Sam & Catherine's Portrait Shoot

Catherine was in rare form. Well, for her, it's her normal form LOL. She did NOT want to have her picture taken and was having none of it. She was mostly upset about the dress I put her in, I should have just changed the darn dress. Catherine needs to know what is about to happen, when it's going to happen and exactly what to expect. I had no answers for her on this day. I guess the old saying "the proof is in the pudding" would about describe our first try at a professional photo shoot with her.

Sam was his usual carefree, happy and fun self. He is always happy. Always carefree. Never concerned about things that are about to happen. Just does what he is told, he's used to that with his 2 big sisters and 4 older brothers. He's the baby in our family... and will steal your heart in a second.

Here is there portrait shoot... I know I'll look back and thing these were the best photos ever... I can't wait to get the CD with all of the images.... posted here are just a few of them.

Thanks to Audra for all of her hard work and incredible patience... and mostly for documenting this precious time in their lives.

Caroline's Senior Portrait Photo Session

Caroline Taylor Amico
I am SO proud of her. She is my heart. She keeps me grounded. She was also my first experience being a Mommy to a little girl. I completely enjoyed each and every single day as I watched her grow into the lovely young lady she is today. Go here and you'll see why. My next favorite girl, Audra herself! Incredible spirit and heart of gold.

www.audrabenderphotography.com

Jeremiah 29:11

Please remind me of this one simple word. GRACE. I think it's my favorite.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 My favorite Bible verse.

Long time ... no see ...

ETHAN! 6 1/2 months old!

So since I haven't been on in a while, a long while, I thought I'd post a picture of my beautiful grandson Ethan. The post about his birth is the last post on here... so go figure that life has been VERY busy with him in it! He is the best combination of his parents! He is sweet, happy, curious, determined while being laid back and babiesh all at the same time! He looks just like my son Tyler did, cowlick, big round eyes, pudgy cheek and dimples while having my daughter-in-law Alisha's beautiful blue eyes. We just love having him in this world.

Catherine will be starting kindergarten in August.

Well, back to the family.

ETHAN THOMAS FORREST IS HERE

Ethan Thomas Forrest is finally here! December 2, 2008 @ 4:50pm, 7 pounds 6 ounces... and totally adorably perfect! He has his father's nose and dimples... on both sides... and maybe Alisha's eyes... on the way down the hall to go in to see new baby brother Ethan... Madison kept saying... "I love my brother Ethan." So sweet. This little baby boy is so loved... we are so thankful.

Thanksgiving 2008

We are thankful... for our healthy family, good friends, our home, our automobile to get us to and fro, my job to provide the things we need and our camera to capture sweet unforgettable moments like this:
We had a nice day... J&S with Grandma for lunch
Then off to Alisha's dad's to share Thanksgiving with my oldest, his wife and our families. We missed Zac but he had a very busy day too with his family.
Tyler begging Alisha to let his son out so he can finally see him! Tuesday, December 2nd is the big day! She is scheduled to be induced, unless Ethan decides to come out sooner! Yes, I have the day off and the next day too... I can't wait!

Here are some shots from Alisha's dad's house of our Thanksgiving with most of the kids.
Poor girl... I'm surprised she can reach the counter!After a lifetime of having the camera pop into his line of vision... you'd think this man would be used to it. At this point yesterday, he had enough of my antics.

Catherine got to hold Baby Devan (2 months old) and was so happy about it! She rubbed his chubby cheeks and smoothed his hair and talked very sweetly to him. Let's hope she is as in love with Baby Ethan when he arrives! Somehow, I think she will be.1 little boy + 1 car = heaven

Hope you all had a very Thankful Thanksgiving. As for my family,... we're going to try to scare up a Christmas tree today!

All day

So this is what we did all day today. I took out a couple of shelves in the little kids' closet and swaped them so that we could put in 2 storage bins with drawers for organization. Anyone that knows me and Catherine... understands how important organization and labels are to us. Sad but true. It's what makes our world go round.

The drawers are labeled with these little labels... Catherine can already recognize the words on hers and Sam's. It might help that she can see right through the fronts... but either way... she's very proud of herself.

This is Catherine's side of their shared room. They have matching quilts with their names on them hanging above their beds and now they have shelves above each of their beds for all of the Webkinz they have. She also has a canopy doll bed at the end of her bed for the extra "assorted" animals... and to tuck her babies in at night.

This is Samuel's side of their room... complete with Spiderman blanket and all his sports pillows he picked out. His favorite animals are snakes, turtles and dogs... and picks at least one to sleep with every night. Usually it's the Webkinz snake... wrapped around his neck. The picture below is what I found in my living room... all the barbies are holding their own babies... that's how little girls think and play.