{unwrapped}

{tenderheart}

Oh my sweet Kaden. He is my little tenderheart. Even when he was a little toddler and just learning to talk, he was so polite and sweet. He used to thank me for changing his bum and would tell me 20 times a day how much he loved me and that I was "the best Mama in the whole universe." That hasn't changed....well, the changing his bum part has, but nothing else. LOL! Kaden has a mammoth-sized heart and has been such a great blessing in my life. I have yet to meet a more thoughtful and sensitive, loving little dude. When he was in preschool, every other month, he would want me to stop and get flowers for his teacher. After the first two times, I said no....but then realized what a mistake that would be. I didn't want to be the one to put out that thoughtful fire. And so, we continued to take his teacher flowers on a regular basis...usually the itty bitty cheap bouquets, but still beautiful.
 
Being sensitive and thoughtful towards others is something that I have tried to really instill in my little ones, because it is very important to me. However, though I do recognize little "ME-isms" coming out in both Kaden and Seneca in the way they interact with each other, with me & their daddy and with friends, their little spirits are simply loving and sensitive BY NATURE. Kaden has always been a tenderheart. He is rough and tumble, but he loves his Mama. Though we taught him early the importance of being a gentleman (and he still ALWAYS opens my door..and often Seneca's door as well), he has continued to act as such and will say things like "Mama, I'm being a gentleman. I'm always a gentleman and I will always take care of you," on a regular basis. It makes my heart melt. Where Seneca is constantly making us laugh to tears, Kaden makes my heart feel good. He is so affectionate, sincere and thoughtful and every time he says anything to me, it's like he is giving my heart a tight squeeze. Oooh....I love him so much!!!
 
A few weeks ago, Kaden really wanted a set of Bakugans that have recently become the CRAZE for little boys. Boys (and girls alike) are collecting them and trade them on the playground at recess. I remember the excitement about things like that, so I understood HIS excitement. Still, I didn't want to just give them to him. So, we opened up his piggy bank and discovered that he had just enough to buy a set of 6 new Bakugans. So, Kaden and I went on a little trip to Target to buy his new Bakugans. On the way to the register, he looked up at me and said, "Do you know why this is the BEST DAY EVER?" I fully expected him to say that it was because he got his new Bakugans, when I said, "Why?" He looked up at me and said, "Because you're here with me!!" *sigh* But that's not all. When we got home, I sat at the kitchen table with him and he showed me every single one and how they transform and how strong each one is, etc. While we were sitting together he said, "Mama. You are so fun to be with. I love you so much." Is he for real? I so love him....he is my little angel man.
 
Kaden is even (with very little coaching from Mama) so thoughtful to his little sister. Whenever he is with me to pick her up from preschool, he always asks how her day was and what she made. He always shares with her and tells her how much he loves her. Ooooh..it just makes my heart want to explode. It seems like there are far fewer true gentlemen in our generation that there were in our parents' and grandparents' generation. I am so proud to have my little guy already on the road to being one of "those guys" who treats women...and all people....with love and respect. Most of which, comes absolutely naturally to him. Love that. There is a serious sense of healthy "Mama Pride" being the Mama of a little gentleman.

Lately, our breakfast conversations have always somehow been directed to the topic of Satan. No matter what we are talking about, Seneca or Kaden will bring it up. And speaking of, Kaden (on his own) started asking Heavenly Father to "please not let us have the spirit of Satan in our hearts" in his prayers. So love that. Anyway....our morning conversations have been something like this (an example from last week):

KADEN: Satan doesn't want us to learn or play or be happy. He doesn't want us to have any toys either.
SENECA: Not even my TEDDY BEAR??????
KADEN: Nope. And he doesn't want us to go to McDonalds either.

KADEN: (eating breakfast) Mama..Satan doesn't want us to try new things. He just wants us to try the same things. I even tried cheese on my English Muffin and it is Yuuuu--mmy. Satan is mad right now, because I tried new things.

KADEN: I love you Seneca.
SENECA: I love you Kaden.
KADEN: Mama, Satan doesn't want us to love each other. But I will always love my family. Mama, I love you so much. Satan is mad right now because I said that.

KADEN: Mama, there was a boy in my class and Satan was happy because he was disrupting the class.
SENECA: But you wasn't, wight (right) Kaden? Him's (Satan) mad because we didn't follow Him's plan. We followed Jesus' plan.

Not a day goes by that I don't hear Kaden tell me that I am the "best Mama ever" or "the best Chef ever" (for making grilled cheese, corn dogs or pizza pockets..LOL!) and that he loves  me "to the moon and around and around and around and around and around and infinity and a thousand and a million and a billion infinity much." Every day, when we are in the car, it is a love fest...."I love you Mama." "I love you Seneca." "I love you Kaden." etc. etc. etc. I LOVE IT!! Kaden is always concerned about others' feelings...including mine, his Daddy's and Seneca's. I love that he never wastes an opportunity to tell us he loves us. Some, he has probably picked up through example, but I truly believe that Kaden is just generally a loving, thoughtful and sensitive soul. He is so wise beyond his years and some of the comments he makes to me and in his prayers are so deep and thoughtful...he never seizes to amaze me. He provides so much love and comfort for my heart...and I can't even adequately express how much I love him. But perhaps "to the moon and around and around and around and around and around and infinity and a thousand and a million and a billion infinity much....plus one" at least comes close! ;-)

And a special thank you to my sweet and spunky little Seneca, who took every one of these pictures of me and my little bud yesterday before church (it was a little bright..thus, the closed eye. Ha ha!). Love that my kids are showing interested in a hobby that I love so much. This next one is my personal fave of the ones she took....
 
