365 mama's got a brand new blog ....

2009-11-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

it's finally up enough to my standards enough to share! there are still some things i need to change, but i want to make sure it's ready for charlotte's arrival!

i won't be posting on this blog anymore, so update your links! :)

The Suchniak Six

http://www.thesuchniaksix.com/

halloween '09!

2009-11-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

not the greatest pictures, but here they are! ethan was mario again, kayleigh was arielle, and norah a peacock! :) they all had a blast, and were ready to come home after only a 30 minute trip. the big ones at least (they wanted to hand out candy to all the other kids). norah was hysterical. she got the hang of it after the first house & could have probably gone all night!

in other news, only TEN! days until charlotte's due. how exciting .... and scary! i was telling john last night, that i don't feel like a grown up, yet. he said - "jenn, we'll have 4 kids in a few days - i think that qualifies you as a grown up." eek - does it really?

happy fall, y'all!

2009-10-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

yep, snow. lots of it. it's not stopping until tomorrow. our poor pumpkins are covered. lol! hope you're all have some great weather. let's just hope charlotte doesn't come early! :)

in other news. i just registered a domain for a new blog. hopefully it will be up & running very shortly. i'll link it when it's ready.

a year in review. :)

2009-10-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

so, it's been a week since i finished up the 365 project. it feels GOOD. it was a huge commitment, and much more work than i ever imagined. i definitely learned a lot, and even though my day to day pictures probably don't always show it, i feel like i know a lot more. i feel more comfortable with manual, and changing my settings on the whim. BUT i still have SO much to learn. i feel so far away still from where i want to be. it will come with time and practice, i suppose! i am very impatient, though.

i want to keep blogging, but am unsure how/where to do it right now. should i just stick to this blog? go back to my old one? start a completely new one? switch over to wordpress perhaps? i'm not sure. i need to look into my options. i feel like i'm outgrowing blogger, and i'd like something a little different.

speaking of outgrowing, here's is my 37w shot from wednesday. in one of two shirts i have that still completely covers my belly. not much longer now. i'm taking bets. ;) my guess is for november 6th. i'm due the 11th. kayleigh and ethan were born 2 days before their due date, and norah was 5 days before.

365/365

2009-10-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

don't they look excited that we're DONE?!

three hundred and sixty five days of pictures. how cool is that?

on another note:

october 4th a wonderful family lost their sweet boy nate. he was 4 years old, and passed away shortly after contracting h1n1, which then turned into pneumonia. his mother is tracy of sugar lime designs. we released yellow balloons in his remembrance today.

364/365

2009-10-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

friday nights are game night here. but when john is working nights, mama switches it to movie night (norah + board games = disaster!). friday night is also pizza night, which explains why the two littlest are shirtless. they are not the neatest kids around. :)

363/365

2009-10-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

it's a wonder why some days i have no time for photography.

362/365

2009-10-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

the rebellion has started already. yesterday i caught her cutting her hair in the bathroom, and today she's wearing eye liner. she did a better job than i do, even! am i crazy - one day i will have three teen girls in the house. at the same time.

361/365

2009-10-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

it was so hazy out this morning. norah fell asleep in the car after we dropped ethan off at school, so i just drove around our neighborhood taking some pictures while she napped. the cows were hiding today. there is so much land around us, sometimes they can't be found at all. i love it!

only four days left. i can't believe it.

all clickable to bigger on black.

360/365

2009-10-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

359/365

2009-10-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

i thought norah would always be the odd man out, since kayleigh & ethan are already so close. good thing i was wrong!

358/365

2009-10-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

today we had a nice lazy day. i got some sewing and other projects i needed to get done finished, and did minimal cleaning, lol.

the reason for the lazy day? yeah, more snow. :/ i was supposed to have an outdoor maternity shoot with the super fantastic lora ... but the weather had other plans!

357/365

2009-10-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

356/365

2009-10-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

after having such great weather yesterday....

today, it snowed.

i'm not ready!!

355/365

2009-10-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

it was really nice yesterday. it actually FELT like fall.

354/365

2009-10-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

the "thing" is finally done! not sure what it is, really. probably just a newborn photography prop, lol. it's just a big square. lovey size. i really need to learn more about knitting.

353/365

2009-10-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

lots of uninspired snapshots ahead .....

