Day 8: I am thankful for my mom and sisters.

Even though I don't see or talk to them nearly as much as I'd like to I am grateful to have them in my life. My goal for 2013 is to get us ALL in the same place at the same time!!! I love you all!!!

(Sorry no pictures today. I have NONE of them:()

Day 7: I am thankful for silly moments with this girl.

Madalyn is the absolute funniest kid I have ever met. I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter. She truly has the best personality. Every thing she does cracks me up. She likes to write poems and make up songs about things that happen to her each day. She is currently writing a series of books for Bayleigh to read when she gets older. They are all funny and educational. Justin and I can't fault her for the occasional smart remark. I don't know what I would do if Madalyn weren't exactly like she is today. It's so fun watching her grow and learn and I so incredibly blessed to be her mommy. I love Madalyn!!!

Day 6: I am thankful for having the right to VOTE

No matter who you vote for or which side you lean towards, we are Americans and have the RIGHT to vote!!! I am so thankful to live in a country that gives me that choice especially as a woman!! It's not too late to get out there and get your vote in today.

Day 5: I am thankful for Shirley and Phillip

They have been the absolute best in-laws anyone could ask for. I know of some people that can't stand theirs but I have been truly blessed with two of the best people ever. They are so giving of their time and are generous to help whenever I need. They have helped eliminate a lot of stress in an already stressful time for me and my family. Thank you both for everything you do. I love you both so much.

Day 4: I am thankful for weekends with my family

This is busy season for me with my photography so the time I have with my family is very precious to me. Being with the three of them makes me so happy and no matter how bad I need to clean my house or how many errands I need to run...I would let those things go any day of the week to squeeze in as much time with them as I can. God blessed me greatly with Justin, Madalyn and Bayleigh!!

Day 3: I am thankful for my blooming photography career

A couple of years ago I decided to turn my hobby into a business. I registered my name and officially became a tax paying legit business. I started out with just a view sessions for the whole year and now I can hardly keep up. Working full time, having a family and trying to squeeze in as many families as possible as been a challenge. A challenge I gladly accept. I would never turn anyone away and have been extremely blessed with all of the opportunities I've been given. I look forward to turning this into my full time "job" very soon!! With that said...you can book a session my contacting me:) Shameless plug I know.

Day 2: I am thankful for the opportunity to serve the community

Last Friday I had the chance to help prepare and serve breakfast for the wonderful families at the Ronald McDonald House in Fort Worth. Seeing the families be so grateful that we were there was worth it.

Tonight along with some friends from work, I took some time to feed dinner to the homeless men and women at The Stewpot homeless shelter in Dallas. I have been there several times over the last few years and it never gets old helping the people that are truly thankful for the help. Believe it or not but there are still a few of those people left.

I should also add that I am thankful to work for a company that allows me the time off to serve the community.

Day 1: Thankful for my wonderful husband

Justin has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. He is an outstanding provider to our family and a wonderful father to our children. In a million years I could never replace him. I love him more than I can explain and I look forward to having many more years together.

What the....

My baby girl is 8 months old today. It is hard to believe how fast she is growing. She learns something new every day it seems. She loves her big sister more than anything and is always so happy to see her. She is fairly attached to me and doesn't want much to do with anyone else if I'm around. It makes my heart happy so I'm always ok with the clingyness. She smiles like crazy at her daddy and always likes when he sings and talks to her. She's not a huge fan of baby food any more and would love if we would just give her what we are eating. This crazy girl has no desire to crawl and honestly neither would I if I had a five year old willing to hand me everything!! She has two teeth and looks like she's working on getting a couple more. I have been truly blessed with the cutest best girls ever.

One of these days....

I have been working since I was 16. I have always had a job and always saw myself as someone that would always work. Either out of need or just because I wanted to. As my babies get older (Madalyn will be 6 in two months) I have a desire to want to be home with them. I want to be the one taking and picking up from school. I want to be the first one to see all the cool new things they learn. My girlies are super important me and hopefully soon I will get to be with them full time. Building my photography business will help me have some income coming while being able to do something I also enjoy.

Trying it out

I am checking out the blogger app. If it works the way I want it to I might start blogging more:)

Here is Madalyn and her Daisy troop saying the Pledge of Allegiance at last nights PTA meeting.

I am now fully aware that I am a blogger slacker!!! And I'm ok with that:) Life has been completely crazy busy over the last almost 7 months! Bayleigh Elizabeth arrived on February 22! She in my opinion my be the cutest baby ever (or at least one of them). She is now almost 7 months old and is such an awesome baby. I enjoy every second with her and there are no words for the love I have for her!

Madalyn also just started kindergarten! Yes...that's right I said kindergarten! Not sure how the time went by that fast but it did. Madalyn is a wonderful daughter and fabulous big sister. I have MANY more pictures to post and will get them up here this weekend.

It is hard to believe but in just a few days we will be welcoming our second daughter into our family. We have been so blessed with Madalyn for the past 5 years that it's hard for me to imagine having another one. I think we finally have everything we need and are ready to go. Madalyn has been helping to get the room ready and is super pumped about being a big sister. Photos of the nursery to come. I just wanted to give a quick update and let everyone know how much more time we have. Stay tuned..... 

Just Catching Up!!!

I am kind of embarrassed that it's been so long since my last post!!! I was doing so good keeping up with this blog and then life kicked in and everything got busy. I want to make it my goal to post at least once every week going forward. We shall see what happens!! So....in the last few months we have had a lot going on!! Justin and I are expecting our second daughter who should be arriving in about 6 weeks!! Yikes....that means we probably need to finish preparing for her!! My pregnancy this time around has been completly different than it was with Madalyn. I am more tired, sore, achy than I was with her. On top of everything else we have going on I am looking forward to not being pregnant for now and finally enjoying being a mommy to another perfect angel! We are all super excited about adding Baby Looney to our family and Madalyn is looking forward to finally being a big sister!

Madalyn also turned 5 in November!! I knew that day would come but I had no idea just how fast it would. I'm still having a hard believing I have a 5 year old!! We were fortunate to be able to spend her birthday at Disney World. That has been a trip we've been planning on since she was born. We always knew we wanted to take her there when she turned 5. Nana and Pappy were able to go with us and we had an absolute wonderful time. Madalyn was able to meet every single princess and see the castle at the Magic Kingdom. To see the look on her face during the trip was priceless. We look forward to going again and hope we can make it there again once our new little one turns 5. That was the trip of a lifetime for a little girl and we made memories that will last forever!

Justin and I have also been working very hard on my photography business. I am currently taking a short break while we prepare for baby but we will be starting up again full speed at the end of March. 2011 was a fantastic year for business and I can only hope it will be just as good or better in 2012. Taking family and childrens photos is by far my favorite and now that I have added daycare/preschool photos it has kept me very busy.

Hopefully this catches me up a little bit at least and I can hopefully keep it going each week!!  More to come!!! 

The castle all lit up for Christmas!! So beautiful!!

Madalyn had dinner with Belle, Ariel, Aurora, Cinderella and Snow White for her birthday! It was worth every minute and Madalyn had such a great time!

Pappy (Phillip), Justin, Madalyn, Jessica and Nana (Shirley) at Epcot!

This is just a couple of recent pictures of Madalyn. She is growing up SO fast!!!