Spring

Time to start bringing the camera with me everywhere...

I broke the rule of thirds but I really liked it best in the center.  Must be because of the rule of fifths that I did follow.

Baby Boy Sneak Peek

This baby boy is so special and so cute.  His momma is here before he was born, she was beautiful and so in love with her baby then I couldn't imagine how she would be when her baby was born.  Well he's here and he's very much loved by his mommy and daddy.  The shoot started out without power so we had to do a quick switch of locations which backed us up a bit into Owen's fussy time.  Momma was so worried about "her boy" but he did fantastic.  We got a couple sleeps out of him and when he was awake he wasn't fussing much.  When you mess with babies you are on their time, they call the shots and you just deal with what you get.  Well we got a super cute little boy and some great shots.

I did a little editing with colors and this next photo he looks so big but he really is tiny.

Such a cute butt we had to capture it before he grows out of those pants.

This is momma looking the same way as her maternity photos but now she has "her boy" to love.

Owen was slowly falling asleep and he did a few head bobs, we had to giggle at him.

Okay now mommy you can relax, Owens first photos are perfect just like your new family.

Izzy sneak peek

Izzy was a new addition to our family about 2 months ago, unfortunately every time they tried to come home it snowed either by us or by them.  I had to squeeze her in between the grandkids naps but it was so worth it, she is perfect in every way.  Leanne got to have quite the conversations with Mallory and snuggle a bit with Maxwell while I played with Izzy.

The sign of a healthy baby is they sleep with their hands above their heads.

Tried a soft look with this one.

Izzy's Grandmother has made her hundreds of flowers and bows for her hair.  We didn't even use half of them.  

Daddy and his little girl.

Mommy getting some snuggle time with a sleepy baby.  

Thank you so much Greg and Leanne for spending a part of your trip home with us.  I love being able to  preserve these memories for you.

Grandpa's Birthday Weekend

Was a weekend of grandkids day, night, day, night, day.....  I have so many stories from this weekend but only time to share one.  So I'll pick my favorite.

John's mom and dad called and wanted us to come visit with the kids...... are you kidding me we'd have to come in both our trucks as we can't get all the car seats in one.  So they came over by us.  The kids were playing outside when they were here and Mally had to go potty so she comes in and walks by Grandma Great giving her a scared, evil look as her head twisted all the way around to continue to stare at her.  I put her on the potty and she says with the same wrinkled up eyebrows "your grandma looked at me".  I said "Mally that's not my grandma that's your momma's grandma"..... "Oh well then my momma's grandma looked at me".

These kids were fantastic all weekend, I almost didn't give them back and tonight...... it's really quiet here.

Today is Blue

 Today is Blue.  With just taking a glance outside I thought blue was going to be tough.  It really wasn't, I guess I have more blue in the yard than I thought.  I picked my top three 

Garrett's blue pail and blue tractor in the background.  The blue sky helps too.  One of my challenges is to not move anything, I have to take it where it is.  And for this one orange is opposite the color wheel and contrasted very well with the blue.

My blue garden fairy.

My blue welcome frog.  I was going to throw this away last year when it was all faded and grimy but instead I decided to paint it and give it a few more years in the garden.  

Finding color in everything...

It's been an unusually warm spring for us and to celebrate and take in the outdoors I've assigned myself colors for everyday of the week.  There is so much color in the world and when certain times in your life get tough you forget to see the beauty in everything around you.  For the past month our family has been going through a flashback that we knew would eventually happen but we've all just pushed it to the backs of our minds....... what we don't think about won't happen, right?    Wrong!

Our family was struck with cancer many years ago, I remember exactly where I was standing when my mother told me my dad had cancer.  We accepted it and pushed through with successful results, my mother did a great job nursing him back to health.  I remember him not wanting to leave the house and she called in the sons to pull him out of his slump.  It wasn't long and he was back to himself.   And after many years cancer stuck again and this time it was my mother.  She fought as hard as she could until the day the doctors told us there was nothing they could do.  

Then she did the most amazing thing ever.... she accepted it.  

Looking back those 5 short months seemed like forever as our own lives took a backstage to hers and she faded slowly away from us in the most comforting way she could.  We all learned so much from her and we learned so much from each other as we cared for her.  Family is so very important and when someone is sick everyone comes together to help in any way that they can.  

So for our father and mother to have cancer of course the doctors tell us we are at high risk.  What do they know.... well my brother Rusty informed the family he has cancer.  The news came as a shock and that night resulted in many tears as I read John my reply e-mail to Rusty and his wife Barb.  Tears fell on my pillow that night as I feared the worst. 

Yesterday Rusty had surgery to remove the cancer.  The surgery went well and the doctors are confident they got it all.  I went to see Rusty tonight and felt his pain in so many ways.  His eyes told the whole story as he listened to us sisters tease him about whatever we could think of.   He didn't say much but at one point he did turn to Barb and said "see you think I'm mean to them but they deserve it".   Rusty was exhausted and frustrated when we left, not only is he in pain from the surgery he also has a bad back and is in pain when he lays down...... and cannot stand or walk without assistance and with busy nurses that does not happen often enough.

This was not meant to be a sad post or for you to feel sorry for anyone.  This is a post for you to trust in the early detection of cancer.  I for one must get better at this, eating an apple a day might keep the doctor away but that's not always a good thing.  

So for some more cheerful photos to help you notice the color in everything around you...  

Monday was Green

Tuesday was Yellow

And today, Wednesday was Pink

Take a look around you, whatever troubles you are going through there is color and happiness around you.  

 

Family Pics Sneak Peak

We've had some beautiful weather and this family is all ready for the summer baseball season.  

These two boys are so cute and we had to move fast to get the little one still.  He is just over 1 year old and when they find their feet watch out they what to use them all the time.

Even though little brother is a bit upset I love the soft look on the older brothers face.  He makes me smile even though he isn't.

Since it is so nice out we took a few photos outside but had to stay far away from the mud.  

Hopefully it won't be long and we can green up these fields.

Senior Sneak Peek

It's a bit late for Seniors but I have one more for this year.   This boy looks so much like his dad, such a fine young man.  

Birthday Girl Sneak Peak

Karli was the little birthday girl on Sunday.  She has been coming for photos every 3 months, it's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by.  She is going to be a girly girl, she loves her necklaces, anything pink, shiny and has the brightest eyes ever.  Here she is sporting her new birthday flower headband.

She got a white teddy bear from her auntie.  Auntie had a white teddy bear when she was little and she still has it in her 30's so she thought this would be the perfect gift for her niece.  Karli loves that bear, if she's needing a smile or snuggles Mr Bear was to the rescue.  

She wore the perfect little dress and sweater for my drawers.  I painted these to hang on the wall in the laundry room but so far they haven't made it to the wall.  

We could have tired out our birthday girl or it was just time for a snack.  We let her have some downtime with her bottle but she was so cute I couldn't resist snapping a few.

Of course a birthday girl must have birthday cake.  She loved the messy frosting and she was pretty content picking it off the cake part.

Okay it's time for some more milk to was down that frosting.  

Happy Birthday Miss Karli and I'm so happy you spent so much time with me this last year.