Diamond Eyes

her eyes to me are the most beautiful out of all my babies. I dont know if its because i just have a weakness for blue eyes or what. but I love them totally and completely. These pics here are pretty much SOOC with a bit of noiseware and web sharpening done that is all.


have a pea-tastic day.

weebles wobble but they...

do fall down. Or at least this one does. See we have a new trick. And we are getting up on all fours too. I can't believe it. She's gonna hit all these milestones right at one time and I want them to stretch out at least a little bit. My last baby is getting so very big.

This here gives me this great idea with this hat i'm getting her for her 6 month pictures. Its gonna be so cool. I love ideas. Now just to get her to sit up a little bit better.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas with lots of friends family and loved ones.

cute sleepy girl

Just a random picture of miss elizabeth. She's so sweet when she's sleepin or pretending to sleep.

I'm off to go bake some.

My Little Santa Baby

So I broke out my Santa hat. I love this for the kiddos. Maddie hasn't really liked hats in a very long time so I'm stuck with Elizabeth. And I think she makes the most adorable Santa baby. I'm sure you all will think so as well.

Elizabeth is now 5 months old too. She turned 5 months old on December 7th. Wow can you believe it 5 whole months. I know I certainly can't believe it. Here are our milestones:

1. rolling back to front front to back.
2. starting to put more weight on her feet to stand up.
   
3. if you hold her hands she will stand herself up.
4. gaining more control of her head and upper half to sit up on her own.
5. starting to eat single ingredient foods: rice cereal & applesauce so far.
6. smiles and giggles anytime anyone gives her attention good or bad.
7. grabs toys, blankets, well anything we can grab really. Goes straight to her mouth.
8. so many other things I just can't think right now LOL.

And without further ado our little santa baby. Gotta love her.


Oh and here is what I did to the photo. I first ran noiseware pretty high because i was shooting at f/1.8 and ss30 and forgot to bump up my ISO to compensate. I'll remember that next time LOL. Next I ran a slight lighten with curves, ran Oh Snap from TTR 1, then a vintage action. Put the vintage under the oh snap to get this soft vintagey feel.

Later I'll do some before and afters with a few new pictures I have of her for 5 months.

A Special Holiday Giveaway

So a fellow pea of mine showed me to this website here: Giving is Awesome thousands of dollars have been donated to families in need of quality pieces of artwork. I was moved by this. People nominating their friends their family their loved ones for these prints. So I will be doing this as well. The rules are simple. They are stated right above but I will state them again.

You know someone. You know someone who's experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can't afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family's spirit, love, and beauty.

You know someone. I guarantee it.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography -- $300 worth, to be exact. Whether it's canvas or albums, prints for Grandma, or a slideshow to watch over and over, it's in your power to give them the artwork they deserve this holiday season.

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a $150 print credit. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:

* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)

* The nominee must reside in Ohio. Tell me who you know, what they're experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well.

* You must e-mail me the full story : jeannie.papai.photography@gmail.com.

The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve -- get nominating! I can't wait to read all of your entries!

Open your heart to someone this holiday season -- and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.