LOL..kidding. My actual fave is the first pic in this entry. I absolutely love how randomly she cropped the shot...and captured a totally perfect and charming "Kaden smile!" Love that! What a handsome little guy he is! Thanks so much Seneca! Mama loves both of her babies to much she could just SCREAM! Oooh...LOVE YOU!

{too much tv}

Something that most people don't know about me, is that I grew up without a TV. When I was really little (so young, that I don't even remember this), the TV we did have, broke. And after it broke, Mom & Dad just decided not to replace it. Instead, we replaced TV with time together as a family, starting with a Family Home Evening (that I DO remember) where Mom shared this Berenstein Bears book with us. Inside of the book is a poem that we all memorized together...

When the TV is on
All day without rest,
Mama knows it's too much
And Mama knows best!

We spent quality time together, did our homework, played games, read books, made crafts, wrote in our journals, went on outings, sang together, played musical instruments, etc. The only time we would watch TV is when Dad would rent one for General Conference and during the month of December for the Christmas specials. After years of no TV, our parents started giving us choices like, "Would you like a new sound system (since all 5 of us girls sang together) or a TV?" or "Do you want a new computer or a TV?"....and every time, we would choose the OTHER thing and NOT the TV. So after a time, even as little kids and teens, we started to see the value in things OTHER than TV. Funny thing is, we found out years later that Dad HAD bought a TV and would keep it at the Stake Center in his office and just bring it HOME for Conference and Christmas. He realized after a few years of renting a TV, that it would be cheaper to buy one and just store it, than to keep renting it. LOL! I have always been one that enjoys interacting with people, being social, being active, reading, making crafts and being a very avid journal writer. I am sure a lot of that is just my personality. But I wonder if it wasn't also partially due to the fact that I was raised in a home without T.V.....and where we DID THINGS TOGETHER and did things FOR each other...and stretched our minds with meaningful activities and interacted with each other and with other families OFTEN. All good things.

This generation of kids is HOOKED to television. And it's not just kids. At one point, I had probably about 10 shows I "couldn't miss." Literally. I will be the first to admit that I was ADDICTED to TV. I even remember myself saying, "I LOVE TIVO! Now I can watch even MORE TV in less time!" LOL! Crazy...so much TV...and so much less interaction within families and with friends and loved ones. There is also so much that needs to be done and so many other worthwhile things that we could be doing to bring us closer together and stretch our minds. But somehow, even I couldn't make that step to just get rid of it. "But they're my shows!! How can I live without my shows????" LOL! I just couldn't imagine living without them.

But then, something wonderful happened...I got outrageously busy. This year has been crazy busy...and there just hasn't been TIME for TV for me. Chas even stopped saving my shows on DVR because there were HUNDREDS of them..and I just wasn't getting caught up. I had planned to just watch them on the internet. Shows that I had followed for 5 years or more, I am now SEASONS behind. And you know what? I don't even care. It's weird....and wonderful. I might, every now and again, catch an episode of something online, but even those instances are few and far between. It just is not a priority anymore.

The biggest dilemma was how we could possibly live without Nick Jr. or Disney Channel. And I mean that seriously. The only way I got over that, was by pure accident (yet possibly providence). A week ago, one of my awesome brother-in-laws helped to fix a few of our Christmas lights (yes..they are still up from last year...might as well just keep em up now! YAY..didn't even have to put em up! Good times!). Whether we accidentally nudged the satellite, or if it was pure "coincidence," our satellite suddenly went down right then. The ironic thing is, the TV had a prompt that gave instructions of how to fix it with your remote....and we have no idea where the remote is. LOL! I totally could have looked for the remote..and fixed it somehow...but I didn't. And you know what? We have PLAYED!!!! My kids have played together, we have read books, we've built with legos...and we have had FUN..WITHOUT THE T.V.!!! So what I realized during the course of this week, is that WE CAN ABSOLUTELY LIVE WITHOUT T.V.! And not only that, but LIFE IS BETTER and more RICH without T.V.! I know..possibly a "No Duh!" statement, but it was a fabulous realization for us!

Kaden was a little disappointed about the prospect of not having T.V., but when I explained that we could still get some videos from the library to watch every now and again, he came around. And so today, I did something that I never thought I would ever do as a Mama...even WITH the awesome experience that I had growing up without a T.V......I called Direct TV this morning and CANCELLED OUR SERVICE!!! And I tell ya, it was the happiest feeling EVER! When they asked if I wasn't happy with the service or if they could do anything to entice me to reconsider, I was so happy to say, "Your service has been wonderful and if we ever decide to activate our service again, we will definitely go with Direct TV...but for now, I want to spend time with my kids!! In all due respect, my family is more important than our TV." The best part is, the great gal at Direct TV said, "I probably shouldn't be saying this since I work for Direct TV, but I really admire you for that. Please let me know if there's ever anything we can do for you in the future." Well happy day! So as of today, we are a TV-less fam. SO looking forward to filling all of that time with fun activities that will enrich our lives, expand the imaginations of my little ones...and bring us closer together!

