We are back! We had an extraordinary time in Hawaii last week. We started out the vacation on Sunday attending church in Laei. The temple was next door to the meeting house so of course, we spent some time on the temple grounds. It was SO beautiful. It was an overcast day but it was still so stunning! The sister missionaries let us write on the leaves so of course I had to write something mushy. It was super original, it said, Michelle loves Spencer. Catchy right?

These were taken at the site of the USS Arizona, one of the navy ships that sunk at Pearl Harbor. I didn't know much about this besides what Ben Afleck taught me in the movie. It was a surreal experience being on over the ship knowing that is is the resting place for all of those men. As soon as we got to the memorial, Ethan started crying and I was so annoyed and embarrassed. I could only imagine how everyone else felt. A lady came up to me and said, "His feet are uncovered, they are probably cold, that is why he is crying." OK lady, that must be it. I will just cover his feet in this 85 degree weather and he will stop. I know that I am a brat but it annoyed me.
Spencer took the picture of this flag. I was very impressed with his "eye" for the picture. He is learning how to shoot my camera in Manual which makes me VERY happy. He is so crafty.

Before we spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center, we were able to do a session at the temple. Katelyn and Devon were willing to watch Ethan so I could do this. It was SO nice and so fun to be in the temple with my love.

At the PCC, I felt like a silly teenager who was trying to sneak pictures of the hot Polys. It was tons of fun to get to be in a place where their were lots of Polynesian men in their traditional dress. That is my polite way of saying topless. It may be my favorite part of the vacation.

We decided to go on a "gentle hike" (so says the brochure) to go whale watching. Um kay, I was so not impressed! I don't think I would do this again unless I lost 70 pounds. It was a mile up and an mile down. On the way down, I wanted to scream to all of the people on the way up, "don't do it! you will thank me!" The one thing that was horrible was they didn't have water or bathrooms at the top. To make a long story short, I wet my pants on the way down. It was horrible and embarrassing. I couldn't have done a thing about it! I had a baby two months ago and those muscles just weren't workin' for me. It was beautiful and I was able to get some great pics but my word, it was not gentle at all. Stupid brochure writers.

Our last night we went to the pipeline on the North Shore. It was fun to watch everyone try to boogie board. I didn't take my swim suit on purpose. After my snorkeling adventure (that story gets its own post) I was NOT going in the water again. I was happy to sit with the baby and take pictures. Katelyn was the only one to successfully boogie board. She is an incredible young woman and I was so thankful to get to be with her. I love her so much. Sorry, I can't help it, she ROCKS!

We ate dinner at the top of the beach with the life guard and homeless people. It was a weird night but we had fun.

I am going to be posting more soon so beware!

Here is what I have been working on for the last few weeks. I am starting to get into making my boutique crafts to earn some extra money. Thanks to my friends for letting me do this! I will have to post my tutu's soon cause they are pretty stinkin' cute!

So, last Saturday was ultra mega cleaning day. The sad thing is, the only room that got completely clean was the laundry room, yeah, my house is THAT bad. I told Carson and Mady that they needed to help me with the other chores while I finished. Carson was very happy to put the dishes away. When he got finished he came and got me and told me that I HAD to come and look at his job. Being the mindful caring mother that I am, I totally ignored him cause the baby was crying. After I got Ethan, Carson finally drug me into the kitchen. When we got there the cupboard door was open and he opened his arms and said, "Look mom, I kinda organized it for you." Indeed you did, my love!

Here is a sneak peak for Sarah. I felt like a little kid excited for my birthday waiting to do these pictures. It has been a long time since I have been able to do children outside and I have been anxious to go to BoDo. It was funny cause we drove around looking for the perfect ally and we found it. Magic happened in this ally! Thanks for letting me do this for your family Sarah! It was a blast!

Poor mister man hasn't lost any teeth yet. The boy will be seven in 2 months. I wouldn't care if his teeth weren't totally rotten, but I want them out! It has been SO hard not to photoshop his teeth so that he doesn't look like a malnourished albino boy. I have only done it a couple of times but isn't that what it is for? Anyway, he has been wiggling one of his top teeth for about 2 weeks now. He must be a bit of a pansy cause he hasn't made much progress. The other day he said to me:

"Mom, how about on Saturday we go to Dr. Pillings office so that he can pull out my teeth."

