Please excuse the mess while my blog is under construction. Hopefully all will be back to normal once my kids go down for their afternoon nap

-Sarah-

I finally got around to taking some pictures of Madeline in my Baptism gown. If it weren’t for the lime green shag carpet or the ‘Sarah’ on my shoes, you could almost believe both of these pictures were MJ!!!

-Sarah-

Michael and I braved the mall crowds on Friday and took the kids to talk to Santa. We were soo excited when we got there because the line wasn’t bad at all - maybe 10 people in front of us. We had just gotten comfortable when word came back that Santa had to go tend to his reindeer and would be gone for approximately one hour! YIKES! Mike took advantage of it though and finished up some last-minute gifts while I hung out in line with the kiddos. When it was almost our turn Aiden was going nuts - he was so anxious to get to Santa; he could hardly hold still. My heart was thrilled - I may actually get a picture of both my kids with Santa. Well, good thing I wasn’t holding my breath!!! When our turn came, Aiden’s excitement quickly turned into fear and he let out a blood-curling scream. He held on to Mike like his life was in grave danger! There went my ideal picture of both my babies with Santa At least Madeline had a chat with him! My mom has a really neat custom frame that has about 12 years worth of Santa pictures with all the kids and I have visions of my own picture someday. Guess Aiden will be missing a year!! *Sigh* oh well, he can’t be afraid of him forever, can he?

-Sarah-

That’s how long I’ve been married to my best friend, Michael!! We didn’t do a whole lot to celebrate - just a quiet evening at home 1/2 kidless. Aiden was able to go to an hourly day care and play for a bit, but the infant room was booked. Miss Madeline stayed home with us. She ate green beans while Mike and I had shrimp/chicken pasta then she watched Hancock with us! Talk about an exciting evening I look forward to the rest of our lives!!

-Sarah-

If you know me well, you know that I have a strong hatred of any form of seafood, so for this stuff to even be in my home is huge. Not only was it in my kitchen, but I touched it - I shelled it and cooked it all on my own. Now that is love folks!!

The yummy dessert that Mike picked up when I made him go buy the shrimp Hey! I at least did the cooking

My anniversary present! Yes, it was really a faucet. Did you know that the modern 4th anniversary gift is an appliance? Though it’s not super romantic, it is something that we desperately needed!!! Yeah for my hubby!!

Just because…. A wedding picture. December 16, 2004
(Photo by Peak Photography)

Michael and I dedicated Madeline to the church this morning. We made a promised to Madeline, to our congregation and to God that we would love her and raise her up in a Christian home. We promised to do our best to always show her the love of Christ in all that we do. Mike and I are so blessed with our family - we have 2 incredibly beautiful children, a nice home, 2 fat cats and it’s all because of the love of our Father that we are able to enjoy so much. Both of our kids were dedicated during the Christmas season. I did it for 2 reasons, on of them being that it was the same that my parents had my brother’s and I baptized. But also because of what Christmas is all about. Sure, Santa is fun and the presents are nice. But the true reason that we celebrate Christmas is because God gave us the most precious gift - the gift of his Son and I love that we have been able dedicated our precious gifts to the church as the same time we are celebrating the birth of our Saviour. See that beautiful gown that my baby girl is wearing? That is the same dress that I was baptized in almost 26years ago to-the-day(hmm, wonder if I can find a picture??). My mom has held on to it for all of these years. I will try and get a better picture of the little lady wearing the gown this week - she wasn’t in the mood for photographs today.

*Thanks for the pictures Susie*

Just for grins and giggles - here is a picture from Aiden’s Dedication in 2006

Even though it snowed in Houston last night, Santa didn’t change his schedule! The Space Shuttle, Endeavour, took a quick flyby over Ellington Field and JSC today while on it’s way home. It landed at Edwards Air Force Base on November 30 and hitched a ride today on the back of a modified Boeing 747 to head back to Kennedy Space Center. I was able to see this several years ago while at McMurry when the shuttle took a quick stop at Dyess AFB but it was pretty fun to see it again today with Aiden. He was pretty sure that it was only an airplane though. Each time Mike tried to tell him shuttle he’d argue that it was a plane! It was a bit chilly though, so Miss MJ enjoyed the excitement from inside the car. After it was over, Aiden as his dad had a quick snowball fight. I still can’t believe there was actually snow in Houston. There wasn’t much left but it was enough for Aiden to have some fun! Oh, one of the coolest things about today was speaking with Ms. Simpson from the Houston Chron. She gave me her card and asked that I email her some pictures. She gave her card to a few others out there with bigger gear than mine, but hey, a girl can dream right? How awesome would it be to get published in the Chron??

-Sarah-

How Awesome is that??

Airplane! Airplane! Airplane!

Quick snowball fight!

Aident thought it was soo funny to hit his dad with snow!

This is what happens when the camera -lady gets too close to the action

Madeline enjoyed the excitment from inside the car - where it was WARM!

and I know that it happened because folks, it snowed in HOUSTON last night!! That’s right, wet, cold, REAL snow! I could hardly believe it… It didn’t last long, but it was still fun to see (even if it made me a bit homesick!!)

One of the hardest things about being a photographer is dealing with your own family. I wish so much that I could just clone myself. With a body double, I could compose the shot, press the shutter and be in the picture. Yes, I am aware of timers and remotes, but someone has to be on the other end to catch the attention of my children. Even if I had that clone, this would still be a problem. You see, my children suffer from a severe case of PKS, photographer’s kid syndrome. They see my camera and either run away, turn around, cry, or some combination of all 3. The doctors say that there is no cure other than to beg a friend to use the camera. Well, lucky for me one of my dearest friends not only knows how to use a camera, but she rocks at getting my kiddos to look cute!! Didn’t Misty do an awesome job on our family pictures!

-Sarah-

I’ve been hiding these pictures taken by the lovely Misty Green of MG Studios because they were a Christmas present to JoeJoe (my dad) Well, we celebrated Christmas with my parents while were were home for Thanksgiving so I guess I can share them now! My dad has been a huge packer fan since he was a little tyke - probably around 4 or 5. Last year my mom surprised him with a trip to Green Bay and tickets to a Packer Game. It’s been a dream of his to go to Lambeau Field. At the time we didn’t know what the baby was, so they only bought Aiden a jersey and decided to wait on another outfit until we learned the Baby’s gender. Of course I couldn’t wait to get miss Madeline a cheerleader outfit! It’s a bit big, but aren’t they still the cutest kiddos, ever?

My Dad’s super cute statuette!

I cannot believe that my baby girl is already 6 months old. I simply cannot figure out where the time is going. I knew it would pass quickly after Aiden became a toddler just by blinking my eyes, but sheesh…. MJ is all girl, that’s for sure. Talk about a high-maintaince baby! Maybe she gets that from her daddy cause I can’t imagine that it came from me… haha! She barely tips the scales at 13 pounds and I don’t remember her exact length - but she’s pretty high on the charts. She’s already looking to be a bit like Aiden - long and lean! She isn’t quiet sitting up by herself yet, but she sure can roll where ever she’d like! Her favorite activities are drooling, nursing and watching Aiden

Here’s my sweet girl this morning. She had been snoozing on our bed so I tried to snap a few pictures right after she woke up but before she realized she was hungry!

And just because I can’t show one kid without the other… Here’s Aiden holding his first frog. Ahh, the life of a toddler boy… dirt, dirt and more dirt!!