Our TV was on
All day without rest.
Mama knew it was TOO much...
And this Mama knows best!! ;-)

{happy 4th birthday seneca!}

 
I have to say, as I sit here realizing that it was 4 years ago today that my precious little baby girl was born, I am terrified thinking how fast that time has gone. 4 years...gone...in the blink of an eye. My heart aches and my tears fall freely as the reality of how quickly time goes by, truly sets in today. I remember this day, the day my dream baby arrived, very literally as if it was yesterday. I remember the conversations in the delivery room, how quickly the contractions started when I was induced and how they had to slow me down because the pain was so overwhelming (even for someone with a very high pain tolerance) and the epidural hadn't had time enough to set in - tears quietly streaming down my cheeks as I tried to bear the immense pain that had come on so suddenly. I remember my sister Julie standing right up into my face trying to help me breathe and I finally had to ask her to just leave because it just wasn't helping..LOL (love you Pulse). I remember my doctor showing up just in the nick of time. I remember being annoyed that it had all happened so fast that they hadn't gotten me a mirror to watch the delivery. I remember them saying that the baby had a lot of hair. I remember  the doctor and nurses saying how beautiful the baby was and me saying, "Is she a girl?" since no one had shown her to me yet and confirmed the gender. LOL! And I remember finally seeing her face.....and recognizing her instantly; knowing she was mine...my dream baby. I remember knowing that her name would be Seneca Zella.
 
I remember the epidural only taking on one side, but taking so strong that I couldn't be moved for 3 hours after the delivery. I remember the cafeteria sandwich the nurse brought me after I delivered and I remember thinking that it was the best sandwich I had ever had. I remember being moved to a new room and instantly blogging about my precious little angel. I remember being so tired and sending my little one to the nursery so I could sleep. I remember sleeping through the whole night and never even remembering the nurses taking my blood and checking on me throughout the night. I remember the next morning, aching to have my little one next to me and calling the nurse and saying, "Can you please bring her to me...I need to hold her." I remember that the pediatrician was with her at the time and I had to wait. I remember my heart aching and aching until that door opened. And I remember seeing her for the first time the day after she was born.....she was literally breathtaking. I remember holding her all day long those few days...not even watching TV...just holding her and looking at her and feeling like my heart would absolutely explode. I wouldn't put her back in her little bed for anything. I remember feeling complete peace. I'll never forget that feeling. I remember taking her home to her big brother. I remember seeing him hold her and love her and thinking, "these two precious ones are my miracles...this is what my life is all about." And I remember all of this so vividly...as if it were yesterday. And just like that....we are 4 years later...and my baby is not a baby anymore.

Dearest Seneca, you are Mama's little angel. You are such a spirited and curious and creative little thing. You try our patience often with your stubbornness and yet, how grateful I am that you ARE so determined and that you never give up. If we take that heavenly quality and focus it on good things, what a strength that will be throughout your life. You will be a young woman who stands for truth and righteousness with a resolve to never give up and never give in when faced with trials and temptations. You are so smart and your sense of humor not only keeps us laughing constantly, but that humor has been a great source of strength to your Mama. Your sense of humor and positive attitude will be a strength to you during difficult times and will always lift those around you...as it does me now. You are rough and tumble, very rarely clean and tidy, because you love to get out there and have fun...make messes, build things, play in the dirt (and eat it sometimes too)...you like to get your hands dirty. Another great quality. I hope that you will always get right in there and "get your hands dirty" and not simply stay on the sidelines and watch others serve and be involved. But then, you are also soft and snuggly and so affectionate. You love your Mama and Daddy and you love to tell us often. You also tell your brother how much you love him and give all of us squeezes all day long. I hope that you will always be so vocal about your feelings towards those you love. Never waste an opportunity to tell those you love that you love them. Never. Stay close to us and stay close to your big brother. And please, always stay close to your Savior. For He loves you just as we do and just as we will always, always be here for you....so will He. Seneca, you and Kaden are my greatest treasures. Your Mama is very creative and many feel that she can make just about anything. But let it not be misunderstood....YOU TWO are the grestest things I have EVER made. EVER. You are my little miracles. My love for you could never adequately be described....and perhaps you may never know of the love I have for you until you have little ones of your own. But until then, (and I believe that this is one of the ways that you and Kaden have become so affectionate...and I love that), Mama will continue to try and show you.....by loving and squeezing and telling you 10 bazillion times a day just how much you mean to me and how wonderful you are. Your Mama and Daddy love you and Kaden above everything. Seneca...please don't ever forget who you are, what you stand for and that we, and your Heavenly Father love you so much. We are so proud of you and look forward to every moment we have with you..you bring pure JOY to our lives. You will always be Daddy's little "Seni" and Mama's "Baby Girl."  Happy Birthday Seneca!!!

{halloween 2009}

 
I have to admit, Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I'm not sure it's really in my Top 5 or even my Top 10. In fact, I am so anxious for it to be over, that even as I am writing this blog, I am playing my "Christmas Classics" playlist on my iTunes. LOL! I can't even wait a few more hours until November 1st. Bring on the holiday season!
  
