LOVE

Today is the last day of January and I love February because it is littered with hearts, candy, balloons, and red - my favorite color. I wanted to go ahead and take some Valentines photos of my two little sweethearts because I saw a great deal for making personalized photo valentines (you know the little cards that take you back to being a kid - I love them!) on Minted.com. (If you're a new customer check it out.) I love how the pictures turned out and just had to share them with you! Farewell, January... February, bring on the love.

Parker

There is something amazing about this photo. Not the lighting or the composition, not even the idea which is not something I can not take credit for. What is amazing about this photo is what it represents...the start of life, and birth of not only a new baby girl, but of a new family. I feel so blessed to have been able to photograph Parker and when she was five days old (or maybe I should say new) along with her mommy and daddy who were just beaming with pride. It makes me smile now just thinking of how sweet she was! Please follow this link to see her gorgeous, tiny face. You might just fall in love!

I See The Moon...(Happy Birthday, Landon Cade)

Five years ago today my life was forever changed. On January 24, 2007 I became mom to Landon Cade Price, who taught me from the very beginning that all of my "plans" couldn't change the truth - that kids don't  always go by the plan! Landon was born 7 weeks before he was due, catching me by complete surprise. He weighed only 4 lbs and 8 oz. I will never forget the moment after he was born as they were cleaning him up and getting him oxygen when I realized I wouldn't get to hold him. This wasn't the way that I pictured it, but they rolled him over beside me and let me look at him...

When we were on our way to the hospital I was actually quite positive that my labor would stop so I didn't pack a bag and I did not even grab my camera. It is my biggest regret to this day. Landon showed up just 4 hours after we arrived in the ER. These pictures were taken during his stay in the NICU.

While he was in the NICU, I practically lived there. I stayed all day every day as much as I possibly could. I bathed him, fed him his tiny bottles, and I sang to him... Leaving him in the hospital was one of the hardest things I had ever done. I would lay awake at night thinking of how he had spent months listening to the sound of my voice and I wondered if he missed it. I decided I would sing one song to him every time I was at the hospital so he would know that I was there. A song that I knew - although I'm not even quite sure where I learned it - came to mind because it talked about longing to be with someone you loved who is far from you.

Despite the nurses telling me that Landon would have to stay until close to his due date, Landon was strong and he was discharged after only eleven days! I was thrilled to take him home, and to this day I still sing his lullaby to him. He knows all of the words and often sings along...

I see the moon and the moon sees me,

Down shines the light through the old oak tree,

Please let the light that shines on me,

shine on the one I love.

Over the mountain, over the sea,

Back where my heart is longing to be,

Please let the light that shines on me,

Shine on the one I love.

Landon, I love you. Thank you for making my world shine so brightly. 

May the Force Be With You

Yesterday we celebrated Landon's 5th birthday (which is actually tomorrow) with a little Star Wars bash! I love birthdays and birthday parties. I also love that Landon enjoys Star Wars like his Mom.

We had all the character plates and cups - such a thrill to a little boy. I also made some "Yoda Soda." (Thank you, Pineterest!)

I ordered some adorable, edible Star Wars cupcake toppers on Etsy, however they didn't arrive in time so I had to improvise at the last minute. Landon's Star Wars action figures worked pretty well.

He got plenty of help from his little sister (whether he wanted it or not!)

Landon loves his Grammy and Grandpa, and Poppa and Ju-Ju!

Landon had so much fun celebrating. 

Can't believe my little Jedi is turning five... May the Force be with you!

Never Grow Up

"Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up, just stay this little."

"Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple."

"No one's ever burned you...

...and nothing's ever left you scarred."

"So even though you want to,...

"Just try to never grow up..."

- Taylor Swift, "Never Grow Up"

(Almost) Too Cute to Eat

Over Christmas my sister and I made these absolutely adorable little penguin appetizers. I found these little guys on a blog that I follow and just fell in love with them. I thought I would share them because they would still make a cute snack for winter days. If you have kids who are not picky eaters then they will love these. 

I have recently adopted some new foods to the list of things I like. Black olives is one of those! I am always re-trying things that I did not like before because I know that my tastes change, and suddenly olives have started tasting really yummy to me - another reason this idea caught my eye! Here's what you need: One jar large pitted olives, one jar jumbo pitted olives, cream cheese, (I used the chives flavor just to add a little something extra) carrot chips, and toothpicks. Meghan helped me out with this because although its really simple it was a little bit time consuming!

To make the penguins, cut one jumbo olive in half lengthwise and stuff with cream cheese. Slide on toothpick and top with one whole large olive. For the feet, simply cut a V shape out of each carrot shape and put at bottom of the toothpick. Then, use the V as the penguins beak! (Stick on with cream cheese.)

We set these on our Christmas table for a pre-dinner snack. None of them were exactly the same. They weren't perfect. I just thought they were so fun, and they were yummy.

 

With the supplies we had, we could have made even more, but we stopped once the plate was full.

Thanks to my sister for helping me to create this fun winter snack!