a lifetime of OUR Lasts...

A monkey par-tay for a monkey boy! =)

2012-01-22T20:02:00.000-08:00

Jackson's 1 year Birthday party was sock monkey themed and was a total hit!!! Here was the invitation I made:

and here is SOME of the sock monkey themed decor I made. I made sock monkey birthday hats, sock monkey water bottles, and sock monkey place cards. Then we had monkey plates & napkins and TONS of sock monkey stuffed animals laying all around the house thanks to Shayne & Dar from church for letting me borrow them!

Lunch was amazing but I can't take any credit for that, that would be the fine hands of Rulli's. We had Monkey cheese bread, Monkey lasagna, Monkey mostaccioli, Monkey salad, Monkey veggies and Monkey banana's. We were all monkey'd out! =)

Oh, and the amazing tasting, wonderfully made cake was done by the one and only, Adam's Cake Shop. You should check them out NOW, there is NO better cake than this! Steve & I had this cake at our wedding {with raspberry filling!} when it was called Allen's Cake Shop. YUMMY!!!

Here's some of Mr. Jackson's guests:

After lunch Jackson opened up all his gifts. He was a little spoiled for sure and him loved everything!

After presents we tried for a picture with all the kids but it just didn't happen......here's what I'm talking about:

Here's a good one....minus the Birthday boy & quite a few of the other kids:

Next up, was cake time!!!!

I whipped up a mini sock monkey cake before the party so he could do what every 1 year old does on his birthday. Dig IN! =)

We couldn't wait to watch budder brown's reaction to this stuff and it took us a bit by surprise. He wanted nothing to do with it and in fact cried a bit. But I of course forced it on him and he eventually started getting into it:

I thought this picture was just priceless with the 2 youngest grand-babies:

Thank you to everyone for swinging on by to celebrate Jackson's 1 year BIRTHDAY! We all appreciate it! =)

Jackson's 1st Haircut!!!

2012-01-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

So none of our kids were born with any of that gorgeous, thick, wild hair I am oh so desperately jealous of. None. That's 0 out of 3 kids! I guess I can't complain though they are the cutest kids in the world......they can't have EVERYthing! =)

So when Olivia was 2 years of age, I guess you could say we messed up a little bit by allowing our princess to walk around with a business in the front, party in the back look.....(AKA mullet).  As a mother of a daugther I just had to hold on to any ounce of hair that the poor girl had. I was blissfully oblivious to the fact she had a major mess up top. So one night I finally got the courage to cut off her rat tail and trust me, it was a major production. I totally have it on tape.  I do admit it looked sooooooooo much better afterwards!

Nevaeh was born with a little more hair than Livi and it grew in a lot quicker so I didn't have too much of a problem there. Thank God!  Well, maybe except for the fact that neither girl will keep a bow or headband in their hair. =/

And now for Jackson.  Our boy. I no longer feel the need to savor every strand of hair. I want my son to look like a little man so today was the day to shape up his Amish-looking hair in the back. Or so his babysitter told me. Haha.

Look at my biggie boy in the chair looking all cute while sucking his binky. OMG. I just want to eat him!

Steve had one request when we found out we were having a boy and that was to be able to take him to his barber he's been going to since he was 2 years old, Les. I totally agreed to this but with him being out of town and with Jackson's birthday party coming up & all, it needed to be done.

So I took him to the best hairstylist in town, Miss Brooke at US Male Hair. I have been going to her for almost 9 years now and I just love her! Jackson was pretty proud of his locks that Brooke packaged up for him.

So here is the after:

Ahhh, much better. Don't you just love the feeling after a nice fresh haircut?

Jackson did pretty good for the most part but I did have to hold him down a couple times when Brook was cutting by his ears. There was definitly some screaming with this, but it was very short lived.

Look at our handsome boy.

We WILL praise you in this storm.

2012-01-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

So this is going on our 2nd weekend of "our new way of life" as we know it.......

Last year daddy & I made a decision together with him accepting a new job that has a lot more con's than pro's for the moment. Ultimately, I left the decision up to him but with one request, I wanted him to pray long and hard and do his best at listening to what God's will is for his life, and in return for our family's. Will this move bring him closer to Jesus and will he be able to make God-honoring choices in an industry where God is not held as their first priority? {sorry, but it's true}

So here we are at the beginning of a storm. I am trying my hardest to adjust to this new way of life as we know it, and so are you kids. This new way of life forces me to be a single momma for 5 out of 7 days a week......to 3 kids. This forces you, to "deal with" all my stress.

It's hard going from a lifestyle where daddy did 50 65% of the work around here with you kids and the house chores to me now taking over 90% of it while trying to work my normal 2 days a week at the hospital and keeping up on this photog passion of mine. And to top it off you all have been very trying with me......to say the least. Jackson has started this constant screaming state along with always wanting to be held while I'm arguing with Neveah about how tank tops and shorts are just not appropriate for her life right now in the dead of winter. =/ That seems like a battle that should definitely not even take place or one I would easily win but trust me, it is full force crying, screaming and pure defiance going on EVERY morning. I'm not gonna lie, it's been tough......and it's only the ending of the 2nd week. Double yikes!

So of course I try to keep us as busy as possible to keep us from dwelling on daddy being gone but this doesn't stop you guys from crying at night and asking when daddy is going to be home. It breaks my heart but this is the road we chose to take as a family so we will be forced to look to God for guidance on this. We will be forced to praise Jesus in this storm and "try" to remember all the good things He has blessed us with.

Steve has a job that will provide for our family. Amen. We have the most amazing parents in the world that help out as much as possible.....and then some. Double Amen. We have 3 beautiful kids that make our world go round and most importantly, we have woken up with new breath each morning and have a choice on how we will walk this road.

When I say, "This is impossible!", HE will be right there saying, "All things are possible"......when I say, "I'm just too tired", HE will be right there saying, "I will give you rest"......when I say, "I can't go on", HE will be right there saying, "My grace is sufficient".....when I say, "We can't figure out if this is YOUR will", HE will be right there saying, "I will direct your steps"......when I say, "I am always frustrated", HE will be right there saying, "Cast all your cares on ME!" I just need to make a conscious effort of remembering this!!!

Suuure......why NOT?!?!

2012-01-14T18:48:00.000-08:00

Why wouldn't I want more kids at my house tonight? I already have 3 of my own....why not take 4 more?

Livi had Ella stay the night tonight and Nevaeh had little Olivia over to play late into the night. Livi and Ella played outside in the snow this afternoon/evening and had way too much fun. Oh to be a kid again & not be affected by the cold. Love it!

Nevaeh and little Olivia played their usual house, colored, and ate popcorn. That seems to be the ritual over here. Oh, and both girls wanted me to braid their hair. Soooo cute, they are!

So I bet your wondering who the other 2 kids are I was talking about?

Well, that would happen to be Mark & Betsy. They came over to chill and play a game of Life. They may look like adults to you but trust me, they are the kids of all kids. Always up for a good time! =)

I attempted to play Life but "MY LIFE" got in the way so I was busy catering to all 7 kids the whole night. But I will say even at that I still won the game of life! Boo-ya! =)

A pretty productive Sunday.

2012-01-08T19:58:00.000-08:00

Today I was actually able to make it to church without the help of my one and only. That's right, this momma got 3 kids ready (I even braided both girls hair), picked up my mom and made it to church in time to sing the ending of the first song. =)

After church my mother ever so lovingly made a trip with me {wait, she really didn't have a choice since I was driving} to Martin's for some lunch and and a quick grocery run. Quick. Haha. It's my story, I'll tell it how I want, but let's just say my mom will never trust me again when I say the word "quick".

The afternoon was filled with cleaning, feeding kids, computer flat butt time, feeding kids, games, did I mention feeding kids? You would seriously think I starve these children! and lots and lots of screaming by a very handsome boy.....

After dinner the girls & I made Daddy some "welcome home, cookies" for when he gets home around midnight tonight and then played a game of Don't Wake Daddy before bed.

We can't wait to see you and hold you, Daddy!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Buddy!

2012-01-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

Oh. My. I'm having a really hard time typing this. My budder brown is officially ONE year's old! Don't mind the tears rolling down my face. =*(

A year ago from yesterday I had downed a Castor Oil shake....see {here} to try to get this boy out. Well, who would have known a few short hours later at 5:20am this guy would make his appearance and make me the happiest girl in the world. It was true love at first sight with this 8lb 7oz boy.

So here is Jackson's 12 month milestones:

~ He is officially walking!!! As of January 1st he prefers walking over crawling. Now comes the trouble! Haha.

~ He is still a peanut weighing in at 19lbs. The MD said "Well he's moving up on the charts! He went from 5% to 10%!" He is 30 inches tall but I can't remember what % that is.

~ With that being said, he still easily fits in his bumbo and gets lost in his high chair. But either way he LOVES his food and loves to feed himself and shovel (not even lying) it into his mouth.

~ He also loves to cock his head to the side when he flirts with you. Can you say Ca-uuuute???

~ He has 2 teeth on the bottom and 4 teeth on the top.

~ I taught both the girls how to sign as babies, keeping it simple with more, please, drink, eat and all done. Jackson can sign for "more".

~ He experienced his 1st Christmas and may only remember the word "no" from this time of his life. He heard a lot of that word after touching the Christmas tree and stealing the ornaments every 10 seconds.

~ He loves to scream. Just for the heck of it. All the time. I'm not impressed.

I had a mini photo shoot with him that lasted all of 15 minutes and was NOT a pretty sight. I'm not sure who screamed more, him or me. =/

I did happen to get lots of good ones which will be a whole other post, but here are some outtakes:

I just love him!!!

He is such a happy little guy:

and this is a total Jackson face. We will always remember his "ohhhhhhhh's:

Bribery is a good thing with kids....suckers work wonders. But make sure you wait till the end of the shoot b/c it is a sticky mess and you CANNOT peel it away from them. It's in the picture's to stay:

Jackson kinda got the short end of the stick with celebrating his Birthday today. Daddy is out of town, I had to work and we had no presents for him to open. Good thing his baby sitter is on top of things. Thanks April! {Jackson's party is on the 22nd of this month}

~ He blows kisses and gives kisses like a champ. Makes my heart melt. Oh, and there's a sample of his screaming in this video:

We love you so much Jackson Edward Adkins!!!

I don't think I've written the history of your name down yet but daddy picked out your name. We had a list of about 5 names picked out (I will fill this in when I find the list...haha) and one night daddy came up from his study room and told me he liked the name Jackson which was not on our list. We both fell in love with it and knew this is what we would call you.

Now, for your middle name. This was a no brainer. Your daddy and G-pa Bruce's middle name is both Edward, as well G-pa Joel (my dad) and Uncle Mark's (my brother) middle name!!! Some may call that coincidence but I call it "meant to be". =)

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-01T07:56:00.000-08:00

This morning was a lazy one considering all the partying that was done last night with the familia. Nevaeh & I passed out shortly after midnight but the 2 night owls, Steve & Olivia stayed up watching the movie "The Help".

Olivia had several questions throughout the movie but for the most part has been educated on the absurd segregation that took place not that long ago. So she had an idea of this concept but this really put it into perspective for her. Her and daddy balled their eyes out together {mainly at the end} and her heart was saddened that people could actually be this mean to one another. With that said, I don't think this movie is appropriate for every 7 year old to watch.

So after hearing all of this, I was able to watch it first thing this morning before everyone else woke up......and I balled like a baby too. This is definitely a must see movie.

It literally makes me cringe whenever I think about how "colored people" were treated. Even though this was "the norm" at the time, I'd like to think I would have acted out like Skeeter in this movie. I just couldn't see myself accepting this ludicrous behavior.

