the chicken wing... porter's favorite move

lots of grainy cell phone pics

if i can't bring myself to take real photos of my son and talk about what we are doing - i can at least post random cell phone pics so you can all remember how cute he is.

really.

a quick recap: zach is now working 3-4 days a week in houston, while im single mommin' it. seriously - single moms - so much respect. i am so proud of zach an his efforts at work and how he has been noticed for his brainz and skillz... i just want him back in austin :). we both miss him lots. our house is on the market for the second time. the first time it was only on the market for 24 hours, had 2 showing and got 2 offers over asking price... then one bailed, we called the other back, they were in, then they bailed last night 5 hours before their option period ended. so we are back on the market. that was fun! we are busy busy busy and porter is so close to being 2. baby sister still has no name... although we might be getting closer. springtime weather is upon us and feels so great... i love spring. its my favorite.

say cheese

so many things happening at our house - sweet louise is booming (ha, that might be an exaggeration...) but it seems like everyday i get another lead or book another session... total confirmation that im walking in the right direction with this little biz. if you know me at all, youve probably heard me say more than once that my dream is to walk my kids to kindergarten. i want the freedom - whatever that means - to be able to be a part of my kids lives in a real way. like walking them to school. and having ants on a log ready when they get home. im a dreamer... but it seems like my dreams might be forming slowly into reality. i want to be able to be creative and work and find satisfaction and joy in my work... and also be a mom in a real, hands on way. this is what ive been praying for and it seems like doors keep opening instead of shutting. thank you, lord! ive been slow on the draw with the blog because it is panning out to be the busiest spring of all time for us. we did take some fun pics of porter in the snow... and then porter this weekend at the park in the 70 degree beautiful springtime weather... and those will be posted at some point. this week im 24 weeks pregnant with baby girl. she's healthy and strong and growing fast. here is p man on the way home from church yesterday - happy as can be. he has been such a joy lately - amazing us with with his speech and what he notices and figures out. he loves dancing, reading, eating (some things) and telling us whose turn it is to do things. (like when im brushing his teeth and mid way through he stops and says 'daddys turn' and will no longer let the toothbrush enter his mouth until i get daddy. because its daddys turn. or sometimes its porter's turn... for a really long time- which is neat). these last few weeks have made us so excited about doing this again. being a parent is truly the hardest and most amazing thing at the same time. i know everyone says that but it really is the most beautiful dichotomy - beautiful and ugly, overwhelming and peaceful, fun and not so fun... im so thankful to have been given this lot.



my dear friend ali gave me the sylish blogger award... which makes me laugh because i am the worst blogger of all time. ali, i promise to get around to acting on the 'award' soon... well, i half way promise. in the meantime i would like to say that ali stated in her award that if there was one person she would want to live next door to, it was me... and i feel the same. we dreamed all through college of living next door to eachother - filling our house with children and good food and paint... butcher paper art adventures in the driveway - sharing healthy recipes- dance parties. it would be awesome. for now, we are both still doing art in different ways, im on baby #2, she's on baby #1, we talk about food all the time via the ol' computer, and we live far far away. she is my virtual next door neighbor and that will have to do for now... love you ali! you are going to be the best mom.

its a ...

girl

we are so excited!

and, of course, i went straight to the mall and got a dress.

static

Christmas and what we've been up to around here...

Things have been busy busy around here - Porter had surgery (minor), Zach and I both had strep throat, Porter had his first ear infection (and ruptured ear drum!), I finished out the semester of teaching, Zach has been studying and looking into new fun options for his career... and I am pregnant again (18 weeks)! Wowzah - so that's why there has been no blogging.

I can't really even begin to say how wonderfully fun and relaxing this Christmas was - We were home and just rested, cooked, played and enjoyed each other's company. It has been a sweet time that is coming to a close all too quick... but I don't think we will ever forget this Christmas. It was a real joy. I am thankful for so so many things.

Enough words. Here are some pics. Love you all and hope to be back to more regular posts in the new year.