Where Have I Been???

I know it seems that I’ve given up this blog.  But, I really don’t want to!  I promise!  Life is just not easy these days.  Was it ever?  No!  But, somehow it’s seemed a little harder lately.

I can’t keep up with regular household jobs, as evidenced by this:

We’ve been dealing non-stop since July with unknown itchy bumps on Shea’s skin:

These bumps cover his whole body, and just as we think they are getting better, he develops new ones.  We’ve tried EVERYTHING.  Our next step comes this week with a trip to UNC-Chapel Hill.

We celebrated Christmas close to family this year, which was so incredibly nice.

My little sis, Emily, made the birthday cake for Jesus.  This is a tradition my Mom started.

I wish I had more pictures from our Christmas with family, but I guess I was having too much fun to worry much about pictures.

So, what else have I been up to?  Well, raising 3 kids, one of which has reached the age (he’s 10) where problems are bigger than a broken animal cracker or spilled milk.  Yes, I’m finding it to be exhausting at times.  And, am learning (slowly) to relinquish it to the One who can bear it all much better than I can.

I’ve also been taking some pictures and enjoying it.  I did a photo shoot with one of my best friends, Mandy, and her family.  I was much happier than I expected to be with the results.  I still have a whole lot to learn, and that is my goal for 2010.  To learn as much as I can about photography.  It’s really a nice escape for me.

This was one of my favorite shots.

Our friend Mandy (from STL) came to visit over Christmas.  She’s like family to us, and we love having her as often as we can see her.  She is an AWESOME photographer, and she taught me a few tips to get me started with Photoshop.  So, I’ve been playing around with that some for the past few days.

I absolutely adore this photo!  Bryn had just woken up from her nap and was peering through the crib slats at her brother, Shea.  Can’t you just see the adoration in her eyes??!

And, I couldn’t resist throwing this one in!

The other day, I was going on about 3 nights of very broken sleep (due to our baby awakening numerous times during the night), and so Jared left these notes all over the house to warn the boys to NOT wake me.  He had to leave early to take Mandy to the airport, so when the boys got up that morning, this is what they found:

Yep, my man has got my back!  The kids were so good that morning.  I didn’t hear a peep from them!  Speaking of sleep deprivation…….I’m still not caught up, so I better get to bed.

That’s all for now!