It's about time!

I knew I had this baby for a reason.

Whether he means it or not, we can't say.
But Cotton and I really think he knows what he's saying... and what Sam is saying is "MAMAMAMAMAMA!"

My sweet, precious little firstorn, who I spent every second of every day with. Lots of one on one time, just me and him... he didn't say "Mama" first. He said "George."

My beautiful daughter, who only ever wanted my arms. Freaked out at the thought of me passing her to anyone else... who I happily nursed for 17 months. 8 of those she refused ANYthing but the breast, and she NEVER had a bottle... she didn't say "Mama" first. She preferred "Dada."

So for today, though he is teething and snot nosed and cranky and WEARING MY ASS OUT...
Sam is my favorite.
Don't tell the others. :-P

Another set of family pictures!

these are by the lovely, talented, way TOO talented, and did I mention lovely... Jackie!

http://www.jacquelinereitzphotograph...ssions/krysta/

I need some friends that aren't good at anything! ;)
It would be far easier on my self-esteem! lol!

Seriously though, I am in love with these pictures. The last 2 of Sam make me weak in the knees!
The second one of the whole crew, with that total "Cotton grin" is greatness!
It's also oh-so obvious in these that Jacob looks like me, and the other 2 are clones of their Daddy.
Lucy's "squishy face" rocks.
Jacob is so darned big and handsome... with all those weird gaps in his teeth. heehee

And like the Rebecca set, these are Christmas card contenders, haha. (I don't know how I''ll EVER choose a favorite!) Look at them, love them, and forget them!

Thank you, Jackie!

I am going to have to devote an entire wall in my house to "Family pictures 2008!"

the costumes!

BATMAN




and what is a superhero without his trusty sidekicks?
I give you...

BATGIRL
and ROBIN

The whole crew


We went to a little Halloween festival, and the kids rode a horse for the first time!

Haha. Slap that rump and it will be the last thing you do. EVER!
face painted and a snow cone in hand, does life get any better? The bucket of candy doesn't hurt, either.

Pumpkins 2008

Looking for the perfect one!
I like the one in the middle! ;-)
"I hate pumpkins! Take me home!"


It's a little heavy
a spider he wasn't afraid of

our Punkin' on a pumpkinwe really liked the huge pumpkin...

SQUISHY FACE!
double the trouble, double the fun!
da boys driving a tractor!
I really wanted a cute shot of all the kids. This wan't it.

Pooh and Pooh
Mommas and babies. Jeez we look alike here!He loves his Mummy (his shirt said so)
Me and my crew!
And of course we had to carve 'em up!
Eeeewwww....






and a pumpkin carving video:



Because pictures don't really do it justice!

Rompompa Chomp!

If you are offended by:

young children watching TV
unfolded laundry
less than stellar housekeeping
nose picking
camera shake
extreme cuteness

You might not want to watch this video.
Everyone, else get ready to giggle! I mean... WIGGLE!!!

Too perfect!

We met some friends for lunch and costumed fun the other day. Since Jacob wasn't with us, I let Lucy go as Wonder Woman, and Sam wore Jacob's first Halloween outfit- a fleece Tigger outfit.
I took a ton of pictures of them, but they are still chillin in the camera.
But Linz took this one of Lucy, and I love it so much! I don't think there could be a more perfect costume for my girl!

and here's a preview of my T-I-double "guh"- RRrrrrrrrrr...

Prepare to be jealous!

Last weekend we had the awesome privilege of doing a family mini-mini session with 3 kick ass photographers. More of a playdate with cameras, maybe.
Regardless of what you want to call it, I got the pictures from one of the 3 today, and her work has been featured here many times before. I cannot stress how lovely and talented she really is, as well as one hell of a great friend. Rebecca!

I don't even know how to describe how much I love these pictures!

So without further ado- I give you the very first set of...

FAMILY PICTURES!













and when the photographer is a close friend, and has quite the sense of humor- you might end up with a shot like this in the bunch...



One of these may or may not be on our Christmas card, so try to erase them from memory when you're done looking! ;)

*sniffle sniffle*

I was innocently making pumpkin pie crunch in my kitchen last night while Cotton played outside with the kids.
Out of the blue, I was beckoned outside and instructed to bring my camera. Uh-oh.

Here's what I found:



Go baby go! I told you she was growing up!

What the big kids are up to

we've been staying pretty busy around here. Keeping ourselves entertained, just doing our 'thang...


Showing our support
Losing teeth
Getting ready for Halloween!

Enjoying cooler weather

Trying new looks

Playing football
tackling big kids (and please excuse how country I sound here- apparently I have been hanging around Cotton WAY TOO LONG!)





tying shoes!