sweet sweet baby...

What a sweetheart this little new one was! At 7 days old, he was just such a joy! He slept the entire time, let me move him all around, which was so much fun for me! You've seen his Mama's maternity photos, and finally he arrived after being fashionably late! Really, if every newborn session went like this, I would absolutely love to do them all the time.

So here's a sneak peek...just one! I might be persuaded to share more later though :)

Here's baby "B" safe in Daddy's hands...

Wk 6/52

Ok, so this week kinda crept up on me. Husband is out of town, the two older kids went away for a night (thank you Grandpa & Grandma!!), I had two sessions this week, handling 3 kids on my own isn't always a piece of cake, and and and...anyway...

So as far as the photo goes...Lily loves to fly on my legs. It cracks her up! (But in the pic, doesn't it look like they're actually her legs??) And I love her little expression, she always, always has her hand in her mouth! Causing her to gag quite frequently. I need to enter her into "America's Got Talent" or something as the baby who can eat her whole fist...yeah, she'd win...she'd steal the show.

I call this photo, (besides being my 6th week self portrait) -
~~~~!!Attack of the flying, fist eating, so cute you scrunch her little cheeks, Baby!!!!~~~~

Over half a century together....

These are my Grandparents who I love dearly. I just can't even express how much they mean to me. Their marriage is a huge inspiration to my husband and I. In reality, we have been so blessed with many of the marriages in our families. Both his and my parents have been married for over 30 years, both sets of my Grandparents have been married over 50 years. We have some strong foundations. This couple is always so supportive of anything I do, they embraced my husband as their own Grandson and I love seeing my kids' faces light up when they see "Great Grandma and Great Grandpa". That takes on a new meaning for me...because they truly are great.

So I had the wonderful opportunity of being able to have a real live photo session with my Grandparents. It was fun. We laughed, we teased, they let me take whatever photos I wanted and made sure I was met with...and left with a nice cold bottle of water :) They tried and tried to feed me...but alas they could not succeed! (Thanks anyway though!) Their house and grounds are absolutely amazing. A photographer's dream (a little kid's dream too! I remember hiding among the bushes with my cousins when I was little!) There's so many little alcoves and walkways...I mentioned that I loved taking pictures there and my Grandpa handed me a key to the back gate so I could come whenever I wanted. He truly is so giving.

So here's your sneak peek! I'm so glad we had the chance to spend the morning together, it was lovely!

It's tough being a baby....

...cause who can handle being this CUTE???

Light in her eyes....

I made a new discovery, my bed in my room faces a window...and boy can I get some good light in there! Lily helped me make that discovery and I was able to take a few photos of her that I really enjoy. My bedroom is a bit chaotic now, not only is it dh and I's room, but also the office (office was taken over by the two little girls who now share a room). But Lily also sleeps with us at night. She used to sleep all through the night, but I think that 4 month old growth spurt is kicking in because she likes to wake up Mama at 4 in the morning! And its easier to tend to her when she's close by than me having to trek down the hall to get her. Anyway, she's a teeny thing, so I don't mind the night wakings. She needs the calories (only 14lbs at 5 months! Remember....she was 9lbs 4oz when born. Chubbo!)

Oh! And I figured out how to make my images pretty big on the blog! Now you can see them much better :)

wk 5/52

Stranger anxiety is hitting hard for Miss. Lilikins...or she's "making strange" as my wonderful Canadian friends would say :) Cries for Mama when I leave her and can only be soothed by me or dh (dear husband!) She's fine when she's home! She'll let me put her down when I need to, but this being baby #3 and all...I choose not to put her down much! Hmmm...maybe if she wasn't so much fun! Just kidding :) I'm enjoying taking these photos. I've been able to document "real" times with my kids. Just us, hanging out, me holding Lily, doing what we do.

wk 4/52...Abby's Turn....

Abby is so complex. What a great word to describe her! She's happy, she's sad, she's emotional, she's excited, she loves deeply, she's contemplative, could color/paint for hours on end. She loves the outdoors, loves to play dress up, eats a pb&j sandwich every single day (hey...it could be a lot worse!) She's extremely tall for her age, has big feet, huge eyes, a heart that could crinkle in a second if you say the wrong thing. Her love language is "words of affirmation" and her eyes light up when you say she's a big girl. She melts my heart. She is my heart!

I couldn't decide on a pic this week. Both photos show different sides of our relationship. So pic #1 shows our moody side...and pic #2 shows what she's really like, and how she makes me feel.





(...and to anyone who would like to know...the last one has a different kind of processing from me. I'm having fun with all these self portraits, I can make them any way I want! I used Amanda's Actions (with tweaking) for both of these, her very vintage on the last one.)

wk 3/52

...and Happy 4th!! I didn't forget today's photo, I've just been having a nice time celebrating with my family. I'll share pics of that later...

So here's my photo, me & my boy. Oh Zachy...he's definitely trying to figure out who he is in this world. How to communicate, how to show his feelings, how to be a pleasant 2 year old. I hope you other moms of 2 year old boys can relate. I love my son, I would give my life for him and I can't wait to see what kind of man he becomes. I am constantly praying over him, that this stage in his life would be void of stress or trauma, that things would get a little easier for him, that God would give me supernatural patience and understanding in order to best guide him during this little confusing time in his life. He tries to be a "big boy" but is still a baby through and through.

So photos like these are priceless to me...they give me a glimmer of hope and remind me to keep enjoying every day with my son because like every stage...this too shall pass...



ps. If you receive my blog updates by email, I apologize for the very odd way this one is being sent (and future ones until I can get it worked out!) Some crazy things have happened with Feedblitz and I'm trying to fix it! So please click on the title of this post in your email to see the photos. Thanks!

Sleeping Beauty...

...just heavenly...







ps. how is everyone doing on the weekly challenge? remember, this is supposed to be FUN!