Things to be Thankful For

Relationship. It is pretty much my favorite word. I study relationships, I am in relationships, I love to give relationship advice. But this past week... this past week I got to capture relationships with my camera. And y'all: it was so much fun. Here are just a FEW of my favorites.

Everyone, meet the S. Family. Talk about some EN-ER-GY! These kids were so much fun to chase around. Everyone had such great senses of humor, too. They had Graham and me laughing pretty much the whole time we were there.

Miss Emma and Mr. Tripp... climbing on the Japanese Maple

And then Drew joined in the fun.

Sweet Anna has the most beautiful smile.


We went straight from the S's to the Scobey/Chamblee Family portrait session. This family is near and dear to my heart because...well... it's mine! People, I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT DRINK THE WATER IN THE SCOBEY'S HOUSE. I am pretty sure that everyone who has in the past 2 years has ended up pregnant. Between the two families, we have SIX babies under the age of two. Six. But you guys? They are all so stinkin' adorable. So at least we have good genes if we are all out there trying to set the Guinness World Record for procreation.

My sweet niece, Sophi.

Ryan, Amy, and Miss Ella Grace. These three are so in love with one another. It is contagious.

There is just something special about a Daddy's boy. Maybe that is why I love this picture so much.


Two of my favorite people in all of the world. Belle and Rach.

The last portrait session of the week was with the E Family. Margaret and Steve have built a beautiful home that is so full of love. It is really wonderful to be around. I had been DIEING to meet little Kherington ever since she was born in May (exactly one month before Evie made her debut). And may I just say she totally lived up to the hype. And then some.

Ayton made me want to go out a buy Evie like ten-thousand cable knit sweaters. He just looked so dapper in them!


Kherington was even sweeter than I had anticipated. We all know that I am a sucker for cheeks... and I just wanted to nibble on hers all day long!

Thank you to everyone for letting us spend time with your amazing families. We had a wonderful time soaking up the love that you all have for one another.

I will leave you all with a little bit of Evie... because it keeps the Winter blues away.

Weekend Visitors

Ya'll (anytime I am around Wynnes, talking to Wynnes, or talking about Wynnes my Southern accent comes out like hillbillies at a Stone Mountain laser show); ya'll, this past weekend one of my Dad's sisters and her Daughter, Haley (my Cousin, for those of you with no sense of deductive reasoning) came to visit us.

I have been going to Pickens, Mississippi (I bet ya'll didnt know that I was from a place called PICKENS. There is an actual story about how it got it's name: something about a man with no shirt on, picking his nose and falling off a bridge to his death. No lie. I am not making this up. This is what they told us as children. Right before handing us the keys to the riding lawnmowers so that we could pretend they were cars and the backyard was the grocery store -- in hindsight maybe not the safest practice ever -- but so much fun) anyways... I've been going to Pickens at least once a year since I was little, but since my life has gotten a little move-across-the-country-then-back-to-the-northern-most-tip-of-the-other-side-of-said-country-have-an-unexpected-baby-in-the-middle-of-a-research-heavy-graduate-program-support-husband-beginning-new-career busy, we have not been able to visit Pickens in a couple of years.

Ya'll, (see how I did that?) no trip that has ever been made by any human being in the history of the world has ever meant so much to me. It was Haley's first time on an airplane ever, and while I was a little bit sad that her premier trip on a big steel bird took her from one podunk town RIGHT to another, I had so much fun with her. I am in the process of staging a hostage-negotiation-scenario so that her parents will let her come back up in February for her birthday.

Here are some pictures of them loving on Miss Evie. Watching Angie with her was really emotional for me because it was exactly what I imagine it would have been like to watch my Grandma with her... Angie has every single one of her good qualities: her selflessness, tender heart, and steadfast values. And I just love her so much. And I love her daughter. And I loved watching her daughter with my daughter.

Please come back soon! (as if you have a choice... hostage. negotiation. remember?)

Happy Fall Ya'll

Now that we have gotten past the snow (oh yeah, uh huh, it SNOWS here in October...) the air is perfectly crisp and the leaves are perfectly vivid. Fall in New England is, by far, the only thing that redeems it from the harsh winters. It is beautiful; except that "beautiful" does not even begin to describe it.

Driving down the roads right now, you find yourself completely enveloped in what can only be described as the most awesome display of God's ability to paint.

So this past weekend we bundled up the little one, threw on our scarves and went for a hike.

She has really started to enjoy being put in a carrier. Thank GOD, because I was not too keen on living the rest of my life with my arms randomly falling out of their sockets in an effort to rebel against me for those three years that Evie would not let me put her down.

Add to that the fact that going on hikes is one of our favorite past times as a couple and, well, it's just really convenient that little bit likes it, too. I hope all of you out there in the blogosphere are enjoying the change of seasons as much as we are.

*pictures by the ever-talented Graham Scobey - my miniature beefcake of a man*

October Tenth

Today is an anniversary of sorts.

Exactly one year ago: Sunday, October 10th, 2008, there was wailing and gnashing of teeth. There was profuse eating of mass quantities and varieties of chocolate. There were boxes upon boxes upon boxes of tissues being used. There were lighthearted movies about childbirth being watched.

Exactly one year ago today there were seven (onetwothreefourfivesixSEVEN) pregnancy tests lined up on my bathroom counter. And one year ago today I was scouring the internet to find if there had ever been a case of seven false positives.

There had not.

It boggles my mind how much life can change in a year.

Here I am, governer of Alaska, hoping against all hope that no-one noticed the five pounds I had already gained.

Three 1/2 months along over Christmas break. We didn't know it at the time but Evie's cousin, Sophi, was already on her way, too.

About seven days late: a very pregnant, very anxious Ashley. I wish I would have listened to the dozens of people who told me to enjoy those last few weeks as a family of two (sorry, Bear: a family of three).

And here is the best surprise I have ever gotten; just hours old.

And now, FOUR months after her birth, we are remembering the day we found out we would be having a baby. Life has never been so full.

DOUBT

Doubt is a very powerful thing. It can be good: I firmly believe that no harm can come from a willingness to question things. On the contrary; one of the greatest dangers in life is just going along; refusing to let yourself challenge what you know.

But doubt can also be harmful. Especially when you make a habit of doubting yourself.

I have always been a glass-half-empty kind of person. Whenever I do things that are difficult, there are these voices in my head whispering: "you're not good enough", "you cannot possibly go that far -- do that much"...

Since Evie, that's changed. I mean, since Evie everything has changed: but THIS, this I never thought would change. I have been battling self doubt my whole life. There is only one possible explanation for this. Evie is my Horcrux. When I had her, my soul split... and now there is nothing I cannot do.

Something more powerful than doubt: being a mother.

And the leaves are changing which means that I get to drive to school through fiery tunnels and it is beautiful and all is right in the world.

Here is little Miss playing airplane on Mommy's legs during a picnic on Friday.

I know what you are all thinking: "That is not Evie. That is GRAHAM. It has to be Graham." and although I have this very same thought at least seventeen times in any given day: no, it is not Graham, it is my baby daughter. I know this because Graham is much too big to play airplane on my legs.

To Every Season, Turn Turn Turn

Fall was officially upon us last week...but the leaves seemed to change overnight last night. It is just beautiful driving around and seeing all of these fiery reds and glowing oranges. I have really missed this beautiful season these past few years.

This is my favorite thing about Fall...what is your?