With love,

Jeannie Papai

~~~~~~~~~~~

it's that simple. The session can be from a newborn/birth to a small wedding. The choice is the winner. And remember if you are the person who nominated them you will also get a print credit as well to use on a session for yourself. Now thats a reason alone to nominate someone you know.

If I have less than 10 nominations by Christmas Eve I will extend the deadline.

So get over here nominate someone who you think deserves it and lets get this ball going.

Life is just a bowl of cherries. : Eat them up they are good.

So the lab work it went GREAT. and GREAT is an understatement. She wandered around the waiting room... well ... waiting to get called back to get admitted. yes it was just outpatient lab work but we still have to go through admitting process. We did sit nice for a little while but that wore off fast lol.

So get called back all them papers signed computer up to date since she hasn't been to the hospital since she was born they needed the current address and all that jazz. So now we are off to walk back to outpatient lab. Get there they always give you this little pager. It lights up and vibrates. But she didn't get to see that they seen us walkin around and just called us back without making it go off.


next we get back to the little room. I take her big ole coat on because its horrible cold here now. I hate it there is snow on the ground and it sucks. But anyway. I sit her up in the chair give her her carebear to entertain her while everyone gets everything ready. She sits there watchs them get everything out they look at me like i'm nuts taking more pictures lol. I sit the camera down for a few mins and go ahead and hold her. figuring she would scream and cry the whole time.
And now here we are after its all done and over. See no tears for my baby girl. She did so great. Even the techs were proud of her and shocked lol.

But time to make dinner. I will talk to everyone later.

little sweeties : big hearts

So Madalynne is now 16 months old. She had her doctor appt today. We did have a few concerns paul and i. Madalynne has this dry hacky cough. Its been pretty constant at night mostly and since the weather changed from warm to cold. I did put a humidifier in her room I thought that maybe her throat was just dry because her room is very warm and very dry. Upon talkin to the doctor and other peas... I am pretty sure we are all under the same impression. Looks like my baby here might have Asthma. Although from the sounds of it since she is under 2 it isn't called Asthma. I have heard of a disease that premies are prone to have... but can't think for the life of me what that is called now. Madalynne was born early with resp problems. But I would have thought that any problems she might have because of that would have shown up earlier. But I guess not. I don't know if because she was born early is why she is now having these problems.

Our house is not all that old I think that its maybe like 25 years old. So I would think that mold isn't a big issue with it as it with older houses and was with our trailer. But it might be. I will have to have the landlord check into it for us. I want to make sure she is fine. I don't want to have to put her on medications but if they end up nessicary then it will be done. For now I guess I just have to watch her. Keep a close eye on here see when she coughs up and whats around her when she does. I have noticed within like the past month and a half whenever we punish her for doing something she's not suposed to do she starts to hyperventalite. I'm not sure if thats because of this as well or just her working herself up that much. Scares the death out of me.

I appreciate everyone who have given me their thoughts and experiences with this. It is greatly appreciated.

Now on to some pictures. So I practically filled up my brand spankin new 2 gig memory card waiting around for the doctor.

Here she is getting weighed. She now weighs 28 pounds and is 33 inches long. She is in like the 100th percentile for her age. Man I think I got a big baby on my hands. Her doctor said that is fine. her weight and height are just right for each other. She's tall so of course she is gonna weigh more. Yay mommy worry gone.

Here the nurse we see everytime we go to see our doctor is listening to her heart. Yep its beating and its beating good.

She's got that look down pat. Come on mom do you have to take some many pictures. Yep they all got it and she is no different. But know what I LOVE IT. At least they will have millions of pictures of them growing up. getting bigger to show their kids.

I just love this picture. yes i blew out her face and yes i can probably fix it but its too cute not to share. She is just so dang adorable its not even funny. She's getting a little better at lookin at the camera but only if i catch her in like a split second lol.

I will probably have some more pictures of her tomorrow. She has to have some blood work done. I hate this. She is up to date on her shots until Kindergarden and now has to have this done. Can't these babies ever catch a break huh? She has to have her lead levels checked and her Hematocrit checked. I guess its routine at this age but I dont remember any of the other kids having it done to them. I mean the boys did through the WIC office like a year ago. Tristan's first came back high and the big test came back a little high but not alarmingly high. Just told to watch what he does and eats. So we will be off to the hosipital for lab work in the morning.

