Zoe turned 3 today

I know I wrote a little about Zoe in my Mother's day post yesterday but since it's her birthday, I figured I'd write a little something else and share some then and now pictures of my sweet girl. Lately I have been catching Zoe with an opened jar of peanut butter and a spoon, having a little snack. She loves to go to the refrigerator and get slices of cheese. She is a dare-devil and loves to jump from high places. She doesn't like to wear clothes very much and I have caught her playing outside in only her underwear on a few occasions. Right now she loves Dora the Explorer, Strawberry Shortcake, and Care Bears. Her and Henry love to play super heroes and "people" when they play Superheroes, she is either windville (who blows a windy wind) or gooey squash (who gooey's people) When they play people, she is "mom" and Henry is "dad" and they have a "kid" named "jaja".

She loves to laugh, play and sing. I love her too much!

Here is Zoe as a newborn

1 year old

2 years old

and now

Happy Birthday to sweet Zoe!!

Happy Mother's Day

There are days when I love being a mother and there are other days. As I write this, Henry is in the backyard playing in the sandbox, pretending he is some sort of super hero or magical being that can change into any creature imaginable. Zoe is taking her afternoon nap on the day before her 3rd birthday. Matt is at work and I am trying to have a relaxing mother's day.

All day today, I have told the kids "stop fighting, it's mother's day" or " be good, it's mother's day" seems to be working so far. Maybe I'll try it tomorrow too. :)

Henry, my first born is my biggest challenge as a mother. Unless he is sleeping, he is never still. First thing every morning he comes and snuggles in bed while kicking me. When I can't stand it anymore I get up. He is seemingly always hungry and always needing something from me. No one else on earth can make me as happy and as angry as Henry can. He knows how to push my buttons and he knows how to make my heart melt. He is so smart and I sometimes worry that I am not doing a good job raising him. Henry is completely tenacious and if he wants something he doesn't relent until he is satisfied. I know that this personality trait can be a great thing when he is an adult if I can teach him how to use it beneficially. I'm so scared sometimes that he will just be a brat though. I don't want my children to be brats. I just pray about it a lot. I ask God to please give me wisdom in raising him. I just have a feeling of peace about it that God has big plans for Henry. He is a leader, he is smart and he has an incredible imagination.

Zoe, my sweet, sweet Zoe. What can I say about her. She is beautiful both inside and out. She has a fragile spirit and wants to be a good girl. You can just see the hurt and disappointment on her face if she gets into trouble. She is Henry's "right hand man" and loves playing with him, looking for bugs and getting into mischief with him. She stands up to her brother too. She doesn't let him push her around. When she meets someone new she'll say, "I'm Zoe, this is my friend Henry" She loves music, she learns the lyrics to songs quickly and sings along. She is always singing, dancing and laughing. She gives the best hugs, the kind of hug that just feels like she is melting into you.

Matt is a wonderful husband and father. I am completely head over heels for him. He helps me to get through the days that being a mom is not easy. I love it when he steps in on days that I can't take the whining and crying anymore. Thanks Matt for always having my back.

My Heroes

This is Henry. My beautiful, smart, rambunctious 4 year old son.

I can't help but think that this could have been the last photo taken of my sweet boy. I am ever so grateful to these two:

Last night Henry, Zoe and Charlie were playing in the backyard at my parents' house and I was just inside the door. All of a sudden I hear Zoe screaming and crying. When I looked out the door she was standing at the door banging on the window. As I opened the door to see what was wrong with her she pointed to the pool where I see Charlie attempting to pull a crying, soaking wet Henry out of the pool. I jerked him up out of the pool and all was fine. I am beyond impressed with how Zoe (2) and Charlie (barely 3) thought fast to come to the rescue of their brother / Cousin / friend Henry. I always say that they look like they could be twins and wonder twins they were to Henry last night.

Fun with the kids.

This week the kids and I dyed Easter Eggs then I dressed them up and hid eggs in the front yard. It was our Easter Egg hunt done on Wednesday! Here are some pics of the day.