Anyways, on a lighter note. Steve & I were able to enjoy another date together.

It's been a looooong time since we've seen a movie in the theatre and I've had these gift cards to use for Linway Theatre for literally 2 years. That's sad.

So I was in charge of picking out the movie. I watched all the trailers online and decided on......are you ready for it? I picked out Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol.....and I loved it. One of the many reason's we don't see movies in the theatre is because I am notorious for falling asleep there. So I knew I needed some action to stimulate this brain of mine. =)

After we got out of the movie we had a nice present waiting for us outside.....a snowy mess mixed with icy roads. We drove extra careful and made it home to pick up the kiddos. But first I had to make a creation outside to bring in the New Year.

Yup, I did that. With my feet. I'm proud. So I laid in the snow like a crazy person to show off my crazy skills. The family loved it. =)

New Years Eve rockin' in the house tonight......

2011-12-31T07:56:00.000-08:00

The Adkins family rocked it in our house tonight with lots of festivities planned. Who was the planner of this party? The one and only Olivia Faith Adkins.

Here is what was on the agenda: {all the food she wanted}

and the most important thing to remember.....Stay up late no matter what!!!! I love it. =)

We started the evening with Nevaeh's new paint supplies. We all painted our very own picture and then made that sweet sign ^^^ at the top of the page with our hand prints.

Daddy & Jackson were the chefs tonight:

This is what our plates & stomachs were filled with: {Yum-o}

After dinner it was time for some Kinect. Yes, Steve spoiled himself with an X-box Kinect over the Black Friday deals so we all get to benefit.

We had a family dance party and you would never guess who won. That would be me folks! The only person in our family that was born without a dancing gene or rhythm for that matter. Haha.

Happy New Year's everyone! May this be your year to shine and to become closer to Jesus Christ. Amen.

Shipshe fun!

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

This morning the girls were excited to do something with G-ma Debi and whenever they think of going somewhere with G-ma Debi, one place comes to mind for them. Shipshewana. and Carousel.

Three words come to my head. Jo Jo's Pretzels. Yum! We got there a little after 1pm and boy was this place packed! We had to wait in line for our pretzel's but it was WELL worth it.

Jackson tasted his first sips of pop today and this is what he thought of it:

It hurt going down but he came back for more every. time. With of course a smile to win me over.

After our late lunch, we walked upstairs so the kids could ride the carousel. Livi and Nevaeh had a blast but Jackson on the other hand hated every minute of it.

Next stop, the toy store. I think we managed to stay in here well over an hour playing with all the toys.

Jackson is walking more and more every day so he is up to about 8 steps before he decides crawling is quicker for him.

The girls saw a face painting booth and just had to have their's done. All they had to do is give one cute, innocent look to G-ma Debi and it was instantly paid for. =) Gotta love the grandparents coming along!

Sauky Sauky =)

2011-12-30T07:55:00.000-08:00

Tonight my lover and I were able to escape from "mommy & daddy" role into "lover" mode. Oh, don't worry it's all rated PG-13. =)

Since Steve's busy season is coming up waaaay to quickly, we had to take advantage of some quality "us" time that we will desperately be missing out on in the next few months. He of course took me to my new favorite place, Sauk Trail to enjoy some fully loaded nachos, a mini pulled pork sandwich and a hamburger. Mmmmmm. I'm so happy I didn't know about this place when I was preggers.

I love how it still feels like it's one of our first dates when we go out. I get all giddy, he opens up doors, there is never a dull moment and I am oh so in love with this man!

Oh, I did happen to lie. Our date night was not PG-13. The lady sitting across from us thought it was a good idea to floss her crack right in front of us. No joke. This lady with extra-extra Mclovin' in the McFluffin' department "forgot" her pants were half way down her butt allowing full view of her g-string. And trust me, it was NOT a pretty site but it was one of those situations where you just can't stop looking......juuuuust to make sure you're seeing things right. Haha.

Thank you baby for such a fun night and we get to do it all over again in 2 days!!! Can't wait!

Merry Christmas!!!!

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that Steve & I had the luxury of sleeping in, on Christmas morning?

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.

errrr, something like that.

So after WE woke up the kids a little after 8:00am, we ran downstairs to see what Santa left behind.........

and then we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus around Nevaeh's cupcakes she got:

Since Christmas landed on a Sunday this year, we were able to celebrate Jesus Birthday even more at church. Raina was even able to celebrate with us! But we were both a little shocked to hear that the wise men showed up 2 years AFTER Jesus was born. Meaning our nativity scenes are wrong.....I still have to talk with Pastor Chris about that one!

The rest of the day was spent opening up the rest of the gifts to each other and some major relaxing with the family time. Here is a little slide show of each of our "big" items:

I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would be so excited to get a vacuum......from my hubby........as a Christmas gift........but I am forever grateful for the Shark Navigator. As soon as I opened this baby up I was forever lost in vacuuming. I'm ~~a little~~ addicted! I am a total sucker when it comes to seeing instant results. This is my first canister vacuum which means you can see EVERYTHING this baby picks up........which means I can't put this baby down until it comes up clean. Steve you are brilliant in so many ways.

Olivia FINALLY got her Nintendo DS (3D style)!!! If you heard a little girl screaming for a bout 10 mintues, that was her.

This was her 3rd year in a row asking for this thing and we finally agreed to it. Since we have a set limit as to how much we spend at Christmas time, we actually took some of her money she has been saving for this prized possession and she paid for half the system. With this, we are hoping to teach our kids the value of money at an early age.

Nevaeh LOVES to color so we picked up an art easel that has a dry erase board, chalkboard and paper roll all in one. Then of course we bought all the supplies including: dry erase markers, regular markers, chalk, paint and brushes.

Since Jackson is almost 1 and his birthday is 2 weeks after Christmas we decided to only get him one gift. and ooops, I didn't take a picture of that. It's a Fisher Price basketball {count & learn} toy but he was more interested in the paper anyway.

and Steve. His gift from me can be summed up into one word. Boudoir. =)

We had one more present for the girls but this did not come as such a surprise. We had to spill the beans beforehand since it involved kicking them out of their room for the last week. =)

Over the past few months I have been researching bed after bed and I finally came across one that had everything I was looking for. We are transitioning them from a full sized bed which they've shared for the past 2 years to their own twin beds. They have a book shelf head board (to personalize their own space}, a pull out drawer, and more storage at the foot of the bed. Winner!

Next up was trying to find comforters that match their crazy-bright, awesome colored room. Believe it or not, I found these gems at Walmart. They had the best styles for the best prices hands down. Here is their "new" and improved room:

Enjoy my sweet, sugar-plums! =)

Love you, Mommy and Daddy

But what is the real reason for all this gift giving?

Happy Birthday JESUS!!!

Thank you for coming into this world to save us!

and Merry Christmas to all!!!

Thank you all for the wonderful Christmas cards. I think we got a little over 40.

Christmas Eve at the Adkins

2011-12-24T07:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight was our annual Christmas Eve family party at the Adkins. We start off with dinner and family time with Susie's side of the family and end late night with just Susie and Bruce to ourselves.

Since Susie was the hostess for the night she wanted to go big with some balls hanging from her ears. What? This isn't normal?

and Bruce had to top it off with a bow on his head:

Silly parents. =)

The kids and Steve & I were of course spoiled by them but most importantly we are given their love and support. Can I get an "Awwww!" {sorry Bruce this was the best one I got.}

Livi got clothes, a bath set, a game (for her Nintendo DS.....shhhh don't tell!) and a special necklace:

Nevaeh got clothes, a bath set, a baby doll and accessories, and a special necklace:

and Jackson got a phone, some clothes and a fun music toy.

But this was his favorite of the night. He would not get out of the babies pack n play:

Thank you Bruce and Woozie and Merry Christmas. We love you guys.

Simply Precious!

2011-12-23T19:11:00.000-08:00

Tonight we let the girls open up one present. This wasn't just any present though. This was a present that each of the girls picked out for each other. And it was all Olivia's idea. She came up to me last week and said she wanted to buy Nevaeh a present for Christmas using her piggy bank money.

This just goes to show how big this girl's heart is. She is always thinking of other people. She has been saving her money up for a Nintendo DS for the past year and didn't think twice about spending some of her hard earned money on her sister.

I knew Livi didn't expect anything in return from Nevaeh but I thought it was only fair for Nevaeh to give a present to Olivia.

The girls had so much fun picking out just the right present for $10 or less. We had to weigh the pros and cons between many different toys but finally came out with the perfect gift. I took each girl separately so they were able to feel totally independent and super secretive. This will definitely be a new tradition starting this year.

Olivia watched Nevaeh open hers first:

Now it's Olivia turn:

This experience just warmed my heart. The girl's were so proud and excited to give the other one their gift, it taught them the gift of giving and hopefully continues to grow the bond between these two sisters.

This picture = priceless!:

A baking fool.......

2011-12-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

Every year I get this great idea of baking a bunch of homemade goodies for the kid's teachers and family. I really do have good intentions with this idea but there is one problem.......I am NOT a baker. Ask me to cook and I will cook you up something fancy with a big ol' smile on my face.

Ask me to bake and I will bake you something burnt or messed up EVERY time. {I can't bake brownies to save the life of me!} So typically when your not good at something your not very fond of it. Thus I am not fond of baking. But like I said I had good intentions of doing something special for these wonderful people.

Here is what I started off with.....about $40 worth of ingredients:

Here is what my list of recipes to bake looked like {click the name for the recipe}:
~Cookies and Cream Oreo Bark
~White Trash
~Night Owl S'mores Treat
~Reese Krispies {these little puppies were good}
but here is my personal favorite:
~Chocolate-Coconut Bars
and my annuals....or perennials whatever you call it
~Rolo Pretzel Bites and Hershey M&M Pretzel Bites

The only question I asked myself was: "What is a non-baker like myself doing with so many ingredients and recipes?" My only answer was, "God be with me!!!"

I ended making 5 of the 7 recipes and lasted a whole 4 hours in the kitchen...BAKING! and yes, I managed to mess something up. Melting chocolate (white chocolate at that) is not an easy thing to do. When you have to cook something at just the right temperature and just the right amount of time.....I just don't have the patience.

*Ask me how my {home made} caramel dipped apples turned out with my BFF Raina one year......let's just say a lot of money was thrown in the trash.

Needless to say I cringe when I think about melting something and having to watch the temperature. So while I was cring-aly melting my chocolate I accidently {slightly} over cooked it which made my Oreo bark resemble something of cat litter....or so my kids confessed. It still tasted good, just didn't have the "it factor" in it's looks. So this my friends, is why my White trash was not made this year.

Here was my end result......made with the most love a non-baker could have:

Next year, please remind me to stay true to my talents and avoid baking at all costs. =)

Nevaeh's School Christmas Program

2011-12-20T07:55:00.000-08:00

Oh how I love kids. They are just so cute, innocent and fun to watch. If you asked me what this program was about I would respond with...."I'm not a gambling kinda girl BUT my best bet would be on the birth of Jesus Christ (our Savior)." =)

I was far too busy being ADD by looking at all the kids, trying to take pics, looking at every body in the audience (oops) and wondering how much longer it would be till my star singer would come out. I'm talking about Nevaeh of course.

Before the program Steve had to pack up all the kids and camera's and such since I was working late so I had to compromise with my point n shoot camera. There's Nevaeh with a deer in headlights look:

Afterwards they always have a full bar of snacks, cookies and punch. Here's the super proud grandparents:

And here is a picture of Laynee and Nevaeh with their BFF watches Laynee gave as a gift tonight.

