Owen's birth announcement photo shoot

Months ago I found a photographer who would be able to do a newborn session with Owen and the girls. Or so I thought. At the beginning of December I contacted her again to make sure she was still able to do it. Turns out she never put us on her calendar! She forgot! I was pretty upset. I tried to find another photographer but it was too late. I would have to take pictures myself. Maybe the fourth child will have actual newborn photos taken. 

This photo of Owen and my mom wasn't for the announcement but it's a good one so I'm including it here. 

I wanted to try and recreate some of the cute poses photographers do with newborns but I missed my chance. They like to shoot within the first 10 days of life and those first 10 days came and went. I wasn't feeling myself yet and didn't have the energy to try. At least I have a few pictures to show him at 10 days old. 

He's showing the peace sign in this one!

I was trying out the blue blanket for obvious reasons. I wanted to make sure people knew we have a boy! It didn't matter in the end because I did black and white photos for the announcement. 

Macy and Anna were eager and willing subjects. We propped my bed up and got to work. I love this picture if the girls awaiting the arrival of Owen. 

They are laughing at my mom who was jumping up and down behind me. I'm glad she was there to cheer them up. 

These two love their Owen so much!

Anna's face is priceless in this one. 

My sweet precious Owen. He is growing up too fast. At this time in his life it was hard to get him awake for pictures but we found a little window where all three kids were awake, fed, and happy. That is a miracle!

After I got enough of Owen, Macy wanted to do "model shots" as she called them. Anna had some great poses. This face cracks me up. She has so much energy and personality. 

I told her to pose and this is what we got. 

Macy knew just what to do. 

She is a great model!

Stocking photo fail

I thought it would be cute to get a picture of Owen in a stocking since he's a newborn at Christmas. However, I couldn't execute my vision so we ended up with sibling pictures because Macy and Anna wanted to hop in. 

Macy is wearing clothes from three different outfits. At least she matches Owens Christmas theme with her Santa hat. I love Macy's smile in this one. 

When Anna saw Owen in the stocking she wanted to wear stockings too. It was hilarious how confident she was wearing them. It was totally normal to her to be wearing Christmas stockings. Now they all matched with Christmas decorations. 

My three beautiful children. 

Macy adores Owen!

Christmas 2014

My mom spent Christmas with us this year. She said it was the first time in her life she was away from her parents on Christmas- and she's 53! Sadly, my dad stayed in California.

Christmas Eve was spent at our Bishop's house. The Wheatleys were so kind to invite us in their home because they know we don't have family around. We had a great dinner, acted out the nativity, opened a present, had dessert, and sang a few carols.

Macy, Ja, and Grandma decorated gingerbread houses.

Macy getting dressed as the angel.

Anna getting dressed up as Mary #2.

The kids were great in the nativity. Ja did great as the voice of the angel. Macy was too shy to say her lines so Ja put her on her shoulders and said her lines in a girly voice. It was hilarious.

Anna wouldn't get off the donkey's lap (Emily)

Macy and Katherine sang a Christmas song for the group.

Our girls LOVE Emily!

Everything is all set up for Christmas morning!

We had a quiet first Christmas in our home this year. The girls opened presents until 10:40 am. They had so many! 

Anna needed a little help unwrapping.

Macy loved her pajama pants from Aunt Stacie.

I love my new watch!

All this present unwrapping wiped Owen out.

Showing off their new dresses from Grandma.

I had his newspaper and magazine articles framed.

Something unusual happened this year. Every time Macy opened a present she would say thank you very excitedly and run and give me or Ja a hug. For some reason she has a hard time saying thank you without being reminded (for anything, not just gifts). I realized we have the Wheatley's to thank for this. On Christmas Eve every time a child opened a present they would say thank you and run and give the gift giver a big hug. I thought it was sweet and I'm glad Macy was paying attention!

Then at 11 we had our neighbors Ron and Danny over for brunch. They didn't have any family coming to celebrate so Ja invited them over for stuffed French toast. Christmas Eve I decided to make cinnamon rolls so we had those too. 

We realized cinnamon rolls on Christmas is a tradition for us now. I've done it two years in a row so that makes it a tradition. 

The rest of the day was spent lazily playing and watching movies.

For dinner we had a semi-formal dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and Martinelli's. I actually really enjoyed having a slow Christmas that wasn't filled rushing around or chaos. It was just our family and it was very enjoyable. 

Macy Noel turns 5!

This girl made me a mom five years ago! When I dreamed if being a mom I had no idea how much joy a child could bring into my life. Macy has been bringing us joy for 5 years now.

Macy was thrilled to open granny Dot's candy letter and money. She's yelling "thank you" in this picture. I asked her, "isn't it cool granny Dot made you a letter out of candy bars?" She replied, "yeah, cuz she's Candy Dot!"

Ja made cheese blintzes for breakfast per Macy's request. Turns out she doesn't like the cheese in the middle but likes the crepe. Then she requested pancakes and sausages-that-look-like-hotdogs for dinner.

During the day my mom and Ja took the girls to Chuck E Cheeses to celebrate Macy. They had a great time! For about an hour Macy and my mom looked at pictures of me when I was growing up. They had some great bonding time together.


We had a little celebration the night of her birthday with a few friends from church. We had cake and ice cream and a house full of girls.

 Emily (Macy's favorite babysitter), Macy, and Alyssa

Macy, Alyssa, Kinzley

Charlotte, Corrina, Emily, Macy, Anna, Alyssa, Kinzley

I love this smile! She was so happy to be the birthday girl!

Macy with her new castle doll house. She set it all up just for the picture.

We originally thought of having her party December 20th. It's a good thing we held off! Having a 3 day old baby with a house full of 5 year olds would not have been good. 

We talked her into having a party in January instead. She wants to invite her whole preschool class. She also said she wants to play pin the crown on the queen, have a Frozen cake, and direct how the party goes. At one point she wanted to go caroling to the neighbors too. We'll see how the party turns out...

Baby Owen

I love having a newborn in the house again. They come with their own special spirit and are a piece of heaven in our lives. Owen is such a great newborn and is the cutest little boy I've ever seen :)

Tonight Macy asked me to get up early and get dressed and get Owen dressed. She will wake up early and get dressed so no one will hear her. She wants uninterrupted time holding Owen by herself. Seriously, look at this genuine Macy smile! She loves holding him!

Today Macy fed Owen a bottle, burped him, and held him while I put Anna down for her nap. I was quite impressed!

Anna still loves "holding" Owen too. With her we put a pillow on her lap and he pretty much just lies on the pillow. Thankfully she has become less possessive of him. Although when she sees Macy holding him she can often be heard to say, "I hold it! I hold it!" This furthers my thought that she thinks Owen is a doll and why Macy wants alone time with Owen. 

Anna is very helpful and gets a diaper and a wipe whenever I ask her too. She loves to pop in and say "a-low" (hello) to Owen when he's in the bassinet or lying down on our bed. The stool is nearby so she can easily pop in and out. 

Anna also loves to read baby brudder books. She gets up on her stool and reads book after book to him. When she runs out she rushes back to her room to grab more. She will read to him while he is in the swing too. I think this is so adorable. 

Baby Owen is adored by his sisters- and his mom! I cry for joy just looking at his face. It is little, round, and perfect. His tiny toes are the cutest toes I've ever seen. I love skin to skin time with this boy. 

He is figuring out breast feeding which is nice. I have to undress him most of the time to keep him awake and change diapers too. He is only 5 days old and born early at 37 weeks so he is very sleepy naturally. In the hospital the lactation consultant gave me good tips and advice which will make Owen and I successful with time and patience. He's not tongue tied which is good to know. He's good at sucking, he just falls asleep eating so it takes a lot of work to wake him up. I'll take it though! He's the sweetest baby and I can't wait to raise him up!

Ja will be a great dad to our son! I can't wait to see them playing basketball together some day. 

Owen, I love you so much and love you from the second the doctor put you in my arms. You are my son and I will love you forever.