Great Expectations

A New Year.

A time for resolutions and renewed goals and brand new goals and new dreams and so on and so forth...

A new year is usually very exciting for me.

I love the list of endless possibilities; the idea that I could completely transform myself into the picture in my head of the wife, mother, person I want to be.

This year...

not so much.

Along with those lists of goals and dreams and possibilities, comes a list of expectations for myself.

And when I don't meet them,

I feel like a failure.

And that's no fun.

My mom and little sister came to visit over the holidays and we all got sick.

We were sick 90% of the time they were here.

Kind of a bummer, huh?

However, all the sick time gave us a lot of talk time.

My mom and I had one particular conversation that has changed me, encouraged me, renewed my sense of contentment with myself and my life.

I was going on and on about the picture in my head of what I wanted my life to look like.

What kind of house, how many kids, what kind of routine and schedule would be ideal for me.

She listened with graciousness before she opened her mouth and said,

"Where did that picture come from?"

"Me," I replied. "It's been there since I was 15."

"I know," she said. "And now you're 28, and you have this life and this house and this number of kids and it really doesn't look like you thought it would. It looks like God thought it should. And it's time to be happy with this."

WOAH!

Now maybe for some of you, that's not a life changing statement. But for me, it rocked my world and brought me relief and peace. PEACE.

And it's not that I'm not HAPPY with my life. I am. I love my husband and my girls and my home. But I've struggled with the completeness of it all, or the lack thereof.

But God is sovereign. And I can put a whole heapin' pile of expectations and plans on my life, but if they're not in accordance with what God's plans are for me well, I'm just running in place aren't I?!?

And when I stop to think about what my plans were versus what He gave me, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

I'm one truly stinkin' blessed lady.

And I'm ready to erase those synthetic pictures in my head and really wait for the path that the Lord leads me to instead.

Because His path, is a good path.

Life Held Still Photography

It's the best path.

Annapolis Photo Shoot

So, as I begin this post, the song "Back in the Saddle"comes to mind.

Ya know the song.

The best association with that song that I have is Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle when he's calling Vicky for a date.

C'mon! You know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, the last few months for me have been so busy, such a whirlwind, a tidal wave of responsibilities and new challenges. But things are calming down a bit. And I'm glad for it.

Because the calm brings time.

And time brings BLOGGING!

So, to kick off this fresh week, I want to share with a few photos from a shoot I did in Annapolis this weekend with a dear friend, her humerus hubby and their two adorable pooches.

I'm happy with how they turned out.

Of course it helps when you're working with really beautiful people.

See what I mean?

Beautiful people.

The Return of Footie Pajamas

I woke up this morning and it was chilly outside.

Yay!

That means the brisk, cool air of Autumn is on the horizon.

And do you know what one of my most favorite things about the return of cool weather is?!?

Footie Pajamas!

I love zipping my girls up in them after a bath knowing that they will be warm all night in their beds despite the cold air.

And I love that my girls get all giddy when the footie pjs go on.

I love how they shuffle across the linoleum in the mornings.

And how cozy and soft they are to the touch.

I think I'd probably wear them if I didn't think it would encourage my husband to sleep on the couch ;)

Fall is close my friends!

And footie pjs are just the beginning...

Summer Recap

So, I didn't blog much over the summer.

I'm sorry.

But life was crazy,

and busy,

and wonderful,

and stressful,

and all of the above.

But, even though I wasn't blogging, I was taking pictures.

Lots of pictures!

You wanna see?

I thought so ;)

Well, we kicked off the summer with a visit from my parents, little sister and brother (professional photographer from Hawaii).

I have LOTS of pics of this on my computer, but they are not mine, they are my brothers and I'm afraid to touch them or edit them for fear that you may think I took them and believe me to be a much better photographer than I actually am.

But he did take a few photos that I know I have permission to share.

Such as this one, from my girls' Wizard of Oz birthday party.

It was a pool party complete with blue gingham bathing suits and ruby red flip flops!

And cupcakes, of course...

The Summer progressed from there with more visits from family...

Like the one from my beautiful sister in law, Anna and her 3 amazing kiddos.

And then there were neighborhood bbqs...

complete with cupcakes, of course.

Juice boxes,

Dogs,

Lots of dogs ;)

Soccer,

Family Movie Nights,

More birthdays,

and a big End of Summer Luau to bring it all home.

All in all, it was a very ABUNDANT summer.

And we've all made it out alive and happy and truly blessed!

Baby Olivia: Be Still My Ovaries

My neighbors, Alex and Shelby, had a baby last month. A baby girl whom they named Olivia Rose.

She's perfect.

She has the cutest little nose and she makes my heart melt into a puddle on the ground every time I smell her. I love that baby. Love. Her.

Alex and Shelby know my deep love for newborn babies and so I was thrilled when they asked me to do Baby Olivia's newborn/one month photos. Thrilled.

I grabbed my next door neighbor Michelle, who works in a photography studio and together, we came up with some really sweet ideas for Baby Olivia's photo shoot.

These are some of my favorites from the shoot:

Whadya think?!? Isn't she just precious.

Makes me want to have 17 more!

That was a joke, Paul. You can breathe now:)