Weekly Randoms

This week has been super crazy to say the least. I've had sessions the past 2 days with one more tomorrow. I'm really thankful to be so busy, but it makes it hard to do the "mom" things I need to be putting first. My house is a disaster and it's been pretty hectic to get Wyatt taken care of during my sessions. Morgan has been really busy with taking care of chickens and getting our farm ready to close. On top of that, we have a bean crop at 3 different farms that needed to be sprayed this week! Fortunately, my mother-in-law was able to take care of Wyatt today and my sweet Granny is going to keep him tomorrow while I finish up my last session of the week. I'm definitely looking forward to a fun-filled and relaxing holiday weekend!

Wyatt has been really enjoying swimming lessons! I was able to take a few pictures (on my phone of course) Monday. He did really well, but he's so shy I don't think he said 2 words to Mrs. Donna Jo, his swimming instructor! Hopefully he will break out of his shell before the week is over. She is so sweet and does a great job teaching the kids in a way that they will feel comfortable and understand.

At the end of the lesson, she lets each of the kids take 2 turns jumping off of the diving board. Wyatt really likes this part! I think he feels like one of the big kids :)

On another note, today after my session in Huntsville, I ran a few errands to get some things that I was out of. I've been using Morgan's cheap shampoo for the past week because I was out of my Redken. Now, I'm usually not a product snob, but when it comes to my hair, I can't just use anything. I have super wavy, frizzy hair if I don't use the right product and I've looked like a hot mess for as long as I could stand it! haha. I was thrilled to find that the beauty supply store I use was having a HUGE sale today! I love nice surprises like that. Since I'm a licensed cosmetologist, I'm able to shop wholesale, so it is pretty reasonable to buy good products, but today was even half of what I'm used to paying!!

While I was there, I came across these 2 little cuties that were just calling my name!! I've been wanting a grey polish for a while and this was exactly what I was looking for. I'm a huge fan of OPI polish and I'm such a sucker for their awesome names! These two are 'It's Totally Fort Worth It' and 'Houston We Have a Purple'. Shout out to Texas, y'all! haha.

These liters were only $7 with another $1 off at the register! Liters for $6......SCORE!! I bought the last shampoo they had and 2 conditioners. The combo packs of Smooth Down shampoo and conditioner were $8 with $1, so I got 2 for $7! I'm never one to seem to find good deals, but I was pretty happy with my finds today.

I've been wanting to try a new hairspray because I wasn't too happy with the one I was using before. I thought I would try this Catwalk Straight hairspray. I tried it out tonight and I LOVE it! Not only does it smell awesome, but it isn't too sticky and very flexible. It wasn't on sale, but hey, if it works I'll take it!

Tonight, we went to a local pizza restaurant here on the square downtown with our friends, the Kennedys. Morgan and I went last week and it was so nice! They have a couple of guys who play live music and it is just a great kid-friendly environment. The food is awesome and it is really nice to get out of the house in the middle of the week. I think we will make this a weekly outing!

Totally random post, I know! Sometimes it just works out that way :) Looking forward to the holiday weekend and all the fun things we have planned!

Toes in the Water

This weekend has been awesome! It was the first weekend that we haven't had something planned in I don't know when. Friday night, we hung out here at the house and grilled out and then yesterday, we headed down to the river with our friends, Jeff and Whit. It was so relaxing! Wyatt stayed with Nonni and Papa yesterday and went to a birthday party, so we were also "childless" for the day. We were lazy river rats all day! Then, last night, we all went out to Red Lobster for supper. It was nice to go out to eat with friends, even if our local Red Lobster is a Saturday night freak show to say the least! I've never seen so many strange people in one place in all my days. Granted, I'm sure "normal" is debatable to most, but really there were some sights in that place! It was entertaining anyway :)

This cute little booger did accompany us on our boating excursion Saturday! Is she not the most precious thing ever?!? Ok, I'm just a little biased, but she loves her Auntie Am, so we're tight like that! haha.

(for the record, she did have a life jacket on the entire time. we were stopped here and it was hotter than blue blazes, so we let her cool off for a bit!)

