life....and a cookie cake!

WooHoo! My busy wedding season is O-V-E-R! I still have 12 more weddings this year, but that is spread out in 6 months compared to 15 weddings in 10 weeks! I’m very thankful for my job. I love my job! BUT I have ran myself ragged the last few weeks. We have a week of VBS at church and then we are going to the beach for a week! I can’t wait!

Life with Annie Rice has been so much fun lately. Her little personality is growing everyday. She’s becoming more independent, defiant, and chatting up a storm. 

I love that she still lays like this sometimes...with that little butt stuck out!

Last week, I had the opportunity to do a children’s story time of my children's book at Burry Bookstore in my hometown. It was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, Annie Rice was sick last week and it literally lasted all week. At first she had a temp from Sunday-Wednesday of 102.6-100.6[that was her first fever in a year..], then she just got extremely tired, grumpy, and just wanted to sleep all the time. I was very proud of myself on Friday...I really needed to get in a good 4-5 hours of work, but she just did not feel good. She didn’t want to do anything but stay in my arms. So we watched Beauty and the Beast and she fell asleep. Instead of laying her down and working, I decided to let her sleep in my arms and didn’t work until that night when she went to bed. It felt good to make a decision I wanted, not based on work. I haven’t done that very well the last few weeks..Work has always come first the majority of the time. I enjoyed my time cuddling with this sweetie so much, and about an hour into it, I wanted a nap so I let her sleep in my bed while I napped too! 

Yesterday, she broke out in a rash and scratched it so much, this morning is looked like she walked into a bob wire fence:(

Today, we took a few 2nd birthday pictures. Her birthday is July 6th, but I wanted to go ahead and take some pictures to use on her birthday party invitation. Since her LOVE right now is cookies, I knew I had to make a cookie cake of some sort. Pinterest helped me pick just the right cookie cake:) I honestly couldn’t have picked anything better...This morning when I made the cake, she was begging to eat it before we even left the house! So naturally, she dove right in for the pictures. I WILL be sharing more from our session later:)

It may not look very big, BUT that's 4 dozen cookies!

This is what my little cutie did on the ride home. She stayed like this for a good 15 minutes...

When I got home, I started looking through the pictures. These are a few I LOVE. The one of her crying WILL be framed. It’s precious. After we were finished, we told her to walk to us on the railroad tracks. She didn’t want to walk on those tracks not one bit, so she fell dramatically to the ground and gave us this face. It’s priceless!

How cute is this little ruffle bottom?

Tonight, while Kaz was folding clothes, he told me I needed to get my phone. Little priss put all of my clean underwear around her neck and walked proudly around the house wearing them! I love her to pieces!

this is why...

This morning, I received this email from my dad... Please note, for the protection of those listed in this email, I have changed a few names. 

This email made me cry! It made my cry because this is the very reason I wrote my children's book, You Are So Special, Little One. I didn't write it for recognition or money...I wrote it so children would know they are special! It was neat to see the Lord display that through this email!

I try to keep up with Amy’s blog.  Although I am not a faithful reader, I do try to check it every couple of weeks to check on Annie Rice updates.  I am proud to know Amy and Kaz, even though I have never met them in person.  It is a pleasure to see a couple who trust in the Lord and believe how God has a plan for everyone.  I see how they struggle with Annie Rice’s development and I see their faith.  Although we are not related and have never met, I know they are part of my same family, God’s family of people trusting in the Lord.

David, Amy’s father, gave me a copy of Amy’s book.  I feel so privileged to get a copy even before it hit the bookstores.  

By the time I had gotten home, I’d forgotten about the book, I had left it in the car.  My husband had to go to a meeting, so I decided to ride to my friend Anne’s house for a little while.

Anne has two adopted children. The children’s mother was on drugs, and Social Services removed them from her care because one child was born addicted to drugs.  We all worried so about their health.  One child’s stomach was so messed up for the longest time.  The other child also had problems.  She didn’t speak well, didn’t know how to play, and seemed afraid to go outside.  We assumed she had been put in front of the television and told to stay put while her parents got high in the other room or even at another place.  

The oldest child used to think her mother was coming to see her.  Occasionally, Anne allowed her to telephone her biological mother, but after all the promises of no-show visits, she realized it was not good for the child to be let down so many times.  She also struggled when the other kids talk about their mother and father.  She would often make comments like, “My momma loves me, “or “My daddy used to hold me.”  Children are sometimes mean to other children.

Now, both children have adjusted well and are happy normal kids.  Today, during my visit, Anne was telling me how the oldest child now told people that her mother and father both are dead.  I guess that’s her way of dealing with them not being around.

