I'm one of those moms who always have their camera in hand, ready to capture each moment of our life.
Because of this, I'm hardly ever in pictures. Mainly that's not a big deal to me because, well, I don't really like my picture taken.
Due to this, Zoe is a little camera shy at the studio during her photo shoots. If you've seen her pictures, you might think it doesn't look that way. Yet, it takes a good 30 minutes to stop the tears and get the smile.
I've been in search of a photographer in Spokane who can take candid shots of our brood, outdoors to capture us as a family. Rather than posing us.
For a few months I've been following a photographer named Jaidean Baker. Her photos of families are amazing. She seems to capture the soul of the family in her shots. Right now she's doing a giveaway on her site. Check her out. If you like what you see, enter to win. I'm positive you won't regret it.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Welcome spring, we've missed you.
After the hardest winter I can ever remember, spring is finally starting to show itself. Not a moment too soon either.
We hit 66 one day this week. It was absolutely glorious!
With spring comes lots of playing outside. Zoe is a girl after her momma's own heart. She'd rather play in the dirt and with water than anything else.
Which is perfect since the nurseries in town have opened their greenhouses. We got a flat of pansies to plant in Zoe's very own pot.
She totally stopped, said "cheese" and let me snap a picture of her. She's totally a scrapbooker's kid.
The we totally had to fill up her watering can with water. That you can get from outside. For a 2 year old, it's the coolest thing she's ever seen. Water, straight from the house and just for her.
The finished product. I can't wait for it to grow.
We hit 66 one day this week. It was absolutely glorious!
With spring comes lots of playing outside. Zoe is a girl after her momma's own heart. She'd rather play in the dirt and with water than anything else.
Which is perfect since the nurseries in town have opened their greenhouses. We got a flat of pansies to plant in Zoe's very own pot.
She totally stopped, said "cheese" and let me snap a picture of her. She's totally a scrapbooker's kid.
The we totally had to fill up her watering can with water. That you can get from outside. For a 2 year old, it's the coolest thing she's ever seen. Water, straight from the house and just for her.
The finished product. I can't wait for it to grow.Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Resurrection Cookies
This weekend my mom came over to do a little baking project with D & E. She found a recipe for Resurrection Cookies. The making of the cookies tells the Easter story. It was the coolest thing.
The only thing we would do differently is to add less pecans. Here is the recipe:
1 C pecan halves
1 tsp vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch of salt
1 C sugar
Zipper baggie
wooden spoon
wax paper
tape
Bible
1. Preheat oven to 100 F. Place pecans in a zipper baggie and let children beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3
2. Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30
3. Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11. Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into teh bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27
4. So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetness part of the story is that Jesus died because He loved us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16
5. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity of God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3
6. Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper and cover cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven off. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66
7. GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' follwers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20-22
8. On resurrection morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Resurrection day, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9
The cookies were indeed cracked.
And hollow. Which is where a few less pecans would've shown that better.
The girls loved the story, making the cookies and realizing they were hollow the next morning.
The only thing we would do differently is to add less pecans. Here is the recipe:
1 C pecan halves
1 tsp vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch of salt
1 C sugar
Zipper baggie
wooden spoon
wax paper
tape
Bible
1. Preheat oven to 100 F. Place pecans in a zipper baggie and let children beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3
2. Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30
3. Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11. Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into teh bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27
4. So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetness part of the story is that Jesus died because He loved us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16
5. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity of God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3
6. Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper and cover cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven off. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66
7. GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' follwers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20-22
8. On resurrection morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Resurrection day, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9
The cookies were indeed cracked.
And hollow. Which is where a few less pecans would've shown that better.
The girls loved the story, making the cookies and realizing they were hollow the next morning. Monday, April 6, 2009
Due Date
In September 2006 I was given April 6th as Zoe's due date. I looked forward to this date and thought it was the perfect time of year to be born. When the seasons are changing, the flowers are blooming. It was the start of my new role as a mother.
I know I frequently talk about Zoe's birth, but when something unexpectedly changes how you view life and more importantly, deepens your relationship with God, days like April 6th bring all those memories to the forefront once again.
Hanging in Zoe's room is a poem that my mom gave to me before we even knew we were having a girl. It had a place for the ultrasound picture along with a place to mark the date of the ultrasound and the due date. On November 17, 2006 we found out we would be having a girl. That evening I filled in the information on the poem and placed Zoe's picture in there.
Forever it will read April 6, 2007 as her due date.
To see that brings tears of joy and tears of sadness. Joy that we are both here, both miracles that God allowed.
