Boy Mom

That is what her bumper sticker said.  And with four boys under the age of 9 in the family, I should have expected the session would involve a LOT of these little guys.

You might notice their little hands clutched in many of the pictures, as they held on dearly to every little crawling critter they could find- critters who had no idea when they woke up that morning they would be going to the amusement park of death when four active little boys came whooping, hollering, stomping and laughing through their homes.

Allow me to introduce you to these boys, who described their brothers as the following:

Ford- (crazy, likes bugs, handsome)

Tate- (smiley, hungry, short)

Cash- (likes donuts, silly, singer)

and Zane - (fast, tall, and crazy)

Four of the coolest boys (with the coolest names!) on the planet. 

Oh how I loved this fun session!

Row, Row, Row your boat...

... gently down the stream!

(that song reminds me of the talent show scene in the best 80s movie EVER- anyone want to take a guess at what it was?!?)

This was my third shoot with these boys. The shirts came off within about .0989 seconds of the commencement of the shoot. Luckily we were able to coax them back on for some clothed shots too...

Here is little sister, who, although pictured here with her beloved dolls, engaged in just as much roughhousing and horseplay as her older brothers. At one point during the wrestling match shoot I think I remarked to mom - "is she going to hurt them?" 

And the oldest brother. He is always so good and such a helper to me!!

Amelia's Miracle Heart

I didn't even know where to begin to write this post.

This post is about a little girl who was born perfectly healthy.  Ten weeks later her parents were praying she survived the night.

I'm going to let her mom, an amazing woman, a woman that just exudes warmth and kindness from every pore in her body, tell Amelia's story.

Our 20-month-old daughter, Amelia, was born a healthy full-term baby in October of 2009.  When Amelia was two-and-a-half months old, during the week of Christmas, she caught a seemingly harmless virus and had a runny nose.  

On New Year's Eve, she began having trouble breathing, and we learned at the ICU that she was in acute heart failure due to viral myocarditis. A virus had attacked her heart and caused it to enlarge and render it unable to pump blood through her body. 

Amelia's cardiologist told us she had a 50-50 chance of surviving that night.

Miraculously, she responded very quickly to the medications and ventilator treatments and one week later, was released from the hospital. We were overjoyed and prayed that her heart would continue to heal.

That was not to be. 

A short two weeks later, Amelia was again having trouble breathing and had lost weight. She was rushed to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, where a team of pediatric cardiologists told us her heart had deteriorated so quickly that she would need a heart transplant. 

A heart transplant. For a three month old baby. They had never seen a child with a heart in her state recover on its own. 

We prepared ourselves for a lengthy wait, and were told to expect a three to six month wait period for a heart transplant. Amelia was put on the waiting list for a new heart in early February 2010.

    

In March of 2010, Amelia's heart function had deteriorated to less than five percent of what it should be, and we made the decision to put her on a Berlin Heart. The Berlin Heart is a mechanical device that is surgically connected to the original heart, and pumps blood for the left ventricle. It is a life-saving machine that allows heart transplant patients to grow and thrive as they wait for a donor heart to become available. Amelia was on the Berlin Heart for four months. 

During that time she suffered 

a brain hemmorage,

three brain surgeries, 

two open-heart surgeries, 

a stroke, 

and multiple infections. 

Through it all, Amelia was a fighter. 

She amazed us on a daily basis. 

We quickly learned to treat every day as a gift. We prayed constantly for her continued strength and for the gift of a heart to become available for transplant. We also prayed for her future donor family, knowing they would face a devastating loss and a difficult decision.

On July 2, 2010, after six months in the hospital, Amelia was blessed with a new miracle heart. A donor heart became available that was a perfect match for Amelia. 

The morning that we heard the news, my husband and I were overwhelmed with relief, gratitude, and unimaginable sorrow for the donor family. Our own daughter had faced death many times, and we could not imagine how hard it must have been for the donor's family to look beyond their own grief, and selflessly give life to another child. 

For their gift, we are eternally grateful. 

We continue to pray for our donor family, that they be comforted by the fact that their child's heart is thriving and beating inside Amelia. Because of their gift, Amelia has a second chance at life. 

Amelia came home one month after she received her new heart. She celebrated her first birthday last October, which was a milestone she would not have met without her new heart.  We have watched her learn to sit up, stand, speak her first words, and play with her big brother in the comfort of our home. Looking at her today, you would never know that she had at one time been so sick. We know what a miracle she is, and what a miracle her new heart is. We are going to raise Amelia in a fashion that ensures she recognizes every day as a gift from God and therefore lives life to its fullest.  

Here she is today, with her parents and her sweet Poppy who was visiting from South America. Today, she is a thriving, smiling, miracle child.

And I simply cannot forget about her older brother. A superhero in his own right- one who will only come out stronger for what his family has endured.

Have you made the life saving decision to be an organ donor?

• 110,586 people are currently waiting for an organ.
• 18 people die each day waiting for an organ.
• 1 organ donor can save up to eight lives.

I just registered to be a donor. 

It took less than 20 seconds. 

If you have never considered it before, I urge you to consider it now.

Happy Belated Sweet Birthday Boy

My boy turned four yesterday.  

I heard a saying-

"the days are long, but the years are short"

My, how true that is.  I don't know where the last four years went.

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy. The one who will always be my baby, my only boy.