You would never guess Laynee and Nevaeh are super close in age by looking at the height difference in this picture. Laynee is a whopping 6 hours older. My oh my, we have such little pip squeaks.

Christmas par-tay #3......

2011-12-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up in our hotel beds {early, thanks to our lovely kiddos} and headed on over to the main room for some breakfast with the family. Immediately after we ate our smorgus board of food we got into our suits and enjoyed the hop tub one last time.

We left around 11am in hopes to make it to our 3rd family party over at Steve's parents house by 1pm. We made it close and most importantly we made it just in time for the food to be eaten. Oh ya, and see his dad's side of the family too! Juuuuust kidding. ......well kinda. =)

Bruce's daughter (from another marriage) was able to make it with her kids and grand kids. This was fun to see and I know it meant a lot to Bruce & Susie.

What a blessing it is to have these relationships with family but boy am I beat. Nightie night y'all!

Ro-AD trip for the annual Rodenhouse Christmas!

2011-12-17T07:44:00.000-08:00

Pretty much every year the Rodenhouse Christmas is held up in Grand Rapids, MI where most everyone is from. It's a 2 hour drive up so we thank the Good Lord for mini vans and DVD player's. =)

As soon as we got to the hotel (around 2pm-ish) where the par-tay was at we unloaded our luggage while Livi made sure of keeping up her hotel tradition.......jumping from one bed to the other as soon as we enter.

Nevaeh was excited to join the fun as well.

Our little blessings:

As soon as we finished un-packing we all headed to the pool for some swimming time.

The party was to start around 5:30pm so we got re-dressed and headed up to love on Grandma.

.....while Steve and Jackson finished out a good game of IU basketball in the room. Daddy taught you to say "IU" while punching overhead into the air.

The rest of the evening was filled with lots of family, food, games, a little visit from Santa, scrooge with our card themed presents, and more swimming time.

Jackson showed off his 4-step walking skills:

While Livi showed off some dance moves in these fun dress up clothes Aunt Mary gave to her. Rainbow leg warmers? Yes please! =)

Around 11:00pm all the girls took over Laura's room for some tv watching--nail painting--Ipad touch playing--fun. G-ma Great even got in on the action......

After this I walked G-ma upstairs for some card playing with the late night-ers. Mark, Betsy, Tamara, G-ma, Julie and I played card games till 1am! We all literally had to tell 92 year old G-ma WE were tired and couldn't compete with her anymore. She outlasted us all. Haha.

The girls were still wide awake as well, although I think Livi was trying super hard b/c her eyes were shot and she fell asleep within minutes of taking her back to our room.

I love my little mini me. She inherited my crazy-goofy personality and I love that about her!!! I just hope she embraces it and doesn't hold it against me. =)

As always, what a fun time spent with family. Merry {early} Christmas!!!

CCW's Christmas Program

2011-12-14T19:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight was the girls Christmas program at church. Olivia has been inviting two of her closest friends to church with us every Wednesday night for awhile now, so they were both apart of the concert as well.

Here are the 3 ~~partner's in crime~~ adorable sheep; Livi, Kamryn and Ella How is it possible they are all this cute!?

and of course we had to have a silly picture:

They all did a wonderful job at singing their songs but Nevaeh stole the show with her cute little self singing her heart out on stage while enunciating every. single. word. (front row, 2nd one in.....look at that tongue!).

Church programs are simply the best. No others quite compare in my opinion. Good job CCW kiddos and a special thanks to Naldia, Shayne, Irma, Kathy & Heather for all your hard work & commitment to these precious ones.

A trip to Santa and some fun with Dulce Ivonne.

2011-12-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

We took the kiddos to see Santa Claus today at Linton's which was such a blessing. It was a BEAUTIFUL set up, a nice Santa, and no waiting in line. All they asked was for a bag of non-perishable food they will be donating to a local food pantry. How could you go wrong with this place. I was in love!

Last year Nevaeh was still in the "I'm scared of that over sized guy with a long beard and red outfit" kinda phase but she surprisingly went first this year. She of course asked for yet another baby to add to her collection of 20. Oh my goodness how cute and sweet does she look!

Next up was Olivia. She is in the phase of being a little too cool for Santa these days. A lot of her friends are telling her Santa is not real so she is battling if she still believes. Pssshh. Who doesn't believe in Santa? She asked for a Nintendo DS for the 3rd year in a row. =)

And Jackson. Budder boy, Jackson. This will be his first Christmas and his first time meeting Santa. Let's see how that played out:

Nope, he didn't want NOTHING to do with Santa! Haha. Strike 3 with all of our kids balling their eyes out with Santa and making this exact same face. All he asked for this year was to never see this man again! =)

Next up, a nice family picture. Steve was a little bit of a Grinch with this decision of mine but he got over it. =)

After this I pushed for ONE more picture. A picture of all 3 kiddos together with Santa. This is how it turned out.....

Jackson was just not impressed with this man.

After all this fun was over we headed into Goshen to pick up one of my friends. She is sooooooo cute and super sweet. I found out recently that she has never had the privilege of tasting Olive Garden food. I knew I would quickly change that.

She wanted to meet the family so we picked her up around 2pm so she could come back to the house to hang for awhile. She had a super fun time playing Wii with Olivia, flirting with Jackson and answering questions from Nevaeh about why her feet are broke.

Ivonne was born with Cerebral Palsy which affects the brain and nervous system causing complications with moving, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking. Thankfully, Ivonne is very high functioning so she is super smart (she is in normal classes with all A's) but just has difficulty with her physical attributes. She is able to walk with a walker but it's a lot faster/easier for someone to carry her so Steve was able to help out. And trust me she looooved that. She later told me how cute and muscular he is. I told her he's mine! =)

Ivonne's real name is Dulce, which means sweet in spanish. This pretty much sums her up. She is also always dressed to the tee with her outfits, jewelery and hair accessories. They always have to match. She talks about boys constantly (especially Justin Beiber) and she is a Christian.

So it was just the girls that went to Olive Garden. Ivonne, Livi and I.

We had a nice waitress but had terrible service. The bread sticks were super salty, Ivonne wasn't impressed with the salad (say what?....I was trying to convince her otherwise but she wouldn't listen), and Ivonne ordered chicken in her pasta that came out after she was done eating. So overall Ivonne was not impressed. I think she'll just stick to her home roots of Mexican food.

She did on the other hand get some good entertainment by Olivia. She is a complete goof ball.

Livi's School Christmas Program.

2011-12-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

Tonight was our first of 3 Christmas programs this year. I took Livi back to her room first thing and she actually wanted a picture with some of her friends. And no, they didn't call each other to wear green it was a wide spread 2nd grader thing. =)

It is so much fun to watch these cutie heads show off what they've been learning over the past couple months, especially if you have a good seat and view. We, unfortunately did not, so it was a little hard to pay attention to and see what was going on 150 feet back and through the heads of hundreds of people.

I managed to make my way up closer to snap a pic with my handy dandy point n shoot. It's not the best quality but it beats carrying around my big ol' SLR any day. =)

The program tonight was for 2nd and 3rd graders, with 2nd graders performing first. I asked Steve if we could leave after she was done and he was shocked I would ask such a thing. He thought that was quite rude.....

until literally half the gym high tailed it out of there. I guess that's common courtesy around here. So we followed along.

Once we all met up in her room we took a couple pictures and made it home safely. Good job, baby girl!

Ohhhhhh, Nevaeh.........

2011-12-05T19:01:00.000-08:00

you are just something else. God has created you so uniquely special with that spunky attitude of yours. Some days I love it and some days I, well, don't love it? Today was one of those days.

As I was trying to get ready to take you and your brother to the library I had to deal with some major issues at hand. One of them being a temper tantrum thrown by Jackson because heaven forbid I put him down for ONE second while I tried to get ready. I ended up applying eyeliner while holding you, Jackson. I'm sure I looked straight goth by this point. =)

The other tantrum being thrown {simultaneously, Lord please help me} was thrown by the one and only, Nevaeh. You are majorly obsessed with wearing leggings so when I dressed you in jeans, a tank top (just to make you happy) and a purple shirt, you through yourself on the ground and cried the whole 10 minutes I took to get ready.

You screamed over and over, "I look like a Bob mommy!....I just want to look like a woman!"

Now, I know your probably wondering what a "Bob" is and I questioned that too. I'm assuming it's what sissy and I call hillbilly's, "Billy Bob's". Or maybe you were just getting your point across that you feel like a boy in jeans. Whatever it was, it was reee-donk-ulous.

Look how cute this outfit is (especially just to go to the library in for Pete's sake) =) I thought you looked like a fun, beautiful, hip woman. But mom's don't know nothing, right?

We finally made it to the library and your horns slowly sank in while your halo came out to play for a bit. You have really improved with your computer skills and you can finally control the mouse and play games by yourself. Your favorite is the Dora games. I'm super proud of you!

Jackson and I tried to read books and put puzzles together while you did your thang but that didn't last long for budder boy. He was allllll over the place and would not stop flirting with the librarian. He kept crawling over to her while waving and saying Hiiiiii. Thankfully this did not get old for her.

You of course helped mother your brother too. What a big helper and lover you are!!!

Nevaeh, I would never change your personality for a second. I love you just the way you are. I will however continue to work on that behavior/obedience of yours. =)

Tara and Ryan's Family Photos

2011-12-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

I was super excited when Tara contacted me to take her family pictures for Christmas. It was supposed to be a surprise for her momma so I was sworn to secrecy. =)

I knew this would be a quick shoot considering how chilly it is outside and the simplicity of this family. All they wanted was a couple family pictures but I naturally turned it into a little more than that and ~~may have~~ put poor Ryan out of his comfort zone with the whole candy cane get up. Haha.

They all did so amazing and made it super fun. I always know I will get a good laugh when I am with Tara, she's a funny girl. And sweet Maddie would have stayed with me all day hamming it up for the camera if her momma would have let her. I see a future career in modeling.

Thank you Ryan, Tara, Taylor and Maddie for choosing me and trusting me take your family photos. I hope to see you again reeeeal soon! =) Here are a few of my favorites: God Bless!!!

A girls night at improv.

2011-12-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

A girls night out is how I ended my week as a single mom raising 3 kids ALONE. Let me tell you how badly I needed this. I really do love those adorable kids of mine but this momma needed some adult social interaction that involved LOTS of laughs.

Steve got home from the Louville show late last night and had the absolute worst day ever which evolved into me having a no good, very bad day. Steve ended that note with flowers for me and some good ol' talking & cuddling time till the wee hours of the morning. Love that guy!

So anyways, tonight Steve watched the kids so I could enjoy some girl time. A friend of mine is involved in an Improv show that is held downtown Goshen. She invited me to come watch her so that's what we did.

Mary, April and I shared a bottle of wine and enjoyed some true entertainment in this small town theatre of G-town. These people were quite hilarious and we all agreed we would be back for more. They did a good job of mixing all different acts up and had 2 teams that battled each other.

We really enjoyed the blue team which of course had Angie on it. =)

After we got called out in front of every one for leaving a tad early (embarrassing), we met up at Harrison's with another group of friends. We stayed for a bit, saw some of the crew from improv and then made a dash to get home to our families.

What a fun night improv people, we will be back for more. Promise!

Jackson's 11 month milestones

2011-12-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

Whew! Another month has come and gone making this little man another month older. I have an 11 month old BOY. Crazy, I tell ya. Sometimes it's still hard to believe that we have a boy.

I'm not sure a whole lot has changed since last month's update besides the fact that he gets cuter and cuter by the day and his personality shines through his cute self.

