Lily isn’t Lily without her blankie. Blankie isn’t blankie without it’s Lily. All my children have been attached to some type of blanket at some point. Zach still cries for his when he is hurt and he can’t sleep without it. Abby’s has morphed from a tiny pink blanket to a huge purple comforter…good thing she doesn’t have to carry that one around with her when she goes grocery shopping with Momma.

Lily received this blanket from one of my photography clients way back when she was just born. How thoughtful they were to give a gift to my new baby. The blanket was so soft and cuddly (and it had Minnie on it…Hello!!! Perfect!!!) I introduced it to Lily right away and they now have a bond that cannot be broken.

I love it, the sweet little desires of a 16 month old. She already loves very deeply. Her Mommy and her blankie, probably not in that order. Future post: the relationship between Lily and a pink elephant named “Ellie”.

This project wasn’t hard for me. Not once, not ever. I just decided to do it, and stuck with it. The pictures aren’t perfect, some were even taken with my camera phone, but each tells a story and that is what I wanted. My goal at the beginning of this was to get in front of the camera, rather than always being behind it. Now its just a habit. I always make sure I’m in pictures, even when its not for my project or a special occasion. I love seeing the progression of the kids over the year too. Lily was just a tiny baby when I started and Zach was a barely talking 2 year old. We went on family vacations, we had funny times, milestones, birthdays, there was daily chaos which led to one of my favorite photos of all time. I love my crazy family. The only week I missed was 22…the one when my Grandma went to be with Jesus. I said I would make that one up, but I never did. I now want to keep it blank, to remember what happened during that week of our lives. I still have an idea to honor Grandma, maybe I’ll take that photo one day.

I debated a long time over what I wanted my last photo of the year to be. If you’ll notice, I took a photo with just me and one of my 3 kids over the last 3 weeks, to kinda end the year with individual photos of them. This week’s photo is of course self explanatory, this is my beautiful family who I live for. There was blood sweat and tears trying to get this picture, Lily wanted none of it! But even her not looking in the camera tells a story. On the other hand, the other two kids stuck with us since they were promised and given marshmellows at the end.

To all of you who stuck with me during these past 52 weeks…thanks. I did this project for myself, but it sure helped having blog comments and encouragement. I hope you keep coming back.

I guess this is now a good a time as any to say that I am also taking a break from my business. It’s not really a break when I haven’t photographed any sessions for months. But announcing it helps the emotional part of it all. I’m stepping back from all business, I’m going to keep having fun with my kids, our ministry and friends. I want to take photos for me and be able to bless others. I figure when the kids are older, maybe just a couple years, or who knows, I will be able to jump back into it. I’ll be able to put in the time and energy it takes to build a business. I don’t know what God has in store for my photography. All I know is that He put this passion in me and He wants to be the one guiding it for awhile (like…forever!). I’m ok with that.

To Abby, Zach & Lily,

I really hope that you love these photos as much as I loved taken them with you. I hope they become a treasure to you as the years go by. I love you 3 40 and 100.

Love, Mommy

We’re holding down the fort this week. Husband is away and I am once again very proud of him. I would absolutely love to see the look on the family’s faces when they are handed the keys to a brightly painted house, 14×16 feet of space that is all theirs. I’m sure they will be filled with joy and gratitude, and that high is great enough to last us for a long time, the team of people doing the work, and us here at home. Extreme Makeover Home Edition, eat your heart out!!!

Here’s one I liked of Abby the other day. She’s so sweet and high maintenance all at the same time. What a complex little girl she is.

When Fall rolls around I’ll be an Auntie again. I’m so excited. I always wondered what my sister would be like when she was expecting. She’s beautiful, glowing, confident, patient…did I say beautiful? She’ll be a great mom, just wonderful. She’s amazing with my kids, they have a bond with her that runs so deep. I want that with my new baby nephew. I want to be the Aunt that he goes to for gum on Sunday mornings, I want him to know that our house is always open to him and for he & my kids to grow up like siblings. But until then, he’s snuggled safe inside his mama, growing and forming. He has no clue what’s waiting for him on the other side…a whole lotta’love.

Wow…one more week to go. Which is actually this week. This photo is posted late, of course. Week 52 will be posted on Sunday.

This photo means a lot to me. If you know Abby, you would understand that sometimes she just needs to talk. For no one to tell her to be quiet, her voice can get pretty loud so she hears a lot of “stop yelling, I’m standing right in front of you.” I can tell those days that she needs to unload, and so either Jeremy or I will just lay next to her and let her talk talk talk. We won’t stop her, we just let her go and it really feeds her soul. She becomes content and can sleep better. So here’s a picture of it, I hope you can see her little hand waving in expression, her feet even talk too. She can barely sit still. She isn’t hyperactive, she’s just Abby and I never want her to change.

Last week when dh and I were out of town, the kids were watched by different family members. Mainly it was because everyone that we know couldn’t take a full week off of work to watch our kids (we were so thankful for the time off they did take for us!!), but shuffling them around actually helped the kids, made it feel fun and like they were exploring somewhere new every couple nights. I, of course, didn’t know this and was very worried about the kids. I made them this little calendar, each picture symbolizes who’s house they were going to sleep over at. I laminated it and attached velcro on the front of the calendar and on the back of the little picture of the kids, then the moved themselves from day to day to give them a visual example of who they were going to go stay with. And the last picture on the end…back with mommy & daddy!  Anyway, I had some people tell me I should share this. It may be helpful for the next time you have to leave your kids! I have no clue what to call this thing, if anyone has any creative ideas, I would love to hear them!

Laminated tiny picture with a piece of velcro on the back.

I put magnets on the back so it could be easily placed on a fridge.

What a lovely week it was! I sure missed my kids, and that was the point. At the end of the week, I was genuinely excited to see them, what a great place to be at. Every Mommy needs a break, time away to learn to miss her kids again. I didn’t realize I was on the brink of burn out, not even being able to really relax until almost 3 days into our vacation. But the moment we pulled up to the beach…my brain shut off, and believe me, that is a great thing. I grew up going to the beach, but haven’t been there in years. It is part of me, I know God created me to spend time there, I feel I can be “me” there. Its a romantic, emotional place that truly shows God’s Greatness. I wish I went there more often and took the kids. I promised them we would take them soon. I mean it too.

So there I was, for hours. Reading my book, sleeping, doing nothing. What does that even feel like?? It was beyond explanation. Afterward dh and I went to a lovely dinner together. The whole week was talking, laughing, silence, resting, doing nothing, but nothing was so important.

Thank you Jesus for allowing us to take a break, a few days off, to reconnect, fall in love, and shut out all the many thoughts that bombard us every day. We promised to never go that long without going away together again.

And now I’m so glad to be home with my kids. I was worried they wouldn’t have missed me, silly mom stuff, but really, I was! Lily started screeching when she saw me, Abby started crying with joy and Zach was just as happy as could be. It melted my heart and I fell in love with them all over again as well.