Majesty

" Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God" - R.C. Sproul

Did you know there are 350,000,000,000 galaxies? Isn't that unfathomable? Tonight is the "wolf moon" - the biggest, brightest full moon of 2010. I stood outside taking pictures until my hands were hurting because they were so cold. This was the best of them all. If I had gotten out earlier in the evening when the moon was lower in the sky, I would have done better. I'll have to wait until next year.

If you have a moment, watch THIS. Jason and I and our friends Matt and Nicky are reading 'Crazy Love' and this was a video the author, Frances Chan, guides the reader to watch in the first chapter. Humbling, isn't it. There is no way all of that happened by accident. Absolutely no way.

Tooth #2

Tooth #2 has arrived. Actually yesterday morning I saw it had come through. His upper teeth sure look like they are making their way too. Celia teethed fast like this too, only N&C were about 11 months when they first got teeth.
So, since he had a new tooth, he decided he could handle a chocolate chip cookie. Back when I was a new mom I would never have given an 8 month old a cookie. Now, look at me. At least it was home-made, right? So, the baby that won't eat a puff can eat an ENTIRE cookie. Seriously, he ate the whole thing in about 10 minutes.

Month 8

Did I mention that Aaron has a tooth??? I can't remember anymore (it was January 5th). Sorry, Aaron, if you feel like you're along for this crazy ride called 'Third Child' somedays. I was talking with my Grandma the other week and she was asking what foods Aaron was eating now. She was laughing how I listed complete meals for Nicholas and Celia, but with Aaron the blog readers are not even sure he is eating. ha ha His 2nd lower bottom tooth is being a beast. Aaron is a clingy, whiny baby when he is teething. Any loud noise or me walking away will cause an irrational melt-down. Good thing I love him to pieces and his cheeks are super kissable. :)
When he started eating food, there were days when he was lucky if I had time to try to feed him solids. Now that he is older, he does seem hungrier at those times when I usually feed him. So, now I do need to make sure I feed the poor baby. :) And... alas, he is preferring the jarred food rather than the home-made food. He's been pickier since day 1 with food. I have been buying Beechnut Homestyle stage 3 foods and he likes those a lot. They are the closest to home-made food that I can find and they taste pretty good too. And due to the BPA concerns, we only buy the glass jars too. So, the foods he does like:
sweet potatoes, squash/zucchini, pears & blueberries, yogurt, and even some of the rice/veggie/chicken combos (which taste...yes I taste everything before I offer it... mostly like sweet potatoes). He loves yogurt. His cousin Sammy loves yogurt too, so I hear. He has his pincer grasp and likes to pick up puffs and baby finger food, but he will gag on them cause he doesn't chew them up. He does the 'anaconda' and tries to swallow puffs whole and then he gags and throws up. A for effort, F for completion. :) He'll get it.
He's SO close to crawling. He can crawl backwards, but he's really trying hard to go forwards. It'll be this month for sure. I'd like to say 'next week', but babies like to keep parent's on the edge of their seats for much longer than we'd prefer.


I'm practicing a lot more on my photography. Which means pictures during the day, editing and reading about photography at night. So between being mommy, cleaning house, working at night, groceries, cooking, finally ending up in bed at about midnight most nights (and then getting up 3-5 times a night between all 3 kids) ... Celia sums it up for me...

But its the best 'job' in the world. Wouldn't change a thing. :)

New backdrop!

This month I purchased a new wide-angle zoom lens. I've been practicing with it for at least an hour almost every day. This monday morning I set up my new backdrop and had an 8 month old celebration session (and practice) for Aaron. The only way I can get better at my photography is by practicing and learning from my mistakes... and hopefully from learning from what works. Here are a few from the session. I know what to do next time to improve them, but their still cute to me (mom eyes). :)

Nicholas and Celia's Third Birthday

Nicholas and Celia on the eve of their 3rd Birthday. It's funny how they are so close in size still.

Birthday Eve with their buddy Evan.

Celia reading her birthday Card from Great Grandma Helen

The week before Nicholas and Celia's 3rd birthday, I thought a few times "this is their last _____ as 2 year olds". Last sunday, last afternoon nap, last dinner, etc. It's bitter sweet realizing that childhood is so short. But, its a blessing to have them turn 3. To have had them for 3 healthy happy years. I can only pray and hope that we're all together to celebrate many more together.
They both sort of woke up on the wrong side of the bed on Saturday - their birthday. Both were a little cranky. Jason ran out to pick up drinks and ice cream at the store and their birthday cakes at Hankersons Bakery. When he returned, I laid Aaron down for his morning nap and left with Nicholas and Celia to go to the Party Store to get balloons. I thought they would have fun watching the balloons blown up and picking out the colors. That seemed to cheer them up. A man at the Party Store was saying it seemed his 16 year old was just 3 years old and to treasure every minute. His recommendation - take lots of video. Which we do. Thats the thing I also treasure the most about photography - capturing those moments.
The party was great. We had both sets of Grandparents, my sister's family, our friends Erica and Pete and their boys, and our other friends Matt and Nicky. Pizza, cake, presents, friends and family on a sunny saturday birthday party - the bonus was everyone was healthy. Hard to do in mid-January.
Nicholas and Celia have so many toys. We're purging their toy stash this summer at a rummage sale. And poor Aaron is probably never getting any new toys. ;)

Celia with my mom/Grandma Maus

My friend Erica with baby Reece

Aaron with Grandma Velicer making his fussy face. He seems to teethe on cue for important events. This is the fussy face where if you smile at him, he'll still smile back.

Cousin Lauren striking a pose

My sister, Angy, and her 9 month old Sammy



Nicholas gripping his cake to blow out his candles! lol Celia leaned all the way onto her cake when she blew out her candles. She almost lit her hair on fire too. Sheesh.

I love how my mom is in the background pointing at Nicholas.

Birthday night, Nicholas and Celia playing with their new Dollhouse in their Pajamas.

And since we have leftover birthday cake... every time they have a piece after dinner the last few nights we put 3 candles back in their piece and sing 'Happy Birthday' and blow out the candles again. Until the cake is gone, I say its still their birthday. :) Have a blessed, happy, healthy 4th year my angels. Love, Mommy

Just a few more pictures

Our three sweeties

You're just beautiful baby aaron.

"mmmmm... wood". our son may end up 1/2 woodchuck.

Nicholas says "Yook (look) Mommy! I can walk with two hands in my pockets!"
only he had one hand in his back pocket and one in his front. ha ha So cute!

All better. . .

Squishy is back to himself... he's alllll better. And he sprouted his first tooth on January 5th at 7.5 months old. His first tooth is his lower left front tooth. The right one is soon to follow. It's so nice to have our happy baby back. He sure had me scared for a little while. We've been lucky to not have any big illnesses with any of the kids. Nicholas and Celia didn't even have their first cold until they were 11 months old. It sure makes a difference having older children in the house because whatever they get ... aaron gets.

"Enough pictures, mommy"

A sick baby

Aaron has been teething for a couple weeks and so monday night when I nursed him at night he seemed hotter than normal (99 degree temp with motrin) I figured maybe it was a fever from teething. Then tuesday he was so miserable and it got worse as the day went along. He has had a few colds in the last month (one of the misfortunes for a younger baby - N&C hardly got sick because they didn't have older siblings bringing things to them) and his nose is so stuffed up. Even a saline spray or even spraying breastmilk in his nose (recommended due to the antibodies in breastmilk) and suctioning was not clearing his nose out. Yesterday he was waking up from his naps soaked in sweat. So when Jason got home I started worrying that this was far more than teething. His breathing was rapid, VERY lethargic (just laying limp on me), not interested in nursing (he was latch on and not suck), eyes looked bad, and his fever was 102.5. So I called the clinic and they had me come in right away at 7pm. Thank goodness for evening hours. His temp at the clinic was 103. And this was after an hour of having motrin in his system. The Dr ordered a chest x-ray. It was so sad to see him scream and look at me while they had him lay still on the cold hard table (they did put a sheet down... but that only helps so much). The ladies were so kind to him, but that is a scary thing for any baby or child. He was fighting the side position so I put a gown on and helped hold him.
The chest x-rays were clear, but the Dr was still concerned. So he said we would try antibiotics as an out-patient before admitting him to the hospital. So last night Jason slept downstairs on the sofa that pulls-out to a bed. I put rolled blankets as bolsters under the sheets on the edge of the mattress in our bed so that aaron could sleep in the bed with me and i could keep a close eye on him all night. He cried a lot last night and twisted and turned. He nursed a few times so he at least is not dehydrated.
This morning he had a fever of 102.2 and i gave him motrin, a warm bath and he nursed a bit before his 1st nap. He just woke up now and he looks a bit better. I'm hoping he is improving. His head doesn't feel as hot as it has for the last 24+ hours. I hope he starts turning a corner. It's sad to see him so sick. :(

Celia rocking out

Today there was a segment of the Black Eyed Peas singing and the entire audience was dancing. So her and I were dancing in the livingroom. This was the 2nd time she had danced to it and she was trying so hard to copy the dancers. This song is so fun! She's been talking about being a good dancer now. :) Nicholas was happy to observe and Aaron was in his highchair. Celia is pretty awesome.