As a family of servants of God, we seek to Glorify Him by offering our lives as living sacrifices, being intentional about engaging people with Christ and the Gospel, and using the talents and training He has given us through grace to proclaim the Gospel of Grace to those near and far.
Today was so beautiful! I was taking a few indoor practice shots for an up-coming new-born session (!!!) and kept my camera out to capture the kids playing outside.
But first, Naomi posed for me. She's taking directions very well these days.
And now for the fresh air...
JR taught him how to dribble the soccer ball. Gideon does a great job with it. I guess soccer is in the genes. (And every time JR tells G that, the boy looks down at his jeans.) :)
And a parting shot of Naomi enjoying the last rays of sunshine for the day.
Yesterday was the first day I attempted to braid Naomi's hair. She was very patient with me and allowed me to practice french-braiding her hair. (I don't remember ever doing this on another person, and have only french-braided my own hair once.)
The braids aren't the best, but she looked so much older with them! JR was blown away by how fast she is growing up.
Also, yesterday we did one of our photo shoots of another new hat we got from HeartSmiles.etsy.com! We LOVE them. (and we love getting them in exchange for pictures of Naomi in them) I've put together a "blog-board" on this blog, but I've posted the pictures on fb and www.dLifeful.com.
Speaking of my d'Lifeful blog... could those of you who have blogs that have a link list include www.dLifeful.com to your list? I think having more referring blogs will bring up my web-site in the google search engines. Every bit helps. Thanks. -Daisha
Yesterday Gideon was finally, officially, inducted into "BOYHOOD" when his jeans ripped at the knees.
And this next tid-bit cracks me up (which is why I'm sharing it).
Upon the discovery of one of his Buzz Lightyear socks last night, he put it on his foot. When he was unable to find its mate, he declared, "I will just wear ONE sock!"
And he did.
This morning, the one sock is still on.
(don't you love how one leg of the shorts are turned up?)
It seems to me that there is an alarming lack of photos of mothers with their children. I know that I'm always behind the lens instead of in front of it.
Some of it is probably due to the fact that a lot of us are still not used to our post-baby(ies) body. Or we spend time making our kids look cute and get out the door lucky when we've slapped some mascara on or brushed our hair. Or maybe those are just MY excuses. :)
Over at The Savvy Photographer they are having a give-away. I'd really like to win it and be better equipped to offer a great day of mini-sessions in conjunction with Mother's day.
I mean, isn't it every mother's dream to have great pictures that capture the love she and her children share. (and have those photos be touched up by Photoshop? :P)
Anyway... just dreaming today. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that I can win that give-away. -Daisha
We headed back to Searcy this past weekend to celebrate Joe and Michael's birthdays. Gideon was so excited to see his friends again. And the whole family had a great time out at the farm.
Since Cassie was taking photos of the whole party, I just focused on my kids. Here's a few pics I'll pull out of the slide-show to highlight.
My big kid was so excited. This is one of the few shots I got of him holding still all day.
Unfortunately, Naomi seems to have inherited my allergies. After spending all day outside (and in hay) her allergies were in full-swing. So I have put her on a daily dose of Claritin (for kids). She loves it and will ask for it by name.
Naomi was fearless when it came to the animals. She walked right up to them and led the kids into the goat pen.
This photo cracks me up. Can't you just imagine him as an Irish Retriever smelling something in the air? :)
This is the "UNcuddle". Chad was getting Naomi out of the way of a game the men-folk were playing.
This is Naomi's new thing that she started Saturday: crossing her arms.
I'll let you look through the slide-show at your leisure.
It was a really fun party. The whole family had a great time out in the fresh air. And it was so good to see the kids playing with their friends.
*** Since my blog is my journal... I'll add in this about Sunday. ***
Sunday morning, JR and I were able to serve the body at Grace Crossing during their communion time. JR read from Isaiah, then he wove scripture into the song "The Power of the Cross" (by Keith Getty) while I sang. After I finished the last chorus, he concluded with Romans 8. The congregation started applauding the TRUTH that was proclaimed through the scripture. Their emotion and applause shook me to the point that I cried during the repeat of the last chorus. But I believe everyone was blessed by the experience. I know JR and I were.
So one month has gone by in the Naomi-Potty-Training adventure. Here's the update:
Naomi is doing great! Somewhere along the way she started telling us that she needed to pee! She still has a few accidents, and is known for sneaking up to play in her bedroom and pooping in her underwear, but other than that, I'd say she's pretty well day-trained.
She seems to have no control over her bladder when she is in deep sleep yet. I'm not worried about it at this point.
We were using the Patty Potty waterproof underwear for nap/nights, but they didn't keep the moisture away from her skin and she got a HORRIBLE rash. So, we broke down and bought what will hopefully be our only box of pull-ups. (We call them "Princess Night Underwear" and still tell her to keep it dry.)
Taking her places is not a problem. She will tell us if she has to go, and doesn't mind going on foreign toilets, or without her special seat. This is HUGE to me!
We are very proud of how big she is. She is getting very independent.
Even though the "3-Day-Potty-Training" e-book I bought didn't deliver all of it's promises, it did force us to quit diapers once and for all. I can't help but wonder if I had thrown G's diapers away when I first tried to train him, if he would've been out of diapers a full 7 months before he was. (Yikes! I just worked that out to be about $280 that we could've saved.)
I LOVE not having to change diapers anymore!!! -Daisha