352/365

2009-10-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

351/365

2009-10-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

norah does not do naps at home anymore, just if we're in the car. she can't seem to get settled down enough when we're at home. this happened with the big kids, too, after i stopped nursing them. she gets a little crazy around 4pm, though. which makes it hard to start dinner.

so this afternoon i won worst mom award. i gave her a yummy earth lolli, found a "safe for babies" show on the on demand thing (tigger & pooh?), and plunked her down. she watched longer than she's ever watched the tv before, about 25 minutes. and i got dinner 95% finished.

350/365

2009-10-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

more fondant fun - woo!

349/365

2009-10-01T17:52:00.001-07:00

she said she put the feather one on the top to be *extra* fancy! :)

348/365

2009-10-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

the girls were wrestling around on the floor. i took out my camera. one girl hid. heh.

347/365

2009-09-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

i'm big. as big as i was with norah at my biggest. and i have 6 more weeks left. blargh. :)

click for bigger on black

346/365

2009-09-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

most days i think norah will make a good big sister. but then, there are days like today that she refuses to believe that she is too big for "baby" clothes. i wonder what will happen once the swing and newborn diapers come out. :)

345/365

2009-09-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

the best apple pie in the world. yum.

344/365

2009-09-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

saturday we went to the annual harvest at the homestead festival at the plains conservation center. of course, after being freezing all week, it heats up to about a billion degrees (okay, so it felt like a billion degrees to this giant pregnant lady).

later that night we met up with john's family who were in town and went to the white fence farm company for dinner. it was pretty fun. definitely more about the activities than the food. although norah did eat a ton of pickled beets!

343/365

2009-09-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

i think i win the award for worst wife ever. after john worked so hard on refinishing the toddler bed, i went and made him paint it white, lol.

342/365

2009-09-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

i had a pose she was doing right here that was actually super cute, with a foot in the air... but there was a little potty in front of her other leg making it look sort of trashy, lol! i hated purple for years. i've finally started to like it again. i od'd on it as a teenager, and have a feeling i might be od'ing on it again pretty soon.

341/365

2009-09-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

if i weren't so far, i'd give up. i don't know how or why, but things have gone from "busy," to "seriously, how can i get all this done with only 24 hours in each day?!" i have been working my butt off between kayleigh's school, taking ethan to & from his school, trying to make sure we're still getting out, cleaning puke off the beds & couches, keeping the house clean, making dinner, keeping up with all the homework, making sure john's got a clean uniform to wear to work, ect.... it's just been really hard to add any photography into the mix lately. which is sad, because for a while i've felt like i was FINALLY making some strides.

hopefully after the next couple of weeks, things will start to slow down a little bit ... but then little miss charlotte will make her appearance and start it all over again! :) either way, i've still managed to get a couple shots in every day, although calling them snapshots would probably even be a little too high of a compliment, lol. something's got to give. eventually, at least. right?

340/365

2009-09-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

339/365

2009-09-21T17:31:00.000-07:00

can you tell we're getting over the sickies here?

and just a quick rave for artisan bread in five minutes a day. the bread is really easy & tasty. it's not a pain to fit into our schedule, and much cheaper & fresher than buying it!

338/365

2009-09-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

today we had my birthday cake - a day late. john ordered it so he could get it the day after since we were going on out town yesterday. it was very yummy. and the cake and frosting were vanilla, so no drama like last year with the whole chocolate fiasco - ha! :)

337/365

2009-09-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

around here on your birthday, you get to pick what you want to do for the day. today was MY birthday, so i chose a day trip out ot estes park and the rocky mountain national park.

336/365

2009-09-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

sometimes i feel bad when we're having fun while kayleigh is at school. but then i remember how much she loves school, and how she's having fun all day, so it's okay.

and yeah ... 32w 1d .... aka HUGE.

335/365

2009-09-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

john has been talking about bocce ball for months, but he was waiting for the set he wanted to go on sale. finally it did. we got up to the register and he noticed a rip in the bag. the cashier gave him another 10% off. when we got home he emailed the company and they're sending a new bag. i think i'm finally starting to rub off on him. and the kids? they love bocce. i still think it's kind of silly.

334/365

2009-09-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

sometimes you don't really have to wonder why some things go on clearance at target. we made this in the middle of the summer from a kit we got on clearance for a couple bucks. it's already falling apart. thankfully the birds are wise & no one has moved in.

333/365

2009-09-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

dessert for the whole family for .99 cents. it can't be beat! yum!

