New staff members at FJSHS

Uh oh... sorry Fairfield kids. You have two new staff members at your school. Look what Mr. Hoskins surprised the boys with!
I.D. tags! 

Now there's three Tonagels in charge! Yikes!

Guess what we are pretending to be!

Having a hard time?

I can't understand why you wouldn't know just by looking at them.

It's completely obvious that Charlie is a doe and Sawyer is a buck. Charlie is showing us how a doe only has ears and Sawyer is pretending he has antlers. This is what we do in our spare time. :)

Roses are red...

violets are blue. You clean up the dog barf and I will clean up Sawyer's poo.

I know this is belated but after telling a few people this story they thought it was blog worthy. So enjoy this story about our Valentine's day...

Our V-Day consisted of Abner barfing all over our carpet like 4 times. While Ben was cleaning it up Sawyer yelled that he needed help going potty. I ran in the bathroom to help him and got there just in time to catch (yes, I did say catch) his poop in my hand before it landed in his undies. Just on reaction I tossed the pile of poop into the toliet. When it landed in the toliet the water from the toliet (which Charlie had just used and NOT flushed) splashed up and hit me in the forehead. I sat there and gagged/laughed silently at how ridiculous my life is right now! Oh my.... the joys trials of having little boys and a dog.

Here were a few of our treats we made for Charlie's preschool.

Our pathetic attempt at a valentine. The idea looked cuter in my head. (is cuter a word? doubt it. don't tell anyone i used to teach enjlish) :)

Our jello hearts were a hit!

Hope you all had more of a romantic Valentine's day than we did! Or at least not so disgusting!

oh by the way Charlie got me those roses! :)

Happy 4th Birthday Charlie!

Happy Birthday Charles Grady Tonagel!
born on February 25, 2006
12:43 pm 8.01 lbs and 18.5 inches long

Here are a "few" :) of my favorite pictures from the last four years.  

What???

Since tomorrow is Charlie's birthday I will make all the posts this week about him.
Last week he brought home a paper from preschool where he had obviously written his name. I said, "Charlie you did a great job writing your name! Did your teacher help hold your hand while you were writing?"
He said, "No. I did it myself."
"Oh. Did she put dots for your letters and you did connect the dots?"
He said again,"No. I did it myself."
"What??? You did this totally by yourself?"
"Yea, she tells me what letters to write and I write them."
"No way! Let me see."

Here is what he did...

I couldn't believe it! I felt terrible that my baby knew how to write his whole name and I didn't even know he could do it! Whenever we send a card I just have him make a "C" and "T". I had no clue that he could do all of these.

Guess my baby's growing up. I am thankful that we have had a good week so far. No spankings and no major issues. I needed a few days like this last week was pretty rough. I will tell you more about it later.

for now peace out.

a

ps. can all my friends have their babies soon! I want to hold a little newborn. Brooks is too big!!!

 

Deep thoughts by Charlie Tonagel

Charlie has been saying some pretty comical/amazing things lately. Here are a few of our favorites from the last couple of weeks. Reading them isn't near as fun as hearing them in his ultra serious voice.

Charlie: "Mom, I think I'm ready to get married now."
Me: "Oh, ok. Are you going to marry MaKenna?" (MaKenna is 4 and is in his class.)
Charlie: "No, Brittany." (Brittany is the 14 year old sister of the boys' babysitter.)
Me: "Does Brittany know you are getting married?"
Charlie: "Nope. I hope she has a dress."

A few days later we were having a conversation about boys and girls. Here is our converstation.
Me: "Charlie, God made me a girl and when I was born he made a boy somewhere in the world for me to fall in love with and have babies."
Charlie: "Dad!"
Me: "Yup that's right. God made you a boy and somewhere in the world is a girl that you will love someday and get married to."
Charlie: "It's Brittany."

Ben and Charlie were in the truck looking at the stars...
Ben: "I can't wait to go to heaven someday and see all these stars up close."
Charlie: "Dad, you won't be able to see the stars because it is light all the time in heaven."