Yet there are tears of sadness. Memories really of all those days I spent in the hospital, so sick, so full of pain, so full of guilt that I could've done something from preventing my liver from rupturing. Memories of Zoe struggling to remember to breathe, being swollen from the C-pap machine, the IV's, the blood transfusions, the hours spent crying that I had to leave my baby for another day.
April 6th became to mean the date she may get to come home. Most preemies stay in the hospital until her due date.
After I was discharged, we had 7.5 weeks to go until April 6th. It was the longest 7 weeks of my life.
On April 2, 2007 we got the call we had been waiting for. We needed to bring an overnight bag to the hospital to spend the night with Zoe before she got discharged in the morning. I spent most of April 2nd at the hospital, learning CPR, how to use the oxygen mask should Zoe forget to breathe. It was the first night ever that I had spent in the same room as my daughter.
It was exhaustingly glorious.
She came home April 3rd, three days before her due date.
Yet April 6th seems to hold the meaning.
Today, April 6, 2009 Zoe is talking, running, dancing, tumbling, coloring, singing, cuddling, climbing and feeding herself, just like all other 2 year olds. On April 6, 2007 you couldn't have convinced me that in 2 short years the 6 pound baby that I cradled would grow into this amazing toddler that I get to love on daily.
Thank you Lord for my miracle. Thank you for making her healthy, strong, opinionated, smiley, cuddly and perfect. I am so blessed to be alive, by your grace, to watch her grow into this lovely, little girl. Thank you for teaching me, in those 7, long weeks to cherish each moment with her. You held her in that NICU and You hold her today. Thank you for blessing me beyond what I deserve.
I know I frequently talk about Zoe's birth, but when something unexpectedly changes how you view life and more importantly, deepens your relationship with God, days like April 6th bring all those memories to the forefront once again.
Hanging in Zoe's room is a poem that my mom gave to me before we even knew we were having a girl. It had a place for the ultrasound picture along with a place to mark the date of the ultrasound and the due date. On November 17, 2006 we found out we would be having a girl. That evening I filled in the information on the poem and placed Zoe's picture in there.
Forever it will read April 6, 2007 as her due date.
To see that brings tears of joy and tears of sadness. Joy that we are both here, both miracles that God allowed.
Yet there are tears of sadness. Memories really of all those days I spent in the hospital, so sick, so full of pain, so full of guilt that I could've done something from preventing my liver from rupturing. Memories of Zoe struggling to remember to breathe, being swollen from the C-pap machine, the IV's, the blood transfusions, the hours spent crying that I had to leave my baby for another day.
April 6th became to mean the date she may get to come home. Most preemies stay in the hospital until her due date.
After I was discharged, we had 7.5 weeks to go until April 6th. It was the longest 7 weeks of my life.
On April 2, 2007 we got the call we had been waiting for. We needed to bring an overnight bag to the hospital to spend the night with Zoe before she got discharged in the morning. I spent most of April 2nd at the hospital, learning CPR, how to use the oxygen mask should Zoe forget to breathe. It was the first night ever that I had spent in the same room as my daughter.
It was exhaustingly glorious.
She came home April 3rd, three days before her due date.
Yet April 6th seems to hold the meaning.
Today, April 6, 2009 Zoe is talking, running, dancing, tumbling, coloring, singing, cuddling, climbing and feeding herself, just like all other 2 year olds. On April 6, 2007 you couldn't have convinced me that in 2 short years the 6 pound baby that I cradled would grow into this amazing toddler that I get to love on daily.
Thank you Lord for my miracle. Thank you for making her healthy, strong, opinionated, smiley, cuddly and perfect. I am so blessed to be alive, by your grace, to watch her grow into this lovely, little girl. Thank you for teaching me, in those 7, long weeks to cherish each moment with her. You held her in that NICU and You hold her today. Thank you for blessing me beyond what I deserve.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Friday Five Faves - The picture edition
Last night was Zoe's first gymnastics class. Or so I thought! It starts next week, but isn't she so cute (even with the toilet paper roll cast!).
For Halloween Zoe was a butterfly with a tutu. She LOVES her tutu. So much she practices her jumps, twirls and kicks all evening.
Afterward she watches herself bow in the oven.
After all that work with the dancing and the getting ready for a fake gymnastics class, our diva took a few minutes to watch some cartoons.
For Halloween Zoe was a butterfly with a tutu. She LOVES her tutu. So much she practices her jumps, twirls and kicks all evening.
Afterward she watches herself bow in the oven.
After all that work with the dancing and the getting ready for a fake gymnastics class, our diva took a few minutes to watch some cartoons.
I'm sorry for the totally mommy post, but that is my favorite role of all.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Head, shoulder, knees and tongue
Zoe learned a new body part this week. Can you guess what it is?
Sorry the picture is so blurry.
Sorry the picture is so blurry.
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