Snippets~A Photo Shoot

One goal that I have had for a few weeks now is to take pictures of each kid, for their 2011-2012 school year, no easy task when you have five. I had to do Laney on one day, the older girls on another and then the boys. I would like to get pictures of all of them together, but Laney is NOT cooperative with pics these days and Heath just wants to ham it up. So I will do what this pregnant body can do for now because my ever changing hormones can't handle it! :)

I can't believe that in about a week I will have added another child to my already crazy bunch of kids. They sure are a lot of work, but so worth every minute of it.

Now be prepared for a lot of pictures! I had too much fun! :)

First I wanted to start with these. I LOVE how it turned out! I don't get pictures like this with Chad often (he isn't big on PDA...boys!) and this is just one of my faves now. I can't decide which I like best. In color or B&W? 

They were having fun together and I wanted more cooperation on poses, but had to just go with it. In the end I think its cute and fun to see their personalities not only shining through, but that they enjoy each other (for the most part).

Heath loves to try and get people to laugh. He LOVES life so much and I wish I could be more like him. Life about does me in and then I am done with it, but he isn't usually down for very long. :)

Heath lost his first tooth and he is the youngest one in our family to have lost a tooth! Most of my kids were at least 7 going on 8 when they lost their first.

Chad has been hitting some of that teen 'tude, but overall is a good kid. One day when we were visiting my sister, Laney hit Chad and kept on messing with him. My sister told him to stop her, but he simply said, "She's too cute to scold!" Now if she has him wrapped around her pinky, I am wondering what our newest little one could get away with on his watch. :) 

He has even babysat a couple of times for another family and has done really well. Their kids want him over a lot! We are pretty proud of our boy who won't be boy for much longer! I can't believe we have about 6 more years with him before he ventures out into the world on his own.

It was hard to get Laney to be in some of these pictures, but the girls loved posing for the camera. Unfortunately for some reason, Alyssa isn't happy with her teeth and doesn't smile much, but I still was able to get some good pictures of her.

Ring around the rosies and other games were the only things that worked for Laney-bug. At least they had fun together.

Alyssa is still the little mama. She really is such a big help to me especially when I have been sick with this pregnancy.

She also LOVES to sew and go to fabric stores. I think that is going to be a weakness of hers cause she LOVES fabric! :) 

I admire her giving heart too. She truly has a love for people. Another trait a child of mine has that I wish I had too. I sometimes allow myself to get annoyed more than I should.

Bria has also lost several teeth as of late. She and Chad have both lost 3-4 at a time. I wouldn't be too surprised if the tooth fairy goes bankrupt anytime soon with these two. :) 

Bria has been doing really well with her piano. She can play left and right hand by ear so long as she practices, but after a few tries or so and then she pretty much has the song down. She loves it too. So that really helps. Now she wants to play flute, but I think with her good ears she should do strings, but I will be a good mom and let her try things out before she makes a final decision. :)

What can I say about bug-bug? She needs NAPS! She is now in a big girl bed and it is hard to get her to nap, but because she isn't getting them she isn't the same child. She spits, hits and gets into EVERYTHING much, much more than she used to. Of course it could be the fact that she is 2!!! :) I can NOT keep up. So we are trying to make her take naps. I am hoping that we can get into a groove soon. I am so tempted to just put her back in the crib for nap time until the baby is old enough to be out of the bassinet.

Other than that she is very snuggly and lovable when she wants to be. :) 

She also loves to learn phonics with Heath, so I have been doing alphabet flash cards with her and we let her think she is doing what Heath is. I think I may have an early reader on my hands though. She sure gets it quickly.

And Laney STILL loves her bellybutton! :)