During my visit, we put the baby in the stroller and went up to see their freshly planted garden. There was one short row of strawberries, and on one of those plants were two small red-ripe strawberries.  Anne picked them and we gave them to the oldest child telling her, “You are the most special little girl, so you get the first two strawberries out of the garden.”    We went on and on about how special she was and how she deserved the first two berries.

As we were headed back down the driveway to the house, it started raining.  The sun was setting and shining through the light rain.  I thought we might see a rainbow.  Low and behold, while half way down the driveway, there it was!  The rainbow was bright and beautiful. We stood there in awe pointing out all the many colors in the rainbow.  We were all so happy.

We got back to the house and played with the kids, taking numerous pictures and short videos.   After an exhausting afternoon, I wiggled my way back to my car.  The group followed me.  I leaned over and saw the manila envelope lying in the front seat of my car.  I pulled out the book and told them how I had forgotten about it.  I told them I had not read it yet.  Thinking only it was a children’s book, I didn’t remember it was a book about an adopted child.  The oldest child listened to me read the entire book and at the end said, “ I am special.”

Thank you Amy, for letting God lead you to write this book.  You have already touched a back yard full of hearts!

not slowing down...

I promised a post last Thursday and it’s now Monday! That tells you a little how my life has been lately! I don’t even think there’s a pause button on my life..Just a fast forward button! That’s how it feels! So this post may be pretty scattered but will hopefully catch you up to date on our crazy fast paced life! 

-I am in full wedding season gear! Since April 7th, it hasn’t slowed down! In 4 weeks I’ve had 6 weddings! I’ve spent about 108 hours editing those weddings! Not including burning the cd’s, putting up previews, actually shooting the wedding, and doing the finances! It’s been CRAZY! Which is a good thing..It really is, but it’s been nuts! In the next 6 weeks, I have 10 more weddings! There’s no time for rest:) BUT I do love my job! I’m very thankful to be blessed with photography...Sometimes I may dread going to a wedding, really just because I want to be at home with my family, but at some point of every reception I think to myself, how lucky I am to have the job I do! It’s fun, always something new, and usually 1 crazy thing that happens! There’s never a dull moment and I get to be apart of a huge day in the lives of so many couples. The only downside to every reception is I ALWAYS wish to myself that I could dance with Kaz at just one wedding! That’s all...One and I would be satisfied! I never get to attend weddings but the next one that I do, I will have a dance with my husband:) In 3 years of doing photography, I’ve never had an accident until this weekend! I completely busted it at my beach wedding on Saturday underneath the pier. My friend and 2nd shooter Carissa said I handled it like a rock star, but honestly I felt like a pathetic looser:) Thankfully a groomsmen caught me on one side, and my camera did not hit the sand! My poor groom wanted me to sit down for a minute, but I just couldn’t. We had to keep going...Only thing was, I couldn’t see how bad the situation was until about 5 minutes later! He could see it right away! My poor legs....but they are healing great and hopefully that will never happen again! 

-The book process has been AWESOME but it’s another full time job! I’m have been slammed! The book will officially be out in stores June 26th, but I get the privilege of taking personal orders before then! In 2 weeks, there’s been around 180 orders! It’s been so neat! BUT it’s definitely a lot of work. I have a lot of speaking appointments coming up at churches, schools, bookstores, etc. The Lord definitely has a plan for this book and I’m so excited to see it unfold!

-This weekend Annie Rice is being dedicated at church with about 20 other children. My parents are coming in town on Friday to watch her on Saturday so that Kaz and I can have some time to ourselves:) I thankfully have a Saturday free[my wedding is on Friday]. I’m so excited for a date night downtown Charleston! 

-I haven’t watched a ton of TVs lately, partly because I’ve been so busy, the other part because I’ve been hooked on 2 shows! We got the Apple TV awhile back and I got hooked on Army Wives and Downton Abbey. I’ve watched every episode and am now to the current season! I’m a little sad that I’ve watched them all because now I have to wait from week to week to watch the next episode, and Downton Abbey doesn’t come back on for a long time! But watching Army Wives has been neat, especially since it’s filmed here in Charleston! I actually signed up to be an extra:) Now, let’s just pray they call me! HaHa! Like I really need something else to give my time too right?

Well, I have a LOT more to tell, but I have to go for today! If my blog postings are sporadic, I haven’t given up on blogging JUST EXTREMELY busy! 

a special day...

A lot has been going on lately! I feel like I've hardly had time to breath! I promise to catch you up on everything tomorrow! BUT for now, here are a few very special pictures! Yesterday, me, Kaz and Annie Rice walked the bridge and then had a yummy dinner at Firehouse Subs. It was such a fun family time! When we pulled up in our driveway, I noticed a few boxes! I was so excited because I knew exactly what they were! My books are finally in:) The first order anyway. The books will be available in bookstores and amazon at the end of June, but I've been able to get personal copies sooner:) It was so special to be able to read Annie Rice a bedtime story written by me, specifically for her! What a blessing! 

