Booner's birthday...take 1

Since Booner's actual birthday was on Sunday, we all gathered at mom and dad's to grill out and be together to celebrate him. It is so fun getting all the kids together and I love that it is possible so frequently now that we all live so close by each other. :) We will celebrate Boone's birthday again this Saturday night with his big super hero party. I can't hardly believe that he's 3! I will never forget going into that room a mere minutes after he was born and seeing his gorgeous face. Love that boy soooo much! Here are some pictures from Sunday...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I did last weekend...

I spent my weekend in Des Moines doing lots of photo sessions and spending time with dear friends. It was a BUSY and fun weekend!

 

Minutes after pulling into town, I was doing this photo session for my incredibly gorgeous and talented friend, Melissa's makeup area in her new spa, Serendipity Spa.  It was a session that is unlike anything I've ever done...so fun and has been a blast editing it too!

 

Then I got to see Cason's old physical therapist turned my friend.  I photographed her adorable family and got to just hang out at the park with all of them and snap some pictures while I was at it. :)  Love that I am able to remain in contact with she and her family after they moved.  So sad she's gone, but so happy that she became my friend!

Then, I got to go to the capital building and photograph Sean's cousin and her family.  They are pretty much the nicest, most laid back people I know.  Oh my, they are AWESOME to photograph!  This shot is at the top of my list of favorite family shots I've taken...ever.

And then my dear friend Amanda and her stud of a 3 year old son, Bentlee.  We laughed pretty much the entire session and seriously, isn't she gorgeous and isn't he handsome?!?!  Oh my...love this girl and her son so much!

Last but not least, I got to photograph the Curran Family.  I have photographed them 4 times now.  Love watching families through the years...and again, SUCH an incredibly wonderful family.  Love my sessions with them!  And little Andrew is getting so old!  I photographed him for the first time as a tiny infant and now he's 3!!!

 

What an awesome weekend!  I kinda dig this going to another city for a weekend of photo sessions.  It's nice to have a change of scenery and has inspired me to try and find some new local locations to shoot at this year!

I huge thank you to Melissa and Amanda for letting me crash at their homes while I was in town!  Love you guys!  And yet again I am reminded that I have the best clients ever! 

National Foster Care Month - Why did we become a foster family?

May is National Foster Care Month.
I ask you to consider your current situation and explore whether fostering a child (or 2 or 3 :)) could become part of your life's path.  It sure changed our world in ways we never expected or dreamed.  It created our family as it is today.  There is such a need.  I understand that it is not for everyone, nor is it the right time for everyone, but don't count it out.  There was a time that I thought we could never be a foster family.  God again showed us that his plan for our lives and for our family was much different than what ours was...and as we know, HIS plan is always better. :)  Not always easier, but the right one.

Local foster families were asked to submit their foster stories if they wished to be published on the Iowa Kidsnet blog throughout this month.  The story was to be a "Why did we become a foster family?" story.  I thought I would share my submission here...

Why did we become a foster family?  Honestly?  We started the process for selfish reasons at first.  We wanted to grow our family, we wanted more children.  We had adopted once before and knew we were called to be adoptive parents; we have a heart for adoption.  We wanted to foster a healthy child, preferably a baby who needed a home, who we could eventually adopt.  Then we were slapped in the face with reality.  And the reality is that our hearts were changed…they were broken.  We were presented in training with the need that exists, and with more than just statistics, with real life stories…heartbreaking stories and also stories of hope and redemption.  These stories, these realities, they made us different people; they made us not only want to become a foster family, but made us realize that we needed to.  We couldn’t turn back because the situation was likely not going to be the easy process where we would save a little baby like many hope it will be.  It is far from that.  It is so much more.  And the rewards…well, they have been beyond words.  I couldn’t write the appropriate words that would do justice to what wonderful blessings taking this path has provided us with.