I hope everyone has a pea-tastic day. You are all amazing people. I'm going to head to bed now its been a long day.

where the green grass grow : the blue skys shine

I actually captured a smile on this child. Always seems to be that I can never seem to capture it. She will be 5 months old soon. Can you believe that? I know I can't believe it. I'll so hopefully do a few shoots for her 5 month birthday coming up here soon. But until then here are these to tide you over. These are from the set of pictures I took yesterday of her. Man I got this focus thing down.... well for the most part.


I just love this one. She's staring at the blanket like its the most amazing thing on the planet. She really is growing up. Getting so into things. So focused on things. You say her name and just really look at her and she's all grins and giggles. I love this stage. Soon she will be mobile. I can't wait.... and at the same time I can wait. Can't she stay little forever?


I hope that everyone is having a great day. I'll be taking Madalynne to the doctor at 9 am for a routine check up. I get too find out how big my little porker is LOL. I'll take a few shots at the office like I do for Elizabeth as well. Hopefully she wont try to jump off stuff. Mental note take my bag of tricks with me LOL.

coming out of it...

my photographic funk that is. Elizabeth was laying on her blanket on the floor so i snapped a few pictures of her. These were taken at settings f/1.8 and ss 30. I'm shocked they aren't blurry as heck.

Now just to pick which i like better.

In a Funk...

So with everything going on around here I got into a funk. I couldn't really take any kinds of pictures. Yeah i've taken snapshots but sat there and complained about all the technical things that are wrong with them. Poor lighting (most of them were indoors at night lol with just my onboard flash that i refuse to use), poor focus, people moving, not having exactly what I want.

So what did I do. I decided to color my hair... well the first one didnt come out like I liked. And so here is the end result. Do not ask what color this is. I went to Sally's Beauty Supplies like my niece told me to do and got it from there. OOO they have TONS of colors there. I think its like Med. Intense Blonde or something like that.

So I have colored my hair twice in the past week. But I like this end result best of all. I've always wanted to be a red head. I think it suits me.... what do you think?



So I do wish everyone a happy turkey day. I'll be spending it with my babies, Paul, and my grandfather and cooking the whole day. So not lookin forward to that part of it all but it will be worth it. I'll be sure to take pictures of the details and my probably messed up turkey LOL.

Snow Bunny

Yes... we have a little snow bunny. She is cute and she is pink. Of course she's pink right. Yeah. We love pink esp on little snow bunnies. She didn't like it out there but I had to snap a few pics. I only filled up half a card of them LOL.

On other notes... I would like to say thank you to Jess and Heather for leaving comments. I will take care of myself and the kids. Arianna the oldest is aware of the situation as of right now. They nor I will get lost in the mess. Him and I are currently trying to figure out a good custody arrangement between us. This will be a work in progress. Thank you again girls.

I'm gonna finish playin with these pictures and some of my other snow bunny.

Look in her eyes

Not really in a chatty mood right now. DH and I have officially decided that our marriage is over now. Its a mutual decision on both of our parts. There are no hard feelings towards each other just figuring out what to do next.

But no post is complete without a picture so here is a new pic of Maddie.

More Lizzy in the Leaves

So it was actually nice outside yesterday. SO I took my only awake child and tossed her yet again in the leaves. It's kind of decent out today so I might do it to maddie too later after nap time and I have a bath ready for her lol. But here is a couple of shots of her. She is loving her picture bein taken. She's starting to have her own little expressions just like her sisters and brothers.


I love this one because it shows how big she's getting and that arm of hers over there in the side is always there in the side lol. It is rarely ever with her LOL. Its always off to the side somewhere lol. I had to make sure to capture that as well.
I hope that everyone is having a great day. I'll share more pictures tomorrow.

Elizabeth is 4 Months Old

And she is still just as cute as ever. So here is the run down...

14 pounds even (about average for her age)
25 inches (in the 75th percentile for her age)
Head Circumference is 16 inches
Holds head up
Rolls from front to back back to front
Pushes herself up on her hands
Grabs toys, rattles, and anything else you can give her
Coos, babble, & Giggles
Looks at you when you call her name

And a bunch of other stuff too lol. But here are a few pictures of her. The first two were taken in the back yard couple days ago.

And these were today at the doctors office. I love how the first one focused on her hands. Sooo cute and I love the DOF in this one.
And here I dont have one of her on the scale there yet. So Here is one I took. Next month Madalynne goes for her 18 month check up to the doctor so look out for pics there too.
