Tea Time!

Amelia and I had such a fun day today!!  After all the laundry was folded, put away, dishes were done, and bedrooms were straighted up we thought it would be fun to have a little tea party.  Miss Amelia likes to bake in addition to having tea so we also made a fun cake and just relaxed together.  Sock Monkey was able to join her for just a bit and then she decided to push him away and enjoy all the tea for herself!! LOL!!!  I just LOVE being a stay at home mommy.  (or should I say work at home mommy).

SNOW!!!!

Yippee it's snowing today!!!!!!  Well, it is January 1st so we assumed it would have started snowing weeks ago.  The girls have one day left of their winter break and we joked that it would snow on their last day.  HA!!!  They got new sleds for Christmas and would really like to start using them, so we will see what the weather brings for tomorrow.  It was so sweet this morning when Miss Amelia looked out her window and started pointing and shouting "SNOW" so when I said do you want to go outside???  She was like an excited puppy running for the door.  The cool air took her breath away and she just loved it.  She stood in one spot just totally amazed at it.  Here are a couple pictures I captured of her in her enjoyment.

Merry Christmas!

This has been one of the most wonderful Christmases that our family has ever had!!!  For the first time in 9 years I took off the entire month of December, despite the fact that it is one of the most profitable months of the year.  I really wanted to spend time with the family and not biting my nails on Christmas Eve waiting for someones order to arrive.  We had such a great time making cookies, candy and playing with lots of toys.  I was able to take my time decorating the tree and reading books to the girls while we admired it.  I am looking forward to developing wonderful relationships with all of our 4 little girlies!!  Remember to hug your little ones and tell them how much you love them - often!!

Life can be crazy

Well, I bet I could be the worst blogger ever!!!  And the silly thing is that I really like to do it!!!  Life sure has had it's share of craziness lately.  In September my life changed a bit when I got bit by a mosquito in my backyard and that darn bite never healed up.  While on a shoot with my friend "Stacy" she noticed my big honkin bite and asked what it was.  Being that it was on my back I had kind of forgotton about it and didn't think a lot of it.  Well, the next day it had a bulls eye ring around it and everything started to go downhill from there.  A few weeks later I was diagnosed with Lymes Disease.  I was in such denial that I could have gotton Lymes from a mosquito!!!  So many crazy things were happening to me though like during a photo session my foot swelled up and turned purple for no reason!!!  Then my right thumb started to hurt and my arm went numb.  After having my legs go numb for several days I thought I better get this looked at.  Well, my assumption was that I would take some antibiotics and life would go on as usual.  Ummmmmmm, not so much.  I had several days where I could not get out of bed because I hurt so bad and was sooooo tired.  I could sleep for 7 hours during the day!!!!!  Who has time for that with 4 small children and a coming into the busy photography season???????  Certainly not me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I pushed it as long as I could and then I had to start cancelling shoots and get some rest.  I simply could not get better.  Then after about 6 weeks of hell my pastor decides to spring it on me at church one Sunday that he would like to have everyone at church pray over me.  YES!!!  I will take that!!!  He has never done that before, but felt totally led to do it during that service.  This was after I could not get myself out of bed for 7 days.  During the service I felt really HOT and the next day my pain was GONE!!!!!!  It was a miracle!!!!!  Praise God!!!!!  I have felt well since that day a few weeks ago.  I have a very strong Faith in God, and yes in the back of my mind I do question....is it going to come back????  I now have to get re-tested for Lymes and also any co-infections that I may have contracted from that darn bug.  The part that makes me a little sad is that I also have to get my baby Amelia tested because I was nursing at the time and there is talk that it can pass t hrough breast  milk.  EEK!!!  I will never forget that horrible night when I had to start treatment and also stop nursing all at once. Talk about emotions running wild!!!  Man oh man, that was tough.  Makes us who we are today though.  After going through all that I am ready for my big blessing, I know that God has big things in store for us.  If we remain faithful in Him no matter what is thrown at us he will send so many great things our way we won't know what to do with all of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They have already begun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Senior Session - BLAST!!!

I had SOOOOO much fun shooting Miriam's senior pictures last week!!!  The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day!!  She was so excited to drive out to her favorite apple orchard so we made arrangements and hopped in the car for a fun adventure.  Since I am a bit ADD I simply could not just drive straight there, we found some fun walls to shoot by and of course had to stop for a coffee.  We found the cutest coffee shop in a small town not far from my home.  I would like to visit them again.  :)  I could not believe that Miriam brought this awesome bike with her!!!  She rides this around and I LOVE it!!  I just had to jump on and ride it around a bit before letting her have her pictures taken on it!!  LOL!!!!  Good thing she was getting her pictures taken because I was not looking too lovely!!  Hee hee!!!

Now that my kiddos are back in school (3 of them anyway), I need to get crackin and get these pictures proofed.   I have been overshooting lately since I have been having so much fun!!!  Thanks Miriam and your Wonderful mother for making my session such a blast!!!  So fun to work with them!!!

Amelia's birthday

Now that it has been a month since Miss Amelia's first birthday I thought it was time to post a couple pictures.  I have been busy enjoying spending time with our 4 girlies this summer so blogging has been on the back burner.  I don't know how so many people have time to blog everything and post so many pictures, time goes by so quickly that I am working out a balance of getting everything done.  I have limited my shooting hours this summer and am so thankful that I have.  In years past I was so busy that I would look at the girls and think "where did that summer go"?  Someone once said to me, you really only have 16 summers with your children and then they are so busy with friends and work.  Well, Oh goodness I better enjoy what is left since Miss Olivia is 9 already and before I know it she will be off to college.  My goal this summer is to work enough to pay for the girls christian school.  It's quite a commitment, but also so worth it.  I still have a ways to go so if you know anyone debating a session please send them my way and I would truly appreciate it!!!  Enjoy the few pics of Miss Amelia and I will really try to post more later!!!!  LOTS OF LOVE!!!

Summer Sessions

Summer sessions are in full swing even if the weather is not.  I just LOVE shooting high school seniors, they come with their fun clothing and creative energy.  It's a time where we can jump in the car and see where we feel led to go.  I don't usually plan their session until they arrive and often times will stop the car because I see something new - funny how I didn't see it the day before.  As the lighting changes things start to look different and clothing just looks great with different colored doors and backdrops.  Here are some recent shots of "Danielle", she is so beautiful and I had a great time working with her and her family.  It seems like yesterday I was photographing her brothers senior pictures - where on earth does time go????  I love when families come back as each child grows older.