Happy Birthday Michael!

Well, today is my husband's 39th Birthday (hope he doesn't mind that I shared his age;)  I don't really know where to start in describing how this last year has been.  We've shared so many wonderful things in our life & with this last year--I can't help, but be nostalgic about this time last year.  I was 38 weeks pregnant for your birthday last year & I couldn't eat, but I made you surf & turf & wow did you seem to enjoy it!  You had helped me cross the finish line of my 2nd pregnancy & we knew we would meet our little baby in just a week.  You were doing well in your career, of course, & had the respect/deference of a man a decade older than you.  We were in a great small group through our church & we were growing as a family according to your Godly guidance in our home.  Fast forward one year, through all the stress & difficulty of having a year with 2 under 2, I feel like you've grown as a man/husband/father in ways that you may not even know.  You are more patient with me & with the girls than you were before we had 2 kids & you always make the girls & I feel special.  I really love that you take the time to show both girls attention & love in a way they can understand.  This year, there are no babies on the way, but our little Ella will be 1 year old in 1 week, so many firsts this year that we've shared as a family & so much love.  As for your career path, well, you've excelled as usual & become known as one of the regions stars in gene therapy (see this link for a great article concerning genomic medicine--Michael is quoted 1st, it means he's the expert in this area ;)  Despite all of your success, you have kept yourself grounded with your faith.  Your work with the Parush project & your support of many ministries is a testimony to where you heart is as far as advancing the Kingdom of God.  I am so very proud of the man you are & so happy that I can help you celebrate your birthday today!  I won't continue because I'm not as eloquent a writer as you are, but just know that I am very proud to have you as my partner in life.  You the best husband I could have ever hoped for & the best daddy I can think of for our precious daughters!  I love you more!  Enjoy some pics of Michael through the years & with our little Ella from last night--I tried to be totally nonchalant about taking these, but I think he knew he'd end up on the blog today...hehe ;) A handsome devil, in addition to all these other things, aren't I a lucky lady??

Around 3 or 4 years old with his Dad

I think he was 16 or so in this one with his fam

2003 at our wedding

Can't believe it will be 9 years this year

At Jessie's 2nd Birthday this year

With his 1st born Jessie

With Ella last year in the hospital, she was 1 day old here

I think this was one of the outtakes of our Christmas cards....hehe ;)

Our 8th wedding anniversary at Tara Inn last year

With baby girl last night

Look at the love!!

Such a great dad

Ella's 1 yr pictures: the yellow flower edition

So this is my first attempt at Ella's 1 year pictures.  I still have at least 2 sets to do, as she needs to model her tutu that her Nuna (my mom) made her & I also need to put her in the fun pink party dress I bought for her birthday party.  I had forgotten how difficult it is to photograph a 1 year old, but they are tough.  I had this ideal for her pics in my head for a while & I had difficulty finding the perfect yellow field of flowers as most were too hard to get to with 2 little ones in tow or they were out in the blaring sun (now, I'll admit I'm a decent photographer for an amateur, but I'm not that good---I knew I'd never get anything good from that scenario).   So we drove around the park near our home until I spied this flower field, well, really it was just a few yellow flowers growing on a bank near a big tree, but the light was right, so I thought we'll try it.  It's so hard to believe our precious Ella will be 1 year old in just 1 week, where did the year go.  It makes me sad that she is a toddler now & not a baby, but I do know that moving forward we will only have more fun with her.  So here's a few pics of our Ella girl to enjoy from our morning at the park in the flower field.  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

85mm f 3.2 ISO 100 1/320; smoothed skin, added yellow lens vignette around edges

The contemplative wonder of a 1 year old...just thought it was pretty

She was laughing at Jessie who was whining about the "doo-doo" or mud on her shoes

Probably the best as far as getting her to look at me, not the best expression, but still a good pic of her

I just love the light, airy nature of this one, those yellow flowers really are pretty as is that baby :)

Different location, but just thought it was cute

Little Chubbers

I thought the way I framed this with flowers was cool

Pretty girl

This is very much an Ella pose, she's so serious sometimes

Master Bathroom Remodel

We just completed remodeling our master bathroom & wow was the transformation dramatic.  Take a look at some before & after pics documenting the changes.  It really is amazing to see a room go from a 1970s dark, dingy, dirty, misconfigured closet to an open, bright, modern, beautiful space.  Can't believe I actually got a tub also.  Enjoy!