"Well Carson, that is why I tell you to wiggle them so that you can do it yourself."

"Yeah but isn't Dr. Pilling the one who gets them out?"

"Only when they are rotten. We don't want to do that because then you will owe the tooth fairy money instead of getting money from her. If I have to pay the dentist then it doesn't work the same way."

Confused look on his face. "Fine, I will just have to wiggle them all of the time and never stop."

"Fine with me!"

3 weeks until we go to Hawaii!! So yea, we are actually going. I tried to call it off when medical bills started to roll in but we are WAY to fabulous and Spencers parents want us to go with them really bad. It may have something to do with non-refundable tickets too, but whatever. His sweet mother is being so sweet and selfless on our behalf. It will be my first time and Spencers second.

If you would like to pre-purchase tickets to my vacation slide show, I would suggest you do it quickly. It is a first come first serve situation people.

The only part that stinks is we are leaving Carson and Mady home. We are so lucky to have freaking fabulous cousins who are willing to take care of our crazies. I would suggest you start praying for them, the babysitters, not the children.

One last thing, if anyone wants me to bring them back a coconut bra, speak now or forever hold your peace! I hope they make XXL ones so that this nursing mom doesn't miss out on all the fun.

This is Ethans 1 month picture. Spencer made fun of me that I HAD to take this picture cause we have so many others. He lost just a little bit of his craftiness by being such a stinker! He quickly earned it back cause I know what I am getting for V-day! I will post a pic when it gets here. Don't get all excited it is something that only I would freak out about.

I have a lot of pictures that I have been wanting to post. I had Spencer take pictures of me and Ethan. It was one of those things that I wanted done but didn't want to do. It was hard to edit pics of myself and I won't lie and say I didn't try to make myself look thinner than I am.

I also had a ton of fun taking pictures of Carson. He is the child that always puts up a fuss but when he gets in front of the camera, he melts my heart! Since I can't leave out Miss Mady, I posted some of my recent favoites! She can be such a little princess when she wants to!

So, I am thinking that it is time for a party! I have room for 16 people, 20 if we have lots of interest. I love the idea that Rachel B told me about. I will provide the hostest gift (which will be pretty cool) and everyone else will bring a white elephant gift for an exchange after we are done playing. The gift theme for this bunco night will be a "nice" home decor item with a $10 limit.

The prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd will have to do with the gift exchange. The three top players of the evening will get to pick an advantage to hopefully get the gift they want the most. The options will be, 1) pick which number you want be in the order of the exchange 2) get a "freeze this gift" pass 3) get an "unfreeze this gift" pass.

So what do you think? Sounds like fun right? Leave a comment on this post or give me a call if you want to party!

The list so far... (2-07)

1) Me

2) Nicole R

3) Jilene

4) Summer

5) Amy B

6) Rachel

7) Allison

8) Bonnie

9&10) Sarah B & SIL

11) Sarah H

12) Angela

13) Tori

This party is not exclusive to blog stalkers. If you know anyone that would like to come just let me know.

If I could decribe my feelings today, this picture would be it! Today was a snow day for school and I just about cried when I heard the news. Carson has been sick since Sunday which means, I have been home being his slave. I am going crazy! Seriously, I have anxiety that is going to make me flip my lid if I don't have some time to myself. For the last 4 days, Carson has assumed that I don't know how to me a mom to Ethan. I am constantly hearing, "Mom, Ethan is crying," "Mom, you need to change Ethans diaper." "Mom, you need to feed Ethan." "Mom. when is Ethan going to take a nap, I think he is tired." HOLY CRAP child I am going to tape your mouth shut. If he wasn't bossing me around about the baby, he was asking me to do the stupidest stuff for him. "Mom. will you get me a drink of water?" "Mom, will you put my water on the table?" "Mom, my neck is tired." "Mom, the couch is lumpy and I can't get comfortable." Can I say it again? Holy crap I am going to lose it. Mady has been pretty special herself. She tells me she is hungry 20 times a day. She can still have chicken nuggets on her breath and she will ask me when dinner is and if she can have some now. If she doesn't get what she wants, she will hang on to my shirt as I try to run away from her. You would think I would have the strength to get the child off my back but she always does it while I am holding something and I can't use both of my hands.
So, I am really really praying that they don't close school tomorrow too. If they do, I may just start repeating "Dear Lord, make me a bird, so I can fly far far away."

