The dirt smudged across her cheek sparkles, and her girly fingernails hide the grit of a day well played. Today she has snuggled under a blanket and read aloud to her brother from a book called, “Warrior”. She danced to pop music in her bedroom and then built legos with her brother when he told her he was bored without her. She left her breakfast behind because she realized she hadn’t fed the animals yet. Out the window I watched her move from one animal to the next, dog, chicken, chicken, chicken, horse, chicken, cat, more chickens, making sure each animal received a bit of attention as she said, “Good…
“There Are No Rules, Aunt Bobbi”
This is my big sister Bobbi. Bobbi is almost 52, but is forever a kid. She was 16 when I was born, but we still played baby dolls together my whole childhood. As the rest of us girls grew up, she stayed the same. It never felt very fair, the hand Bobbi was dealt…but such is life. Bobbi loves for me to do her hair and makeup, she loves to watch movies together, and listen to music. She loves my UNDIVIDED attention! I used to give that to her when we were together, but once I became a mother…it became so much harder! Things are different…our time together is different…
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A Long Time Coming: Bell Birth- Part Two
WARNING: This post will contain graphic photographs. If you are uncomfortable with raw, birth photography…this post isn’t for you! Okay, for those of you so patiently waiting for part two… Thursday: That night around 9pm things started to get more intense and really from that point on Jessica was laboring heavily. Friday: Around midnight they called the midwife, Maria, and her apprentice, Meg, to come. They arrived and set up everything they needed. Important note here: Jessica had woken up at 4am Thursday morning and had not slept a wink since then! So, our original excitement that she would get to deliver the baby after a good nights…
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The Waiting Is The Hardest Part: Bell Birth – Part One
I promised I would share my sister’s birth story from my perspective as a little sister, a mama, and a photographer…and some of you have been patiently waiting! I don’t really think it can be done in just one blog post, so I am going to split this up into a two day post…mainly because that’s how long the labor process took! A little background: Jessica’s first birth was an extremely long and difficult labor, then her second birth happened so quickly the midwife barely made it in time to catch her! I had in my head that this new baby would be quick like her second birth and I…
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A Mother’s Garden
Yesterday, we walked among the most beautiful gardens. Hundreds of flowers and each one so spectacular! I do not have a green thumb, and though I am completely fascinated with flowers…it is simply not a skill I have! My mother and all the women on my husband’s side of the family are amazing with flowers and plants! I often wished I had a knack for it, and always imagined that one day I would take the time to really invest myself in learning more and trying harder. I even planned that this summer would be the year I do that! But as the list of things to do this summer…
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Growing Pains
Empathy runs deep in my veins. I have the level of empathy that makes me sick to my stomach when I hear people talk about a getting a cut or breaking a bone. I will honestly have throbbing, sympathy pains and I am not exaggerating that a bit! When I hear of something awful that has happened to someone, it is so hard for me to move on past my heartache for them. I know there are many other “feelers” out there that know exactly what I’m describing. I am glad I have strong empathy. Being empathetic has shaped who I am. There were stages of my life when I…
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Worth the Effort
Parenting is hard. But I’m here to tell you, we can do this. We can get through every hard stage, because our kids are worth our effort! My constant parenting mantra these days is “today will not last forever…but the lessons from it will.” I want to be patient while my kids work through tough stuff and offer them all the right tools to get through it. I don’t want to give up on them learning meaningful things, in a real and lasting way, by demanding immediate perfection that will really only look good on the outside. I want their hearts to guide their behavior, not fear…and hearts are slower…
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Happy Heartache
Our niece turned 15 today. She is the oldest niece (and only) on my husband’s side of the family. It feels like she went from a sparkly eyed, little four year old to a beautiful 15 year old (who outgrew me years ago) in mere days! How does this happen so quick? How do the days – that can seem so very long – turn into years so quickly? I remember a time, before kids, when I never could have understood that a birthday really means more to the parents than it ever does to the kid! But as soon as you have your own, you get it. Every birthday…
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Embracing Monday
I used to dread Monday. Sunday at about 4 o’clock the Monday depression would set in and ruin what was left of a perfectly good weekend! It also ruined the beginning of what could have been a perfectly good week! It helped when I was able to quit working outside of the home, but Monday was still hard. I knew I had a million chores to do, school had to be done, Ryan would go back to work, and we sometimes would all suffer from over exhaustion and be super grumpy. About a year ago I was so tired of feeling that way. I had the realization that though my…
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Procrastination or Inspiration?
Tommorow morning a group of seven delightful, little girls will descend on our house for the day to celebrate our dear daughter’s ninth birthday. I should be sleeping and getting mentally prepared…for all those voices! 😆 But, I’m doing my “wait until the late night inspiration hits you routine”. It’s an important part of every event I host. I used to call this “procrastination”. But because I am commited to living a life of joy and positivity…no longer! Procrastination has such an ugly tone about it and what happens in these cases really isn’t all bad. I will admit, there are several stages to the process – and they…
