Introducing Baby Mayla

We have anticipated that arrival of baby Mayla for 9 months!! She finally blessed us with her arrival on January 30! Ashley is already transitioning into the motherhood role and she is a natural! Congratulations to you guys!

Bedtime Prayers

I will admit that as a little girl I slept in my moms bed way longer than I probably should have. Even the nights when I would attempt to be a big girl, I would start out in my bed but always ended up with mom by morning. I loved how at night once we hopped in bed she would snuggle me tight and instead of saying our nightime prayers we would sing them. Noah is finially at the point where he doesn't scream when we put him down for the night so I have been so blessed to begin this same tradition with my little guy. So for the past few weeks each night when I lay him down I sing his bedtime prayers to him and top it off with a kiss. Tonight Josh laid him down while I was cleaning up the kitchen and at first I thought he was just talking to Noah but I walked over to the steps and my heart melted as I heard Josh singing Noah his bedtime prayers. These are the little moments that make me stop and just thank God for his blessings.

Love Dare Day 7- Love Believes the Best

Today's Dare:
For today's dare, get two sheets of peper. On the first one, spend a few minutes writing out positive things about your spouse. Then do the same with negative things on the second sheet. Place both sheets in a secret place for another day. There is a different purpose and plan for each. At some point during the remainder of the day, pick a positive attribute from the first list and thank your spouse for hving this characteristic.

Love Dare- Day 6- Love is not Irritable

There is plenty of snow and from what I have heard there will be plenty more coming. We have lost power, cable and internet off and on since Saturday. This puts us a little behind on the Love Dare Challenge but we will just pick up where we left off today on day 6.
Todays Dare:
Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list of areas where you need to add Margin to your schedule. Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life.
This is a perfect dare for me, I have never been able to tell others no which always leaves me stetching myself a little too thin. I need to challenge myself to place my priorities 1.) God 2.) Family 3.) work. I often let work move its way up to that number one slot.

Justin + Amber + Baby = Family

I had the pleasure of meeting Amber and Justin to document this new chapter in their lives. The past 2 maternity shoots I have done, both couples are waiting the their babies are born to find out the sex. I have no idea how you guys do it, I can't even keep a surpise for longer than 2 days. This couple is beautiful on the inside and out and I know they are going to be such a happy family, Congratulations to you both and thank you for allowing me to capture this moment of life.

Gratitude

I love snow storms when I can enjoy them from the comforts of my own home and not be on call at the hospital, which is exactly what this weekend it for me! Today was a slow day at the hospital but one encounter has been on my mind all day. When my grandpa was sick it meant so much for me to pray with him before he would go to surgery. This is not a practice I witness often these days with families but today was different. Before we took our patient for her procedure her dad wanted to have prayer, so we told them to have at it while we bowed our heads. As this father prayed for his daughter and just gave praise to God for their many blessings he then begin to pray for her nurses. As I stood there with my head bowed I was humbled that this man that doesn't know me is praying for me and for God to just give me the wisdom to help take care and protect his daughter. There really are no words to describe the power of prayer. Often people will state "oh we are praying for you" and I'm not sure how to word this politely but you just just know they are only saying what sounds nice. I am going to think about family and friends tonight and pick out one person to pray for each day for 30 days. I encourage you to give this a try. I can't describe how awesome it felt today to have that father praying for me, someone he doesn't know. So take it one step farther, tell that person at the end that you have been praying for them or write it down each day (that you prayed for them and what you prayed for) and then give them the paper. Remember the power of prayer!
For those of you doing the love dare with me. I really did not want to do today's dare. The idea of Josh telling me 3 things I do that irritate him made me feel vulnerable and a little insecure. So while we were laying on the couch watching Noah play and just talking I asked him to give me 3 things I do that make hime uncomfortable or irritated. His response was unexpected, he looked at me and calmly said "nothing" so then I started to name my bad habits. "Well how about how I leave my photography stuff everywhere around the house?" then Josh began to justify my actions for me. He responded, "honey your just busy and working so hard, what would that say about me if I didn't support you, I love you." He is definitely my better half and I had to laugh tonight when my Aunt Amanda said you guys are just good for each other kinda like peanut butter and jelly.

The Love Dare- Day 5 Love is not rude

Good Morning everyone!! What a crazy start to the weekend. They have already called off school in Morgantown and are expecting several inches of snow! I am so excited for the snow and a chance to take some amazing "couples" pictures tomorrow.
Today's Dare:
Ask your spouse to tell you three things that cause him or her to be uncomfortable or irritated with you. You must do so without attcking them or justifying your behavior. This is from their perspective only.
To be honest I am really not looking forward to this one. I'm curious as to waht three things Josh will tell me but I know I will have a hard time not justying my actions. so, even if your feelings get hurt just remember this is to help you grow stronger together. Good luck and stat safe this weekend.

Love Dare Day 4 - Love is Thoughtful

Hey guys, I am soo sorry this post is a little late today but I have been in meetings all morning and getting ready to start another one here in a minute so this is going to be brief ofr no.

Today's Dare:
Contact your spouse sometime during the business of the day. Have no agenda other than asking how he or she is doing and if there is anything you could do for them.

Good luck and by the way, Josh LOVED his gift yesterday!

Love

Ok, I have never really liked Valentines Day, I don't really have a reason for why I don't like it but I just don't. I have always thought you should tell that special person you love them everyday not just Valentines Day. Sunday my To Do list was getting out of control so Josh took Noah to out and they went to grab dinner but when they returned I was surprised with a beautiful Orchid!!

This is just another reason I am so thankful for having such a great husband! When I am stressed out with work and everyday life he always seems to bring me back to reality. Today is only the 3rd day of the love dare but I am having so much fun with this. I mentioned yesterday how much Josh loves to have his back rubbed so today I went to the Waterfront spa today and bought him not only a massage but a massage sample. I have never had a massage but I know he is going to love this! he gets 3 different 50min massages (swedish, stone therapy, and deep tissue). Josh went to the WVU game tonight and I can't wait for him to get home so I can surpise him! Hope you guys all had a great day and look forward to tommorrow's dare.

Love Dare Day 3- Love is not selfish

Hope everyone did well yesterday with your dares. Josh and I stayed up late watching "Lost" so by the time we went to bed it was past our bedtimes, so I turned over and asked, "would you like me to rub your back?" In his half sleep state he replied, "no I'm alright." So I really didn't complete my dare but I did try, kinda.
Today's topic is Love is not selfish.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor - Romans 12:10
Now for today's dare:
Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It's hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says "I was thinking of you today."
This one should be fun, I have no idea what I am going to buy Josh. Let me know what you guys all buy.

Love Dare Day 2- Love is Kind

Ok, so hopefully everyone had a great first day and didn't say anything negative to your spouse yesterday! So here is today's dare.
"In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness."
This one should be quite simple, I know Josh loves to have his back rubbed and I HATE to do it but today this will be my very unexpected act of kindess. Let me know how this is working for you guys.

The Love Dare - Day 1

First off, I am so excited to experience this with each of you that sent me an email saying you were in. I am posting the dare here on the blog but then I will also send you a little more infor via email today. So for the first day the topic is Love is Patient.
Today's Dare: The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It's better to hold your tongue than to say something you'll regret.

Sounds simple enough, let me know how you guys do with it.