Light bulb moments and silly animals

So some of you may or may not know but I have something called Fibromayalgia. That is just a fancy word for inflammation of the muscles. Luckily God blessed me with a very high pain tolerance so most days I can go without really noticing the pain. Last night however was a different story, as well as this morning. I felt burning sensations from my head, neck, and back all night. Thankfully I have the most amazing husband who rubbed my back and pampered me with much needed chocolate and Law & Order.

I'm telling you about it because I had a "light bulb" moment this morning that I wanted to share. You might need to have this moment too. Even if the "problem" isn't fibromayalgia it might be something different in your life.

As I was SLOWLY cleaning out a side closet in our bedroom, and I do mean s-l-o-w-l-y... I realized that THIS IS OK. I don't have to bust my booty every day making things perfect just for them to get messed up 5 minutes later. I came to the realization that this sort of thinking is what causes my back to flare up and me to have LOTS of pain. So from now on, this girl is gonna ATTEMPT to take things a bit slower. Do things right just at a different pace. I am ok with that (I'm praying my hubby is too)!

On a much better note... Sunday morning the family and I enjoyed some time on the balcony before getting ready for church. After realizing I only had a 45 minute span of time to dress 3 youngins and myelf I went into ninja mode... and I must say they looked very put together, as if it took us all morning to perfect them. As I am doing the last few adjustments to get us out the door Paul whispers to me that we are not going to church this morning, we are going to the ZOO! I was thrilled and mad at the same time. I knew that now I would have to change all of their outfits from Sunday best to play day. It was worth it! Keller is still carrying around the zoo pamphlet and admiring all the "anmals" as it calls them. 

Thank you God for still loving me although I skipped church & thank you Paul for knowing just what this family needs.

Winnie the Pooh and Starbucks

To start todays post off I have to ask a very important question. How is it that some people can look cool in absolutely anything, like for instance, Winnie the Pooh jogging pants. I'm not even talking about the cool tight fitting, flare jogging pants either.

The family and I decided to eat out last night at Tijuana Flats and then proceed to one of our favorite places, Barnes and Nobles. The hubby walks the kiddos back to the ever awesome Thomas the train table as I proceed to the coffee shop area. As I'm pushing Kolter in his stroller I notice some bright red jogging pants REALLY standing out. To my surprise, as I look down, there is Winnie the Pooh right there on the back pocket! The shocker though is not these awesome pants that I would probably wear at home while watching Parenthood.... but it is the fact that this 50 something year old lady is extremely cool. She had this aura about her that just gave off coolness. I almost asked her where I could get some of that.

I have to admit I've worn some items of clothing that aren't too far off from being pajamas... but I DID not look cool in them. So if you are that lady and you happen to come across this, PLEASE tell me how I can get away with looking cool in a Tinkerbell shirt!

On to other news....
If you have never tried the Starbucks White Mocha stop what you are doing and go buy one immediately. You will not be sorry and you will want to kiss my lips!

I am trying something new for the parenting route. I started reading "Have new kid by Friday." I know that might sound like a bad thing but it is GOOD. It's written by a Christian author and Psychologist and this guy is genius! Oh, I should probably tell you I've only read the Introduction thus far. You're supposed to read a chapter a day, I guess so that you don't have a good kid BEFORE Friday. I'll let ya know if I have little angels as opposed to monsters in my home in about 5 days.

I think we can all agree...

I can think we can all agree that we are ready for Spring! Sooo... to get you even more ready for that Spring weather I designed a wardrobe for your Spring photo sessions. When I think of Spring I think of fun, soft colors. I think of girly dresses and thin scarfs. I think of fedora hats in unique colors. I think of little boys in layered shirts. I think of shoes with bows and buttons. I've even listed the Stores and prices that each item came from.... and since I'm SUCH a bargain shopper, they are pretty cheap! Enjoy.

Spring Wardrobe 2011 by aprilrussell featuring party evening dresses

SILK DRESS WITH RUFFLE DETAIL
1.249 EUR - mytheresa.com
Party evening dresses »

Tanks & Camis - Aeropostale - Girls Clothes
$25 - aeropostale.com
Cami tops »

Girls Skirts, Shorts & Skorts | Tea Collection
$30 - teacollection.com

BOW PUMPS
$795 - aloharag.com
Bow shoes »

Blue Signature Fedora Felt Hat
$270 - forzieri.com
Borsalino hats »

Womens's NEW ARRIVALS - accessories - Shadows & Light Scarf - Madewell
$55 - madewell.com
Madewell »

Buffalo Systic Snap Front Shirt : Men's Shirts and Tops | Buckle.com
$69 - buckle.com

Eco 'Converse' Lace up P Sneakers Trainers Shoes
40 GBP - fashion-conscience.com

Gap Flight pants
$30 - gap.com

Navy girls patent button shoes
13 GBP - debenhams.com

Boys Long Sleeve Double Layer Top (5-15 years)
4 GBP - peacocks.co.uk

AE Men's Slim Jeans
$80 - ae.com

Boys Shoes - Crusher in Brown Leather from Clarks Shoes
22 GBP - clarks.co.uk

Girls Clothes: Outerwear | Old Navy
$20 - oldnavy.gap.com

Trendy Tuesday Project

Today I decided to do a project with my 7 year old Katy. We were inspired by a DIY project by the lovelt Promise Tangeman. The project uses very simple and pretty cheap items and is a cute accessory.