He did meet his great grandma Connie for the first time at sissy's baptism:

He is still ALL over the place and loves to get into things he should not. Like the lazy Susan full of spices:

and the girls pencil box that conveniently happened to have pencil shavings inside. Jackson had fun with that! "Oooops, did I do that?!"

I took some pictures for my neighbor, Carmen who is starting up her own Etsy shop for bows and onsies. She needed a boy model for the onsies and knew he would be a perfect fit:

until he got tired of sitting for more than 2 seconds and wasn't sure of the Mohawk mom gave him. So we gave up.

He looks like such a monkey in that picture. He must take after his sissy, Olivia. Daddy always joked around about her looking like an orangutan when she was this age. Mean daddy! =)

Speaking of monkey's......he got this fun dancing monkey for Christmas and loved it. What a little monkey.

Did I mention he got his good looks from his daddy? Look at those plush lips:

He loves the water and loves to suck on his bottom/top lip to make goofy faces:

He is making some head way with his walking but he's still not there. He can stand up on his own in the middle of the room, takes his 4 steps and then realizes it's much faster to crawl still. This is the best video I got, this was taken after he had been walking some and was a little irritated we wanted more:

We all love you to pieces big boy!!!

Our first snow fall.....

2011-11-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

Of course the worst of the worst winter weather happens to make it's appearance the week Steve is gone in Louisville, KY for work. It didn't start snowing till around 2:00 pm yesterday afternoon but it crept up on us fast. By the time I left work at 6:00 pm my van was literally covered in about 6 in of rainy, thick snow.

To make matters worst I didn't have an ice scrapper in my van yet so I had to use my umbrella to scrape my van down.......I also didn't wear a jacket today (just a vest and long sleeve shirt) which meant I didn't have gloves either. Brilliant, I know. It was just a bad situation all around.

My parents were able to help pick up the girls so it was just a matter of me making it home but I feared this would not happen. It was thee worst driving conditions I've ever drove in, hands down. Main Street was only one lane, at that. We were driving 20 mph on SR 15 and that still felt too fast. I couldn't see a darn thing in front of me and there was tons of cars that had alreaddy slipped off the road.

But with prayer and talking on the phone to my BF Mary (ooopers), I finally made it home safe and sound 45 minutes later. Praise God!

So this morning, Livi was super excited to hear she had a 2 hour delay. Ella came over and played till the bus came......

and I was able to get my work out in by shoveling the drive way. I sent this picture to Steve to show him what he's missing out on. =/ But I guess they had dreary, rainy weather the whole week so I suppose I'd rather see this pretty white stuff.

As soon as Livi got home from school she ran outside to build her first snowman of the season. I didn't want any part of this (Winner mom right here!) so I supplied her with the carrot, coal, hat and scarf and took her picture; she did the rest. =)

Happy first snow fall of the season!!! .......and many more.........

A Datema-style Christmas celebration

2011-11-26T20:00:00.000-08:00

This morning we met at my parents house to start off our Christmas celebration by opening gifts and eating a quick brunch before heading out to Shipshewana for some fun at Splash Universe. Luckily, everyone was able to make it:

the 5 grand kids with G-ma and Pa-pa:

G-ma handed out her yearly gift tradition to each of her grand kids. Olivia gets snow globes, Nevaeh gets angels, Alex gets cars, Jackson gets tractors and Ali gets butterfly's:

Our gift from G-ma Rodenhouse this year was spent on a one night stay at Splash Universe for our family. Thank you G-ma for your gift of love that brought us mucho fun and lots of quality time together!!!

Here is what the inside looks like. It has a lazy river, a little kids pool, this gigantic water playground with tons of slides, a hot tub (for adults only), a dual vortex water slide that will knock your socks off and a huge bucket that fills up every 10 minutes and splashes water over the entire playground.

Olivia, Nevaeh and Jackson had a blast in the water..........

In fact, you couldn't keep Livi tied down in one spot too long. She was bouncing from one place to the next and made new friends while she was at it. Her favorite? The Dual vortex that she went down at least 40 times, no joke:

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure that was every one's favorite......including little Nevaeh, who was scared at first and then we couldn't stop her:

So. Much. FUN!

Here is some pictures of Uncle Matt & Livi getting poured on by the huge bucket:

Have I ever mentioned how handsome my boys are????? WOW is all I have to say about this picture.....and dreamy too. =)

Betsy, Livi and I challenged each other to walk across these lilly pads......let me tell you, it was NOT easy!

I'm pretty sure Alex did not move a foot from the kids pool the entire time. He was obsessed with the little slides and made lots of new buddies.

Once it got closer to dinner we all headed back to my parents room for some pulled pork sandwiches (yummo) and other snack foods. But as soon as our food digested you better bet we headed back down for some more fun.

First, we stopped in the arcade room for some ski ball, Deal or no Deal and "the hot seat":

then we watched a puppet show for a bit:

and then swam until they kicked us out at 9:00pm.

As we were walking back the girls got invited to to a dance that was to start shortly after 9pm. These girls would never pass up an opportunity to dance to some Justin Bieber so they were sooooo there! =)

and rocked it out all night long:

On our way back Betsy & I got into a little trouble ourselves. She had me laughing so hard I'm pretty sure I wet myself a little bit. See these carts?

She had a bright idea to put each of her feet on both carts.....which by the way have wheels. So as she stood there goofing off, they rolled to each side causing her to do the splits while my dad tried to help her off, as she was literally stuck. He was unsuccessful for the first 5mintues while all I could do was laugh. I couldn't even take a picture I was laughing so hard. So, so funny!!!

A Cousin Photo Shoot

2011-11-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

My parents requested one thing for Christmas and that was a picture of all their grand kids together; but with all of our busy schedules and the crazy weather we've been having it really limited us in our attempts. Well, today happened to be a fantastic day outside for this last minute secret gift that didn't seem possible.

We waited till after naps and then met at Linton's to snap some pictures of the kiddos together. I was a little scared of how this wold turn out with trying to get 5 kids to #1 look in the direction of my camera, #2 sit for longer than 2 seconds and #3 smile!

Well, magic was in the air because we were able to get at least 3 winners. That was in between Jackson and Ali staring off into space, Nevaeh loving on the babies, Alex jumping up every 2 seconds and Livi calmly starring at the camera with a permanent smile. Here are some of the funny outtakes to start off with:

One of my absolute favorites:

And here are the winners.......I think we did pretty good:

We ended up giving everyone a 5x7 & wallets and ordered a puzzle and mouse pad of the "1st winner" of the grand kids. Merry Christmas Mom & Dad!!! =)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T13:21:00.000-08:00

A {few} of the things that I am grateful for this year:
~My family (duh) but also the newest member of our family, Jackson.
~Steve has a job. Amen. (I'm not necessarily fond of what is to come with all the traveling but we are able to support our family).
~My personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
~The fact that I have 2 jobs I LOVE. I am able to educate & heal people on one hand and capture so much joy & love for families on the other hand.
~Our health......even though this year has been a nightmare with medical bills (the birth of Jackson, my hernia repair, Steve's emergency appendectomy and Jackson's surgery) I am still grateful for the health we do have.
~The fact that I have been consistently exercising for the past 6 months or so. This excites me for my overall health and the fact that my weight hasn't been this low since we married 7 years ago. With that being said, my stomach will NEVER be the same after kids....and I am not grateful for this. =/

Anyways, this was supposed to be my Holiday at work however our department was so slow I didn't have to go in. Grateful. So we made our annual trip to Wakarusa for Steve's extended side of the family for lunch.

Look at this cute, crafty little guy:

and my cute, handsome men:

Did I mention how grateful I am for these little rascals?

And last but not least I am grateful for the love, honesty and commitment this man has made to God, myself and our family. I just love him.

Please excuse Jackson's eyes here. He may not be fully aware of what was going on after eating an entire plate FULL of food which included turkey. =)

An early Christmas present

2011-11-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

So early on in my motherhood I decided I wasn't going to pierce your ears as a baby. Not that I am against this but I wanted you to personally choose whether or not you wanted holes in your ears and once you did choose to have them (come on, what little girl DOESN'T want their ears pierced) I wanted it to be something special we did together once you got older.

Well, you've been asking for over a year now to get your ears pierced but every time I say "let's go!" you chicken out. I'm not sure what was different about today but you woke up determined to do this so I didn't hesitate for a second; I called Claire's for information and made the arrangements.

On the way there you swayed back and forth with your decision but I told you it was a done deal. "Sowy Charlie." Daddy met us there and you tried to be so brave.

But the fear of pain won over and we had a little melt down. I knew as soon as it was over you would be happy about your choice so we didn't let you back out.

Daddy held your hand the entire time and it was over in seconds. I made sure there was 2 people there to pierce at the same time so you could have it done in one shot.

I think the pain was everything you imagined it to be (and some) but it was quickly forgotten when you saw that bling in your ears. We are super proud of you babe and you couldn't be more gorgeous. Merry {early} Christmas!!! =)

Olivia's Baptism Day

2011-11-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

Every baptism at CCW is super special and exciting but this day took it to a whole new level for Steve and I. Our amazing daughter, Olivia Faith Adkins chose to dedicate her life to Jesus on this day and for that we are beyond ecstatic. Here is her reasoning, "I love God, it will make him very happy and I want to show everyone that I love God."

We are so proud of her and the 7 other people that got baptised today. We had a celebration here on Earth and I know God and his angels are celebrating as well. "Let all the world know that Jesus SAVES!!!"

After Olivia made her decision a few weeks ago, she has been NON-stop talking about how excited she is. She had her whole day planned out and it looked a little something like this: "I'll invite a ton of friends and family to my baptism and then we will come home to celebrate with lunch, a toast (with sparkling grape juice of course), a game where I write different things down on a piece of paper about God and then everyone will take one and read it aloud, a craft..........and then I think she finally came up for air. =)

I can't thank those enough who took the time out of there day to come watch our baby girl commit her life to Jesus and to those who have been praying for her. Thank you!!!

Our #1 surprise....G-ma great made it the morning of, all the way from Grand Rapids, MI. She didn't want to miss it for the world and that was so, so special and meant a lot to both Olivia and I. (her one of 25 GREAT grand kids).

and a special shout goes out to Aunt Mary and Uncle Chuck for waking up at the wee hours of the morning to drive G-ma down and to also be a part of this special day. Thank you!!!

G-ma Susie was unfortunately sick but Gpa Adkins was there, G-ma and G-pa Datema, your Aunt Betsy and Uncle Mark, and of course your #1 supporters; your Dad, Mom, Nevaeh and Jackson.

Another special guest that meant the world to Olivia was her teacher, Mrs. Van Daele and her husband. What an amazing teacher she is!!!

Olivia had several of her friends that couldn't make it but was super happy to see Ella and her whole family there:

it also meant a lot to have my besties there as well. Which was April and Aron (Ella's mom and dad), Mary and Megan,

and the one and only Raina:

I know God has BIG ways HE will be using Olivia to further his kingdom and can't wait to see them. Please continue to pray for Olivia and our family.

"Train a child in the way he/she should go, and when he/she is old he/she will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

Steve and I take this to heart and believe we not only need to teach our children the truth but we also need to live out and demonstrate to others the crazy love Jesus has for every one of His children.

Our Christmas Family Photo Shoot

2011-11-18T04:30:00.000-08:00

Every year I make what others would say, "a big deal" about getting a nice family picture to send out in our Christmas cards. Ummm, what do you expect from a photographer??? =)

Well every year my momma gets forced into taking these nice family pictures but let me tell you, there is nothing nice about me when we are taking them. It's just a stressful nightmare. I have to worry about posing, getting the kids to look, making sure my mom is doing everything right.........it's a big deal! =)

So I thank you mom for putting up with my crankiness and craziness and for getting a "few" good shots of us......out of 200. Jackson's just not into the whole picture taking scene and therefore would NOT look in the direction of the camera. He's "looking" in the picture on our cards only b/c I asked 2 kids that were playing basketball to stop their game and bounce the ball behind my mom. Ha. =)

Here are the 3 finalist:

And the winner..............

