MIA

Oh blog, how I have neglected you!

It's been a MONTH! I can blame the absence on traveling, being a full time mommy, photographer, and I guess I can throw in that I'm 6 months pregnant. Life has not slowed down, my babies are growing up too fast, getting major attitudes, and their witty personalities continue to impress and entertain me each day. Rather than an overwhelming journal entry, here's what we've been up to in a nutshell:

*EL PASO* Went to El Paso for a couple weeks where I shot two weddings, and where we spent lots of time with our family, whom we love love love. We saw both sets of parents, and Stone and Emerson continued to fall in love even more with each one. They adore their grandparents.

Makeovers: If there's one thing Emerson loves more than life itself, it might possibly be makeup. EVERY day she asks me to put my makeup on her as I'm applying it to myself. Grandma Jessup (Marcy) indulged in Emerson's infatuation, and gave her a makeover several times:




The twins (Emerson's adorable cousins) got in on the fun, as well:


Stone spent as much time as we could with his best friend/cousin, Danny. A few days before we left for El Paso, we had Family Home Evening. We emphasized good manners to Stone, and how he was going to play nice while we were in EPT. He said, "Okay, but Mommy...me and Danny rough play. That's just what we do. Okay?"

This is what he means:

Definitely played superheros with Danny (like 24/7), had 2 sleep overs with him, and got really sad when he realized it was time to say goodbye.


Stone also went swimming with Papa Dan (my dad):




...and Emerson and I sat on the side. Poor Emerson got a horrible cough from me (and I got it from Cliff), and then she developed her first ear infection ever. ....actually, the first ear infection to actually come into this house. She had several sick days in El Paso, but was such a good sport.

We also made it to the park with all the El Paso cousins, and we tried desperately to get a picture of them all. I was hoping to have a great one for Marcy for Mother's Day, but we couldn't quite pull it off. This is the best we got:


We may have been able to make that work, but we were missing two behind the rock wall!

Marlene tried to get Sebastian and Luke to join in, but they had other plans:











We also saw Grandma Dotty (my Grandma--my mom's mom) and the Brackens (my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin). Believe it or not, we did not manage to get a 4 generation picture. It's a tradition every time we are together. We did snap a pic in Best Buy on my mom's camera, so I will have to get that from her.

And before I wrap up, let me tell you the pepper spray story:

Did I mention we drove? And when I say drove, I mean DROVE. Like across the entire state of Texas. Have you heard Texas is the 2nd largest state in the country? Yes, we trekked from just about as east as you can get in Texas, to literally as far west as you can get.


Our kids did GREAT. They entertained themselves, they got along well each other, and they had several naps. It all went great, except for a horrendous 20 minute stretch.

Okay, really, this is an entertaining story, though a bit long...
I started to smell rubbing alcohol. I turned around, and asked Stone what I was smelling. There he was, holding my pepper spray pen (pepper spray disguised well as a pen). Not sure how or why it ended up in Cliff's bag next to him, but he got into it, and there was a puddle on his lap.

We were in the middle of nowhere. I had just finished my bottle of water, and emphasized to Stone to NOT touch his eyes. I tried rubbing his hands off best I could with wipes, and again warned him.

Meanwhile, I was having a cough attack (remember, we all had a horrible cough). Mucus (TMI, I know) filled my mouth, and I started gagging. I rolled down the window to spit it out (keep in mind we're going about 75 MPH), just to get it all flung back all across my cheek. I turned to Cliff and said, "OH MY GOSH!!! LOOK!" Cliff then started to gag while he drove.

That made me laugh, which induced another coughing attack, which created another mouthful of mucus. Again, I was not going to swallow it, and thought I'd try this again (still hadn't wiped my face off). AGAIN, it gets all over my face. Again, Cliff starts to gag.

Just then, Stone starts SCREAMING from the backseat. His eyes are glued shut, and he says he rubbed his eyes. We panic just a bit, pull over, and pour some Perrier on his face (last drink in the car). After 10 minutes of enduring pepper spray in his eyes, he cools down a bit.

Meanwhile, my bladder control is nonexistent with this pregnancy. After all the coughing and laughing, I decide to do some business on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere while we are stopped (again, TMI, I know). I grab a wipe from my front seat, and moments later, I realized I had grabbed the PEPPER SPRAY WIPE.

Snot all over my face (which I did wipe off immediately after the 2nd attack). Burning crotch. Stone suffering in the back seat. Cliff gagging.

We get ourselves together, and continue to trek. A minute later Cliff screams, "AHHH! Take the wheel!! PEPPER SPRAY!" Cliff had rubbed his eyes after helping Stone. So I grab the wheel, we pull over again. We switch seats, we continue.

Two minutes later Emerson opens her back door, and the door flies open on the highway.

We stop again.

We take a deep breath. Snot on the face. Pepper spray in 4 year old eyes. Pepper spray in mama's crotch. Pepper spray in Daddy's eyes. Emerson's back door flying open. All in 20 minutes.

We got our act together, and finished the looooong drive.

....and that, my friends, is the pepper spray story.

***

We had a fabulous time in El Paso, as usual. Life continues to go at a record pace, and we are just trying to keep up with it.

I will NOT neglect the blog like this again (fingers crossed).

These cute feet...

I'd know these little feet anywhere...



Cute girl was so proud of her toes when we found her. And cute daddy took it off and painted them right for her. Best daddy.

Last road trip we took, I had to jump to the back seat to make the kiddos happy. Both put their cute little feet on my lap. I was studying their toes, and realized I'd know those 4 feet anywhere. They were the same little toes I first saw in the hospital; just a little bigger.

When I saw this picture on my phone, it reminded me of that, and got me REALLY excited for baby #3. We are thrilled to add to the family. People know I have my hands full with the 2 I have, and some have bluntly said, "How are you going to do a third?!" I can't help but laugh. I DO have my hands full, but it's all I've ever known. It's life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Pregnancy is going great! Still teaching Zumba, "Just Weights", and Spin. Baby bump is definitely present (which makes pumping, body rolls, and those sexy hip moves in Zumba entertaining to watch, I'm sure), and Stone and Emerson kiss my tummy at least once an hour and say, "Hiiiiii baby!! LOVE YOU!" We have several trips to El Paso planned this summer (I'm shooting 5 weddings in the next two months--4 in El Paso!). So life is busy, great, and entertaining with these two!

Who buys the first home they look at?!

...apparently we do!

{I spy my little eye something (or someone) about 2 and 4}

Now, in our defense, we did our due diligence and looked at the comps in the area. We quickly learned nothing was actually comparable, and if we wanted this little gem, we had to act on it.

It's been A YEAR since we moved in (TIME FLIES!), and I realized we have yet to do any sort of reveal on the blog. I had every intention of showing off projects we undertook, but as other new home owners can understand, there's always more you want to do, so I guess I never felt ready to do a post. When we first moved in, Cliff put down wood floors by himself, we painted the entire downstairs, and we scraped the popcorn ceilings and painted them (which is MUCH more intense than you'd imagine!). A list of projects still exists, which is funny, because we didn't even buy a fixer-upper! I guess you just want to make it your own, right?

We recently did a few "curb appeal" projects. Our home was in some desperate need of contrast. We painted our down stairs shutters black, added shutters up on the balcony, painted our front door red (I've ALWAYS wanted a red door...and that's a funny story, because it actually started out PINK), got some urns, and did my favorite part--a garage door makeover!

I know this might seem weird to some people, but I have a strange infatuation with garage doors. I always have! When I saw our home, I wasn't thrilled with the garage door, but to buy a new one is straight up insane if it works properly. I wasn't sure of the remedy until I came across a blog post by my friend, Melissa, at 320 Sycamore. I knew immediately, a makeover was in our future. Rather than take you through the step by step, you can check out her blog for the details. (...and by the way, add this lady to your google reader if you have not! She rocks. We lived in Lubbock at the same time.)

So here it is before:

And here it is after:

And well....let's see it side by side:

Next up for the outside: Landscaping in front of the windows. We pulled the palm trees out, and then the lonely shrub. Now it's time to fill that area back up with some shrubs, plants, and flowers. This will be a long project, as I need a little more of a vision for it. I feel like I've wasted money with 2 different rounds of plants and flowers (did I mention I do not have a green thumb?!).

More on our home later. Next time--the interior!

IT'S A.....

More Easter

You got to see their Easter portraits last week, so now it's time for a few candids. As I mentioned, the weekend was so enjoyable.

When I'm surrounded by these three, how can it not be?!

What do I looooove about the picture below? Cliff is strategizing, just like he did with Stone here (click here to see!).

Pure joy for this kid. This kid is competitive. He loves racing, and he loves egg hunting.

As far as Easter morning, let's just say the Easter bunny went a little overboard. He was out of control. Like the Easter bunny (ahem), Cliff LOVES gift giving. He's not one to stick to planned budgets for holidays and birthdays. I tell him he can only spend xx.xx amount of money on me, and it goes in one ear and out the other. He spoils those around him. Strange how he and the Easter bunny are so alike. Let's just say when I caught the Easter bunny coming in late the night before, I was a little shocked.

Stone loooooves receiving and (and giving) gifts. He gets SO excited for even the small things. ....like Koolaid bottles.

Once Cliff saw that it was the the Koolaid and other little stuffers that had them giggling with excitement, he realized the bunny may have gone a little overboard.

As I mentioned in the previous post, it was wonderful to see that Stone understood the reason for celebrating this day. He told us of Jesus' resurrection, and it just made me so happy that the important things are sticking in his head.

I love my family! And of course, I love the opportunity we had to celebrate all that Jesus did for us, and that because of him, we will live again.

Easter 2012

Today was a fabulous Easter Sunday. We had amazing speakers at church, and Stone told us the whole Easter story of Jesus' death and resurrection at dinner tonight. I love when important concepts and stories stick with him. He may keep my hands full, but moments like these make me think we're doing okay as parents.

I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that Jesus Christ died for my sins. ...for everyone's sins, and because of him, we will also live again after our time here on Earth.

I've been waiting to share these Easter pictures since I had this little shoot with my kiddos earlier in March. They make us so happy. I feel so very blessed!

I heart Spring.

March is probably my favorite month of the year. Winter is wrapped up, everything comes back to life, we have enjoyable weather before the miserable summer digits approach, and the sun begins to stay up later. It's a good month.

This past week was BUSY. I think Emerson's face describes perfectly how I felt this week:

I'll go backwards starting with yesterday.

Yesterday, I held Easter MINI-MINI sessions with a real, live bunny. It was SO much fun. My friend Julie let us borrow Sugar, and Sugar was a rock star. She was held and cuddled all day long by strangers. Emerson smothered her with affection all day, and well, it was fabulous.

I decided on making a little garden studio at our home for these mini sessions. Cliff helped prepare the area Friday evening:

I rarely complain. I just don't have much to complain about in my life. However, you may hear me crying and moaning in the approaching months as our summer season arrives. I can handle heat. I am a desert rat, born and raised in the desert sun. But I can take the dry desert heat ANY DAY over our humid, muggy inferno.

But with the dreadful weather, we are blessed with BEAUTIFUL trees, wild flowers, and greenery everywhere we go. Our backyard is lovely (with MUCH potential that calls for A LOT of hard work and time--something that was neglected by previous owners, which still leaves A LOT for us to do), and made the perfect place for my MINI-MINI sessions yesterday. Tulips happen to be my favorite, and thanks to Cliff, we planted a little bunch:

Before Cliff came home from work, I messed with a few different areas I wanted to plant the flowers. Emerson graciously acted as my model so that I could see what looked best through my lens. I knew immediately I wanted a different location, but my little model kept asking for more pictures.

She's so funny. When she saw my camera out, she begged me to take pictures of her (and you don't have to beg me, so it was adorable..."take my picture!").

In between my photo shoots, Stone and Emerson were all over Sugar (the bunny). Stone was a little unsure of the furry creature, but Emerson didn't hesitate. They both asked for their pictures to be taken (and I JUMP all over that, because more often I have to beg THEM).

(outfit change caused by water fight)

She kept asking me to take picture after picture of her. Stone had enough and was up and running laps around the house while Emerson kept posing for me.

Thank you, Julie, for letting us borrow the bunny!

Earlier in the week, we had an Easter egg hunt with our play group. We have a fun group of friends, and my kids had a blast:

Look at that little cheeto dirty face. My kids LOVE cheetos, and my friend Jana made adorable cheeto carrots (down several pictures).

This week also marked our first time (of many, many, many to come this summer) at the splash pad, as well as sprinkler fun at home:

AND, my birthday passed (well, actually it was the previous week). I was spoiled all day, and my kids insisted on a LONNNNG walk. The weather was cool and drizzly that morning, and what can I say. They love their rain boots (I know, I know. The poor kids need a REAL dog to take on a walk. I'm slowly getting convinced):

I sure hope they FOREVER will be this close:

In addition to my mini sessions yesterday, I had 2 more full sessions in the last couple of days, and now have a bunch of editing ahead of me (which I love).

To wrap up this fabulous weekend, we have been blessed to listen to the prophet of our church, as well as other leaders of our church. I have been spiritually uplifted and motivated. There is no doubt in my mind that our prophet is a man of God. We are so blessed to be guided by a modern day prophet, and to be able to feast upon their words this weekend has been incredible.

You can check out the General Conference sessions HERE.