Hope everyone has a pea tastic day. Loves and hugs to all.

Miss Maddie's New trim

Ok so I only did the bangs. But isnt she much better lookin now. yes I know they are crooked. Yes I know I should have had our hairdresser do them but I just wanted too. Something about doin the first trim on her that was just so appealing to me.

So to celebrate we went outside to play in the leaves. Yes we like to play in the leaves. Leaves are good. Leaves are fun and colorful... ok well most of them. And here are a few shots from our leaf fun. I hope you likey them.



Now isn't she just so cute. Ok off to pull my boys out of the bathtub I hear Ayden crying.

More family Photos....

Yep we took the kids back to the same location. I let my 6 year old have the camera yet again. I had to mess with some setting for her and it still turned out pretty good right. So here is another picture of me and Paul.


And here I have a picture of just my girls. I've been wanting one for a while now. And I finally am starting to trust arianna a little bit more with Elizabeth since she can start to hold her head up a bit more and support it more.

And now we have the boys. Yeah Tristan wanted NOTHING to do with this. I was so mad at him but at least I do have one. I love it. Such him lately.


And last but not least... a family photo. OK so I had to put me in there but it doesnt look bad does it. I mean i'm gonna find out here in a few days when I get my prints lol. But what do you peas think.

And thank you yesterday for all the wonderful comments. Yes it took me so long to get these pictures. 5 kids is NOT an easy task. I honestly dont know if I'd ever want to do a family as big as mine LOL. I pity the person I chose for family photos at some point in time. Or I might just try again someday with a tripod and a remote LOL.

And in case anyone forgets here are their ages: Arianna (6), Tristan (3), Ayden (2), Madalynne (15 months), & Elizabeth (3 months). So yes its hard its really really hard lately. I'm at the point of pullling my hair out. But at least the older two realize if they keep messin things up i'll just do it again and again and again lol.

Have a pea-tastic day. I'll be back tomrrow with TONS of halloween pictures. We start our halloween stuff tomorrow.

All I want...

for christmas is one nice picture of all five of my kids. Yes I'm aware that I am wishful thinking. I don't know maybe its the fact I'm trying to take it. I mean Yes I'm your mom... Yes I want this... Yes I think i'm crazy. I just want one of them all looking at me instead this is what I get...

One picture of three of them walking away from me. Of course they were walkin to the treese where I wanted them to be.

And two very angry babies. They did not wanna sit for NOTHING. Of course we did eventually make them like it. But it only took like 49 tries and still didnt get my perfect picture.


Instead I had to kind of photoshop it, have hubby yell at me for doing it. Because its not natural. I told him I do actions on them too thats photoshop does it mean they are good either. I told him to deal with it LOL.

And here is the a non photoshoped one. I like it I did save like 5 of the 49 so I can have them for little mini albums for them at a later date.

And my Sweet 6 year old is turning into quite the photographer. She took this one of Dh and me. Of course I croped and edited but I didnt crop much. She did pretty good.Now i'm off to make some halloween cupcakes for a party this weekend. Have a fab day peas.

Fixed Tutu

So I took apart Maddie's tutu today. I wasn't happy with how long it was on her. SO I cut it up. Trimmed the strips by a couple inches. And now i"m really happy with the length. And I think she is too.




Hope everyone has a great day. I should have some witch pictures tomorrow.

Arianna's Tutu

So since Maddie keeps getting tutus. Arianna decided she HAD to have one too. So she has decided to be a witch this year for halloween. And you know what I love it. Easy and simple her costume cost me like $10 bucks. The hat was donated already had the tights and the leotard. SO we are good to go with her now.



And to anwser a question I was asked about Maddie's. I used 10 Yards of Tulle exactly. Hers is so full its not even funny. Arianna's this is what it was. 7 yards of black, 3 yards of pink, & 3 yards of purple.

Have a peatastic day

Another Tutu

So I made another tutu today for a shoot I had later this afternoon, but the shoot got canceled my daughter spread this really nasty stomach bug to everyone of our friends kids LOL. Ok it might not have been her fault but still she had it first that I know of LOL. Anyway. This one is light pink and VERY VERY fluffy. She didn't like being a model for me for it. But its OK she warmed up to it.

See now she's happyish. I love this view on her. She started to like the tutu. WHich I'm so glad about.

And I just love this expression on her. I had to share it too.
Have a pea tastic day.

Mommy and Ayden

So Paul was playing with the camera while we waited for Julie to get there. We didn't have to wait all that long and Ayden wanted to climb up in my lap and first thing I did was give him a kiss on his cheek. Of course I pictured this picture of him giving me one hoping my husband would see this and capture it. Ayden wanted nothing to do with giving kisses. But gettin them we were so up for that.

But i've gotta go I'll share some more pictures soon. Still not up to par yet but i'll be back soon.