Fourth of July

Although missing Rosalynn is something that I do just every day, it's times like this weekend that make me miss her even more.

My parents always have some sort of Fourth of July celebration out at the farm. Foster and I always try to make it out, and usually succeed. This year we decided to head out the day before because he wanted to get some groundhog hunting in, zero out his new gun and scope, and I just wanted to relax.

Sunday was the big party. We had family and friends from all over show up, including my cousin with her beautiful two week old baby girl. Although the newborn made me excited for Avaleen to arrive, I mostly felt the sting of pain for the loss of Rosalynn. there is just something about little babies that make me miss her. Although she would be 15 months now, I will always picture her as a 5lb12oz baby girl, not a 15 month old, because that is the only way I ever saw her. I imagine what she may look like and be like at 15 months, but I only KNOW her as a newborn.

I started thinking about how this past 15 months of holidays have been missing someone, and then I realized that is how it will be from now on. No matter how many years pass, and no matter how many more children I have, there will always be someone missing. Presents missing from under the tree, one stocking missing from the mantle, one less hot dog eaten, one less pumkin carved, one less costume made/bought, one less Easter basket filled. It hurts my heart that for the next 40+ years, I will always have that feeling of incompleteness on the holidays.

Don't get me wrong, we had a lot of fun. The smell of slightly burnt hot dogs and juicy hamburgers filled the air while my cousins and uncles played games of cornhole. We had the horses out for the kids, and the sounds of James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, Simon and Garfunkle, and other classics played in the background while conversations of family, college, vacations, and summer fun could be heard. There were so many people there, more people than I think even my mom expected, but there was just one little 15 month old missing. She should have been riding on the back of my horse with Foster, trying the many different foods available, and toddling after the four sheltie dogs that were running around, trying to avoid having her cookie stolen by one of them. She would have been donning her Red White and Blue summer dress, and IF she had any hair (I was bald till I was 2) I would have put it up in pigtails with a red and blue ribbon in each. She would have gotten to meet her 3rd cousin Caroline who is 2 and a half, and CC (the newborn) to see what her baby sister, Ava would be like in about 18 weeks. Then she would have clapped her little hands as her daddy set off all the pretty fireworks. And maybe, just maybe Foster would have been a little more cautious in setting the fireworks off since his daughter would be sitting in the crowd.

That's right, Foster ALMOST killed us AGAIN with fireworks! (Just read THIS post to get an idea of how we should have learned our lesson by now...Rule #5) He lit one in his hand and as he went to throw it in the air, the stick part apparently broke and the firework part came flying our way instead of out towards the field! Scared the living day lights out of us!

Overall it was a great weekend that I got to spend with the people that I care about most in my life, except poor Bug, she had to work. As we started setting off our fireworks for the closing of the party, I noticed there was some lightning high in the clouds to our west, and couldn't help but smile and think how Rosie must take afrter her dad, and was partaking in a little firework show of her own!  She may not have been with us there in person, but I definitely felt her all around us!

Summer Fest and Reveal Story

Every year Foster's hometown has a HUGE celebration called Summer Fest. It is a Fourth of July of sorts. Complete with an early morning 4 mile race, a parade, yard sales, and fireworks. Foster and I were already planning on attending, but because our two sides of the family don't get together as much as I would like....other than for our wedding and Rosie's passing..... due to the 3 hour trip, I wanted to try and bring them together for this event, so Foster and I invited Bug and Ky, JJ and Mr. JJ, and my parents. We promised that those who attended would get to be present for the big gender reveal. JJ and Mr. JJ were planning on attending, but Mr. JJ had a prior engagement that Saturday that he could not postpone. Bug had to work, but Ky said he would love to attend, and my parents were going to make the three hour drive in order to spend a little time with everyone. Unfortunately my dad had to cancel last minute, but my mom still made it.

Ky, Foster and I headed out on Friday with the pups. We settled into the hotel and had some late night wings. Foster was regretting it the next morning when he had to wake up early to go run the 4 miler. His dad and brother in law ran the race also, and all of them achieved their goals! His dad wanted to make sure he didn't finish last, and sure enough there were PLENTY of finishers after him. Foster's Brother in law wanted to beat Foster's dad, and if possible break 40 minutes. He did both!! Foster wanted to break 28 minutes, and possibly place in his age category. He accomplished both! He placed third while breaking 28 minutes! Not bad for having a heavy stomach after too many wings the night before!

