Oh Missouri....

I will miss you!

Children ARE a Blessing

I just love having kids running through my house. I never doubted what the Bible had to say about kids being a blessing, but sometimes it is just easy to fall into line with all of the negative things people say about becoming parents. I kind of thought it would be a hassle until I had my first child - and I pretty much fell in love! No, I do not have teenagers, so maybe I am just on cloud nine right now - but I think everything has a season in life and I am truly enjoying this one!

Baby Ellis

I felt honored to be chosen for this little guys newborn pictures. Brittany and Jamie are good friends of ours and we are so excited for their new addition to their family. 

He is such a good baby too - he practically slept the whole time so I got to position him however I wanted. These were some of the easiest newborn photos I have ever done. What a good little guy! What fun and adventurous times you guys have ahead of you. We are so thrilled for you both!

The Fuqua Family: A 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

I cannot say that it is very often I have the chance to photograph a 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration. As a matter of fact I never have. It was refreshing to photograph such an event. I also forgot to mention this was a surprise party - and they were very, very surprised. Interestingly enough the Fuquas did not have a cake at their wedding so it was neat to capture this tradition 50 years later. And I must say they did a fabulous job at decorating as well!!!

Congratulations to Ben & Janis! May God bless you with many more years together!

 

Our Little Man Turns Two!

It is hard to believe time has passed by so quickly! But I do believe it since it has almost been three months since Hannah was born! Oh my...anyway..Caleb's birthday was fantastic. We just had a few friends come over to the house for cake and ice cream - nothing special. I went all out on the "Thomas the Train" decorations and apparently Caleb really liked it since he won't stop talking about his train party. I think he liked it because he got to have the "Thomas", that was on top of the cake. It took me a whole day to make that cake - I forgot how much work that was! WOW! I won't be able to do one of those every year - because it is exhausting! Enjoy some pictures of his party because I did not get many of Caleb running around - precisely because he runs everywhere and walks no where these days. I wanted to take time to enjoy the party too hence not so many pictures after I captured the details. Oh well. I enjoyed the moment!

Here are a few before his party - enjoying his airplanes and helicopters!

Fun in the Tub

I am glad I got to take a few pictures of my little man in the tub a couple of days ago. I do not have much time for photos these days but I am glad I get to spend my time with this little man. Oh how grown up he is!

Little Miss Hannah

I know you guys have been waiting for pictures forever....I have just been a little bit busy :) So I decided that I would do everything I could to get the blog updated by her official due date, and today is the day she was technically due. I guess she thought it would be better to surprise us a little early as she has already been here almost two weeks!

Hannah was born on April 6, 2012 at 5:26 am weighing in at 5lbs, 9oz. She was a little smaller than we expected, but this made for a much easier delivery for me :) She is healthy, and doing well now 12 days old. She seems to have her own time schedule as she came on the day John was supposed to take his board exam - the one day we had been praying she would choose not to come. Even though it was a crazily, insane day, it all worked out and John just took his board exam yesterday - now he can breathe a sigh of relief!

Since I did not have time to take pictures of the nursery before she arrived I have been trying to tidy it up a bit to get some pictures. I really did not expect her to make her arrival so soon - but we are sure glad to have her here with us! I will include a few pics of the nursery with all of it's handmade little goodies from Mommy. I had so much fun decorating for her! I figure this is my chance to enjoy her room all pretty and nice since I am sure when she gets older she will have her own opinion about how it should look :)





I must say she has an excess of newborn photos and headbands - and okay maybe shoes as well. There is just so much more you can do with little girls. I have yet to paint her little toes and fingers - but trust me I will get to that :) I was even gifted some special finger nail polish just for little toes! So excited!



This transition from one child to two has been easier than I thought it would be. Yes, there are times (okay lots of times) when both of my kids are screaming at the same time. Caleb is a bit of a sympathy crier and that is just something we have to get used to. I think it might be a good thing - maybe he just has an extra dose of compassion? I do miss just hanging out with my little buddy though. We are so excited to have Hannah here - and Caleb LOVES her - but sometimes I miss being able to take time to just spend with him. It has been so precious to watch Caleb and Hannah together though. He loves trying to wake her up in the morning - walking around the house yelling, "Hannah! Hannah!". He is also super fascinated with all of her tiny features - particularly the eyes (we are working on no eye poking). He also enjoys tickling her feet. I must say my favorite this is when he says, "Bless you", after she sneezes - too cute!

John is watching the kids while I do this so I better go rescue him :) If every pregnancy/delivery -minus the gallbladder scare- is as easy as this one - sign me up for more! Children are such a blessing and if God chooses to bless us with a few more we wouldn't really mind :)

P.S. I am sure there will be a few more photos to follow since I am not completely done with all of her newborn photos :)