{{{NINE}}}

I have been married for 9 years today to the most perfect man. Well, almost perfect. One thing he is horrible at is taking pictures with me.. We hardly ever take pictures with one another. We were just out at our church's Christmas banquet, and while everyone else took advantage of being dressed up with a beautiful backdrop at their disposal, my husband and I looked at each other after we had put our coats on to leave and realized we were leaving once again with no picture.. I've decided this needs to stop. Tonight he has made reservations. Where to which I have yet to find out, but one thing I do know is that I am going to make sure we get a picture together! I truly believe our best days are yet to come, and I want to remember them!

Christmas shopping..

Yes, I am done my Christmas shopping! I got smart this year and ordered a lot of gifts online. It really is the greatest way to shop! You can avoid the overwhelming parking lots filled with frenzied people crazily scrounging to find that perfect gift. Instead, I sat tucked up close beside my husband as we wandered the web.. I had already had ideas in mind for what types of gifts I was looking for. Otherwise, it could have become a little overwhelming with a world of options at my fingertips.. So, it just came down to finding the perfect items, and I found almost all that I needed on Amazon! Next year I plan on ordering all of my gifts online, and now that Pinterest has secret boards I can pin away with all my gift ideas! Life is good!

Dear Honesty.

I second guessed posting this earlier this week. Being honest about weaknesses sets you in a pretty vulnerable place. Somewhere I am not always comfortable being. In society today many like to paint a picture of perfection. I, however, am not perfect. My brush strokes are both good and bad. Only by God's grace does it all come together to create something beautiful. So, I will not manufacture perfection. I will just be real..

Yep, I'm that mom..

We are just getting home from siennas parent night at the school (which,by the way, I still feel too young to have to be at). I have been laughing almost constantly since leaving there. Even throughout our romantic kid-free time following the meeting, which was spent buying diapers at Walmart of course, I couldnt help but chuckle every few minutes.. See, I experienced tonight one of those "yep, I'm THAT mom" moments. In the meeting they were discussing the need for parent volunteers at the casino night which is ran to raise funds for the school. Quickly following this request they went over how the funds recieved through this would be spent. They stated that some of the money would be used to make a substantial donation to a charity for gambling addiction recovery. Well I, finding this completely ironic, burst out laughing assuming that others would also see the humor in this. It turns out, however, that aside from one of my 'mom friends' and my husband, no one else did. Instead, I received multiple disapproving looks from around the room.. Oops. Yep, I am THAT mom.. This isn't the first time I've had one of these moments, and I am certain that it won't be the last!

*****Please don't get me wrong.. I do not find gambling addictions or the effect they have on peoples lives funny.*****

Dear words..

Dear words.. You seem to rush through my mind all day, but as soon as I sit to write you down you fade away. Stick around a while.
Dear Greek Pizza. You were uh-mazing.
Dear Sienna. I love how when I told you that calling someone a 'slow-poke' could hurt their feelings you said you would call them a 'fast-poke' instead. You are brilliant.
Dear Grade 1. We are getting the hang of you.
Dear Weekend. Please try not to fly by to quickly. My birthday is Monday, and I would like to feel young younger for a few more days.
Dear Coen. I'm pretty impressed. As I was browsing through pictures from our vacation I found this one that you had taken. We will have to work on not cutting people off seeing as that is a HUGE pet peeve of mine, but not bad for a 3 year old!

Wedding Photography..

We showed some friends of ours our wedding pictures last night. It made me kind of sad because our pictures are horrible! This is the only one that I like. Please excuse the awful quality, I took a picture of the picture with my iphone. Whenever I talk to any soon-to-be brides I always tell them not to skimp on their photographer. It is the one thing thing that will last beyond the wedding day. I am assisting at 2 weddings this summer, and I feel the pressure because I know what it is like to be unhappy with your wedding photos. I am up for the challenge though, and I am excited to see what it is like on the other side of the camera!!

STOP!