My new favorite

I have gained weight( :( boo!) and I want to spend more time with the kids. The last 2 nights I have decided to go for a walk with the kids after dinner. It's so nice that they are old enough to go for walks with me now without worrying about pushing a stroller or them getting too tired. I (of course) brought my camera along too and thought I'd share some from the past 2 nights. Tonight I was trying out a new lens that isn't really great on focusing I'm discovering so of course, I get really cute pics of the kids and they are all out of focus. I don't care, I'm keeping them anyway! I just know now not to use this lens with a client!

they love to run around the street. Luckily I live in a pretty quiet neighborhood and we don't have too many cars to get out of the way of.

Becoming

I signed up for a very interesting e-class that started this week. It is called Becoming: Six Weeks to a More Adventurous (Business) Life. It is put on by Kristen Kalp the blogger / author and adventurer at Brand Camp.

Every morning I have been journaling specific questions. Each week we are supposed to pull a random "adventure" task. Tomorrow morning I will be completing my task. I will share photos of it. Should be fun!

This journaling has really helped me to reconcile some things and has also brought up some questions that I need to ask myself. It has helped me to see that sometimes I put my business and clients before my children. I have too many times sat my children in front of the TV so that I can get some editing done, prints ordered or some emails answered. Today I had a photo shoot. I generally will come home from a photo shoot and get right to work editing for hours. Instead today, I decided to spend time with my kids, the editing can wait! We went to the park, ate lunch and played for a couple hours. No computer, no phone, just my undivided attention to my kids. When we got home from the park, I loaded the photos onto the computer and started editing. Henry begged me to play a video game with him and begged me to go outside with him. I said to myself "Self, you can edit tonight when he is in bed, go play with your son. He won't be 4 forever" We played outside then we played Viva Pinata (which Henry pronounces "Pianta") He loves watching me play it. I was proud of myself for putting my business and work on the back burner and putting my kids first.

I'm trying not to think about how far behind I am now though..... :)

American Idol - Elton John Week

This blog post will be short. Feeling a bit uninspired this week and not sure if its me or if the show just wasn't great tonight. Maybe a little bit of both. Henry watched the show with me tonight and he likes to talk and ask questions (and make me draw pictures).

Scotty sang "Country comfort"

It was good, not anything amazing about it but nothing bad either. It was nice to see him play his guitar tonight.

Grade: B

Naima sang "I'm Still Standing" with a reggae feel.

First of all, what was up with the fake Jamaican accent? Was that cheesy or what?! Jennifer and Randy agreed with me. Randy said her performance was corny. Steven, not sure. He just said "boom shaka laka laka baby"!

Grade: C

Paul sang "Rocket Man"

I think Paul just isn't right for this competition. I think in a regular world, with him singing his own music I would dig Paul. I didn't like him this week again.

Grade: C

Pia sang "Don't let the Sun Go Down On Me"

Amazing! She sang another ballad but I don't care, she sang it so great!

Grade: A

Stefano sang "Tiny Dancer"

He was much better this week.

Grade: B+

Lauren sang one of my favorite songs of all time, "Candle in the Wind"

I loved it. Favorite performance of hers all season!

Grade: A+

James sang "Saturday Night"

The piano was on fire and so was he. Awesome performance. I love how he has fun on stage.

Grade: A

Thia sang "Daniel"

Can't say much about it because I fell asleep halfway through it.

Grade: B because she sang it pretty but it was so boring.

Casey sang another favorite of mine "Your Song"

Ah, it was just perfect! I was so glad he got a haircut / beard trim. He was starting to look like an extra in a werewolf movie.

Grade: A

Jacob sang "Sorry seems to be the Hardest Word" (or something like that)

It was good, as always.

Grade: A

Haley sang "Benny and the Jets"

She did great. Sometimes the growling that she does can be a bit much. I think she came close to overdoing it tonight. Sidenote: In the lyrics to this song, I always thought they were singing "she's got electric boobs.." (anyone else? LOL)

Grade: A-

I was sooo terribly wrong last week about who got voted off. Luckily, the judges saved Casey!

This week my predictions are

Bottom 3: Thia, Stefano, and Naima

Going home: Thia and Stefano