the wait

this week is national infertility week. i have prayed for many friends who have dealt with infertility issues. who have waited and waited and waited to become pregnant and also those who have lost a child.

there is a special place tucked away in my heart for people dealing with infertility because i was one of them not too long ago.

i got pregnant right away, first try with parker my firstborn. with connor, it just didn't happen that way....at all. after 8 months of trying, i miscarried. i was devasted. i remember driving to the doctors office thinking this just can't be happening. this was an extremely difficult time in my life. the emotional rollercoaster of infertility will make any woman just about lose her sanity. the constant cycle of hope, waiting, not knowing, anticipation, devastation, depression and hope again is exhausting. and then to finally get pregnant and lose a child is downright heart wretching.

but there is hope! meet connor:

my sweet sweet connor was conceived just two months after my miscarriage! when i thought i would never have another child, here is my sweet baby boy sleeping at a healthy 9 months!

losing a child still hurts, but there is hope. i love what kelly wrote on her blog today. if you are in a similar situation, or in "the wait", you need to read her post....it is SO encouraging! i hope my story encourages you. i have numerous friends who have struggled with fertility and ALL of them now are either pregnant or have children. the wait is SO tough but SO worth it.

connor’s first haircut!

this little guy was in some serious need of a haircut…….

and this mommy just wasn’t ready for his FIRST haircut. clearly we were WAY past due. in fact we should have cut it before we left the hospital! my kids have both come out with long hair, but just a few strands of it! and i’ve never know what to do with it, as you can see below :)

but since we’ve got our professional family pictures scheduled for tomorrow, it was time…….and i love it!

unfortunately this not-so supermom photographer totally FORGOT her camera and was left to the not-so great quality of iphone pics :( i can’t wait for our family pics tomorrow….my new friend is doing them for us and she is awesome!

plugged in…..

are you????

there are so many reasons to get “unplugged” these days. to turn off the tv, shut down the computer, put the phone on silent….and there are reasons to run away, hide, disengage to deal with hurt, pain and suffering. sometimes it’s just easier to be unplugged.

i just LOVE our church. our message began this week with a very important announcement :: our pastor now tweets! yes my friends, my pastor of a different “vintage”so to say, was throwing out BTW’s during the message!

while i appreciate the technological advancement of our church, what i loved most this particular sunday was our message on “power in weakness” centered around Romans 8.

my heart right now is SO BURDENED for several dear friends of mine. they are going through some tough tough stuff. they are phenomenal women! and it’s times like these where you just want to ask God “why”? we often wonder why God “allows” stuff like this to happen to good people, people who have already been through SO MUCH. God did not create this stuff, this is man made and sin is to blame. we are NOT operating the way God had ever intended for us to because of sin. this is NOT what He created and thankfully our worldly home is just temporary.

Romans 8:28 says

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

i have prayed and prayed and PRAYED for these women. i’m at a point where i just don’t know what to pray for sometimes. thankfully, when you invite Jesus to be a part of your life, you also gain the Holy Spirit in your heart as well. the Holy Spirit grieves our grief and feels our pain with us. AND knows EXACTLY what to say when you just have no words to speak anymore….

Romans 8:26-27 says “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”

And sometimes when we run out of words to say, we turn to anger, complaining and negative thoughts. have you been there? i have. many times.

i love the example our pastor used this morning…..he asked what came out if you squeezed a tube of toothpaste…..toothpaste of course! sometimes God allows different circumstances to squeeze my heart just to see what’s inside….am i speaking words of faith, hope and love or am i full of anger, negativity and pride? sometimes we become so overtaken by pride that maybe we need to be humbled. during these difficult times God is going to try and get us to go back to the fundamentals. to get plugged in.

friends, are you plugged in? maybe you don’t “need” to be plugged in right now because everything is going just fine in your life. or maybe things aren’t so great but you just don’t know where to begin.

i encourage you to get plugged in with a church that you can call home. not just a church where you go for an hour every sunday morning, go through the motions and check it off your list for the week. if that is you, YOU ARE MISSING OUT! that is not what this is all about, that’s what religions, fads, and trends are….something that probably won’t last or have true lifelong meaning.