The picture actually turned out exactly how I envisioned it. I wanted a fun, modern/urban style with these fun non-traditional bright colors.
Merry Christmas to ALL!!!

The Barth Family Photo Shoot

2011-11-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

If I haven't said it a hundred times before, FB is an amazing source of referrals for this little hobby/side job of mine......and I thank you. Really, I do. I am very thankful for FB, friends and returning clients that keep my passion for photography alive!!!

Jessica contacted me take her family photos to send out in her Christmas cards this year so I was super happy we were able to get them in on time AND with decent weather. It was a little chilly this day with some high winds but we all survived and they turned out super oober cute.

Thank you Barth Family for choosing me and trusting me to take your family photos. I hope to see you again in the near future. Here are some of my faves: God Bless!!!

Lauren's 4 yr Photo Shoot

2011-11-13T13:17:00.000-08:00

When Shelly contacted me about taking Landry's photos she also asked if I could take Lauren's 4 year old pictures. Well, of course I can!

Lauren and Nevaeh (my daughter) hit it off from the very start so they were able to play, jump on the couch, play with Barbie's, and eat corn dogs and Popsicle's up until it was Lauren's turn for pictures. Lauren & I ran over to the farm across the street and snapped her pictures within 15-20 minutes. It was that easy!

I have never met a young child that liked to pose as much as my own child, Olivia. She may even have her beat. So Shelly, if I didn't tell you this then, I'm telling you now......you need to get this girl in modeling ASAP! She was a total natural and is as gorgeous as can be.

Thanks again for choosing me and trusting me to take Lauren's 4 year pictures. Here are some of my faves: God Bless!!!

Landry 6 month Photo Shoot

2011-11-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

I was super honored when Shelly contacted me to take little Miss Landry's 6 month photos. Her regular photographer, "the amazing Darcy Holsopple" is on maternity leave right now so I got to fill in on this round and I had soo much fun.

It always makes my job super easy when #1 the subjects are so amazingly beautiful and #2 when they have them dressed to the tee from head to toe; and that is what took place today.

The only request Landry's mom had was to try to get her true personality to show through in her pictures. She was such a good baby but made us work hard for her some smiles so it was a good thing her favorite sister was there to play peek a boo with her to bring them out. All in all I think we did a pretty darn good job at capturing her personality. =)

Thank you Shelly for choosing me and trusting me take your daughter's photos. I had a lot of fun talking with you and meeting your daughters. Here are some of my faves: God Bless!!!

How is this much beauty possible?

and if this picture doesn't show personality right here.....I don't know what does. LOVE it!!! =)

In honor of our veterans......

2011-11-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

What is a veteran?
A "veteran" - whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to, and including his/her life."

Thank you ALL for sacrificing your life to help protect ours!!! I wanted to do a small act of kindness in honor of a few local veterans here in our own town; so I whipped up some patriotic cupcakes to take down to Greencroft.

We (Olivia and 2 of her besties Kamryn and Persephone) ended up talking to and sharing some love to only 13 out of the approx 21.8 million veterans living in the United States to date.

I would like you to meet 13 of those people that sacrificed their lives for you.

George Lampl: CPS- WWII

John Ivy: WWII Army Air Corp

Geza Toth: Hungarian Army - WWII

Doyle Lunger: Army

Charles Sloan: Army

Jeffrey H Marvin: Army Air Corps - WWII Europe

Delbert Cordell: NavyWWII

Violet Krider: WWII Army

James Copsey: Air force, 1944-1946

Bastian Hoogenboom: WWII Air Force

Not pictured:
Justin "Kirk" Dickens: Army, Korean War
Anatoly Kononov: WWII Infantry; radio operator
Harry Dooley: Army- Korea

Cassie 2012 SENIOR Representative

2011-11-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

I was super excited when Serena had contacted me about taking Cassie's Senior pictures. This family is very special to me as I have known them for a long time - through my childhood church.

In fact, I remember when Cassie was an itty bitty baby. And now she has grown up into such a beautiful, amazing, God fearing young woman. She has a heart of gold.

And that is why I asked her to be my 2012 Senior Representative. You will be seeing her again in the Winter and Spring and I am super happy about that.........even if she decides to kick a soccer ball right smack dab in my face again. She's that cool. =)

Thank you Serena and Cassie for choosing me and trusting me to take your Senior pictures. I had a blast and can't wait for the next round. Here are some of my faves: God Bless!

and here is her beautiful momma:

Baby Lucas - Newborn Photo Shoot

2011-11-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

Baby Lucas is just 5 days old in these pictures and I'm not gonna lie, I was a tad bit nervous before this shoot. Mainly b/c mom told me he has been pretty colicky since he's been born and this means only one thing; colic + a photo shoot = a loooong shoot.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised with how amazing this little guy was. I have no clue what mom was talking about!? He was a complete angel.......or my baby whisperer magic came into play yet again. =)

This little guy did not wake up through the entire shoot and let me do pretty much anything. Mom had the little space heater going and I think this helped tremendously. I was in and out and was even able to get a few family shots in.

Here are some of my faves:

Jackson's 10 month milestones

2011-11-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

My budder brown is already 10 months old! Steve had to point out to me that in 2 more months I will no longer have an "infant" and this makes me extremely sad. I could seriously pop out baby after baby and care for them all day long......if only they would stay babies.

Buuuuut, in the real world they do in fact grow out of the baby stage and turn into the toddler stage that I oh so terribly despise. To put it lightly, I'm not a fan of the 2-4 year old range. I don't have the patience.

But this post is about Jackson......at 10 months. An age I looooove. So let's get started. These are his 10 month milestones:

~ Let's start off with, he officially say momma now. It's about time buddy!

~ He also picks up the phone, remote, toy and puts it up to his ear and clearly says "hi"

~ He is starting to say ba-ba when he wants his bottle.

~ He continues to win me over in the handsome department:

~ This little peanut LOVES to eat! He no longer eats baby food and is totally eating normal table food cut into tiny pieces. I seriously think he eats more than the two girls combined. I'm scared.

~ He continues to sleep like a champ. He goes to bed around 8:00pm and doesn't wake up till 8-8:30am. That is 12 hours folks. Let's give him a round of applause. =)

~ He then wakes up for a morning bottle and plays for about an hour and sleeps for another 2 hours (10am to 12pm). He eats lunch, plays and sleeps one more time for another 2 hours (2pm to 4pm). He even sleeps when mommy is out shopping...... =)

~ I forgot to add how he loves to be tickled right before bed. He has the most contagious laugh ever. It's also scary fast how quick it is to lay him down for his naps. He's one of those kids that let's you know when it's time and just goes to bed. Love him!

~ This boy is on the go at all times. A true boy! He loves to get into things.....like 20 times a day:

~ This also means he is too busy to look up and could care less about an awesome photo op. Is he really my kid? haha

~He loves his baths! He loves to play with the water rushing out of the faucet but can never seem to catch it........

~ He is still not walking!!! I am definitely not complaining about this b/c as you remember I want him to stay a baby as long as possible but with how early this boy was with everything else I would have bet he'd be walking by now. He is standing for about 10 seconds on his own and has taken up to 4 steps but then realizes it's faster to crawl.

~ He is a little stud and I can't believe not one of these pictures shows off his Mohawk I do almost daily. This was one of the reasons I reeeally wanted a boy. For a Mohawk. =)

Could the men in my life get any more handsome? I think not......

~ And last but not least I have to leave you with this hysterical video. I have one request though, please don't turn me into child protective services. I really don't video tape my son being tortured on a daily bases, just weekly. This video was taken a couple days after we had some scares in Menard's with some Halloween masks. He sounded the exact same...........

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T19:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight we did the normal crock pot chili at our house with both sets of grandparents and my brother's family while passing out candy to all those dressed up in costumes.

As always, it was filled with good food, lovely people and and fun times!!!

Sugar Grove's Trunk or Treat

2011-10-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

Since Olivia has dance practice tomorrow night {on Halloween} we won't be able to go trick or treating in our neighborhood. That is how we ended up at Sugar Grove Church for their trunk or treating tonight.

I have to say I was very impressed and felt very blessed. (I totally didn't mean to rhyme so awesomely right there). It was nice to attend a free outreach to the community that we didn't belong to and see all the love they had there.

They had tons of trunks all decorated and people dressed in costume to hand out candy:

and some fun entertainment while you waited in line:

and get this, they even had a Gladiator bounce game that I couldn't wait to try out. Livi was pretty excited that I would want to this. You betcha!!!

After I won (hehe) we made our way inside for some free dinner followed by tons of games in the gymnasium:

My two handsome men:

We started out here at 5:30pm and closed the place down at 8:00pm. The girls had a blast and were even more excited to get a balloon shape of their choice. This guy was amazing and made anything you could think of:

of course Livi had him make her a peace sign:

and Nevaeh wanted a tiger:

Thank you Sugar Grove Church for a super fun night of free entertainment and more candy to rot our kids teeth out. We felt blessed.

Gavin's 3 Month Photo Shoot

2011-10-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

You will be seeing a lot of this handsome little fella over the next year as he is my newest baby packager. I'm super excited about that!

We started out with his 3 month pics in his own pad and I'm so happy we did. We had great lighting and I could not get over this Chicago-style decorated home. His mommy and daddy should seriously consider owning their own HGTV show beacuase they sure know how to decorate. I was in photography prop heaven.

Mr Gavin was not a happy camper whenever his daddy would put him down but we figured out he likes a little Yo Gabba Gabba to brighten his day. Holly had good intentions with a fan that took 10 minutes to put together but I'm not sure how much that worked. =)

Thank you Peters family for choosing me and trusting me take little Gavin's milestone pictures. He sure is lucky to have such wonderful parents like you! Here are some of my faves: God Bless!!!

Downtown Trick or Treating

2011-10-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

I decided to surprise the kiddos today with the downtown trick or treating on Main Street. Nevaeh was at daycare getting ready for their after lunch nap so she pretty excited to see my face when I went to pick her up early. I invited Jack and Olivia (not to be confused with my Jack-son and Olivia) to come along too, so we followed Steve (not to be confused with my Steve) into Goshen.

This was our first year trying this out and I have to say it was pretty awesome. All the stores were equipped with tons of candy for all the treaters and it was super fun looking at all the creative costumes out there. Here's what our rug rats looked like:

We had Jack the ninja, little Olivia as a pink super girl, Livi the hippy, Jackson the giraffe, and Nevaeh the super woman.

The weather was a bit on the chilly side but we all survived. Steve was a gentleman and pulled the wagon that has a mind of it's own.

The two Olivia's:

The two boy's: (Jackson was pretty intrigued by the ninja)

The two sisters:

and my little chicklin's enjoying all the candy:

The Walker Family Photo Shoot

2011-10-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

This family couldn't be more beautiful..........and understanding at that. This is the photo shoot that I arrived to very unprepared. I started unloading my props and realized that I in fact forgot my camera!!!

Yes, you read that write. A photographer forget her camera to a photo shoot. It was just a bad morning all around. On my first attempt of leaving the house I drove about a mile down the road and felt my contact tear in half inside my eyeball. Let me tell you that is not fun....and you can't really shoot good pictures with one eyeball nor drive very well.