If you want to order a copy of the book, you can do so here!

One of my favorite pictures:)

 I just had to capture her face every time she took a sip of watered down lemonade:)

it's FINALLY time...

It's finally time! You can now place orders for my children's book:) To place an order, click here:)

the story behind the book...

I wanted to tell you a little bit about how my children’s book actually came into “real life”. 2 years ago in November, I decided to start a blog. I battled with this for a couple of months because I knew that starting a blog would mean being very real with my struggles and emotions...

Kaz and I had been going through infertility for almost 2 years when I started the blog...I, at the time, felt like no one understood what we were going through..None of our friends had really had this struggle, and to be honest, I had a hard time finding books, etc that dealt with infertility. I felt the Lord calling me to start a blog, but just not any blog, a blog that was real. Where I didn’t hold back...I feel like I have done that for the most part...

Since starting this blog, I’ve had hundreds of people tell me I needed to write a book. After hearing each comment or email, I just laughed because I’m horrible in grammar and English...I can’t spell, and I write exactly as I talk. In my opinion, that’s not exactly book material:) BUT, the seed was planted...Writing a book was always in the back of my mind, but I hadn’t been called to do that..It definitely excited me, but again there wasn’t a calling.

Last Easter, was completely different than Kaz and I planned. The beginning of April, we felt the Lord calling us to pray a very bold prayer. We had been in the adoption process at that point for almost a year and a half...We had been placed with a birthmom who was due to have a little boy in June 2011, but that relationship ended after she decided to keep the baby in Feb 2011. We were heartbroken, and it seemed like we were starting the whole process over. We felt the Lord calling us to pray the prayer that we would have a baby in our arms by Easter. We had almost a month of praying that prayer before Easter. I truly, honestly believed we would have a baby by Easter. I bought 2 Easter outfits[boy and girl]...I just kept trusting that the Lord was going to do this. He had called us to pray this bold prayer. About 2 weeks before Easter, I was up in DC visiting my sister n law. I got the dreaded phone call from Kaz that he had to fly out to Colorado to work on a project and could be there for 2-3 months! My heart sank...I knew that the Lord wouldn’t give us a baby with Kaz being half way across the US! We had been through this whole process together, and I knew that we would be together to share in the blessing of when the Lord blessed us with a child. For a day or two, I was sad, but just kept trusting that the Lord had a plan. That same week, we actually decided that I would spend a week with Kaz in Colorado...it was actually the week of Easter. We had such a good time and it was probably one of my favorite trips ever! While Kaz was at work during the day, I saw a lot of movies! I LOVE going to the movies, and there happened to be a theater right behind our hotel. I saw all different ones...There had been 1 movie I had been wanting to see...Arthur. I have no idea why I wanted to see this movie, but none the less, I went to see it! I walked away SO INSPIRED to write a book! I knew walking out of that theater that I was going to write a book..I just didn’t know what it would be about! Before going back to the hotel, I decided to swing by Target and pick up a pen and notepad. Not only was I going to write a book, but I was going to illustrate it too! WOW, OH WOW! Somethings just aren’t meant to be done:) I wrote a story and started on some drawings...Kaz encouraged me that “professional illustrators” would be the best option for drawings! HaHa! He was exactly right! While I knew I was being called to write a book, the true story wasn’t there. When I got home, I did a ton of reserach on book publishers. I wrote another story about adoption, but it wasn’t personal...We didn’t have our child yet so it was only what I imagined it would be like...I kept the story tucked away, and went on with my everyday life. In June 2011, we welcomed our daughter, Annie Rice, into our lives. A week after bringing her home, I felt the Lord saying to me, “Scratch your whole story, and write down what I’m saying...” I did. I sent the story to Kaz and he said he loved it! I didn’t waste anytime. I submitted the story to Tate Publishing on August 1st. I really, truly, believed that they would want to publish my book, but after 3 weeks went by of not hearing anything, I started doubting. I submitted the book to one other “editor” and just kept praying. The beginning of September, I got the amazing news that Tate wanted to publish my book! I was floored! The rest, has been truly amazing! I have seen the Lord open so many doors through this book, and I am excited to see how He uses it! I got to see the first full proof of the book yesterday[illustrations and everything] and it looks AMAZING! It's more than I could have ever imagined...I'm beginning to see this as a recurring pattern in my life! 

I can't wait to share more of this story and book with you! I have created a facebook page for the book, You Are So Special, Little One. Please "like" the page to learn more about updates and the release of this book:)

Eph 3:20...Now to HIM, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine...