sister love

I was an only child until age ten & a half. I was always the center of attention, the entertainment and the life of the party! I loved it! My brother was born Christmas night and I was thrilled to be a big sister/second mother to him! As I grew up I would see my friends that had sisters and think how cool it would be to have a sister. You can share clothes with them, hair stuff, make up and do all sorts of girly things all the time! So needless to say since I was the only girl I was a little envious of my friends with sisters. Then I grew up and got married and I was granted this awesome thing called a sister-in-law, or SIL as I like to call it. How glorious!! She is married to my husband's brother..

Here she is... just gorgeous as can be!

Her name is Erika. She is not my only SIL, I have 3 more but this one holds a special place in my heart! She was blessed with a sister growing up, 2 sisters actually. But what's even better about her situation is 1 of her sisters is her TWIN! Now this is a whole new level of cool to me!

Here is MY SIL with her twin, Ali!

Ya know that precious little baby boy I ALWAYS talk about, Gabriel?! Well my SIL is his mommy! What a great mommy she is! She is also Chloe's mommy too! She and my Brother-in-law make precious babies!

Here's her adorable twin, Ali! She could totally be a model.

I love these two and I am so glad I was able to capture special memories for them. They both deserve some time together to giggle without a worry in the world!

Things I love..

I am thankful for the advice provided by a friend and fellow photographer after my last blog post! I have to realize that I am just a baby in this "business" and I need to learn to crawl before I can run. Which is a difficult task for me since I am always a "go-getter". I like to always find the quickest and easiest way to do something and get it done. Last week at church we learned about this exact topic regarding becoming a Christian and the "steps" that need to be taken, i.e. become a follower of Christ, get baptized, etc. Well thank you God for placing that sermon in my life and for also placing dear Ashley (http://thehousewiferookie.blogspot.com/) in my life as well! She gave me a piece of advice that might not have meant much to her when she said it but it really stuck. Begin by photographing things that you love. That small piece of information has really turned things around for me and my outlook on this situation. So today we had a family get together at my in-laws. I asked my sister in law to bring my niece ready for photos, I wanted to practice photography on something I love. Here are some of the results of that shoot today.
She has so many facial expressions, she has so much personality and character at just 8 months old. I love her sweet face. She and her big brother are so photogenic. I always loved to take photos of Gabriel! He was always smiling and ready for a photo! Chloe is precious, with those chubby cheeks and big brown eyes.

But, she is only 8 months old and sitting on the grass (when you can't eat the leaves)

gets boring and old quick! So she let me know she was not having any more photos!

But even when she is angry, she is precious! Thank you again Ashley for the advice! I can't wait to photograph more things I love and share them with the world!

Discouraged

I have been feeling very discouraged lately in the aspect of the photography business I'm attempting to get off the ground.. I feel like I'm one of those toy helicopters who can only get so far off the ground before a crash. It is frustrating and discouraging to me. I want this to thrive and do well! I know it's been cold and gloomy and no one is wanting their picture to be taken... I'm trying hard to keep my head up!

God is Great!

I have to share some amazing news! This is not going to be a long post but I have to share with you all! Gabriel's birthday was February 26th and our family planned a birthday celebration for him! Erika and Macho came to Freedom Church that morning and the message could not have been more perfect for them. BOTH of them were saved on Gabriel's birthday!! Praise the Lord!!! It was so amazing! Then today they were both baptized!! I am so proud of them for the journey they are on and I am so so glad I am able to witness it! It is such an exhilarating feeling to pray for something specific and have God answer the prayer! God is so great and I am just overflowing with pride, love and excitement for what is still to come! Thank you God for blessing me and my family!

My Sister and Brother in law and their little ladies! Love them!

We wrote messages to Gabriel and attached them to balloons and let them go! While yelling "Happy Birthday Gabriel!!!" :)

Heaven got the BEST angel

As you know my little nephew has been on quite the journey since September of 2010. Friday January 27th, 2012 he took a new journey, a journey to Heaven to be an angel! This past 2 weeks has been intense, emotional and difficult. January 17th my Sister-in-law too Gabriel to Children's Healthcare to get checked out because he was coughing and very fussy. They did a chest x-ray, results were fine. They did a CT scan, results were not fine. The CT came back that sweet Gabe had bleeding on his brain and there was nothing else the doctor's could do for him. They put him on steriods which make Gabe VERY angry, so they stopped that a couple of days later and had Hospice come in to assist. Hospice came to help on Friday with medicine to help calm Gabe down and medicine to eliviate the pain. Both medications made him sleepy and kind of loopy, which he fought so hard to continue to play and sit up. My sister-in-law, her sister and I were laying with him in the bed trying to get him to rest and enjoying spending time with him of course. But he finally gave in and went to sleep around 3:00pm. Sunday the hospice nurse came and said she did not expect him to be with us much longer. Monday night we went over to visit with them and my mother-in-law and I got to hold him while he slept. It was soo good to get to hold him and kiss his sweet little head and tell him how much I loved him. He was truly an angel on earth! Tuesday my mom wanted to go visit, so she and I went and of course she had to bring them a yummy dessert!! :) She's southern, what can you expect! Gabe was struggling more to breath and it was sad to see him. But I am so glad I went and spent the time with him. He continued to decline daily and on Friday morning gave into the fight he had been up against for so long to become an angel. I miss him and I hate that he is not here and will not be able to grow old with us. But I am so glad he is not in pain, is not suffering and is at peace. I am heartbroken for his parents. I feel so helpless and wish there was something I could do. But unfortunatley ther is nothing I can do... Please continue to pray for the Sierra & Soumas families... We all LOVED Gabe!!! He was nothing short of amazing!!!

He's just amazing

THIS is the most amazing little boy I know!


His name is Gabriel, he is my nephew and he has put up a good fight against a horrible and mean thing called cancer. Today he went to the hospital because he seemed to be getting sick & was grabbing at his head a lot. So they did a CT scan and discovered that he has bleeding in his brain. This of course is devastating news for all of us. They are going to call in Hospice later this week and they do not think this precious angel will be with us much longer. So please keep Gabriel's family in your prayers we are definitely going to need them!


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cancer vs cold...

So I am once again sick with some kind of intense cold that is going around! I know no one enjoys being sick but I really really dislike it! I'm such a go go go kind of person, I just don't have time to feel like crap! So I took the day off yesterday and went to the doctor, basically to pay $25 for them to tell me it was just a cold blah! But as I laid on the couch being all sulky, sad and sick I started thinking about Gabriel. He probably feels like crap every day but manages to smile and play and be a precious little angel! He is fighting cancer and still so strong day in and day out, I have a cold and act like it's the end of the world! So I got up and started to clean the kitchen and do other things around the apartment. If that little {almost} 2 year old can fight a very rare brain tumor I think I can fight a stupid cold! I love you Gabriel Micah and I will do whatever I can to be a better person because of you! XOXO
So take a moment when you're feeling down and crappy and think about Gabriel or other little ones that are struggling with life threatening illnesses.. our lives could always be worse. Be thankful for the blessings we have.