My three

I'm glad I have these three in my life. As crazy as they make it... they hold me together in SO many ways. I'm grateful for this opportunity I'm having to be a mom. (Though I am constantly messing it up!)

Photo Booth

This project went from something small... and exploded into something big. All I wanted was 6 photos for my frame that's above my computer. I wanted some simple photos of my kids, making cute expressions. So I decided on this photo booth look. We had WAY too much fun doing this.

 On Friday, I showed Dallas these photos of Evan and Makiah and I started putting them into a slide show. We LOVED the photos and couldn't stop looking at them. Then I thought... wouldn't this be better with all five of us? So on Saturday we went to work.

And with a lot of patience, and Dallas' help, this is what we came up with...
(If it makes you type in a password (I hope it doesn't, but it might), here it is: 022012)

 

I love that this shows all of our personalities. It shows a side of us that we don't usually show others. This is how we are at home, with each other. Loving life :)

So grateful for....

Daphne's arrival. She is amazing, perfect and just so sweet. I love her. Can you tell?

Mine and Dallas' families. They are all so wonderful and supportive. We miss them and love them.

AMAZING friends who have taken care of my family and I. You know who you are :) Thank you. Again and again.

My mom and Cami for coming to visit... miss you guys.

Dallas' parents who are here right now! We love having visitors.

The gospel of Jesus Christ. It has shaped me into the person I am today. I may not be perfect, but I am happy. I am grateful that I have the gospel to direct my life.

Our move to Indiana. Yeah, I know. A little strange, but really. I am so glad that we live here. We have had so many wonderful experiences these past three years. I only wish I could scoop up West Lafayette and plop it down somewhere in Utah... that would rock. Or maybe our families could all move out here?

So many sweet comments on my blog this past month (and always). Thank you everyone, for reading and sharing your thoughts. Each comment is appreciated and I love that you keep coming back to read and comment!

The two pies that are baking in the oven right now... Mmmmmm...

Oh, and these guys...

We have so much fun together. What would I do without them?

(Photos by Kim Davis of course :) She is awesome! She posted these pictures on her blog today :))

Our family (before baby)... 2011

Since getting started with photography, photographs of my family have become extremely important to me. Especially yearly portraits. These kids grow up so darn fast! I look at them and wonder what happened (most parents say this and feel this way... if not all of them :)), where did time go?? With a baby on the way, I've been thinking about my first two babies and then I look at them now and I am overwhelmed with how they have changed. I am so glad we have been taking pictures, and getting photographs done each year together. It is soooo important.

I love looking at these... even though I am pregnant and have a big belly :) This is a time in my life that I don't want to forget, and I don't want my kids to forget. It will be so fun to look back at these and remember. I am sure it will be hard to picture life without Daphne, once she gets here... and so it will be fun to look at these and have the memory of this time.

Thank you Kim for taking these, I can't even tell you how much I love them.

The kids were so cold... and I didn't bring jackets :( Some mom I am! Makiah had a hard time, but Evan still gave us some of his best smiles! And we got a few from Makiah...

Yeay for this cute smile!! I LOVE this picture!

This picture makes me happy... I just love it.

Kim posted more on her blog, that you can look at too! :) And here are the posts from the different portrait sessions I've posted of our family since I've been blogging. It's fun to see how much we have all changed over the past couple years.

Growing up.

Yesterday we had some fun :) When we woke up in the morning I told the kids that I was going to take pictures of them... and Evan was excited! I usually have to beg (or bribe) them to let me take their pictures (okay, there was ice cream involved...) These turned out just perfect. I am simply in love with each photo. I also posted them on my photography blog.

This past month Evan turned 4 years old, and Makiah is now 2 1/2. As always it is fun to see the things they are picking up and learning. It is interesting to see comparisons between the two... and their differences. They are both slightly shy, but Kiah seems to be my brave child. She is more likely to tell someone hello in passing. Evan usually puts his chin down and won't say a thing. Evan is a little more picky about what he eats. Again Kiah is the brave one trying new things. Some of the things she likes to eat that Evan won't touch are, olives, meatballs and pepperoni. Evan prefers to eat the same thing each day. Lately it is nice to hear them say... "Yeay! Carrots!" or "Yum! Celery!" 

Both of my kids have extremely strong wills. It's their way or the highway. Some of our struggles lately are: getting Kiah to stay in her seat at dinner time (she wants to sit on my lap), getting the kids to stay in their room at night (Kiah now knows how to open doors), and Kiah wetting her pants when she is upset... I think it is her way of showing me that she is the boss. 

Our biggest struggle is bedtime. The kids want me at bedtime. Dallas and I help put them to bed, but then they cry and cry for mommy. If I go in there they they both fall to pieces because they want another story, song, or they just want me to hold them... All. Night. Long. So what do we do? We "pretend" that mommy had to leave the house. They see that I am "gone" and they are fine. They go right to sleep. I really don't know what to do about this. I don't want to have to leave every night just so they can go to sleep. Ideas? I know we should stop this before things get worse, but really. Kiah was up till 10:30 one night crying for me. They both know what they want, that is for sure.

Even with the silly struggles we go through, we have lots of fun. I am amazed at how much these two love each other. There are times when I turn to see them hugging, or snuggling. Evan likes to pick Kiah up and they just giggle and fall to the floor. Most days they just play. I don't have to entertain them so much anymore. They love to pretend together. Often I hear Evan calling "Mommy!" and I respond only to hear him say "No, the other mommy!" Meaning Kiah :) 

I am so lucky to have these two in my life.