Tonight after church we had our VBS family night. It was so fun! The kids all show the parents what they've learned and sing and dance to the songs they learned throughout the week. Wyatt wanted no part and wouldn't get up with his group to sing. Not that I was surprised, I knew it would be a miracle if he actually did. I'm afraid he has some of his daddy's shyness about him. I'm working daily to get him out of that!

I had a sweet surprise left for me at church today though. My secret sister left me this awesome gift. It is from my favorite store here in town, Pimentos. I have a feeling she must know me pretty well. This is so me! I can't wait to wear these super cute earrings.

Tonight Wyatt helped his daddy check chickens when we got home. Morgan sent me this picture and I just LOVE it! This is so Wyatt right now. He is all boy and insists on wearing this John Deere hat all the time (he's sleeping with it as we speak). It's actually Morgan's hat, but he thinks it's so cool so he's claimed ownership for the time being!

Our weekend has been so awesome and I almost forgot to mention my trip to the Amish this past Friday! Wow. What an experience. I will have to do a separate post on that one! I absolutely loved it. I didn't take any pictures, but I hope to go back very soon and hopefully get a few. Morgan says they don't like to have their pictures taken. Something about condemning their souls or something, but I don't think it would count if they didn't know their picture was being taken! Anyway, I'll try to be respectful of their wishes, but their way of living is so amazing I really would love to document it!

Big Apple Adventure

This week, we've been so busy! I think I've done more sessions in the past 2 weeks than I've ever done back to back. I'm so thankful to be busy, but we've also had VBS at church this week which has made our schedule super hectic to say the least!

Wyatt is really enjoying VBS this year. I'm so thankful, he has been waking up every morning wondering when we were going back. He's so precious and it doesn't hurt that Christy is his teacher and Mason is in his room. They were both supposed to be in the preschool room this year, but they were a little intimidated by the older kids, so they got held back to the toddler room. They are more comfortable there and they know all the kids, so it works out well.

Coloring their Bible coloring sheets.

Walking like big boys in a line to the other building for music time.

Mason was making up his own dance for the songs! haha. I love the look on Caroline's face. She is so sweet. I have a feeling she may be a little fed up being the only girl their age! haha.

My little old man. He wouldn't get up and dance until he was sure of exactly what he needed to do! He's so funny.

Snack time! Yum.... Hot dogs, chips and cookies. These boys can put a dent in some food :) I should've taken a picture of all the hotdogs that were cooked for all the kids. I've never seen so many in one place!

Wyatt loved craft time. He made a necklace (which he has only taken off for bed since) and a door hanger. Last year, his door hanger was a horse and it's been on his door since then! I guess we will have to hang his new hanger on his closet door.

Showing me his necklace. He looks so thrilled! haha. Probably because I was the only mama with a camera in their kids face the entire time. In all fairness, I took pictures throughout all age groups, but since he's mine, I figured I would document his VBS experience on the blog!

We are so thankful and blessed to be a part of such a wonderful church family. I love that Wyatt loves going to church and I hope that he will always enjoy church as much as he does now.

God's Timing

Ecclesiastes 3:1- "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven"

I've been thinking a lot about God's timing lately. Isn't it amazing that God knows every single detail of our life before it even happens? I find that so amazing. He knows the hairs on our head, the breaths we will take and the path He will lead us. I have struggled a lot with praying to God for a baby. It seems the more that I pray for one, the more God says not now. In my heart, I truly believe that God will bless us with more children one day. I'm learning that it isn't our decision to make. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. This child of mine is actually His. I am just so blessed that he chose Morgan and I to be his earthly parents.

So many times, I've found myself bitter towards God. It seems like my prayers aren't being answered. I read something this week that really made me think. He IS answering my prayers. He is answering my prayers with, "In My time". I see so many couples that seem like they plan their families right down to the minute. Before I got married, I always told people, I was going to marry a farmer and have 3 kids. How can I complain when the Lord has given me what I've asked of Him? No, I don't have 3 children, but he isn't saying No. He's saying, "In My time". It is so easy to beat yourself up and say that if I had done this or I hadn't done that, He would give me what I ask of Him. How dare I think that God would be so cold. He loves me unconditionally and my sins are cast away just because I asked! What more love could ask for than that? No, I can't plan to have 3 kids, 2 years apart like I always imagined, but obviously that isn't in our best interest. I know that God ALWAYS has my best interest at heart.