i’m talking about a church where you can get CONNECTED and learn more about what God has already done for YOU, not what you need to do for Him. i also encourage you to find a “life group” within your church…..a core group of close friends who share the same values that you “do life with”. friends that you can call at 2am. we have just gotten plugged in with a new life group that is closer to home and we LOVE it!

i’ve got to run and get a few more things checked off my list for tonight, but i hope you all had a great weekend and have a great week!

have you missed me?

dear friends…..stalkers :) oh how i have missed you! i have been one crazy momma from playdates, to church life group picnics, MOPS, mommy and me, in-loves visiting, photographing numerous gorgeous families, internet issues, preparing for my moms photography class……….friends, it has been hectic and it’s not slowing down for a few weeks. life is happening and i need to find time/make time to document it!

i’m not complaining, i’m just feeling guilty….and missing you. missing my journaling of my life, as i know it. it’s just all happening way too fast, which may be why i am obsessed with capturing every single moment in a photograph. to attempt to hold on to those moments forever……….

i know i have neglected my blog, and i’m sorry. i’m hoping….praying that i will find a new balance shortly. you all are important to me, and this blog is important to me. please check back soon, my plan is to post regularly once again, once i can reclaim a little bit of sanity :)

Hilton Head Trip Part I

So I fell in love last week…..with Hilton Head! This was my first time there and I loved it! I love that it was family friendly, you could ride bikes everywhere, so many good restaurants to choose from and just enough commercialized so that I could go on a Target run 10 minutes away if I got desperate!

I loved where we stayed because it wasn’t very commercialized, yet we could ride bikes a few blocks and be at either the beach or our latest fave Rita’s!

Of course I took A LOT (and by a lot I mean like 1200!) of pictures, so here are some from the first batch :)

The boys loved riding in the bike cart!

SO excited to be on the beach!

  

Potty Trained!!!!!!

Me and my best friend!

I’m SO ready to go back!!!!

Meal Plan Monday

I had a VERY productive day today. I hit up both Harris Teeter AND Target and we are set for meals for the week!

Here’s what we will be eating this week, in no particular order :)

Enchiladas

Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries and Baked Beans

Salmon, Grilled Veggies and Cous Cous

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Diced Tomatoes, Orzo Pasta Salad

Pizza and Caesar Salad

Did you plan your meals this week? Trying anything new you’d like to share????

He is Alive!

Today it is GORGEOUS here in Charlotte. For some reason it always seems like it’s cold and rainy on Easter, but not this year!

I was SO tired this morning, but we made it up early, went downstairs to check out what the Easter Bunny brought the boys (can you tell what Parker’s latest obsession is???)….

Got everyone dressed up in their Easter outfits and made it to church just a few minutes late. I originally wanted to take pictures before we went to church, but it just didn’t happen and I did not want to be any later than we already were.

We had a great sermon….I just love our church and I’m SO excited that we are connected with a new life group closer to home. After church I snuck in a few pics of the boys outside…..

And Brandon took some of me and my baby on his first Easter!

We didn’t do Easter brunch just because it’s really challenging with an almost 3 year who is allergic to eggs, so instead we did what we do best……ordered mexican! And it was SO GOOD!!!

While we were waiting for the restaurant to open, we took Parker down to the water and I took these pics from the car (Connor was napping so I stayed with him)

After lunch, we went on an Easter egg hunt in our backyard….Parker LOVED it!

Happy Easter!

 

In Case You Were Wondering……

where I was, we’ve been on vacation in Hilton Head. SO sad to leave today, but I love my house, neighbors, friends, etc and am glad to be home sweet home.

Despite having two large CRAZY protective dogs, a well rigged alarm system and a house sitter, I still didn’t want to advertise that we were going to be out of town, my apologies. And how on earth could I blog and not spill the beans???

But we just got back, I’m working on digging out all the dirty laundry and unpacking and getting settled back in.

I’ve got a busy day tomorrow playing catch up, meeting up with a friend, editing some FABULOUS pictures from a shoot before I left town and girls night with several of my besties!

Of course I have a GAZILLION pictures I took from our trip and I’m dying to upload them, edit them and post them all. Alas, they will have to wait probably until this weekend…..

Stay tuned for lots of pics and a full recap of our time in Hilton Head. I think this is my new favorite place to go!