Family Photos

On Sunday afternoon, my family gathered together for a photo-shoot. My Dad works for a CAT dealer and takes great pride in both CAT products AND his grandchildren (not actually sure which is the higher priority:) Accordingly, he requested that I take some photos of him and mom with their grandchildren all dressed in their CAT t-shirts with the hope that these photos would be published in his company newsletter.

Of course, I obliged with his request. We headed outside during the golden hour of sunlight and I got to pretend to be a photographer.













This one cracks me up - Drew really thinks that he can carry baby Evan around! What a sweet big brother!



We ventured down to the lake in front of our house and I was able to capture some of my absolute favorite pictures. The light was great and of course, it was nice to have my brothers there to help with the kids. They joked with me that if we all fell in the lake, would I go after my kids or my camera?? Hmmm. . . .



This is definitely my favorite.

It is official - I am a soccer mom!

Yes, I am happy to admit it. I drive a mini-van and as of this weekend, I am officially a soccer mom. And of course, it is wonderful.

Drew began a fall season with 'pee-wee kickers' on Saturday afternoon. Watching three-year-olds chase the ball and try to figure out how exactly to play soccer is nothing short of entertaining.







It dawned on me what a challenge this will be for the coaches. As parents, we have tried so hard to teach our children to share, and now we're telling them that it is okay to try to steal the ball away from the other guy?? Mommy - I sure wish you'd make up your mind as to what I'm supposed to do!



So our coach kept things simple at first, with questions like, "Who is on the blue team?" You can tell these three are!



Of course, Dan and I should have realized when we signed Drew up for soccer, that there was another little one that we should be considering too. A certain little boy named Owen who, although he didn't meet the age requirements for soccer (kids were supposed to be three years old), would not be pleased if his older brother got to play soccer and he didn't. He really let it be known on Saturday that he wanted to play soccer too. He was so upset that Grandma Patti had to come and pick him up.



The good news is that rules are meant to be broken and with only a quick call to the director of the sports association, we have our Owen signed up for soccer and already decked out with new shin guards of his own. Look out 'pee-wee-kickers!' Here comes a motivated little two-year-old!

A gift for Bill and Stacey

Hey there, you two. I put together something special for you that I hope you enjoy. This features your wedding song, which I absolutely love, by the way. The song is gorgeous and Andy did such a wonderful job performing it for your first dance. Lots of love!

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend, Bill and Stacey were married. Of course, I took hundreds of pictures. This is a sneak-peak of some of my favorites.

Bill - check out your beautiful bride . . .

My Boys

I love you Drew, Owen and Evan!

Video Update!

Check out my new HD video on my camera!

My Heart is Smiling

Another fun week has passed us by. As I write this blog entry, I'm filled with a surge of happiness, gratefulness and love. My heart is definitely smiling.

I'm always amazed how this having kids thing is so much better than I thought it would be. And given that I expected it to be life-changing in the first place, that is really saying something. One of my favorite mommy blogs quoted it perfectly . . ."It is nothing short of a miracle to witness the culmination of your cells happily breathe life right before your eyes. And having a front row seat to their wonder of the world is nothing short of pure bliss."

Pure Bliss Times Three.







The weekend started out on a rough note. Towards the end of the week, Drew bear wasn't feeling great and on Friday afternoon, his fever rose to a whopping 104.4. Upon hearing his temperature, I ran out of work like a crazy person, barely stopping to grab my purse or tell anyone where I was going. I hate it when my babies are sick. I hate the feeling of helplessness; especially when they look up at you with sweet watery eyes as if to say, "Mommy, please just make it better."

We rushed our feverish boy to the ER and thank goodness, his fever broke shortly after we arrived and shortly after he puked up the contents of his stomach on Daddy. We were so relieved to be discharged quickly with only simple instructions to administer Tylenol and Motrin as needed. We took it easy this weekend and snuggled our Drew bear to make him better.





Since the weather was nice (and because we didn't want to take Drew to the pool or around other kids), we created our own waterside in our backyard.





While baby Evan took a snooze . . .



And then continued his snooze on Daddy's chest.

This right here is one of the reasons I LOVE having a baby . . . there is nothing in the world quite like having a little one all curled up on you snoozin' away.



We had planned to attend a birthday party on Saturday, but since Drew wasn't feeling well, Daddy and Owen went to the party, and Mommy, Evan and Drew stayed at home. We made our own fun playing outside and watching movies.

Since I had quiet time alone with my oldest and youngest boys this weekend, I couldn't help thinking how quickly time is passing. It makes me sad to think that my firstborn is already 3 1/2 years old and is ready to begin pre-school and go out in the world, not as a baby, but as a little boy. It makes me ache thinking that in only one week, Drew is going to start a new school, meet new friends, have a new teacher, and begin a whole new series of experiences. I suppose the reason it is sad for me is because as a baby, I was responsible for his every need, and now, only 3 1/2 years later, he no longer requires as much from me. At only 3 1/2 years old, he is already an independent, smart kid with opinions of his own. You pour your soul into your kids, hoping every thought and feeling of goodness and love seeps into every bone in their body so that they feel it...so that they know it...so that someday, when they are 3 1/2 years old and are starting pre-school, they will be equipped with everything they could possibly need to thrive. You'd think that Drew was starting college with the way that I have labored over this pre-school decision.

You'll do awesome my Drew bear. I can't wait for you to begin this journey.











And speaking of time passing, can you believe that my little Evan is already 7 months old? I can't believe that it has already been over half a year since this little one entered our world and captured our hearts with his sparkling eyes and sweet, chubby smile! His size is wonderful and dare I say, might just be my favorite age of the first year?!



Evan is twenty pounds (only 75% percentile on weight . . .strange, I thought) and very eager to begin crawling. It is a joy to watch him propel his head forward with the hope that his legs, arms and belly will follow. Not just yet, my little one. But you are getting very, very, close.









Well, it is off to bedtime and another week. I'll leave you with a photo of our Owen, on the phone, calling Grandma Patti. He paces back and forth and appears to have engaging conversation with the imaginary parties on the other end of the line!

Can't Help But to Smile . . .

This seriously may just be my favorite picture. You know the kind that evokes emotion immediately - the first moment that you glance at it.

This is my second post of the night, and I hadn't intended on posting again, but I stumbled across this picture on my computer and can't quite take the grin off my face. This is Drew bear, in his swim diaper, when he was just eight months old taking the "Mommy and Me" swimming lessons at the YMCA. Seriously, I can't believe that he was such a chubster!



Note that credit for this photo goes to 'Aunt Kookin' (as the boys call her) who was along for the swimming lesson and quick with her camera to capture this precious memory.