July will be 2 year since we've been trying for another child. Back then, we never imagined that we would be making one of the biggest changes of our lives by moving across the county to a new farm. He is to be given the honor and praise for this opportunity. It was His path for us, not ours. I pray that God opens my eyes and heart to see that His plans for us are so much greater than our own. I'm sure it would be so hard to make this move with a newborn and maybe that's why we haven't be given another child. He knew it would be too hard. I'm a firm believer that God won't give us more than we can handle.

We learned today that we aren't pregnant again this month. I hadn't really expected to be in all honesty, but it broke my heart to hear Morgan's reaction. He's usually so optimistic, but I could hear the hurt in his voice when I told him this morning. I really believe he thought this time was going to be different. I told him I thought it was maybe time for a break from the doctors and meds for a while. God gave me this body and I know that I'm capable of having a baby and carrying a baby. Wyatt is proof of that. I really feel like I need to get my body in top shape and treat it as the temple it was made to be. After lots of prayer, I really feel like this is the right decision. I think that modern medicine is absolutely amazing, but it isn't the right time for us and I think that God will bless us with another baby in His time. I pray that God will give me strength to do what I need to do. If it isn't His will for us to have another child, I pray that he gives me comfort and peace in that. I love my boy more than life itself and I know that God is going to do great things with his life.

Please keep my family in your prayers. I'm not usually one to ask, but this is the hardest thing we've ever been through and I would appreciate all the prayers we can get at this tough time.

Wyatt Riding Diamond

Saturday evening, we went to my daddy's horse show. Wyatt had the best time and I'm afraid he has taken to loving them just as much as I do! Daddy led him around on Diamond, a super sweet pony, for a long time. He even rode by himself for a few minutes! I'm so proud! I can't wait to move to the new farm and get horses of our own. I told Morgan that I wanted to get Wyatt a pony. His response, "The west wasn't won on ponies. My boy's getting a horse." haha! Well, honey, I don't think Wyatt's quite tall enough to put his legs around a big horse, but whatever you say!!

Jenny's Baby Shower

Saturday afternoon, we had a sweet little shower for my friend Jenny. She and I have been friends since we were little girls, so I was so happy to be able to do this for her. Isabella will be her second little girl and I know she's going to be so spoiled! Emma, the big sister, is 7, so she will be a ton of help to her baby sister.

I had so much fun decorating with all this pink! I've always wanted to do apothecary jars filled with candies and cookies. I thought they turned out super cute! Plus, it gave me an excuse to buy some which I have been wanting to do for years! The cake pops are a recipe I found through my friend, Brittany. She got it from Bakerella. They turned out wonderful and were such a cute little detail to the food table!

I ordered the invitations through etsy. I always find the cutest things there! I thought they turned out so sweet. The frame was one I've had for a while, I believe I got it at TJ Maxx.

This is sweet Emma, the big sister! She's such a good little girl :)

Wyatt had the honor of being the only boy there! haha. He was so good the entire time. I was really proud of him. He sat like this and watched Jenny open each present!

This little cutie is one of Jenny's cousin's daughters. She is so stinkin' cute and immediately started posing when I aimed the camera at her! You can tell she gets her pictures taken all the time!

This is what Mama and I bought Jenny. Wyatt loved his activity mat when he was a baby, so I think all infants need one! haha. I hope baby Isabella loves it too.

Jenny and I (yes, I know this was my Easter outfit, but I was in a hurry and it didn't need ironing!) haha

Brittany (Jenny's sister), Jenny, Alicia, and Me.

It was a fun shower, but definitely a lot of work! I'm so thankful my sweet Mama helped me out. I couldn't have done it all without her!

My name is Amber and I'm an iPhone Photographer :)

Sad really, isn't it?!?! haha. I don't know if this new phone was a good idea or not. I initially wanted a good phone to take pictures with and now it seems like that's the only kind of personal pictures I take! It's made me pretty lazy to be honest. I do like the fact that it's a little more discreet than the big ole Canon!

