My last family session of the year was with close friends. My little family joined our session and I loved how it changed the atmosphere of our time together, six kids all having fun together just warms my heart to its core.

I admit, this little one is right in the middle of my favorite age, 2 years old. She’s the baby of the family, the only girl with two older brothers. Life is fun, exciting, new and big. Her little vocab is so precious, her sentences would jump out of her mouth and take me by surprise! She is truly a precious gift to her family.

I think I had a little crush on her shoes…since there is no way I could ever wear them and not fall on my face :)

We got home, I rushed to find something cute and whimsy for Lily to wear…no luck. We went outside and the light was gone. I had promised her an oreo cookie and couldn’t go back on my word, we spent 5 minutes in the front lawn, watching the darkness settle.

I’m satisfied…but tomorrow night I think we’ll try again…I still have some oreo cookies left :)

ps. These images were processed with Amanda Keeys photoshop actions, “Bliss” and “Soft Blue” from her Journey set. I use Amanda’s actions 99.99% of the time. Come back to the blog on MONDAY for a super fun announcement!!

I seriously thought that raising little kids was tough (which in my opinion the first 6 months of a baby’s life is THE TOUGHEST time a mom will ever go through in her child-raising career…but I’ve only been doing this for 8 years…so my opinion may change:) ). When the kids were babies, I thought I was overwhelmed, I thought I was dealing with tough situations and crazy decisions to make…and I was. But for me, nothing compares to the gut wrenching difficulty of talking to an 8 year old about her first crush on a boy, or why she isn’t allowed to watch “Hannah Montana” like the other girls do, or why some behaviors were cute at 4, 5, or even 6…but now at 8 they just aren’t acceptable anymore.

It’s confusing. To her and to me. She’s asking extremely personal questions and I full well know that she needs the answers, but as I speak the honest words to her, inside I’m saying, “No! You don’t need to know this right now! Stay a little girl for as long as possible!” So I pad my answers and tell her as much as an 8 year old needs to know…which isn’t much.

I have been told that I shelter my children. Yes, I do thank you very much for noticing! :) Every parent needs to raise their children according to how that child needs to be raised and loved. I have always taught her that each family is different and she gets to do things that maybe other little girls don’t get to do and vice versa. She is happy with that answer, although I know it may not keep her content for much longer.

I am so thankful to have other mommy friends who are either going through this coming of age with their girls right along side, or have gone through it not long ago and can help me relate. I’m so glad I can call upon the name of the One who knew Abby before she was even a twinkle in my eye. Wow I would be so lost without a husband who believes in the way I want to raise our children and stands behind me a 100% united front.

I’m so very thankful for this beautiful ball of endless energy, she makes my heart happy and puts smiles on my face.

The moral of this story is…keep with it, because what starts like this…

…will soon turn into this…

Oh! and I forgot to add…this little man’s family was the recipient of my Facebook session giveaway. I can’t wait to share more of their images!! I love giving away sessions too…I will give away another one when I hit 1000 fans. That is quite far off…so go “like” my page and see how quickly I can give away another session!