Jude- this is who you are at four years old:

A talker- when you get started, man can you talk. And talk, and talk and talk.  Questions follow questions followed by deep four year old thoughts, followed by funny little four year old jokes. 

A snorer- see previous post about you sneaking into bed with us almost every night. I can hear that woobie (blankie) with my super sonic Mommy hearing, being dragged along the carpet seconds before the door is pushed open.  You promptly crawl into bed with us, arrange yourself diagonally and the snoring begins.  But oh do I love waking up to that sweet dimple, even if my back is twisted in every direction because I was relegated to two inches of mattress space to make room for you.  You still love that woobie. And I do too.

A whiner- oh you can whine better than any other kid I know. It's really quite incredible. I know whining is caused by a need for attention, but it's hard sometimes with three other kids! I hope you can understand that one day and appreciate the joy that having a big family brings and not just the crap.  I know I do, although it is very challenging sometimes!

A baby brother- despite the sibling rivalry, you really do get along with your sisters very well. Emily is sometimes a mother figure (occassionally surprising us all by getting you ready for bed), Kaylee is your pal, and I think right now you are closest to Presley. It seems every time we go in a certain women's clothing store, I lose the two of you in either a rack of clothes, or find you playing on the floor like little puppies.

For your fourth birthday, we went strawberry picking at Atkinson Farms.  I tried to score some photo ops, but you weren't really that interested until the nice farmer came out with a big watermelon for you to pose with :-)

Then she let you play on the tractor and four wheeler and you were in heaven!

The birthday celebration will be held next weekend-  a joint birthday party honoring you and your friend JackJack, who was born one day before you.  We had our yearly photo shoot in Kemah this year.

We went to Kemah about a month prior to this shoot and here are a few more pictures of you I just adore (it's a little eery how realistic this face painting job looked!).

And last but not least, some picture of you from our recent family shoot with the brilliant Michele Anderson.

Mommy loves you SO much. Happy, happy birthday!!!

2 Years Old

You might remember these little men from past sessions, here and here.  Here they are at their two year sessions.

I especially like his little man blazer. If you could see his socks, you would see that they matched too.

Really. Stinking. Cute.

He chose to play the drums with sticks and a barstool, and who was I to stop him?

 

And this little train belonged to this little man's grandfather.  He got his curls cut off and a big boy haircut especially for this shoot.

*sniff, sniff... Jude's curls are fading fast and no matter the amount of gel and mousse and "curl enhancing shampoo" I use, I fear they are long long gone. 

Maybe a perm is in his future.

Kidding.

I love that this mom has told me she has chosen to decorate her walls with art (i.e. photographs) of her children because they are the most important things in her life and they are who her eyes want to rest upon in her home.

I feel the same way.

My Boy

Almost every night, a little visitor, about 3 (ish) feet tall and 37 pounds, creeps into our bed.  He sleeps sideways, relegating us to about 4 inches of mattress on either side of the bed. We suffer through kidney punches and side jabs as this little visitor actively dreams whatever his subconscious conjures up.

And every morning I say never again! I am SO tired of getting kicked all night... tonight is the night he stays in his bed ALL NIGHT. 

But then I look at this sweet face and big blue eyes... my only boy...and know I will never be able to tell him he can't sleep with us if he feels he needs to.

I know I will miss it when he no longer comes around. 

I had these pictures in my head for a long time. Feels good to get them out.

Love these.

I ordered three big float wraps for his room... I'll try to post pictures later. Poor kid- his room is such an afterthought... the price he pays for being the fourth I guess :-). There is still a little girl's chandelier hanging from the ceiling that we have been meaning to move for YEARS, and the bedding and walls leave much to be desired. But I am going to fix that! Soon!

 You've likely seen these sweeties before on my blog... this time we went fishing! I llllooooovvvvveeeee this family!  Mom and Dad made poles out of wooden sticks... and when I asked these ladies what their fish looked like, they replied "Daddy!"

And here is little brother, aka "boy boy."   Mom brought along his bedding, which was still pretty much brand new, as rumor has it, he has yet to sleep in his crib... ha!

If I don't blog again before Thanksgiving, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Be Still My Beating Heart...

This wee one certainly caught my heart... after she played with and sang to my sock monkey, she did the sweetest little curtsy/bow and then very exuberantly thanked her audience. 

I won't forget that performance for a very long time ... makes my heart smile :-)

And you may remember her little brother from here.   He's getting big... as they all do. *sigh*

We had to cope with some silly plants that decided to explode with stickers all over all of us... the perils of being an outdoor/natural light photographer... luckily it did not take us long to figure out which plants we needed to avoid. Maybe I should have stayed in Girl Scouts a little longer to help me with my botany skills (which reminds me... isn't it getting kinda/sorta close to Girl Scout cookie time? Time to stock up on those Thin Mints! If you have not tried them with Starbucks Coffee Ice Cream, you are missing out on a little piece of heaven!)

Here's the oldest sister (I don't know if you can tell from these pictures, but little brother looks EXACTLY like her!). Isn't she gorgeous?!?!?!  These kids have the PRETTIEST eyes!

Oh, and before I forget... I want to remind everyone that I do have gift certificates available! They make a GREAT Christmas/baby shower/birthday gift if I do say so myself!  They can be purchased in $25 denominations.  If you didn't get all the prints you wanted from a prior session, this is your chance to start dropping hints to the hubbie!