Sorry

I have been majorly slacking on the blog end.I have been very busy this past week and am glad to announce that my best friend Jack and friend Staci had their baby girl.Chloe Rylian was born  April 12th and very healthy.I couldn't be more happier for them.And that is has kept me busy the past few days because Staci and Chloe moved in with us and I just love her to death!

Anyways I will not be finishing the A-Z challenge.I have gotten behind again but I just don't see how I can catch up and still keep up with all the craziness around here.I am trying to help Staci during the day as she is still recovering.I wish I could...I was curious on what x and z word I would have wrote about.But life happens.

And to make up for it I will share a picture of precious Chloe:)

And one of proud daddy with her:)

Hugs and Love,
Brandi

Day 20:Thank You

Thank you Jesus for blessing me with my children.They were the best gift of all.

Thank you Jesus for giving me such a wonderful man to be my husband.One that understands me,accepts me,listens to me,loves me.

Thank you Jesus for giving me the best family anyone could ask for.Maybe we don't always get along but I couldn't imagine my life without them.

Thank you Jesus for giving my the most awesome friends ever.They are truly the best a girl could have.

Thank you Jesus for giving me a life that I love.

Thank you Jesus for dying on that cross so that I could be saved.

Thank you Jesus for loving me.

Happy Easter!!!

Hugs and Love,
Brandi

Day 19:Son

From the moment I found I was pregnant(both times)I wished for my baby to be a boy.I got lucky both times and was blessed with two beautiful and very awesome sons!I could(and often did)lay there holding them and watch them for hours.They are the best parts of Tom and I.

Sons can bring such happiness and joy to your life.My sons have brought so much to my life.Unconditional love,amazement,fun,laughter,and enough worrying to last the rest of my life.I couldn't and wouldn't change any of the past 7 years with my Kade and Jacob.

Do you have son(s)?What does the word son mean to you?

Hugs and Love,
Brandi

I get a little obsessive...

So this weeks prompts were awesome!!I decided on...
#4- Name five things you totally obsess about and why.

1.My kid's being sick with a fever...when Kade was a year old he had a fever that I  couldn't get to go down no matter what I did. We took him to the ER and while we were waiting he started having a seizure.Scared me to death!They told be it was a febrile seizure and they cause no harm to the brain and they outgrow them by age 6 but it is so scary that I obsess over them when they start with the fevers.


2.My computer being cleaned up and organized...I am not quite sure on this one but I think it is just because when it is all over the place it is hard to concentrate on things so I keep it all organized(the ONLY thing in my life that I do keep organized and cleaned up)


3.My pictures...I must have them framed,in an album,backed-up on the computer or safe in the scrapbook tubs.I have lost to many pictures and obsess a little over them now.


4.My photography...my pictures are so important to me that I can (and have) spent all day trying to get that perfect shot or all day at the computer making it perfect.


5.When I get an idea in my head of something I want to do...I want to do it and I just obsess over it and all the details til I get to do it.

Hugs and Love,
Brandi

Day 18:Receptive

(*I didn't get to do this one yesterday so I will do it now and my one for today later.)

Receptive-Willing to consider or accept new suggestions and ideas.
I have been learning a lot about this word the past year or so.I have strong opinions and want things done a certain way.But I have learned that it isn't all about me and I have to be more receptive of others and what they believe and want.I have had the hardest time with this when it comes to my daughter.She is 14 and she is all over the place one what she wants or what she wants to do.I have had to be a lot more receptive with her because she might be a lot like me but she wants things and does things differently then I did at her age.Like at the moment she wants her nose pierced for her birthday in June.And if you read my options post then you know that some things I agonize over.This was one of them.I mean she is only turning 15, why does she need her nose pierced?So I asked my friends what they thought and really they helped me a lot.And I came to the conclusion it really wasn't that she needs it she just wants it.So her dad and I decided that we would allow this because even though she is still only going to be 15 some things you just have to go with when it comes to your kids(plus it is better then her rebeling and trying to do it herself).I was worried about her nose due to her problems with it and her future surgery on it but her ENT doctor said it would be just fine.This is not about me and what I think.This is about my daughter and what she thinks and wants.I have had to step back and realize that well she is old enough to make those decisions for herself and I need to realize that.I have learned to really listen to my kids.

