January 2013.....

January was quite the month for us...we left our church in Texas, packed up our teeny tiny apartment, loaded all our belongings into storage units and moved in with Jakes parents...i'm a little overwhelmed with all that I can say about our time we had in Texas and the reasons why we left...so i'm just going to leave it that we felt very called to move on and we are now truly learning to live, trusting fully on God and man are we! We can honestly say we are rejoicing in this time of darkness. Our last days in Frisco were spent with friends we had met,going to all our favorite places around town, packing, going to our last library programs, and finishing up Pipers swim lessons....our 18 months in Texas will always hold a HUGE place in our heart and I am so very grateful that God led us there!

it was worth it...

Yesterday (Saturday) morning we woke the girls up at 5:30am to go the the Plano Balloon festival they have this time each year.  Jake went last year as a volunteer for the boys and girls club...but this was the girls and I's first time.  It was pitch dark when we got there yet the parking lot was PACKED full this is such a big deal that hundreds of people will show up at 6am on a Saturday morning!  The 'Glow' started at 6:30 where all the hot air balloons light up their fire in the dark...it was just beautiful! Although Jake and I were pretty disappointed that there were only 2 balloons out for the 'glow'...Jake said last year for the night time 'glow' there were over 20 balloons out...that would have looked just amazing, oh well.  As soon as the sun came up dozens of trucks started pulling up onto the field and setting up their balloons for the 8:00am take off.  It was just increadable to watch dozens of balloons getting set up and taking off into the air.  We also got to hang out with the Elders (who provided yummy Shiplys donuts!).  After the big take off a few balloons stayed on the ground and they opened the field up for everyone to go check the balloons up close! it was so wild!! they are HUGE and just beautiful!  Then they had tons of bounce houses for the kiddos to play on and even Violet was brave enough to go on them!  It was such a fun morning!

Playdate Pro's....

we seem to be having a full playdate schedule lately and we LOVE IT!  our dear friends the Elders just had a little baby boy about a week ago (at home by they way! woohoo for beautiful homebirths!) So for his little visit to the *cough* 'Jewish Doctor' *cough* they brought big sister Jocelyn over to play! She is 5 years old and talks like a grown up! she is such a great friend to Piper and Violet!  In honor of little Elliot, we decided to bust out the easy bake oven and make some 'cup cakes'...

We have also found such an amazing community in these apartments we live in and since the complex playground is right outside our door we have made lots of friends!  Some of our closes friends we have made are 6 year old Cydni, 8 year old Kenadi and their mom Carla.  At the beginning of this school year Carla needed to go back to work and was worried about the after school care of her sweet girls.  I didn't even think twice, and offered to watch them!  These are seriously the most polite and well-mannered girls you have ever met!  They are Amazing role models to Piper!  So 2 to 3 times a week we get to walk to the front of our complex to pick them up at the bus stop, feed them a snack, then play with them till Carla comes to pick them up at 5!  and she PAYS me to do it!  This has just been the BEST situation for both our family and for Carla and i hope we get to do it all year!!

oh Vi....

About a month ago i signed up to go to the MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) chapter here in Frisco!  I have been super excited to get involved in something that i could meet other like-minded mommies and to grow with them in the word!! and this seemed to be the perfect thing!  Plus...although we cant afford it, Piper has been begging to go to pre-school, she is at the age that most of her friends go to some sort of school program, so this is 2.5 hours every other week that VERY much resembles a pre-school for her...MOPS even have their own MOPPETS curriculum that teaches kids about Gods love:)  Now there was just one problem...Violets seperation issues... no one has been able to handle her for more then 30 minutes away from me so how was this 2.5 hours going to work!!!  But i signed up anyway hoping that maybe this could be THE place that will work with her and she will finally start to feel comfertable away from me!  Well the big day was yesterday! we took the girls to chick-fil-a for breakfast (in hopes to at least start the day off with some fun;)