I was cleaning the kitchen counters...
Me: "Charlie don't get near the counters and don't touch the cleaner. It is bleach. I use it to disinfect our countertops and if you touch it with your bare hands it can hurt your skin and turn your clothes white."
Charlie: "White like Jesus's clothes?"

Wow! I guess he is paying attention to our devotion times!
Charlie will be 4 years old on Thursday. It's true what they say about the days seeming so long sometimes (and nights!) but the years go by so fast.

Cabin Fever

Yes, I did this to my children. I hate to admit it but it was actually my idea to get markers out and draw on their stomachs.
The lack of sleep and sunshine has finally gone to my brain. 
We played music and made their belly faces sing. It was down right hilarious!

 

Press Release! My new blog is ready!

a.tonagel photography- "from bellies to babies" is up and running!
Check it out and let me know what you think. I would love some constructive criticism! It is still a work in progress.

Here's just a taste of what is in store for you when you visit...

Don't forget to add it to your favorites and become a follower. Trust me you will want to stalk this blog!


peace out,
a

ps. "from bellies to babies" was my idea. I posted it anonymously after I wrote the blog post. I wanted to see what people thought of it. I decided to go with that since it was my first idea.

Luke Blooper Reel

Big Bro Luke jumped in a few shots with his mom Jessica for her photo shoot. Here are a few of my favorites that probably won't make the mantle but are still awesome in their own right!

What up my homie?!?!

When I told Luke to kiss the belly but look at me this is what he did. :)

Oh...Luke I didn't know you were expecting as well!

It's a boy! It's a girl! No wait! It's a basketball!

Hey, Hey guys. How does this look?

Check back in two days for the real pics. Trust me you don't want to miss them!

Luke makes an appearance

Here's a sneak peek at the photo shoot I did today. Still working on getting a photography blog going. Promise to share it as soon as it is ready!
peace out,
a

Babies Galore!

I have so many friends having babies right now! I made these sweet little shirts for a few of them that are having their 2nd and 3rd babies. I thought the "big" siblings might enjoy a little treat for themselves when the new addition arrives. Hope you guys like the shirts! Can't wait to meet the Bricker, Tucek and Tonagel babies that should be here before too long! Yea for babies!!!!

"Hi I'm Amanda and I am addicted to baby bellies."

Here is Tiffany's maternity photo shoot. She and Jeff are expecting their first baby in March. Can't wait to meet "Beans"! Thanks Tiff for letting me practice on you!
Who knew that grain bins make for a great background!?!?!?! :)

I seriously think Tiffany's belly glowed somehow. Check out how beautiful that is!!!

My laundry room became a perfect photo studio!

Tiff is one prettiest pregnant ladies ever!

We were going for a lot of funky/contemporary pictures. I like this one!

Some of my favorite pictures are actually the nude silhouettes that we did but I think I will just let Tiffany share those. :)

In other news... my camera won't work today!!! AHhhhh... freaking out a bit since I have 2 more maternity shoots lined up! I am thinking it is a battery issue. Hopefully I get it figured out soon.

Working on making a photography blog since our "family" blog has become loaded with bare bellies lately. Please remember I am an AMATEUR but if you are interested in having pics done please email me at amandatonagel@yahoo.com

peace out,

a

Hypothetically...

Let's say I have a "friend" who really enjoys photography and would love to do something more with it someday. She is crazy and eccentric and LOVES pregnancy and birth. Sick I know. I don't understand her. She would love to make this into a little business someday but doesn't have a cool name for it. Any ideas???? She would specialize in maternity, birth (yes, I do mean the actual birth! It can be really beautiful I promise. I mean she says that at least.) and newborn pictures. The name would need to represent that style of photos.

We need help coming up with a name! Can you help us out????? Feel free to use the "Anonymous" comment section although I would love it if you would leave your name. :)

And because a post is always better with a picture. Here is a sneak peek at the maternity shoot I did yesterday!