Growing up with one brother I had an idea of what to expect when it came to boys. I knew that life with a son would be an adventure and challenging at times. Nothing could have prepared me for the life adventures I would now be experiencing as the mom of TWO boys. My life has become one filled with thousands of small Lego's, trucks, super hero costumes, hours of Curious George, noise, tackling and so much more. As soon as my human alarm clock (aka Hudson) wakes me up each morning I find myself running until the last lego has been put away and the nightly prayers have been said. There are many days when I wonder how I'll get through another tantrum, another spilled yogurt all over the kitchen, a muddy living room floor, sticky finger prints on my clean walls, and poop in the toy box. I can't imagine my life any other way.

One day, in the not so distant future my boys will leave my care, make a place in this world and hopefully have their own family. My time with them is so limited. My prayer lately has become "Lord, may you use me (and Chris) to shape and mold these boys into men who seek after you. May they grow to become men of character, who love you first and foremost. May they strive to make this world a better place and in the end may others see your reflection in them." 

Let's be honest, as a photographer I have all these grand ideas of how I would love my family pictures to be. Our personal shoots are never at all how I envision them to be, but in the end we always end up with pictures that reflect the personalities of our family. Our recent family shoot was entertaining to say the least. I won't bore you with all the wardrobe malfunctions, the tantrums from the boys, the crazy weather and the list goes on. At the end of the day I have pictures of  the three most important men in my life. The boys may not have smiled or looked where I told them to look, but I have pictures that reflect this stage of their life.  May we enjoy every stage of our children's lives, even the challenging and tiring ones. 

I'm thankful for my sidekick, best friend and love of my life. I'm not sure I could tackle some of the crazy days if it weren't for his support and devotion to his family.