Friday night, we went to my FAVORITE restaurant with Jeff, Whit and Carley. For those of you who don't live here, let me just tell you, you need to make the trip to Huntsville just to eat at Rosies! It's so worth it. I've probably written about it in the past, but it really is the best! I haven't been in over a month, so it was well over due. Wyatt wasn't really in the best mood, but it turns out he was running a fever due to the fire ant bites he suffered the day before :( Poor fella, it was awful! If I had realized that he was running a fever, we wouldn't have even attempted going. He wasn't too happy until we let him splash around in the water fountain...... what boy wouldn't love that?!?!

Sunday we went over to Christy's parents pool again and had a blast swimming! I'm so thankful for them and that they invite us over all the time. Plus, it wears Wyatt out and he sleeps like a baby! Life is so much easier this year since he can swim around on his own (with Puddle Jumpers, of course). I never thought I'd be able to read a magazine by the pool again, but I'm happy to announce: I finally can!! He is perfectly content entertaining himself in the pool now.

Saturday night, we took Wyatt and Mason to the Hazel Green Tractor Pull. Let me just say, my boy LOVES some tractor pullin'! haha. Me, on the other hand, I was HOT! Oh my goodness, I bet it was 100˚ out there with NO BREEZE. UGH!! I do understand that this is the humid south, but really it was more than I could take. Fortunately, we were able to watch one tractor class and a few trucks and Wyatt was willing to leave. It helped that we may or may not have bribed him and told him Mason could come back to the house and play :) Hey, I'm not above it!

Finally, today Wyatt and Morgan have been busy fellas. They've been at the new farm planting beans! It worked out pretty well and I was able to go to lunch with a friend for a couple of hours while Wyatt stayed with his daddy. Can I just say, I'm so thankful to have the best husband in the world. I know I'm guilty of not telling him enough, but he really is such a great husband, father, provider and leader of our family. He never reads this blog, but I just feel like he deserves some praise. I am amazed at just how wonderful he is. I know he feels super overwhelmed right now as this is probably the biggest leap we will ever take in our lives, but he has always made the right choices for us and I know he will continue to do so. In the end, we aren't doing this for us, but for our children. Morgan's desire is to leave Wyatt and any other future children we may have with a love of the land. Our hopes is not that Wyatt will farm, unless of course, he wants to. But that he will know what farm living is like and grow up to appreciate all things of this lifestyle. He may move to NYC and live in a high-rise one day, but he will always remember those summers playing in the creek and watching the deer, boar, and turkey roam in the field. I'm so thankful to my husband for wanting to provide us with this way of life.

Memorial Weekend 2011

The Sunday before Memorial Day, we loaded up the truck and headed to Minor Hill, TN for a picnic and to play in the creek. We stopped and got Christy and Mason so they could go have fun with us too! The boys were super excited...... as you can tell!

Mt. Zion is an old church in Minor Hill with a HUGE creek that runs across both roads in front of the church. It is a great place to go let the kids play and just have a relaxing day. I came across this place when one of my clients wanted Senior portraits done there. I knew that I had to take Wyatt back to play! This is right up his alley. He didn't even want to eat. He was so excited to get in the water!

That didn't stop the adults! Since I couldn't remember exactly how to get there, we were starving by the time we finally did :) I promised all involved that I would remember my directions better next time. haha!

The boys had a great time throwing rocks in the creek. There were a few close calls where I thought they were going to crack each other in the head, but no one was hurt! Boys will be boys.

We realized that everyone else in Minor Hill must've had the same idea that day. It was pretty crowded, but everyone was nice and the boys loved watching the older kids play.

I'm so thankful Wyatt is such a water bug! He would've stayed there forever if I would've let him.

We saw a lot of this while we were there! Obviously, it's a good place to ride horses too. There were lots of people crossing the creek with their horse trailers. It really is such a neat place. Morgan has agreed to let us get a horse when we move to the new farm, so hopefully we will be able to go back and ride there someday! I can't wait!

All in all, it was such a fun day. Monday we went and swam in Christy's parent's pool. It was so relaxing. I'm loving that Wyatt is so comfortable in the water this year. It's nice to just put swimmies on him and let him do his thing! I think we will be spending a lot of time in water of all kinds this summer.