Apples + Cousins = Happy, Happy Boys

It is my sacred Saturday night (Sunday morning) ritual and it is such a lovely feeling.  It may be 3:00 am 3:30 am 4:30 am, but I am way too happy to be tired.  I'm soooo enjoying being back in front my computer reviewing my photos after what has been far too long of an absence.  Everyone else in the home is fast asleep, my music is on, my wine is poured, my scented candle is glowing and I've got hundreds of photos from the past few months to edit and review.   This is really my happy place. 


As you can imagine, we've got a lot going on.  Aside from preparing for Christmas with three eager little boys, we have our oldest turning 5 the on the 26th of December and our youngest turning 2 on the 30th of December.  AND I have a husband who just celebrated his birthday on the 12th of December (no need to  discuss specific ages for us anymore . . .:)  With all of the party planning going on, I've got party invitations zooming out the door left and right and my office below reflects it . . .

The past few weeks have been very busy.  But this weekend, we've slowed down.  And I can tell that than an aura has entered our home that tells everyone that there is there is a new calm present and we have no need to hurry or rush and that unless the house is on fire, we have no reason to even leave the house or get out of our pajamas any sooner than we want to.  We hoard our weekends like little treasures and while sometimes I feel a bit guilty about staying so reclusive in the house on the weekends, I usually arrive at the conclusion of:  what better place to make memories and enjoy quality family time than our own home? 

And during our precious family time on the weekends, (this weekend being one such example), I generally have to pinch myself to remind myself that I am a mother.  I am a mom to these three precious little boys pouring a box of Wheat Thins on the kitchen floor and spilling juice on the carpet.  God has bestowed these three amazing blessings on me and sometimes I find it almost incomprehensible.  Here I have three little boys running around in front of our Christmas tree and in a short while, I am going to clutch my coffee cup super tight and laugh through a bunch of happy tears as I watch my boys tear open their Christmas presents while I wrap up the year feeling so amazingly grateful in a moment of clarity watching our Christmas play out in front of me.  This gift of motherhood truly is a miracle.     

Lots of emotions will be forthcoming this month with our Drew-bear turning five.  FIVE!!!  He will go to kindergarden next fall.  And then he will be in school.  And then he will go to prom and meet a girlfriend and go to college and then he will be packing up his room before we leave to take him to his first year of college and I will cry hard.  His room will be so empty.  I will wonder where all of the time went from when he was a little boy and when one of our most significant worries involved him wetting the bed.  We watched Toy Story 3 today and I had tears streaming down my face watching the scene when Andy comes back into his room one last time before leaving for college and finds a box of his old toys (this scene was likely responsible for driving the fears cited above).  Andy hesitantly decides to donate these toys to a little girl and takes some time to play with the little girl he's giving them to before driving away as a grown-up adult.  Owen was all snuggled up in my arms during this scene and asked me why I was crying (probably just because his head was getting wet with tears), and I explained to him that I know that day will come far too soon for my boys and I don't want these years to evaporate before my eyes.  These are the best years of our lives and I want to freeze them best I can.  More to come on this topic during the month of December as I prepare for my baby to turn FIVE.  

Moving on, we enjoyed some great time with our cousins at Eckert's this fall and I can't wait to share the photos.  Our cousins make everything more fun.     

  

I couldn't believe how eager Drew was to feed the birds (normally, I think that he would be timid about this sort of thing).  He loved it.  And I loved watching.  And aside from watching his joy, I love the photos I shot of these birds.  Sometimes the stars align and both my camera and the subject cooperate in perfect harmony and I'm left with super vibrant shots with beautiful clarity. 

I think that this photo below of our niece Greta is just beautiful.  I love the sparkle in her eyes and that she is carrying a wristlet with her to Eckert's.  She is only three, but she might need her lipstick or cell phone.  Who knows.

Our niece Harper is so unbelievably cute that I just want to kiss her chubby little cheeks over and over again.  In this photo, she was just mastering the art of sitting up independently and I think that she started to tip over a bit . . .:)  Good catch, Karen.  

Since I'm always the one taking the pictures, I don't get the opportunity to be in many of them.  So I appreciate these shots (thanks TJ for taking these).  You can tell that my boys are crabby and not really interested in this, but mommy subjects them to it anyway.  I'm mean like that.  

Our niece Willa is such a pretty little girl (I am in LOVE with her purple accessories).  It is very attractive how the Stirnaman family coordinated nicely in their purple colors for our day at Eckert's (well, everyone but Mark!)

Goodnight to all!  

Welcome, Baby Madeline!

It's a girl!  We are so excited to announce the first addition to Dan's brother's family:  a sweet little baby girl, Madeline Darcy born to Bill and Stacey Niebruegge on October 21, 2011.  It is such a blessing to welcome a sweet little baby girl to the Niebruegge clan currently filled with all boys!  For Aunt Lauren and Uncle Dan, we are so excited to welcome our fourth niece!  Thank goodness for our nieces!

Consistent with the tradition in the Niebruegge family, the gender of this sweet little miracle was kept a surprise until her arrival and for the record, Drew and I guessed correctly!  The morning that Madeline was born, I informed Drew of the arrival of his new cousin just as he was awakening from a nap.  When I told him the happy news that a little girl was born, his yawn turned into a BIG smile and he sleepily said, "I told you so . . . " and fell right back to sleep.  Our boys are very excited about baby Maddy and can't wait until she is a little bigger so that she can join them in a game of football (OSU vs. U of I, of course!)

I had the privilege of photographing sweet little Maddy this week.  What an angel.  What a gorgeous little baby girl.  And she was surrounded by her adoring parents with so much love for her it was seeping out of their smiles!  Watching this family grow is heartwarming and we are so very happy to watch their two grow into three!

I've included some of my favorite pics and a slideshow of our session below.  This first one is one of my top favs - I love how Maddy just fits right in!

The one below was taken of Maddy when she was only 24 hours old.  I love her sweet expression as Dan snuggled her up!

I LOVE the one (below) of Maddy's small little head cupped in her Daddy's large protective hands.  I love the perspective of the photograph clearly demonstrating the difference in size from Bill's hands to her sweet newborn size.

How awesome for Grandpa Bob and Grandma Darlene to soak up their first granddaughter!

I LOVE these next two - she is seriously a sleeping angel!

I am adoring these photos of a mother with her sweet newborn skin to skin.  From a mother's perspective, I don't know that it gets much better than this.  

Bill and Stacey - I hope that you enjoy the video!  Be sure to click on the full screen version so that you can see the photos BIG!  Much love to your growing family!

Slideshow #2 - You can check out this slideshow for a complete viewing of all of the photos I shot of Baby Maddy!  All of the photos are numbered in case you would like to order any!

Just one more vacation post

We received the photos back from our session on the beach during vacation and I am so pleased!  It is a good thing too because I woke our entire family up at 5:00 am during vacation to take this shoot . . . . the early morning sunlight was gorgeous and overall, the boys cooperated.  I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to actually be in some photos:)  These family photos are priceless to me!