Fake smiles , Frustration and Total Inspiration!

Today was such a bad day for taking pictures. My Husband was right, yes I will say it again, Jerry was right. I should have just gone to the park taken a picture of Kate for her three year old picture and called it good. No no stubborn me has to go try to get one done, the only place that you can go around here is the lovely Wal-mart (not really) or Sears. You can spent less money at wal-mart or empty out your bank account with Sears. So I went to Wal-mart, big mistake. Let just say when you walk in and the Photographer is complaining to her co-worker about her job, you should turn around and run. I should have know it was not going to go well. Let just say Kate's at that age where she likes to do that Fake smile, not her natural smile we all know and love. So that meant you had to work a little harder to get her to smile the right way, the lady was not even tying to work with Kate. I told her what I wanted one with Kate ,one with Kate and Caleb and ,one with Caleb by himself. I also had a change of clothes. She didn't let me change her clothes and Kate would not look directly into the camera, so all of her naturally smiling shots she isn't looking at the camera and the fake smiles she look straight at the camera, I just can't win. I just really wanted to get a nice official/with a cute background/ 3 year old picture to put on my wall of Kate. I guess you get what you pay for. So determined me set out to go straight to the park and take some more pictures, knowing I could probably get a better one. Kate was still being difficult so I only got a couple. This experience though very frustrating has truly inspired me to develop my talent of taking pictures. I love taking pictures. I almost had the same camera the photographer had, all she had going for her was some cute backdrops. I've decided that since I have the this nice camera we bought for Christmas and Jerry just bought a longer lens, Nothing can stop me from taking a good picture. I just have to work on how to take a good picture and take pictures I like. I can go and make my own backdrops. So I guess a good thing did come out of bad situation. I'll will still get professional family pictures taken, but for now I think I'm going to try to develop a new talent and try to utilize this nice equipment. It's a whole lot of camera, I need to try and understand. Jerry's family is really good at taking pictures, all his sisters and brother seem to have a real eye for a good picture, I need to get some ideas from them. So in the end Caleb got to hot and fussy and Kate didn't want to look in the camera when we got to the park so I'll still post "my attempt to get a better shot" photos which did turn out all that much better due to my children not having a very good picture day.

No Luck

Like I promised I was going to keep you updated on the Alligator hunt. Jerry was unable to catch an alligator this year, thanks to hurricane Fay. Jerry really wanted to catch one, he was so determined he went out in the pouring rain and 3 foot waves on the lake to try and find one. The alligators were no where to be found. He came backed soaked. The rain still hasn't let up, we are still getting rained on. It was good for me though, Jerry ended up not going on Saturday because of the weather so we got to spend some time together as a family and play games with some friends. So no luck for Jerry, but that's OK with me because I end up being able to spend some more time with him. I haven't seem much of him since he started working overtime. Jerry was really disappointed and sad that he was able to catch and alligator, maybe next year!

Naptimes, Alligators and Hurricane Fay!

I have to say I just love nap time at my house. It's my sanity break, my me time, my nap time as well. It's been really nice for the last month or so, Kate and Caleb have kind of been in sink with each other when it comes to naps. I was asked at a baby shower recently what the best advice I could give and I said sleep when you kids sleep. I got some weird looks, but you gotta do what you gotta do, everyone needs a little 10-15 min. power nap once in a while. Well, the reason I am so grateful that it's working out this way right now is because Jerry has been working a lot of overtime lately and has to go into work early ,which leaves me to do the night time routine and alot of other things alone. So I say to everyone out there take a power nap today, it will give you a great pick me up. The new reason I'm flying solo at night this week is because Jerry is alligator hunting for the next 4 days, yes you read it right ALLIGATOR HUNTING! So Kate tells her daddy go fly on the Helicopters and catch me a Alligator. I'm glad to say he came home the first night all in one piece. No alligator yet, it was to short, it was only 5 feet and the game warden requires it to be 9 feet, so he's going out again tonight. Will have to keep you all posted on his adventure. I know this entry is kind of random, just want to give a little update on what's been going on around here. This weekend we are going to wait for Hurricane Fay to make her way here, hopefully it will only be rain and wind. I hope all is doing well.

Caleb is 3 months old

Caleb turned 3 months old on August 14th. He is growing so fast. He is really doing well. His new thing he likes to do is everytime you smile at him and say his name he likes to smile back at you and giggle. It's really cute. The last time we weight him he was about 13 pounds, and that was 2 and 1/2 weeks ago so that may have changed. Caleb's acid reflux is getting a little better everyday. He has his good days and bad ones when it comes to the reflux. Unforunately the poor little guy still has a clogged tear duct. So some of the pictures I have take you will probably notice it, and also that his eyes get really watery at times. The doctor said is should clear up anytime if he goes past 6 months they will go in and open it up for him. We are hoping it will open up on it's own. Caleb is quite the traveler, he went on his first plane ride last week and did really great! Caleb is a sweet little boy that we are so blessed to have in our home.

Our Trip to Michigan

My Michigan!