However, that being said, there is ONE reason I like Halloween....the simple fact that MY CHILDREN LOVE IT! And looking back, I remember loving it as a child too. And so for that reason, we had a blast doing all of the Halloween-ish stuff together the past few weeks and the kids have had such a blast and have eaten more candy that they probably should. :-)

Our Halloween festivities started last week with our neighborhood "Trunk or Treat" in the parking lot of a park close to our home. It was so fun to have all of the cars lined up for the kiddies to Trick or Treat from trunk to trunk. Whoever came up with that idea was brilliant!!! Love it! Before the Trunk or Treat, we took a bunch of pics of our cute little dancer and baboon. The picture below on the right is my fave...a true classic. Seneca's smile makes me laugh so hard. This is totally her "ARE WE DONE TAKING PICTURES YET???? Smile." Love it!
  
We even took a pic of the kiddies with our awesome Bishop (below, on the right). Bishop Stevens opens up his office at the end of church every week for the kids to pick a treat out of the treat drawer. The kids absolutely swarm to his office after church is over. They love him so much. As soon as Seneca saw Bishop Stevens at the Trunk or Treat, she snuggled right up next to his leg and just waited for him to notice that she was there. LOL! It was so cute! Once, when he was visiting in Primary on Sunday, Kaden saw that he was sitting by himself and left his class so that he could sit next to the Bishop. He told Bishop Stevens, "I didn't want you to sit by yourself." Such a sweetheart. We love our Bishop! Kaden ran off and went from car to car (twice, I might add) by himself and Seneca walked around with her adorable friend Polly. Such cute little girls!!
  
  
After the Trunk or Treat, the kiddies weren't quite ready to leave, so we had some fun play time on the playground. Ended up with a few fun pics of my babies playing. Love it!
  
 
It's so hard to get good pics of Seneca when she is playing...she never stays still for more than a second. Love this picture of her jumping up and down...completely blurry!! This best illustrates how busy my little angel is...never a dull moment with this little one. And a fun funny-face pic of my sweet Kaden baboon! ;-)
 
After the Trunk or Treat came school parties. Seneca's party was first and she had so much fun making a ghost treat bag, passing out her treats (we did bags of Teddy Grahams this year), singing fun songs and playing fun games in her class.
 
Her favorite song is "Mean Old Witch" and she sings it NON-STOP around the house....with her British accent. It is the cutest, funniest thing I have ever heard. Here is how cute Seneca sings it:

"I’m a mean old witch wif a hat. And I wide (ride) on my bwoom wif my cat..meow. My shoes ah (are)pointy and my chin is too. And you bettah watch out oh (or) I might scah (scare) you."

LOL! So cute.
  
Next, was Kaden's Halloween party and parade. His class had a fun Halloween party and also handed out treats to eat other (we did mini bags of Oreos this year...yumm). The parade was so much fun. There were some seriously creative costumes. I am probably partial, but NONE were as cute as our little baboon!!! SO love him. Cute little stink!
 
 
We sat next to our neighbor Jed and his daughter (and Seneca's close friend) Sami at the parade. Seneca and Sami hid behind their daddies the whole time to hide from the "scawy costumes." LOL! They are such cute little friends!
 
  
And to round off the prep for Halloween, we buckled down and carved these cute little pumpkins that Aunt Pulse (my sis) gave to the kiddies. The kids did a really good job cleaning them this year (which is fab, since I've been the one to end up cleaning them all every year because "they don't want to get their hands icky.") LOL!
  
  
Seneca wanted a smiley and Kaden wanted a "Zig Zaggy mouth." When I finished Kaden's pumpkin, he gave me THE biggest hug ever and said, "You are the BEST zig zaggy mouth maker EVER. I love you Mama." LOL!  So cute.
  
 
Have had a nice Halloween night. Enjoyed Mom's delicious traditional Pumpkin Stew while Chas took the kids Trick or Treating. When I was growing up, I dreaded Pumpkin Stew. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't care for it, or because it was a rule that we had to eat all of it before we could go Trick or Treating and I was always so antsy to go out!!! But it is DIVINE!! It's basically just stew cooked in a pumpkin (but the pumpkin has to have a smiley face on it...or it's not complete. LOL!), but it is DIVINE when you scrape chunks of pumpkin into it. Oh heavenly. Love it! Every bite I took reminded me of my childhood. Love that.

So all in all, though Halloween ISN'T my most favorite holiday, it has really been a fun month of festivities with our little ones. Children seem to make holidays more meaningful...and even this holiday is fun because of them!! But I will admit....I am counting down the next 4 minutes until MIDNIGHT when it is officially November 1st...and the FIRST DAY of my favorite time of year...and the day that CHRISTMAS MUSIC STARTS PLAYING ON THE RADIO! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

{first snowfall & seneca funnies}

 
What a treat it was to have our first snowfall of the year this week. Two days of beautiful blizzards and then the sun came out and melted it away. But for those 2 days, my little ones were in total bliss. After the first major blizzard on the very first day, Seneca insisted on playing out in the snow. And without a moment's hesitation, jumped right in and began making snow angels all over the yard. LOL! I so love her. And I love her tongue hanging out in the picture below. LOL! She's hilarious...her tongue is always hanging out. I'm so worried that one of these days, she is going to bite it off!
 
Not only does Seneca love to roll around and play in the snow, she is a MAJOR snow eater. She would sit and eat all of the snow in our entire yard if I let her. :-)
  
But not only will she eat it off the ground...she will eat snow and ice off of just about anything. I was making her lunch after she came in from playing in the snow and she disappeared for a second and here is where I found her.....eating the SNOW off of the LICENSE PLATE of the van! Eeeuw. Good times. She has zero qualms about eating snow and ice off of just about anything. She's hilarious. I guess snow and ice with a little dirt on it is better than eating just straight dirt (which she also enjoys eating. LOL!)
 
Seneca is hilarious. She is CONSTANTLY making us laugh...CONSTANTLY. She says so many funny things that I simply can't keep up with her..and I really don't want to forget some of the hilarious things she says...so here are a few conversations I had with Seneca this past week that had me laughing almost to tears:

SENECA: "Mama? I have a bug in my butt."
ME: "Seneca White, we don't say that word."
SENECA: "Oh Sorry Mama. I have a bug in my bum."
ME: "What do you mean? Why do you think you have a bug in your bum?"
SENECA: "I can feel it wiggling."
ME: "Well sweetie, I don't know what to tell ya. As soon as we get home, we'll see if we can get the bug out."
SENECA: "Ok Mama."
(3 minutes pass....)
SENECA: "Mama..it's gone now. It got out."

And another...on the way home from family home evening with my family and our good family friends this week:

SENECA: "Mama, I'm sleepy."
MAMA: "Well close your eyes then sweetie, like Kaden. See? He's asleep too. Just relax and go to sleep while Mama drives."
SENECA: "But only this eye is ti-uhd (tired). The othuh one isn't ti-uhd."
MAMA: "Well, then just close the eye that is tired and you can leave the other one open."
SENECA: "I tried Mama, but the oh-thuh one closes when I close dis one."
MAMA: "Well just close both eyes then. It's ok if you go to sleep." 

LOL! I've written many times about how Seneca speaks with an English accent. It's hilarious. Everything she says had a British flair to it....as you can see by this conversation about car seats (aka "Cah-seats" to Seneca)....

SENECA: "Mama...I'm ti-uhd."
MAMA: "Well, lay your head on your car seat and go to sleep for a little bit. Hey..isn't that neat that your head rest has those cushy sides so you can lay on it like that? I wish Mama had that on her seat so she could lay her head to the side like you can."
SENECA: "But you don't have a cah-seat Mama."
MAMA: "Nope, I sure don't. I just have a regular seat."
SENECA: "I have a good idea! You need a Mama cah-seat! What kind of Mama cah-seat do you want Mama?"
MAMA: "Oooh..a pink one!"
SENECA: "A pink one? Ooh....and with flowahs??? (flowers)"

And just the other day, I said to Seneca, "Oooh Seneca...Mama loves you to the MOON!" She gave me a tight squeeze and said, "Mama, I love YOU to the potty!" LOL! Hmm..the potty isn't quite as far as the moon, but it's a start. Maybe by the end of this week, she'll at least love me to the mailbox. LOL! Hilarious.

*sigh* SO love her. And as for my Kaden..stay tuned. I looked back at the past bunch of entries and have so much about Seneca and not as much about Kaden. And I have so much to write about my sweet little guy. I have actually been keeping a list of the incredible things Kaden has said this past week and have just been waiting for some new pics of him to post with them. Planning to shoot a couple this week...so I will post that soon. My little ones are amazing....Seneca makes me laugh on a daily basis and Kaden warms my heart!! They are priceless treasures!!! :-)

{beanie winner}

Thanks so much to everyone who entered the drawing for the fabulous fashion beanie from Portland Beanie Co. and shared your awesome holiday recipes with all of us! Ooooh..I so can't wait to try all of those recipes...every single one sounded HEAVENLY!!!! And now, without further ado, my cute Seneca has drawn the winner....and the winner is......
 
  
LOL! She was a little excited about getting to draw the winner. Congratulations SHERRI PRICE!!! You get to choose any one of Nili's FABULOUS fashion beanies for FREE!!!! Happy Daaaaaay! Please e-mail me so I can pass along your e-mail to Nili so she can be in touch with you!!

Thanks again to ALL OF YOU for the delicious recipes!! More blog entries to come this weekend! YAY! Until next time....make today a GREAT one!

{mama & her baby girl...and portland beanie co.}

 
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to do photo shoots of two brand new precious little babies in our family, Olivia & Spencer. Both little ones had the most adorable handmade beanies for their photo shoots. After posting their shoots, I very likely had as many requests and comments about the BEANIES as I did about the photo shoot. LOL! They are DARLING! I immediately had to find out where they purchased them, which led me to connecting with cute Nili Barrett of Portland Beanie Co. Her work is IN-CREDIBLE!! I spent over an hour looking at her store and all of the amazing handmade beanies she offers. Crazy talent this woman has. After seeing the pictures I had taken of cute little Spencer, Nili asked if she could use his photos in her store....which I agreed to. So fun to see little Spencer modeling one of her cutest little boy beanies in her online store. Happy day!
   
After all the time I spent in her store, I decided that we just had to get one for little Seneca and fell IN LOVE with this Dark Rose Newsgirl Beanie. However, on a whim, I decided to look at the adult beanies and LOVED LOVED LOVED how this cute gal looked in the matching Adult Newsgirl Beanie. I sat and stared at that picture for a long time. I have never been a hat girl, let alone "fashion hats." But again, on a complete whim, I decided (thinking of how fun it would be to do a Mother/Daughter photo shoot of me and my baby girl with our matching beanies) to get a brown one for me to coordinate with Seneca's.
 