You would think that getting less sleep, I would use every extra second of the day to rest. Well, since Carson is home sick, taking a nap SO isn't going to happen. I decided to use my time to make some new backdrops for pictures. I have a session on Wednesday that I can't wait to use this for.

I used a piece of bead board that was left over from the wall in the kitchen. I painted one red and another one brown. I was able to prop it on top of my cedar chest and put the mirror on top of the chest. Not too shabby right? This project cost me $0. I LOVE using the stuff that I have around the house for projects. My husband should be so proud.

You will never guess what! I took more pics of Ethan! He only peed on me this time. It was like a little fountain that splashed up on my legs when it hit the floor. I pretty much just let him finish cause I was just thankful that he wasn't pooping! Cleaning up pee is a breeze especially when he doesn't do it on my backdrops.

This picture cracks my stuff up! The comment on the pic is something that my dad used to say. He thought that all newborns were scary looking (until he started getting grand babies of course.) There have been a few cases where I agree. That is where the phrase, A face only a mother could love, probably came from. If someone ever showed him a pic of a newborn or showed off their baby he would always say, "Now that's a baby." He figured that way he wouldn't have to lie about his opinion. When I saw how this picture turned out, that is the first thing that came to mind. I think when my dad sees this picture, he will print it and put it in his wallet just to see how people will react.

Are you sick of pictures yet? I am pretty sure that Ethan is. Oh well, he is the one who picked our family. (That is SO something my mother would have said.)

Things are going pretty good around here. I am pretty sure that Ethan caught a little cold over the weekend. I had 16 people visiting from out of town for his baby blessing. He would be sleeping well at night but I have to clean out his nose in the middle of the night and for some reason, that wakes him up and he stays up for about 2 hours. Poor little guy!

I am feeling really good and have started to book photo shoots for indoor sessions! I have loved having the break to have a baby and focus on pics of my kids but I am excited to get back in business. I hope to be able to do some landscape pics during this winter weather but along with the snow comes the FREEZING cold. The sacrifices I am willing to make!

Hello my friends! I have to say that I am a little shaken up. I have had my first near barf experience with Ethan. We had a moment together that left me in shock and motionless with the words going through my mind, "Did that just really happen?"

Last night, I was being a good little mommy getting my brand new baby ready for his bath. I was taking off his diaper and checking his new belly button and a little puff of air came out of my lovely babies butt! Holy crap, I was about to grab the new diaper so that I could puke in it. I just sat there totally grossed out! Lesson #1, when a puff of air comes out of a newborns butt, cover it up RIGHT away. That boy shot out his little mustard yellow poop like a missal at me! It was all over the front of my shirt, my pants and all over my arms. My reflexes did nothing for me. I couldn't think fast enough. All my brain could think about was how it looked to have yellow poop shooting out at me. If I close me eyes, that is all I can see, a stream of poop! Spencer had been outside getting the hot tub ready for himself and when he came back in, I was slowly wiping my arms trying not to throw up! He looked at me and said, "What's wrong?" Are you kidding me? Whoever said men are blind was talking about my husband. When I finally TOLD him that Ethan pooped on me he said "We have got to get a picture." OK so the first pic that I take with my son is going to have his poop all over me? No thanks. Yep that is the only time he has even had the idea to take a pic of me. I told him, No that is was gross and it wasn't even worth posting on my blog. Then he said "I gotta get out of here, that is going to make me throw up." By all means, leave, cause I like being stranded with a baby and poop all over me. As he is leaving he says, "You might want to take your shirt off." That is all I needed to know that Spencer is full of amazing advice. All he could think of was seeing me without me shirt on, pervert. So, I got cleaned up without loosing my dinner, but it was close.

So my PSA for the day is, if you hear a puff, cover it up!

I thought since I had such a long annoying post that it HAD to have some pics on it to lure you in! I have more that need to be edited that I can't wait to share.

I had to post these pics of my boys. I am so excited to see how much Ethan will look like Carson.

I had to post this pic too. This was Ethans first session. It lasted about 5 mins. I have to hurry and get some good newborn pics before he gets too big!