Stop whatever is you are doing at this very moment (yes, even reading this blog). Just stop. Now go and take a moment your kids. Give them a hug, play a game with them, make them laugh. If they are not with you just take a moment to pray for them. It doesn't have to take long. Just a moment.

I promise that you won't regret it!

Four..

1. Houston just sitting on my desk. Happens all the time. I find him on the counter, on the table, on the dresser.. No joke. Boys a climber.

2. Tried to take a picture with all 3 kids.. This is the best one..

3. Tried to take a picture with Houston.. He wasn't impressed..

4. Sienna and I at Chucky Cheese.. This is where we ended up yesterday. Not quite the adventure I was planning but an adventure none the less! At least this little lady will pose with me!

No time but now..

Wow. I have missed this place. We have been busy with moving and getting our new place set up. I would like to say we are close to done, but I think that would be stretching it. We are getting there though, and I am excited with how the place is coming together. I am looking forward to sharing some pictures, hopefully soon! For now, I must try and find order in the chaos!

*****

I also have to share a quick sneak peak of these cuties. Some of my dear friends have had babies recently and I was so privileged to be able to take some pictures of them. I haven't had time for editing them all, but I can't wait to get to the rest!

Baby Samuel.. 5 days old

 Baby Charisse.. 5 weeks old

Best.Husband.Ever

So about 5 minutes after I posted this post yesterday about this purse...

My husband commented with this..

Best husband ever.. I'd say so.

****

I moved some stuff yesterday looking like this. No lie. 

This picture doesn't really do justice to how crazy I looked by the end because not all of the hair dye was in at this point.

I had to work dying my hair into this crazy moving week somehow. I loaded up my van, drove to the new house, and unloaded the vehicle. All with this fine look going on, cape and all. I can't imagine what people must have thought. I am sure if any of the new neighbors caught a glimpse they are a little leery of what kind of crazy is moving in next door! It was all worth it though because I am now happily a red head!

A to ZZZZ...

Age: 29 30 29... Nevermind..

Bedsize: Queen, but we are upgrading to king in our new place! WOOT WOOT

Chores that youhate: Cleaning the bathtub.. I hate it. Even more than cleaning toilets. Not sure why..

Dogs:  No. Thank goodness. I used to want to be a veteranarian, but somewhere along the way I went from loving animals to, well, not loving them. 

Essential start toyour day:  Coffee.
Favorite color: White.. Seriously. I am afraid of color.

Gold or Silver: Right now, gold. 

Height: 5"4'.. My sister was blessed with the height in the family.. and the long eye lashes.. I'm not bitter though.

Instruments you play: None well :)

Job title: Mom and all the many titles that comes with.

Kids: 3. Sienna(5), Coen(3), Houston(1)

Live: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

Mother's Name: Sandra.. (her first name is actually Marlene, but she's always gone by Sandra) 

Nicknames: Oh goodness.. Bran, Branflakes, Allbran, B-diddy, Bran muffin, anythingelseyoucanthingofrelatingtoBRAN, whiskey, and many more I can't think of right now.

Overnight hospital stays: 3 C-sections..

Pet peeves:  Chewing with your mouth open. Gross. And loud eaters of any kind. Basically I think people should eat as quietly as possible. PLEASE.
Quote from a movieor tv show:  My brain honestly does not store this type of stuff. I can see a movie for the first time twice.. 
Right or Lefty:  Right.
Siblings: 1 beautiful older sister.
Time you wake up:  Whenever the kids get up. I have this idea of being up at 7 every morning whether the kids are up or not but it hasn't happened yet.
Underwear:  Umm.. really..
Vegetable you hate:  I can't really think of one. I am sure there must be one out there I don't like.. 
What makes you runlate: My husband..
X-Rays You've Had:  Too many to list.
Yummy food you make:  Bahahaha.. Worst cook e.v.e.r. right here.
Zoo Animal:  Penguins all the way. They are so stinkin cute. Also, they make me laugh cause my husband thought that penguins were human size. We once saw one and he said, "look, there is a miniature penguin." Laughed so hard in his face.. I am a good wife, really.

I know this is hardly "embracing the camera".. I tried..