Then it was time to head to the church...we get there and Piper can hardly contain herself with excitement to go to 'school' all the while Violet is starting to catch on while we are printing their name tags and starts to cling to me pretty tight.  I have been praying about this issue for months and although i had (have) hopes that she will be happy going to 'class' someday, i was pretty realistic that she wouldn't last long this first time and had mentally prepared myself to only being able to be there for about an hour...so i wanted to wait till the VERY last minute before the meeting started to drop her off. So we take Pipe to her class and she runs in and starts playing without even saying goodbye to me...then i head to Vi's class, i stand at the door and meet her teachers (they seem AMAZING!!) i explain her 'issues' to them and point out all our 'comfort items' in her bag and they assure me that they will do EVERYTHING they can to keep her as long as possible and make her feel comfortable...i felt really good about the teachers and their assuring words (unlike Frisco Athletic Club!! but that's another story!)...i then left her in their arms...crying of course. I head to my table in the sanctuary, sit down, take a deep breath, pull out my bible and pen, say a few hellos to my table mates...then...i hear a lady...from the stage...calling for 'Violet Seatons Mother'....*sigh* really? REALLY? its been 6 MINUTES!!!  I waived my hand and she proceeds to come tell me that she got so upset that she threw up and so they are not allowed to keep her anymore:(  I leave, head bowed, and tears in my eyes...mostly worried about disappointing Piper...i called jake and pleaded for him to come pick Violet up and take her for a couple of hours so that Piper and i could stay...without hesitation he was on his way to the church! (side note:my husband is the best!)....I then head to her classroom to get her, the poor teacher was COVERED in her throw up and there was a janitor in the room cleaning up the floor...awesome...i already have 'that kid' and it was just the first meeting!  they begged me to make sure to bring her back the next meeting to try again, and of course i will!  So jake came and got her and i heading back into the meeting...the moms were amazing and i cant wait to get to know them even better!  we will see how the next meeting goes...and jake always plans to be on standby so that i will not have to miss!  and we will just continue to get down on our knees and trust God that there is a reason for this trying season with my sweet little Violet:)

remember when i was a workin' girl??

my senior year of college jake and i invested in a 'starter' camera...i really wanted to learn enough to be able to take good photos when we started having babies:)  that year for my birthday my mom payed for me to take a photography class at a local school and i FELL IN LOVE!!  i started BEGGING people to let me take photos of their kids and families just so i could get more and more practice...then all of a sudden people wanted to PAY ME to take their photos...what?!?  it was all kinda taking off ahead of me...i wasn't ready for that...i was just having fun...BUT we were also trying to get out of debt at the time so i though what an amazing opportunity that has seemed to just fall in my lap to help us get out of debt faster!!!  so i went to photo seminars, i went to a small business class in our city, bought some nicer equipment and traveled 4 hours a way to have a photography business bootcamp with a photographer i really admired.  Jake and i then set up a super cute website and i was set!!!  I started getting quite a few shoots a month and even some weddings! I was still working full time on top of taking photos, but i kinda thought this might be the perfect part time career once we have babies!  Well about a year into my business, jake and i come home from a doing a wedding in Texas(where i felt 'off' the whole weekend) and i found out i was pregnant!!  Totally exciting!....but i immediately start getting sick!  So sick that i would come home every evening from work lay down on the couch and not move until bed! Good thing that wedding was for a very good friend because it took me about 2 months to get her wedding edited and out to her!  I had to start turning down jobs because i was so sick...and i finally decided to 'take a break' from jobs and focus on growing this baby so i did my last wedding 7 months before piper was born, with full intentions to get back into it:)   weeeeellll i didnt:(  i got busy with babies....babies that i love so very much!  anyway all that to say...a few months ago Jared(our lead pastor) asked me to do some family photos for a church mailer and for Frisco Fields Church website!!!! i was so nervous!!! but i think they turned out ok!!

THEN....a few weeks ago a couple in our church who needed new headshots for their business asked ME to do them!!!  i assured them that i was totally out of practice and they could completely throw them out if they didn't like them!  well i guess they did because they are up on their website!  www.freshstartfrisco.com