Good Gracious

These faces make my heart melt ALL. THE. TIME.

Boys Oh Boys

Not to beat a dead (and buried) horse, but man do I love little boys.  I love love love little girls, too, but little boys definitely have the fastest to track to my heart.  I think that the biggest joke that God could play on me one day would be to give me all girls when I have kids.  I will undeniably love them to the moon and back, but I will also hope that they will play football. :)

I got to hang out with Fletcher & Finley again this past weekend.  I took pictures of them about 9 months ago and was thrilled to get to see them again.  When they pulled up at Graylyn on Saturday their mom, Edie, jumped out of the car nearly before it was stopped and asked me to please tell Finley what a big boy he looked like in his outfit.  I love a Southern little boy in a John-John - and I knew that Edie must have had an "I'm not a baby anymore" struggle with Finley before meeting me, so I had to do a little affirming damage control to get things started.  The little brothers always grow out of that stage quicker, and I feel like it must break the hearts of the moms...

But anyway, these boys are CUTE.

It was hot and humid and sticky on Saturday, but we managed to hang out under the trees for the most part, and the clouds even rolled in at one point to make me smile and hide the sun just long enough to run around in the huge field for some fun shots.

Fletcher is getting so so very handsome - and BIG, about to finish Kindergarten and lose all sorts of teeth! Finley has SO much to say now.  He had all sorts of stories to tell me and was fascinated by my camera.  Nine months has made a HUGE difference with these boys, just like it does with all kids...

Thanks, boys, for letting me hang out with you again!  I hope to see you again soon!

Proud

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.

I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him." 

-Abraham Lincoln

Be proud.  Memorial Day and every day.

A Sparkly Sneak Peek & A Word About Cousins...

My cousin, Laney, is getting married this June up in the mountains and we are excited for another family wedding. (Read: I'm pumped, and even moreso that I am not quite as involved as in my sister's, because that thing nearly killed me....) Elizabeth and I are both bridesmaids and we are all looking forward to all of the fun that's in store!

A few weekends ago I was terribly honored to get to take her bridal portrait pictures up in Linville at Grandfather Mountain, which is where the wedding will be. I, of course, cannot show off anything that shows the dress. However, everyone has seen/can see her gorgeous ring, and I LOVE this picture. And would like to thank my parents, AGAIN, for the lens that allows me to get such neat shots. How beautiful is her ring???

Let me tell you, she looked phenomenal. After June I will show off more. :) The afternoon was perfect for pictures. The day started off with a crystal blue sky, not a cloud in sight, and sunshine everywhere. A great day, but no good for a photographer. But then the clouds rolled in and it was go time. We got her dressed, ran around the golf course and bridges and to find the prettiest flowers on the grounds, and I was in hog heaven, just snapping away. And I'm telling you what, not 10 minutes (literally) after we finished and got her inside and out of her dress, THE. HEAVENS. OPENED. I'm not talking it started to sprinkle and then picked up. I mean the bottom totally fell out and we had just missed an absolutely torrential downpour. I don't even want to THINK what mess we could have been in had we gotten caught out in that... But anyway. :)

Laney is 2.5 years older than me, 5.5 years older than Elizabeth. She has one older brother, Grayson, and then we all have 3 older cousins - William, Brian and Tom. We came in order from 3 sisters - none of them overlapped in having kids. And all the boys came first and then the girls. Hello, textbook. We were raised more like siblings, if you ask me. Family trips and sleepovers and everything in between, we could often be found in all sorts of combinations in Lenoir and elsewhere, all through the years.

(Circa, oh, I don't know - 1987? I'm probably in trouble for putting this out there, but it's at one of Nanny & GanGan's famous Christmas parties, so I might be off the hook. Man, those were the days...)

We still love getting together when we can, even though we have managed to end up in different cities/states all over the place. Our biggest similarity was, obviously, our grandparents, who doted on us all. the. time. And we miss them both dearly. I think - I know - that they'd be awfully proud of us that we all love to be together as much as we do. They, along with all of our parents, really fostered our relationships with each other growing up, and for that, I think all 7 of us will be forever grateful. To them and to our moms and dads.

(2008 at Wrightsville for the "Beach Beach Trip". We totally all make fun of Flamingo Laney in this picture!)

Here's to cousins! Here's to family!

