Levi {Fav Foto Friday}

I had the honor of doing a photo-shoot with my friend's newborn baby boy today.

Meet Levi.

I know I've still got some things to work on as a photographer...
But I had a ton of fun!!

Thanks Levi's Mom!!

 

Prayers For Ivy

Most in the blogging world are probably familiar with sweet Ivy's story.

But maybe you're not...

For those who aren't, she & her wonderful family need our help

(& it won't cost a thing, other than a few minutes of your time)

This is Ivy.

This precious baby came home to her Forever Family in February.

From the moment her family found her, they knew she needed to come home quickly.

 Ivy's heart needed help.

After a heart catheterization, they found that Ivy was indeed operable!!

"She is done!!! Her lungs are fine! Praise God!! The only surprise is that along with the pulmonary artery being small and thickened ( called pulmonary stenosis) her pulmonary valve is only 2.9mm so very tiny. Both will need to be re-designed but it is doable!! Her vsd is as thought, HUGE, and the switched arteries (transposition of the great arteries), well, their switched..

Her open heart surgery will include lots of work but Ivy is operable and has HOPE written all over her!!!!!!!!"

 Yesterday was her big day ~ Surgery.

And it went wonderfully! 

The surgeons were successful.

But...

Her body doesn't know how to use its new anatomy.

So, she remains on life support.

She is thankfully being weaned today, but she still needs our help.

Good thoughts, 

Prayers,

Praise, 

Compassion,

Good will,

whatever you subscribe to...

Please raise it up for Ivy, her family, and her surgeons.

Please click any of the links above, or HERE, to visit her mom's blog to stay updated on her progress.

This Wonderful Life {Sunday Snapshot}

This girl can rock a hat.

Seriously.

Daddy loves Milo. A lot.

(So do I!)

I know Milo! I was shocked that I got a picture of Xandra smiling, too!!! 

Such a happy little guy!

How did I get so lucky?

I've been trying to really focus on all of the incredible blessings in my life recently.

Wow.

I don't know what I did to have such a wonderful life,

but I'm incredibly thankful!!

Check out more wonderful photos below!!

Chalk {Sunday Snapshot}

Chalk is so much fun

but needs to be timed just right...

on Bath Night!!

Always deep in thought..
she loves her artwork & takes it very seriously

A boy & his dog

Milo didn't last too long with the chalk. 

He thought it was much more fun to go trucking down the sidewalk "running away."

He looked at me, grinned, & yelled "Bye Bye Mama!"

Lexie kept by his side the whole way (down to the next driveway).

By the way- this is how Xandra's hair naturally dries (no hair dryer for this sensitive one).

Disgusting, isn't it?

More of the Same {Fav Foto Friday}

The weather has been absolutely too beautiful to pass up all these frequent trips to the park. Thankfully, our neighborhood park is a short walk away from our house (one of the big draws for buying our house, actually).

A little pouting in the tunnel -
I can't remember why.
But I know she got over it pretty quickly.

I finally got a good shot on the swings!!

Milo took a couple minor spills on the mulch & got a bit dirty...
but that's all part of being a boy, right?

Xandra's new favorite part of the park

Xandra's hair standing up on end cause of the slide!

It's been a lot of same 'ol, same 'ol around here. But it will be getting a little crazy around here in another month or so. I'm hosting a baby shower at the end of April, Milo's 1 year Forever Family Day at the beginning of May, and Xandra's 6th birthday the next week. Looking forward to it all, though! I seem to live for projects & chaos! 

Click below to see more beautiful pictures!!

Xandra's New Dress {Wordless Wednesday}

I have a new love of pillowcase dresses!!

(I want to get a knot dress next!)

Accomplishments {Sunday Snapshot}

Yep... another post full of park pictures. But, we had a few big accomplishments today & I'm so proud of my kiddos! 

Starting with Xandra~ she's a bit of a scaredy cat. She has a tendency to freak out about little things. I vividly remember being at this park last year... waiting for our TA for Milo... waiting for my semester to end... (a lifetime ago?)

Xandra would go on the swings. Period. She was scared to go down the slides (she did get over the slide thing - as long as she could get to the top without encountering spider webs). She was intrigued by this ladder structure... but again, scared out of her mind to attempt climbing it. 

Today. 

Today she did it.

Today she climbed the ladder!!

I overheard her repeating to herself
"I'm not scared. I'm not scared."
"I can do it. I can do it."

Go baby GO!!
My Girl!!

And not to be outdone, Milo climbed his own ladder.

And because I've had trouble with it the last few attempts...
the swings

These swings are my nemesis.
Get Milo in focus... & he swings right out of focus!! Grr!!
But I need to get it down cause this boy LOVES the swing!!

And so does this girl!

This one just cracks me up...

She really wanted to go down the slide

but there was bird poop

What to do?

Grin & bear it!

And one more accomplishment:

the tunnel

Seeing her SMILING inside the tunnel...

WOW

my heart soars with how much this girl has grown up in the last few months!!

Click the link below to see more wonderful Sunday Snapshots!!