Easter

My boys and I have a lot of fun together, especially around holidays. I try to make their childhood as memorable as I possibly can, creating memories every chance I get. Sometimes, however, that means I get too carried away with the commercialism of Christian holidays. I try my best not to, but being a big kid at heart, I do. On Friday night I laid in P's bed with him and told him the detailed story about the Crucifixion. Afterwards I was pretty tired so I went to bed, not thinking much more about the conversation. Saturday morning, while I was getting things set up to dye eggs, P bowed his head and said, "Dear Jesus, help me to remember that Easter isn't just about egg hunts and candy. Thank you for dying on the cross for me." Wow! Talk about a reality check from a 5 year old!! It stopped me in my tracks and made me bow my head to ask for forgiveness because I had got too caught up in the commercialism of Easter. The rest of the weekend, although we did a lot of fun Easter related things, I kept repeating that simple prayer that my 5yr old had said.
Then this morning, I walked into church and saw, "HE LIVES" across the sanctuary platform and I got chills, knowing that not only did Jesus die but He is risen! That's what it's all about! Yes, the boys and I had a fun weekend. From dyeing eggs, to egg hunts, to having good friends over for Easter lunch, we enjoyed our time together. But, I'm thankful for my son's reality check that made the Meaning of this weekend much more special!

 

Sweet Potato Queen Weekend

On Friday we packed up and headed to MS to enjoy a weekend with Mom and Dad Herrington. Well, Mom Herrington was part of her annual Sweet Potato Queen weekend so we didn't get to see much of her. But what we did, we enjoyed. The weather was cool but that didn't stop us from getting out and about. Fun weekend had by all!!!

Finding a Balance

Parenting is a balancing act. One that you can easily fail at. My balance is finding time to clean and do housework, do my photography business, do paperwork from my teaching job and-most importantly-spend QUALITY time with my boys. The truth is that on the weekends most everything else takes a backseat because of my boys. I miss P so much during the week that I can't wait to do fun stuff as a family on the weekend. Last weekend we had a blast going to the St. Patrick's Day parade. This past weekend we had an equally good time having breakfast with the Easter Bunny and doing an egg hunt (which E won for his age group), going to the park, playing with water balloons, enjoying the first snowball of the season, having a family pillow fight and researching our upcoming trip to Disneyworld. I know my time with my boys is short in the whole scheme of life so I do my best to make our time together special. That way when they're older they can look back on their childhood with fond memories, just like my brother and I do.

 

 

Potty Training Woes

I. Hate. Potty. Training. It's the thing I despise the most in parenting. I'd rather teach my boys how to drive a car than to use the "big boy potty". With P, Rob finally taught him because I kept giving up. I'm a "yesterday girl", as Rob puts it, and since I don't get results right away I give up. Speaking of yesterday, it was horrible. I was so mentally exhausted by the time Rob got home that he immediately announced that Mommy was off duty the rest of the night. Thankfully. Who knew asking a 2 year old if he needs to use the "big boy potty" every 5 minutes could be so exhausting? And who knew that a 3ft tall person could have so much pee in them? Today, praise the Lord, has been a different story. The only "mishap" is when I was mowing the backyard. I looked over to see E pooping by my garden. Apparently he is getting potty training tips from the dogs. But, other than that, he's done a really good job today....only 2 accidents compared to the 13 yesterday. We're making progress. Baby steps....

Busy Business

I am happy to report that I have a 9 day break from my "day job". I love my job but am so swamped with my photography business that it's nice to have some free time to get some much needed business stuff done. God has really blessed my business since it became official last month! March is, and will continue to be, busy with photo sessions. April is shaping up to be busy as well! I also need to work on my website. A friend of a friend graciously walked me through everything and put it all together. Now it's up to me to figure out how to personalize my website and get all the pieces to mesh. Once it's done you'll be the first to know (Or at least one of the first to know)!!
Here are some of my favorite pics from an adorable (almost) 2 year old session I did this weekend. I'm also adding my Easter mini session flyer in case you, or someone you know in the Baton Rouge area, want to schedule a session next Saturday.

A Day in the Life

A lot of photographers say that they regret not taking pictures of their own family with their "big camera". I can't say I have the same regret as I take PLENTY of pics with my phone and camera. My regret, however, is not taking the time to edit and print them. Poor E doesn't have many pictures of himself up in our house. When we walk down the hall and he says, "Bubba....Bubba....Bubba" as he points to each pictures I get a stab of "Mommy Guilt". My goal is to update our pictures soon so he can know he's just as important as his big brother. In the meantime this blog is dedicated to him.....

A Day in the Life of E:

 

 

"We Will Rock You" wasn't coming up fast enough for him

Enjoying breakfast out of his favorite train bowl

 

Rainy day trains

Bubba stayed home sick and E was in heaven

Gotta love spaghetti for dinner

King of Tantrums

I begged and cried to God more times than I could count for another baby after P was a year old. He answered my prayers and, although, I thank Him every day for that blessing I also pray that He would mellow out my blessing just a tad. E is a spit fire (much like his daddy....HA!!) and his favorite thing to say is, "I do it!". He also likes to throw at least one tantrum a day. Sometimes they're exhausting. Other times they're funny. I've taken to photographing them out of pure comedic relief. Then someone suggested I print a book, titling the tantrum pictures, to document the Terrible Twos. Although these were only taken with my phone, I do plan on busting out my camera to do that very thing....document and publish a book to look back on later in life. Here are a few of his tantrums this week....

"To Eat or Scream? That is the Question"

"Mom Won't Let Me Play in the Dog's Water Bowl" or "Mom Doesn't Love Me Enough to Share Her Girl Scout Cookies With Me" (Choose which one you like best because they were a combined tantrum)

"Carpool Blues"

"I Don't Want the Dishwasher Loaded That Way"

"Staying in the Bath Tub is Hard Work"

"Do I Want to Use My Potty or Get a Pull Up On?"