sweet, sweet baby

It's been a few posts since I've shared pictures of Audrie. I haven't changed my mind about her. She's still beautiful and wonderful and sweet in every way. It's nice to have such a cute member of the family to help me build my baby gallery.









Emma is still loving this girl too. This was the first day they met, and Emma was singing her some of her favorite songs.

a winter zoo.

Lately I've been noticing all the animals attracted to our yard. We have lots of squirrels, little moles, and some rabbits here and there. But recently, we've had a bird who pecks on the same window for a while before going around to every window and pecking on each one. We've also had quite a mix of different birds in our yard at the same time. We must be a little wormy.
Then, last Saturday Jacob and I had the flu. We were up pretty early that morning and I was on my way to the kitchen when I saw 7 deer in the front yard. I'm not sure why I'm always impressed by them because I guess they're pretty common. It was nice to watch them for a while before they noticed me moving around. They seemed to stay around for a long time.

These pictures aren't exactly National Geographic, but they'll do.




Today, this guy made a lot of noise. I'm just glad he's not the one pecking on our windows.

our flu bug.

I can finally see the light at the end of this stuffy, headachy, nauseated, tunnel called the flu.
Jacob and I have had it this last week. I don't think our house and my work (or my hair) have been this neglected in a long time.
I'm so glad to have some energy back, and I have to admit that it was kind of nice to be curled up on the couch with the kids watching movies for a little while. Thankfully, Nathan and Emma didn't get this nastyness, and they took great care of us.
Clearly Emma tried to entertain herself. Doesn't she make a great super-hero?!


She even learned to fly. (she had been watching Peter Pan)

good morning.

I've been slowly shuffling through my photo library. I started with over 20,000 pictures and am trying to weed some out and re-organize some important files into a new 'back-up' system Nathan set up for me. So, I've been coming across some cute pictures that I've forgotten about. Here's one of Emma in the morning. I couldn't pass up a picture of this hair.




After a stressful day of Wal-Mart, school parties, and a sick kid, we cancelled our dinner plans and ordered pizza.
It was much more family friendly which is how we've spent the past few romantic holidays. The kids loved it and really, I did too.
Jacob was up all night telling me he was dying. He feels better today, but this picture sort of sums up how I feel this morning. Hope you all had a great Valentines Day!

a few blessings.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Soujanya invited me to her daughter's "Sari Ceremony". This is Sri Vaishnavi. She will be 13 soon and this was a celebration for her friends and family to bless her. It was so amazing and beautiful to watch. I think it's wonderful to start a girl's teenage years with so many positive thoughts and prayers sent her way. Maybe by the time Emma is this age, I will have thought of my own version of this.

I was so impressed by the beautiful saris and jewelry.







The guests were invited to say a blessing while sprinkling rice. I even got a turn.

Soujanya, thank you so much for letting me be a part of this night!

Stuck on you....

I have some great pictures of other things to share, but I just can't help it...I'm stuck on this adorable new addition toRachel and Jamie's family.

a baby story....

Yesterday at 12:44 my newest niece Audrie was born right in front of my camera...which is how it should be of course! I was in awe of Rachel the whole time. I'll let Rachel decide which labor pictures she wants to share, but let me just say that she was a "rock star" as Jamie kept telling everyone. It was a marvelous experience to watch Audrie's birth and to photograph her new family through all my tears. This delightful baby girl is perfect in every way. She has a tiny bit of what I think is curly black hair. She has her daddy's big mouth and her mommy's long piano-playing fingers. And her toes......well, see for yourself.
















Jamie, Rachel, and baby Audrie, I love you so much and I'm so thankful that you let me be a part of such a full and tender few hours of your lives. From Audrie's favorite Aunt...Kim (if I say it enough, maybe she'll think it's true;)

frosty.

We had a nice long weekend. It started early with a few inches of snow and ended with great sunny weather. The snow was perfect for building a snowman. The kids each rolled a huge snowball, and we finished decorating his face just before we started getting too cold. We enjoyed snow ice cream, guitar hero, pizza, lots of movies, and Go Fish. I think we're all ready for school to start back up and get back into a normal week.








time with the family.

While in Marshal, our family headed to the best little restaurant in town, "Daisy Queen". I remember going here when I was little as a special treat on our way home from visiting my grandparents.



I thought this was a great section-title...."Other things of Iterest". Why didn't they just call it, "And by the way".....

Clearly, the boys were excited about being here.

Not many of my pictures turned out from the night, but I really liked this one of my brother and Angie. They're so cute!