After the race we headed to his parent's house where his mom and sisters were holding their annual garage sale. They make out like bandits at their sale...maybe next year I will have to bring my own table and join in the money making opportunities! We all just hung out, played with my nieces and nephew, and enjoyed each other's company. Foster and Ky started cracking open beers pretty early, and decided they wanted to go check out the auto show at the fair portion of Summer Fest, so I decided to take a nep. I figured I was in for a long night since they were already drinking, and we were driving back home that night (2hours). It was apparent I was going to be the DD.

That evening we were expecting the arrival of my mom for the cookout and reveal. When she arrived we gathered everyone up and handed his sisters a gift bag and a bag for my mom and his mom. We made his sisters open theirs first. Inside they pulled out a duck onsie....VERY gender non-specific! They all chuckled, rolled their eyes, and anticipated the opening of our moms' bags. I had taped the tops in order to prevent peaking, but this cause a little delay in getting the bags open, and after a struggle they excitedly announced "We see pink!!". Inside his mother's bag was the coming home outfit. On the front of the onsie it says "Little Sister" and inside my mom's bag were bibs with "Daddy's Little Princess" on the front. They were so excited.

I begged that they would hold off on the shopping, for my nerves still get the best of me. they were not very happy with this prospect, so I made them a deal. They could buy things but they couldn't give them to me till AFTER Ava arrives crying. Although they still didn't like this idea, they agreed.

After a filling spread, we all gathered on the streets for the parade. I still don't get the excitement about parades, I never have, but everyone seemed to have fun. After, my mom headed home before it got dark, and the rest of us headed to the fair for dessert. I wanted an elephant ear, and the kids wanted funnel cakes and the guys drank more beer! We visited with Dave's long time friend Mr. Red and his wife. She is expecting also and is approximately 7 weeks behind me with her 4th child. It was great seeing them, and I always regret living so far away from this great couple, because I could see us hanging out a lot more if we lived a little closer to one another.

Finally it was time to head home, and about 15 minutes into our 2 hour drive home, BOTH Ky and Foster AND one of the dogs were passed out! I firmly believe that late night, long drives should require at least one of the passengers to stay awake to help the driver! I was exhausted, and only my sweet Rowdy pup was there to stare at me and occasionally lick my hand when I was starting to get really tired.

It was a really fun time., and although I wasn't able to make my gender cake due to time constraints, I still think the reveal was fun! Everyone seemed really excited about the fact we are expecting another beautiful baby girl. Although everyone is still really nervous, I think the excitement is starting to creep into every one's hearts:-)

Just One Day Out of the Year??!!???

It's Valentine's Day....for those of you who may have forgotten. I have to say, I have never really gotten excited about this holiday. The last time I got excited is when I was in grade school and loved filling out those cute cartoon covered paper cards, making sure to write just a little more for my crush of the year:
Kindergarten-3rd grade: Brett
4th grade: Joseph
5th grade: John (he was a 6th grader so I didn't make one for him...he would have thought it was lame!)
6th grade: Roc (Mrs. Joe...you remember him!)

and I think we stopped this tradition in middle school. We would all bring in a bunch of cookies and pink frosted cupcakes, get all hopped up on sugar and caffeine and then head home with our homemade "mailboxes" full of goodies. I would just pray that I received a Valentine from one of the aforementioned crushes.

Being a military spouse, I have unfortunately spent too many Valentine's Days away from my love, and so we have come up with a new tradition. We treat everyday as if it were Valentine's Day. We try our hardest to show how much we love each other, and spend every moment together as if it were our last. We don't need one day out of the year to remind each other how much we love one another, we let each other know 365 days a year. Sure, I would love jewelry or chocolates, but my husband likes to surprise me randomly through the year with things like this. So this year we are just spending the evening together. We may share a bottle of wine and cook a nice meal, but most importantly, we will just enjoy some much needed time together.

I could not have asked for a better husband and valentine. I don't need a paper card with cartoons from my crush this year, because I am married to my crush:-) My challenge to you all, is treat every day like Valentine's Day. Show the ones you love how much you care about them every day of the year!