We have a baby boy!!!!! Ethan Oakley Ray arrived on the 3rd of January. I will start from the beginning, Wednesday night. Since I was being induced it was really hard to sleep. I was so tired but my brain wasn't. At about 1 in the morning, Spencer says to me, I have a problem. So, what's new. He had some work that needed to be done the next day. He didn't get wind of it until that night so he was in a pickle. I said, do it FIRST thing in the morning, I am sure you will have plenty of time. So, I was up at 4:30 and drove myself to the hospital at 5:3o. We planned on taking two cars because my mom was going to need a car since my cousin was dropping her off at the hospital.

I get into my room around 6:00 and it was time to get hooked up. My nurse couldn't find a good spot for the heart beat so they brought in the ultra sound machine. We then learned that he was slightly transverse, he head was in my left hip. No wonder why nothing worked!!!

They got my IV in and started the antibiotics at 7:00. They turned the Pit on at 7:20. I called Spencer at 8:00 and told him not to worry because the doc was going to have to come and move the baby into position. My nurse told me that my labor was most likely going to be long and hard because he was also sunny side up, his back was against my back. We all know what that means, BACK LABOR. My nurse just said, don't rule out the epidural. You got it lady. So, my nurse, who I am sure felt bad that I was alone, would NOT shut up about her curtains and her daughters car problems. Do you REALLY think I care about this. My contractions were starting to hurt and I was try to get through them while listening. I didn't want to be rude.....whatever. It didn't take long for the "I think I am going to die" feeling to set in. My contractions were in the front, back and in my legs. At 9:15 I asked for something for the pain so the nurse was able to give me Nubian (don't know how to spell it.) It took about 25 seconds for it to kick in and I was asleep in between contractions. After about a half hour of that, I couldn't get on top of my contractions. I didn't have a break in between them and I said, K-I am ready for an epidural. They checked me and I was a 6. In a matter of minutes the guy was in there. I was laying on my side and he asked me to bring my legs up so that I was in a ball. I told him if he wanted my legs moved, he was going to have to do it. In the middle of him doing his thing, I felt the urge to push. So, I have a guy putting a needle in my spine. I am feeling the pressure to push from the babies head. At 10:00 they tell me that my mom is there. She wasn't so sure about being there during the delivery because she didn't want to intrude on such a special experience. Well, she walked in, the nurse told her to come to my side and she was trapped between people, trays and me. I finally called Spencer and to find out where he was. Luckily he was pulling into the hospital parking lot. So much for take your time. I said, "You better run, the doc has is masky thingy on and I am ready to push." Spencer got into the room two minutes later and I started to push. I SO didn't want to push. I was in so much pain and it was only causing me more pain. I started to scream after one of my pushes. My mom started to say "Shhh...it's ok." I screamed at her "Don't you tell me to shhh. This hurts and I will scream if I want to." She didn't say much after that. By my second push, the doctor moved out of the way of the mirror and I could see the progress I was making and I went to town. Two more pushes and he was here. That makes a total of 5 minutes that Spencer was in the room before Ethan arrived. When they said, "It's a boy", I was so excited. If a girl would have come out, I would have said, put her back and find me the rowdy baby boy that kicked the crap out of me for the last three months. So, Ethan was born at 10:24 am Thursday Jan. 3rd. (also my dads birthday) He weighed 7lbs. 11 oz. and measured 21 inches long. The funniest thing is, I didn't even miss a meal! My epidural worked perfectly! I never lost sensation in my legs and I didn't feel my after birth pains. Everything turned out just right. He is here and healthy and one of the most delicious things I have ever seen. I will be doing a photo session soon so be looking out for more pics soon.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive. I know that my recovery has been going so well because of it. To sum it up in the most cheesy way I can think of, I can feel the love.

Pray for me! First things first. When I say I will do everything I can to get this baby out, I am serious. My nesting vibe got the best of me and I was going crazy with my big beautiful Christmas tree still up so I decided to put it away. It is nine feet tall so I stood on a bar stool to get the top part off. Well, it came off easier than I thought and I ended up on the floor across the dining room. Oops! I was fine at first but ended up going into the hospital to get monitored. Everything was fine with the baby. It took forever to get consistent minuets of baby heart rate cause it would not stop moving. I am pretty sure it was doing yoga.