332/365

2009-09-14T19:53:00.001-07:00

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2009-09-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

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2009-09-12T15:52:00.001-07:00

picture this. husband, kids ... set up, looking fancy a few feet off the ground in a tree. mom (7+ mo pregnant), sets camera up for the shot, hits the timer, and runs, trying to jump up on the tree in time. did. not. work. lol. i guess i'm THAT pregnant now, lol. as luck would have it, a passerby noticed my weak jumping skills, and volunteered to hit the shutter for me, lol!

this was taken at wash park in denver.

click for bigger on black

329/365

2009-09-11T18:34:00.000-07:00

friday is usually family game night here. we had to go to dave & buster's for a military function, so we had family game night out. kayleigh said it was the best game night ever, lol!

oh yeah ... there is a little noise, too. guess it's from being on ISO 3200. EEK!

328/365

2009-09-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

if you stare at the bigger version of this long enough, it doesn't even look like her head is attached to her body, lol.

327/365

2009-09-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

31 weeks on wednesday. baby is now head down, yay! time to stop standing on my head.

326/365

2009-09-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

i try not to spend a lot of time in photoshop. for one, i stink at photoshop. for two, it seems the longer i "play" with a photo, the worse it looks, ha!

we were all playing outside right after dinner, and i grabbed my camera. everyone still had messy faces (and the two littles are all snotty. i'm no ps pro, but i think i was able to clean him up a bit, and take away his dark circles enough to make him look a little less beat up! :)

*click to see bigger*

325/365

2009-09-07T16:45:00.001-07:00

i don't think i can even get my leg up that high. nevermind sleep that way!

324/365

2009-09-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

What a bummer! After spending way too much of "safe" water bottles for our family, news comes out that they're leaching BPA anyway! Sigg has reworked their liners, but those have had issues as well. Our Whole Foods is doing an exchange program for them. You just bring your old bottle, and they'll give you a new-liner same size bottle for free.

To learn more (and if you don't have a whole foods close), click here -

http://mysigg.com/bulletin/exchange_program.html

323/365

2009-09-05T17:48:00.001-07:00

today was a really great day. everyone got along perfectly. we were supposed to go to the last sunset safari wagon ride at the plains conservation center for the year.... then it started hailing.

i mean lots, and lots of hail.

but it ended up clearing up, and the sun came back out. and then ethan puked all over the basement. so, right now, we should be leaving for the plains.... but instead, john is in our room with all three kids finishing up the last chapters of the hobbit. still a pretty good day! :)

322/365

2009-09-04T17:16:00.001-07:00

the kids made a new friend today! :)

321/365

2009-09-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

john took ethan to a broncos game tonight, so the girls got their own bath & shower. amazing how much more water stayed in the tub! i love the way norah looks at kayleigh & ethan. she loves them so, and tries to be just like them. it's so sweet.

click for bigger on black. blogger stinks.

320/365

2009-09-03T19:39:00.001-07:00

give me flowers from the side of the road over fancy delivery ones anyday! thankfully my family knows this. ;)

319/365

2009-09-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

mr. smugmug bedhead. :)

318/365

2009-08-31T17:43:00.000-07:00

i can't decide .... color ...

or b&w. (both are clickable to bigger on black).

today i was finally able to get a shower around 4, and put on pbs for 30 minutes for the kids while i was in there (keep them from running a muck SOMETIMES, and gives me a few minutes to shower ALONE!).... i came out and peeked over the stairs to see this. too funny. my kids aren't usually the sleep anywhere variety (unless they're sick).

and yes, that's a pencil in norah's hand. i thought i got them all put away before going up (she's a notorious skin/wall/floor color-er).... guess not!

317/365

2009-08-31T17:36:00.001-07:00

i had a really hard time trying to focus here. he was running, the bubbles were flying ... maybe next time! :)

316/365

2009-08-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

a dinosaur face to go with ethan's old dinosaur pj's (aka her baby jail pj's - the little nudist hasn't figured out how to escape them, yet!).

editing to add: pictures are much clearer when you click to see them bigger in flickr. blogger must really compress them.

315/365

2009-08-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

another day at the pool! so sad it'll be closing soon.

but definitely looking forward to FALL weather!

314/365

2009-08-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

ethan has been asking to take his training wheels off, but we didn't get too far with it today. his seat won't go low enough to let him reach the ground to catch himself, so it didn't work out too great. john had already cut off part of the post the seat is on to get it low enough for him to ride, period ... not sure what to do now.

there's another little boy with the same bike, and his seat goes much lower. not sure what is up with ours.

313/365

2009-08-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

just a quick snap on the way out to the pool. norah's suit & hat used to be kayleigh's. except she fit in it until she was 4, and no way will it fit norah by the time she's two. how funny!

29 weeks today!

baby girl is still breech, so we're working on flipping her. some head down thoughts would be appreciated. :)

312/365

2009-08-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

ethan had his first day of preschool today! he did great. i am so proud of him, it's the first time we've ever left the kid with anyone he didn't know very well. i made sure his superman tee was be clean for his big day to help ease the tension a little. looks like it's official. we've got two big kids now!

311/365

2009-08-25T13:58:00.001-07:00

it's been a little drizzly outside ... perfect excuse to pull out rain coats!! :) i got this one for about $5 shipped at talbot kids when they discontinued their kid's clothes line. gotta love a good deal!

310/365

2009-08-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

kayleigh and i got hair cuts today. yay!

309/365

2009-08-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

she was showing me sand. :)

and this one is definitely out of focus, but he was really looking at me, and not cheesing. rare form!

308/365

2009-08-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

307/365

2009-08-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

john wanted to bring a BEE into the house, in a box. um ... i locked him out.

306/365

2009-08-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

mostly snaps ... but more park fun today.

28 weeks today ... and growing.

305/365

2009-08-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

304/365

2009-08-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

john wrote on the kids knuckles the other day. i believe norah's said "mega baby" .... she was very amused. :)

303/365

2009-08-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

the kids picked a bunch of rocks from the back yard that were good for skipping. sooo ... that meant we had to head out & find a lake to skip them at! :)

302/365

2009-08-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

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2009-08-14T17:18:00.001-07:00

the worst photomerge, ever. just a few notes. the carpet is brand new and clean (not all crazy looking like it looks in the picture from merging pictures and cloing out empty spaces from the different pictures). same goes for the ceiling. :)

so, the girls will start sharing a room soon. we were just going to keep norah in our room, but i think it will be tough for her with the baby waking a lot in the beginning, ect. so here is our tentative setup. i have a few more decorating things to take care of, but this is the basic jist of it. i'll post again when i'm done (hopefully not too long from now).

300/365

2009-08-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

three HUNDRED days of pictures! i am so shocked i've kept it up this long. i was planning somethign good for this one, buuut ... like i said. we've been really, really, BUSY! so these are from the way home from walking kayleigh to school in the morning.

norah's doing well since we stopped nursing this week, but we still haven't settled on a good nap time since kayleigh started school. still working on it, obviously.

299/365

2009-08-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

it's been really busy here lately. like crazy busy. i did take some time out wednesday to sew a little bit, though. this is THE silkiest and softest little blanket ever. just don't look at the stitching too closely. satin and soft & fluffy aren't my closest friends.

298/365

2009-08-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

me: "norah, what do we write on?"
norah: "paper!" (while pointing ot her belly, lol.)

297/365

2009-08-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

operation big girl bed, take two.

(this time she at least KNEW she was in it when she went to bed)

my husband is so sweet to put up with all my crazy requests.

we're going to be moving norah in with kayleigh soon, and we've been trying to figure out bed options. we were going to just go with a nice wooden bunk set, but (we've found out) norah is a little too brave to be alone with a ladder. i saw a little boy's room that shared with a twin and a toddler bed & i can't believe i didn't think of it before!

right now, kayleigh has a full size bed on a metal frame. she always told us she did NOT want a headboard. but she's finally come around. we decided we'd do a twin & the toddler bed until we move from here in two years, then re-evaluate. i found a bed at the land of nod that i liked, but it was a little pricey for what it was. after some searching, i found a very similar one on craigslist for $15! it was brown, so needed some paint ... but very similar ... and a whole lot cheaper!

after the first coat of paint ....

so ... john painted it today, and will put one last coat on tomorrow, then we'll go buy a mattress this weekend (we already have a brand new box spring we aren't using). once norah gets settled in her own bed, we'll paint her bed (poor john, after all that work he did!), and move her into kayleigh's room. i don't want to move her until she's sleeping in it well, because kayleigh's got an early start with school now, and i don't want to bother her, but.... we're on our way!

296/365

2009-08-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

295/365

2009-08-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

we were pretty busy yesterday. i meant to take a picture when we were at lowe's for their build & grow clinic, but didn't get around to it.

and this is only exciting because i got some nice round bokeh. dosn't happen much to me, lol!

294/365

2009-08-09T11:20:00.001-07:00

293/365

2009-08-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

proof that i DO have a third child. of course this one VERY rarely looks that big black camera lenses way ... but alas, here he is! :)

we have this weird patch of dead grass that sprung up today. it's a mystery we've all been enthralled with today. :D

grandma sent a box with books and puzzles. they were a big hit!

and so was the rain! colorado is crazy. the weather makes NO sense .. but i love it!

hail!

292/365

2009-08-05T08:34:00.001-07:00

yesterday was kayleigh's first day of school. she's a big first grader now going ALL DAY! i was nervous how she'd do, since she's never been away for more than three hours, but she loved it - yay!

i made her a cute little lunch, and she was so excited. i asked her what she wanted in her next lunxh, and all she asked for was another note!

and it all fit!

a couple of the littlest.

and my giant belly!

291/365

2009-08-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

it's nice having three little slaves, err ... kids around the house. ;) of course, there is a lot of clean up after they "help" make dinner, though!

290/365

2009-08-03T12:09:00.001-07:00

kayleigh is too cool for bath's anymore. glad i got one last picture of them (and made into a canvas!) before she decided that!

289/365

2009-08-03T12:08:00.003-07:00

you can always tell when i haven't picked up the camera all day ... when my 365 is of a sleeping kid.

288/365

2009-08-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

things have been crazy busy around here. kayleigh starts first grade on wednesday! it took me over a week to type up my menu and grocery list. wonder why?

287/365

2009-07-31T19:35:00.000-07:00

286/365

2009-07-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

so, i've changed my name. okay ... not really, lol. but seriously, i hate this starbucks. after an incident with their lids one day, i vowed never to return..... but i'm a sucker.

and how cute is this? just had to share. i haven't bought much for this baby, but i had someone make this for me on etsy. it's really cute, and the workman ship is top notch!

285/365

2009-07-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

we went to the zoo today. it was BEEEEE-U-TI-FUL! 72 degrees, breezy ... ah .. perfect! the only thing that wasn't perfect, was kayleigh's mood.... boy, i don' tremember being such a stinker at 6! 16, yes ... but SIX? sheesh

and this one just because, lol!

and here i am - all 25 weeks of me. i gained 8 pounds this month - eek! that shirt i'm wearing was HUGE a month ago. looks like i'll have to start laying off the ben & jerry's!

284/365

2009-07-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

we were cleaning out the garage this afternoon & i pulled out the little spring play tunnel. norah loved it. wish i could have kept this color because there was a lot that would be fun to pop ... but alas, half her face was green from it, so in order to get this up in a timely manner, b&w is the way to go!

283/365

2009-07-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

i was going to take some pictures at the playground today, but the wind was really crazy & the dust from the baseball field was flying at us, so i didn't want to risk the camera..... so i snapped the cows behind our house on the way home. :)

282/365

2009-07-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

281/365

2009-07-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

whew - i was tired yesterday. can you tell by my fabulous picture?!

280/365

2009-07-24T20:32:00.001-07:00

the kids made pretzels today. i've been promising for a few days. they had so much fun! it's so neat watching them together. i'm so glad they have eachother. it's what i've always dreamed of, really! the good, the bad, and days like today ...

279/365

2009-07-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

it was HOT yesterday. i don't like to whine because it's usually really nice here ... but we went through FIVE water bottles full of water in under two hours at the park!

278/365

2009-07-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

lots of hands today, huh? :)

can anyone guess whose prissy little fingers did not touch the bug?

277/365

2009-07-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

276/365

2009-07-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

one day i will have a decent picture of all 3 (or 4!) together. and i will print it as big as i can & hang it forever.

275/365

2009-07-20T17:22:00.001-07:00

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2009-07-20T17:21:00.001-07:00

273/365

2009-07-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

decided to take my kit lens to the beach today. not too shabby.

272/365

2009-07-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

the kids love to play humpty dumpty on our headboard, lol. and yes, norah's wearing way too small pj's. they're a 3-6mo for newbabe. she demanded to wear them before her nap.

271/365

2009-07-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

went through all the saved clothes we have to get rid of all the boy stuff! this pair of ethan's old pj's were great for norah since she can't figure out how to get out of them. she's CONSTANTLY stripping, and these help a lot. we've been putting her other ones on bckwards, since she can unbutton them, lol.

270/365

2009-07-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

my little ups man. he loves to dress himself ..... i let him indulge, lol!