Looking Back... 2012

What a year 2012 was! I just flipped back through all of my photos from 2012 and my heart was swelled with joy and gratitude. We are so so blessed. With love, family, friends and our Savior. I remember staying up late the evening of January 1st last year and almost filling up a whole yellow notebook with family goals, personal goals, work out goals and business goals.

Setting my yellow notebook aside, I accomplished my goal of running a half marathon and I was so so blessed beyond my wildest dreams in my business. Our family grew and this year was such a year of deep growth for Drew and I.
Needles to say 2012 carried on without ever having to look back at my yellow notepad.

This year I jotted a few things down in my journal that I would love to work on in my life (for example. pray more, read more, spend more time reading to my kids...ya know) but I really want 2013 to simply be another rich year. Full of growth. Full of laughter. Of tears that teach us lessons and falling downs that teach us to get up better each time.

My kids teach me so much each day. They teach me how to love. They teach me how to have fun. They teach me how to laugh...how to cry. They make me want to be better. How great is the gift of parenthood? Really... lets just bask here for a moment.

Me and my Cruz

Daddy arrived on Christmas morning.

Silly Boy...

We've been off to a rough start as far as being sick in 2013

loved spending time with Ross and Kam over the Holidays...

Sick girl...again.

My little artist ;) "I paint mommy??"

I am so excited with what 2013 has to hold and I hope I can look back and feel even richer in love then I do today.

With A Grid of Thankfulness...

For this I am Thankful!!

Before I sat down to write this post I poured a cup of french press coffee, fixed my kids glasses of organic milk, fed them and myself breakfast and cranked up the heat to 71... simply because I was cold.

For that I should be thankful!

I have so much to be thankful for. My kids are healthy. I am healthy. We can pay our bills. We are loved. We have friends. We have family. We have a full fridge, clothes to wear... new clothes to wear!! I have a thriving business and Drew has a great job.

For that we should be thankful.

But are we? Are you? Do we truly spend time thanking God for our abundance? Truly praising Him and thanking Him that we have been given much? We have been given much!!!

I woke up this morning with a heavy heart but also felt so blessed. Both of my children were giggling in their beds when I walked in both wanted me to snatch them up! 

What a loved mama, how can we not praise God for outstretched arms from our children. 

Lord thank you for my children and for their love for me!

I could go on and on about how we need to be thankful and I could make myself and you feel guilty for not being thankful... but thats not the point. 

I read this morning about looking at life thru a grid of thankfulness.

I really connected with it because I spend a lot of time looking thru grids. Thru the grid of my camera and then thru a grid when I am editing. 

I thought WOW... what if put a grid on my mind and my heart to begin viewing life with a thankful heart. 

To truly praise the Lord for all we are given.

I am not sure how to start changing my Hearts attitude from "oh I wish I had this" to "Lord thank you so much for what we do have. Truly Thank you Lord and forgive me for my lack of thankfulness." 

My challenge this week is to start looking at things thru a new grid...

with a gird of THANKFULNESS.

March Twenty Twelve, REALLY?

Wow, it's been too long. I cannot believe how long it has been since I blogged! Somehow I ended up on my old blog tonight with posts from when Carsyn was small and I did a photo a day with her. I sat here and just cried over the sweet memories of that time. Its funny because when you are in it that "time" it seems so quick and just normal. But looking back I think wow, how precious was life. BUT how precious life still is. Our life is so rich with these two little gems, I can't even express it. These two kiddos have my heart and I love it.

Cruz is such a flirt and the busiest kid I have ever seen. From the moment I pick him up from bed he quickly insists down down and starts walking thru the house looking for Sister. I love it. He plays allllll day long without stopping. Even plays with his food.

Carsyn is my old sole. She is a thinker she moves slower, she's got more of her daddy in her. She stews on things for days and asks questions about things that happened months ago. She would be content to sit and color paint or draw the entire day... I love it. Don't get me wrong the girl loves to be outside, she loves to skip and run and be silly too ;) 

I wanted to post some photos and I realized I hadn't posted these fun photos that my very best friend Rachel Blackwell took for us last November. 

We took them in my favorite field in P Town.  

Fall 2011

Well, I obviously am not good at keeping up with a personal blog!! I wish I was b/c I don't write things down like I used to, so I was hoping this blog would help me keep track more of our day to day life with the kiddos!!
Cruz is 9.5 months now, almost ten months, WOW! Time just flies by!! Carsyn just had her third birthday and I have to say this was the funnest birthday so far! She is still so innocent but also knows what's going on! She knew it was her day (well her two weeks) and everyday she was curious if we were getting her more presents or if anyone else was coming to visit her. Her Mimi came for a week and her Lollie came for her party weekend, lots of fun! We had a party for her at our local park and it was perfect. They have a huge wood play structure and all the kiddos got to play on that or run in the grass field. They also decorated cupcakes, made a little fun page for her 3 year old birthday book, had cotton candy and fun goodie bags which Miss Carsyn put together all by herself ;)
I'm not even sure if I've blogged since we moved, but we love our new home! We moved in March to a house in the town where our church is! We are loving the community and doing our best to get out there and get to know people better! Having two young kids and running a full time business definitely has it's toll on your social life ;) But thankfully we have an awesome church family and I have made some great friends in the community!
We are just about to wrap up the 2011 Wedding Season and I have to admit as hard as it is, I am really sad. I love spending weekends with couples capturing their wedding day! Thankfully we have some great couples on the calendar for 2012, I am looking forward to seeing what next year holds!!
Here are a few recent photos of the kiddos, I am hoping to start blogging more so I can have somewhere to store fun stories about my kids daily lives! But don't hold me to it... ;)

Our Cruz...

Cruz is 2.5 months old and I just got his announcements in!! Now if I can address them and get them mailed out before he turns 12 that would be great!

Trying to find the balance between a 2.5 year old, 2.5 month old, a new house and running my own business is quite the challenge but we are making it!

I am learning that it's one day at a time... one goal, one task at a time.

So here he is, our little guy at 8 days old. He looks so different now it's crazy. Hopefully I can take some photos of him soon!

Happy St. Patty's Day!