Anyways, this family is just as beautiful as ever and were so fun to work with. Even with 3 toddlers under the age of 3 we were able to get some amazing shots with all of them looking!

Thank you Walker family for choosing me and trusting me take your family photos! I hope to see you again. Here are some of my faves: God Bless!!!

Date Night....say what?!?!?!

2011-10-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight we stepped into the world of the unknown. DATE NIGHT. It has been 2 months too long since Steve and I have been able to enjoy a night out; kid and distraction free.

Since he was MIA in California for the last week at work....aka soaking up all the rays and enjoying the "single life" (I'm not jealous at all) while I stayed home and took care of 3 kids all by myself, he took it upon himself to arrange for a babysitter for this much needed date night.

And I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. He knew how to steal my heart at Olive Garden and made me feel like one lucky lady the entire night. From telling me how beautiful I am, to opening up car doors, to holding my hand, to sitting on the same side of the table as me (this may have been against his will), to the little taste of heaven that partied on my taste buds........

I was spoiled....... Life doesn't get much better than this.

Oh wait, yes it does. This is what I got to stare at the entire time. I am one lucky lady!!!

Thank you for filling up my love tank once again baby. I love ewes to the moon and back aaaand then some. ;)

A Willy Wonka {kinda} Day

2011-10-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today I volunteered in Olivia's classroom to help out with their Willy Wonka Day. It started at 12:30pm and the kids were split up into groups that rotated into different activities. They had a fudge making center, a scavenger hunt, a craft center, an advertisement writing center (this is where I was), and a private Willy Wonka candy room.

The fudge actually turned out pretty good and the ad writing was entertaining to say the least. Some of these kids imaginations blow my mind and it was neat to see and help out with the strengths/weakness's of each kids writing style.

But the candy room? Let's just say I wanted to be kid all over again. I was totally impressed with what Mrs Van Daele and one of the mom's whipped together. It was super creative and sooooo much fun for the kids.

By the time the party was over and it was time to go I was ready for a nap or a stiff drink would do. don't know how teacher's do this day in and out. Thank you teachers!!!

The 3 amigos:

It meant a lot to Livi that I came in to her class room and I would do it again in heartbeat for her. Love you baby girl.

This evening was dedicated to carving pumpkins with you kids:

We set up shop on the kitchen table and had each of you pick out your pumpkin and cleanse it's stomach full of seeds. Both of you were a little freaked out with the cold gooey mess but eventually you got over it:

Daddy helped Nevaeh and Mommy helped Olivia. A goal you girls set for us was......scary:

I'm pretty sure daddy won! =)

Here is our end result:

My Lovlies Photo Shoot

2011-10-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how obsessed with picture taking I am and especially of my own kids. I will admit it's ~~a little~~ over the top and they do not agree with my obsession in any way, shape or form.. But a little bribery never hurt anyone right?

Today was absolutely gorgeous out so I promised the kids a trip to the park AFTER we took a ~~few~~ lot of photos. I was trying to get a few more 9 monthers for Jackson and thought we should make it a sibling shoot as well. So off to their closets I went to coordinate.

During the photo shoot Olivia acted as mother hen trying to get everyone to cooperate as quickly as possible so she can get on with her day at the park. Jackson was totally oblivious of the fact that I wanted him to actually look at me for the pictures; he was constantly crawling away and looking down despite all our jumping and yelling that we were doing. Nevaeh is a challenge in itself. She is complaining about how much her shoes are hurting her and how much she looks like a boy and then BAM poses it up and steals the show.

I just LOVE those kids!!! Here are some of my faves:

The Miller {Extended} Family Photo Shoot

2011-10-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

This family is near and dear to my heart. They were my neighbors since I was a baby. I used to carry my chicken [buddy] in one hand everywhere I went......including the inside of their house. I bet they loved that! =)

I always looked up to Krissy and Kelly and wanted to be just like them. =) It was so much fun to finally meet their kids that I have seen pictures of and to see how much this beautiful family has grown. They were all so well behaved and braved the chilly windy weather.

Thank you for choosing me and trusting me to take your family pictures. Here are some of my faves: God Bless!!!

Happy Birthday Collin & Sammie!

2011-10-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

This morning was a little different in the fact that I had one extra kid and minus a husband. My heart goes out to all those single mom's out there. It's not easy on some days with Steve here let alone without him here x6 days. =( But like I said I have a pretty full schedule till he gets back so that's good for this ADD body of mine.

Today we celebrated Collin's 3rd Birthday and Sammie's 2nd Birthday over at the Metzger's. I can't believe how big these kiddos are getting. Crazy I tell you.

Collin's theme was of course super hero's. To say he is obsessed is an understatement. It's pretty cute how he stops and brings on his Hulk face and muscles.

Sammie's theme was Dora princess but this little girls wasn't feeling so hot on her party day. She sparked up when the presents and cake were brought out though.

It was very entertaining watching these two funny girls trying to set Collin's car track up for 30 minutes. No joke!

A Fall Dance Par-tay and a sleep-over.

2011-10-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

Olivia's dance has started up again for the year and she is not just in dance. She is in competition Hip Hop dance. That means practices are more intense and more involved as we will be traveling to 3 competitions plus her normal recital. We are looking forward to watching her bust her moves.

Tonight all the competition girls got together at the studio for a Fall party from 5pm to 9pm. I was able to drop off these pretty girls. Have FUN you dancing queens!!!

Since Steve is out of town for the next week, I have done a good job of filling up our schedule to keep our minds occupied. Tonight our neighbors Kiam and Steve invited me and the kids over for dinner.

It was very yummy and it was good for 30 minutes of adult talk. Until Nevaeh and little Olivia put their horns together and made up their minds that they were leaving the house. We tried to tackle this for a minute but they totally won. I ended up leaving with an extra girl so they could have a slumber party.

I was skeptical of how little Olivia would do considering she just turned 3 and this would be her first sleep-over at a friends house. Nevaeh was on cloud nine because this is her first time having a friend stay the night.

The girls did absolutely amazing and stayed up like rock stars. Literally. Till like midnight-one o'clock. They played on the computer, played house, played with Barbies, ate popcorn, and attempted to watch a movie.

I ended up moving them upstairs but regardless, they stayed up giggling, coloring and getting into FRUIT SNACKS?!? I didn't find this out until the morning.

Man, we are going to have our hands full with these girls. Wait a minute......we already do!

The Blosser Family Photo Shoot

2011-10-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

I was super excited when Melissa contacted me to take her family photos. Melissa and I graduated from high school together and it's been a long time since I've seen her sweet face.
We originally booked their session late October but when I saw the weather forecast for this weekend I thought it would be a safer bet to switch their session. Boy am I glad we did, it was beautiful out!!!

I had a lot of fun meeting her adorable kids and her very patient husband. =) After our first location which lasted half an hour he asks "Do we really need to go somewhere else? Don't you think you got enough?" HA!

I love how it is the highlight of the wife's day to take family pictures and it's the complete opposite of the husband's. It's more like doomsday. =)

Thank you Blosser family for choosing me and trusting me take your family pictures. Here are some of my faves: God Bless!

The Hoag Family Photo Shoot

2011-10-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

I was super excited when Stephanie had contacted me to take her family photos. We have a lot of mutual friends but have never really hung out so it was super fun getting to know her and her family a little bit.

They were very easy going and the kids were terrific......and suuuuuper cute! And I believe this is their first round of family pictures, ever. It was definitely time my friends. =)

Thank you Hoag family for choosing me and trusting me to take your family pictures. Here are some of my faves: God Bless!

I {Heart} Fall.

2011-10-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's that simple. I {heart} the smells of burning leaves, I {heart} sweatshirt weather, I {heart} coloful leaves, I {heart}mums, pumpkins, and pretty much everything about fall.

Here's what I'm talking about:

But most importantly I love spending it with family........

A Mary-Sunshine-y Night.

2011-10-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight I demanded a girls night out with a couple of my ladies so they could focus on some fun quality girl time instead of silly boys.

We met at my house and had a little photo shoot before going out.......I have no clue why this surprised the girls, they ought to know me by now.

I love everything about this picture. Good friends, amazing warm fall weather, a sexy man behind the camera and the color of the leaves are absolutely gorgeous! Just perfect.

So we started the evening at Sauk Trail (my new favorite restaurant) and had a little difficulty choosing what to order but after about 20 minutes we got it all figured out. No worries. I'm sure the waitress was not annoyed at all.

Of course we had amazing food, good company and lots of laughs. Me + Sunshine= a laughing hot mess and one very funny comedian......aka Mary.

After dinner we stopped at a special store to pick up some 40's. Yes, us ladies were "drinking some 40's". You'd totally have to hear our amazing accents as we said that same sentence over and over. I'm sure that wasn't annoying either. =)

We made it to Harrison Landing just in time to start the party by walking in the absolutely wrong door. Oopsies. We each had a drink, lost our hearing for a bit while a rock band played and then enjoyed some music by this girl:

She was seriously fab and she was singing to her man who had a smile from ear to ear. It was super cute. Have I mentioned how jealous I am of those who were blessed with singing voices? Super. Jealous.

Lakeshore took us to our next destination and I can honsetly say this is the first time in my life I have felt old. I wanted to take over the whole ID check b/c I was convinced they snuck in. Let me tell you, I did not like that feeling at all! I mean of course we still have "it" but we were the old ladies in the house.

And I guess it didn't make us look any younger when I was busting out all my best dance moves while snapping my fingers and Sunshine was clapping. Yes, snapping and clapping. They were all jealous.

See what I mean when I say we still have "it"? Boo-ya.

Hey, at least we didn't look like this:

Thank you Mary and Sunshine for such a fun night. Good times my friends. Good times.

Goshen's Oktoberfest.

2011-10-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight we took the kiddies to downtown Goshen for 1st Friday's which also happened to be Oktoberfest. I'm not sure exactly what that means but whatevs. We had a great time welcoming October into our lives.

We started out with.......food but of course. Hot dogs, hamburgers, and Ben's Soft Pretzels; however I was a little disappointed that Ben didn't offer cheese tonight. Who serves the world's most fabulous pretzels without cheese???? Just sayin'.

As we ate our din din I was entertained by many, many people. One of which would be this family...

It was a cute ol' grandpa and grandma walking this toddler around on a leash....er maybe the toddler was walking them around. Whichever it was I'm still not sold on the whole leash idea but I will not make any promises. You just may see Jackson sportin' one of these in the near future. And I will not be offended if you snap incognito pictures of the ridiculous situation and blog about it too. =)

After dinner we stopped at our church's tent for some of the world's famous apple dumplings and fought over every bite. Yumm-o!

Next we made it to the craft tent where they allowed each child to decorate a mini pumpkin for free. Even though the supplies was majorly picked through by the time we got there, the girls had a lot of fun decorating their own pumpkin.

And their finished product:

Sweet Sonia {Maternity} Photo Shoot

2011-10-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Sweet Sonia is a dear colleague of mine that I have grown pretty close to. When I found out that she was expecting (via text?!), I was a little shocked but super excited for her and her family. Sonia and her husband have been trying to conceive for awhile so this was big news.

She later told me that I was the one who had encouraged her to follow her dreams of another child despite her age. That meant a lot.

Well everyday on my way to work I have been passing this "bump" sign and keep thinking how cute that would be to have Sonia's belly next to it. So on one of our lunch breaks we went out and had a mini photo shoot and got some great shots.

Here are some of my faves. I can't wait to meet baby Lucas!!!

Jackson's 9 Month Photo Shoot

2011-10-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

Today randomly turned into a photo shoot with the one and only Jackson Adkins. We got dressed up to attend a baby shower and this turned into his 9 month photo shoot. =)

I'm gonna be honest this was one of the hardest one's yet. He is all over the place and was NOT interested in my camera or my annoying noises and claps for that matter. He just wanted to play.