After getting to know Nili better and learning more about her copmany, I decided to also use our Mother/Daughter photo shoot to help promote her business. Many of you who have followed my blog for a long time know that I like to promote things I love. I love to promote products that are out of this world and support good people in their business ventures. Nili is one of those good people and her talent is incredible. These beanies are of the very highest, VERY highest quality and such a fun and unique gift for any occasion. And with Christmas right around the corner, there is still time to get your orders in. I can personally guarantee you will be ecstatic about your beanies.....I have gotten more compliments on my beanie and on Seneca's than on any other accessory I own. They are TO DIE FOR! Love em!
 
  
 
Portland Beanie Company is a small, family company located in the Portland Metropolitan area. Their products are all handmade by Nili right in Portland, Oregon. Nili began making hats in 2005 shortly after her first daughter was born. They got such a great response from everyone that saw them that she decided to start selling them. This business has been such a blessing to Nili because it allows her to contribute to the family financially while still being able to stay home and raise their daughter.

All of their childrens items are made with 100% cotton yarn so they are very breathable and suitable for all seasons of the year. They have a large variety of colors and styles available but if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, Nili is happy to work with you on a custom order! PLACE YOUR ORDER SOON!!!

As soon as the beanies arrived a few weeks ago, I tried mine on and FELL...IN....LOVE with it. Seneca felt the same about hers and couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror. It was so cute. I immediately called my dear friend and outrageously talented photographer, Lori Muse, and set up a time to get together to have her come and do a Mother/Daughter shoot of me and Seneca.
  
  
   
Seneca and I met Lori and her cute little Addie in Downtown Salt Lake for our photo shoot. I had borrowed some boots from my friend Marisa (which happened to matched Seneca's beanie PERFECTLY!!!! SO LOVE THAT!) that had pretty high heels. Little did I know, that we would end up walking like 4 miles during the shoot. (I ended up with some pretty impressive blisters afterwards. TOTALLY worth every single one!!) Ha ha! Funny. I was actually more surprised at how well our little girls did with the walk. They were awesome!! Love this cute pic of Seneca & Addie...still so happy after a long morning. Love these little girls!!
 
Seneca was such a sweetheart and SO photogenic!! Lori did SUCH an incredible job capturing her personality. This picture below on the left is SO "Seneca." Classic, classic shot!
  
  
That morning was such a crazy morning. I was a little emotional for some reason and my hair would NOT cooperate at all. I curled it 3 times and it still wouldn't hold. I realized halfway through the 2nd time that Seneca had emptied my brand new bottle of hairspray and refilled it with water. So instead of hairspraying my hair, I had been WATERING IT!!! LOL! Good times. So other than my hair truly being a hot mess, I am so happy with how all of these pictures turned out. Lori is seriously talented. Every shot was perfect and I couldn't wait to get home and edit them. SO AWESOME! And we had SO much fun. Whatever was making me slightly on edge that morning, was soon forgotten as I spent such fun quality time with Seneca and our friends. It was such a happy morning!
  
  
What a priceless gift to have these precious shots of me and my baby girl. Oh I love her so much..she and Kaden are my everything. Interesting thing is, Kaden (who is usually NOT thrilled to have his picture taken) now wants to have a Mama/Son shoot with me after seeing these. YAY!! Can't wait for that! And using these pictures, I have made some pretty fun crafts for our upcoming craft night that I will share with you soon! Lori...thank you SO much for capturing the sweet bond that I have with my little girl. These truly are priceless. I sure love you! Thanks for your friendship!
 
I know what some of you are thinking that have been following my blog for a long time..."Umm...this doesn't seem like one of Heather's regular product reviews. There's something missing..." And I know what is missing....A GIVEAWAY RIGHT??? Absolutely!!!! Nili has generously offered to let me give away ANY ONE beanie (child or adult) from her online store.....FREE!!!!!!!!! So what do you have to do to qualify for the drawing? Well here's the deal. We are approaching the holidays...my VERY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR. I am always looking for new and delicious holiday recipes. Post a comment on this entry, sharing one of your FAVORITE traditional family holiday recipes, and you will be qualified to win one of Nili's gorgeous fashion beanies! SO FUN!!! I will accept comments from now through this Saturday, October 24th at noon, at which time, my little Seneca will draw a winner!!! Until then, hop on over to Portland Beanie Co...I am convinced you will fall in love as quickly as I did. Thank you to Nili Barrett for sharing her great talent with all of us and for providing such a fun give-away on my blog today!!! I wish her all the best in her business and am so proud and happy to highly recommend her to everyone. I know that I will be a customer and superfan of Portland Beanie Co. for LIFE!

