Website Launch

I am so excited about the recent launch of my website! After weeks of hard work, it is finally finished! I had about 5 wedding inquiries the first 3 days... more than I ever expected! Check it out and tell your friends! Thanks~

Brookescottphotography.com

Despite my efforts... no, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Some days I think it would be easier to do so than to accomplish all that I have waiting on my to do list. Lately I have let myself become easily overwhelmed, a word I am now very familiar with. I would almost go as far as to say that "Overwhelmed" and I have become best friends.
I know (and try to remind myself) that one day soon I will wish that my worries were as minor as, "which child had the green cup with the blue lid" and "which one had the blue cup with the green lid." Or "how many more minutes Parker has left before he has to share the coveted toy".... (which today happens to be a shoestring with a dog hanging from the end of it. )
A couple days ago, I heard Parker get frustrated and start crying in the other room. I went in to check on him and found him trying to put his pants on. He said, "I can't do it. I can't!!" As I was speaking these words to my little boy, I felt like God was saying them to me.... I said, " You don't have to do it by yourself Parker, just ask me for help!" Instantly I was reminded, like a little child, that what may seem overwhelming to us is simple to God. If we would just ask for help and stop trying to do it all on our own.
I could blog for the next 48 hours on what has happened this summer... but I think I'll save it for another time. To be continued... I promise:)

Two blogs in one month? What's going on?

Today has been one of the most wonderful days! I don't know if it was the "almost" uninterrupted night's sleep, perfect weather or the much needed morning break I had to enjoy myself without any little voices crying for mommy. All day long I couldn't help but see the wonderful things God has blessed us with!
I started the day off taking pictures for the annual golf tournament our church holds. I had so much fun driving the golf cart around with one of my most ancient of friends! (I don't mean your age, Nicki!)
Then, grocery shopping alone ( try to contain yourself...it gets better) and coming home to work in the yard with my family. Simple pleasures? Maybe to you, but this day was perfect in every way... (except maybe for the moment Luke and Parker bit Reese because they said she was a monster and they were pirates.)
Just swinging the kids, weeding out my box garden (no mom, I still haven't planted anything) watching Ricky work. All these things were swirling around in my head... I am very happy in my little house, I am super grateful for our 3 healthy kids, I am glad that we aren't drowning in debt and I am so blessed to have a wonderful relationship with my hubby! I saw a couple at the grocery store screaming and yelling at each other and it made me want to run home and hug Ricky and tell him how much I love him!
Sometimes we get so caught up in our routine, or in my case sheer survival mode, day to day that we don't realize how wonderful our life is... or how much worse it could be!
Take the time to think about how blessed you are! It will change your whole day!

Finally!

We have been living in our little house for 5 years now and we've remodeled every room except the kitchen. Ricky bought the house knowing that we were eventually going to upgrade everything, but I had no idea it would take us 5 years to do it.








Here is the before picture... it is so bad I can't believe I am even putting it on here!






It only took one night to demo. I am a very sentimental person and I have to admit, I was a little sad to see it go. Just a little. I cooked our first meal in that kitchen. I spent many days at the sink trying to wash dishes without throwing up (from morning sickness)... burnt my first meatloaf in that oven... ahh the memories... oh well, goodbye 1941 kitchen!!

Drywall is up. Do you like the purple? I thought about keeping it that color... JK.

I think this is taken at the beginning of week 2 with no kitchen.... It was the longest 2 weeks of my life! We played, ate and slept in my bedroom during this time. It was insane, but we survived!

Mom came over and helped me finish painting before the cabinet guys came. Ricky was up till 3am painting the night before.

And here is the finished project!! We keep asking ourselves why we didn't do this sooner!

I'm so proud of my hubby! He was a carpenter, plumber, electrician, a lawnman and still a daddy through this whole process!!

Where to start?

Whew! It is official. My life is crazy. The days are like whirlwinds... I'm blown all over the place, then left feeling dizzy when it finally comes to an end. Yesterday feels like a week ago and six months ago feels like yesterday. I am trying to let go of the little things and focus only on what is important! However, to a three year old, the little things ARE the important things. (See how complicated this can get?)
I've been wanting to blog for weeks now, but after a long day of figuring out who's turn it is flip the light switch off, trying to remember who had Tylenol last and what time, wondering why the floor's wet, dumping out the entire bottle of vitamins just to find the dinosaur with the sharp teeth and all the other mentally exhausting decisions I have to make... I just cant. So tonight I am putting away my selfish desires to sleep, in an attempt to update my beloved blog.


Let me fill you in. The last few months have been very busy with celebrations. We have Parker's birthday, my birthday and Christmas in December. Then, Ricky's birthday in January. Valentines day, Luke's birthday and our anniversary in February. I was so happy when we found out that Reese would be born in June!

Besides our annual celebrations, January had a downside. I found out I had some medical problems and had to have further testing done. Leaning on my own strength, I stressed out for days over what ended up being a false alarm.... Praise the Lord! Then, the earthquake in Haiti. It was a tragic sight for all of us, but it hit home for me because I made many friends there during my stay one summer. In the middle of trying to collect baby formula and arrange for it to be sent to Haiti, I came down with 104 fever and was put in the hospital with Pneumonia. I felt so selfish sitting in a hospital bed with minor problems watching injured Haitians on the news with no where to go. One night I got a text from Brent with a video of Reese crawling for the first time. I found myself fighting back the tears when my nurse came in. She asked what was wrong and I told her about the text. Later I found out her father was missing in Haiti. It's amazing how quickly the things that are so important to us can become so minuscule in the light of reality! BTW, the problems in Haiti are not over yet... so keep them in your prayers!

I've had a few stories stored in the back of my brain for blogging. However, only one comes to mind at this wee hour (it's 2am and I have to get up at 6am with who knows how many interruptions in between.)


Let me set the scene for this.... It's a cold, rainy, super windy day and my dearest lifelong friend and I decide to battle the weather (and the kids) and go to lunch. I'm still not sure what we were thinking, but that's not important anymore. After a long debate on where to eat and loading and unloading the kids twice, we settled for a home cooked meal, buffet style.
We marched in, two adults & 4 babies.... at this point in my life, the rude stares and loud counting as we walk past doesn't phase me. The restaurant was very crowded and the tables were uncomfortably close to each other. THAT made me nervous. I volunteered to sit with our preschool group while Jess made her plate. Then we switched off. When I returned, the color of Jessica's face was a shade darker than the tomato gravy on my plate. What could possibly have happened in the 2 minutes I was away? If you follow my blog, you know as well as I, alot can happen!
Jessica looked as if she were trying to blend in with her chair, but she wasn't doing a very good job at it. I just kinda frowned and tilted my head, asking what was wrong without saying a word. She started whispering, "opposite of skinny... opposite of skinny!!" A quick glance around and I knew right away what had happened. I looked at Parker and he was quietly eating his roll, as if nothing in the world was going on.
You see, there was a rather large gentleman sitting to the left of us and our tables were so close it was almost like he was joining us for dinner. And just in case Aunt Jess hadn't noticed him, Parker pointed him out... all of him! The urge to bust out laughing was almost uncontrollable. It was one of those moments where you want to laugh twice as hard just because you know you can't!
Later in the car, Jessica told me the whole story. Parker had said, "aunt Jess, look at that fat man! He's so fat! Look aunt Jess!" She asked me, "what do you say? You cant tell him he's not fat, because he is!" That was the most uncomfortable meal I think I have ever had to go through!
So Jess, this blog's for you!