Sweet 6 Months

(Well, this post was supposed to happen yesterday. But, Aunt Becca went out for Cinco de Mayo, as did the REST OF THE PLANET, so when I got home, I was beat. Because "quick Mexican" took nearly 4 hours. Aunt Laura and Mom have already done 6 month posts for Em, but I still feel entitled to do one, so here we go!)

Emmy. You are 6 months old. You are the cutest thing on the planet. I could spend every waking moment with you and never be bored. These are all facts.I can't believe you are already halfway to a year. I feel like you were just born and your dad just called me the second I got to work on November 5th to tell me you were here. I will remember ducking into a conference room at my office to hear all about you forever. I will remember your mom calling me just before leaving for the hospital the night before - she sounded scared to death but tried not to act like it, but I know her better than that.I will remember forever walking into the hospital room in Charlotte to see you for the very first time, perched on your mom's shoulder after eating. You were the tiniest, pinkest little thing, and I was, of course, sobbing. Your mom makes fun of me because I told her the night before that I had laid out my outfit for your birthday, so I would be all set to go to come see you. But it was a big deal! I was so excited that I could hardly stand it. I remember going to a luncheon that day and telling everyone - EVERYONE - there that you had arrived, and proudly showing off pictures from Aunt Laura on my phone.The night that I met you was one of my favorite nights. When I first took you from your mom your eyes were wide open, and as I rocked you and talked to you I felt like you were really listening, trying to figure out who I was. You had LOTS of visitors that day, and I had come later on and could only imagine how tired your sweet parents were. After I had been there for a while, I decided it was time to let everyone get some rest. Your dad was headed in to take a shower when I got up to leave, looked at me and said "I don't know where you think you're going." So I stayed. I chatted with your dear mother and stared at you the whole time.You are so loved. Loved FIERCELY. You make everyone smile - how could you not!? Your parents are so easily natural with you - sometimes I feel like they have had you forever. I knew from the moment that you were on your way that you would be a girl. Your dad is a girl's daddy. He needed a girl first, so everyone knew that one was on the way. Don't you love him?! Your mom was made for this. I've known that for as long as I have known her. I have learned so much from watching her with you, but have not been surprised by a second of it. She is calm and patient and loving and strong. All things that both of your parents will instill in you. And she gets funnier by the day, doesn't she!? We are all so proud of her for that. :)I would walk through fire for you, sweet Emerson. I love you to the moon and back, and will be there for you forever and ever. And spoil you ROTTEN.Love Forever,

Aunt Becca

Aunt Becca

I do not take lightly the role that people so graciously allow me to play in the lives of their children. And this past weekend, I got to see my two girls, Bella and Emerson. Their mothers are the dearest of dear friends, and it is so neat to have seen them both grow so naturally into motherhood. As if I ever would have doubted it! Bella's trip was a planned one, my visit with Em was a total random (and short!) luck kind of thing. Yahoo for BOTH!I love you both so much, my dear, sweet girls!

xoxo,

Aunt Becca

Lately

I have been missing these girls so badly that it HURTS. I certainly miss them all the time, but for some reason lately it's like I would do anything to have my front door fly open and one of them walk through (because we never knocked) and need to borrow a necklace or want to go to Target or on a walk or need to vent about the mailman or the weather or need help with something for work/school or need back-up on a mission to stalk a boy (TOTALLY used to do this). Or I'd love to fly through any of their old doors, but I don't know the people who live in their old places. So that would be weird. We are trying SO HARD to plan a trip for all of us. But I am in NC, Beth is in DC, Katie and Allison are both in Tennessee, Cath is in Georgia and Ash, for crying out loud, lives in Wyoming. So yeah, it's a little hard and it is making. me. sad. that it isn't any easier to get us all in one place. Spring is trying so hard to pop up and stick around here, and it makes me so badly want to sit out in the grass with these girls like we used to do and talk about nothing and everything all at once. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY, we can make something work soon. These girls are proof positive of God so very purposefully dropping 6 random people in one neighborhood and making forever friends out of them (that sounds like some mix of the "Real World" intro and a Hallmark card, doesn't it?) But it's the truth. I know that wherever we are the funny emails and occasional visits will always happen and always make us feel loved and leave us with happy hearts. I love you girls. I will see you SOON one way or another!