Crazy New Year and New Hope

WOW! Well, I was under the impression that I would be able to relax these last 4 weeks during the holidays! Boy was I wrong! I was so busy with school and work, that I thought I would finally get the opportunity to breathe once finals were passed. However, I think I was officially busier in these last 4 weeks than I have been all year. So I apologize for the lack in commenting on other blogs, and the little hiatus I have taken and will probably be taking for the next few days, because school is upon me once more. In officially 11 weeks, I will be graduating! That is right, one more quarter of little sleep and spending my time with my nose in my books, I will officially be a college graduate. This is a day that I am sure a lot of people, including myself, thought would never come. However, it is the perfect example of how perseverence and being able to brush off obstacles pays off!

I was sitting in church this Sunday with Foster and couldn't really focus on the scripture. Instead, I was reflecting on the last year of my life and the hope for the new year. It is amazing how strong the human mind can be. I have literally been to hell and back. I have been into some deep dark places that I honestly thought I wouldn't get out of, but yet I was sitting in church with this feeling of hope. I was holding Foster's hand, basking in the rays of light that were shining through the stained glass windows and smiling to myself. 2011 is sure to be a better year.

I am unsure of what to expect. I am nervous and apprehensive, but still hopeful. One year from now I could be sitting over in the "stan" or I could be sitting in my nursery holding a newborn. I could be wearing ACUs, toting around an M16, or I could be wearing baggy clothes to hide my newly deflated tummy while toting around a diaper bag. The unknown is scary, but it is also exciting.

My new year started out with a bang, and if my luck thus far is any indication to my luck for the rest of the year, I am ecstatic! On new years eve, my mother held her annual party. There were not as many people there this year as in years past, however, we still had a blast. By the end of casino night, my mom had raised around $135 dollars for Roses from Rosalynn. I felt so blessed, and this will be all that is needed before I can deliver my first 10 bags to OSU.

There was drinking, merriment, and a little tom-foolery. JJ and I spent hours playing a small table game of roulette. It was pretty entertaining, and we felt like we were back in Vegas. Blackjack was another of my favorite games that night, and I was actually getting the hang of it! Foster is not a fan of gambling, even if it is for charity, so he stuck to socializing and playing pool.

On New Years Day we headed over to Mr. and Mrs. Prince's house for some football and poker. Once again, I was the degenerate gambler, and Foster was my food runner and cheerleader. Actually, cheerleader is a bad word for it. Every time he came in the room he would make a snide comment about how small my chip stack was and kept asking, "I thought you were good at this game?"

All this did was encourage me to play better. I considered it more of a challenge to prove to him that I am a good poker player! Sure enough, Foster's lack in confidence caused me to win a $110 dollars on the first tournament spiltting the $220 pot with the other guy left of 7. Then, I told Foster to stay in the basement and continue to bash me for the second game. This one was only 5 of us, but again I split the pot with the same guy!! This was only $50, but hey, not a bad night if you ask me!

One of the highlights of the night, better than winning $160, was the time I got to spend with my favorite baby! Baby Prince is getting soooooo big, and I miss the regular time I get to spend with him. Any little time spent with Baby Prince is priceless to me.

I know this post is a little all over the place, but that is where my brain feels these last few days. I hope that everyone had a wonderful New Year, and I pray that we all have a great year ahead of us. I will post some of the pictures taken on NYE, but first I have to sort through them all. Ky thought it would be fun to confiscate my Canon, and took some RANDOM pictures. Some of them are hilarious and incriminating, so I will only pick the good ones as to not embarrass anyone too bad!

A Very Blessed Christmas

Well, as blessed as it could be without Rosalynn. Last week, we went and spent time with Foster's side of the family. We had a lot of fun with the kids and there were lots of presents to go around. We decided to head up on the 22nd because I had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas day and we wanted to get some real quality time with his family. Unfortunately, living 2 hours away, we get very little quality time with them.

The first evening we just hung out and socialized. Foster brought hommade venison chili that was killer! I was afraid I wouldn't like it, but it was delicious. He made it just a little too spicy, but a little bit of sour cream and saltine crackers helped cut the heat a little bit. We spent time with his sisters for a few hours and caught up on life in general.

