beach baby

Laina absolutely loved the beach this year.  I am loving her in this little ruffly swimsuit and realizing that this is the last summer of any diaper bottoms during our beach days!  I just want to squish her, she's so cute!

On a mission somewhere...

My favorite picture of the summer...

getting back to the basics

Hello, old friend.  It's so nice to be back and writing about life.  My life.  I've found myself getting caught up in this new world of photography where I've been spending more time editing photos of other peoples' families and realize that I've been leaving aside the very reason that I chose to learn photography in the first place - - - to document our life.

I've been really overwhelmed with the speed of life lately.  In two Saturdays, my youngest is turning 2, leaving behind the world of anything "baby" and officially entering the world of "toddler."  How did this happen?

It's easy to get caught up in the "mommy guilt."  Our family has been just trying to survive and make it through these last couple of months and I'm ready to slow down and thrive, making it through well instead.  The very people I want to give my all to are the ones who get the very least once I'm done giving to others.  I'm SO ready for that to be different.  I'm planning a little inside retreat of sorts for myself starting this October.  My goal is to step back and to take note of life...to try and appreciate the every day moments, even those that feel like they're leading me toward insanity!

We have had some awesome moments this summer and I haven't yet taken the time to stop and relish in those delights.  Our kids are growing at rapid speed and much of that has happened over this past summer.  Cole is in full-time school, the girls are completely coming into their own and finding their own personalities and I fear that I might look back on this time years down the road with a big question mark of what life was like and a heart filled with regret.

All of this is to say that I'm getting back to the heart of why I began this blog in the first place.

To remember.

Already, I have looked back at previous posts and learned and relearned things from myself before.  I've been able to see pictures of the kids and read stories that go along with them and say, "Oh yeah!  I remember that sweet moment!" Or sometimes it's, "Wow!  We made it through that!  And in one piece!  Praise God!"

I need that now.  I need to see that we are doing okay and that, at the end of the day, regardless of how challenging that day was, we have each other.  We are a team and we love each other more than words can say.  It doesn't always feel like that and it's so easy to get caught up in the negative in the midst of the hustle and bustle.  So I'm purposing to take the time to write again because this reminds me of the gifts I've been given.

Two things I've heard recently that have been incredibly encouraging and eye opening:

"It's not your job to be Christ to your kids but to model the need for Him to them." - Linda Anderson

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow.  It empties today of its strength." - Corrie Ten  Boom

You may not know it from looking at me (and sometimes I fail to forget as well!) but this weary mom is very blessed.

It's good to remind myself of that from time to time.