{fotheringham fam}

 
I can't tell you how many times I hear parents apologize profusely for their little ones during their family portrait sessions with me....their kids are either (in their words, not mine) "too wiggly" or "too cranky" or "too incooperative" or "too tired," or "too hungry," etc. The funny thing is, all of these apologies are completely unnecessary for a number of reasons. First, I am a mother....I know how it is. Kids are kids and their moods can often ressemble that of an expectant mother. LOL! But truth be told, some kids, no matter how great a mood they are in just DON'T like pictures. And those little ones probably end up being the big adult ones that STILL don't like their picture taken. Ha ha! And if I was being forced to smile perfectly through something that wasn't at all enjoyable for me, I'd probably cry too. :-)
 
  
Second, little do these parents realize, but very often, having a less-than-perfect situation (the moods their children are in, etc.) very often creates some of THE most priceless candid shots. This photo shoot up Little Cottonwood Canyon yesterday of my very dear friend Paige and her cute little fam was no exception. Their cute little man is one of those little ones that does NOT like pictures. It was so funny...he would be completely fine until I raised my camera...which would promptly make him scream. And not just a little scream...a really really big scream. LOL! There was no hiding how he felt about that camera...or about me. Ha ha. I zoomed in a bit on his face in the picture above...check out the way he is looking at me. He was NOT happy. LOL! However, I feel that a good photographer is not one who is only good when everyone cooperates and everyone is in a good mood. And although I haven't always been good at this, I feel like I am finally reaching a level where I can create quality images that will be priceless keepsakes...no matter what mood my subjects are in. Somehow, it always works out beautifully. And as you can see from the beautiful sepia shot above of Paige with her little guy, sometimes the emotion shown in pictures creates a priceless memory and evoke very powerful emotions...more so than a shot where everyone has pasted on smiles and is looking directly at the camera. I actually became a little emotional when I edited that shot. What a tender moment.
 
 
   
And sometimes, even crazy moments can be captured as joyous ones, and no one is the wiser....as you can see from the shots below. He was actually throwing a major tantrum...but look at the faces of everyone in the picture. LOL! So perfect...like professional models! Just by THEIR faces, you would think he was throwing his head back in pure happiness. Love it!
 
 
As I mentioned in my last post from my last photo shoot, I get such a kick out of watching PARENTS just to see how far they go to get their little ones to stay happy and smiling. Where the daddy of my last shoot would hang his little one upside down, THIS daddy tossed his kids so high up in the air that my heart literally skipped a few beats out of complete anxiety. The first shot I took, I literally thought I had allowed WAY enough space in my frame to catch the little guy as he was at the TOP most point of the toss. Um yeah....not the case...he flew so high, he flew right out of my frame. LOL! SUCH fun pics...LOVE THESE!!!
  
 
The killer thing about having a camera that can shoot a bajillion pics a second, is the ability to catch moments you normally wouldn't be able to catch. This comes in handy in many ways. Oftentimes, when you have little ones that are really busy or cry throughout the shoot, by shooting quickly and in large quantities, you can actually CATCH those "in between sob" moments that often look like a smile. Ha ha! I have to admit, sometimes I even surprise myself after a more "challenging" shoot, to see how many TONS of crazy killer pics I ended up with. But in the case below, it was actually the Mama who I caught in action. Oh and Paige...she is MY kind of Mama. Look very closely at the entire series of four pictures below (you absolutely have to click on each of these individually to see them enlarged to get the full effect). A little preface....little guy's binky had just fallen in the dirt....
  
  
Oh my gosh...everything from Paige sucking off the binky (and her "oh that was really gross" face) to her cute little angel posed the entire time, to daddy and little buddy having their own little happy moment all the while....perfection. PRICELESS, classic photos!! And Paige..I so love you. That is SO something I would have done. LOL! LOVE IT! And the binky saved us many a time. Love the picture below as you can actually SEE the binky (I labeled it "binky" so that you can find it easily) flying through the air as Paige non-chalently snatched it from his mouth and chucked it in the rocks, all the while, smiling beautifully into the camera. LOL! Oh Paige..you are my favorite. Love you.
 
  
 
I have to admit, I am very proud of this shoot. Both Paige and Lorin were so worried because their little guy was so upset for the majority of the time....and look how many beautiful shots we ended up with. I must say, that their candids are likely some of my favorite that I have captured to date. So what does this teach my future customers? Don't worry...relax...enjoy the experience...as it is. 20 years from now, when Paige and Lorin look back through these pictures, I know they will be so grateful for the very vivid and wonderful memories they will bring back. You can actually FEEL the emotion in each shot. Do you think you get that same feeling from perfectly posed shots where everyone is uniform and smiling on cue? So my point is...come as you are....and we will capture these priceless memories together...whether everyone is happy to be there or not. LOL!
 
Paige & Lorin's little angel is THE cutest, most photogenic little stink I have ever met. I couldn't resist her cute yawn above. LOVE IT! But my gosh...she is a HAM!!! She is very literally EVERY photographer's DREAM (I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately...I am so fortunate to have so many crazy fun subjects to photograph)! 
  
By the end of the shoot, she was getting very silly and was giving her Mama the tightest snuggles EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now TELL ME HONESTLY...would you NOT absolutely take these shots below over a side-by-side posed shot ANY DAY OF THE WEEK?! OH MY GOSH...CLASSIC!!! And so so love that my camera actually caught Paige's EYE ROLL on the last shot after her little girl just would NOT let her go. Ahh...I seriously screamed out loud when I saw that!! Hilarious! Priceless! Classic!!!! AWESOME! 
 