I ended up getting some winners and took a few more on another night. I suppose this shall do. Here are some of my faves:

The Rink Family Photo Shoot

2011-10-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

This shoot was another FB referral so it's always fun meeting new people. This was a super fun photo shoot for many reasons.

#1 I haven't done a maternity shoot in FOREVER and had some super cute ideas I've been wanting to try.

#2 The family was just as cute as can be and I love watching a super nice daddy spoil his princess with gummies.

#3 The location. My new love. I found this well kept secret a month ago and have already had 3 shoots here. Obsessed.

Thank you Rink family for choosing me and trusting me to take your pictures. Here are some of my faves:

Linton's and a very happy momma.

2011-10-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

Apparently Mrs Metzger should have been named Mrs Linton's because that is where she spends all her time these days. She invited us along with her family to take the kids to the hay maze at Linton's today.

So as you can imagine it's a little chaotic for the men to supervise 6 kids while the girls browse. =)

Nevaeh totally wiped out on the moss near the playground area and ruined her shirt, Sammie tripped and ended up with a nice knot her head, Collin kept walking in taboo areas, and Ella and Livi would run off like little girls do. Jackson? He was a perfect angel as always.

Inside the greenhouse they had a hay maze set up for the kids to play and hide in so this occupied most of their time:

They even had an area decorated all pretty for a nice photo op:

And lastly, I was so super proud of my girls and myself today. It is a day that will forever be documented in history. My girls actually let me do their hair today and I was some what able to braid! It may not be perfect but it is one step in a direction that makes this momma happy!!!

This came about after I had a little break down the day before about how I buy and make all this cute hair attire and they refuse to wear it. How do these other mom's get their kids to first of all sit and let them comb their child's hair? I have a battle every. single. day.

And then to make braids and add cute hair attire that the girls actually leave in longer than 1 minute? Just how do they do it? I am super jealous.

But then again this is just karma rubbing it in my face. Because sadly this is how I rolled as a child. =/ Sorry mom.

A sweet 3 year old's Birthday Party Shoot

2011-10-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

Yulie had contacted me shorty after I took her family photos to see if I could take pictures at sweet Olivia's 3rd Birthday Party. I regretfully declined considering I have no real experience taking professional indoor photos.

Yulie asked me to reconsider so being the nice me I accepted. =) So needless to say I was super scared with how things would go. It didn't help that Yulie goes all out for her little princess so I knew she had high expectations.

The party was held at the South Bend Chocolate Factory, it was "Olivia the pig" themed so Yulie bought thee cutest party decorations ever. She bought and prepared tons of food and invited tons of guests.

It was super fun to be a part of their day and I was honored she asked me to take their pictures. Once I got home and uploaded the pictures into the computer though I quickly remembered why I didn't want to take the pictures. I was not happy with how they turned out. Yulie and I talked things out and got things figured out but this was a lesson learned. I will not take indoor photos until I have learned more with this.

Here are some faves of the day:

Happy 3rd Birthday Olivia!!!! =)

Besties.

2011-09-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

So Olivia "accidentally" got off the bus at Ella's today. She thought it was Thursday instead of Friday (uh huh). I'm not sure how that happened considering she just got off the bus there yesterday (Thursday) and April ended up taking the girls to the school's roller skating party last night (Thursday).

So when I went to pick Livi up the girls begged for a slumber party. These girls are manipulative so I caved. It would be a lot easier if they weren't so gosh darn cute. We left the house and surprised April at work.
Me: "Ella do you know where your mom works?"
Ella: "Yup, right by the liquor store!"

As we were pulling in Livi said "Ella I didn't know your mom works here, is she a Doctor?"
Ella: "Yup!"
Livi: "Well if she's a doctor than how come she didn't help me when I was choking the other night?"

The "choking incident" was a prank Livi played on April. She acted like she was choking and April ran downstairs panicking only to hear Livi say "juuuuuust kidding!" April was not happy to say the least and hopefully Livi learned her lesson to not cry wolf.

We got home after some errands, ate our favorite crock pot recipe around here and got ready for bed:

The girls got their pj's on and smiled their best BFF smile. Um, how old are you guys again? You look like your 10 years old.

Whenever Livi has a friend over to sleep, daddy makes the most comfiest bed for them right in front of the t.v. so they can watch a movie. Everyone wanted to help out this time.

Good night girls, enjoy your movie and get lots of sleep. Ella has a soccer game in the morning. And Nevaeh, get that thumb out of your mouth! =)

Jackson's 9 month Milestones

2011-09-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

So here we are again, another month has passed. I have ventured out twice now to snap some 9 month pictures and have one more to go until I am satisfied. Oops.

So what is Jackson doing at 9 months. Take a look:

~ He is waving mostly "bye" but will wave "hi" too.

~ He is still pulling himself up to everything and cruising around like no other but has not taken any steps on his own. He has stood for about 5 seconds.

~ He is handsome as ever:

~ He LOVES to play in the dirt! All boy here.

~ He gets into LOTS of stuff. Today it was sissy's orange marker. Looks like it tasted pretty good.

and blueberries that I left in his diaper bag........

and his favorite? The cat's water and food bowl. This is where he has encountered his first spankings. He thinks he's pretty funny but I'm not laughing when I have to clean up this mess 10 times a day.

~ He has this crazy one eyed squint when he is outdoors. Not sure if this is just a funny habit he's into right now or if his left eye is just super sensitive. Whichever it is, he's still a super cute popeye.

~ He's eating more and more table food. He loves pasta and peas. He's growing out of the pureed stuff....already!!! =/

~ He still loves to make us laugh. What a funny boy he is.

~ He says "da-da" ALL the time. Ma-ma? Only a handful of times. I'm not happy about this one either. And when I say "Say MA-MA", he purposefully and carefully enunciates "DA-DA!"

~ He's already had a major surgery at the ripe age of 9 months. =(

have I mentioned how handsome he is?

~ He continues to sleep through the night although his morning nap is shrinking. Afternoon naps are still a couple of hours.

~ He is starting to scream...like a girl scream. Were not happy about this.

~ He is starting to get quite the laugh. He laughs out of no where and puts a constant smile on our face. Love him!

~ He continues to have a love/hate relationship with Nevaeh. The girl DOES. NOT. Leave. Him. Alone.

~ He is my budder boy. My budder brown. My peanut boy. My brown. My peanut parfait. He had is 9 month check up and weighs 16#'s. This is 3% for his age and he measures 28.5 inches long which is 50%. He is a peanut!!!

MD Meyer did draw blood to test a few things just in case but she is not too concerned. She looked up the girls info when they were 9 months and Livi was at 3% and Nevaeh was 5%. .....hmmm, I wish this "under weight" deal would rub off on their momma!!!! =)

Jefferson Tailgating

2011-09-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

This evening we were lucky enough to attend the Jefferson Tailgating Party up at my old stomping grounds, Northridge High School. And we were lucky enough to be around hundreds of screaming kids running around. It was super fun! =)

While Steve waited in line for our free dinner, the girls stood in line to get tattoos on their face:

They just think it's so cool that real cheerleaders are right in front of them. They each got a super long, bright yellow hair extension too.

So the free dinner was awesome and consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and pop/juice. PEACE lovers.

Jackson just chilled the entire time in here with but of course a handsome smile.

My lover boy:

As we were finishing up eating the wind started to pick up and dark clouds were itching closer and closer. Selfishly we knew we didn't want to deal with 3 kids and rainy/cold weather at the football game so we decided to ix nay that.

Livi wasn't thrilled about our decision making skills so she ended up staying with Kelly (her neighbor friend) and her family. At 9:00pm she walked into the house drenched, freezing and super mad that she didn't go home with us. It didn't help that we were all snuggled up together watching a movie and eating popcorn. That'll teach her. =)

A lunch date.

2011-09-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today Nevaeh, Jackson and I had a picnic outside which consisted of the normal lunch menu around here. Nevaeh's plate = half a pb & j sandwich minus the crust, pretty much the whole 32oz container of yogurt with grapes, chips and apple juice. My plate = leftover's from the night before {today was pork and veggies}. Jackson's plate = his pureed veggies that he is sooo over, and a sampler plate from all the above.

After lunch we headed out to the swings for some play time. Jackson got a hold of my phone {okay I gave it to him} HUGE mistake. He slobbered so much on it that he broke it!!! Guess I'll just have to go out and update to a droid darn it!

Nevaeh had us play a little house with her and her baby. She has quite the imagination and I'm convinced she sees ~~dead people~~ imaginary friends. That girl can carry on about 5 different conversations with all her "friends". Creepy? Yes, but cute none-the-less. =)

And then she drove off in her jeep and lived happily ever after.......

2 handsome little guys....

2011-09-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day these 2 little guys got to meet. Leo is April and Aron's nephew that I hear so much about so it was nice to finally meet him. He was born exactly a month after Jackson but it didn't take long for Leo to catch up......and pass him by in the size department and hair department for that matter.

We thought these guys would be super fascinated with each other but we thought wrong. They are both crawling monsters and were all over the place, until they spotted the storm door to smudge up.

How cute are they?!?! =)

Once the girls (Ella & Livi) got off the afternoon bus I decided to take them to the park to play in the gorgeous weather. I think they got a little on the sweaty side so they talked me into some sundae's at McDonald's.

Sunshine and kids Photo Shoot

2011-09-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful day for some shots of a GORGEOUS mother and her 2 BEAUTIFUL children. Sunshine is a dear friend of mine that I've known since high school and depite the fact that we hardly ever get to see each other we always have a fun time when were together. She has thee most contagious, sweetest laughs I've have ever heard. Love it and love her. =)

Thank you Sunshine, Madison, and Mason for choosing me and trusting me to take your pictures. Here are some of my faves of the day:

Buddy Boy's Surgery- Hypospadius Reconstruction

2011-09-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

For the past week Steve and I have been contemplating on whether to drive down to Caramel for Jackson's surgery the night before or that morning. But considering we had to be there at 6:30 am for registration and it takes just under 3 hours to get there we made the best decision ever to drive down the night before and stay in a hotel.

Good thing Steve had accumulated Hilton points so our stay was free. That would have stunk paying $160 to stay in a hotel for 6 hours.

As we drew closer to the day of surgery the more anxious I got. The thought of my little 16# baby boy under anesthesia just didn't sit well with me. But that is where I had to put my trust in God that He would carry out His plan accordingly.

I can't even begin to explain how amazing our little guy is. He just went with the flow the entire time. From the car ride down, to sleeping in a foreign room, to waking up at the crack of dawn, to waiting in our arms an hour before his surgery. He was perfect.

They took us back to the prep room around 7:35am and took his vitals and waited till MD Cain arrived. The part where I almost lost it was when the anesthesiologist came in and told us that since he was so little they would let us came back very soon after waking up from anesthesia......so there would be a familiar face to wake up to. That broke my heart. As well as seeing him in this (although he makes a very cute Amish girl):

The nurse came in and let me take my pictures and then carried him out in her arms.

Now it was the waiting game. Surgery was expected to take just over an hour. So we went downstairs to eat breakfast and wait. It surprisingly went super fast and in no time MD Cain came out to tell us how well surgery went. He is a great MD and explained everything very well.

Here is Jackson's recovery room. They started feeding him right away since he couldn't eat 8 hours prior to surgery and he guzzled it down.......all 16 ounces!!! (half pedialyte and half formula)

As I fed him I listened to all the monitors beeping all crazy and watched his BP race from as high as 157 (systolic) to a low of 19 (diastolic). Normal for his age: 80-100/55-65 I think it's a good thing I have experience around all these monitors or I would have been freakin'.

