sweating it...

Not a new excercise program, house selling and buying.

7 days away: close on our current house.
loving: that I don't have to pack a thing (yet) since they are letting us rent the house after closing.
stressing: a condition of the sale is we get a new roof put on (hail damage). We have had zero luck getting an insurance adjuster to come out and look at the roof. The buyer is buying several properties at the same time so pushing back the closing date is not really an option. Sweating it!

11 days away: close on our new house.
loving: ask me next month... better yet wait till 2010
stressing: SO much to do. New roof, new systems, new flooring, repairing water damage, repairing years of neglect, replacing the deck, removing a hive of bees, adding a fence, remodeling 2 bathrooms, painting 2500 sq ft inside and more outside, new lighting, repairing wiring, rerouting rain runoff. And then all the normal new house stuff.

58 days away: move out of our current house!
loving: it should be cool outside by then! :)
stressing: see above. I really think we will make it ok on the deadline. It won't be how we want it, but it will be livable.

*the picture above is of one of the "kid" bedrooms. All are pink, all have a built-in desk, all have a built-in desk that will be obliterated by me, and all have no flooring, ugly curtains, and broken closet doors, and missing light fixtures. Oh well, we would replace the lights anyways...

cute little family, sunny saturday morning!

This is my second time to get to photography this sweet family! Last time we did photos (last December) little J could barely sit up and we were all fretting about his ability to sit up on a brick sidewalk. Now he is a walking, baby talking (a few real words too) machine. He did remarkably well for a one-year old considering he would have much rather been running around like a crazy man. Thanks for letting me take your photos for a second time! And just look at how charming little J is when you offer him his favorite animal crackers :)

now booking sessions!

The shooting drought is over! I am thirsting to getting back behind my camera and shooting again. I needed to take the summer off from photography to get my job at church done and now I am full of new ideas to try and fresh energy! I am now taking baby, child, and family sessions for this fall!

It's also time to launch my website!
http://www.lfhcreative.smugmug.com

ruffle butt

And we will call her...

Ruffle Butt

We are still cloth diapering a year later. We still (mostly) use disposables when we are at church or traveling, but that may soon end with the arrival of our gdiapers! gdiapers are the hybrid of the diaper world, cloth outside flushable liners inside. I looked into gdiapers a couple years ago and the price is crazy high if you use the flushable part all the time, it's more expensive that the fanciest diapers at non sale price. Ouch! But. I read you can use cloth inserts with them now too! Brilliant. And ADORABLE. And Hazaa the little gpants close in the back so baby Houdini can't take them off as easily. They also seem to fit her better, she has huge thighs and a little bitty waist and these are smooth and snug around her waist.

I just wish I had named Ella Bella Grace or Gabrielle :)

sweet little baby boy

All this summer I have been on a break from photography, with the exception of my own kids and this precious little monkey. He is the son of a dear friend who works at our church. I was blessed to have the opportunity to do her job for the past 2 months while she was on baby leave. She even let me take some baby photos as part of my job duties. :) He is just perfection.

football frenzy

Uncle Rice and Papa are HUGE Denver Broncos fans. Uncle Rice even got Moo a little Broncos hat when he was born and now that hat has been passed down to Ella Bella. Gran got her a cheerleader outfit to go along with the hat (It's a 4t...). Ella Bella wanted nothing to do with the hat...

So Ella Bella, who are you rooting for the Broncos or "da bears"?

Sorry Uncle Rice, I tried.... I really did.

Look, my little sweetie is a closet Red Raider Fan. Fight Raiders Fight! I tried to explain to her the difference between college and pro football, but she didn't care. She just kept on with her guns up...

waking up is hard to do

It's rare to see this child freshly awake, more rare to see her asleep. Ella Bella is a light sleeper and wakes if we even walk past her room. But after a predawn scream-a-thon, she slept a little deeper and longer than usual allowing me a few precious moments to observe her sleeping.

baby no more.

My little buddy isn't the little baby buddy he used to be. The past few weeks have seen my firstborn hurtling away from babyhood to childhood with no regard for his parents resistance to let him grow. In the last few weeks small changes have been occurring that just leave hubs and I dumbfounded. Who said he could learn that? Where did THAT come from?

He is like a whole new creation. It's mostly marvelous.

He is apparently thinking more. He talks in full, complicated, stories and his dinner prayers actually resemble a recognizable prayer. He tells me thinks that make my heart melt. "Mommy, your the best. I am the best too." "Mommy, I don't want to move to a new house and not have Ella Bella." "I am a happy helper, happy, happy helper."

He can do chores now! Hazaa! He is going to regret showing growth in that area. He helps load the dishwasher, puts up dirty clothes, removes his potty seat, cleans up his toys, and makes his bed. He can also get himself a drink and a snack without asking, umm, not such a cool thing. He gets his own clothes and can sometimes even put them on. We realized he was fully capable of taking his clothes off when our realtor was here the other day and he was suddenly in just his big boys. Niiiiiiiiiice.

And, mercifully, he can now put together an entire elaborate train track without help. A milestone moment indeed.

inquiring minds want to know....

Many have asked about the house situation, only to see our shoulders shrug and say I dunno know. This what I do know:

-We have signed a contract, the seller may or may not have signed it. They should sign it, we didn't make any changes to it.
-The property is a foreclosure so everything is 4x more complicated and takes 6x as long.
-We haven't sold our house yet. And that is ok, we are both calm about that. We dropped the price a couple weeks back and it has been shown a lot the past few days.
-The "new" house embodies the terms "money pit" and "fixer-upper". Bring on the sweat equity!
-We will have several weeks to several months of work to do before we can move in. Yes, we are crazy.
-Because the house needs "work", getting the mortgage and construction loans is more complicated too.
-On the project list is new roof, new hvac systems, new deck, new flooring, repairing water damage, fence, and updating bathrooms. And THEN the normal new house stuff can start... decorating, painting, landscaping, ect. My goal is that maybe by Christmas 2009 the major projects will be done and we won't be embarrassed to have people over.

And a little bonus: The seventies called and they want their firepod back.... This baby will be going up on ebay! The seventies would also like the faux pink marble soaking tub in the master BEDROOM back....

wipe balls

As often as our schedules allow, we sit down and watch Wipeout, wipe balls according to moo, as a family. Both our kids love it, and obviously we love watching people fall flat on their faces and generally make fools of themselves. My personal favorite "event" is probably the sweeper. It's always good for a laugh since it's not me enduring the embarrassment or hardship.

Lately though, I feel like I am getting pummeled by the emotional, mental, and physical "sweepers" in my life and it is wearing me out. No, it has worn me out. Too much of the crummy stuff, virtually none of the "good" stuff.

"I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil." Job 3:26

Too much of me, too little of God.
Too much worry, not enough prayer.
Too much conflict, not enough peace.
Too many accusations, not enough grace.
Too much stuff, too little joy.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11: 28-30

I am weary. I am burdened. And I am sick of it. So, I am going to led God lead again. :)

summer

it's really a shame, I don't think moo enjoys summer at ALL.