Last night I thought for sure that I was in labor and I was going to have the baby today. Well, 12 hours of contractions and here I sit. I had taken 4 oz. of Caster oil for the third time so I really thought I would be recovering by now. Also yesterday, my doc stripped my membranes TWICE during my office visit. I kinda thought I was going to die. So, I just took my forth dose of Caster oil and only threw up once. I am sitting here with toilet paper stuck up my nose so that I can't smell the oil when I burp. If this doesn't work I won't do the oil again. We have an induction date set up for the 3rd. My mom will get here that morning so that will be really nice. Of course, I am praying that this baby comes today or tomorrow, we will see how things go! I am going to post maternity pics soon when I can get my other computer to cooperate.

Last Tuesday was Ladies Night!!! It is so fun to get together for a good ol' girls only night. We met up at an adorable coffee house for dessert and hot chocolate. After sitting and chatting we HAD to get a picture before we left. It is really hard to see me in the picture but I promise I am in there. For the love of Christmas I am ready to have this baby!!!!!!

When they gave us last call, we got out of there and ended up at my house for a white elephant gift exchange. I don't want to mention names but ELIZABETH and JENNI left their treasures at my house!!! I will hold them hostage until further notice.

Thanks ladies for the relaxing evening!!!

I have been Husband tagged by Kim M. This is a new one and I am excited to brag about my man. He is such a hunk!!!

1. What is his name? Spencer Delwyn Ray. In his family the name tradition is for the first son to have his fathers name as his middle name. So, his dads name is Delwyn and we will be keeping it right where it is.

2. How long have you been married? It has been 7 1/2 years.

3. How long did you date? Well, it was nine days. What can I say, he knew he had to move fast to catch THIS!

4. Who eats more? He does, depending on what it is. It if is sweets, it's me, but anything else, it's him.

5. Who said "I love you" first? He did. It was about 24 hours after we had met. It was magic I tell ya!

6. Who sings better? We are pretty much equal in that department. We don't do solo's but we can fit in in a choir. And what couple doesn't have a blast singing "It's Your Love" together?

7. Who is taller? Spencer is a hunky 6 feet 5 inches so he would be the taller one. That was my only "thing" that I wanted in my man.

8. Whose temper is worse? I would have to say mine. Spencer is good at taking a deep breath and calming down. I, on the other hand, yell way too much. The thing is, we don't lose our temper with each other, it is only with the kids.

9. Who does the laundry? When it gets done, it is me. He helps if I ask him to, but I take over the chore.

10. Who does the dishes? This is my job. Just yesterday, I let him know what my system is. I had been meaning to tell him for months, but I kept forgetting.

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does. I have to sleep on the side that the bathroom is on. If we ever sleep anywhere else. I always take the "bathroom" side so we are pretty flexible when it comes to the bed. (That was a joke you dirty bird!)

12. Who does the cooking? We both do. I don't enjoy as much as he does. He takes over the "good" meals. He did Thanksgiving this year and it Rocked!

13. Who is more stubborn? It totally depends on the situation. He gets pretty firm when I am not listening to him when he is trying to help me. He is so sweet to me.

14. Who proposed? It was Spencer. We were sitting in the top window seat in the Joseph Smith Fielding building over looking Salt Lake City after the sun rose. It was very romantical. We had been dating for 9 days and it was about time!

15. Who is more likely to admit when they were wrong? We are both really good about this, and this is why we don't argue very much. We both trust each other enough to know that we wouldn't hurt the other persons feelings on purpose. It is the most important aspect of our marriage.

16. Whose parents do you see more? Mine. I would like it to be his but mine are closer.

17. Who pays the bills? When they get paid, I do it. He may drop them off in the mail but I sign the checks.

18. Who wears the pants in the family? He does when I give him permission to do so.

19. Why do you love your husband? Oy, where do I start? Anyone who can see me naked and not be able to resist me has something special. He is so very kind and loving. I love him because he loves me! There is not another human on this earth who loves me like he does. He has NEVER ever made me feel bad about myself. He is understanding and lets me be me. He is so supportive in what I do and shows an interest in the things I am passionate about. He is my friend, my lover and my biggest fan, how can you not love that?

I am so excited about this picture!!! If you come over to my house, I will MAKE you come into my bathroom to look at it, I just love it. It is Mady sitting on a stool. Usually she has a lot more crack showing but she was wearing granny panties. It is a 20x16 and the fabulous Jenni from Framing Jenni http://framingjenni.blogspot.com/ helped me with. I love it, it makes me want to do all my business in the front bathroom now. Sorry for the crappy pic, I hate doing pictures inside with no windows!