Daddy held you while the nurse took out your IV:

We are so happy that you're back safe in our arms and that you did so well, even if you do look a little drugged up here (b/c trust me you are). Good job buddy!

And thank you IU Health/Riley team for a job well done and for all you do for the children in your area. You are such a blessing.

Jackson did great with the car ride home and was all smiles by the time we got to the house. He was crawling, standing and ready to play with his sissies.

We love you budder brown. =)

Kami and Livi Photoshoot. {BF's}

2011-09-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

Olivia and Kamryn are just two peas in a pod. I don't think these girls could ever get sick of each other and their goofy-ness is just contagious. They are pretty much inseparable.

They have had many sleep overs together, trips to the pool, play dates, Wednesday night church services and they even have the same teacher this year.

I truly hope your friendship continues to grow as beautiful as you two are......you were made for each other. Love you girls!

Here are some of the faves of the photo shoot THEY requested (I know):

The last of the warm days.

2011-09-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

Since we are nearing on the last of our warm days, the girls wanted to have a tea party outside. We had juice, animal crackers and grapes served on our best:

After eating, talking in our best English accents and playing a couple games we made to the grass so Jackson felt more at home:

Nevaeh of course invited her baby doll to this party:

The girls wanted to paint their nails so we took turns painting while Jackson climbed all over us. Here is the finished product. I just love pictures of feet......

After our little grass party was over the girls took off in their jeep. It is just too funny to watch little kids driving in these things. I love it. Of course they were over picture taking so I tried my best at making them laugh. They were trying to be all serious but I think I cracked them some:

Remembering 9/11.....10 years later.

2011-09-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?

I was telemarketing for a local gym and got cussed out by a lady I had just called. She thought it was a tad inappropriate to be pitching a “free membership” schpeel when the first plane had already hit the World Trade Center. Agreed, but that is how I truly found out.
They sent us home moments later and I frantically drove home while listening to the devastating updates on the radio; a projection of 25,000 to 50,000 people dead. I was super scared so I did the only thing I knew to do….. I prayed a ton. The gas stations were rapidly piling up with bumper to bumper cars extending out at least a mile long. No joke.

I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of sick person would not only end their own life this way but end up costing 2,819 innocent lives as well. And while were at it, where was God when this was happening? And then it hit me, He was where He is today, was yesterday and where He will always be. He is everywhere. It’s so easy to look at life by what’s right in front of us and become so narrow minded that we miss pieces of the bigger picture....a picture we may never fully put together until we meet face to face with God.

I do believe God was right there on September 11th. Although HE did not stop the terrorist’s actions directly, HE prevented that day from being as bad as it could have been and performed many miracles that day. He also sat down and cried that 19 of His children could have so much hate in their hearts, that they did not choose him, and now they are lost forever.

Here are only a few of the miracles that we know about.

"God was present in Rick Roscorla, a Vietnam Veteran who evacuated 2,700 Dean Witter employees from the World Trade Center, returned inside to help others and died when the South Tower collapsed. God was present with Welles Crowther, a mere 24 years old, who helped others to safety before he perished when the South Tower collapsed. God was present with construction workers Frank De Martini and Pablo Ortiz who saved 77 people on the 88th floor of the North Tower. God was present with the firemen and one civilian that survived in a tiny space in a stairwell as one of the towers collapsed around them and God was present with the passengers on Flight 93 whom defeated the terrorists."

"God was present in the brave first responders, the firefighters who entered the Twin Towers solely on a mission to rescue others. God was present in our brothers and sisters of every race, every nationality, every neighborhood, who took the hands of the injured and tended to them, who poured water over their eyes to soak away the dust, who pulled strangers inside as the debris cloud plowed its way through lower Manhattan and God was present in those who have prayed for the victims, family members and for all of those involved."

All of us are called to be "Jesus with skin on" and that is exactly what happened on this 11th day of September. Two days after the disaster, a construction worker found several perfectly formed crosses planted upright in a pit in the rubble of the heavily damaged World Trade Center. Miracle? I think so.

For the husband who told his wife I love you one last time before his plane went down in a field, for the wife who stopped in the stairs to call her husband to say I will love you forever, for the mothers and fathers who kissed their kids goodbye the morning they died,for the policemen who rushed in with the firemen to help get others out only to die themselves, for the soldiers who fought back and lost their lives. Today, tomorrow, ten years from now, we will remember.

The not-so-luck of the Irish

2011-09-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

This evening we hung out at The Metzger's to watch the Notre Dame play Michigan. This picture of Jackson alone should have brought all the luck to the Irish they need but unfortunately they didn't get to see him; so the luck never rubbed off. They lost it at the end in a matter of seconds with a score of 35-32. I'm writing the score as if I care about football. =)

When the Metzger and Adkins families get together this means 3 things.
#1. We are out numbered 6 to 4 in the kid to adult ratio.
#2. They run around like crazies and are non-stop which leads me into...
#3. They drive us NUTS.......in a good way. =)

Just take a look:Cute as ever Sammie:And Nevaeh begged to differ with having her picture taken tonight.

Movie Night

2011-09-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

Kam Bam with a K got off the bus with Livi today for a little slumber party action taking place tonight. These girls are quite inseparable and are just two peas in a pod.

The girls not only begged me for a photo shoot after school (pictures to come later) but also thought they deserved to do something special tonight. Well, it's a good thing their so cute b/c this gets them quite far with me. They know how to win me over every time.

So last minute I decided we should take the girls to see a movie at the theatre. But being the cheapo me we had to drive to the $2 per person theatre in Mishawaka. The only one playing was Zoo Keeper so we took our chances and surprised the girls. They had no clue where we were driving.

After we passed a Hollywood Video, Livi screamed with excitement thinking we were "in Hollywood". Too funny.

So we got there about 10 minutes after it started and the girls were just restless. I bought a heart attack waiting to happen box of popcorn and jumbo drink for all of us to share. Cherry coke mind you. What was I thinking? Clearly I was not.

The movie was a'ight.....I give it 5 stars out of 10. After we got home the girls played "school" till 2 in the morning......and I was right there with them. Wow, it's amazing what a lot of caffeine does to the body. =)

The Datema Family Photo Shoot

2011-09-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

How fun is it to be able to take pictures of my own brother's family. Since I was already at Notre Dame on Labor Day and Matt is a huge fan of the football team we decided it would be best to meet out here.

As we walked around all the students were rushing to class and apparently Jen almost pushed her stroller into one of the football players. But everyone should know to get out of the way for a momma and her stroller. =) .....I later won a $25 bet with my dad b/c he didn't believe me that students had classes on Labor Day. Sucka.

Our session was pretty short and sweet but we ended up with some great pictures. Thank you Datema family for choosing me and trusting me to take your family photos. Here are some of my faves:

The Pangemanan Family Photo Shoot

2011-09-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

This adorable family was a FB/friend referral that wanted to have their family photos taken at good ol' Notre Dame. I was so happy to hear this b/c it has been years since I've been out there (4 years to be exact and that was for our own extended family photos).

It turned out to be a beautiful day but was a bit on the chilly side. This didn't hold this almost 3 year old down though. Olivia (such a good name) had a blast walking around the campus, being cute as ever and having a tea party mid-session. =)

Thank you Pangemanan Family for choosing me and trusting me to take your family photos. Here are some of my faves:

Labor Day Fun

2011-09-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

After a busy morning of 2 photo shoots over at Notre Dame, I picked up the family to head over to G-ma and G-pa Datema's for lunch and games.

It was a bit on the windy and cooler side today so we dressed accordingly and had a fun day outside. We played a little croquet......... watched Olivia bust out moves to "the catwalk song"..........cuddled with my hunny bunny........watched Alex and Nevaeh wrestle on this tube...... and G-pa cuddled with Jackson while we went on an A-Z scavenger hunt.We got double points if we were able to put the object in our bag. Let's just say Nevaeh and my mom were happy to be on my team. Better luck next time Betsy, Steve and Olivia. =)

A stroll in the hood.

2011-08-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

Before sissy got home from school today; Nevaeh, Jackson and I went on a nice little stroll in our hood. To enjoy these last final warm days and get ready for my favorite season to start...FALL!!!

Of course Nevaeh had to be in control and pushed Jackson in his stroller. And I'm not promising this went down smoothly....or in what one would call a straight line. But we got around none the less. Look at buddy boy's little piggies. I want just want to eat them, and then eat him. I promise I will refrain from this though. I'll just squeeze him instead. Nevaeh found a little a stream of water to play in by sending pieces of grass and leaves down and watching them float away, this was followed by jumping in the water to make a big splash. We made it back to our yard just in time to pass this hunk on his mower. I just love a man on his mower. =)So remember how I normally grow a nice little garden each year to produce some fun fresh veggies for us to cook at dinner (only to hear complaints from 2 cute girls whom I won't mention any names). Well, you betch your bottom dollar I planted another garden this year.

My daddy came down to till the way for my plants, I went out and bought the plants (4 tomato plants, basil, cilantro, peppers and zucchini), watered them, weeded them and anxiously waited for them to grow.

Until I forgot about them. Or got lazy. Either way, we didn't eat any of these veggies. And I feel so bad. What a waste. But I do think Nevaeh was a little happy about this situation. Before walking into the house we were greeted by this fun little caterpillar It was bright yellow with these odd, random black hairs sticking out. This called for a mini photo shoot. I'm not gonna lie, it took me a good 10 minutes of looking at this little guy and poking and prodding him with a stick before I would pick him up to show off his suction feet. They were way cool. Apparently this little guy will turn into a moth.

Yessica and Rantz's Photo Shoot

2011-08-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

Just take a look at how oh. my. gosh. adorable this mom and son are. I was super excited when Yessica contacted me to have their photos taken and was blown away with how photogenic both of them are.

Rantz was bribed with a little something called an angry bird in which Yessica had to explain to me but whether it was the bribe or not, I have to say Rantz was the best behaved child I've ever taken photos of. Of course he was over the shoot 5 pictures in but he held strong the entire time and smiled every. single. time. So cute!

Thank you Yessica and Rantz for choosing me and trusting me to take your photos. Here are some of my faves:

The Bigler Family Photo Shoot

2011-08-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, Leah just reminded me that this cute family of hers was one of my first paying clients almost 3 years ago when I started this little hobby of mine.......Mark's hair sure did grow since then. haha.

On a serious note, their kids are absolute angels. They are so well behaved and if they ever do "act up" they are checked real quick. Mark and Leah, we could all learn a thing or two from you on how to discipline.....you guys are awesome parents. =)

Today was a beautiful day for pictures but some how we didn't get the memo that the mosquito's came to suck our blood.......and that it would rain at the end of our shoot. =/

Thank you Bigler family for choosing me and trusting me to take your pictures. Here are some of my faves:

Our FaMiLy pictures.

2011-08-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Sumer from Sumer's Photography we had our first real family pictures taken since Jackson's arrival. Sumer was kind enough to help get me started into this little photography hobby of mine and now we were able to trade services to each other for our family photos. So fun!

So of course I made a big deal out of what we would wear and thought it would be cute to have a country theme going on. So we all through on some boots and headed to the farm.

Jackson is in a "ohhhwo" phase so he has a puckered up "O" face in pretty much all the pictures. I love it. Olivia was just as sweet as can be and Nevaeh was actually pretty good too. A little ice cream bribery never hurts. =)

Steve and I have never really had good pictures taken of just the two of us so this was one special request I had for Sumer. She totally rocked it out.

Here are some of my faves of the day: