it was almost 70 degrees today!  we went downtown & hung out at the park for a couple hours.  my mom flew in yesterday & the kids are loving having her here!  two days after she leaves, john’s parents fly in, so we will be busy here for a while.

charlotte tested out the phil & ted’s for the first time.  i’d say she approved – she slept the whole time!  and ethan, he’s such a boy, this is the only picture i have of him from the front today.  he was all over the place!  way too fast for that macro lens!

and what would a post be without some charlotte tourture … errr … PHOTOS.    as she is getting older, she’s not sleeping through my playtime as well.  bummer!  i’m going to have to find some new ideas.  it is nice having an immobile subject to practice on again.  that’s for sure!

are you sick of the pictures yet?  hope not!  here are some pictures from friday afternoon (though the family picture is from today).  It’s so much fun having a new baby in the house to take pictures of all day!  lora came by today and got some really GREAT  fun shots.  she’s amazing!  can’t wait to share them with you all.

Charlotte’s Gene Pool Twin

The Six of Us!

I swear, Norah was much happier than she looks.  :)  thanks to lora for snapping it on her way out today!

the littlest ham.

this was shot with the 105mm macro that i rented.  look at her little mirror eyes!  i didn’t touch them at all in photoshop.  LOVE macros.

everyone is settling in nicely. it’s so much nicer this time with john on leave.  when norah was born, he’d just gotten back from a 6 month deployment, ethan was sick, and things were just busy busy!  it’s been a nice few days off, although i’m starting to get stir crazy!  as a result of being housebound (midwives orders – for at least a week!), i don’t have too much to say, lol!  john’s been great about taking the kids out.  they’re all (minus charlie) at the library now picking up some new books.

starting next week we’ll have my mom flying in, then john’s parents the week after, so we’re trying to get everything set up.  we’re cleaning the carpets tonight, so i didn’t set all my stuff up for pictures today, but i did snap a couple pictures with the macro.  man – i’m in love.  it is a little slow to pick up focus, but focus it does!  i can’t wait to really go at it tomorrow.  saturday morning my friend lora (the super talented lora of L.Lee.Photography!) is going to swing by and take some photos as well.  so at least the pressure is off me, because her work is awesome.  :)

it’s also my goal this weekend to get at least one shot of all 6 of us, or at least the 4 littles.  i have to look around for some ideas.  posing 3 kids was hard enough, let alone three plus a newborn.  i’ve wanted to try this week, but it’s hard with kayleigh in school all day & it getting dark out so early.  so since i *am housebound, hopefully i can still be productive!

these were just taken while she was snoozing on the couch.  i have to give props to THIS blanket form the gap.  i got it during their 30% off sale last week, and i LOVE it.  it’s nice and lofty, and super soft.  and a bonus, it also looks great on camera.  ;)  if it were only just a tad bigger, it would be my dream blanket.

i was amazed to see that she does, in fact have eye lashes!  they are almost unseen to the naked eye.  here they look longer than mine!

i have a new found respect for newborn photographers.  they make it look so easy!  these four pictures are the result of about 4 hours of “hurry up and wait.”  i wasn’t nearly as prepared as i should have, & will hopefully make up for it tomorrow!  the macro lens i rented came way late, so i am going into tomorrow with a plan of action & the realization that charlotte is boss!  :)

also, it is quite obvious i was too lazy to do a custom white balance as the colors are all over – but tomorrow morning i’m re-watching my photovision dvd & setting my white balance!  i can’t wait to get all those sweet close ups!

Things are going well!  John has a nice chunk of paternity leave to burn up, and everyone is getting settled in nicely.  The midwife came by today to check on us, and agreed she’s perfect!

The kids meeting Charlotte for the first time …

It’s hard for me to get any pictures when she’s on me.  The lens on my camera needs a little more back up room that my arms give me.  :)  Tomorrow I’m hoping to do a real photoshoot with her.  I rented a macro lens which should be here in the afternoon.  It will be great for all those close up baby parts shots.  She’s our last – I don’t want to miss a single wrinkle!

This afternoon napping on mama.

and how funny is this hair?!  the night she was born, once her hair had dried – this is what it looked like.  we were all cracking up, her little natural mohawk.  we haven’t tried to put it down, yet.  I’m still in shock about the hair.  First, that she even HAS hair, and second that it’s so bright red!

That’s it for now!  I’ll be back with more tomorrow!  :)  Thanks again for all your well wishes!  They really do mean a lot to us!

Charlotte Ann Suchniak
11.15.09  *  10:50pm  *  8lbs 10oz  *  21″ long

Everything went perfectly.  She was born at home, in the tub into Daddy’s hands.  The midwives made it with 40 minutes to spare this time, nice!  Labor was about 3.5hrs, but I had started having some signs that morning.  It was nice having a heads up this time!  She has a full head of RED hair, like ethan (although he was bald at birth, just like Kayleigh & Norah).

here are a few pictures i snapped this morning, more to follow later.  :)

this morning i heard someone knocking on the windows downstairs.  i thought it was kayleigh down there at first, but she was up in her room.  when we came downstairs, we saw our visitor.  not sure if he wanted to come in & get warm, or a snack.  by the time i grabbed him a snack, he’d run away.

and poor kayleigh, she is even more tired of waiting for this baby than i am, i think.  she made a sign this afternoon & hung it on my headbord.  :)

doesn’t anyone else celebrate half birthdays?  we don’t do anything big, but we have a “half cake” after dinner on each kid’s “and a half” birthday.  if anything, it’s an excuse to eat cake!  when i was picking kayleigh up at school today, ethan mentioned it to a couple people & i had to explain.  i think they thought we were crazy! lol

today, ethan turned four and a half!  he was so excited for his cake (that john made this morning!) all day.  it’s so fun, and they all get so excited about it.  and what is even cooler, is ethan was born on friday the 13th, and his half birthday this year was on friday the 13th!  :)  too bad he couldn’t share his birthday cake with his new little sister.  oh well, she’ll be here one day.  i can’t be pregnant forever.  right?  right!?