Before looking into bathroom from our room

Small closet area & 1st sink side

Larger closet area

2nd vanity/toilet area

The grimiest, dingiest, grossest shower ever--oh & it was blue also

Looking from window back towards our room

The ever so poorly designed dual sided vanity sinks--don't know what they were thinking

Here she is the new, the improved....beautiful on-suite master bathroom!!!!  A huge thank you to my wonderful husband---I guess I don't need a Mother's Day gift this year ;)

Can't believe that this is now the view into the bathroom from our room

Wall color is called tropical paradise, looks more minty green than I expected, but I like it with the black & white

I've gotta get a roman shade or something, don't want to give the neighbors a heart attack

I'm such a lucky lady to have this tub....so thankful--my wonderful husband pushed me to get this ;)

We did keep the large closet area, contractor added double rod inside so I could have 2Xs the storage

Love my new shower, it's awesome

Black galaxy granite on a custom-made Amish vanity base--high end, for sure!

Our contractor put this floating shelf in for me so that I'd have a place to sit my bath stuff &/or wine glass

I think this wall need some art--maybe some black & white photos

2-piece

Well, if you've got it, why not flaunt it.  The other day when it was quite warm, Ella girl did an impromptu bathing suit photoshoot for me in her 2-piece.  She loves playing in the baby pool & also the water table.  I'll let the cuteness speak for itself.  Yeah, she may be a little chubby for a true 2-piece, but so darn cute, I couldn't help but put her in it.

I just think the chub adds to the cuteness :)

This is the only one I edited

Loves the water table

Also, likes to drink the water from the water table

Is this not the physique of a swimsuit model???hehehe; Yeah the little stinkweed learned how to remove the plug, that's water flowing out everywhere

In case you're wondering

In case you're wondering our cat, Kitty Jenkins, still lives with us.  He has not taken very well to the children so we don't see him that much anymore, but he is still a very pretty cat.  We keep holding out hope that one day soon he will learn to play with the girls, but as for now, we can just admire his beauty from afar.  Here are a few pics the other day of him "sunning himself" in our (still not finished--our contractor promises next week) entryway.

No editing--he's very beautiful, just doesn't like children

Yeah, I played with the editing here--blurred the background more & added a lens vignette, couldn't help myself :)

The New Playset

It should come as no surprise that my husband has yet again gone overboard when getting a present for his girls :)  For the girl's 1st/2nd Birthday we got them a beautiful new swingset.  Is this over the top for a 1 & 2 year old?? Of course, but as Michael put it they only need 1 swingset to get them through childhood, so why not get a good one that will last.  To those of you wondering, he didn't build it himself, we actually hired a guy to do that for us who does that for a living.  The girls are having a great time with this thing & I know many wonderful memories will be made on their new playset.  We look forward to having our little friends over to play this summer.  Take a look at what Dada thought his little girls needed!

Candid's of Ella

I debated on even posting these as they are just little candid pics I took of Ella the other day, but they do showcase her eyes pretty well.  I'm working on shooting her 1 year pics this week so I'll be busy with that & with much editing.  I have several locations & outfits in mind for her 1 year pic extravaganza.  If I get a dozen or so that are good, I'll be happy, but hey, it's fun for me, so why not just go crazy, right??  Anyway, hope you all have a wonderful day.  Enjoy some pics of our almost 1 year old.  Look at those eyes--blue, grey, green??  We still haven't decided yet either ;)

Such a happy little girl

Look at those eyes

The color of her eyes is unusual, but they still look like they will remain light

Love this one

I had to post it, this is Jessie idea of showing Ella some love, I promise she does like it