Birthday, Friends Visiting, Thanksgiving, Christmas and more....

Okay so i've slacked again!!! Time just flys and I really try hard to keep up with this. Anyway, since I last posted I have celebrated my 29th birthday in style. We had a big party and had a blast!! My friend Amber and her family were able to come through for it, and it made it even more special. Thanksgiving was filled with lots of friends and lots of food.....just how it should be! Christmas was very special this year. We didn't have any family visit, we didn't go visit anyone....it was just the 6 of us. Lamont is leaving in 9 days and that will be a whole other post in itself. But with him leaving, it really makes us appreciate the time we have together as a family. Lamont and I slept in Aly's room on Christmas Eve. We had all of our babies in one room, and that was probably the best moment this season. I hope you all were able to build memories and just enjoy your loved ones!

She's all 9

She has her daddy's eyes,my mouth ...and my grandmother's heart. She is the perfect blend of the two of us and everyday she shows us how to care about someone else more then you care about yourself. I recently took pictures of her for her invitations, and I was shocked when I looked at the results. Gone is my pigtail, cheesy grin little girl. Here is my beautiful, sweet little lady. Lamont still has a hard time looking at these pictures because he sees the little woman she's becoming. He knows his days of being her #1 are numbered. We had a modeling party for her and she had a great time. We had a photo shoot during the party and I'm still working on everyone's thank you cards. Every year that passes is bittersweet. We are so happy to see them growing, but saddened at how "grown" they are becoming. Happy Birthday to our Princess.....you're always going to be our little girl!

For my love.....

This is all for you baby. Since you can't get my emails, I told you I would post the pics here. Okay for everyone else, Lamont and I got to go out again last weekend and we had soo much fun. We went back to Peabodys, a night club on the beach, and we were a little apprehensive cause it was college night. Not to say we are THAT old...but we aren't in college either. But we figured it was $5 to get in so why not go and create our own fun. Well that's what we did, and we were pleasantly surprised at how much fun we had. We got to watch some guys battle it out on the dance floor, of course we got a few laughs at some of the dances, but above all I don't think i've danced that much in years!! There's nothing like letting loose and being completely free with the one you love. I didn't care what anyone else thought there, all I cared about was making Lamont happy...and from the looks of it, i think I succeeded!

Where I've been

I'm so bad, I know. I've been M.I.A. for over a month now. I recently signed up with the big "get your own place on the web" site and have gotten a little caught up in that. It's been great cause i've been able to reconnect with so many people, but I've missed writing here, and I know that there are some special people who actually read this!! So i'm back!! I have so much to update on....our neice went out to sea for 7 months, Lamont came home after being gone 6 weeks and now he's gone again for a month, Aly just celebrated her 9th birthday in style...and so much more. So I'm going to be updating on these things and more really soon! Today we are off to a friends birthday party, then tomorrow we have a Halloween party to go to. So until next time....please check in often and I promise to have some pictures and updates on us soon!

Remembering 9-11

We had a wonderful opportunity to honor those who lost their lives on that horrible day. We participated in a Freedom Walk and it was an awesome experience. I wanted the kids to see on a deeper level why daddy is gone so much. We did this walk to not only honor the victims of 9-11 but to honor the heroes who still continue to fight for this cause. We love you daddy and we are so proud of what you do. We hope we made you proud too!

First there were FOUR and then there was.....ONE

Yes I have had my babies home with me for the last 11 years, and although it has been wonderful, so is sending them off to school and getting a little break!! Anthonne started middle school, although he was nervous he pulled through and he really seems to enjoy it. Aly was very excited to go back to the same school to start the 3rd grade. She has gone to a different school for every single year she has been in school.....sad I know, but the life of a Navy family. And finally my Mayson.....he really needed to have something of his own, especially with dad being gone, so I put him in part day preschool. He'll go 3 days a week from 9-1, and the best thing is that it's at our church! His first day was yesterday and he LOVED it! So now i'm left with Miss Bella, we are going to have fun hanging out, just the girls. I know that in no time all of my babies will be in school, and then i'll be rethinking this "growing up" thing!

