My Random Thoughts

*Warning: A lot of rambling is on this blog post. Feel free to skip down to the cute photos!

Travis and I, along with lots o' Albinis, have been spending time with our new niece in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Emrie Delayne was born December 21st weighing 8 pounds 6 ounces. She is the first grandbaby on both sides. Therefore, she is ridiculously spoiled with love and arms to hold her. She is honestly the most beautiful newborn baby I have ever laid eyes on. Okay, maybe I am a little biased.

I pray often about my future children. I pray that they would be healthy; That I will be a consistent, loving, and modeling mother. I pray that I will be able to have a patient heart and be a mother who leads my children and teaches them in the way of the Lord. I'm thankful for the people in our lives who have taught us about parenthood and life in general. I'm also very thankful for Travis and his realistic idea of what it will be like to be parents. Sure, we have no idea until we actually do become parents. But, I'm thankful for how he keeps me grounded when it comes to wanting to become a mom. I tend to have the thoughts of "It's going to be so fun!" and he tends to rebuttal with "Yeah, but it is going to be a lot of work!" True. Absolutely true.

I think that we are in a weird spot in our lives because we got married really young and we've been married 3 years in June. Most of our friends are having children so that "baby itch" is nothing new around here. I have always loved children and have looked forward to starting a family. It is just not in our agenda for the next few years. We want to be able to travel a little more, settle down, and spend some more time just the two of us.

By posting all of the adorable pictures of Emrie, we get a lot of comments about starting our own family. Honestly, they make me smile. They also put me in a place of not being completely content with where I am. They make me wish for more, which isn't going to happen for a while. However, being here in the house with Emrie also helps me see how much more goes into having a family. Once again, totally worth it...but hard work! I'm thankful for Travis' heart and where we are right now. That part of our lives is already written, we just haven't reached that chapter.

In light of all of this baby talk I thought I would share some of my favorite photos of little Emrie from our trip so far.

Enjoy!

Emrie and her aunties who love her dearly!

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Mallory McKenzie

I consider myself very lucky to have great in laws. They almost always make me feel loved and accepted:). Here is a peek into our session yesterday with my sister in law Mallory. Mallory is a freshman at Michigan University and is on the field hockey team. Her team won the Big Ten Tournament this seasion! She is beautiful and it was really difficult not to put all of the photos on here. Enjoy!

Isn't she stunning?
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Keep an eye out for a sneak peek of our engagement session from today!

2010

As 2010 is coming to an end, recaping on the year makes me realize just how blessed I am. I just saw my sister in law's blog post and now all I can think about typing is a recap of my year. So I'll share a few highlights:

-Taking my first cruise with my husband and in-laws to Mexico
-Celebrating two sweet years of marriage
-Embarking on a month long road trip across 10 states and 12 National Parks.
-Paying off my first car (my husband surprised me with the papers about 2 months after we bought it!)
-Starting a Photography business
-Becoming an aunt for the first time!
-One semester away from being College graduates!

I don't think it is possible for 2011 to top 2010 but we will see. I bet there are some fun moments in store! Either way, I don't deserve any of it. I'm thankful for each high and low.

As a way of closing this great year, I thought I'd share a few photos from a night session. Travis and I have been experimenting with some new gear and who better for subjects than beautiful sisters?

 Sisters...

 Having some fun. I think this is a lot harder than it looks!

Thanks girls for standing out in the cold with us. We love you!

Thanks for following and Happy New Year!

A look at our Christmas

This Christmas was a little different than the last few years. I worked up to the day before Christmas Eve so we drove to Tahoe to visit my family when I got off.  We normally are there a few days earlier so the anticipation of Christmas is much more prevalent. We also had my sister's boyfriend's family staying with us. It's fun having new people but it also creates this unfamiliar and less relaxed atmosphere.

My mom is very into the Holidays, which I love and appreciate. We have a few fun traditions like everyone opening one present on Christmas Eve which are new pajamas. On Christmas morning my mom makes some baked eggs and linguisa, which is Portugese sausage. We had a great time with family on Christmas morning surrounded by snow. Here are probably too many pictures of our time in Tahoe.

  Christmas Eve photos...

 On Christmas morning.

Good morning sunshine!

 I think she might like her present from Santa...

 Mimosas are a must the morning after snowboarding...

 

 Everyone likes to document their gorgeous Christmas morning look...

 Opening presents...

 Snuggie!!

 Everyone is feeling the love...

 We are now in San Diego and are loving spending time with family and friends. We still get to celebrate Christmas with more family in the days to come. We hope that you all had a great time with the ones you love. Happy Holidays!