Photo Sessions

 

I recently had the opportunity to take pictures for some friends from work and my little photography heart was in camera heaven!!  It all started when my friend, Amanda, begged me to come over and take pictures of her girls.  I told her I would happy but don’t expect anything professional and while they are certainly a far cry from anything professional, it was still fun to practice and learn so much.  I hesitantly gave her a copy of the pictures and told her they weren’t that great and to keep it hush, hush.  She didn’t.  But thanks to her, others have asked to have pictures taken and thanks to that I received a BRAND NEW SPANKIN CAMERA for Christmas from my hubby…complete with external flash and a tripod!!!  Now my little photography heart is in a state of camera euphoria!!  The sound the shutter makes when snapping a photo sends me into a whole new world!

I thought I’d share my first photo sessions with you.  As stated before, they aren’t professional but the little people in them are so cute it needed to be shared.  The little guy below was a blast to take pictures of!  His smile is so infectious and the drool…he had me at hello.

           

The following pictures are of Amanda and her beautiful girls.  Her girls have more energy than a barrel full of monkeys and trying to get pictures as they ran laps around me made it all the more fun and interesting.

Thanks Amanda and Geo for this privilege…it was so fun!

Waiting Room

As the holidays approach and the excitement of Christmas festivities and presents draws near, a part of me wishes it would all just go away so the ugly demons I wrestle with will stay at bay.  This is the time of the year when many are celebrating first Christmases with their baby or watching excitedly as their children anxiously tear through wrapping paper.  This year marks our 5th year trying to conceive and with each passing year, each birthday, I’m reminded that time is quickly running out for me…that it’s still just me and him.  I’m stuck in this waiting room, unsure if I’ll ever be eligible to be a mommy.

Sometimes I wonder if after all this time I’d be able to handle the time it takes to devote to a baby.  Last evening we had a family gathering for Christmas and at one point I watched as Jamie came over and stole my nephew Isaiah from Papa Smurf’s lap and sat him down on his own lap…and my heart sang with joy to watch the interaction between nephew and uncle…and then a small part of me went into dream land and pretended that it was our baby on his lap.  And the hurt slowly crept in and I realized in that moment that I could handle whatever time was needed to devote to a baby if only I could watch him be a daddy.  You see, that’s the part that hurts the most.  To know his arms are just waiting, his heart so willing to open to a little person.  I’ve replayed that scene in my mind several times throughout today and sometimes I think maybe if I want it bad enough, it will just happen.  But my level of wanting hasn’t changed in the last 5 years and I’m still left here in this waiting room.

Most of us give up after waiting an hour or so in a waiting room, huffing up to the receptionist demanding this wait has been entirely long enough.  I had an appointment you know…my life plan was figured out.  I wanted to be done having babies by the time I was 30.  I handed God my life plan and asked Him to sign on the dotted line.  Instead He kindly declined and asked me to sign his “blank” plan, the only requirement was that I trust in His plan.  He had a “much better purpose, a far greater plan” for my life than the one I had penciled out.  Many times I can’t imagine what greater plan He could have than children for me, but He didn’t ask me to question the plan but to trust…trust that He would work things out for us, in His perfect timing.  He hasn’t promised a life of ease or complete comfort but He has promised to walk the road with us, to heal our aching heart and to be a comfort in times of difficulty.  The journey is all part of the lesson, because without the struggles we wouldn’t have the joy of knowing a “yes” answer after years of hearing “no”.  Our faith is built upon times when “no” was the only response heard…the times when He simply says, “Trust me without knowing.”

As much as I hate hearing the “no” in my own life, I’m comforted by the fact that God is in control.  By giving yourself completely to Him, signing on His dotted line, and allowing God to use his infinite perspective you’re opening yourself to Him, to allow Him to use you completely and fully for His purposes and not yours.  I may not understand the reason at the time and maybe I’ll never understand the reason, but maybe the only reason at the time is so that through your struggles and circumstances others may come to know Him.

God, as I sit in my waiting room, thumbing through the pages of my life, restlessly waiting for a “yes”, give me the strength to endure the wait.  Give me a spirit of humility and love.  You know the desires of my heart, the longing to feel what I’ve helped so many others through and You also have the power to say yes or no.  I may not always have the deep faith I feel at this moment, but I promise that even if your answer remains no that I will praise you just the same.

