Photography Workshop Date!

The next SHOOT MY KIDS! Workshop date
is scheduled for Friday, July 27, 2012 at 7pm at my Home Studio in Maryland!


Don't know what a SHOOT MY KIDS! Workshop is?
No problem, click on the big camera logo below to be directed to the SMK! website! Find out about this awesomely fun workshop just for moms who have DSLR cameras and want to take better pictures of their kids.

And then, email me at nrportraits@yahoo.com when you are ready to register for the July workshop! I'll see you then! And if you can't make this Workshop date but are still interested, I am looking for a few guinea pigs, ahem, I mean "test subjects" for an online version of the Workshop.  You'll participate in the comfort of your own home by logging in with a high-speed internet access from anywhere in the US!


A discount will apply to the first online Workshop attendees!

Seven

I became a mom seven years ago with the birth of this precious beauty.  She is a light in my life and pure joy.  I don't know where the time has gone, but somehow she has grown into the sweetest 7-year-old girl with a heart for God and all those around her.  And I get to be her mama.  Wow, feeling so blessed.  I love you baby girl ... just slow down a bit, mmmkay?

One year

One year ago on June 7, 2011, our baby girl was placed in my arms.  Our lives were forever changed.  Looking back over the pictures from that day, my heart hurts for the loss that she endured, having no certainty in her life and not knowing what was happening.  She was so incredibly brave and courageous, not even shedding a tear over her life being turned upside down.

Although adoption is always born out of loss and grief, it is an amazing story of redemption.  God's love for us is overwhelming.  Just as we all are adopted into His Heavenly kingdom and made new, Sunshine also was made new that day.  She continues to be made new every single day through God's redemptive and unconditional love.  Even though the images from that day are sometimes difficult for me to look through, I also see God's grace and love overflowing in them.

This past year has been the most amazing and most difficult of our lives.  Although we have gone through so many hard days together, we have also triumphed over seemingly impossible tasks in indescribable ways.  God has surely been with us through the good and the rough, smiling down as we persevered.  I know all of you adoptive families can most definitely relate :-)

I have been writing a well-worded, flowery post over and over in my head for weeks to celebrate this most-special anniversary.  But now that the time has come, I think it's best just to keep it simple.  Although yes, Sunshine's life was surely changed in positive ways ... we are the ones that are blessed.  We have learned more about ourselves and grown in our relationships with Jesus and with each other.  We have seen firsthand what God's grace really means and how beautiful His unconditional love is.  We sit in awe as we've had the chance to witness such remarkable beauty.

Happy Gotcha Day to our gorgeous little Sunshine.  We love you to the moon and back and are so blessed to have the honor of being your family.

2 weeks

Um yeah, I cannot believe that our team is leaving for the Mexico Mission Trip in 2 weeks.  I know I haven't posted about it much, but the trip just kind of snuck up on me!  Guess having 3 kids will do that to a gal.  Not sure where the time went and I am so not prepared yet.  Compared to our China trip ... this packing experience is basically gonna happen overnight versus over several months.  LOL.  Oy.

It sounds like we'll have wireless internet at the missionary's home, where we will be staying.  The only thing is I'm not taking my Macbook ... I thought about it for about .00005 seconds and said no way.  Too heavy.  Too big.  Too much of a risk to carry around.  I may take the iPad but I won't be able to connect my camera to it.  So although I think I'll be able to post updates, I don't think I'll be posting any pictures (unless they come from my iPhone).  I'll have to go back and blog the real pictures once I'm home ... that will certainly be an undertaking, but surely one that I will be excited about!

I'll post more about the details of the trip as we get closer to leaving.  For now, a quick snapshot of my family in front of the stadium downtown :-)  After the cool party we celebrated on Sunday, it was too beautiful not to walk around downtown for at least a few minutes.  I ran into a cute engaged couple trying to take a picture of themselves and offered to take it for them - they offered the same for us and voila!  A family snapshot that I treasure ... it was during nap time and ridiculously bright ... but face paint and all, it's us, together.

Oh and a year ago today?  We were in China getting ready to meet our girl for the first time.  Whoa.

My stunning Angel

I simply cannot get enough of this child, seriously.  She is such a LIGHT in my life.  "Sweet" just doesn't do her justice.  Although I still have to bribe her to sit for me for a quick 5-minute "session" ... once she gets going in front of the camera, there's just no stopping her.  Oh I could snap away on her all. day. long.

We went to a Princess & Pirate Party today after church.  It was downtown at a museum (DH scored an awesome deal on Groupon!) and the kids had so much fun.  Well Angel and Lovebug had fun, I think Sunshine was over the whole thing considering it was nap time and we confined her to a stroller.

There were hair tinsels, glitter tattoos, face paintings, lots of pirate & princess games, and yummy food.  Oh and super-fun princess and pirate costumes.  And lots of little kids running around in all of their fairy tale glory.

And after we exhausted ourselves with that, I took Angel out for some shopping ... just us.  It was heavenly.  Her birthday is coming up next weekend (trying not to think about it), so we did a little pre-birthday gift shopping.  Oh it was awesome.  I remember doing these shopping trips with my mom at her age and I just loved it ... hopefully Angel adored it as much as I did growing up!

And then after we got home, I just couldn't help but soak in her stunning beauty with my camera.  Even though she turned me down the first time, the use of marshmallows for bribery worked like a charm the second time.  Wonder how long that will last?  :-)

Linking up with Sunday Snapshot today over at Ni Hao Ya'll!