I get it.My thoughts and ideas are one in billions of peoples thoughts and ideas.What I think someone sees a whole different way.Doesn't mean either is wrong but it does mean that maybe the other persons ideas aren't maybe just a little better.I have learned that I can make things easier and get along better if I just step back and listen.Sometimes I like my ideas better and sometimes I like the other persons ideas better.So I feel that being more receptive to people has made me just a little bit better at being me:)

What do you think about being more receptive?

Hugs and Love,
Brandi

Day 17:Quiet

Do you have a quiet place?It is like a happy place.A place to go when the world is driving you crazy?The hubby?Even the kids?Oh I do.I love my quiet place.I just close my eyes and I am there...a secluded tropical island,a damp forest after the rain,a spa.Oh the places my imagination takes me when I need my quiet place.And believe me in my crazy house I need it often.Sometimes I can just lose myself in a book for hours or get so into my internet world that I lose track of time.But get this...I hate silence.Can't stand it.I like quiet at times when things are crazy but there has to be some kind of white noise(like my fan).I am weird I know but that is just one of those crazy things that makes me me.

What is your quiet place?

Hugs and Love,
Brandi

Day 16:Photography

What else would I write about that begins with the letter 'P'?

I got my first camera when I was eleven.My mom bought it for me with a box of the 35mm rolls of film.I fell in love with the first picture I took.It was the beginning of my passion and love for pictures and cameras.I have upgraded a few times since then and I have learned a lot in the last 15 years.Last year I was still wondering if I could go further and make it as my career.I had long talks with the hubby about it and decided that I would try my hand at becoming a professional.I have so much to learn and I can't wait to really begin my journey to becoming a professional photographer.I am going to get my Bachelors Degree in Digital Photography and my Masters Degree in Visual Arts.Six years in school and honestly I couldn't be more excited!!!I know I could do it without them but I know that I have so much to learn on the professional side and also I want to do it for myself.I want to be able to look at my name on those degrees and feel all those awesome feelings in knowing I did it.


Don't you just love photography?


Hugs and Love,
Brandi

Hop a Little Tuesday-Week 6

Day 15:Options

Me and this word have a love-hate relationship.On one hand I really love having options.The fact that I can have or choose things differently is a really awesome thing.But on the other hand sometimes it can be a headache.I can sit here and agonize over all the options in front of me.Like the decision to move or not.My options here are we can stay here where the kids already have friends and Kade can continue to go to the school he has gone to since he started school where he knows everyone.OR we can move where the kids can have a yard and we can have more privacy.Here we can't even put a swingset in our itty bitty yard and really Kade hates his school and begs to go to a different one.Also moving can be expensive but so can having to make repairs in a rental place because the landlord won't.So I sit here and agonize of this.

What do you think of all the options in your world?

Love and Hugs,
Brandi

Day 14:Names

Since I couldn't really think of an N word I thought I would share the reasons I gave my boys their names:)(I get asked this a lot especially with Kade)

When I was pregnant with Kade I just could not choose a name.I had a list with favorites of Alexander,Benjamin,Adam and Jacob.Tom and I went back and forth until we decided on Alexander Dean(Dean is my dad's middle name).I liked it for about a week.I just could not settle on one.I also wanted a different name but Tom wanted a traditional name(Samuel,Nicholas and so forth).One night in my fifth month I started reading a book and one of the main characters names was Kincade and called Cade.I fell in love with it.So I took the name Cade and picked a name off Tom's list-Nicholas-and we had Cade Nicholas.Well Tom loved it but wanted to use a K instead of a C.So next I looked up what the names meant because meanings mean a lot to me and this is what I got

Kade- Pure
Nicholas-Victorious People

I liked the meanings and we had us Kade Nicholas.

When I was pregnant with Jacob it was a different story.The only name we could agree on was Jacob.I did have a hard time picking out a middle name.I didn't like any of the names suggested.Then I found the name Riley in a baby book.I just loved it.And of course again I had to know the meanings of these names which were

Jacob-supplanter(which I really didn't like the meaning but liked the name)
Riley-Rye clearing or small stream

Well really I didn't like either meaning but my Grandma told me the Riley was actually a family name which I thought was cool and maybe that is why I liked it so much.So meanings aside we got us a Jacob Riley.

Is there a reason behind you child(ren) name(s)?

Hugs and Love,
Brandi