As many of you know I had a once in a life time opportunity to go back to Michigan where I grew up and spent of week with extended family. I was really nervous to travel all by myself with not just one kid but two this time. The kids did great on the plane, it's a much shorter trip to Michigan than it is to Utah from where I live. I spent the evening with my Aunt Jill and Cousin Lindsey, then My mom and sister and brother in law flew in on the red eye flight, I thought they were crazy, but they didn't care. We then got to see the house I grew up in that my Grandpa built, on good old Sonora Drive ,in Fenton . I also got to see the huge apple tree I helped my dad plant as a kid, and all the other pine trees my Grandma had planned. Everything always seems so much bigger when your a kid. We then drove and look outside at the little Chapel my parents got married in, it was fun to see my mom reminisce. We then drove up to our summer vacation spot that I grew up going to every summer as a child. Frankfort, Beulah/Crystal Lake area. It's about a 3 hour drive from Fenton. It was so nice to be in the cooler weather compared to Alabama. We rented a cottage off of Lake Michigan. We all got a room for each family, it was really nice. It was really close to the beach and you could walk right into town and go shopping. We went straight to the beach to swim. Kate loved it, she liked it so much better then the ocean, it was just a little cooler without all the salt and scary things that live in the ocean. It was so beautiful I hope I captured some of the beauty this place posses with the pictures I took. I often think of this place when I am anxious or need to visualize a peaceful place. I love this place, it's a little piece of Heaven on earth. We then did a little shopping at the same little stores I shop at when I was little. That's the best part, no matter how long it's been since I've been back to this place, it stays the same. Each evening we would round up all the kids and walk down to the local ice cream shop. Kate discovered (thanks to her cousin Erin) Superman ice cream for the first time. I don't know but I think her shirt saw more of that Ice cream cone then her mouth, from then on every time we got ice cream she wanted Superman ice cream.

We then visited my Uncle Chris. He has his home right on Crystal Lake. Crystal Lake is the clearest lake you will ever see. You can literally see down all the way to the bottom no matter how deep it is. Crystal Lake as a child was the Lake we spent most of our time at. The site of the birch trees and the crystal blue water brought back so many good memories. We also went to Crystal Lake falls, which is a little water fall at one side of the Lake. Kate had so much fun finding rocks and throwing them into the falls. We built sand castles on the beaches and watch the sunset go down on Lake Michigan. I also got to swim in the big waves on the Alberta side of Lake Michigan with my sisters. That was my favorite thing to do as a kid, and still is. I'm glad I got to go with all my sisters one last time. Caleb did great at the beach as well, he mostly slept which that's pretty much what 3 months old do.

I got a chance to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Spafford Grave at the cemetery. It was really good to go. The last time I saw my Grandma was the last time I visited Up north/Frankfort. It was good for me to put a little bit of closer to things. I wasn't able to attend the funeral, so I was grateful to get to visit her grave to say my goodbyes at least for a little while. I'll see her again someday and for that I am very excited and can't wait. We saw the bird house we left my grandpa the last time we where there ,on the birch tree my mom and aunt planted. I had a feeling that grandma and grandpa where looking down on us and smiling, excited to see us all together.

Later on that day we went to my Uncle Chris's house and got to see all of my cousins and their children. It's been about 5 years since I've seen all of them. It was so good to see everyone again, boy how time flies and children grow up so quickly. We celebrated all the August/July Birthday's which there is a lot of them, with cupcakes. My Uncle Chris took us out on his boat and we went swimming on the sand bar in Crystal Lake. Kate was the first one to jump off the boat in her life jacket. I don't think she was ready for how much colder it was compared to the ocean where we live. She had a shocked look on her face. She wanted to get right back on the boat. She then decide it wasn't to bad and got back in a few more times.

We missed Jerry on this trip, but he had to stay home and work, he didn't have anytime off since we took it all when the Caleb was born. I was so glad I was able to go to Michigan and Up North. I thought I would never get the chance to see this beautiful place again. It was so nice to be able to share this place with my children. My kids may not remember it, but I'm glad they got to play where I played as child. This place holds a special place in my heart. If you ask me where I would love to go on a vacation I would say Up North Michigan every time. I love this place, it's so breathtaking. Words cannot express how beautiful and special this place really is, from the beautiful Birch Trees, to the Crystal Clear waters and the Light houses on the shores. As my Uncle Chris says it's "Almost Heaven". I want to thank my mom for making this happen for me. I wasn't planning on going because I had just had a baby, but I'm glad she was able to help me go on this trip. If it wasn't for her, I would have missed this chance to be with my sisters up north. As my mom puts it, it's a never go back moment. I may never get to be with all my sisters up there again, because of locations of where we live and families getting larger. Thank you so much Mom, I will never forget this trip, and the memories we were able to make. All in all I had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back again someday. If any of you out there reading this blog get a chance to go to Michigan, go north, it's beautiful.

Happy Birthday Julia!

Happy Birthday Julia Elizabeth Cromwell! I can't believe my little niece is already turning 1 years old today! Your such a beautiful little girl. It was so great to see you last week. You are a fast crawler and pretty soon you will be walking and running all over the place. I hope you have a great Birthday, we wish we could be there to celebrate with you.