Bragging Time!!

My kids are the best! Haha. Get right to the point, I guess!

Rio has been doing great with dance except she hardly listens to the instructor...who needs instructions when your ideas are so much better and funner (is that a word? I don't think so but it sounds good!)? She's having fun though, and feels like a ballerina princess each time! That's what counts at this stage (per the instructor--you go, girl), so I encourage her to participate in what the rest of the class is doing, but I don't stress when she's not--for both our sakes! Ha! Thankfully, she does listen to the important ones like, "stand like this" or "find the black line!", so that's been fun to watch. Here's a couple of her doing what she does best--twirling! I don't know where she got this from--she's been doing it a long time--but she always starts her twirl with her hand on her chest and then twirls, regathers, hand on chest, twirl. It's so hilarious to watch!

And this is what I mean by her doing her own thing...

Haha! Give the kid a break! She had swim class for an hour right before this class! Ha!

Then there's the other Holub baby. I will from now on refer to him as Superbaby; maybe Superman eventually! He went to his very first baseball game with us on Friday--it was the Astros against the Detroit Tigers in Minute Maid Park. The Astros won the game 5-4 and it was an absolute blast! Best time I think I've ever had at a major league game before--for a lot of reasons, but mostly Lathan was an awesome fan!! Oh my word, I was soooo proud and soooo impressed with how good he did! He didn't cry once the entire time--even with all the noise, hooping, hollering, loud music, etc., he was as content as could be! At 4 months! Yes, he is Superbaby. He's a light sleeper and only got to sleep for maybe 30 minutes from 7pm til 11pm because he first had to get over the heat, then I had to hold his head against my chest to stifle the sounds in one ear and cover his other ear with his burp cloth with my hand. It was pretty warm, but he still did not fuss. The park roof was closed and air conditioned, so eventually he cooled down, but it was still muggy. We got a brief time on the jumbotron too and Lathan can now brag how he got on it in his first game ever! After the game, the park hosted a great fireworks display set to music (they do this every Friday night, by the way), and he just watched in my arms. I plugged his ears to lessen the noise, but he sat in my lap contently and was mesmerized by the lights. It was so incredible to watch him witness them for the first time. I loved it!

Where did the time go??

Ok, so I spoke too soon! I have NO time! What in my right mind ever made me think I'd have time? Ha, I must laugh at my last post. What changed? My daughter's schedule! As I still feel like I'm stepping into parenthood and I'm getting a taste now of what it's like to have TWO; it has been a challenge to say the least! She has swimming at the YMCA Monday through Thursdays now, and the night before her first lesson, I was thinking about all I was going to have to do to prepare the night before. Wow. Get him ready, get her ready, take a change of clothes..will she need a shower, where will he stay, should I take him in with me, watch him get hungry just as we leave, what if we're late on the first day? Ahh!! I know you mothers out there are feeling my pain. How on earth did you do it? And the single moms? My hats off to you. I know I couldn't have done it myself; that's when I'd be throwing in the towel and say to her, "Well, I'll just teach you to swim myself one day..." Yep, I feel ya.

So here I am, off for the summer but still feel like I have a full-time job with the kids. It's been an adventure! Every now and then I get some time to step away and dive into all my sessions I've been itching to see! Recently I had a rare but fun studio session with a little angel baby and she was the best! Mom was so smart and brought her over at the peak of her day, fed her clear foods, and she was happy as can be. We had a great session for documenting her christening dress on her. This dress is amazing! Handmade by the baby's grandmother from her own wedding dress years before, it is a keepsake for sure. I was lucky enough to solidify the memories of this gorgeous heirloom on this baby and got some great shots! It seems every single image was outstanding; I had a hard time throwing any away. Then we had some fun with a tutu and some butterfly wings. Here's a few shots from this great session!

I'd also like to Praise God for some really great news in my family recently! My sister had a very big cancer scare and the doctors seemed sure she had lung cancer. As you can imagine, this idea has been tormenting our family and the thoughts of everything we needed to do for her were overwhelming us with fear. With lots of prayer and mercy, God delivered the test results to indicate yesterday that she did not have cancer, and what the doctors saw was not dangerous. My sister was so happy!! I am so happy for her, her family, her kids! It was an amazing testimony to what God does for people everywhere, every day. We so rarely hear about the near-misses, I just feel the need to tell you what God did for us in our lives recently. So many things to praise Him for; not enough room to mention it all! My life, although difficult and hurting at times, is changing for the better and so are the lives of the ones I love and I am grateful for that. For those that are still out of jobs and are still struggling emotionally and physically, you are all in my prayers. I love you and Jesus does too!!

Ahhh!! I have TIME!

What is this all about? It's summer! Thank the Lord, it's summer! I'm done with another year of teaching, and although I enjoy lighting kids' brains on fire...I am so glad to be out. Teaching wouldn't be so bad if there weren't all this "turn in that" and "fill this out" and "email him" and "test, test, test!!!". If it were just teaching, it would be my second all-time favorite dream job. Ha! Anyway, I am finally being gifted slots of time where all I have to do is learn, create, learn some more. I think that is really my dream job. If I could just get paid to learn, create, learn some more, create better, learn...ahhh...it would be great. What fun! ...and yes, I am a nerd.

So with this time, I've updated my website a bit. You'll see the little man I thought was so cute at a recent session. I hope to switch out the background more often; we'll just have to see how the time spins. I've also added new music, isn't it great? Sweet, sweet baby is a great song--I've known it for awhile and it's pretty popular. It was on a site once that I visited before I started in photography and the inspiration it created in me has been unmatched. Thus, here it is, on my site. The second song is by my worship minister at church, Jonathan Ross. He wrote and recorded that song for his then-new wife, Jennifer. I have blogged about this incredible couple before when I did her maternity session for their newest addition. I promise I'll be taking pictures of their baby soon; she's adorable!! Now that I have time, I can show up at their door! Watch out, Jennifer, here I come! The song is so sweet! Great job, once again, Jonathan! If you want to hear Jonathan sing, make sure to visit our church! http://www.bammel.org/

Now no post is complete without a picture, so here's our baby boy! He is the most beautiful and happy baby boy in the whole world, although you can't tell the happy part from the picture. He looks totally serious. His sister was the exact same way. One day he'll smile from the camera, he'll just have to turn two first... :) He is doing things it doesn't seem like most 3 1/2 month olds do...he's holding his head up really well, he hates laying down in a bouncer. Every time we put him in one, he lifts his upper body to try and get out, then starts waving his arms around like, "pick me up!". He already likes to sit in the exersaucer, as long as he's turned around and he can rest his face on the headrest. Put a towel behind his back and he's perfectly happy for quite a while! He loves exercising his michelin man legs and standing up on my lap too. He's so chunky! 99th percentile or something like that; probably more now! Anyway, there's your baby update and here he is!