Brayden and Emma

My sister, Bethany, and I have had the neat experience of having our most recent two children very close together. Jack and Brayden are six weeks apart in age, and Isabel and Emma are eleven weeks apart. It's been neat to watch their special little relationships develop during their short lives. Bethany and Bailey live about 30 minutes away from us, and she stopped by here recently for a visit. Here are some of the pictures of her little cuties. :-)

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The Three (Sick) Bears

One by one they have succumbed. That's right...Abby, Jack and Izzy all have the tummy bug. Now lest you see these pictures and think that I'm a terrible mom for documenting their distress, let me share a little something with you. I don't typically get very deep in my little blog entries, but I have had one of those big learning moments recently that I wanted to share. The night before the first "race to the bathroom" occurred, I read something in a great book ("Passionate Housewives Desperate for God") that, at the time, I thought was a nice little commentary that I could store away for future use. Little did I know the "future" was only hours away! In the chapter entitled "Sweet Sleep and Sacred Rest", this author discusses a rough night at her home that was filled with a crying baby and a daughter who was ill with the stomach bug (I should have known then!). She says "I had a choice: I could be bitter toward the family God had called me to serve, or I could ask God to give me the strength I needed to die to self and glorify Him. At the end of that day, though I was physically tired, I marveled how I had made it through and was able to see ways God had eased my burden and refreshed my soul." Now the choice was mine...I have rarely found myself "bitter" in regards to our children, but I have definitely chosen the path of self-pity and carried a feeling of drudgery at times. I think it is easy for us (especially stay-at-home moms) to feel as if we're simply "existing" or painstakingly moving through the daily grind, but this passage reminded me that every little thing I do for Josh or our children can bring glory to God. The author talks about this as well: "We must view serving our families as acts of service to God." This may all seem incredibly obvious to many of you, but it hit me in the face like a ton of bricks. None of this is about me...it's about the family God entrusted to my care and the glory that my service to them can bring Him. Now what does all of this have to do with these pictures? These pictures just serve as a little reminder to me of what God has called me to do, and I know that one day, as I look at our grown children, I will wish I had these young days back (tummy bug and all!)
On a side note, it absolutely warms my heart to see Abigail already showing such tender care for her little siblings. In the picture of her with Jack, she had just gotten sick again shortly before I took this picture, but still, she heard him crying and went to him to try to comfort him. How precious!

It's too rainy to play outside today

For those of you who don't know this about Jack, he is all boy and would spend every waking minute outside if he could. Well today is a rainy, dreary day, and I snapped this picture of him looking out the front door (wishing he could be outside playing of course!) Poor little guy!

The Fenton Girls

On Saturday I had the wonderful pleasure of shooting pictures of Ellery and Amelia Fenton. They were absolute angels, and we were able to get some great shots...here are some of my favorites.

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The girls...

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Here are some of the new pictures I've taken of Abby and Isabel lately. If you're wondering where Jack is in this round of pics, he never sits long enough for me get any shots of him!!