Becoming a foster family and eventually adopting 2 more sons through the process has blessed us in ways we could have never dreamed.  No, we didn’t get the perfectly healthy babies we had originally dreamed about in our minds.  Rather, we fostered and adopted a perfectly incredible 1 and 3 year old who we now are beyond honored to call our sons…forever.  They ARE perfect, they ARE “our babies”, and they ARE our sons…forever.  Cason came to us with needs beyond anything we could have ever dreamed we were capable of dealing with and yet he has shown us that we actually NEEDED him.  And Wesley came to us only a few weeks after that with a whole different set of needs that we again never knew we would be able to handle and yet, we realized just as quickly that we were capable and that we wanted to take care of every need these boys had.  We needed them just as much as they needed us.  We needed our hearts to feel, we needed to know first-hand what was out there so that we could do our part.  It’s an honor to do our part and in the end…WE were the ones who have been blessed by these 2 perfect children for our family.

It was hard; it was overwhelming, emotional, scary and stressful.  Isn’t that just what parenting is?  Fostering these boys was the hardest thing our family has endured together.  It was hard on our oldest son, Tate, it was a roller coaster, I cried many nights as I worried about our boys and cried many days when I had to turn away accepting more children into our home because our plate was just too full.  I begged so many family and friends to join with us, become a foster family.  All we wanted was to see each of these children in loving wonderful homes for this trying time in their lives or even forever.  It is not an easy path to take.  It is worth it…beyond worth it.  While it was the hardest thing we have endured as a family, it was also the most rewarding thing we have endured.  It has made us stronger, it has opened our eyes and hearts to a whole new world that we are so grateful we get to be a part of.  If it was easy to feel so incredibly rewarded and blessed by something…everyone would do it.  It’s not easy, but it has provided us with a fulfillment and joy and a family that we wouldn’t have ever been able to have without it.  Becoming a foster family CREATED our family and we could never put into words how unbelievable grateful we are for that!   

 

a weekend in Colo

We spent the weekend in Colo.  Love getting all of the cousins together...aren't they adorable?!!!

 

We planted magic jelly beans...

Well, all but Wesley...he ate his...after me telling the kids over and over and over NOT to eat the magic jelly bean.

The next morning, the jelly beans had brown lollipops!

The kids ran out to see if they grew...

They were so excited and amazed!

And Wesley was shocked when he saw that his lollipop had grown out of his tube since he ATE his magic jelly bean.  It was hilarious. :)

 

It was a great weekend.  We got to see so many extended family that we don't see very often.  Thank you to Nana and Papa P for housing all of us on Saturday night.  We have kind of a crazy crowd when we're all together! :)

Sick

Yesterday Cason puked...a lot!  Then, I started in the evening and then I woke up to Tate crying that he puked in bed.  Awesome.  Sean is amazing...for reals.  He did everything this morning...I didn't get out of bed.  I couldn't.  He was an hour late to work so I could lay in bed and cry...seriously, I get weepy when I am sick.  Tate has left my bed ONCE today to pee...otherwise, he has been in there all.day.long.  Poor boy. :(  Wesley hasn't gotten it and we are praying he doesn't!  Sean has remained healthy as well.  We have the Opening Doors Gala on Friday and then are going to Colo on Saturday, so we are hoping all are healthy by then!

Spring is FINALLY here!

We are more than thrilled that spring is here!

 

Tate spent HOURS this afternoon/evening on the trampoline.

He is just too much!  Love him!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opening Doors Gala

We got a call yesterday from the gentleman who video taped us for Family Resources a few weeks ago.  The video is going to be shown at an event held for the donors and he invited us to attend "on the house" since we did the video.  We are excited to do so and to see the video.  I asked if we could see a copy of the video and he said if I REALLY wanted to see it, he would send me a copy, but he said he felt it would be more "impactful" if we saw it for the first time on the big screen at the event.  Oh my...patience isn't my strong suit, but I opted to wait. :)  So once I get a copy of it, I will share it with you all, but for the time being I haven't even seen it myself!

Easter take 1 and 2

It's been a great weekend...starting with a very GOOD Friday! :)  Unfortunately, this was Sean's weekend to work, so he wasn't going to be around for our Easter festivities.  We decided to do our Easter with our little family on Good Friday.  We gave the boys their Easter Baskets, got pizza and made Root Beer floats.  It was fun.

 

I am pretty unbelievably blessed to call these 4 all mine!

On Saturday morning, we headed to Cedar Rapids to spend some time with the Barks.  I didn't take a single picture!  It was a great time though and the boys played and played.  From there, we headed to Muscatine for the weekend.  We missed Daddy, but had a great time with my parents, siblings and their families.  All the cousins are at great ages and get along great!  It was fun!

We had the annual Easter Egg Hunt at my parents' house.  I love Tate's style. And Wes looks less than trilled!  :)  It was sunny and Tate is super sensitive to the sun and I didn't have his sunglasses, so he borrowed Brenda's...they suited him perfectly! :)

I love all of these kids so much!
The Stewart Cousins...

And Nana S with her 8 grandkids...

And Papa S (ahem...I mean, the Easter Bunny) with his 8 grandkids...

It was a great weekend and the kids had a blast!
So blessed with all of these people.

Happy Easter all...HE IS RISEN!

Interview with my husband...

I was reading another blog of someone who interviewed her husband and thought it would be fun to ask Sean the same questions.  We laughed through the ENTIRE interview...it was hilarious!

ENJOY!

How long have we been married?
~In general or exact?  (I laughed out loud because I have no idea what he means by that!  Then he says...) 8 years and 1,2,3,4,5,6 months...8 1/2 years.

Where was our 1st date?
~To the movies (I asked which one and he responded correctly with Just Married) and a delicious after movie snack to Perkins.

Where was our 1st kiss?
~Ummmmmmmm...on my doorstep????

Who 1st said, "I love you"?
~Me???  You????  I don't remember.  I'll say me.  (he's wrong...lol)

When did you know you wanted to marry me?
~Probably after our 1st trip to Florida in the spring a few months after we met.

What were our wedding colors?
~We had wedding colors?  Are you kidding me?!  (at this point he is dying laughing...he closes his eyes and thinks hard) and says, "I know the bridesmaids dresses were brown and you had a gold bowish thingy on your dress.  So I don't know, I don't think I ever did know" (honestly we didn't have specific colors, but did have mostly browns and dusty purples in my hydrangeas)

What was your favorite thing about our wedding?
~How beautiful of a day it was...aside from the normal stuff that people like about weddings.  The gorgeous day set the mood for the whole day.

What will I say is my least favorite thing about our wedding?
~Your after wedding stomach ache resulting in a rush bathroom visit after I furiously unbuttoned your dress...and not for the good reason. (I think this could be true...or maybe just that it FLEW by so quickly that I felt like I didn't get much time to just let loose and dance.)

What is the best meal I have ever cooked you?
~He thinks for a loooong time on this one (probably because everything I cook is so deeelish...lol) then he says, Artichoke Chicken

What is the worst meal I have ever cooked you?
~That's EASY...that pumpkin seed mole stuff...that was terrible.  (Yup, he's right, it WAS!)

What would I say is your most annoying habit?
~My shaking of my leg

What would you say is your most favorite thing about me?
~Probably just how artsy and creative you are because between decorating, doing stuff with the kids or us doing stuff, you are always coming up with different things to do and things that are unique and not boring. (I was SHOCKED by this answer...he seriously has never told me this!)

What's my favorite drink?
~White Russian

What's my favorite food?
~Mangoes  (ummmm...I love them, but definitely Mexican is my fave)

What is my favorite thing to do?
~Photography

What color do I wear the most?
~Pink or black....long pause.  Maybe green, oh and you wear some red too.

What do you wish I would spend more time doing?
~laundry (LOL...so true!!!)

What makes me the happiest?
~Words of affirmation  (he went RIGHT to my love language!)

How many kids did I want?
~4 or 5

What is the funniest thing about me?
~Besides your monkey feet?  (yes...besides that)  Your athletic ability...we both start dying laughing!!!

What do I consider a good date?
~Being without kids. (DUH!)  Probably just going places that we don't normally get to go because of having children like a nicer restaurant and doing something we can't normally do with the kids.

What would the perfect day look like for me?
~Sleeping in, I take care of the kids while your mom takes you out for lunch and you guys go shopping, then we grill out at home and do some activity together as a family and us all having a good time and everyone getting along.  (I would say this is mostly right, but I would have to add that after the kids go to bed, I would want to hang with friends out on our screened in porch relaxing, chatting and laughing...had he added that part, he would have been right on!)

We've been home for almost a week?!

I feel like we're JUST getting back into our groove since returning home.

 

We hit the ground running right when we came home...after laying around the rest of the day on Friday!

 

Our basement remodel (that was to be complete upon our arrival home) didn't go quite as planned.  Lots of unexpected problems arose that are going to delay the remodel a couple of weeks. I am listening to drilling and sawing and banging down there as I type this. :)  Can't wait for it to be DONE!

 

Less than 24 hours upon our return home, we went to The DeCook's house for Sophia's 1st birthday party.  It was perfectly themed and decorated and Phi Phi was as happy as can be!

 

I can't believe she's 1!  The day she was born was the day we bought our house!  Weird that it's been a year already!  What a year it's been!

We spent the rest of Saturday watching basketball and relaxing.  Sunday was spent in Muscatine where I did Brenda, Bode, Boone, Cassie, Mom, Brigg, Lani and Ayla's hair.  Busy day!  The kids all had a blast playing and hanging out while the adults had fun chatting and watching basketball.

Monday was BACK TO SCHOOL!  The boys were SOOO excited!  Wesley has done great at school all week.  Good notes sent home and all!  Yipee!  He must have just needed a vacation. ;)  Tate missed his class and Miss Jeannie so much.  Aside from some boys making fun of him (long, heart breaking story!) for his polished fingernails, he has been so happy to be back at school!

Monday was also Sean's interview for graduate school.  It went great and we expect him to start in the fall!  Eek!

The weather is FINALLY warming up...thank the Good Lord!  I am ready for this weather to stay and all of the snow to melt!

I have photo sessions galore in April and things are going to get BUSY!  I am ready though...I've missed being behind the lens this winter! :)

Only a few days left...

This trip seems to have flown by!

We have been here for a week and 1 day now and only have today, Wednesday and Thursday to enjoy before we have to leave the house by 5am to catch our early morning flight on Friday.  It is sad to leave this relaxation and fun, but I must admit, I am excited to see our basement finished and see my friends and family at home. :)

Still, I am not ready to go home. :(

Here is the crew I have been with for the last several days...awesome people.  Love each of them so much!

Yesterday, we made the trip to Gasparilla Island and ate lunch at South Beach, took pictures on Banyan Street and hung out on the beach a bit.

The Knutson Family...

All the kiddos.
They are getting along and playing WONDERFULLY together.  No arguing or bickering...and Delaney has been a great babysitter! :)

Tate loves playing with Delaney!

And Wesley has just been soaking it all up.  So much of what's been happening this week has been firsts for him.  He has done really well!

Cason's favorite place to be is the beach...easily.  He is so happy there!  It's adorable!

Tate loves playing in the sand and has been doing great swimming!

So we're soaking up these next 3 days.  Hopefully we'll fit in another beach day, we'll be eating dinner at Sharky's and soaking up as much pool time and sun as we can!  It's back to reality on Friday!

Spring Break 2013 Florida Vacation

We have been here for 3 days. It's been wonderful. The boys did great on the flight...like they were pretty much perfect. I was so proud of them. They all loved flying in an airplane. Tate has done it before, but it had been so long that he didn't remember it. He was just as excited as Wesley, our huge airplane lover. :) When we arrived, Brenda, Bode and Boone were still here and so we got a couple of days to spend with them. It was so nice. :) The weather has been gorgeous, the boys have slept great, they all love the water and loved the beach...couldn't ask for much more! Cason loves it here...I don't think he's cried once since we arrived. He loves crawling all over the house and loves the pool and the beach. All the boys are in heaven!

 

 

And Cason licks everything...all the time...

 

 

Brenda, Bode and Boone left before we awoke this morning so we are on our own for the next 2 days before the Knutsons arrive.  Looking forward to some family time!

More later...

Random thoughts before bed...

I had an unexpected surprise this morning when I awoke much later than usual and realized I hadn't been awakened by a child babbling through the monitor.  My peaceful surprise turned to panic when I realized the monitor was not sitting on the table in our room as usual and I immediately jumped out of bed thinking that my child had been awake for possibly an hour or 2 unattended because I didn't have the monitor in my room.  When I darted out my door, I heard Sean's voice talking to the boys who were in the living room with him.  He was supposed to be working and so I knew he'd gotten called off because of low census.  I was relieved. :)  It was nice to get to sleep in a little bit later!

I got ready and headed over to Lora's house to photograph Sophia smashing her cake because she turns 1 soon!!! :) She is a DOLL and the pictures were so fun to take.  Following that, I spent some more time with Lora and then came home and edited some of Phi Phi's pictures before church.  After church, DeCooks met us at our house and we hung out until about 11pm just chatting.  We won't be seeing them for a couple weeks since we leave for Florida in less than 48 hours (EEK!) and that is a long time for us to go without spending time with them.  The boys were thrilled to play with the girls and as the time grew later, we just decided that we would keep Ava for the night.  Tate and Ava went up to bed, Sean headed to bed (he has to work in the morning) and now I am in a silent house.  It's nice.  I should go to bed since we lose an hour of sleep tonight though!

My mind is racing with making sure everything is packed for vacation while also the house is ready for our contractor to come in and renovate our basement and tile our main level bathroom while we're in Florida.  I am a bit overwhelmed and just can't wait until we've landed in Florida and can relax!

Jumping on the bandwagon...

I am apparently jumping on more than one bandwagon these days!  From the Harlem Shake (see post below) to Fifty Shades of Grey, I am trying out all of the "in" things. ;)

So I am not a reader...aside from having no time to read, I can count on 2 hands the number of books I have read. Really, it's bad.  I have to be sucked in immediately or I cannot read it.  Well, I really can't avoid the Fifty Shades of Grey hype and so when I thought I may try and read a book while we're in Florida next week, I immediately thought of Fifty Shades.  So I went to my Kindle App on my phone to see how much it would cost to buy it and just read it on my phone.  It allowed me to do a preview and so I read the first 2 chapters.  It sucked me in immediately!  So I am looking forward to reading it!  If all goes as everyone says it will, maybe I'll be reading all 3 in the series when all is said and done.

Family Harlem Shake

 

It was hilarious making this.  I love my boys!!!

a school night sleepover...

We had Ava from the end of school yesterday until this morning. The kids thought it was VERY special that they got to have a sleepover on a school night!  Lora's grandpa passed away and to help out while she attended the visitation and funeral, we took Ava off of their hands.  It was a joy having Ava.  She is truly angelic and is the EASIES child to watch...always obedient, kind, sweet and she and Tate have so much fun and always get along so wonderfully!  They have such a special relationship.

 

Right after getting home from school, they played out in the snow...

 

They had so much fun!

 

We had breakfast for supper, popcorn for a snack with a movie (Rio), did homework and were in bed by 7:30.  They went right to sleep and woke up will bells on at 6:20 this morning, ate breakfast, got dressed and are now playing Twister.  They aren't going to want to part ways for school!

Love you, Ava June...thank you for being such an awesome friend to Tate!