I heard this song while I was cleaning this morning and I felt it really spoke to where I’m at right now.  I carry the burden of infertility with me every day, it’s ugly tendrils of resentment and anger have at times felt as though they are smothering the life from me.  But then just when I need it, God sends the strength I need to pry the ugliness from my heart.  It’s been in the form of a song or a word of encouragement…He sends it in all manner of things, but whenever it happens, I know it’s God driven.  It’s the comfort He has promised…the band-aid for my aching heart.  I pray that if your struggling with a “no” right now in your own life, that you may feel His band-aid on your heart, His arms on your shoulders, and the peace in knowing that He is truly in control and has your best interests in mind.  Remember His plan is much greater than yours, all we are called to do is trust, yes that may be difficult at times, but I’ve learned the hard way when I’ve tried to do life on my own and have left trust in dirt.  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” ~Jeremiah 29:11

The Tate’s Bake or Buy Pre-Baked

 

Yesterday brought with it not only rain but another much anticipated Tate date with our friends Ben and Kristen.  We had planned to spend the day together after church and although we really had no idea what our plans would be, none of us really cared because the time spent together is always truly unique and full of fun.  We could be stuck together in a shack in the wilderness with no electricity or running water and still think it was the best time…it’s just that way with them.  (Although we need food…that much we’ve determined.)

We spent the better part of an hour just trying to decide what we were going to do and the order in which we were going to do it…most of which got thrown out the window when our trip to Michaels craft store had us walking out with gingerbread house kits in hand.  I had never made one before and the last few years it’s been on my list of “I need to do that…sometime.”  So after eating dinner…remember, a must…at “Texas Toads” and tolerating the ditzy waitress, we headed home to begin the adventure.  Thank goodness we had a decent photographer on hand to capture our real estate adventures because you now once again have front row tickets to our evening with the Tate’s! 

For the record, I didn’t take any of these pictures, that’s all Ben…great job, Ben and thanks for getting them to me so quickly!

I think reading the directions took up a half an hour of our time and even so somehow I missed the part about “let house dry for an hour once the walls have been assembled”…we didn’t have all night to devote to this…we skipped that part.  (I don’t know about our counterparts, but our sweet piece of residency is still intact.)

The “deluxe gingerbread house kit” came complete with pre-baked walls, icing mix, and landscaping/exterior decorating pieces.  Daniel, “Doesn’t pre-baked mean before it’s baked?”  Carla “No, that means it’s baked before you buy it.”  Daniel, '”But that doesn’t make sense cause it’s already baked, pre means before.”  Carla, “Oh geez!” Making the icing came next…”damp cloth, damp cloth…quick!”  As the directions clearly stated, the icing had the potential to quickly dry, so before the beaters were practically done beating, the guys were ugly on ape about covering the bowl with the damp cloth.  I got it covered guys….uh, no pun intended.My beautiful friend, Kristen and Baby Tate…hidden by the table.  She is due in January with their first baby so we’ll have a new addition to the Tate clan soon and what fun that will be!

Jamie did a great job putting the lattice work on our roof.  He’s hiring out if anyone is looking for a good gingerbread house roof detailer.I on the other hand, or hands, was busy helping our friends with an icing bag blow-out problem.  “Man, that’s gonna be a problem.”       Placing the final touches on our pine tree in the front yard. The Tate’s decided on a different pattern for their roof and what a lovely roof it is…they too are hiring out for those interested. I think the bambino in the front yard represents Baby Tate, but I’m not certain.  Ben, “Don’t you want to unwrap the candy before “gluing it on?”  Kristen, “No that’s her pigtails.”  It snowed red sprinkles at our house.  Funny, cause our neighbors got the normal sugary snow and live just next to us, between the salt and pepper. Sadie Moose kept hoping an icicle, window pane or bush would fall onto the floor so she could indulge with the rest of us.  Instead she chose for some much needed lap time with everyone.The housewives of this development…oh how we’d love to just be housewives for Gumdrop Estates but duty calls…along with the patient call lights we answer on a regular basis.  (And seriously I don’t know what possessed me to walk out of the house with that hair!  I think I was going for the look our waitress had.)  

612 Tate Avenue complete with a Bambino, snow and a creek (they had a tar spill according to Kristen).

918 Tate Lane complete with a snowman and a large back yard and we only got a light dusting of snow right by our front scrubs…again, don’t know how that happened since we live so close to the Tate’s.Gumdrop Estates…the only 2 pieces of property this Tate development can handle!

Once again this Tate date bake was a complete success.  Next on our agenda is our “Not New Years Eve New Years Eve Party”…(NNYENYE for short).  Being a nurse requires you to become creative on the holidays you have to work.  And yes, the planning is already in the works for our party to have it’s own New Years Eve ball to drop at midnight.

To our Tate friends, thanks again for another wonderful day together!  We are so blessed by your friendship and we are thankful that we can get together so often.  You are one couple that stands apart from the rest…our time together always has it’s own unique Tate flair to it and that’s what we love about getting together.  We hope you are as blessed in your time with us as we are by both of you.  And here’s wishing all the rest of you a Tate couple…everyone needs one, trust me it’s therapeutic!