update things at my own pace, low stress. I love it.

3. I feel completely spoiled, but I have three trips I'm super excited about this year. First, I get to go to UT for nephew Henry's blessing and our brother Christian's missionary farewell next week. Mom will even be there from Germany, so I'm super pumped for that. And then Will and I booked tickets for us and the kids to go to Cancun next month. And best of all, we're going to Germany to see my family in June. To say I'm excited about these trips would be the understatement of the year. I can't stop thinking about it!

4. I don't know how I got this lucky, but I haven't had to make dinner for four days straight. I don't think that has ever happened. I'm in for a rude awakening tomorrow. It won't be too bad, though. I tried something different and planned out my menu for the entire month and then shopped for everything at the beginning of January, so I have all my ingredients on hand. Well, mostly. There are some perishables that I've had to go back to the store for, but it's taken so much stress out of figuring out what to make for dinner. It's also been kinder on our grocery budget. Maybe I'll post all the dinners/recipes/ingredients next week. It's pretty handy!

5. I finally learned how to do flat iron curls on my hair and I think it actually looks decent on me, and the curls actually stay! Oh, and speaking of hair, Lulu introduced me to this really inexpensive, but awesome shampoo called "Simply U." It's sulfate and paraben free and can be purchased at Walmart! I love that it's cheap and yet not stripping my hair of it's natural oils. I talk as if I know of what I'm speaking. I don't really. I just like the shampoo. And it smells super yummy, too. And my boys have been using Simply U gel and I can't stop sniffing their hair. haha, kidding. Sort of.  :)



XOXO,
Marie

PS. You guys should really hold me to a word count. My posts are always so long! (Sorry!)
PPS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMMA!!! WE LOVE YOU!