Can it be so??

Well the day we have been talking about for two years has finally arrived! Each morning when we would drop Andrew off at school for kindergarten and first grade, Kelli would ask; "When can I go to school with my brother?" And today was the day! I really don't think I can remember a time when Kelli was more excited! Last night she seemed she was about to burst with anticipation! Brian took the day off to put shelving in my pantry (bless his heart!!) and so we were able to go as a family to bring them to school. I was so thankful because Brian could drive and I could get some more pictures to chronicle this milestone!!















She could hardly contain her excitement!






When I met them at the end of the day I asked Kelli how it went and she said; "AWESOME!! I smiled the whole day!"

Andrew's "First" Day of 2nd Grade

Actually, this is his 2nd day of 2nd grade...but I forgot to take pictures on the first day! As we were walking to school I realized I had forgotten and he said, very matter of factly..."We can just do it tomorrow morning, it will be exactly the same, Mom." So that is what we did! =)

He has wanted to ride his bike to school for a long time and we just didn't feel like he was ready for that. He has two days this week before Kelli starts school and so we told he he could ride those two days...good thing he got it in yesterday because it was pouring rain today...

He is growing up SO fast!!!







Watch for Kelli's first day photos tomorrow!! She is very excited and says she isn't even a little bit nervous because her big brother is just down the hall! =) So cute!

Cutest Bears Fan Ever! And our little linebacker!

At 2 months he is 13 pounds 9 ounces!! He is over the 90th percentile for weight and off the charts for height! He is wearing 3-6 and some 6-9 month clothes! We had Emily in for her 2 year check up the same day as Nathan's 2 month and she doesn't even outweigh him by 10 pounds! She is at teh 15th percentile for weight and 50th for height! I think he will catch her!! =) It is fun to have a baby with fat rolls...I have never had that before! =)

Beautiful Midwest

The girls and Nathan and I head out for a little adventure, looking for a park we had heard great things about...turns out it is absolutely beautiful and we had a fun morning exploring!

Country roads, take me home...

Here ya go!!

Still here...

We are still here! It has been super busy around here and I haven't been able to get to the blog...photo shoots, soccer practice and games, school registration, never ending kitchen stuff, 8 week old baby (can you believe he is 8 weeks already??), super active 23 month old, car troubles, I could go on, but I am too tired! =) The kitchen is nearing completion...I have my dishwasher, stove, washer and dryer and a bathroom! It has made a world of difference! The countertops came over 2 weeks ago and blasted if they were not the right lengths!! Thank goodness it was not our fault and new ones were ordered and are being delivered Friday morning and hopefully installed Friday evening or Saturday morning and then Brian can put in the sink! The pantry is 75% trimmed out and that should be finished on Friday or Saturday as well! So the end is VERY near and we are ready for it!! =) Nathan is doing SO good! He is mostly happy, with a fussy period here and there, but he sleeps great (10 hours last night). Man we have been blessed with good sleepers! All 4 have slept through the night by 12 weeks at the latest! I am grateful! Once we slow down a little and get moved back into the kitchen I will take some finished pictures and then hopefully do better at blogging once Kelli and Andrew are back in school! Here are some pictures I snapped the last couple days to hold ya over until I get caught up!

Back in business!

I took a quick two months off from photography...well of people other than my sweet family! And Saturday I started up again with the cutest little guy, just shy of 9 months old! Be sure and check out my photography blog for client sneak peeks! www.korisphotos.blogspot.com

She constantly makes me happy...

Boobs suck!!

I cannot believe that Nathan is going to be 6 weeks old already on Sunday! It has absolutely FLOWN by! We are doing well overall...life is nuts with 4 kids...it seems to have affected everything! If you are reading this and trying to decide how far apart to space your kids, and I know some with disagree with me, but I would HIGHLY recommend more than 2 years, like much closer to 3 years! That has been the hardest part for me...dealing with Emily. Kelli was 3 years and 3 months when Emily was born and that seemed like such a smooth transition. Now perhaps the fact that we have no kitchen and are doing dishes in the bathtub and make weekly trips to the laundromat and have to really think ahead with meal preparation may be having some affect on things too! =) Nathan is sleeping really good at night (someone knock on some wood for me) but has been super fussy during the day. He has some issues with reflux so that is probably part of the reason...he is uncomfortable. I can get him calmed down and he will snuggle with me and sleep, but give him to anyone else or try to put him down and he wakes right up and screams. Now as a mom of 4, I have no problem letting him cry for a while, but if I let it go too long, he spits up like crazy from all the air he sucked in while crying...so I feel bad letting him cry too long. I have blogged before about the problems I have had with breastfeeding the other kids, so I wont bore you all with all the details, but we are having the same issues again with Nathan. It is extremely frustrating for me and a huge psychological battle but I decided that I just cannot be a good mom and wife and continue to do all that is necessary to increase or even keep my milk supply where it is...it literally consumes all my thoughts and a huge majority of my time. So this week I have been weaning him...which is another frustrating part...I have enough milk that it is uncomfortable to wean, but not enough to sustain him. But I already feel a sense of relief emotionally and know that he will be just fine. And actually today he has been much happier and is right now sleeping in the swing, something he has hardly done since just a few days of age. I certainly dont want to look back on these newborn days and only think of the stresses I endured because of breastfeeding, but want to remember every little first of his and also have the other kids and Brian look back fondly on these weeks as well, instead of mom always crying and talking about her boobs! =) Okay..enough about this and on to pictures of the cutie! He has some great stretches of alertness and he is just adorable as he looks around and checks out his surroundings. He has even started to do some smiling and cooing! I still think he looks nothing like the other kids, but sometime when I have some time (haha) I will compare some pictures at the same ages. And just a quick kitchen update...all cabinets are in, countertops come next Thursday and gas pipe for the stove and dryer are done. So just waiting on the electircal to be finished out and then we can get back to normal around here!! WhooHoo!!









This was after a super fussy stretch. I sat in the chair holding and rocking him for a few hours getting more and more frustrated by the minute that every room I could see from where I sat was an absolute disaster. So I laid him down and let him cry it out and cleaned. I decided that I would even vacuum and as I did he was totally quiet and then drifted off to sleep. So I left the vacuum running by his chair and got even more accomplished! =)