Vacation, visiting friends, and now a hubby gone...

Yea it's been a very busy couple of weeks! We drove 2 days to get to Texas and that was both fun and exhausting. Bella wasn't cool being in the car that long but she did the best you can expect from an 17 month old. So we got to Texas and needless to say we had a blast. My parents were amazing and it was awesome being around family and close friends. I got to visit with good friends and the kids got to go to the San Antonio Zoo and Sea World. It was so hard to leave. After this trip we have made the decision to retire in San Antonio.

So when we got back from Texas our friends Sherry and Marty came from Washington to visit us. We hung out at the waterpark and took a trip to DC. We were really busy but it helped take my mind off the fact that Lamont was recalled off of our vacation to leave for anywhere from 5 weeks up to 3 months.
He left this past Monday and I'm still trying to get used to the idea of it. I miss him already and am praying that he will be home soon. We've had a great summer and don't want it to end!

Texas Bound Baby!!

We are on our way to Tejas...woo hoo!! We are going to San Antonio to visit with my family. It's been almost 2 years since we were there last. This will be Bella's first trip there, and everyone is very excited to meet her. I will make sure to fill you all in with the details of our trip when I get back. Life will be extra chaotic when I get back, so i'm going to enjoy the time away!! Till next time....

Happy Birthday to my first love

11 years ago I went to the hospital to be induced because my stubborn baby didn't want to come out. Lamont was in Mississippi and was unable to come down so i just had my parents by my side. I was scared, frightened and 17 years old. I didn't know how I was going to take care of this baby, but I knew that I had to figure it out. I was about to become someone's mother. I didn't know if the baby I was about to have was a boy or girl. I secretly prayed for a girl, because being alone I thought that I would be able to raise a girl better. What I got was the most unexpected gift I have ever recieved in my life. After over 10 hours of hard labor, the doctor's decided to take the baby out by c-section. I went into the operating room and about 30 minutes later, they pulled my son out of me. When they announced he was a boy, my only thought was....thank you God. I knew that he was what i was supposed to have, he was perfect. When they brought him around the curtain, I was so amazed at how much he looked like Lamont. I cried and cried at what I had just done. I had brought a little person in this world. I was so terrified over the thought of being able to raise him properly. I knew there would be mistakes, but would they be big enough to damage him? Would not having a father there, be something that would define him? I felt sorry for him, sorry that I had decided at such a young age to become a mother. Sorry that he didn't have a more experienced mother to raise him. But all of that slowly went away when after a couple of hours they brought him to my room and I held him. I knew that with the support of my family, I would be able to do a good job. I knew that with how much I loved him, and how much my family loved him, he would be okay. He would grow up knowing that although he wasn't planned he was wanted, I wanted him, I fought to have him and now 11 years later I couldn't imagine a moment in my life without him. Because of him, his father and I are still together.....Happily together. Because of him we went on to have 3 more children. Because of him, I am the happiest mother I could have ever been. Because of him, his father and I are the people we are today. Because of him....I am who I am. He taught us responsibility, he taught us unconditional love, and he taught us that the best things in life are unexpected. I love you Anthonne, Happy Birthday to the first love of my life.

For some reason it's not letting me post pictures with this, so when I can I will post the pictures I took for his birthday....thanks for stopping by

The Funny Bone

One of the things we got to do while Amber was here was to see John Heffron the winner of last years Last Comic Standing performing at The Funny Bone, a comedy club here in Va. Beach. He was pretty funny, but we also enjoyed the act before him, Louis Katz. He was hilarious! Of course his act was a little more "dirty"....lol. Anyway, if you get a chance and they are performing anywhere by you, go check them out! After the show we tried to go meet John and Louis. John was busy with other fans so we sat and chatted with Louis. He made fun of me for not having a myspace page, and we talked till there was no one else left in the club. We never did get to meet John, but we did get out pic taken with Louis! Afterwards we went outside and took some pictures in the "new" downtown Va. Beach....yes the comidians totally made fun of our attempt at a big city...lol.

