Morgan's First Climb!

Morgan went to a birthday party at the YMCA Alpine Climbing Tower and she was fearless! She couldn't wait to get harnessed up and start climbing...this photo is of her at the base of the 45 ft. tower getting ready to ask her "belayer" for permission to start her climb.

She was like a little monkey, she flew up this part of the tower!

Morgan made short work of the rope sections and the middle perch, now on to the top!

If you look close you can see her at the very top left hand corner post. By the time she got there she didn't have quite enough arm strength to pull herself onto the top platform but man oh man was she AWESOME!!!! Watching her climb up practically to the very top (she went higher than all but one of the boys in her class!) with out any fear...she was my hero!!! Great job Morgan!!!

Morgan And A Great Big Swing!

After the climbing tower all the kids got a turn on the "swing"...Morgan was super excited to do this, she couldn't wait till it was her turn (although her sweet little self waited very patiently & encouraged all her friends that went before her!) At this point Morgan had just been latched into the harness & swing, climbed up the ladder, been given her instructions by the staff member and was now being hoisted up, up,up to the top...and she wanted to go all the way to the top!

There she is at the highest point you can go which is about 45 feet up! At this point she is holding onto a small yellow rope that keeps her connected to the pulley system and tells (or should I say yells..) to all of us that she's getting ready to let go...

There she goes...I don't think she realized just how high up she had been until she got there and had to let go! She swung for about 2 minutes back & fourth before she slowed down and was low enough for the staff member to grab her feet and pull her back to the ladder and unclipped her harness and let her climb back down to solid ground.

Thumbs up! That was a great afternoon!

Halloween (A Little Late...)

Sorry I was a bit slow on getting our Halloween pictures up but before the New Year gets here...better late than never, right!??! Here's Macy getting her Witches hat on & ready to go!

The 3 big girls with Macy...Mckinley was getting changed. I LOVE Morgan & Macy's poses in this one! You can totally tell that they're my children and that I've had a camera in their faces since they were teeny tiny.

All 5 girls together...Marin was a Queen of the Darkness, Morgan was a Gypsy, Megan was a Fairy, Macy was the cutest Witch EVER and Mckinley was a Bunny.

Halloween Family Photo!

Just in case you were wondering Mark is sporting his Grizzly Adams bread & I'm wearing my "new mom nursing" costume.

Morgan's Field Trip To Lowry Park Zoo

An early morning snapshot of Morgan in her classroom before her and daddy got on the bus headed to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo!

One of the stops of the day was to the Sting Ray touch tank. The kids LOVED that they were allowed to feed most of the animals and Mark caught this priceless picture of Morgan's face when one of the Sting Rays practically jumped out of the tank to get to the food in her hand.

Morgan and longtime friend Zoe feeding a very persistent Ibis...Mark said that this "little guy" knew exactly where the food was coming from and would barely wait to let you get it out of the dispenser before it was pecking in your hand to get to the seeds. The girls were in amazement to be this close to such a pretty bird.

Our absolute favorite photo of the day... Morgan doing her impression of the Giraffe! What a wonderful field trip and a great day for daddy and daughter to spend at the zoo!

Marin's 5th Grade Capybara Project

Marin's 5th grade class (& Morgan's 3rd grade class) did a black light rainforest this year. It's pretty cool...they use a multi-purpose room and set up a maze of nets that led us through the "rainforest" and past all the kids animals plus it's all done in black light. It's a very cool project (but one that takes a fair amount of work...) This was the beginning of Mark putting together the "frame" of the Capybara that Marin chose as her animal.

Mark used 14 gauge wire and wrapped it and "knotted" it together before they could start the paper mache part of the project...oh, did I mention that the whole thing had to be done with paper mache...

Marin looked sooo very excited while she blow dried the paper mache so that they could paint the Capybara (it needed to be black light ready!)

The finished Capybara...with glowing black light whiskers and all!
Morgan's Jaguar pictures soon to follow...

Mckinley's First Weeks

These pictures were all taken within the first three weeks after Mckinley's birth. As you can see sleep was the order of the day (more like weeks...)

This is her favorite sleep position...wrapped up with her arms over her head :)

Waking up just long enough to get a milk tongue and a little yawn...

and back to sleep she goes!

Mckinley's Footprints

These were taken 2 days after Mckinley's birth. Harmony came over to check-up on us and we did her footprints while she was here.

Mckinley was very cooperative while Harmony & I pressed her little feet and toes onto the paper.

Although she did not like having the ink cleaned off her feet.

The finished product!

My Labor Has Begun...

These are the first pictures taken of my labor. When my labor started Mark was on duty (and on a fire call...) so during the first part of my labor while I was walking around, leaning on counters and swaying my hips (i.e. making dinner, bathing children and tucking them in) my "photographer" was fighting a fire. I truly am married to a Jack of all trades! Once he got home he was able to get some awesome photos...in this one I was saying a quick prayer, asking Heavenly Father (once again) for the strength I would need, an easy (within reason) labor/birth and for a healthy outcome.

No longer saying a prayer...contractions contractions contractions...glad that Mark was home and ready for my other moral support to arrive (Harmony).

Mark snapped a picture of my most helpful birthing tool...my yoga ball...the ONLY place I wanted to sit, rock, sway once my labor really started progressing.

Harmony (thankfully) snapped this photo...the Harvest Moon that I birthed under. If you look closely you can see the stars...

Into The Pool I Go...

When I started out in the pool this was the most comfortable position for me and Mark was AMAZING!!! His words of encouragement and comfort helped me to relax and allow my labor to progress beautifully...THANKS BABE!!!!

I am soooo grateful for WONDERFUL midwives! Harmony is one of my greatest assets in labor...at this moment I was thick into my contractions and she whispered the perfect words to remind me of exactly what I needed to hear. I love her and am very thankful for the support she gives me before, during and after baby...THANKS Harmony!

During my contractions/labor Mark was there every step of the way. He's without a doubt the BEST support/partner/coach a girl could ever ask for!

This was the very moment Mark placed the baby on my chest. I love the girls faces in this picture (they waited so patiently during my labor) they range from astonishment to relief and happiness and as for Jen, I think she felt all three...astonishment, relief and happiness all at the same time. I love you Jen :) and think your AWESOME! When Mark placed the baby into my arms my hand just instinctively grabbed the head and the other hand the bum and between the legs I felt and automatically knew...baby girl #5!

Mckinley's Here!!!

The whole gang! This is everyone who helped make Mckinley's birth an AMAZING experience...First and foremost my INCREDIBLE husband/coach/inspiration (Mark's words of encouragement during labor truly made all the difference to me!) then all of our girls...Marin, Morgan, Megan & Macy. Next the GREATEST MIDWIVES IN THE UNIVERSE, Harmony & Alina! Then one of the best friends in my life, my mother :) Also some of the most wonderful girlfriends I could ever be blessed with, Jen & Lisa and last but not least my little bro (from another mother...) and taking the pictures for us Josiah. Not to mention on the phone was my Bestie (in California) Suzy Q!

Moments after Mckinley was born...

Mckinley getting a splash of water to stay warm.

One last picture of the family before getting out of the pool...Mark and myself with all 5 of the girls with Harmony, Rio and Alina.