The items you need are:

• Plastic shower curtain rings
• Cheap beaded necklace
• Strips of fabric or an old shirt
• Yarn or string

If you'd like to try this project out you can check out the link to Promise's blog above with step by step instructions and photos. Please post a link below if you try it out! Hope you like!

We used this blue yarn and an old jacket of Katys that had a neat plaid design.

Innocent Wonder Week

This week at I Heart Faces the challenge is "Innocent Wonder." Immediately I thought of sweet Weston. Weston is a friend of mines baby that is just adorable. He looks a lot like my own sweet man. I love his face in this photo and the way his body is scrunched up. He looks REALLY comfortable to be laying in a scale! Check out the other AWESOME entries HERE. 

I LOVE Thrift shopping

Anyone who has known me for more than a week will know that I am a bargain shopper. I love the hunt. I love the satisfaction of finding exactly what I was picturing in my head. What do I love even MORE than that? My awesome hubby tagging along!

Yesterday we both set out to find some accessories for an upcoming bridal shoot we are modeling in. We are going with a Vintage theme which we BOTH love. My hubby came across a store on his lunch break from work one day called, "Back in time." The store is AWESOME! Not only is the owner awesome but she has everything you could imagine for photographers, themed parties, and hip vintage dressers.

I was particularly looking for a bow tie to match my hubbys brown vintage suit. I found this treasure right here!

I love the unique design and bright colors!

I was also searching for a veil of some sorts, either to re-craft or not. She didn't have any veils at the moment but I did stumble upon this antique wedding clip that I am going to attach my birdcage veil to. SWEEET!

 

Needless to say we had a successful and fun trip thrift shopping! OH, and these two items together were just a whopping $2.36!!! OHHH YEAH!

I have an addiction... SHHHH!

Yes, it's true. I have an addiction. I think it's probably one of the healthier addictions out there. I am addicted to books! I'm pretty much Ok with it too. I even would like them to all have there own room. I can't remember the last time I walked in a store and didn't wanna buy a book. They intrique me, from the titles, to the pages, to the cover designs. One day, I pray, I will have a library to house all my books. And as far as borrowing them... yes you may borrow a book but you will have to deal with ME if you don't bring it back when you're done! =)

I can't say that I read a whole lot of fiction books but I do like them. I mostly like to read about ways to better myself, my life, my business, and my relationships. My love for God keeps me wanting to always be better and more like him. Lately my focus has been on becoming a better parent to my kiddos and getting the best out of my photography business.

Here are a couple of my awesome stacks of books. Check em out on Amazon and order away!

This is my mommy stack. I LOVE "Power of praying parent."

This is my SELF stack. These are books that help me be a better me.

This is my marriage stack! WE can always do better in that aspect.

Ahh.. the good ole work stack. I have many many more of these but they are currently in my CAR!

If anyone wants to help encourage my addiction by recommended or loaning any good books, please do!

TuTu Precious {Aubrey Foley}

You guys voted and she won! Little Miss Aubrey Foley won my children's photo contest. Her mother, Tiffany, owns TuTu Precious. Tutu Precious is a business that makes tutus, bows, and absolutely gorgeous outfits! Right now she has a Facebook and an Etsy store. Please go check out her creative talent and order something why don't ya!?

Tiffany worked on some beautiful outfits for us to use with Aubrey's shoot! I had so much fun with the beautiful outfits and Aubreys sweet self. She has a precious smile and captivating eyes. We had an angel outfit, a butterfly, a Halloween theme, and the Aubrey tutu.

As embarrassing as it is, I have to tell the story of what happened at our shoot. I met Tiffany, her husband, and Aubrey in downtown Hattiesburg. We walked to a few different locations to shoot and then made our way to a park downtown. Miss Aubrey got a little fussy 30 minutes into the session and was inconsolable. We all decided it was best to continue the shoot in the a.m. We walk to our vehicles and I set my camera/keys down in the front seat (I accidentally pressed the lock button on my key at this time). Seeing that Tiffany needed me to shut my door in order to open the door to set Aubrey in her seat, I shut my front door. IMMEDIATELY after I do this I realize my keys were in there along with my CELL PHONE! I have never ever shut my keys up, why it had to be that day I will never know. So graciously they let me borrow their cell phone to call my hubby who also graciously helped me get in touch with a car opener (after five different calls). The guy gets to us 10 minutes later (pretty quick!) and uses literally EVERY tool in his kit! FINALLY we get into the 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan and my alarms goes craaaaaazy. Ha! Then to top off my awesome night he says, "Check or cash only ma'am." OH boy! Who carries those? Not me! I said "Well sir I have neither, can you follow me to the ATM?" Thankfully he followed me there and I got his money and my night eventually went back to normal.

All that being said... Thank you Tiffany and Rick for being patient with my blonde moment. I had a BLAST photographing your precious little girl. I am so glad that it was God's will for Aubrey to win my free session.

And now for some photos....