Merry Baby Christmas!

Another month has passed and ready or not, Jacob is 5 months!  He is such an observer that all the Christmas lights have been of great interest to him.  I got some pictures of him under the tree... As you know, he was our little gift from heaven this year!!!  He is rolling over and started eating baby cereal and avocados a couple of weeks ago.  Still happy as can be and extremely calm and cuddly!

Look how long and strong he is getting!

Silent Night

We got Josh a nativity playset to help him understand the Christmas season better and we never imagined how interested he would be in it!!! For the first few nights after opening it up, he was obsessed with every little detail of it and wanted us to read the story of Baby Jesus over and over. He would set up all the characters up just perfect and then just gaze at it. One evening, as he was supposed to be going to sleep, we found him starring at the nativity with his head rested on his arm supported by his little elbow... we waited and watched to see what would happen and a few minutes later we checked on his an this is what we found:
-

Big Baby part 2

If the house gets too quiet, we quickly ask ourselves- "Where the heck is Kyle?!".  He is our quiet determined little monkey that will climb and help himself to anything that looks like a great toy for him.  He darts out of the doggie door and thinks it is a game to run to end of the dog run where the stinky trash can is stored and even worse where the stinky doggie poop sits!  He has started to climb on the kitchen counter to get the bananas and has climbed out of crib twice!  He is a little man on a mission to figure things out... Well, this time he was caught in his tracks!  He has attempted to get into this baby jumper for some time, but was unsuccessful and would watch with envy as Jacob bounced around.  He finally made it in before we could stop him, but he didn't realize after he got in, he could not get himself out!

Uncle Anthony, we miss you!

This past week has been a hard one for Mike's family and friends.  His uncle was tragically killed in an auto accident while he was on the job driving his truck cross country.  He is a beloved father, son, brother, uncle & grandfather and will be missed dearly!  Please pray for his grieving family...

Anthony could always make anyone laugh with his stories and outlook on life, he was such a comical character with a bold attitude and heart of gold- your memories are in our hearts! 

To read the a news report of the accident visit: http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=11629142

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for-- faith, family, friends, food and good health! This is the time of our life and we are trying to savor every part of early parenthood even if moment to moment things are crazy and hectic. Thank the Lord for providing us with so many blessings and help us to not take them for granted!

We had a fun weekend full of visiting, cooking and enjoying family time! Santa Fe on Thurs and our house on Sat...

Beautiful table setting and beautiful hostess!

Kyle entertained us so gently on the piano, he was even reading the music notes!

Grandee dee enjoyed some cuddle time with Jacob

And Grandma Barker enjoyed some tickle time with Kyle

The guests of honor came all the way from DC...

After a nice meal and great conversations, the boys were spent!

We had a wonderful time on Sat hanging out with G & G Reinert, but failed to take any pictures!  I guess we were too busy cooking away! 

I heart Faces & TOOSHIES!

This week's challenge is about tooshies and here is a shot of my youngest as he has recently discovered his his toes!  Who can resist a squishy baby bottom?!  To see more entries visit:

More sun flare...

I had fun learning a new technique in photography called sunflare... I learned that using a low aperture (higher number value) I could capture the sun beams.  All I needed to accomplish this was a setting change on my camera (I set mine to f/22) and to get the sun in the back of the subject that I was photographing.  Ironically, just a couple of days ago I was on a walk with the kids and Josh told me that he saw the lasers in the street light (we were heading home around dusk)... I looked at him to figure out what he was talking about and saw that his eyes were squinted as he looked at the light.  I squinted my own eyes and saw beams in the street light by turning the aperture of my eyes way down!  What a great visual analogy to how the aperture in a camera works.  The down fall to this (as I soon found out after taking lots of pictures) is that the lighting isn't the best, so most of the time the subject was dark and grainy.  I used my bounce flash on a few of the pictures and that certainly helped sharpen and brighten the subject, but you lost some of the effects of the sun flare.  So until next time, I am still trying to figure this all out--- But here are some learning examples! 

I Heart Faces week 46: Sun Flare

This I Heart Faces contest thing is a bit addictive, but also challenging in that you get to go try out something new with your camera... I personally did not know what sun flare was until I saw this contest, but I think it is pretty cool!  I looked through my old picture (the ones in which I accidently got sun flare) and then I experimented with it this weekend and this is what i came up with.  There lots of other fun pictures posted at I Heart Faces, so go check them out!  I also posted a few of my other attempts at capturing sun flare here if you are interested in seeing them...

Jacob 4 months

Last week Jacob turned 4 months! I am not sure if it is the fact that he is the 3rd baby or the fact that he is so easy going, but time is flying!!!! His sweetness is a happy little retreat that I sink into when I feel overwhelmed by the hectic toddler life put on by the other 2... I wish I could put all of his cute gestures and looks into a priority folder in my memory, but unfortunately all I can do is take as many pictures and video as possible because I have learned that as much as you think that you may remember every detail of babyhood it fades fast as they grow onto the next stage. We occasionally watch videos of the other two and constantly say "oh yeah, remember that?!". So, as I write this blog segment, I want to emphasize the things he is doing lately...
He loves to talk and smile, he will do that to just about anyone that is willing to listen!

His Ohhhhhs & Ahhhhs are his favorite!

He is a drooler... the front of his shirt is constantly wet from all that drool.

He found his feet and toys... he likes to eat his piggies just about as much as mom and dad do!

When he gets really excited, his whole body shivers with glee!

He doesn't like baths too well :(.

He rolls from tummy to back and frequently holds his Pilates v-shaped crunch.

He loves watching all the commotion of the household...

I love all his rolls and his squishy thick legs and cheeks!

Bosque Playtime part II

I told you I would post more pictures from our gorgous fall kissed bosque, so here they are.  We truly enjoyed our fall this year and are sad to see most of the leaves on the ground after our windy storms this past weekend (we even got another sprinkling of snow).  At least I can look back at these pictures and remember the lovely fall of '09!