 

The second day we took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese. I forgot how much fun that place could be. I even had fun as  29 year old! Foster and I worked hard to get the kids extra tickets by playing numerous games of skiball and football.

Foster decided he had to go get a quick bite to eat and disappeared for an hour. I was starting to get worried, and then on accident, I move the pillow from the back seat and found three wrapped gifts. Foster had said he wasn't getting me anything for my birthday or Christmas because he had purchased my camera for me, but he must have changed his mind. He was trying to hide them from me, but didn't do a very good job.

That night we had dinner at a local restaurant and then headed to Foster's older sister's place to open gifts. I was thrilled when I received a gift card to Wal-Mart for items for Roses from Rosalynn, and a new pandora bead. My niece spent her own money and picked out beautiful wine glasses for Foster and I. I hope she doesn't think we are alcoholics or something. Of course I had to get some pictures of my nieces and nephew, and they seemed to LOVE all of their gifts!

This niece, we will call her "Guinn" LOVE penguins more than life itself!!! 

She wanted one thing: a nutcracker!

Niece, "Queen", LOVES Barbie just like her Aunt Erin, so I got her one!

I love how Guinn is reading about a sheltie while 2 shelties play behind her in this pic!!

After work on the 26th, Foster and I headed to my parents house. When I got there, Bug, Ky, JJ and Mr. JJ were already there. Papa JJ was there also. As soon as I walked in the door Papa JJ handed me my gift. It was a $5 scratch off ticket. I was really excited, because although I don't buy them for myself, I still love scratching them off. I started scratching, and we got excited cause it said I won $5. Well, the more I scratched, the more I won....$50 total!!!! Can you believe it? Foster won $10, so I figured that $60 is what I will use for the poker game I am playing in on New Year's Day. I am already on a lucky streak, hopefully it holds up.

My mother is a saint! I swear to you! She is a Catholic school teacher, gets paid way too little and is under appreciated. She loves her little second graders, and they love her too. Along with her own contributions to Roses from Rosalynn, she did something amazing this Christmas season. Most teachers are used to getting gift cards and mugs and ornaments from their children every year. This year she sent out a letter to all of her parents asking that instead of these gifts, that they donate items to my project. Their giving spirit was shown in the massive box of items. Receiving blankets, hand sanitizer, gift cards, teddy bears, checks, hand and feet imprint molds, the list goes on and on. My mother included some beautiful outfits with embroidered roses that she picked out from Macy's. She was so excited to show me all the goodies. I feel like Rosie's grandma got to Christmas shop for her and do grandmotherly things. I feel like this is something that has been both healing to my mother's heart, and to mine as well. I feel like every gift I received from friends, family, and strangers alike were gifts to my Rosie.

The next best gift I got this Christmas was my Lady of Guadelupe necklace and angel wing necklace from JJ and my aunt. I opened my gift from JJ and I could not believe my eyes! It was exactly what I had been looking for in DC, a beautiful OLofG necklace. I had seen one in Macy's and had offhandedly mentioned it to JJ. When I opened it, I figured Foster had something to do with it, but it turns out JJ is just very observant and had realized how much I had admired the necklace over a month ago. I love her so much, and I will now feel comforted wearing it every day the next time I get pregnant.

The angel wing necklace was given to me by my aunt. She could not make Christmas this year because she was so busy with her plays, so we missed her dearly. It just wasn't the same without her here this year.

So, although this Christmas is not what we had imagined it would be a year ago, it was so amazing. Rosie's presence was felt everywhere this week. It was definitely a blessed Christmas.

Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever After!

365 days ago today I married the man of my dreams. He is my best friend, my confidant, my lover (sorry mom). In the past year he has exceeded any expectations I had of a husband. Foster is my rock. He pulls me up when I have sunk so low that I don't feel I will ever get out. He makes me laugh with the corniest jokes, and can make me feel absolutely content just siting next to him in silence on a long drive or on the couch together. I feel whole when I am with him. I can't explain it, I never actually thought I would ever find that "true love" that you see in movies, but that is truly what I have. We hardly ever fight, except if I go off on a drunk tangent, and we are really one of "those" couples that would much rather spend time with each other than anyone else in the world.