 
Oh my heart...as you can see by how many TONS of pics I edited, I just could not get enough of this shoot. This shoot, where the parents were so exhausted by the end and were likely convinced it may have been a waste of time and that we wouldn't end up with many pics we could work with. WORK WITH? My gosh.....this shoot...amazing! Priceless shots with emotion that you can just about TASTE! LOVE IT!
   
  
Lorin & Paige, thank you SO SO MUCH for allowing me this great opportunity to shoot your family portraits this year. Seriously...this was such an incredible shoot for me. Your family is DARLING and I sincerely hope that you are as pleased with these as I am. Until you get a chance to review your proofing CD and choose the shots that you would like me to edit, I thought I would post what was MEANT to be a "little" sneak peek and ended up being kinda humongous. But I couldn't help it!!!! There were simply too many shots that tugged at my heart and BEGGED to be edited! LOL!
 
The cool thing is, I know I won't have to wait long to find out what you think, Paige, since I know you have been on the computer all day long, refreshing my blog over and over again to see if I had updated it with your pics yet. LOL! Funny..I so love you! Thanks again and you will be receiving your proofing CD by the end of this week!! LOVE YOU GUYS!

CONTACT ME TODAY TO BOOK YOUR 2009 FAMILY PORTRAIT SHOOT BEFORE THE HOLIDAY RUSH!!

Visit my WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG for contact information, rates, etc.!!

{unbelievable talent}

My friend Saunie just sent this link to me because she said it reminded her of me because of my great love of music.....and oh...my...gosh....are you FOR REAL??????????? I have YET to hear or see anything cooler than this!!!! OH WOW!!!!! Ridiculous talent...ri-di-culous!! No words describe..you have to watch and listen for yourself...CRAZY AWESOME!!!!!

{big mama, pizza pockets & loving ourselves}

 

There are so many things that I want and need to blog about, and will, in time. However, for now, I HAD to at least hop on here quickly and jot down a few things just so they don't end up beng forgotten. Little Seneca is seriously a hoot. She is definitely a challenge for us. She is Queen Whiner of America and still throws some of the most utterly impressive tantrums you have ever seen. But she is a sweetheart and my little love bug. Oooh..I love her so much. Plus, she is hilarious. And lately, it seems like she is on one...making us laugh constantly. I love her spunky fun personality. She is simply fabulous and I love her so much. Check out her outfit that she demanded on wearing ALL DAY LONG the other day..her new "I Love Daddy" PJs and Hello Kitty Rain Boots that I bought her on a little Mama/Daughter day out last week. She REFUSED to wear anything else. Bless her heart. LOL! Lately, Seneca has been saying some of the funniest things and I simply HAVE to record them here so I can remember them forever. The first was a conversation we had the other day after she noticed a gentleman that was a little more round in the tummy area. LOL!

SENECA: "Mama, why is his tummy so long?" (love that she said "long" instead of big. So cute.)
MAMA: "All of us are made different baby. Some of us are tall and some are small and some have little tummies and some have bigger tummies. But Heavenly Father loves us all the same."
SENECA: (thinks for a minute and then says...) "I have a good idea. His tummy is probably bigs because he ate too many snacks like you. Right Mama?" (She always says "Right Mama?" after everything lately..love it.)
MAMA: "What do you mean? Mama doesn't eat a lot of snacks."
SENECA: "Noooo..like BIG Mama in yo bafroom."

LOL! So I need to explain a titch so that you get how funny that last part is. I have a BEFORE/AFTER picture of me on my bathroom mirror...this one...
 
About a month ago, soon after I put this up as a constant reminder to myself, Seneca came in the bathroom and grabbed the picture, pointed to the ME on the left and said, "Who's THAT?" LOL..she didn't even know who it was. I told her it was me and she said, "That's a BIG Mama!" LOL! I then explained to her that "Big Mama" wasn't as healthy as her Mama is now and that she had more snacks than she should have, didn't exercise, etc. So what she retained from that is that Big Mama was big because she ate too many snacks...which explains her comment above. LOL! So funny. Oh I so love her.

The second thing I definitely can't ever forget just happened this weekend. Kaden and Seneca had had pizza pockets for lunch and then ran outside to play for a little while. After an hour or so, Seneca came inside and used the restroom. After she was done, she came out to me with eyes WIDE OPEN with a look of concern on her face. I asked her what was wrong and in complete and utter seriousness, she looked at me and said, "MAMA...my pizza pockets turned into poop!!" Oh my gosh..I just about died. So hilarious.

Lastly, just on Sunday, I was sitting with the kids having breakfast and we were having the most awesome little Gospel discussion. We were talking about the spirit of contention and how Satan likes us to fight with each other and that Heavenly Father is SAD when we have the spirit of contention in our home. Here is how the conversation went after that:

KADEN: "Satan likes it when we are mean to each other. He only wants us to love ourselves and not love anyone else."
SENECA: (turning to me, looking serious) "Well I don't love myself, right Mama?"

LOL! Seneca is hilarious. We then had a discussion about the importance of loving ourselves, but constantly serving others..and how serving others actually helps us feel good about ourselves - more so than if we were to only serve ourselves. But as far as this entire discussion goes, my little Kaden is incredible. His grasp of Gospel principles is so amazing. My next blog entry will be about him because he is my angel in a little dude's body and has such precious things to me lately that I never want to forget. His spirit is so pure and he is one of the most thoughtful and genuine little boy's I have ever known. How I love my little ones!! My life is truly blessed!!