Mommy plays Santa for a night

I felt like Santa last night as I put gifts under the tree and in the kids’ stockings after they went to bed.  I decided that we’d open presents this morning since we’ll be out of town for Christmas.  So we did our “Christmas” this morning.  I got up early, baked cinnamon rolls, and then the kids started getting up.  I loved seeing their faces as they saw the tree.  What a delight it must have been for those who were there at the first Christmas when baby Jesus was born.  Can you imagine!  Going to visit him in the stable and seeing him in the manger!  I get all tingly feeling when I think about it.  Our Saviour came down to this earth as a man so he might live here for awhile and then eventually sacrifice himself for us like no other could.  He separated himself from His Father and became flesh for us!  I’m so thankful for all that he did for us and has accomplished.  May we especially remember the true reason of why we celebrate Christmas at this time of year and always.
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Our tree and gifts all ready to go last night:

Some of the ornaments close up

My Baby Girl is 3 months already!

Abby turned 3 months on Sunday.  My little girl is growing up WAY too quickly.  Here are a few pictures I’ve taken of her recently.

Recent Photo Shoots…

For those of you who are interested, I’ve posted some of my recent photo shoots on my photography blog:  raevenphoto.blogspot.com. I’m praying the Lord will guide me as far as if this is something I should continue to do as a business.  I enjoy it so much, but to continue to have this as more than a hobby I need to actually make some money from it.  I don’t want to become one of the outrageously expensive photography companies, I just want to make enough to keep it going and pay for the expenses (equipment, time, website, etc).  So we’ll see where the Lord leads me in all of this. 

Fun photo shoot…

During Christmas break I had the opportunity to take pictures of a friend’s son for his senior pictures.  You can view the blog post at my photography blog by going here.

Fun in Tennessee

We’ve been having a lot of fun the past couple of weeks. Okay, so these pictures are really from Labor Day weekend and this past weekend. Joe has been working at school and I’ve been able to do some fun things with the boys – although he did go with us to the park several times during Labor Day weekend.

Isaac loves playing in the fountains at Coolidge Park.

He also loves riding the goat on the carousel at Coolidge Park. Not sure why, but he loves the goat.

Looking at the walking bridge that we take to cross the Tennessee River. Coming from Coolidge Park going to downtown Chattanooga.

Isaac playing with the art/instruments at the park. (I guess it’s artwork that’s meant to be played)

We were invited to go with a friend to the Tennessee Aquarium. A volunteer placed a butterfly on Isaac’s arm. He thought that was pretty neat!

My boys looking out at the river. Well, Seth is :)

Sweet little Seth

I can’t believe my baby is 6 months old already!

No more pictures, mom!!!

Click here to see more pictures of the boys I posted on facebook.

Tutu Girl

I recently took pictures of my friend's 6 month old daughter, Kennedy. I babysit her and her brother every Tuesday and it has been such a joy watching them grow. Kennedy is the sweetest baby ever and I love how she is so smiley. I made a tutu for another photo shoot I'll be doing later this Spring and I decided I would practice a bit with it on Kennedy. It's so fun dressing up a girl. For some reason, little 2 year old boys don't like to do that sort of thing :)

Here is the full album if you wish to view all the pictures. Click here.

My Photography Website!!

I've finally been able to put a website together. I found a site that allows me to have 5 free webpages and I get to use all of their settings. Some day I hope to add more pages and details but for now this will have to do since I don't have much of a budget to work with. So here it is....introducing my new photography website:

http://raevenphotography.showitsite.com

Please give me any suggestions or advice about the site that you think might be better. I'm always welcome to new ideas. So this is one thing checked off my list of the many things I'd like to have done. Next will be business cards, price list, maybe a blog of my photo sessions....we'll see. Right now with running after a 2 year old, working part time, pregnant - due April 3, and taking care of the house, I'm not sure how much longer my list of things, that I'd like to accomplish BEFORE the baby comes, can get. It will be interesting to see how many photo shoots I get this coming Spring/Summer/Fall. I already have a few senior sessions that just need to be scheduled once the weather is nicer. I really enjoy those. It's fun being creative and incorporating props and stuff that the seniors are into. I also am looking forward to taking some pics of my friend's two girls. We are hoping to set up a tea party and make the shoot a lot of fun. I can't wait. Well, until then...enjoy the website and let me know what you think!

Isaac - 2 year pics

I realized I never posted Isaac's 2 year pictures. I still can't believe he's 2 years old. Currently he is quite the talker and often puts together sentences that I didn't even realized he understood how those words went together. He LOVES animals and isn't scared of them one bit. A few weeks ago we were invited over to a couple that has goats, geese, chickens and a dog. Isaac was so excited. He even rode a goat - with help of course. He wasn't scared at all. He probably would have stayed in the goat pen all afternoon but it was kind of a rainy day so we couldn't stay out long. He was really upset by this. I didn't get pictures because of the rain, so we'll have to go another time so I can take some pictures of him there. He can count to 10 and sing the A,B,C's. He is learning his colors, but quite often every color is green but sometimes he does change it up a bit but usually gets them wrong. He loves to read and could sit on your lap all day reading books. His is very social and enjoys playing with other kids. He has become a bit bossy at times and likes to tell us and others "No...." in a very adamant voice. When he's tired he quite often will curl up on the couch with a cup of milk and snuggle next to mommy or daddy. We treasure those moments since he doesn't sit still very often. Here are his two year pictures.

Thanksgiving & Christmas in 2 days

We had a wonderful time on Thanksgiving Day. We went to church in the morning and we actually were able to concentrate a bit while Isaac sat pretty still. Quite often he is all wiggly and we are constantly trying to distract him with something. The past few Sundays he has been sitting better in church - we thought the day would never come. After church we went to Joe's parents house and had appetizers and a delicious meal with turkey and all the trimmings. We all relaxed in the afternoon and just enjoyed hanging out while the grandkids had a great time playing together. It's so fun to watch them interact with each other. They have a fun time. Isaac had so much fun he wouldn't take time even for a nap so he fell asleep after a minute of being in the car on the ride home.
Friday night we had my family over for our Christmas get together. My sister and her family were only out for Thanksgiving and not for Christmas so we decided to do our gift exchange early. The grandkids loved this, of course. We had a fun time at our house and even had time for a family picture. Hope all of you were able to spend some time with your families this weekend and enjoy the many blessing God has given you.

Isaac: 18 mos pictures

I had Isaac's 18 months pictures taken last Saturday. A dear friend of mine, who is 18 weeks pregnant, was willing to take his pictures for me. Isaac was not in a sitting/posing mood. He just wanted to run and point out everything in their yard and play. So my dear, pregnant friend got her exercise running after him for an hour. Here are the ones I liked best. He isn't really smiling in any of them since he wouldn't sit still. He has this inquisitive look on his face...it's kind of cute. It was hard to get a pose of him looking straight at the camera since he wanted to explore everything around him. I'm having a hard time deciding what to pick. Let me know what one you like best.

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