A prime example of what an amazing husband he is; I have mentioned this before,when I have drill weekend, he takes care of the household chores. I walked in last night to deer meat tacos. They were amazing! I was so happy that dinner was made and I didn't have to worry about it, and Foster was quite proud of his dinner choice. 

Today Foster and I revisited the restaurant that we had our first date. It is an delicious Greek place. I t was great to go back to the place that set the tone for our relationship.

After dinner, Foster and I headed home to start our new Anniversary tradition. We decorated our tree. Foster is known as being a bah-humbug kind of guy. I would even go as far to call him a grinch. He likes to shop and spend a little money on the family, but when it comes to decorating and music, he would rather not participate. However, tonight he was a great sport. He downloaded the Transiberian Ochestra, poured us each a glass of wine, rigged the tree topper, and assisted me in my tree trimming. I know, being his wife for a whole year now, that he probably did all this just to please me, but I love him all the more for it. If you have read the book "The Five Languages of Love", you would know that it is sometimes better for your relationship to do things you don't like in order to please your spouse. This in turn keeps them happy and then they want to keep you happy. This was probably one of those instances, but that just proves what an amazing husband he is.

It's funny, I never enjoyed decorating my parents' tree after I hit 13 years old. However, there is someting different about decorating your own. Now, don't laugh when I show you pictures, but we had 2  strands of lights for the tree already, but had to head to the store to get a third. I got "white" lights. Little did I know, that LED and regular lights are going to glow a very different "white". I wrapped the lights around the tree, and this is what happened:

I LOVE it! Although they are different colors, it is still perfect in my eyes, because it is our first Christmas tree. Just like our first year of marriage, our Christmas tree is not perfect. It is a little flawed. I think our Christmas tree is a perfect reflection of our first year as husband and wife. There were so many VERY bright moments in this year, but unfortunately, along with those came some dark moments too. The varying brightness in lights represents this. Rosie has been very prominent in our lives although she doesn't reside here on earth with us, just like she is present on our tree:

Our pasts are represented,

One of Foster's ornaments growing up

our present,

an ornament for our beautiful pup Reagan

Foster bought me this one in New Orleans this past week.

and  the star at the top represents the hope that we have for the future.

Here are just a few of the other ornaments that adorn our tree.

The full Irish blessing on an Celtic Cross

Foster had this personalized with our wedding date on the side of it

The Claddagh has a special meaning for Foster and me.

an Irish blessing

My Irish angel

As you can see there is a trend. I LOVE my Irish heritage. It is so rich with tradition and history, and I am not just talking about the drinking part. I love everything about it, and I am sure my little Irish angel is up there looking over her mom and dad as they try to have the closest thing to a normal Christmas they can without her.

Rosie's Picture with Santa

Yesterday my SIL sent me a picture of her kids w/ Santa. This is a tradition some families take for granted, and others don't care either way. Foster has not been the biggest fan of Christmas since I met him, you could call him "Mr. Grinch" and he would be just fine with it. However, he humors my attempts at decorating for Christmas, and he even agreed to make putting up the Christmas tree our Anniversary tradition (Dec. 12). As a baby loss mom, there are many things about the holidays that make me sad. There is always a feeling of something missing whether it be at the Thanksgiving table, decorating, Christmas shopping, and now today, seeing photos of Santa.

It was in this moment that I realized Rosie will never get her picture taken with Santa. This is something I was looking forward to. The past 2 years around Christmas Foster and I have gotten our picture taken with Santa together. I know what you are thinking, "If Foster doesn't like Christmas, WHY would he get his picture taken with Santa?"

Well, we take a road trip to DC and visit the National Christmas Tree. There is a little Santa's Workshop that offers one free picture with Santa. Last year it happened to be our honeymoon trip, and we were looking forward to this being the first year Rosie would go with us and join the group. It was reflecting on this moment that I realized she HAD gotten her picture taken with Santa. It will be her one and only, and she is hidden inside my belly, but she is there nonetheless. Needless to say, I immediately found the photo, framed it, and put our first and only "family Christmas photo" up on our mantle.

It is small things like this that makes me smile.

On Dec. 16th Foster and I will head back down to DC, and as part of our family tradition, we will go to that little workshop. This time we will smile for the camera with a little pain in our hearts, and with that all too familiar feeling that someone is missing, and we will get our picture taken for the third time. Maybe, if we are blessed, a few weeks later we will find out that it was Baby Foster #2's first Christmas picture......a girl can always hope right?

