introducing...

Finnegan Patrick Earley!

April 19, 2011

6lbs. 10oz.

19"

(All photos courtesy of BusyB Photography)

12 Days Old!

maternity pictures

I'm only 35 weeks pregnant, but I've been on bed rest the last couple of weeks (long story, I won't explain it all now) and I've been told to come with packed bags to all of my future midwife appointments - so Jason and I thought it would be wise to get some maternity pictures done now, rather than wait since baby could come earlier than expected.

I pulled up a few web sites that had poses I liked and we did our best to mimic them.  My only original ideas were to take some pictures on our bed and they sort of turned out.  It's hard to get 3 kids to look natural and relaxed when you're taking pictures with a timer.  It was a lot of setting things up and moving furniture around and I'm sooo looking forward to having someone else take newborn pictures!  My good friend Brandie takes fabulous pics and we've already "reserved" her services once baby arrives!  You can check out her site here- Busy B Photography

Here are some of the best shots of the day....

I like how these family shots came out, except for the angle of my body... 'cause it looks like my belly is huge and hangs over my legs kinda funny....

We wanted Liam to do this, but he refused, so Evie happily took his place!

Liam did however want to compare belly buttons!

I need to re-edit this one eventually. I wanted to erase a few of the stretch marks that were unsightly and it came out looking a little too smooth!

My favorite!

cupcakes

I LOVE cupcakes. They are just the right size for fulfilling a sweet craving without feeling too guilty and they look so pretty!  That's probably what I like best about them.  You can use a simple wrapper and decorate the cake itself or use a fancy wrapper to dress up a simple cake.  I am addicted to buying cupcake wrappers.  If I see a cute one, I get it.  It has caused the drawer I house all my cake decorating items in to become rather full.

Back in November when we went to Phoenix for Thanksgiving, we made our usual trip to IKEA and what did I find there but some awesome cupcake wrappers!  They are actually for popovers, but after looking for the pan that was supposed to be in the rack with the wrappers and not finding it, I figured I'd just make them work.

I decided to use them for Valentine's Day cupcakes for Katie's class party at school.  They wouldn't be as large as regular cupcakes and I could get 30 of them in one pan for her to carry.

One problem.  Since I didn't have the fancy pan that helped them keep their shape, they flared out at the top and would tip over.

Here's the difference in size of how they fit in a muffin pan compared to a regular liner

And this is what the difference in size after the baking process

So I decided to get creative.  I didn't want 30 cupcakes falling over again and again.  I had a bunch of silicone "muffin liners" that don't have to be in a tin, they can just sit on a cookie sheet.  Great it you want to make muffins and not have them in wrappers when you serve them.  You just bake them in there and then pop them out.

Anyway, I doubled up the silicone liners and put them in a pan and THEN put the popover paper liners in.  They fit perfectly, were just the right size and didn't tip over anymore.

The only downside to this method is I can only bake 6 cupcakes at a time and they take a little longer to cook than usual therefore it takes forever to make a lot.  So I think that I will send someone who lives near an IKEA to look for the popover pan one of these days.  :)

Finished product! (Red velvet cupcakes w/ cream cheese frosting)

Just for fun... another set of cupcakes that I made last weekend for a baby shower!

 (Chocolate and coffee (mocha) cupcakes w/ buttercream icing and sour cream cupcakes topped w/ a white chocolate liqueur icing & a raspberry)

10 weeks

After finding out that we are expecting a baby back in August, the count up was on to 20 weeks, that all important half way mark and the usually exciting ultrasound!  After you reach 20 weeks, the count down begins.  I have always loved being pregnant and I've had relatively easy pregnancies, but this time around I am just ready to be done.  So when I hit 30 weeks today and could said to myself, "Just 10 more to go!" (8 if I deliver early like I did with both of the girls) it was pretty exciting!

I'm not sure how some of these moms of 5, 6, 7, 8 or 19 do it!  I'm wiped out being preggo and chasing after and taking care of the other 3.  Now that I can't really get down or up off of the floor very well, it makes doing anything with Liam a little bit harder.  And the kids think it's funny to watch me roll out of bed.

Besides the whole not-being-able-to-move-well thing, it's been a pretty good pregnancy!

Here are some pictures from along the way, I'm sure there will be more to come!

it's positive!

12 weeks

16 weeks

At 20 weeks and just a week before Christmas, we had out ultrasound!  At our last 3 ultrasounds, we were there for about 30 minutes and they took their time, measuring and checking all the little things they do.  As well as making sure we had a good picture of the face, feet, hands or "defining" body parts.

At THIS ultrasound, we were in and out in about 10 minutes.  All of our pictures are fuzzy and low res and when they said that it "looked" like a boy, both Jason and I BOTH said, "Are you sure?"  We were shocked the tech could see anything at the speed she was going.  We are both still feeling a little unsure that there is another little boy in the belly, all the signs my body is giving me are "girl" - but that's what they told us!  We'll find out for sure in about 10 weeks....

this is a profile shot - looking at the right side of baby's face and 

then you can see the back curving up on the lower right side of the picture!

feet! (the pic is pretty fuzzy)

the "defining parts" picture

20 weeks

28 weeks

30 weeks

(no I didn't suck in my stomach, but compared to the above pic I DO look smaller... it must be the shirt)

new blog

Because I didn't have enough to do in life already... I decided to start a new blog!

It's all about movies and actors and stuff that you probably don't really "need" to know but that I feel compelled to tell you.

Check it out and share it with your friends!

A Chick & Her Flicks - One Chick's Thoughts About Movies & Actors

memory boards

For Christmas this year I made the girls fabric memory boards!  I've always wanted one for myself and I thought, what a fun way to put little things up rather than your basic cork board/push pin combo.  So I did a little research on what you need to make them and headed to Farmington and Hobby Lobby to get my supplies. When I got there I called Jason and asked him to look up memory boards online and tell me if I needed glue or fabric adhesive or what to get it all to stick and how much fabric I needed and.... well... needless to say I didn't do enough research.  Jason was super helpful and looked it all up for me and then called with his info while I shopped for the one thing I did know I needed - cork board.

I eventually made it out of Hobby Lobby with everything and a few weeks before Christmas I made the boards up!  It wasn't as hard as I thought and even though I probably didn't put them together properly, I still think the finished product looks pretty good!

my supplies!

cork board, push pins, fabric, ribbon, quilting cotton

spray adhesive is from the Devil....

all sprayed up and pinned to the board

I remembered to iron the fabric before I put it on all wrinkled!

two boards ready for fabric

my fabric cut and ready to attach

all wrapped up like a pretty package

the spray adhesive didn't hold it down so I stapled it on tightly

the ribbons on and pushed in 

the pretty fabric covers I glued on to cover the brass push pins

both boards ready to go

happy girls!

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

We spent Christmas Eve day relaxing and getting ready for the service that night.

The girls had their nails painted and hair put up in curlers! (I've discovered that HOT curlers and lots of hair spray is the only thing that keeps their hair in curls.)

Everyone all dressed up! Liam was the only downer, 

not wanting to take pictures at any point in the evening!

Pictures from the service.  I sang in the choir, Jason and I participated in a reading and the kids choir sang as well.  Katie had a little solo even!

Christmas Day!  A fun morning opening presents, followed by a yummy breakfast!!!