Amber's visit

My friend Amber came to visit all the way from Washington State. This was to be our girl's hanging out trip, unfortunately the first couple of days started off rocky! She came in the night of the 4th and the next day we were all hit with a stomach bug, and for me strep throat! So once that was over we were able to go out and have fun. There were a few things she wanted to do while she was here and I think we were able to do them all. We went to the Cinema Cafe and saw Click, which I thought was really good. We then had a fun little voyeur experience at a Mexican restaurant.....you know what I mean Amber...wink, wink...lol. We got go have a little photoshoot of eachother which was nice since we both have gotten tired of using our tripods to take pics of ourselves! I got to take her out dancing, which was alot of fun especially since she hadn't been out in over 8 months. We went to a comedy show and had a blast there and we ended her stay with her taking my family's pictures at a beach. So it was a pretty busy week, but I had a great time! I hope you did too Amber!!

My baby's new way to relax.....

Out with the old, in with the new....that's what we decided to do when it came to our living room set. After having 4 kids spill drinks all over it, a new puppy sleep and shed all over it, it was time for new one! So we got a new couch, loveseat and Lamont's favorite..... a new recliner. Doesn't it just fit him right.....lol.

Busy, Busy, Busy......

My life lately has been very chaotic!!! I had three clients last weekend and all of them were a joy to do! It is a very new experience for me to be working from home. I have 4 little ones who need my attention all day long, then I have clients that I am responsible for to provide a good product! It's been about 8 years since I've worked away from home and then I just had 2 kids. It was hard, but I didn't feel as much guilt as I do working when the kids are crying for more milk, or whinning because someone took a toy away from them. But I know it's all worth it in the end because I feel personally fulfilled. I have gone to school to become a teacher but with being a Navy wife I have had to put those plans on the backburner. So now I am able to do something that I love and contribute financially to my family. It is nice to finally be able to say that...

Seniors

It's that season for graduations!! I did my first senior portraits on the beach the other day and this young lady did great! It was her first time having portraits taken of herself and you wouldn't be able to tell because she just seemed so natural. I want to congratulate her on her graduation and for her getting into William and Mary, which she will attending in the fall.

Natural Beauty

Lamont's oldest niece, Malisa, is in the Navy and she is now stationed here in Va. It's been a long time since we have had family around, so it's been nice to have her here. She moved here shortly after I started my photography business and for months we have been trying to schedule a photoshoot. Well we finally did last weekend. The pictures I recently posted of Bella were taken that day. Well it was a very succesful shoot and we got alot of great shots. These are some of my favorite. I feel very grateful to have such beautiful family and friends, not just outwardly beauty, but beauty that comes from within. As you can see, Malisa has natural beauty and it wasn't hard to capture.

My beach boy

I have a photoshoot scheduled for this weekend so I went out to scope new beaches. I found one that I loved and while we were there I took some test shots of Mayson. I loved how they came out and how much fun he had playing in the sand. It will be the perfect spot for my future beach shoots.

My Beach Babe

I did a photoshoot of my neice and since Lamont is gone, I had to bring the kids along. They all had fun playing on the beach, all but Bella. She wasn't digging the sand. I tried to make her happy by taking pictures of her, and at times it worked. So here are the good ones. The picture with her dress over her head was all her...lol! She is such a goof, a very cute goof. Enjoy!

My Red Roses

Before my honey left he bought me a dozen red roses. Just another reason why I love him so much. I was having a bad day and he took the kids to run errands, on his way home he stopped to buy me the roses. But it's what he did once he got home that stole my heart!! Our neice (who is 25 and in the Navy) stays with us on the weekends and he knew she was going to be home. So he took one of the roses before he gave me mine, and he gave it to her. As he handed it to her he said "You are as beautiful as this rose, and you should expect every man who wants to be with you to treat you so." All I saw from her was a big smile!! He's a great Uncle, wonderful father and even better husband. I miss you baby!!