Merry Christmas everyone, and please soak in all the precious moments you can and be thankful for all of your blessings this holiday season.

The Thanksgiving Fiascoes....

This weekend was full of challenges and surprises.. Foster and I were bound and determined to shake things up this year. we were terrified of the holidays this year, because they had a different feeling last year. There was hope for an addition to dinner this year, and excitement for two families being joined all in one little person. Unfortunately, it didn't happen that way, so Foster and I wanted a distraction, a way to make the holiday not seem so lonely. We decided to take on Thanksgiving dinner at our place this year!!

I was a little nervous. Neither Foster nor myself have ever cooked a turkey before. This Thanksgiving we were going to cook two! I was baking the traditional turkey in the oven, and he was grilling one on the charcoal grill. The way I figured, if one didn't turn out, there was always a back-up.

The challenges started the night before. I was peeling sweet potatoes while talking on the phone. I knew it was a bad idea, but I figured I could try to multitask. I was wrong! With one slip, I sliced a chunk of skin off the top of my finger. I never felt it, because the peeler was brand new, and sharp, but I noticed blood. A half a roll of paper towels and a roll of electrical tape later, I was back in business, minus the use of my left index finger.

Thanksgiving morning my mom and dad came over early to assist Foster and I in our Thanksgiving feast. We prepped and put the baked turkey in the oven, and then we were off to visit some very important people:

The four of us went to visit Rosie, grandma and Grandpa. It was really nice, despite the rain to be able to celebrate the holiday with Rosalynn. If you cannot see the stone, because of the rain, here are pictures from when Foster and I visited last Monday:

Interesting story from Monday:

When Foster and I arrived at the cemetery, we noticed the plywood was still covering the opening where the headstone was supposed to be. I started to get really sad, and almost angry, because it had been four months since we ordered it. We marched our little butts down to the office. When we asked them why the stone was not placed, they couldn't figure out what we were talking about. They explained that the funeral home had dropped the stone off a few days prior, and it should have been in place. They started to worry that it had been paced at the wrong grave. Foster and I left our number with instructions for them to call us as soon as they found the stone and placed it. IN the mean time, we decided to check one more time. We went back up to the hill Rosie is buried on and started to look around. Sure enough, her stone was probably 30 yards away on another person's spot, but not put in the ground yet. Performing a very fatherly act, Foster picked up the 100 lbs stone, and brought it to its rightful place, his daughter's grave.

On Thanksgiving, mom, dad, Foster and I took a bottle of Bailey's to toast Grandma with since it was her favorite drink on the holidays. As you can see in the picture, we propped a glass on her headstone for her, but as my mom turned to walk away and grab her own glass, this is what happened:

That's right, the way the glass tipped is right where Granny and Rosie lie. SO one of two things, Granny did not want to share her glass, so she "drank it herself", or Rosie was trying to have a taste of her first alcoholic beverage at WAY too young of an age!! Either way, it brought a laugh to all of us.

When we returned to the house, Foster started up the grill and started to prepare HIS turkey. We checked my turkey, and according to Foster's grandmother's stuffing recipe, I was supposed to add the stuffing to the turkey 1 hour before taking it out of the stove. I figured I had plenty of time, because the turkey was supposed to take about 4 hours.

When we thought I had about an hour to an hour and a half prior to the turkey being done, we took it out of the oven. We stuck the thermometer in, and not only was the turkey done, but the temp was reading twenty degrees too hot!! I was devastated! Now I couldn't put the famous "Foster dressing" into the bird, AND I was going to have a dry, overcooked turkey. I just started to pray that Foster's turkey came out okay, and that the dressing would cook well in a glass pan.

As people started showing up and it looked like all 17 people were present, my dad started carving into my overcooked turkey to find that it was PERFECT. It cooked 2 hours shorter than it was supposed to, with no dressing in it, and twenty degrees too hot, but was perfect! Foster's smoked turkey came out amazing too! Thank God! I was afraid I was going to have to call the Chinese place down the street. However, now we have enough left over turkey to feed a small country for a year. I guess that means a lot of turkey sandwiches are in my future.

Everyone seemed to love all of the food, and dinner seemed to be a real success. Foster and I worked really well together leading up to the day, and with the help of my mom and dad, we were able to pull off the perfect day, despite all of the fiascoes.

Veteran's Day and Baby Photos

Happy Veteran's Day! It has been an eventful day for Foster and I. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was going to have the opportunity to photograph a baby for the first time. The family I did it for were more than willing to let me use their daughter as practice and in return, I am giving them free photos. that is right!! FREE!!!

The photo session was bitter sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but then realized that I should be taking Rosie's six month pictures and practicing with my own baby instead of with one of Foster's soldiers. Some of them came out beautifully! I am content with my first attempt at photography. I still have a lot to learn, but that is to be expected. I used all manual functions, no automatic. I have only done some basic white balance edits so far, and will do more in depth editing after I download photoshop. There is some photos I want to even out the baby's skin tone, because she has a little bit of baby acne/rash, and some advanced edits such as singling out the pink in the tutu and the red in the Ohio State pictures. I will post all of the finished pictures when I get them done, but until then, here are some of the pictures I have so far:

 She was starting to get really fussy (this is toward the end of the session,) but I love the mirror effect, and will try this again next time (hopefully she isn't so fussy)

 Sweet baby girl

 I love the contrast of the soft baby and the tattoo from dad

 sweet fall baby, sleeping in the woods:-)

 She was so content outside, she was so calm and sleepy in the park.

Had to represent the favorite football team:-)

I have a few naked photos of baby with ACUs, an American flag, and combat boots, but I have to crop a few of them before posting them on here (baby butt is for mom and dad only:-)

 All because two people fell in love

And of course I had to get a picture of the man I love in the park too!

Remember, ALL of these picture are mine and the family's. By the way, if anyone else is willing to let me borrow you, your family, or your kids for practice, I will gladly do the same favor for you as I did for them. Better jump on it now before I get good enough where I can charge. Yes, I am willing to do newborn and maternity photos.

I completely understand why professionals charge so much. It took us 3 hour, and out of about 300-400 photos, I only got about 50 usable ones. The baby would move, make faces, cry, wake up, pee, eat. All of the outfit changes take longer than expected because you want to be gentle so she wouldn't get upset and then cry for the next 10 minutes. Once we figured out she liked it outside, we moved all of the "scenes" out to the back patio so that she would be content. Thank the Lord it was 70 degrees out today. With all of the issues, I still had so much fun, and hope that they enjoy the end project!

Once the family took off, Foster, Reagan, Rowdy and I hopped into the car and headed to Hocking Hills. I took TONS of photographs there also, but those will have to wait to be posted, because I still have to sort through and pic the best of 250 pictures. 

We decided a hike in the hills would be healthy, quality family time on Veterans Day. We took a timed photo on a ledge by the caves, and accidentally left my Oakley sunglasses laying on the tree trunk I had propped the camera on. Foster and I had driven about ten minutes outside of the State Park when I realized my glasses were missing. Now, if they had been any other sunglasses, I would have forgotten about them and refused to turn back, but if you recall, I spoiled myself with these glasses, and spent WAY more money than I should have on them. I made Foster make a U turn, and he sprinted through the forest back to the scene of the crime. As I parked the car, I prayed that the glasses would still be there, and he would not find an empty tree stump. Foster was convinced that if any hiker came upon the sunglasses, that they would have picked them up. Luckily, they were right where I left them. If anyone had seen them, they were honest and left the glasses alone in the even the owners came back to claim them.

When we were safely back on the road, I received a text message from JJ. I had completely forgotten that her moms birthday was today. She claimed she tried to call me, but there is no phone reception in the hills, so I never got the call. I can imagine what a hard day this must have been for her. The holidays and special occasions are always the hardest. This was the first time she didn't get the chance to call and wish her mom a happy birthday. She wasn't able to give her a gift or take her out to dinner. Bug apparently met up with her and they enjoyed dinner together, but I'm sure it didn't come close to healing the pain she was feeling today. 

I still have so much to fill you in on, but it is going to have to wait till next time. I had my second therapy appointment, and Foster and I met up with Holly and her family. She is another BLM who is quickly turning into a friend.